THIRTY SURVIVORS OF TWO THOUSAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 139, 5 November 1914, Page 6

THIRTY SURVIVORS OF TWO THOUSAND.

MOKS-AND AFTER. London, September 8. One of the most tragic occurrences of tiie great battle was told to a. Chronicle correspondent, "We were five solid days iu the trenches," said tile soldier. "At first we were within a .short distance of J-igny, holding a utriin;;, I'lUrem-hcd po;;;fion. Backwards and forwards we went nil during that time. 1 can't renumber all tiie names of the [duces, bat the ejid of it all came early yesterday (Tinirs-ih'-y) morning, when, I think,' we were occupying part U tie., lin,- somewhere in the .Arms region. It is the finish of the business that I shall always remember. Tiie enemy were something under H kilometre in front, it v.as two o'clock iu the morning, dark, and with few stars aboiu.

"Our officers came along-—I should tell you that wo were, at. the particular spot, about :!!)W) strong, a force composed of, I think , about cipul numbers of and , and told us to lie down and sleep where wo were. We were making ourselves as comfortable as possible when a light or soiuelhing betrayed us to the enemy. We had been getting a pounding that dar, and only needed the word to go to sleep. Hardly were the first of us down on our backs than we found ourselves in an inferno of bullets. It was like a ihuiuler-lap bursting a few yards above us. Yf, , oui d do nothing. Down on us the shrapnel bus lets hailed; we went down by the score. Practically at the same time the enemy's maxims opened on ns, and we were almost without shelter. From above and m front tiie bullets rained. We could do nothing; v ,-e saw ivc were caught. Kvcry now and again a flashlight flared in our eyes, making the thing more giias'Jy still. It flitted along our lines lika a great ghost; then in its track came a thicker hail of shrapnel, and a deadlier shower of bullets' from the We lay down, waecedwlr -kof-lij maxims. We lay down, we crawled along, wo got up, ran, but there-was no getting out of the hail of bullets. 'Leave everything and retire' was the order, and there in the darkness we did what we could to carry it out. I!ut each one could only act for himself. I don't know how long it lasted; possibly it did not last very long. lint whcii there was some light to see by, t could see nbout a score of 113 wandering over the country."

Hero the little soldier stopped, and dropping liin voice, began a;iain. "Ves." ■ie said. "1 think you can put it at thirty. At least my mate and T could find no more." "Thirty! You mean .survivor--.'" -Ves, that's it. Thirty of us v.-ere le't at the most—out We were wiped out; that's nil there's to it. lie i»V '.iui'.e. and 1, wandered from the oilier*, and 1 s „|n„w<. we shall go back 1.0 Kno-land. We should he o-eftinr; out to tlie front again by Monday." ■