BRITISH CARS' FINE SERVICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1917, Page 7

BRITISH CARS' FINE SERVICE.

INVALUABLE AID TO RUSSIANS. (Times' Petrograd Correspondent). Headquarters, Seventh Army, July 28. •I send you a full account of the operations of the 'British armored cars, which, In the opinion of the Russian commanders, have contributed greatly towards extricating their armies from a nliglit that at first, appeared to be hopeless. Commander Locker-Lampson. whose headquarters were then at Kozowa, near Brzezany, learned on the evening of July £0 that Jezierna had fallen. He was summoned to the Staff, and asked to withdraw the whole of his force from their positions and hold the right flank. The enemy had advanced, forming a salient, and the .Staff hoped to be able to attack along the lino Kuropatniki-Tau-row-Jeziema, and to use our cars to turn them back. All our armored cars were collected it Kozowa that night, and none of us had Rny sleep, as we were sent early next day to be attached to a Cossack regiment. The squadrons of cars, which operated together, were spread fanwise across the front from Kuropatniki to the Tarnopol road. Rumors had already cpread that the Russians were deserting their trenches and fleeing, and certainly their moral was bad ou our arrival. Wo reported ourselves to the Gtleadquarterr of a Cossack division, but nobody there could give any detailed instructions. The corps commander believed that our force might 'keep the infantry from running away, A lieutenant-commander took the right-hand sector north of the Tarnopol road and dashed ahead through the villages of Halenkow and Olesin (due north of Kozowa) very successfully. The cars outdistanced the Russian infantry by many hundred yards. The cars under his command got within close range of the advancing Germans and Austrian.?. They delayed the advance for several hours, fighting incessantly, then fell back as the German and Austrian artillery camo up. The Russians remained in their trenches, as long as the armored cars stayed with them, but as the Austrians advanced and he Germans were crying out "Hurrah!" the Russians of their own accord flung down their rifles and ran for their . ves. 'Dcspito this shocking defection we attempted to keep the enemy back in order to stem the retreat, but it was impossible, We had to give way, and the fleeing Russians crowded our cars, breaking them down, so that we lost three, which we had to abandon. An exactly similar state of affairs occurred with the other squadrons, which checked the Austrians and managed to keep the advancing infantry back until j their artillery arrived, rendering further resistance imposible.. The Russian t«treat became a rout, and though we went into action time and again during the day the effect produced was only local. A panic ensued at Kozowa. Everybody ran away. We did our best to stop the runaways. All our stores were removed the following night. The enemy began shelling Kozowa, some of our men wore wounded by shrapnel, and the staff ordered us to retire. Great craters filled the road from Kozowa to Krzywe, impeding the retreat to Podhajce, whete we arrived safely. The only regiment that uid good work that day was one of the Finland Divisions. The cars covered our retreat. [Every car that went into action fired over 3000 rounds.

By the evening of the 22nd our force was transferred to an aerodrome some miles from Podhnjce on the road to Monastorzvska. The doctor and the English nurses, who liad been doing splendid work in the hospital at Podhajce, left with our column. The same day the Staff of the corps to which our force was attached had been transferred to Bialokernica, a few miles east of Podhajee. vie were ordered to reconnoitre and destroy any remaining stores. One heavy car reached Teliacze without sighting the enemy. It found that the stores had been destroyed by Russian gunner?. Kozowa was burning, but was apparently unoccupied. Tlio Austrian advance was incredibly slow, and both these places, within a few miles of the enemy's original lines, were ■till unoccupied two days later. Other cars went north along" the road to Krzywc, also without meeting the enemy There had been a delay near Podhajee by a shocking panic among the troops and transport. On the afternoon of the 22nd our transport column and damaged cars proceeded south to Buczacz, which was also in a state of panic, as already described in a previous message.

