GERMANS THRILLING STORY OF THE INFERNO AT COMBLES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2894, 5 October 1916, Page 5

GERMANS THRILLING STORY OF THE INFERNO AT COMBLES

DEVILISH PRECISION OF THE BRITISH GUNS, (Reo. October 5, 0.20 a.mO . , - • London, October 4. The ".Daily Cbroniclo's" Paris correspondent sends the story of a German non-commissioned officer who was taken prisoner at Combles, This man relates that his battalion'B losses were heavy beforo reaching Combles. "Our only road," he says, "was swept by shells. Onco inside fcbo fortress we were reassured, as it seemed absolutely impregnable. The defences included circular chambers capable of holding two hundred tmeii. These subterranean passages had only two exits, and the British artillery, with devilish, precision, shelled the exits. We were practically buried alive for two days, ■ while, the deluge- of projectiles continued. Nothing can describe it. The oarth trembled, and onr men were in a fearful state of_ .nervous excitement.. Half were unable to do anything but-weep. A few tried to escape, but were never seen again. Our officers affected to bo calm, but were more terrified at heart than we. , :,; "Soon our provisions ceased to arrive, and for two days more that awrul bombardment continued above us. Everything was'ablaze, and the heat was suffocating. • Ton of my comrades were already dead from nervous shock, and then the assault came. Wo defended ourselves to the end, but wo couldn t withstand the British fury. Wo clashed in bloody hand-to-hand fighting and then surrendered." ••'■.'•'.• DISEASE ATTACKS EXHAUSTED ENEMY. . '. Amsterdam, October 3. The Dutoh. journal "TelegmP' declares that typhus and cholera are general amongst tbo_ exhausted troops -arriving; from the Somme. Large numbers have been isolated- ■'■;■''■ -~ \ ~~ "■■•'■ THE NEXT MOVE BY THE ENEMY ■' \ " . PUZZLING TACTICS ON THE SOMME. , (Rec. October 4, 8.5 p.m.) ' ' London, October 3. Mr. Philip Gibbs states: "The German plans.on the Sommo have a puzzling look, as if the enemy were making a gradual withdrawal,; masked by sharp, counter-blows to oheck the quiokness of our advance. There were not many Germans left alive in the first and second trenobes at Do Faling, the old monastery at Baucourt L'Abbaye. It was heaped with the corpses of thoso who had been killed in the twelve hours' bombardment. Most of the enemy ran at the approach of the British bayonets. The Germans appear to be-strong at Le Sars and the little quadrilateral redoubt near by. The enmy's losses were fearsome. Their men ory out against the massacre, blaming their _commanders, their air service, and their artillery for the awful state of affairs. '"' "____ ' '....;. '') ■ ■ GERMANS STRENGTHENING THEIR DANISH FRONT MOTHER SIGN" OF THE ENEMY'S "NERVES." (Rco.. October 4, 6.25 p.m.) t London, October 3. The "Daily Telegraph's" correspondent at Copenhagen instances, as an indication of tho nervousness in Germany, the fact that all vulnerable points in the pro-Danish districts in 'Schleswig-Holstein have been extensively billeted by Germans. Many troops nave been concentrated at. Skovby,. Abkjaer, Branzstry, and Toftelund. Subterranean concrete chambers have been constructed on the northernmost defensive line. ''...'■• .". ■■ .• ■ . - ,(