A DESPERATE CONFLICT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3063, 26 April 1917, Page 5

A DESPERATE CONFLICT

BRITISH ATTACK ON THE HINDENBURG LINE BATTLE REACHING EXTRAORDINARY INTENSITY. .. / ■ ■ / ■ MAIN GERMAN ARMIES IN ACTION ANOTHER TURKISH REVERSE.;,'-', ■ < ENEMY OUSTED FROM NEW POSITION / Nothing so desperate a 6 the efforts of the Germans to defend l the Hindenburg line in the face of ihe terrific attack that was I , launched by Sir Douglas Haig on Monday Las been seen since the i war started. The Hindenburc line works have not yet been completed, and the enemy ia exerting superhuman efforts and an. army of, enforced labour to strengthen the positions before tie British break through. The battlo on the Scarpe front has reached a pitch . of extraordinary intensity, and important positions havojbeen won, lost, and're-won. The battle so far is in our favour, but, as Mr. Philip Gibbs points out, tho main Gorman armies, forced to accept! battle, are standing up and hitting back hard. The most encouraging sign of the conjh'ot, as interpreted by the British'"War Office, is the German communique, the language of which is most' unusual. There is a fervid laudation of. "our brave soldiers," who are heroically fighting in defence of their Fatherland. This tone is interpreted to betray the extreme nervousness of the German. General Staff and tho Gorman people. There is <i comparative lull on the Pronch front. In Mesopotamia the British have ousted the Turk's from Samara station, and captured a great quantity- of railway booty.