Under An Unanswered And Therefore An Unaimed Fire From The Heavy
Guns The Irish Infantry Moved Forward Upon The Points Which They
Had Been Ordered To Attack.
The Dublins led, then the Connaughts,
the Inniskillings, and the Borderers.
Incredible as it may appear
after the recent experiences of Magersfontein and of Stormberg, the
men in the two rear regiments appear to have been advanced in
quarter column, and not to have deployed until after the enemy's
fire had opened. Had shrapnel struck this close formation, as it
was within an ace of doing, the loss of life must have been as
severe as it was unnecessary.
On approaching the Drift - the position or even the existence of
which does not seem to have been very clearly defined - it was found
that the troops had to advance into a loop formed by the river, so
that they were exposed to a very heavy cross-fire upon their right
flank, while they were rained on by shrapnel from in front. No sign
of the enemy could be seen, though the men were dropping fast. It
is a weird and soul-shaking experience to advance over a sunlit and
apparently a lonely countryside, with no slightest movement upon
its broad face, while the path which you take is marked behind you
by sobbing, gasping, writhing men, who can only guess by the
position of their wounds whence the shots came which struck them
down. All round, like the hissing of fat in the pan, is the
monotonous crackle and rattle of the Mausers; but the air is full
of it, and no one can define exactly whence it comes.
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