BATTLE INCIDENTS ON THE SOMME

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2860, 26 August 1916, Page 10

BATTLE INCIDENTS ON THE SOMME

TAKING THE LEIPZIG REDOUBT

TABLES TURNED ON GERMAN GUNNERS

Australian-New Zealand Cable Association. (Hoc. August 25, 5.15 p.m.) London, August 24. Mr. ~l'hilip CSibbs writes: "Our successful advance- south of the Leipzig Uedoubt was due mainly to the gallant, work of the Territorials. Attacking a maze of trenches on Friday, they carried them by assault, linked up with the redoubt itself, getting a closer grip of the throat oil the Thiepval garrison. .It was a grim bit of work, quickly iioue, and with few casualties. A largo group of Germans tried to escape, plunged straight into the heavy lire of our guns, and disappeared. Our bombardment caught the enemy during tho relief of the guard, and we thus caught a double garrison in the trenoh. An ex-waiter at the Savoy Hotel in London, who was taKen prisoner, declared that he was thoroughly sick of tne war. tie had just come from Verdun,' which ivas heaven compared with the Picardy battlefield.

"One of the most thrilling episodes of the attack was when the Warwicks were blocked by a stream of machinegun lire. The men lay down and held on until their own guns got to work. Suddenly the deadly squirt ceased, a white Hag appeared, and 242 Germans emerged from their bomb-proof hidingplaces and surrendered. At other points the Germans defended themselves to the death. They came from their dug-outs in swarms, and a great bombing conflict ensued, ending only when the last German was dead.

"Meanwhile in the centre, the English, Scots, and Australians were lighting for the German switch line beyond Bazentin-ic-Potit. On Tuesday the Australians gained a little more ground, pushing out their line north-east of Alouquet Farm. The enemy's counterattacks broke down, with great bloodshed. The position gives us a vantagepoint from which wc can 'observe the enemy's movements down the slope, and rake him with our fire, and also gives direct observation for our gun lire. One' of the immediate effects of the occupying of the Pozieres ridge was seen yesterday, when our.artillery regis-, tered twenty-five direct hits on tha enemy batteries, our gunners punish, ing tho enemy frightfully, sweeping the ground above Thicpval, Courcelctte, and Martinpuich. A letter, written by a German officer, shows what German life is like below the Pozieros ridge; 'We lie in shell holes,' he says, 'with the English four hundred metres away. Hundreds of dead bodies make the air terrible. Flies are in thousands. Wa get nothing to. eat or-drink, and a ceaseless roar of tho guns is driving us mad.' "

THE ARTILLERY INFERNO

A THRILLING DECBIPTION.

("Tna Times.") (Rec. August 25, 8.30 p.m.)

London, August 25. Tho "Times" correspondent at Headquarters describes the -British bombardment south of Thiepval as the biggest, grandest, and most intense of tho war. Countless guns were concentrated upon a few acres, and their shells burst with tho most wonderful accuracy, tearing the German line into chaos. When tho British attacked it: seemed impossible that they could win across this blasted area, but they crossed with small losses, because the Germans were unable to oppose thorn after tho whirlwind of artillery. They reached the German position amid dense clouds of smoke fumes, and such of the enemy as were not bayoneted or shot scamperlnto our lines, with their hands up, staggering,- stumbling, and falling in their anxiety to escape the shell-ridden hell.i The guns still bombarded uninterruptedly over the attacking troops on the German second line, and when the troops attacked the second lino the guns shelled the rear lines and support' trenches. Clouds of smoke descended and blotted out this horrible but glorious, scone. It was a most important operation, and immensely successful, 'The strong German corner salient, including the Leipzig redoubt, is now part of our general position. Our losses, wero incredibly small—under a hundred—while the enemy's were tenfold."