The enemy began to waver as the carnage amongst them increased, and they soon broke and fled before the bayonets like rabbits before the shot of a gun. Still the slaughter went on, with here and there a fierce hand-to-hand exchange, where Germans with their retreat cut off fought to the last. We knew what our men had come through, and we did not forget them. There were about 1,900 of us in that charge against 20,000 Germans, and the charge itself lasted about four hours. We took close upon 4,000 prisoners, and captured a lot of their guns. In the course of the fighting I got a cut from a German sword—they are very much like saws—and fell into a pool of water, where I lay unconscious for twenty-three hours. I was picked up by one of the 9th Lancers. The _Liberté_ gives the following details of the German occupation of Péronne:— The Germans arrived outside Péronne on August 28, at five in the afternoon. French Dragoons and Alpine regiments fought with the greatest courage to oppose their advance, and enabled the French troops to retire in good order. The Germans had guns in position in the woods at Racogne, overlooking Péronne, and from the east, on the left bank of the Somme, they shelled the town, which greatly suffered. The enemy entered Péronne at 5.30. The soldiers behaved disgracefully, shouting madly and firing shots at windows, in order to terrorise the inhabitants. At the Town Hall they summoned the authorities, and as none came forward the Germans burned the sub-prefecture building and surrounding houses, after having thrown petrol over them with pumps and then using grenades. The whole of the main square would have been completely destroyed, had it not been for the courageous intervention of a priest. Canon Caron, who, after an interview with the German officers, succeeded in obtaining a promise that the passage of the enemy through Péronne should not be marked by the complete destruction of this ancient town. Three inhabitants were selected to take over the administration of the town, and the Germans asked for four hostages, who, however, were released after three days. During the occupation, which lasted from August 27 till September 14, the Germans behaved in the most arbitrary manner. They were constantly requisitioning provisions, and searched and looted all houses and shops, and they sent back to Germany whole trains filled with furniture stolen from deserted houses.