The London _Chronicle’s_ Boulogne correspondent sends the personal story
of a wounded soldier who has arrived there and who declared he was one
of thirty survivors of a British company of 2,000, who were practically
wiped out by the German artillery. His story follows:
“We were five solid days in the trenches and moved backward and forward
all that time with the varying tide of battle. It was about 2 o’clock in
the morning when the end came. Things had got quieter and our officers
came along the line and told us to get some sleep. We were preparing to
obey when a light or something else gave us away and we found ourselves
in an inferno of bullets.
“We could do nothing. Down upon us the shrapnel hailed and we fell by
the score. Practically at the same time the enemy’s Maxims opened fire.
We were almost without shelter when we were caught and we crawled along
in front to find cover. Leave everything and retire was the order, and
we did what we could to obey. I don’t know how long it lasted, but when
dawn came I could see not more than thirty men at the most were left out
of about 2,000.”