WESTERN FRONT.

Taihape Daily Times, 27 April 1918, Page 5

WESTERN FRONT.

BATTLE OP THE TANKS. GERMANS DRIVEN BACK FROM FIELD. LONDON, April 25. The British tanks at Villers-Breton-aeux drove the German tanks off the field. The German infantry, which the

tanks were supporting, were thus exposed and flung back. The latest reports state that the British are making steady progress. Another simultaneous reports says that the Germans, by costly sacrifices captured Hangard en Santerre, lost it, and then regained it.

BATTLE FOR AMIENS. TERRIFIC FIGHTING. LONDON, April 25. The United Press erresponddnt states There was terrific fighting all .'nighton the heights, eastward of Amiens. Tan^*, were;used.-,by both sides for the •fjpiriLtime in,,.The., on djffllers, k lopks : A. count 3^-at> : ack. drove , the Carmans out of Afluepne Wood, westward of Villers Brctonneux. The situatipn of the town is uncertain, the f|ghting being touch.and go. It is impossible. momentarily .to , tell the., resPAc.tivepositions,...lintit is definitely known .that the .British have advanced, Fighting began in this region yesterday morning, after a hurricane bombardment of gas and high explosive shells for over two, hours. The first attack was hurled back, but subsequent ones took Villers Bretonneux by storm and reached the wood to the westward, the British successfully countering at noon. We used several tanks against Gorman ones. The latter were driven off, whereupon two British tanks crawled up and down the lines mowing down the exposed infantry in straight lines. The enemy poured out of Vaire Wood at dawn to-day but were stopped with heavy losses. A French communique issued at 4.25 this evening says: A battle continued violently round the village of Hangard, against which the enemy concentrated all his strength. We gallantly resisted and counter-attacked times successfully. The village mis lost and re-taken, but finally remained in the hands of the Germans, at the cost of high losses. We hold the immediate outskirts of Hangard, from which the enemy has been unable to debouch, despite repeated efforts. An artillery bd continues wry violent on both banks of the Avre. At 11 o’clock this evening a report was' issued stating that heavy fighting is proceeding at Bretonneux, Australians are engaged, THE FLANDERS BATTLE. LONDON, April 25. Von Amin’s hill-stormers on Wednesday re-attacked the French towards Drahouti-c. They were unsuccessful, and were flung out, after a tremendous struggle, from portions 6f first line positions in the Kemmel sector, where 'they had temporarily penetrated. The situation was completely restored. The Germans at 2 o’clock this , morning put down an intense gas barrage on the French and British. A heavy attack followed between 3 and 4 o’clockThe enemy late last night attacked the -French north-westward of Bailleul hat was repulsed. The enemy early this morning f bombardment, renewed attacks in this sector, the British positions further continues in this sect•n a wide front. The enemy at night time attempted to raid the neighbourhood of Beuchy, lint were repulsed.

Hostile artillery was active at night time -in the Festubett and Pobetne sectors. GERMANS STORM KEMMEL.. LONDON, April 25. The Germans advanced on Draoutro and stormed Kemmel. Counterattacks are proceeding A United Press correspondent at Headquarters says Jthe (northern offensive is being fiercely pressed. The Germans advanced to the slopes of Mont Kemmel. The French weer holding Kemmel village till the evening.

IMPORTANT STATEMENT BY MR. CHURCHILL. ALL MILITARY LOSSES REPLACED. Received 8.45 a.m. t ; -A : - - ■ ■ 1 LONDON,' April 26; h ' n Mr. ChuTchiil^li' moving' Hik 'muni’-'' itishs Votef-said sihhe 21st 1: March o ’kve have : lost'°tiearly : one’ j thbd^antf 11 c gufA'i' ’bei;tveen • fodr 1 ' ri khd' ! Hv&‘’thbusiind ma-’ chihe'-gubs, and between one 1 and three" Peeks’ I’6'tal manufacture of'hiiihftiohs The'-Gornian claims are'' ’'grotesque. ‘There-has 5 period'of gr&t stfaih' but-‘ by the, eiid of- : last week all the losses werpi made- good, and ’in sortie instances- 'supplies ivere greater than before and ■ actually more serviceable guns than at- the’ beginning - of the battlei -We are’ able- to replace every 1 lost. tank, with:-a newer and ; better pat-’ tern. The expenditure of smallarms 1 ammunition -during- the open warfare -was enormous,™ but ttie capacity of our factories was even greater, without touching Teseryc stocks.- The; wastage of rifles had been replaced easily. The’ expenditure of shells was very heavy, but less than the amount calculated and provided for. Our original calculations provided for twice the expenditure used during the Somme offensives in 1916. We were undoubtedly able to meet all the demands if the fighting icontinues at jthe rate of intensity until the winter provided munition workers give loyal support. We probably would have made 30 per cent more shells if the imports had not shrunk owing to the diminution of tonnage. We have been obliged to slow down production in consid- | orable areas, but supplies .were the | largest ever yet. Women, of whom j there nearly 751,000 turn out nineI tenths of the supply of shells. The cost has been reduced and the quality improved incredibly. We are now making in three months as many aeroplanes as in the whole of 1916.

