OCR Text |
Show BLACK TROOPS I IN DARING ACTj By ANDREA BEAUMONT. Northeast Frnnre Nov. 11 These nre the details of a wonderful charge ly Patlians near Ypres The East Indians were nsslgned the mission of watching for the approach of the Ger mans during the night, A lieutenant with a patrol of the Path&ns set out In the dark and soon reported that the YVuei ttemberg troops, apparently several thousand strong, were In the neighborhood of Hurlcbeko As a preliminary the East Indians had rut the throats of a few sentries and fired on others, so that the advance ad-vance of the Germans was checked. An entire battalion of Pathans then set out under cover of night, creeping creep-ing over the wet grass and actually stealing behind tho outposts of the Germans. As he did so, each Pathnn liad his battle knife between his teeth ready to pounce upon any sentry that should try to give the alarm Thoy were told, however, to be quit as secrecy was one of the conditions of success in this daring ambush. A body of Moroccan troops and several detachments of Goumiers approached ap-proached likewise at each flank and before anyone had heard the bugle call the Germans were attacked on every side. In the dark the Indians seemed to be everywhere, terrifying the Germans Ger-mans by their sudden leaps and tigerlike tiger-like attacks. There was an indescribable indescrib-able struggle. German machine guns and artillery wildly opened fire and the Infantry' scattered its bullets liberally lib-erally In all directions except where their assailants lay concealed. Behind Be-hind the creeping Pathans were Mo- n ft-nA finnmlnro onrl tlion the regular French and colonial infantry were hurried to their support. Further Fur-ther back the French artillery spoke with a thundering voice. The battlo was raging at Its helchi before the Germans really knew from which side they were being attacked, at-tacked, and disorder spread among their ranks. The few trenches in which they might have taken refuge were not deep enough, and there was nothing for them to do but to run and seek shelter in the rear By that time strong contingents were moved on to their support and the order was given for them to recover re-cover ground the had lost. The French troop6, with the East Indians still in the lend, let the Ger mans come on until they were within 100 yards, when machine guns, which had been moved In time to be gotten Into action mowed down the first three lines of the advancing host Nearly every man of the first German Ger-man detachment was wounded or killed and in a short time the Pathans followed by the Moors, rushed Into Ilarlebeke and slaughtered everyone that did not surrender An entire battalion of the Wuert-tembcrg Wuert-tembcrg troops was driven Into one of the streams flowing into the Lys, and only escaped from being annihilated annihi-lated by surrendering The attack, in which the Pathans played such a thrilling part, lasted just five hours |