LIMPING FROM THE YSER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 185, 14 January 1915, Page 7

LIMPING FROM THE YSER.

A GRIM STORY'. German "kultur," as represented by the Kaiser's army, is slowly but surely relaxing its dcadiy grip on (he war-rav-aged kingdom oi' Delguim. The German host that came and sat down by 'the sea at Xieiiport and attempted to hack a road into Dunkirk, has melted away (savs Mr ijonohoe, Daily Chronicle (correspondent) before the. avenging cannon of the Allies, and is limping back along the road towards Osteml, satlly reduced in numbers, and disconsolate because of its want of success. The invaders have been badly mauled, by the small but glorious Belgian Army. In the recent desperate fighting deatii has, alas, exacted a heavy toll from these brave soldiers of King Albert. Against n powerful and relentless enemy, they have defended the last remaining corner of their country with a courage and devotion which surely can find no parallel in history. The Belgians, in their effort to fling back the enemy, have been ably supported by our own anil French troops. Around Ypivs ''our contemptible little army" has shown the enemy that it knows how to fight and to die. Belgian and French wounded who have been brought in from the. firing line speak of the unexampled heroism of our troops holding on grimly, yielding lip their lives without n murmur in the sacred cause of diitv. -"MAtTSERTTJS,"—

Willi all tin' German talent for organisation and thoroughness the life of the Kaiser's soldiers in the flooded trenches, where they stand knee-deep in water, is horrible in the extreme. Suitable food is lacking,' there are practically no medical comforts for the men, d'scasc ha-; made its appearance and is ravaging the ranks of those whom lirit-i.-.li shrapnel has temporarily overlooked. Tie- mental and physical strain of those long vigils, whore one is only looking death in the face, has affected the morale of the stolid, phlegmatic German niich more than it lias our own men. The former has become "jumpy," and is developing what old soldiers call "Mauserltis." He flinches wlnn under fire, and will not readily abandon the shelter of the trenches to attack in the open. T have been told that under the awful strain hundreds of Germans have ■gone mad. And little wonder. Days and nights without repose, with cold, hnuger. and one's own dead as inseparable companions, and the presence of British snipers 300 yards away to heighten the grim reality of Belgian inferno. Some of the German prisoners whom I have seen bore lmt a remote resemblance to human beings. In their hard, brutalised, dirt-matted faces, there was little trace of divine image.

HATR HAD BECOME WHITE. Their beards had grown to an inordinate length, and the hair of even the comparative young had become white. T shuddered as T realised how thoroughly the dread monster war has effaced everything human from these poor trench dwellers whom fall' had delivered into our hands as prisoners of war. When mortally stricken, the Germans are often left to die, because ambulance and surgical aid is often unprocurable. Every wounded German who is able to walk has to find his way unaided to the field or base hospital. Tt is often a task beyond the ebbing strength of the injured, and small wonder if numbers die 011 the road far distant from the looked for goal of succour. Their bodies strew the route from the German firing line back to Ostend. '=

OPENING THE SLUICES. Baulked by tlie British fleet in their attempt to cross the Yser at Lombaertzvde, the Germans prepared to make a night attack on Manneskensvers, further inland, and this is what happened:— In the face of the superiority of the enemy's artillery, the Belgians wero obliged to retire on Wulpen, and the German columns advanced. The quick-fir-ing sections of the Scots regiment were able, owing to their mobility, to escape the action of the German artillery, and defended the pasasge for half an hour. Whole lines of the. enemy were mown down, but always more came on, and it seemed as if the whole of the Duke of Wurtemberg's army was concentrated at this spot. The British were at lengtli forced to retire before the human advance. At noon, the Germans, witli the aid of planks supported on sunken barges, tree trunks, and bodies of horses and men, which had blocked the stream for a week before began crossing the Yser. The main FrancoBelgian forces retired in the direction of Ramseapellc. Two Indian regiments remained in the trenches at a distance of a kilometre from the river, and protected the retreat. When the Indians received orders to quit the trenches a few Held caps were left behind, on which the enemy wasted many cartridges. Soon the Germans rushed forward and occupied the empty trenches. It was 3 o'clock when a low rumble was heard from the west, and, like the rush of a large tidal wave, a devastating stream rushed up the canal, carrying all before it, houses, trees and corpses. A cry of

rttlarm rose from the Germans, but it was too late; the water rose to their wastes, and, panic-stricken, the Germans began a mad rash for higli ground, which, however, was swept by a murderous fire from the Belgians. The enemy were caught between fire and water ami the few who were fortunate enough to escape being drowned or shot, were made prisoners. The ground which had lately been occupied by the TTurtembcrg Brigade, became a vast sheet of water from which emerged only a few telegraph polos.