The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of London — John Shaqi
The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of LondonLe Queux, William
Science
The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of London
Le Queux, William
Great Britain -- Defenses; Imaginary wars and battles
“From the steamers there continued to pour hundreds upon hundreds
of soldiers who were towed to land, and then formed up in solid
squares, which got bigger and bigger. Horses innumerable--quite a
thousand I should reckon--were slung overboard from some of the
smaller steamers which had been run high and dry on the beach, and
as the tide had now begun to run down they landed only knee-deep in
water. Those steamers, it seemed to me, had big bilge keels, for as
the tide ebbed they did not heel over. They had, no doubt, been
specially fitted for the purpose. Out of some they began to hoist
all sorts of things, wagons, guns, motor-cars, large bales of
fodder, clothing, ambulances with big red crosses on them,
flat-looking boats--pontoons I think they call them--and great
piles of cooking pots and pans, square boxes of stores, or perhaps
ammunition, and as soon as anything was landed it was hauled up
above high-water mark.
“In the meantime lots of men had mounted on horseback and ridden
off up the lane which leads into Weybourne village. At first half a
dozen started at a time; then, as far as I could judge, about fifty
more started. Then larger bodies went forward, but more and more
horses kept going ashore, as though their number was never-ending.
They must have been stowed mighty close, and many of the ships must
have been specially fitted up for them.
“Very soon I saw cavalry swarming up over Muckleburgh, Warborough,
and Telegraph Hills, while a good many trotted away in the
direction of Runton and Sheringham. Then, soon after they had
gone--that is, in about an hour and a half from their first
arrival--the infantry began to move off, and as far as I could see,
they marched inland by every road, some in the direction of Kelling
Street and Holt, others over Weybourne Heath towards Bodham, and
still others skirting the woods over to Upper Sheringham. Large
masses of infantry marched along the Sheringham Road, and seemed to
have a lot of officers on horseback with them, while up on
Muckleburgh Hill I saw frantic signalling in progress.
“By this time they had a quantity of carts and wagons landed, and a
large number of motor-cars. The latter were soon started, and,
manned by infantry, moved swiftly in procession after the troops.
The great idea of the Germans was apparently to get the beach clear
of everything as soon as landed, for all stores, equipment, and
other tackle were pushed inland as soon as disembarked.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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