Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

The Cambria Daily Leader

Nid yw statws neu berchnogaeth hawlfraint yr adnodd hwn yn hysbys.
Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

3 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

BATTLE IN A I BRICKYARD.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

BATTLE IN A BRICKYARD. BRITISH BRAVERY. DIREFUL RESULT OF LYM!IE SHELL EXPLOSIONS. EXPLOSIONS. I ACCURATE ARTILLERY. The following descriptive account, which has been communieatcd by an Eye-witness present with General Head-j quarters, continues and supplements the narrative published on the 9th inst. of tke movements of the British forces and French Armies in immciiiuN; touch with it.— P: 8. The last three 1.. marked by a succor g.IlJ on our light by which we recovered mors of the ground, lost by us on January 25. On Friday, the 5th, tho hostile shelling of our left and centre decreased in in- tenaity. Our guns on our left centre, however, were successful in setting light to one of the enemy's observation sta- tions, and in another quarter put two German guns out of action, if they did not destroy them. The day was fine, and the aircraft on both sides were cor- respondingly active. One of our aviators chased a German aeroplane all the way from a point beliind the centre of our, line to the neighbourhood of Lille, where, after a tight at close qua:.t2 t; mid-air, in which both machines were hit several times, the German descended hurriedly BODle two miles short of his aerodrome. On the night of the 5th-6th we made a luccessful attack on two German sap heads in the brickfields south of La Bassee Canal. From these 'vantage points a fur- ther advance was carried out on the 6th. &t two p.m. our artillery and that of the French concentrated their fire upon the German defence among the brickfields and the area beyond. Our heai-v howitzers took part in thi-s bombardment, -their fire being directed on the railway triangle. The boom of the latter pieces and the detonations of their shell were audible twenty miles away above the roar of othei irtillery, while to those close at hand the shrieking of the great projectiles through the air was most impressive, as were th(- Folumes of smoke and debris thrown up. Destructive Lyddite. I The effect of the lyddite shells was truly lerrific, one house being blown bodily int" the air, and as they burst among the brick rfaaks they created great havoc amongn. the enemy. At 2.15 p.m. an assault wa- iaunched against a strong position 01 keep amongst the stacks of brickghel4, by the Germans. Our storming columns rushed the works from three idæ at once. and captured it with very little ?o?, for, is prisoners aiterwards said, the noise (yi I I the bursting shells was so great and thf elouds of dust with which the defender- were surrounded were so thick that ihov did not observe our men advancing until too late. At the same time trenches to the north of this point, between it and th, :anal, were stormed by another party. By seizing these points we were enabled fo occupy a continuous line southwards from our forward post on the canal, which formed an advantageous position in fron* of the brickfields. We captured ninetrer, amronnded prisoners, in addition to man;. wounded, a trench mortar, and a machine l-in. The Germans left 70 dead on the •round, while our casualties were i aificant. A Stale Stratagem. I The Germans, however, showed no in-! elination to accept this reverse, for in th9 early hours of the 7th a body of them advanced the canal bank shouting out, 'Don't shoot, we are Engineers" This form of stratagem, unfortui&tely for the enemy, has now lost its novelty. Our men held their fire until the .11ppod. sappers were only a few yards away, and | then opened with a machine gun, with the result that the "Engineers" fell back, leaving 30 dead bodies in front of our line. In the afternoon another attack was attempted, but it melted away under our artillery fire, and did not arrive at close quart ers. During the day our heavy artillery caused two explosions in a German heavy battery in this part of the field. A great feature of the recent fighting has been the accuracy of our artillery ire, both in the action of FebAtary 1st ilnd on the 6th and 7th. On the former date our guns accomplished the feat of blowing the Germans out of the trench they were occupying on the embankment, although it was only 40 yards from that which we were holding. On February t Sth also most of the enemy's casualties I were due to our shell fire. The whole of the area both behind and immediately in front of the trenches we now hold was found to be littered with corpses of hun- ireds of Germans killed in various fights rince January 25tli. So accurate was our are on the 6th that three direct hits were obtained by our heavy guns on three jeparate bricks^acks. Our artilery has hera obtained such ascendancy fSiat after the a??sault on that day our troops were actually nMe to put up barbed win fntanglements in front of their tretiehof ta broad daylight without being fired at by the enemy's infantry. The prisoners captured here were de- ipondent and much shaken. Nothing of Interest occurred on the rest of our line luring these two day?. Incendiary Shells. I The Germans rely very much on ineep- liary shell for damaging towns, and in bhe-ir recent bombardment of Armentierei made use of projectiles of this type packed with candles composed of celluloid, phos- phorus, and wax, which material is so in- Bammable that it will ignite if placed in the sun. It has already been mentioned that some tf the prisoners captured by us lately iiave been of comparatively poor physique Cn this connection it is interesting to note I that during the last few days a dead Ger man was found having two medical cer tificates in his pocket stating that he was suffering from consumption. They are both signed by a doctor, and are accom- panied by an application from his father that his son should not be sent on active tervice, as he was suffering from lung trouble. Accurate records of hand-to-hand fight- ing are difficult to obtain, but certain details of the action on January 25 have been established and are now given, finer they convey an idea of the thrilling nature of much of the fighting and of the conduct of our men. It will be rc- mem-bered that about eight a.m. on that day the broke through our line outside Givenchy and entered the village itself, when they were counter-attacked with the bayonet and driven out with great loss. Fighting, however, continued to rage round this place for 6everal hours, German* pressing on in swarms, being mowed down, but yet in plaeft, reaching our trenches,, and in others penetrating beyond them. But even when our line was broken portions of it lontinued to resist, and our irdant- holding them when assailed from the rear remained steady, faced about, lined the parades or back parapet, and met the unemy with rifle and bayonet. j Charged the Trench. j Some of those in the village who had been engaged in clearing the enemy out of tho houses had got somewhat &-catteTod' untp of one party only fifteen remained i together, when they that some of the enemy wero established in our fire trenches just outside. They at once charged down the communication treuch, led by their ofheer, and kiled or captured j all the Germans, forty in number. j In house-to-house fighting also our j soldiers distinguished themselves greatly, As instance of the gallantry displayed, one man attacked a house held by eigut Germans single-handed. He fired at them j and they returned his fire. In order to j set to close quarters, he enlisted the help of two other men. The three men dashed forward through a storm of bullets, broke into the house, and accounted for the eight occupants, four being killed ai-d four led on in triumph as prisoners of war.

I PiPES AND TOBACCO. I-,-

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