TERRIFIC GUNFIRE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 235, 15 December 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

TERRIFIC GUNFIRE.

MILLION SHELLS A DAY.

TRIBUTE TO FRENCH BRAVERY.

Never before in my numerous journevings to the French front have I been so forcibly struck by the efficiency and power of the French army as I was to-day, when the victorious troops penetrated to the furthermost point of the advance achieved on Tuesday in the neighbourhood of Ablaincourt, wrote the Paris correspondent of an American Exchange on October 13.

The artillery of General Foch is massed in Picardy, and the technical organisation and preparation of the whole rear of the battlefield surpass anything ever achieved in this war. Not even at Verdun was such a point of perfection attained.

It seems evident that General Joffre means to throw back the German line on St. Quentin, which would entail the crumpling of their whole front in France, together with their withdrawal from Soissons. Another most striking feature is the extraordinarily high spirits of the soldiers, especially those actually engaged in the fighting. Hardships and continued dangers seem only to spur their intense enthusiasm, which increases as the troops get near the firing line. The reason for this enthusiastic attitude of the front line men is found in their absolute confidence in the new artillery which, since the beginning of the Somme offensive, has proved not only an offensive weapon of tremendous efficiency, but is chiefly the greatest protector of the infantry, having saved 60 per cent, of lives in all the attacks thus far, compared with previous drives.

EIFLE BECOMES OBSOLETE. The outstanding outgrowth of this state of things is that the rifle has become almost obsolete, except in sniping operations. In Tuesday's attack a million shells ware expended and only 7000 rifle cartridges. Machine-guns and hand grenades have replaced the rifle and bayonet. The first wave of an attack never carries rifle troops. Their advance is protected by a terrific curtain j£ f. r e which precedes them a few yards, ceasing at the precise moment when the infantry enters the enemy's trenches with hand grenades. Only the second wave troops carry the bayonet for the purpose of cleaning up the dug-outs. The excellence of this method w-as illustrated on Tuesday, when a battalion, rushing the German positions in the Ablaincourt woods, captured 700 prisoners. Their own loss was only two slightly wounded. The most recent advance south of the Somme is of more value than is suggested by the plain wording of the official communique. It covers an absolutely flat and open stretch of country nearly a mile in length and entirely exposed to the German gunfire and machine-gun fire. The fact that the French attained their objectives in forty minutes with insignificant tosses sufficiently demonstrates the puher'nng power of their artillery.

GRUESOME SIGHTS. The ground was literally honeycombed with shell-holes, and the trenches which I traversed to-day under gunfire wers unrecognisable. Limbs of dead Saxons protruding at gruesome .ingles from loose heaps or earth and charred bodies blown from the trenches and strewing the ground were ghastly proofs of the terrific destructive power of the French high explosives. While I was inspecting the front lines, shells still exploding all round had prevented the cleaning up of the dug-outs, which were still filled with German ammunition and equipment. Th cannonade suddenly developed great fury, giving evidence that another attack was about to begin. With considerable difficulty we retreated to an observation post from which a famous general was directing new artillery preparations. "This is merely a foretaste of what we will be able to do later," he said to me, referring to the cannonade.

"Our enemy is still very strong, but we have already taken his three lines of defence on this front, and he is now obliged to resort to hastily contrived cover.

CASUALTIES LIGHT, "The German losses have been incomparably heavier than ours. In fact, the feature of the Somme offensive is the exceedingly limited number of our casualties." "How long do you think it will take to break through?" I asked. "I do not pretend to know. Time does not count here. Neither the officers nor the men speculate on such a question, for we have absolute certainty that we have obtained the upper hand. "Von Hindenburg cannot always make good the huge losses the German army lias suffered in the past \hree months and is continuing to suffer.

"While it is the German policy to man the front-line trench with a few troops manipulating machineguns, our cannon inflict tremendous loss on the supports concentrated in the second and third line trenches and the communicating corridors. Even their deep, spacious, and wellprotected dug-outs no longer afford sufficient shelter from our high explosives. For instance, on Tuesday a shell fell in the entrance of the officers' underground quarters at Bovent, and yesterday we found the bodies of the six officers quartereJ there."