In the West.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 98, 31 March 1916, Page 5

In the West.

A FRENCH REPORT, ! Cm.'KH PKfcW ' ~TliiW ! 1 Paris, March 30. j A communique states: Between the Oiso and the Aisne our artillery diaper,sed important convoys, noi'tli-ca.st ioC Moulins-Onstoiiverst road. Thro • 1 • , ~ , successive enemy countcr-atracks on the positions captured by us at Avecourt woods were completely repulsed. During an attack in great strength on the village of Malancourt the Germans gained advanced work north of Malancourt and captured two j houses in the village, but our fire stopped further advances. y SEMI-OFFICIAL REVIEW. SUCCESS OF FRENCH OFFENSIVE ENEMY’S REDOUBLED EFFORTS. London, March 29. A feature of the day’s war news is the success of the French offensive. Not content with repulsing the enemy, the heroes of Verdun assaulted the strong Avoncourt redoubt, which is the centre of the most recent attack. A semi-official review states that the German offensive, which had been suspended since the 22nd, was resumed to-day with redoubled violence. The enemy, in order to conceal their designs, deluged the entire "Verdun front with shell-fire for six days without interruption. The weight of the infantry onslaught was delivered on a front hardly a kilometre in exte it. between Avoncourt and Malancourt. The Germans in massed divisions, leaped to the assault over ground that had been ploughed up by their own heavy shells. They thought they had easily crossed, but they reckoned without our infantry and light armlory, which was an orgy of steel, undestroyed, and lying flat. The infantry poured in a terrific fire, and the field pieces cut down swathes of men. The enemy* s line was again and again broken. They failed to drive us out of the village of, Malancourt, where they already occupied the surrounding hill's, and their losses were so heavy that the German commanders, at nightfall, recognised the futility of the attacks, and returned, leaving about a quarter of their effectives dead and wounded on the field. The German tactics in butting forward by fits and starts show that the enemy is weakening, either from lack of will or from lack of means. If the enemy proposes to march towards V cndun via Malancourt he must cover twelve kilometres.

AID FOR THE BELGIAN'S. ANOTHER APPEAL FOR HELP. HALF THE POPULATION STARVING. Sydney, March 30. The newspapers are publishing a further lengthy cabled appeal, signed by the Lord Mayor of London, on behalf of the National Committee of Relief for Belgium, for assistance for the Belgians. The appeal states that in over eighteen months more than seven million defenceless civilians have suffered tyranny almost inconceivable, while maintaining a courageous and passive resistance. Practically half of the whole population of Belgium, through no fault of their own, are now destitute and live on pitiful rations. The appeal urges that no debt of honor is more pressing than this work of humanity, with the strofiger claim of helping to keep together the body and soul of men, women, and children who, in spite of misery and privation, endure all things in their loyalty and await the coming of the Allies. The appeal is to be made throughout the Empire.

BRITISH STRENGTHQUARTER OF FRONT HELD. GREAT OFFENSIVE COMING. (Received 10 a.m.) London, March 30. A corresondent at headquarters,..describing the extension of the British front and the increasing strength of the British forces, also the tactica considerations which made the change feasible, says it is desirable that the new dispositions be earned out with great skill and secrecy. One important result has been the release of large French forces during a valuable period, and General Joffre alluded thereto in his recent message, thanking General Haig for the assistance rendered. The British now hold about t quarter of the Western front. The correspondent adds: “The British Army’s hour may be at hand, but it is not yet, nor will the Germans by attacks on Verdun upset the prearranged strategy m great offensive which is coming.”

THE OFFICIAL NEWS. UNSUCCESSFUL ENEMY EFFORTS The High Commissioner reports:— London, March 30 (4.35 p.m.i South of the Somme, assisted by violent bombardment, the enemy penetrated a section of our advanced line west of Vermandovillcr, hut the Allies' counter-attack drove him out immediately. West of the Meuse, the Germans resumed their counter attacks in the course of the night against the Allies’ positions tit Avocourt Wood, but all assaults were repulsed by a curtain of fire from machine-guns and infantry, causing great havoc, notably in front of tho redoubt at Avocourt, where the Germans left masses of corpses. The Germans launched in the Meuse, of St. Mihiel, many floating mines, but they did no damage. In Lorraine, there was French artildery activity from Domeve to Bremen il.