DESPERATE FIGHTING- SOUTH OF THE SOMME. A 'BATTLE OF TANKS. GERMANS ROUTED. Received 9.35 a.m. LONDON, April 26. At 7.40 a.m. Mr. Phillips writes: Yillers Bretonneux is a substantial town of five thousand inhabitants, built mostly in brick and laid out compactly in the form of a square, with the Amiens main road as the northern boundary. On the south the fields fall away to the river Luce at Hangard, three miles away. On the east is the village of Warfusee. . On the Amiens side the ground dips sharply and rises again to a dense wood. The Germans owed their initial success to gas shells. The first assault by two German divisions aimed at capturing the wood, but only forty men secured a foothold, and they surrendered later. During the first advance the Germans failed to make any headway against the Australians round Saillyiex, and gave up the attack. Two more divisions were then thrown against Villers. Our counter attack at night was a complete surprise. The Ger-

man gunners did not know what was happening, and it 9 was impossible to i put up a barrage without destroying ] their ~own pebpis. Rockets gave the ( Australians, Berkshires, and Northamptons enough light for bayonet figthing, though sometimes we were delayed by darkness. Our casualties were not light, but nothing like so heavy as the German. British and German tanks met for the first time in battle and the victory was ours. battle was fought in the open fields around Villers, the German tanks leading the attack frorn the north-east and south, the infantry following with machine guns, mortars, and light artillery. The Germans used four or five tanks, bulky and ungainly, and very dissimilar to the British, and equipped with broad tur-

rets with quick-firers. They crawled up in the thick mist behind the barrage until close to our trenches. The first intimation of their proximity was when one dropped into a gully running parallel with the trenches, and turning north, flattened parapets and fusiladed the infantry. British tanks then came up, and the Germans, when they saw the British approach, advanced to engage them, concentrating their shell-fire on a single British tank, but the other British landslips crawled to the rescue. A brief duel followed until one German was disabled. The others then scuttled. Later some light British tanks successfully engaged the German infantry, which was massing for attack near Bachy, south-west of Villers. The tanks slipped swiftly forward, and returned with sides covered, blot--1 ted with machine gun marks. They ' had charged the enemy repeatedly. * The lesson of this first engagement is : that we have nothing to fear from the enemy tanks, despite their size, weight of machine and armament.

The attack on Kemmel Hill was carefully planned, and included four or six German divisions, whereof three comprised mountain troops. Fighting continues. We still hold Grand Bois and Wytschaete mountain. Enemy troops at one time reached the crest of Kemmel Hill, though the French fought with'their usual gallantry and determination. The Germans assaulted from two sides, whereof w r a» Swept bare of trees by artillery; the jother was covered with broken trunks and branches. The position fwas drenched -with gas, the timbered slopes holding the deadly fumes, and the. defenders had to fight wearing gas masks.

AMERICAN CASUALTIES. Received 9.10 a.m. WASHINGTON, April 26. The War Department announces ithat casualties among ‘the Americans in Prance since they entered the war are more than 3000, including 247 [marines. |TIHE ATTACK ON MONT KEMMEL, I l,i ■' Received 8.55 a.m. LONDON, April 26. A (British headquarters correspondent, writing yesterdqy evening, says during the last two nights the enemy attacked the French around Dranoutre in strength. Six' battalions gained a temporary advahtge, but were driven back by counter-attacks. This morning a much heavier assault was delivered by four to six divisions “over a front of seven miles on the line be. tween Meteren and Bailleul, and Wytschaete. The Alpine Corps, Eleventh Bavarians, and the 117th Division, consisting of mountain troops, were engaged, with Jaegar regiments' supporting, and an entirely fresh division, the Fifty-Sixth, has been identified. The attack overlapped on our front on the right flank of the French.

LATER ADVICES. KEMMELL HILL CAPTURED. Received 9.10 a.m. LONDON, April 26. Kemmell Hill has been captured by the Germans. VILLERS BRETONNEUX RECAPTURED. GREAT WORK BY AUSTRALIANS. Received 10 a.m. LONDON, April 26. At 11.30 a.m,, Mr, Philip Gibbs writes: After writing yesterday’s despatch many things have happened. We lost Yillers Bretonneux completei ly, and the enemy was in possession of the village long enough to stuff It with men and machine guns, till ten o’clock on Wednesday night. The Germans believed they had it firmly and permanently. Then came a brilliant couhter attack by the Australians, who, by most skilful daring, fine generalship ,etc., were sent forward in the darkness without preliminary artillery preparations, relying absolutely on the weapons they carried to regain an important position which

