In the West

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 49, 27 October 1915, Page 5

In the West

CAPTURE OF ANOTHER GERMAN TRENCH. [United Pbess association.] (Received 12.55 p.m.) Paris, October 20. , A communique states: A sudden attack northward of Massigncs rendered ns masters of a German trench in proximity to the positions wo re- , cently captured. FORTNIGHT’S LOSSES OF OFFICERS. London, October 26. j For the fortnight ended October 11. British officers’ losses were:-—Killed 383, wounded 646, missing 107, including Majors-General Thesiger and Capper. two colonels, two .Heut-colonels (dead), two brigadier-generals (wounded). and one missing. The losses of officers since the beginning of the war are 5559 killed, 11.115 wounded, 1536 missing. . HOHENZOLLERN redoubt. London, October 25. Renter’s correspondent, describing a visit to the Hohen/.ollern Redoubt, says there is debris fighting everywhere. It consists of broken rifles, blood-soaked clothes, bayonets, and innumerable articles of equipment. On the ground from the redoubt to the old British Hues He the bodies of many of our brave men which must lie recovered by stealth. Burial parties file on and bring them back one by one. A cross with the name on it is erected ou the graves for identification after the war. On reaching a point within twenty yards of the German trenches, and using a periscope, he saw heaps of German bodies, many of them halfburied in the ruined trenches. Within the past week we nibbled several pieces of the enemy’s line tending to improve our position.

A TEST OF ENDURANCE. London, October 25. A correspondent, at British headquarters says: Our capture of Kcrnal and the Hohcnzollern redoubt is main-* tained The ground won shoWs the most tangible yrifoiA. of our ,atta|d\^ ( ni October 13. ‘tt’ riks ahothfeV r ArWmplr for . the tenacity of the .Britisli,infantry. The ' attack j)\-ak launched at, o’clock and after a seyeye .bombarcl- ( ■ment ..of. 1 gas, the of the German fortress was revealed.. Despite a heavy artillery preparation our men ( met with a violent crossfire from machine-guns, yet they made a brilliant first advance. While the centre streamed into the main trench of the redoubt, the right and left wings hurled themselves upon the communication trenches. The men were impetuous, in the wing, attacks, and were compelled to give ground under German machine-gun fire. I They toftk shelter in the innumerable. shell-holes with which the redoubt was pockmarked. Hie struggle resolved itself into one of the best endurance. There were .cinphats between bombing parties. While some, under cover of smoke bbriibk consolidated their positions at Tye'rnal, others .preed a way up the trenches stretching out frorii the centl'e. Bombs were continually used iiv large numbers. Our losses in this arm were very heavy, hut the enemy’s were greater. I'liis sort of confused fighting puts a premium on personal initiative and ■oolness. The correspondent has heard fewer fine stories than that of a colonel who was shot in the knee and was discovered sitting up, wrapped •in a rug, directing the fight. The struggle at the Hohenzollern redoubt was only an episode in the huge whole. The fact that we have maintained and slightly increased our initial success in the face of strong German posiitiohs and repeated heavy shelling is encouraging. .