THE FALL OF LIEGE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 172, 29 December 1914, Page 3

THE FALL OF LIEGE.

GENERAL LEMAN'S DIARY. HAVOC OF GERMAN GUNS. The bombardment ami the fall of Liege are related by its gallant defender, General Leman, who is now a prisoner ,of war in the fortress of Madgeburg. On August 7 the Germans had occupied the whole town, as the lack of the inner line of fortifications enabled them to attack all the forts on the left bank of the river Meuse fr?m the rear. From this moment the bombardment of the forts on tnc left bank of the Mouse could be opened. Fort Loncine —where the general was—is situated j north-west of Liege, on the great main road to Brussels, ftnd is of the latest and most modern construction. The bombardment began on August 11 with 10 and 5 centimetre guns. On the 12th and 13th, 21 centimetre guns took part , in the bombardment, and on the next I morning these gnus were brought into action, and effected the destruction o! the forts. General Leman divides the bombardment into four divisions. Even the smaller guns used in tta early days were bad enough, for the shells wrecked concrete masses and sent deadly fumes into living rooms. The fourth section of the bombardment, which ended witli the fall of the forts, General Leman describes as follows: —"It was two o'clock when the bombardment commenced with a violence of which nobody can form an idea. Our opinion was that the German batteries fired Balvoes. Later we learned that 'they had used against us their 42-centi-metre (lfijin) howitzers, which threw shells of 100 kilogrammes (one ton) of unexampled explosive power. We heard them coming along, we heard them howling through the air, and finally the noise of a furious hurricane, which ended with a terrific thunder-clap and then gigantic clouds of dust and smoke rose above the trembling ground. "During this terrible bombardment I started to return to the vault. But hardly had I moved a few paces when a strong and powerful rush of air came along the gallery and threw me to the ground. I rose and tried to go on, but was kept back by a flood of asphyxiating fumes, which enveloped everything. It was a mixture of the gas of the exploded powder and the smoke of a fire which had broken out in the soldiers' quarters. "We were driven back, but it was impossible to breathe. Wc were nearly suffocated when Captain Collard, the general's A.D.C., burst open the upper part of the armor-plated window to allow the fumes to escape. I tried to save tly garrison and went to the counter-scarp. But I was horrified when I saw that the forts had broken down, and that the ruins filled the trenches to the breast of the bastion, and formed a huge dam," which reached from escarp to to counterescarp. Soldiers were rushing to and fro. I thought they were Belgians I called to them. Then I fell down in a swoon. When I recovered, 1 found myself among my men, and a Gorman captain gave me a glass of water. It was about 0.30 in the evening when I wits transported to Liege in an ambulance. I was ft prisoner without having surrendered."