gave the enemy full observation on both sides of the Somme and the village beyond Amiens. The splendid courage of the Australians and the cunning of their machine-gunners, and fine leadership of officers achieved a success in conjunction with 'English battalions. They spent the night ■ clearing out the enemy from the village, where he made a desperate resistance. We brought, back between seven and eight hundred prisoners. It is a complete reversal for the enemy, whose bodies lie in heaps between Villers Bretonneux and Warfusee, ano all about the ruins and fields in the neighbourhood. That sector of the valley of the Somme is no longer under fire; indeed, our guns and the enemy’s alike have declared a truce, because tbe Australian and English and German soldiers were mixed up so closely that shelling was impossible

on both sides. Machine-gunners on Wednesday morning at many places were entirely cut off by the AngloAustralian. counter attack. Small parties of Germans were resting he. hind the ruins and banks, while our men are engaged routing them out. The roads behind the British lines are much cut up by the murderous German artillery fire. Passing along the broken roads were living men with the ash-grey colour of dead bodies.

They were German prisoners under escort of English and Australian soldiers. Throughout the morning I saw groups of prisoners limping along tne roads, sometimes carrying stretchers with wounded officers and men. They had been many hours without food, as they were cut off from supplies by our artillery fire.. The English county regiments holding Villers endured a terrible ordeal of monstrous fire which many was the worst seen in the whole war. Finally the enemy turned bn the western side of the village four German divisions, each of twelve regiments full strength, and managed to fight their way into the village. The Middlesex Regiment, West Yorks, and East Lancashires put up a great fight, but were compelled to retire to the edge, or Abbe Wood, 'while the enemy cram, med Villers Bretonneux with ,men. ana machine guns, The moon was; veiled by a thick mist. .-The Australian general decided the rmeu -should go straight into the village with bayonets and machine guns, without waiting for artillery preparations, which would tell the enemy what was coming. The plan of attack was to push forward two bodies to encircle Villers from the north, while 'other British troops in the centre fought 'the villages from the south side. The manoeuvre was carried out owing to the magnificent courage of, each Australian.

The Germans.’ -; fought . desperately when they found themselves entrapped. They had nests of machine guns along the railway'; embankment below the village. -These fired fiercely, sweeping the attackers and those who worked round the north-east of the village also came under bursts of machine gun Are from ruins, but they fought the enemy from one hit of ruin to another in the street. OFFICIAL REPORTS. FIERCE FIGHTING NORTH AND ' SOUTH.

Received 11.20 a.m. LONDON, April 26. At 12.10 a.m. Sir D. Haig reports: The Franco-British positions from northward of Bailleul to eastward of Wytschaete were heavily'' attacked. Fighting is proceeding all day witn great severity on the whole of this front, particularly in the neighbourhood of Dranoutre, Kemmel, and Vear. straat. In the course of repeated attacks and counter attacks the Allies were compelled, to withdraw from positions held in the morning. Fighting continues south of Cm Somme. Successful Australian and ..English counter attacks last night regained positions in and around Villens Bretonneux, and advanced the line to wtihin a short distance of the former front. We prisonered over six hundred. The village is now in our hands. The enemy, employed at lease four divisons in the attack on this front. Prisoners state includes Cachy village and Cachy Fouillon road, but the objectives were not reached anywhere. The number of dead found in the re-captured posttions show the enemy’s losses were very heavy. Despite the mist yesterday our airmen attacked in the neighb’ourhood of Villers Brettoneux from low heights. Our night-fliers dropped 5£ tons of bombs on Estaires, Armentieres, and Routers, also on the railway stations at Gourtrai and Thonrout. All our machines; returned. At 11.35 a.m. a French communique reports great reciprocal artillerying in the region of Hangard on both banks of the Avre, but no infantry action. The Germans in the Woevre after furious bombardment, attacked in the sector at Reguville, and gained a footing in our advanced lines, but

were promptly ejected and the lines restored. We took prisoners. There is an artillery duel on the right bans; of the Meuse and the Vosges.

BRILLIANT FIGHTING BY FEANCO-BRITISH. Received 10 a.m. LONDON, April 25. At 10.55 p.m., the United Press correspondent reports: Fighting continues all day along the heights domrnat’.ag Amiens eastward, also around Kcmmel. The French are holding Kcm mol village and hill, while the British hold Grand Bois, north of Wytschaerc. The Germans flung fresh- masses against the positions between Bailloul and Wytschaete, to which Hindenburg attaches importance. Ho made progress southward of Kemrnel ridge, and apparently occupied Drar.outre, The Franco-British troops a-3 fighting brilliantly side by side. The British apparently hold Villors B'rctonnenx.

GERMAN REPORTS. Received 11.45 a.m. LONDON, April 26. Wireless German official: Strong French counter-attack against the Jbedght (of Wlengdhoek failed with heavy loss. We attacked the AngloFrench near and southward of Villors Bretonneu?}. The- infantry supported by tanks broke through the enemy’s machine-guns nests. We captured Hangard. We advanced our lines on the heights north-westward of Castil. The enemy reserves violently counterattacked all day long, failing with with sanguinary losses. Bitter fighting lasted till night. Wo prisoncred two thousand and took four guns.