The hardest fight, in my opinion, took place around a block of farm
buildings, with a windmill in the centre and cattle quietly grazing
close by. There was a Franco-British force of not more than 800
bayonets in possession, and near by some British cavalry were posted.
Under cover of darkness the Germans made a sudden sweep round the
position, threw back the cavalry after a hot fight, and had the
little force completely cut off from headquarters. They brought up
artillery and began to batter down the walls of the buildings, and
when they had made a big gap in the wall of the stable, a battalion
of infantry made a rush for it with the bayonet. The defenders stood
there quietly shooting down the Germans as they came along, but it was
worse than shooting mosquitoes with automatic pistols. They hit many,
but there were others behind, and they kept coming on. The defenders
fired their last shot, and the building was rushed by the Germans, who
simply swarmed in. Into the corner the handful of men went with their
bayonets, determined to sell their lives dearly. The Germans stood at
the doorway firing into them, and when only three remained standing the
Germans rushed on them and overpowered them. From the stable the attack
was then developed in like fashion against the rest of the buildings.
One of the gables was sent crumbling down, exposing the defenders to
a withering rifle fire, and then the roof toppled in with a crash,
burying all that were left of the brave men beneath the ruins. Not a
man in that building escaped unhurt, and of the whole force engaged
in defending the position only twenty were captured by the Germans
unwounded. We avenged them finely the next day: _A Private of the
Warwickshire Regiment_.