Show MACHINE GUNS SAVE BAPAUME Germans Withstand Terrific I Bombardment and Mo Mow Down British lit lIe By Th Sp l 1 Ne t alc BERLIN Jan 27 A 1 A German captain captain cap cap- tam tain who W was lS bad badly wounded 1 near furnishes the following de description description de- de of or the tho last terrible of the Somme battle Pierre and had been re wrested from us but the tho British found themselves themselves them them- selves under a terrific fire of ot our ar artillery artillery artillery ar- ar tillery from Crom the moment the they entered the conquered positions The English commanders evidently understood that the tho villages es were without strategic value to them as long as tho hel heights of oC Serre remained in the possession of I th the Germans After Arter several vain at attempts attempts at- at tempts to storm the tho heights the they de decided le- le I at-I to make a gigantic effort cHort to break through and to reach at an any cost Hundreds of ot new British guns gun of or orall all were brought up while General Hal concentrated enormous infantry reserves and several cavalry brigades behind his front When everything e was read ready for the great I smash the most fearful bombardment I In the history of the world began For three days l English ng guns uns threw an incessant hail han of oC shells upon the German positions Our trenches were leveled our wire torn to shreds and our shelters blasted out of or the earth The third nl night ht tho the enemy increased his drum fire tire to a violence that surpassed surpassed sur sur- passed all Imagination in its Iti terrors Shortly after alter 7 o'clock In n the morning ning the British infantry mostly young men without experience under the command o ot of Inexperienced and still younger officers r left lert its trenches to I attack The Englishmen evidently be believed be- be bei i that after their awful bombardment bombard bombard- bombardI I mont ment the they would meet no resistance because they ran ahead laughing and shouting Mot Most t of oC tho the young soldiers seemed to consider the attack great sport but a terrible surprise awaited them when they came under the fire of the German machine guns a a. few Cew minutes later Almost In a il moment several thousand men were mowed down Other waves came and pressed ahead only onh to fall taU like ripe wheat under under un un- un- un der the scythe Wading through h the deep mud and climbing over heaps of corpses the British force tried to advance against our positions on the heights in a semi semi- circle Near ear Grandcourt and de Butte-de- I blood flow flowed in streams I in terrific to hand-to-hand combats Th The battle raged all day on a front o of about eight miles but our troops repulsed all attacks attack of oC the numerically superior forces of oC the enemy with the bravery of oC martyrs and our oui mysterious machine machine machine ma ma- chine guns did terrible execution The En Englishmen ran into our fire in de detachments de- de 1 of oC hundreds and paid on nn awful price in blood for tor the few tew yar yards 1 I of ground gained by them I |