United States or Guatemala ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Hardee, but it was clearly to be seen that he did not want to. He went into the barn, and came out wearing a pair of rubber boots, and carrying a pair of pincers the "wire-cutting things," as Freddie called them. Wading out into the creek Mr. Hardee snipped the wires of the fence. "There, now you can go on," he said to Mr. Bobbsey, but his tone was not pleasant.
These men, a veritable Forlorn Hope, discarding knapsacks, greatcoats, everything in the shape of impedimenta, even their weapons, and armed only with a stout pair of wire-cutting nippers, dashed out of the ranks like unleashed greyhounds at the word of command, and with a great shout of "Banzai Nippon!" went running and leaping through the fields of young barley, each eager to outdistance all the others.
There was now another interval for bombardment, whilst the gunners were wire-cutting for the attack on the main positions.
"Brown, we'll stop here," commanded the leader, a minute or two later, as the engine was running over a comparatively level section. "The General" was soon motionless, whereupon Watson, peering out from the baggage car, called out: "Anything wrong?" "Only a little wire-cutting to be done," shouted Andrews. Then coming to George, he said: "Look here, my boy, how are you on climbing?"
The damp, ill-ventilated and crowded huts were responsible for a good many cases of sore throat and rheumatism. But there was little time to be sick. In the interval between working parties, bayonet fighting and wire-cutting, the last and most significant preparations for attack were made.
"He has got a life-preserver that looks like an ordinary cane had it specially made. It's quite famous. Men tell me that the knob is a rich, deep, polished vermilion. He'll take on any number of Boches with it single-handed. If there's any sign of wire-cutting, he'll not let the men fire, but will take it on himself, and creep like a Gurkha and do the devils in.
The Infantry arrangements were made satisfactorily, but there was little or no opportunity for the Gunners to observe the result of their wire-cutting, with the result that, when the party went over on the evening of the 5th, they found no gaps. The raiding party advanced in four groups, each group with bombers, bayonet men, and sappers for demolition work, and each under an officer 2nd Lieuts.
They then reopened, and by half-past eight, the wire-cutting being reported completed, an intense bombardment was ordered, under cover of which, and with the assistance of machine-gun fire from aeroplanes, the 181st Infantry Brigade of the 60th Division went forward to the assault.
As a preliminary to the main attack, in order to enable field guns to be brought within effective range for wire-cutting, an attack was made upon the enemy's advanced works on the high ground about a couple of miles south-west of the town, at Hill 1070.
The Turks held on very obstinately to their ground east of the railway, and kept the 74th Division at bay till one o'clock in the afternoon, but the artillery of that Division had for some time been assisting in the wire-cutting in front of the trenches to be assaulted by the 60th Division, and the latter went ahead soon after noon, and with the assistance of one brigade of the 10th Division, had won about 4000 yards of the complicated trench system and most of the Rushdi system by half-past two.
Word Of The Day