BRITISH REPULSE GERMANS AT SOISSONS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2262, 23 September 1914, Page 5

BRITISH REPULSE GERMANS AT SOISSONS

MEN SMERMEIESS HORRORS POM BATTLE FOR ADVANTAGEOUS POSITIONS : .(tteo. September 23j 0.30 a.m.) London, September 21. Mr. Philip Gibbs, war correspondent of the. "Daily Chronicle," cabling from Chalons on Saturday, says that when the' great storm was raging at Soissons on Thursday and Friday, flooding the trenches, the British had the most trying time of the war, ana their tried nerves and souls were tried to. the last point of human endurance. Several who were left in the trenches on a special mission looked as though they had been through a torture chamber. . They suffered nameless horrors, and wore chilled to the bone, shaking in every limb. Nevertheless, there was no "grousing." They were an army' of "dirty. mudlarks, unshaven and tottering, but were still confident and »s ready to joke as ever. ■•■.■' The strength of the German position made it very difficult for the British to cross the marshland intersected by rivers and canals. At present it is utterly impossible for infantry,'cavalry, and heavy guns to oross the swamps. The German 11-inch guns on the surrounding hills aie giving a lot of trouble ■to the British gunners. Covered by; an incessant artillery duel for days both sides have been-entrenching and rushing; over open ground with rifle fire and bayonet charges in order to obtain advantageous position's and further entrenchments .'■' iV '•'■'.. * The Britieh showed superiority in the battle for the trenches, and gained good ground, though at heavy cost. With the oxperience of the Boer War, the British were far better than the enomy in taking advantage of every scrap of cover. Fighting in open formation on'several ocoasions, they took trenches which by all rules of war were impregnablo. >. The- British, assisted by Zouaves, who repeatedly charged under the most aeadly fire, reached the enemy's positions, and the Germans fled, but not until , ihe.' trenches were filled with the corpses of the slain. The Frenchmen tossed them out of the pits as though they were haymaking, as ono of.them 6aid. General von Kluck, on Friday night, ordered a .general advance of the infantry, from Ohayignon and Anizy-10-Ohateau upon the foremost British trenches round Soissons, while the artillery again searched the position endeavouring to unnerve the British. The wind was howling and the rain lashing down and the British needed all their courage: The shrapnel killed many, but the Germans were not the' right stuff to turn out the entrenched British. They retired quicker than they came, and the British guns pounded them, jvnd the rifle- fire laid them out in heaps. Chavignon is twelve miles north-west of Soissons and Anizy-le-Ohatsau 16 miles north-west of Soissons. p . '. ALLIES' ATTACKS GRADUALLY PROGRESS. „„, . , „,',-, . , , i Paris, September 21. Official.—"The left wing below Soissons was vigorously attacked by a superior torce, and gave ground, which was almost immediately reconquered. On the right bank of the Aisne we continued to progress northward of Reims, ■' repulsing all attacks. In the centre, eastward of Reims, our attacks further progressed. In the Argonne the situation is unchanged, and oil the Woevre (east of Verdun) rains rendered the movement of the troops very difficult." ■ . Geneva, September 21. . It is reported from Basle that the German right wing is slowly retiring in good order towards the Belgian frontier. A TERRIBLE SPECTACLE. i ■ ■ . London, September 21. The valley of the Aisne presents a terrible spectacle. The ground is strewn with the dead of the nations and dead horses. There is an inextricable confusion of broken machine guns, foundered cannon, and scattered accoutrements, though the battle is nearly v a week old. • , ENEMY LOSE 30,000 IN LORRAINE. Paris, September 21. When the Germans captured Luneville on August 24, tlicy lost 11,000 men. They lost 20.000 at Nancy on September 6 and 1..

ENEMY EVERYWHERE REPULSED. (Rec. September 22, 11.6 p.m.) Paris, September 21, evening. Official—On the left wiiig on the right bank of the Oise we have advanced to the height of Lassigny, near Noyon. On the east of the Oise and north of the Aisne the Germans have manifested renewed activity. Violent combats ending in bayonet charges have ensued in the region of Oraonne, 16 miles north-west of Reims, and everywhere the enemy had been repulsed. Around Reims the Germans have not attempted any infantry attacks, but have limited themselves to cannonading our front with heavy artillery. In Champagne and on the western slope of the Forest of Argonne beyond the Somaine, wo have taken. Mesnil on the Woevre. The enemy continues to hold Thiaucourt, half-way between Verdun and Nancy, and has cannonaded Hassonchatel. ' There is no report from Lorraine and the Vosges. The Germans are fortifying themselves on the Delme side and to the south of Ohateau-Salins. Chateau-Salins is 17 miles north-east of Nancy, and Delme is 7 miles north-west of Ohateau-Salins. The River Woevre is between Verdun and the frontier. HEAVY FRENCH REINFORCEMENTS. (Rec. September 23, 1.30 a.m.) . Paris, September 21. M. Millerand, Minister for War, is dispatching heavy reinforcements from o large \body of Turcos and Senegalese, who have been entrained at Bordeaux for an unspecified destination.