OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 159, 11 December 1914, Page 4

OUR SOLDIERS IN FRANCE.

BRITISH OFFICER'S STATEMENT. , ; jLondon, October 2. A brigade major of one of the British ungate which lias been in the thick of the lighting 19 exceedingly proud of his men. In the course of an interesting • account, he savs:— I "Wc had a really,bad time at first. It was only to be expected, for we were ! compelled hurriedly to enter on a series ■ of rearguard adtiona. Fortunately we l have made a constant practice of these ■ for years past, and -they' were nothing i new, especially to those of us who had ; been out in tjie Boer war. The German 1 pursuit was a hot one, and we shed a ■ lot of men, but in the end they got ■ scaled of taking risks. We £qow that ; they were tenibly, punished by evidences •we have scon since. Our men could i not have been bettrj no troops could >• touch them. They had migihty little ; food and less sleep, and to take both 1 m tiny snatches. Much of our losses ; in missing was duo to the men' falling asleep actually when attacked, and not hearing the order to' retire. A strange tiling is that few of them were cap-' tured, and I only suppose that the Germans as they came on after us thought the sleeping men were dead, for hundreds have rejoined fit and absolutely in the dark as to how they missed-their columns., . "I Have never know such excellent soldiering. Everything is working smoothly. All th© regiments seem happy families. The men are no trouble to their officers, and are as keen as terriers at a well-stocked rat-hole. Th<; Germans have run to earth literally at present, and it will be a job to bolt them. 1 Our discipline has lacked nothing, and the coolness of all ranks under fire is something to wonder «t. I suppose everyone has had such a spell of being shot at that the men have developed a • habit. . They do not expose themselves Unnecessarily, but tljey are indifferent to two things—Germaii rifle Are and the 1 . German heavy artillery. The latter is j noisy, and makes clouds of heavy smoko when it bursts, but there is something odd about its action, for the pieces chiefly make fiesh wounds. It suggests shoddy material. Our men get fine practice with the rifle at the German battalions, who come on like machines. Several times I\have ■ seen one of our companies well hidden let them come wptt forward, and then simply ipile the 1 landscape with German dead and wounded. |

From time to time in our forward movement we got among them with the bayonet, and, though I have not seen a charge, I believe our chaps were almost taktin aback at the way in which the Germans screamed andtiirnod away from tiie cold steel. The officers themselves scramble away, and won't face the bayonet. Even in the heat of a fight our men hesitate to p&mge a bayonet into the back of a frightened man. Yet the Germans are brave enough, I suppose their nerves go at the sight of our men racing at them, shouting at the too of their voices and with bayonets leveM-i ed. Wo arc quite comfortable now, with no lack of food or other supplies, "and i the men can always get some rest wliile we steadily pound away at the Germans, ihey are m strong positions, and the Bfench seem to think that tliey were planned before the war and. in part prepared. They say that Germans held property on the actual places , they ate MW'bs. but we hear all sorts of straws.