The War Stories of Private Thomas AtkinsMilne, James
History
The War Stories of Private Thomas Atkins
Milne, James
World War, 1914-1918 -- Anecdotes
A party of the Royal Irish Lancers were out scouting and patrolling
one day, when a sergeant-major and a trooper who were ahead came on a
long, straggling line of German transport wagons loaded up, and under
a happy-go-lucky escort. The Lancers, though they didn’t know it,
had cut into the enemy’s line of retreat. The men were got together
quickly, and they moved up the road to where there was an ideal spot
for ambushing the convoy. It had to pass over a narrow stone bridge
that was commanded by a clump of trees, in which our men were able to
take shelter and hide their horses. The escort with the wagons was at
least five times the strength of the squadron of Lancers, but that
didn’t trouble them very much. They waited until the head of the column
was straggling across the bridge, and then they emptied their carbines
into them along a wide front that gave the impression of great force.
The Germans were taken completely by surprise. Their horses started to
rear and plunge, and many men and animals went over into the stream,
being carried away. The motor wagons could not be stopped in time and
they crashed into each other in hopeless confusion. Into this confused
mass of frightened men and horses and wagons that ran amok the Lancers
now charged from two separate points. The Lancers made short work of
the escort at the head of the column, and the officer in command agreed
to surrender all that was under his direct control, though he said he
couldn’t account for the rearguard. When we came up on motors to seize
a position for the purpose of heading off the Germans in retreat, we
found the Lancers waiting there with all their spoil, and getting ready
to receive the rest of the escort in case it should show fight. There
wasn’t much fight left in them, and they surrendered at sight, giving
up the whole supply column: _A Private of the Cameronians_.
All Sorts of Sacrifices
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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