RUSSIAN SCOUT'S BRAVERY.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 March 1916, Page 6

RUSSIAN SCOUT'S BRAVERY.

DARING EXPLOIT. ■ Petrograd, January. A Russian scout tells the. following story of his successful exploit behind the enemy's linos :'As I have a good knowledge of 'Polish I 'was sent to blow up some bridges in the Austrian rear. I changed my uniform for civilian dress, and, having crossed myself, left our trenches and crawled in the direction of the enemy's positions. On reaching the Austrian lines I suddenly heard voices to my right, so I quickly changed my course to the left, and succeeded in crossing a trench, from which one could only hear m?asnred snoring. "It was a dark nigM, *?•! 'sic. I ventured several stop< fonvaiil, In.t was then unexpectedly met by a' field patrol of fifteen men. The commanding officer (an Austrian) seized me and be" gan questioning me in Polish. He asked who i was, where I had come from, and how I had got there at that late hour. I told him that I was an Austrian-Pcle, and had run away from the Russians in Tarnopol. as (hey had compelled me to dig trendies without any wages. The officer appeared to believe me, and told a Magyar soldier'to lake me to the Stall' of the regiment for examination. "When the guard and I reached the depths of the enemy's positions he ask,ed me for a match, which I readily gave him, as I had a box in my pocket. He ordered me to stop, and I obeyed. He then leant his rifle against a trc-c, and, taking a pipe and tobacco out of his pocket, struck a light. ■ It was still quite dark, and, taking my chance, with my left hand I grasped the rifle, while with my right hand I made a gesture as if I intended to Wow mv nose, With a violent swing I struck the man on the head with the butt-enc of. the rifle, and he fell down without even uttering a cry. "Having satisfied myself that the Magyar was dead, I toe.;- oft' his distinguished conduct medal and searched his pockets, wher- I .ound a book, from which it af'-.-ared that lie had been a teacher in a joff gymnasium. Dragging ihe bo'lv to the nearest ditch, I laid H dowi '■ -,'!e the rifle, and continued my -ini'",- towards the bridge which I was to ilow up. "I wandered about for the rest of the night, and when it became too light to go on .1 lay down between some vegetable beds behind the ruins of a peasant's hut. From here I was able to observe the country, and to find out, from the map which I carried, the places where the bridge, would most probably be. Having spent the day in this position, I renewed my wanderings at the fall of darkness. I reached the first bridge, with the sentry, was blown into On seeing me he called out in German, 'Wer Kommt?' Instead of giving him an answer I ran up to The bridge and threw four hand grenades one after the other. They were well aimed, and the bridge, ith the sentry, was blon into the air. The body fell into the river, and the bridge began to burn. "Not losing a moment, I ran on to the next bridge, which lay half a mile distant. The sentry was standing and staring at the burning bridge without paying any attention to me. Jis I approached I flung a grenade at fidistance of fifteen paces. It struck the man's feet, and both his legs were torn off by the explosion. Then I quickly threw the remaining four grenades, and the •bridge collapsed and : began burning. "My task was accomplished, and I ran away as fast as'l could, and reached the ruined hut where I had spent the previous day. Soon I heard an alarm, which had been raised to catch me. Men . on horseback fired and galloped in search o' me, but luckily they just missed me, and presently they disappeared in the distance. An hour after this uproar I crept out of my hiding-place, and eventually reached the spot where I was first stopped. This time, however, I managed to slip past unnoticed, and continuing on all fours I soon got within our lines again. I was taken to the Staff, my exploit was verified, and I received the St. George's Cross of the third degree."