Great Britain -- Defenses; Imaginary wars and battles
Helpless though they felt themselves to be, the garrison at Colchester
did all they could. All available cavalry had been pushed out past
Ipswich, north to Wickham Market, Stowmarket, and across to Bury St.
Edmunds, only to find on Wednesday morning that they were covering the
hasty retreat of the small body of cavalry who had been stationed at
Norwich. They, gallantly led by their officers, had done everything
possible to reconnoitre and attempt to pierce the enemy's huge cavalry
screen, but in every instance entirely in vain. They had been
outnumbered by the squadrons of independent cavalry operating in front
of the Germans, and had, alas! left numbers of their gallant comrades
upon the roads, killed and wounded.
Norwich had, therefore, on Wednesday morning fallen into the hands of
the German cavalry, utterly defenceless. From the Castle the German flag
was now flying, the Britannia Barracks were being used by the enemy,
food had all been seized, the streets were in a state of chaos, and a
complete reign of terror had been created when a company of British
Infantry, having fired at some Uhlans, were ruthlessly shot down in the
street close by the Maid's Head.
In addition to this, the Mayor of Norwich was taken prisoner, lodged in
the Castle, and held as surety for the well-behaviour of the town.
Everywhere Von Kronhelm's famous proclamation was posted, and as the
invaders poured into the city the inhabitants looked on in sullen
silence, knowing that they were now under German military discipline,
the most rigorous and drastic in the whole world.
A special issue of the "Times" in the evening of the 3rd September
contained the following vivid account--the first published--of the
happenings in the town of Goole, in Yorkshire:
"GOOLE, _September 3_.
"Shortly before five o'clock on Sunday morning the night operator of the
telephone call-office here discovered an interruption on the trunk-line,
and on trying the telegraphs was surprised to find that there was no
communication in any direction. The railway station, being rung up,
replied that their wires were also down.
"Almost immediately afterwards a well-known North Sea pilot rushed into
the post office and breathlessly asked that he might telephone to
Lloyd's. When told that all communication was cut off he wildly shouted
that a most extraordinary sight was to be seen in the River Ouse, up
which was approaching a continuous procession of tugs, towing flats, and
barges filled with German soldiers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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