Great Britain -- Defenses; Imaginary wars and battles
the Grenadiers, who with their four guns still fought gallantly on
between Sheering and Durrington House.
CHAPTER II.
REPULSE OF THE GERMANS.
The terrible fire of the swarms of Germans who now lined the edges of
Sheering village became too much for the four 4·7 guns on the open
ground to the south.
Their gunners were shot down as fast as they touched their weapons, and
when the German field battery at Newman's End, which had been advanced
several hundred yards, suddenly opened a flanking fire of shrapnel upon
them, it was found absolutely impossible to serve them. A gallant
attempt was made to withdraw them by the Harlow Road, but their teams
were shot down as soon as they appeared. This enfilade fire, too,
decimated the Grenadiers and the remnant of the Scots, though they
fought on to the death, and a converging attack of a battalion from Down
Hall and another from Sheering drove them down into the grounds of
Durrington House, where fighting still went on savagely for some time
afterwards.
Von der Rudesheim had all but attained a portion of his object, which
was to establish his guns in such a position that they could fire on the
main body of the British troops when they entered Sawbridgeworth by the
Cambridge Road. The place where the four guns with the Grenadiers had
been stationed was within 3,000 yards of any part of that road between
Harlow and Sawbridgeworth. But this spot was still exposed to the rifle
fire of the Seaforths who held Quickbury. Von der Rudesheim therefore
determined to swing forward his left, and either drive them back down
the hill towards the river, or at least to so occupy them that he could
bring up his field-guns to their chosen position without losing too many
of his gunners.
By six o'clock, thanks to his enormous local superiority in numbers, he
had contrived to do this, and now the opposing forces with the exception
of the British Grenadiers, who still fought with a German battalion
between Durrington House and Harlow, faced each other north and south,
instead of east and west, as they were at the beginning of the fight.
Brigadier-General Lane-Edgeworth, who was in command of the British, had
been sending urgent messages for reinforcements to the Dunmow Force, but
when its commanding officer finally decided to turn his full strength in
the direction of the firing, it took so long to assemble and form up the
Volunteer regiments who composed the bulk of his command, that it was
past seven before the leading battalion had deployed to assist in the
attack which it was decided to make against the German right. Meantime,
other important events had transpired.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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