The next day our cars were trans, ferred to another corps belonging to the aamo army and ordered to operate along the Bucza'cz-Tarnopol road. A section went into action with four cars. The situation was desperate. There were great gaps in the front corps caused by the flight of whole divisions. The corps commander had no information of the whereabouts of the enemy or of his rwn troops. Our cars were able to give liim invaluable information, and besides tlicy kept the enemy at bay. The hottest fighting occurred at tho villages of Pantaiicha and Darachoiv, about 10 miles west of Trembo-.v! A'j the latter place we ambushed the enemy in the houses and courtyards, ('".strcying them wholesale. During that night, thanks to the respite which we had been able to ali'ord them, the Russians rallied, entrenched themselves, and even drove out 1 lie enemy from some of their positions, On the 24th our cars operated va the high road from Darachow to Buczacz. At 4 o'clock that morning the corps commander summoned Commander LockcrLampsov to the village of Laskowce and told him that two divisions had bolted, leaving a gap of 15 miles north of Laskowce as far as Trembowla. Our ears were entrusted with the task of protecting this huge space. . Working along the road between Chmielowka and Darachow, they did great execution among the advancing infantry, mainly Austrians. LieutenantCommander Smiles came up later with two cars which had been repaired. Commander Locker-Lampson himself went into uction. He spotted an Austrian officer standing on a knoll, drove a car In that direction, and came plump into a large force of the enemy at a rar?e of BO yards. Opening fire, he mowed then: down and got out safe. The cars eventually left Chmielowka owing to severe shell fire. The enemy did not venture to make a direct attack on Chmielowka but, making a detour over fields where the cars were unable to operate, tried to surround the village. The attempt was unsuccessful.

Our cars wore invincible on the road, »nd fought a series of rearguard actions the whole of the rest of the day, frequently under a fierce fire frohi ilu> enemy's field guns. One car had it* engine complotelv blown out bv a JUaef-

I hit and had to be abandoned. The crew removed tlie guns and materia) and withdrew in safety. Another car was struck by a shell which smashed a plate, wounding all the crew, including Sub-Lieuten-ant Wallace. Driver Swan, although badl? vvouwled, drove the car out of action. Another car pot 011 lire, but was safely removed. A car with Commander Locker-Lamp.ion had its dynamo damaged by a splinter. All the squadrons re-formed that evening at Buczacz. The whole of the '2sth was given to patrol work within the triangle Bucza. •- Czortkow-Tronihowla. On the 20th, at tho village of Kobyiowloki, half-way between * /.urtkov." and Trembowla, the cars got into action for the fire time with German cavalrv, which all immediately decamped. ■Some of our men were tor 20 hours in their seats In the armored cars. The corps commander said we had given him a respite of 21 hours by filling a gap which otherwise would have enabled the enemy s cavalry, motors, and mounted infantry a chance to cut our line of retreat. The extraordinary feature about these operations wti3 that the British armored car division practically held up tho Germans on the whole army front. This exploit, was rendered possible by excellent judgment in selecting such a splendid I'uad ior operations as the, highway between liuczacz and Tarnopol Oar cars were repeatedly under artillery fire at a range not exceeding 2000 yards. On the 27th we continued to cover the Russian retreat, which was becoming more orderly, thanks to the stern measures applied by General Korfiiloff. The enemy was evidently unwilling to advance against our cars without the support of his heavy guns, which were alow in coming up.

Our wounded left yesterday, homeward hound. All are doing well except one serious case. Before their departure, Commander Locker-Lampson, in the presence of the men, presented tho Crosses of St. George sent by General Ivorniloff to eight of the wounded.

This account would not be complete without mention of the, gallantry of the men of the Belgian armored cars who co-operated with us on our right flank throughout the retreat. The force, under the command of Ma jor Scniet, was in a very exposed position at the time of the rupture of the front, but succeeded in falling back on Jezierna on July 20 snd on Tarnopol on tho 21st. They wire l then ordered by the Commander of the 11th Army to advance on the roads to Tarnopol, Jezierna and Brzezany. The enemy was encountered before reaching Jezierna and Plotycze. No Russian infantry were in sight, all having fled. The Germans were marching towards the Jezierna road, and the Austrians to Plotycze on the Brzezany road. Russian armored ears were also operating on these highways, but neither the Belgians nor the Russians could venture to do much without the support of infantry. On the following days the whole oi' tlu Belgian-forces operated south-west and south of Tarnopol. The Comtc d'Apremont was severely wounded,.as also wa-s the Comte de Lidkerke, tile casualties altogether numbering 30. Fortunately our Belgian Allies sustained no losses of cars. .

Later. The latest information from the Stafi is rather more hopeful. Panics among the retreating columns are suppressed ruthlessly. Three divisions of cavalry Jiave taken up positions across the whole front of the retreat. Deserters are shot. All attempts to spread panic arc put down by prompt executions, and all plundering is similarly dealt with. 'Deserters, spies, and agitators, who previously enjoyed complete immunity ynder the Committee system, lie dead on the highways, a piece of paper pinned to the corpses notifying the retreating columns that "Here lies a traitor to hit country." Tho infantry itself is now taking a hand in acts of retribution against deserters. 1 note the almost complete disappearance of red badges and other symbols which accompanied the demoralisation of the Army.