HAIG'S ADVANCE ON THE ANCRE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3020, 6 March 1917, Page 5

HAIG'S ADVANCE ON THE ANCRE

SUCCESSFUL ATTACKS AT TWO POINTS

BRITISH LINE EXTENDED TO ROYE

The High Commissioner reports :— , _. . , „..,,. , London, March 4, 9.55 a.m. . A British official dispatch states:— "This morning wo attacked and captured the enemy's front and support lines east of Bouchavesnes, on a front of 1200 yards, taking 173 prisoners and thrco machine-guns. East of Gommecourt wo advanced along a tiro-mile front with an-average denth of 1200 yards."- . WEATHER FAVOURS THE ENEMY AIRMEN AND GUNNERS HELPLESS. J3y: Telceraph-Prcss Aesociation-Copyrißht (Rcc. March 5, 10.20 p.m.) i London, March 5. Mr. Philip Gibbs writes:—"The weather still favours tho German withdrawal. In the prevailing_thick fogs tho airmen are helpless, and the gunners handicapped when direct observation is most valuable. "'lt is doubtnil if anything of a sensational naturo will happen in the few days that are left. The only sensational /thing yet has been tho withdrawal itself. The truth is simple. At the start tho ene my decided to withdraw, and made careful plans in order to frustrate any British plans to deal a knock-out blow, and also to save men by shortening their lino. Tho movement was timed remarkably well, and the encm y utilised the hard frost to get over his guns and materials. Last came the men, when the ground had become a quagmire. Tho German scheme undoubtedly is to delay our advance. Their ntmost hopes are to impedo our progress by bolts of barbed wire and strong bodies of picked troops with m achine-guns, and also masses of heavy iguns cast of Bapaumc. They aro hold ing Bapaumo as a pivot, while their troops swing back. As yet the enemy's hopes are not certainties, and are full of danger if any part of the scheme, fails." BRITISH FRONT IN THE WEST EXTENDED ' London, March i. The .British front has been extended to Roye, 18 miles south of the Sommo (about 20 miles of new front). —Tho "Times." (Rec. March 6, 0.45 a.m.) „,' . ■ r , .: , London, March 5. The British front was known to,have been recently extended south of the Sommo. A French. communique of February 8 still mentioned Beniecourt, north of Ablaincourt. Sir Douglas Haig first mentioned Ablaincourt on Thursday. It was then tho southernmost point till then mentioned in tlie British communiques. The British line now covers the whole of the attacking front of tho Somme offensive. Tho Anglo-French junction when the offensive was opened was near Maricourt.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ACTIVITY ON THE FRENCH FRONT '■;„■, ~■ , London, March 4. A French official communique states:—Parties penetrated the enemy second line trenches south of Nouvron, between the Oise and the Aisnc and did great damage. • ' In the Verdun sector thero were v iolent artillery duels north and south of the Etain railway. In the Woevre, a French air squadron bombed hangars at Crescans, a powder factory at Bons-lcs-Hauts, blast furnaces an the Wolfling district, and at Sarrebruck, and the railway station at Dolrhe.— Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Router. '..' , ffi . , . , J Paris, March 5. A.French official communique states:—"Thero has been violent artillorv fighting on the east bank of the Meuse. A Gorman attack on Caurieres Wood" after an intense bombardment, reached our first line, but tho enemy was completely ejected by our fire and counter-attacks. Our line was maintained. The French effectively bombarded tho enemy's batteries in the region of Malancourt."—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Reuter. GERMAN GENERAL STAFF IN SESSION. xi u , o „ Bernc > March i--Iho newspapers state that the Ger man Goneral Staff, the Kaiser von Hindcnburg, von Ludendorff, and von Falkenhayn have assembled. ' WHAT THE ENEMY'S PRESS IS SAYING m, un n j t „ . ■ , , Goneva, March 4. lhe 'Gazette de Lausanne" states that the German Staff anticipates a. French offensive in Alsace, and professes to oxpect a French violation of Swiss territory, via Damyant (?) Porrentruy, and Charmouille, for the purpose of executing a_ turning movement. Tho German-Alsatian frontier is now a mass of fortifications, and every farm and village is full of soldiers — Aus.-N.Z. Cahlo Assn. IMPRESSIVE EFFECT OF OUR NEW GUNS. Roms, March 4. 'A wireless message stales that the German papers admit tho extraordinary power of the new British and French heavy artillery.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. AUSTRIA DEPRESSED BY THE GERMAN RETREAT. Zurich, Marcli 4. Private advices from Vienna state that tlie retreat on tho Ancro has created a. deplorable imprcssiou throughout Austria. Austrian correspondents at German headquarters, with a view to reassuring the public, talk vaguely of the imminence of a German surprise coup.—Aus.-N.Z. Cablo Assn. IN THE RECONQUERED FRENCH COMMUNES Paris, March 4. The "Official Journal" slates that in 754 communes which were liberated from the enemy, 46,263 houses were partially or completely destroyed, excluding over 1300 churches and other public buildings. In 147 of the communes between 60 and 100 per cent. of the houses were destroyed.