B.E.F. IN ACTION

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20123, 18 December 1939, Page 5

B.E.F. IN ACTION

FIRST CASUALTIES PRISONERS CAPTURED BATTLE ON RHINE FRONT HEAVY ARTILLERY DUEL ENEMY RAID REPULSED lElec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Dec. 18, 11 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 17. Headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force in France state that the British front line troops suffered their first casualties in actual warfare, several men being wounded and some killed. Night patrols in no-man's land all brought back German prisoners. The Paris correspondent of the British United Press states that the first big action occurred on the Rhine front. An artillery duel was fought by the big guns of the Maginot and Siegfried Lines, which hammered each other for several hours. The French official evening communique states: "At 6.15 o'clock the enemy launched a raid on one of our posts to the east of the Moselle. The raid was carried out by a detachment die equivalent of a company after preparation by artillery and trench mortars and under the protection of a box barrage laid down by artillery and heavy machinegun fire. “The post attacked energetically defended itself with heavy loss and :cft in our hands arms and material The enemy succeeded in making two prisoners who managed to escape, profiting by the effect of the defensive fire and rejoined our line.” The Berlin war communique states that there is nothing of importance to report on the Western Front. Describing shock troop activity on the Western Front yesterday, the German official news agency states tha\ one unit heavily engaged enemy troops in six dug-outs in i l Forbach region, inflicting considerable losses. The report adds: “Prisoners taken enabled us to draw certain conclusions. Our losses were small. Two men are missing.”