Roger Ingpen

“ The casualties were pouring in upon us now, and the worst cases still lay in the trenches, from which they could not be moved until the fire slackened, or darkness came. The injured men told of brave and dogged fighting in the trenches, of an opposing host that seemed without number, of casualties so numerous that they seemed to us an exaggeration, and later of trenches that were being enfiladed by German shrapnel. Evidently the French, who, we understood, were on our flank, had been late in arriving, or else they had retreated, leaving our flank exposed. ”

“ A captain of a French infantry regiment reached the Gare du Nord yesterday, with his left leg shattered by a shell; but the severity of his wound did not prevent him describing the battle of Guise as he saw it. “The Germans who engaged us were,” he said, “the élite of their army—the 10th Corps and the Imperial Guard—but our troops gave proof of their extreme bravery and of their marvellous dash. They received heroically the German thrust, and very soon took a vigorous offensive, which was crowned with success. The German masses were forced to bend back, and their losses were enormous. ”

“ None of our armies has been broken. If some have sustained too perceptible losses, the gaps will be immediately filled from the depôts, and the call for recruits assures us162 for the morrow new resources in men and energy to endure and fight.
That must be the watchword of the allied British, Russian, Belgian, and French armies—to endure and to fight whilst on the sea the British aid us to cut the communications of our enemies with the world; to endure and to fight whilst the Russians continue to advance to deal a decisive blow at the heart of the German Empire. ”

“ Of all the people moving in advance of the brutal German line, one’s sympathies must go out to the women. “It has been my good fortune (continues Mr. Massey) —for though it was a sight which made one feel the terrible penalties inflicted by war, it brought out vividly the nobler side of humanity—to be very near the fighting line in the past two days, and I have watched many a case of women’s heroism. ”

“ Still the slaughter went on, with here and there a fierce hand-to-hand exchange, where Germans with their retreat cut off fought to the last. We knew what our men had come through, and we did not forget them.
There were about 1,900 of us in that charge against 20,000 Germans, and the charge itself lasted about four hours. We took close upon 4,000 prisoners, and captured a lot of their guns. In the course of the fighting I got a cut from a German sword—they are very much like saws—and fell into a pool of water, where I lay unconscious for twenty-three hours. ”

“ If we have heavy losses the enemy have even greater.
Officers tell me that our men fought with cool gallantry. They never wavered an149 instant. But the pressure was irresistible. Column after column, squadron after squadron, mass after mass, the enemy came on like a battering ram crushing everything in its way. Shattered to fragments by shot and shell, the hordes of the enemy seemed instantly to renew themselves; they swarmed on all sides. Nothing but the sheer pluck, the steadfast courage and the unflinching determination of our soldiers saved the army from annihilation. ”

“ Everybody is aware of the tremendous efforts the enemy have been making to strike at the capital of France. They have been content with demonstrations on the east and with masking the fortress positions along that border; they have descended in hordes from the north; they have poured out their blood like water from the Meuse to the Somme ”

“ The operations in which you are engaged will, for the most part, take place in a friendly country, and you can do your own country no better service than in showing yourselves in France and Belgium in the true character of a British soldier.
Be invariably courteous, considerate, and kind. Never do anything likely to injure or destroy property, and always look upon looting as a disgraceful act. You are sure to meet with a welcome and to be trusted; your conduct must justify that welcome and that trust. Your duty cannot be done unless your health is sound. ”

“ Sir John French therefore ordered a retirement, which began on Sunday evening and continued till the following morning. But the men fell back unwillingly, while they engaged in a terrific conflict with the oncoming forces of the enemy. Everything possible was done by the Germans to harass the British and to convert their withdrawal into a rout. With the aid of powerful searchlights, which continuously swept towards the country selected for the retirement of our troops, the enemy endeavoured to deprive them of the advantage of the night, and covered them with a murderous hail of shot and shell. ”

“ The arrival of the reinforcements and the continued advance delighted the troops, who were full of zeal and anxious to press on.
Quite one of the features of the campaign, on our side, has been the success attained by the Royal Flying Corps. In regard to the collection of information it is impossible either to award too much praise to our aviators for the way they carried out their duties, or to overestimate the value of the intelligence collected, more especially during the recent advance. ”

“ Around Charleville is a semi-circular sweep of hills. On these the French artillery was posted, the guns being dug in and hidden from the eyes of German scouts. The Germans were seen coming over the three bridges leading into the town. They were not opposed for a long time, and their numbers grew rapidly. Suddenly the three bridges were blown up, and the retreat was cut off. The destruction of the bridges was the signal to the guns on the high ground to begin, while the riflemen in ambush poured a terrible fire into an enemy who had a moment before believed they were occupying a deserted town. ”

“ On Sunday morning we learned from wounded soldiers on their way to Maubeuge that the battle was engaged all along the line, and shortly afterwards we heard the sound of heavy firing to the north. From noon onwards we could distinctly see the flight of shrapnel through the air, and from the top of the motor-house, situated on rising ground, could follow the phases of the artillery duel.
We soon saw that the Germans’ fire was badly directed. They rarely hit their mark. ”

