In the West

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 291, 7 December 1914, Page 7

In the West

A REVIEW OF OPERATIONS. A FRENCH BULLETIN. United Press Association. Paris, December 5. An official bulletin sketches the war to date. "The violation of Belgium showed that the inainstrugglo would occur in the north. We were unable to engage the enemy until the British came into line, therefore we sought to retain as many army corps as possible in Alsace and Lorraine.

"From the Bth September onward General Mannowy's new army's attack against the German right began to take effect. The enemy shifted his front, thus presenting a weak point to the British army, which crossed the Marne, and came to grips with the German flank. Meanwhile General Desperey, with General Mannowy on the wing, also crossed and drove back the Germans, supported by the British on his left, and General Foch on his right. Tt was upon this army that the Germans sought to avenge the chock of their right, and from the 6th to the 9th September this force was compelled to face repeated attacks, until, on the evening of the 9th, its left near Laurechampinoise took the Prussian Guards and another German corps on the flank. This audacious manoeuvre decided the issue.

"The Germans, still at the back of Foch, entered Chalons-sui-Marne on the 11th. From the 13th onwards began a contest—a real race to th% sea. The Germans had the advantage of n concentric front, shortening the distance. Nevertheless, the movement of their weight failed, and the victory of the Marne was confirmed. "General Castelnau, on the 20th, formed a new army on Monnawy's left, and strongly established himself in the Lassigny, Roye, Peronne district. Manowy's army entered the Aisne on the- 30th, occupying the region around Arras, with a view of junetioning with the Dunkirk division, hut the line was still too thin. Sir Jolin French instantly decided to transfer the British from the Aisne to the vicinity of Lys. The Belgian army from Antwerp, covered by British and French marines, arrived to strengthen the projected barrier in the Yser district. The British were unable to come into action before 20th October. The Belgians were short of munitions, therefore General Joffre entrusted to General Foch the task of co-ordinating the operations of the northern armies. Fresh reinforcements enabled him on the 12th November to constitute a Kranco-Belgian army, under General Dourbal, co-operating with the Belgians and British between the sea and Lys against a dozen German army corps and upwards of four cavalry divisions.

The Kaiser has issued proclamations, emphasising the necessity for.a decisive blow, reaching Dunkirk, Calais, or Boulogne, along the coast, or piercing the line towards Ypres, ( and then declaring Belgium annexed. I* or three weeks the Germans launched repeated and furious attacks in dense masses, but it was obvious after 12th November that the balance was on our side. We yielded not an inch, and held an impregnable position against the German offensive for i fortnight in November. Then the attacks weakened, and the artillery became less active. The battle of Ypres cost the enemy 120,000 men. Never has an attack, so carefully prepared and so furiously delivered, suffered a more complete check. "The Kaiser witnessed the repulse eastward of Rheims, and a week later the repulse at Ypres. "Our forces are now as large as at the outset of the campaign. The quality has greatly improved, and-all arc profoundly imbued with a sense ol superiority over the enemy, and with absolute confidence of victory. The Germans' futile efforts exhausted their reserves, while the troops they are bringing up to-day are badly officered and badly treated. "The Russians are more and more asserting their superiority, and the German halt in the east is doomed inevitably to become' a retreat."

BRITISH NAVAL BRIGADE.

ITS SERVICES AT ANTWERP. London 5 December 5. Sir John French's despatch the Admiralty on the naval brigades assisting at Antwerp declares that General Paris handled them with great skill and boldness. The fortress was not saved, but the marines certainly delayed the enemy for a considerable time, and enabled the Belgian army to withdraw. They destroyed war material and ammunition, which would have been of great value to the enemy. The Belgians were afterwards a great asset to the Allies on the Yser. Also, the moral effect on the Belgian army by this necessarily desperate attempt at succour was of great value in their use and efficiency. General Paris reported that when .it was evident that the Belgians were unable to hold the fort, in order to avoid disaster, he retired under cover of darkness. The Toads were crowded with Belgian troops, refugees, cattle and vehicles Partly from this, and partly from fatigue and unexplained causes, mini bers of the brigade became detached. Meanwhile the main body entrained and effected their retreat. The rearguard entrained later, with hundreds of refugees. The engine was derailed by the enemy, and five were drowned. There was considerable confusion. The darkness and the agitation of the refugees made the passing of orders difficult. The bat- | talion behaved splendidly, and fought < their way through, but the loss in

missing was upwards of half the number. FRENCH OFFICIAL REPORT. Paris, December 5. | Official: We took 991 prisoners in the northern region on Wednesday, and made progress towards Altkircli to-day. j We have made appreciable progress north of Lys, our infantry at daybreak carrying, in a single rush, two lines of trenches, and gaining 000 metres. j We captured a house at Poesole, on the right hank of the canal, be'tween Dixmude and Ypres. The (house was stubbornly disputed at the mouth of the enemy's heavy artillery. A violent attack vainly attempted to recapture it. There is intermittent cannonading at Arras and Champagne. The bombardment of Rheims has been resumed with marked intensity. Our artillery destroyed several of the enemy's earthworks.

J 'The struggle in the Argonne district continues severe. We have taken several trenches, and repulsed all counter-attacks. THE COMING VICTORY. "A MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY" Paris, December 6. General Joft're, in conversation with an officer, said the coming victory was a mathematical certainty. His first task had been to forge his weapon. Reliable generals had taken the place of those found wanting, and the French military machine was now in such a state that a German attack would dash itself against them in vain. He was not anxious that the Germans should decrease their forces in the .west, as the present position would enable the Russians to advance at a greater rate. The,, Germans force the inhabitants of Ostend to stay in. their houses I after nightfall, while the trainload...

of dead are brought in and buried in the dunes.

The Germans are having great difficulty at Zeebrugge, due to the silting up of the harbor, the Belgians having destroyed the dredges, which formerly worked day and night.

ALL DANGER PAST IN THE EAST OF FRANCE. London, December 6. A Daily Chronicle correspondent who visited the Verdun area disposes of .the German claims that the fortress is besieged. The six forts taken by the Germans were not within twenty miles, and the communications were intact. The Germans were still in touch with the Meuse, and at St. Mihiel, their communication with Metz being precarious. The French are steadily progressing north of Verdun, and are excellently equipped for the winter campaign'. He declares that for the present all danger on France's eastern frontier is past. OPERATIONS IN ALSACE. Berne, December 5. The well-informed Genevan newspaper La Suisse states that guns have been mounted at Colmar (in Upper Alsace), parts of Mulhausen mined, and preparations made at Strasburg to flood the country to the westward and southward of the town. GENERAL. London, December G. The Germans have retired two kilometres along the Yser, owing to t'jo insanitary conditions on the marshy ground, which was also unsuitable or artillery.

The Daily Chronicle's Dunkirk ".)r----respondent reports that the Allies' sentries at Perveyse, at midnight, suddenly alarmed by figures creeping up in the darkness, discovered 500 Germans trying to cross the Yser, many up to their necks in water. Three hundred were drowned, and two hundred were taken prisoners.

An eye-witness' narrative says the Germans have lately pressed heavily our Indian lines, extending the saps for assaults at short distances. None of these were carried out by great forces, the Germans using civilians to dig the trenches. Both sides are sapping against each other, and preceding their assaults with grenares, which, with short-range bombs, are becoming a prominent feature of close attack. Press correspondents at Nancy emphasise the signs of a possible German retreat from Lorraine. The Germans are constructing a huge en. trenched camp between Blamont and Saarburg, proving their fear of a possible early invasion. The bombardment of Arnaville continues.