A wounded English officer describes the following incident of the German attack between Dixmude and Ypres:
"A German regiment with the flag flying approached our trenches to about 300 yards. It was met by a heavy discharge of our machine guns and rifle fire, and fell back in disorder. Immediately it reassembled some distance away. Once more we saw it advance, with the ranks already thinner. It came to within 100 yards of us, when it was received as before and again beaten back.
"This time the order was sent through our trenches to let them come on to twenty yards. We did so; then the order to fire at will was given. Two-thirds of the regiment had already fallen in the first two attacks, and now the remainder was wiped out. Not one of the assailants got to our trenches."
[FIGHT WITH SHOVELS.]
Soldiers who have been fighting near Roye say that the hostile trenches there are only fifteen yards apart at some points, so that the enemies can hear each other talking. Last week a company of sappers were misled by the darkness right into a German trench, where a squad of Teuton sappers were at work. The men fought in the dark with picks and shovels until rifles also began to crack, whereupon each side drew back.
French cemeteries, with their strong stone tombs, sometimes play an important part in the hostilities. Thus the Germans have intrenched themselves on a cemetery height near Roye and have made it a strong position. The vaults offer a safe shelter against rain and shrapnel, while metallic coffins have been placed along the edge of the trenches as a protection against rifle fire.
["OUR LUCK WAS IN."]
A thrilling incident in the wonderful retreat of the British from Mons is described by Sapper Wells of the Royal Engineers, who passes lightly over his own part in an extraordinary act of heroism.