From the Trenches: Louvain to the Aisne, the First Record of an Eye-WitnessYoung, Geoffrey Winthrop
History
From the Trenches: Louvain to the Aisne, the First Record of an Eye-Witness
Young, Geoffrey Winthrop
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
In the region in which I have been able to approach the fighting, our
counter-moves were proceeding vigorously and with plenty of confidence.
Amiens is in the overstrung, spy-mania condition of a town but just
free of a hostile army, and again occupied by a friendly but mysterious
military. As I ran in to-night in the dark, narrowly escaping driving
into the river at the shattered bridge of Picquigny, I met the
atmosphere like a thick fog. Sentinel challenges at every corner,
suspicious civilian crowds thronging round if ever we checked. Two
correspondents have been arrested as spies, and cannot be traced. To
get myself and the car out without detention, I start to-morrow at the
first light.
Creil, Sunday.
This has been a day of rather exceptional interest and incident.
A number of hours have been spent in following up a line, and a
direction, of which it has now become indiscreet to write in detail,
but of whose possible importance to the issue of the battle of the
Aisne and Oise those who have followed my account will be already aware.
That Von Kluck, if it is still Von Kluck on the German right, is alive
to its importance, there is evidence in the strong reinforcements
constantly thrust out towards the line Paris-Amiens, to anticipate the
French movements, and in the vigour of the offensive which is pushing
out to the west of Noyon. The conflicts between the patrols and our
flying mitrailleuse-cars have made a distraction in the north to the
unvarying character of reports from the long and terrible ding-dong
battle on the Aisne and Oise.
Even the French papers are saying it to-day. "Keep your eyes also on
the west. Don't be discouraged by the absence of material progress in
that long-drawn conflict between the entrenched armies!"
That is all one may say after a number of hours spent in tense progress
in sight and hearing of friendly and hostile forces. (_Note._--I
was following the development of the French encircling movement, by
Clermont and Lassigny, round the German right wing.)
You are tired probably of reading about races with Uhlans. But they
retain their freshness of excitement for the participants. I must add
yet one more, and that happened only this morning. We were passing
from Moreuil to Montdidier. Outside Braches the wreck of a motor
car, the two hind wheels smashed by some sort of projectile, led to
questions. It had been destroyed, seemingly for practice shooting, by a
body of Uhlans who crossed the line last night. The three occupants had
fled to the village.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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