In the West

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 27, 30 September 1915, Page 5

In the West

“MOVIN’ DAY!” ■ l-'.L .!’•»!h |< • • J ■ j ■ ,! o KAISER iRUSHES- TO THE WEST. BRITISH NOW AT GERMANS’ '/ * ' ! 11 1 - r ;. - ( • lit ,■ THIRD LINE. 1 ' ' •» ; I;,). . \ Uni' et) Press Association. .(Received 11.20 a.m.) ; .London, September 29. After a conference with the German War‘chiefs, the Kaiser rushed in a special train to the Western front. The British are now closely engaged \vdth the, enemy's third line. GERMAN CASUALTIES, i OVER 120,000. FRENCH PROGRESS CONTINUES. ■ 10 !.■< ■*- ■■■ -■■ ■; j (Received 8.30 a.m.) Paris, September 29. The} total German casualties in the recent offensive of the Allies is estimated to exceed 120,000. The progress of the French in the Artois region continues. 25,000 GERMAN PRISONERS IN ARTOIS AND CHAMPAGNE. (Received 9.20 a.m.) Paris, September 29. Prisoners-;taken in Artois and the Champagne exceed 2-1,000. THE SCAPEGOATS DISMISSED. CHANCE OF GENERALS DISCUSSf ED. HIN DEN BU RC OR FALKENHAYE? (Received Noon). Amsterdam, September 29. Two German generals has been dismissed. It is believed they were connected with Saturday’s defeat. The newspapers are discussing the question of sending General von TTiindenburg or General von Falkenhaye to the west front. “STOCK-TAKING.” MANY GUNS AND PRISONERS. GERMAN LOSSES EXCEED THREE ARMY CORPS. (Received Noon.) Paris, September 29. A communique states: Latest reports epablo us daily to guago more completely the importance of the success at Champagne and Artos, The Germans were expelled from stronglyentrenched positions on an extended front, in which they were ordered to resist to the end. The total enemy losses exceed three army corps, including 23,000 prisoners. Wo brought, thus far, 79 captured guns to the rear; also 17,000

prisoners and 316 officers. Stocktaking of the abandoned material progresses. Wo captured east of Soucliez yesterday Hill 140, which is the culminating point of the Vimy ‘ crests; i also, orchards southwards, making prisoners qfvPthrele hundred guardsmen. The struggle continues at Champagne, ,r further thousand men • surrendering nbrtb ofi Wes&lges. ‘ill!- M 1 UNDOUBTED VICTORY. » ■ -•- i . r J t. i; 1: U ■t The High • Commissioner.Reports:-rr. London, Sept. 29 (5.5 p.m.) Summary of the recent fighting in Artois and Champagne: The Germans were not only compelled to abandon on an extended front powerfully entrenched positions on which they wore ordered to resist to the pud, but they sustained losses in killed, wounded, and prisoners-: surpassing three army corps. The total of prisoners now exceeds 23,000, and 79 gups have been captured.' Ip, Artois, east of Souchez, the French attained after obstinate combat Hill 140, the culminating point on the crest at Vimy. The majority of the prisoners in this section belonged to the Guards. In Champagne, the fighting has continued unceasingly on the whole front, north of Massiges. A total of 1000 Germans surrendered in the course of the evening in this section alone. THE BATTLE’S DIN. ACCOUNTS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. Paris, September 29. In the Champagne district the Germans were stunned by the ferocity of the bombardment, and its complete devastation. The trenches were full of German bodies.- Everywhere huge craters had been formed by the collapse of subterranean defences under the high explosives. French wounded describe how they charged the German gunners. “We leapt upon them like pike snapping up a gudgeon. They were completely dazed, and did not try to use their guns. One of our companies captured a battery and seventy-seven gunners, who raised their arms in despair. What troubled us most was that the prisoners clogged our communication trenches. The German counter-attack in Argonne is unlikely to interfere with the French push. In the Champagne district the Crown Prince sustained a serious reverse. His forces were hulled back four times with heavy loss. His desperate efforts to break through and aid Generals Von Finem and You Herringgen are accounted for by the fact that the French approach to Challerance Junction threatens to cut him off from the Vouziers base. The noise was terrific, and the ei option of tire demoralised the enemy. A Landsturm captain stated that although an attack was expected it came as a surprise. Half his company weie blown up by a mine explosion. Another prisoner declared that the whole of his regiment was captured because the regiment on the left was completely annihilated. , A significant feature of the Allies effort is the complete co-ordination of

\ tliG different services. The Germans boast of their motor transport, but ours is better. The whole business of moving up troops, and driving back wounded proceeded without a moment's congestion. After the train near Douai had been bombed the Germans alighted and gathered round the wrecked carriages. Airmen swooped within five hundred feet, and dropped a bomb in the centre of the group. The most important feat done by the airmen was the burning of a new railway station at Valenciennes. From thirty miles off the great bombardment sounded like the roll of a great drum or the rattle of a tremendous machine-gun. The view from hilltops showed a little mist. Lower down one saw only the flashes of bursting shells. The never-ending growl of artillery conveyed a grimmer impression than any spectacle. The attack along the whole front was made to prevent a thin part of the German line receiving reinforcements from elsewhere. From the Yser Canal down to the end of the French line the Allies’ guns took up the note. Soon the whole line was thundering and re-echoing the infernal racket. The German lines were smothered with dust and smoke, ihe parapets melted away and the entanglements disappeared. The din of the bombardment was doubly intense at dawn. Our guns had never spoken like this? before. The attack began in earnest east of Yermilles and south of the La Bassee canal and the plain of Lens,. where the men were soon in deadly grips with the enemy, and advancing steadily over ground which was no longer barred by impregnable enemy’s trenches upon which we bad peered through loopholes and under sandbags lor many months. Generals and staff officers gathered on the rising ground trying to pierce the veil behind which masses of brown-clad men were struggling forward. Battalions and brigades-van-ished into the fog. The Britishers advancing through Loos fought behind a veil wherefrom came the thunder of battle, and, later, the first stream of wounded.