LETTER FROM THE TRENCHES.
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Corporal Clifford�s Description of
a Bayonet Charge.
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| BACK THE ROYAL GAZETTE, 9th MARCH, 1915 | |||
| ----ooo---- LETTER FROM THE TRENCHES. --------------- Corporal Clifford�s Description of a Bayonet Charge. --------------- |
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| Many letters have been received in Bermuda from the front from time to time by the friends and relatives of soldiers and are always interesting. We give some extracts from particularly vivid accounts by Lce. Corpl. W. Clifford, 2nd Lincolns, who was on the Governor�s Staff at Mount Langton, during his stay in Bermuda. Beginning by describing the capture of some guns, he says, �The Lincolns were the first to capture German guns, which are now on view in old England. We captured a battery, which comprises 8 guns. Crawling up to the rear of them we then opened fire, killing every German gunner.� This is how he describes a bayonet charge: �We creep out of the trenches and crawl forward as close as possible to the enemy, and at a given nsignal we leap up, and rush forward over the intervening space, which is alive with the Hun�s bullets. During this rush everybody shouts and yells as much as possible, shoots those that come first and then gets to work with the bayonet. I can tell you, when you feel the steel sliding through the flesh, and hear their squeals it leaves a nasty taste in one�s mouth.� Clifford tells how he was with the first Batt. Lincolns at La Bassee when only 25 out of 1,100 mustered after an engagement. He also saw Louis Morris, wounded, and two other of his comrades who were stationed with him at Mount Langton, killed by his side, or as he puts it, �their blood was on my coat.� Clifford�s letter is written from a hospital in England, where he is recovering from several severe wounds. Of course, he is anxious to get to the front again. He was previously in hospital in France with frostbitten feet. | |||
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