[13 ] Given in the British official narrative.
[14 ] A correspondent of the Paris Gaulois, describing the annihilation of a brigade (nearly 9,000) Wurtembergers by the floods on November 4, wrote: "At midday, the Wurtembergers, in formidable numbers, had succeeded, under the protection of their artillery, in crossing the Yser on planks. "After a week's fighting the river was choked with sunken boats, trunks of trees, bodies of men, and carcasses of horses. It was over a veritable bridge of corpses that the enemy passed. "Meanwhile the Allied troops had taken up a position a little in the rear, some regiments remaining in position to cover this movement. Massed on the left bank of the Yser, the enemy's infantry prepared to attack. Some caps skilfully arranged over empty trenches drew the German artillery, which wasted its shells on the decoy. Then the Wurtembergers advanced, and were astonished to find, instead of bodies of the enemy, nothing but a few caps. Just then a loud rumbling noise was heard in a westerly direction. The noise gradually became clearer, resembling the rush of the tide. Suddenly a flood of seething water burst upon the astonished Germans. Trees and corpses were carried on the current, which swept everything before it. Cries of rage and terror came from the German lines. It was too late. Down came the torrent, and in a few moments the enemy's trenches were filled. The terrified herd of Wurtembergers fled to the high ground, to get clear of the inundation, but from the heights the Allied artillery poured volleys of shrapnel into them. The enemy was taken between water and fire. Those who escaped drowning succumbed to our bullets or shells. A few came to our lines, thus evading death by captivity. This was the end of the Wurtemberg brigade."
[15 ] Other examples are the Spur at Notre Dame de Lorette near Arras; the ridge north of Beausejour in Champagne; the Crete de Combres at Les Eparges on the Meuse; the Bois de Pietre on the Moselle; and Hartmannsweilerkopf in Alsace.
[16 ] The correspondent who sent to the London News Agency a picturesque story of the battle (published in the Daily Telegraph of April 19, 1915), says: "Many strange incidents were observed. In one cellar a portly German was found dancing about in an agony of fear, screaming in a high-pitched voice in English: 'Mercy! Mercy! I am married' 'Your missus won't thank us for sending you home!' retorted one of the men who took him prisoner, and his life was spared. A Rifle Brigade subaltern, falling over a sandbag into a German trench, came upon two officers, hardly more than boys, their hands above their heads. Their faces were ashen grey; they were trembling. One said gravely in good English: 'Don't shoot! I am from London also!' They, too, were mercifully used."
Transcriber's Note:
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed.