ITALY.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 January 1918, Page 5

ITALY.

ARTILLERY ACTIVE. BuITISH MAKE GOOD PRACTICE. Received Jan. 14, 8,50 p.m. London, Jan. 13. Italian official: The artillery lias been active on the Asiago plateau east of the Piave and Vecchia. The British batteries made many direct hits on hostile emplacements on the left bank of the Piave. STORY OF A GREAT CHARGE. ITALIAN HORSEMEN PACED OVERWHELMING ODDS. Italian Headquarters in Northern Italy November 2+.—The Count of Turin, Com-mander-in-Chief of the EOtaliajn Armj which has so distinguished itself in tb , recent operations, was seen at cavalry headquarters just before the starting fop Hie front, and through one of his staff otiicers the correspondent obtained a written recital of the stirring exploits the cavalry performed during the recent eventful days. The document, which was issued by the authority of the Count of Turin, reads like an old-time chronicle of chivalry, yet it is only a plain statement of events that have just transpired. The count is tall and slim and as straight as an arrow. Ho is alert in movement, as though a bundle of nerves. His sharply-cut features are accentuated by a smooth-shaven face that suggests King Alfonso of Spain. He wore the uniform of a general of cavalry with the royal crown between the two stars on his sleeve. The count was with his cavalry division throughout the six days and nights on the drive, westward Jrora the Isonzo front, until the third army was protected until it was re-formed along the present Piave line, and the recital of event* authorised by the count gives some of the extraordinary experiences of the cavalry "The Italian cavalry," says the statement, "proved worthy of the high confidence the country imposed in it. >?o man hesitated, though in the saddle for long hours under the ejehausting rain and exposed to the cold of the nights without shelter. Conscious of its mission as a corps of sacrifice, it pressed through the army moving to the rear and awaited the advance of the enemy masses. "Two cavalry regiments waited in the ' open approach of the invaders. Both colonels had their liotsui. killed under them. Then the enemy army attempted an enveloping movement. Against this menace two squadrons of the' Monteferato cavalry were thrown back when an explosion of one of our ammunition depots that had been abandoned by us nearly destroyed the squadrons, in their entirely. Men, horses, swords, bombs and grenades flew skyward, under the force of the explosion. It was only then that the remnant of this heroic hand fell back. Another cavalry brigade, the statement continues, received orders to hold a village at any cost. The first rush of the enemy was mowed down by ma-chine-gun fire, but their losses were made up by fresh and increasing numbers of troops and an infinite supply of machineguns. "The au," the statement goes on, "resounded as with the roar of their kettle drums, while the flying bullets sounded like a swarm of hornctß. Dismounting from his horse, one of our' generals led a regiment afoot in an assault with the bayonet. For a moment the enemy was turned back, but more enemy masses, thick as ants, reftirned. Their certainty of the prey made them as thirsty as wolves. "Officers, men, and horses were falling 1 ; ammunition spent and no reinforcements behind. Having held for many hours, this brign.de felt its task accomplished, but it would not fall hack and leave one man prisoner. A major, wounded, and therefore not able to be transferred when the order came to abandon the village!, dhoti Wnisetf Head befor* his troops after having saluted them. A charge by the famous White Lancers, which were trained in tho Count of Turin's cavalry school and of which he is a former colonel, receives special attention in the statement "A large patrol of the Kovro Lancers," says the statement, "was enveloped and under a crossfire. The White Lancers wheeled on horse and charge in the face of the machine-guns. Charge followed charge until the colonel and all the commanders but one had fallen; and the last horse was clown. Thus fell Ihe Lancers, wounded, dead, or inevitable prisoners; but all of them were conscious of having accomplished their entire duty with the proud dignity of true cavaliers."