“ At one time the regiment had fallen back on a large farmhouse, but a number of shells from the German artillery quickly reduced the building to a heap of débris, and they were forced to evacuate the farm. During the succeeding night Captain Trigona and a small body of men got separated from the other portion of the troops. When daylight broke they found themselves wandering in a country swarming with the enemy’s cavalry. They were completely cut off from the Allies’ forces, but succeeded in reaching a French village without being molested by the Germans. ”

“ The very worst eventuality to be considered is a successful raid of the vanguard of what may be left of the German advancing column into Paris. The German advance has undoubtedly been very strong, and has not been withstood with success anywhere up till now. The rush may at this moment have been stopped. Should it not be, and should the desperate onrush of a certain number of German army corps break through the French army, the enemy would come up against the forts surrounding Paris. ”

“ Here they rested and waited, not dreaming that a weakened left wing would cause the whole French line to retire and force a re-assembling on positions further south. But strategy is left to men in France, and when word was sent round that the inhabitants of Charleville should leave their dwellings, the cavalry officer’s wife and children gave up seats in the last south-bound train to old people and trudged over rolling ground for thirty kilometres before they reached a railway line which still provided a train for civilians. ”

“ You got a true insight into French patriotism when, instead of hearing complaints of hardships, you were questioned as to the latest news from the battle-line. And if you knew less than mother and boy you122 forgave the look of pity which followed your answer. You, they thought, should be where the British soldiers were. And this small family, which I watched for eight hours during a dreary progress away from a sternly-fought area, was but a type of thousands of others. Truly war brings out the best, as well as the worst, of humanity. ”

“ The German cavalry have excellent mounts, and the horses are well trained. Somehow the men haven’t got the same grit as our chaps. When they hear our yell and see our swords they turn pale, and want to be off. If it wasn’t for their officers I believe they’d never face us.”
The Rev. Owen Spencer Watkins, who was one of the chaplains attached to a Field Ambulance of the British Expeditionary Forces, contributed to the Methodist Recorder a story of the retreat with the army from Mons to Paris in care of the wounded. ”

“ For several weeks sanguinary combats have taken place between our heroic troops and the enemy’s army. The bravery of our soldiers has gained for them at several points marked successes, but to the north the pressure of the German forces has compelled us to retire. ”

“ We all had wonderful escapes, with shrapnel shell bursting continuously, high explosive shells, also; houses burning and falling down from the shell fire; the intermittent rifle fire, with every now and then furious bursts of fire when the Germans attacked.
Our biggest fight so far took place at Landrecies. The Germans attacked us in the town furiously. They brought their guns to within fifty yards of us in the dark on the road, and opened point-blank fire. Our gunners brought up a gun by hand, as no horse could have lived, and knocked at least101 one of the German guns out first shot. ”

“ Shifting the scene for a time to the operations on the French lines, we obtain a view of the fighting in the neighbourhood of Charleroi on the eve of the great battle on the Belgian frontier, from the description of a correspondent to a Paris paper, and communicated by Mr. A. Beaumont:—
Our troops, he said, in conformity with the plan laid down for them are harassing the Germans on the right and the left banks of the Meuse, keeping in constant contact with them, killing as many of their scouting parties as possible. ”

“ There are no troops in the world, however courageous they may be, who can stand against a bayonet attack of our African soldiers. Unhappily, our charge was broken by a withering fire from machine guns which the Germans had concealed in the ruins of an old factory. We had to retire with severe loss,55 but it is consoling to think that the Prussian Guard must have suffered at least as heavily. ”

“ W. T. Massey, of the Daily Telegraph staff, wrote that great care was exercised that wounded should not meet and discuss the situation with civilians. Here and there one finds, he said, a non-commissioned officer or private who has been in the fighting line, but they tell you they really know little of what is going on. A Hussar he talked to said he had not been in any serious fighting, but he regarded the “charge” as the principal rôle of cavalry, because he admitted that he was frequently within rifle shot of the enemy and had been under fire six times for considerable periods. ”

“ When they got into action with tunics open, and sometimes without tunics at all, they flung themselves at the German horsemen in a manner which surprised even their own officers, who had themselves expected great things of them. The Uhlans, whose name and fearful fame had spread terror among the Belgian peasants and the frontier villages of France, were just the sort of men the British troopers were waiting for. The Britishers, mostly Londoners, who, as Wellington said, make the best cavalry soldiers in the world, were dying to have a cut at them ”

“ On the orders of General Joffre our troops and the British troops took up positions on the covering line, which they would not have left had not the admirable Belgian effort enabled them to enter Belgium. They are intact.
26 Our cavalry has not suffered at all. Our artillery has affirmed its superiority. Our officers and our soldiers are in the best physical and moral state.
In consequence of the orders given the fighting will change its aspect for some days. The French will remain for a time on the defensive. At the proper time chosen by headquarters it will resume a vigorous offensive. ”

“ In those places where the strain was felt to be overpowering, especially on the left, some further support was given by our cavalry, who did splendid service in checking the enemy’s89 advance. When a battery of heavy German guns was playing havoc with our trenches, and the force of our artillery was beginning to lose effect, an order was given to the 9th Lancers to put the enemy’s guns out of action, and under a terrific storm of shell and shrapnel the order was carried out by a daring cavalry charge. ”