WESTERN FRONT.

Taihape Daily Times, 23 May 1918, Page 5

WESTERN FRONT.

AUSTRALIANS ON THE ANCRE. CLEARING FORTIFIED VILLAGE. LONDON, May 21. Mr. PMlip Gibbs describ.es the Australians' capture or" Ville-sur-Ancre as a thrilling exploit, similiar to their recapture of Villers-Bretonneux. Under a bright moon, parties, in the face of fierce machine gun and rifle fire, worked up each side of the village, the garrison of which had been heavily ' strengthened, following the creeping barrage through flooded grotmd, the water in some places being waist high and smashing through the entanglements, they bombed their way forward to their objective down sunken roads, driving the enemy before them. Then a third body advanced at the centre and cleared out the village, where there was much heavy fighting among the ruins, which were strewn with dead Germans, t|>e enemy defending themselves The Austra- '•; lians "consolidated the "ground. little success has increased the difficulties of the enemy ' In any'attemfiit north of the village, as J they must* now come under an enfiladj. *ing fire. Many of the prisoners j arsi young, spectacled, • j -weedy ''tadsr landr tnepwefe e yl i)vere. separated from their rations for 1 a jlong time. They eagerly accepted - biscuits.' One, who after surrender, shot a scout corporal and tried to escape, was pun'lshed by instant death. A machine -'gunner wearing the iron cross fought

so bravely that when sent back as a 'prisoner he was given a note hoping 1 'that no one would take the cross from • ! him. on the British'front. LONDON, May 21. Sir Douglas Haig reports: "A Surrey battalion fought a successful operation north-west of Medville, 10 miles west of Estaires. Our fire broke a counter-attack against the new positions gained. We carried out a successful raid south-east of Arras. The enemy artillery is active." NO PROSPECT OF BREAKING WEST FRONT. k ;.' NEW YORK, May 21. "Chicago Daily News" Stockholm- correspondent says" that, judging from foreign exchange rates, the Germans have no prospect of breaking through the west front* The German exchange had an upward trend at the beginning of the March offensive, but was now several points lower than before offensive and is falling daily. BRILLIANT FRENCH ADVANCE. ON BELGIAN BORDER. FIVE HUNDRED PRISONERS. BRITISH LINE ALSO IMPROVED LONDON, May 21. The United Press correspondent reports: A French attack on the Belgian border was brilliantly successful, and re-captured Locre Hospice, B'ruleoze, and the entire wood southward of Brulooze, advancing our line some distance, and taking five hundred prisoners, and greatly improving our positions in the neighbourhood of Montrouge and Schperenberg. French casualties v-cre lipht x Thry suddenly fell bn tV'Gorman - along a, front of betwo and ■ three miles. Northewt of the Mervillc-Lamotte road the PMfflftish advancedtheir line oh* a six I ■■?. kundred yards' front. Local fighting **. & -developing.

AVIATION REPORT, 1000 HUN PLANES DOWNED SINCE OFFENSIVE. Received 9.5 a.m. LONDON, May 22. Sir Douglas Haig's aviation report states twenty-two tons of bombs were dropped in the daytime on Monday on enemy railway stations and aerodromes, and billets. Night-fliers dropped thirteen tons of bombs on aerodromes in the neighbourhood of Ghent, Tournai, St. Quentin, and a further 41 tons on railway stations at Thionville, Metz and Coblentz, on the Rhine. Twenty-two heavy, bombs were dropped on railway stations at Namur and Charleroi. Since the commencement of the German offensive one thousand German aeroplanes have been brought down, and over a thousand tons of bombs have been dropped over the enemy's line*. STRUGGLE IN FLANDERS. GERMAN COUNTER 'ATTACK"'TJJR ;f ' ;r j ; " , -:,? s V '•' LONDON, May'2l. ; ; ■-.:;)>■ ■;-. ■■ '• \u.\ -i •. ; .-:.■:,; j ;.v;i , -,;>V Sir. Douglas Haig reports heavy bombardment the enemy^Qounr i ter .attacked in considerable., sts,epgs& ijGn a fijont of 1200 yards against our newr-jpositions north-west of Merville. ■ Despite:intensity of artillery preparations, the infantry only succeeded in reaching our positions at two points, where they were dealt with effectively by our troops. Our whole; :lme is intact. The French repulsed: two night raids north of Bailleul, We' took a re ) w'prisohers u ih a patrol encounter neighbourhood of ! Noyelles.

THE AUSTRALIAN VICTORY. LONDON, May 21, Sir Douglas Haig congratulated the Australians on the complete success of their operations on May IS, which resulted in the capture of Ville-sur-Ancre and other gains. IS HINDENBURG DEAD? , LONDON, May 21. Mr. Robinson writes: Prisoners persistently assert that Hindenburg is dead. Probably this is untrue, but a large part of the German army believe it. AUSTRIAN'S FOR THE WEST FRONT ROME, May 21. The "Epoca" states that at the Germans' request Austria is sending a newly formed army of manoeuvre to the western front. GALLANT RUSSIAN LEGION. • • PARIS, May 21. The Russian Legion participated in the recent attack beside' the Zouaves, and earned the highest praise for their dash and bravery. AMERICANS AT THE FRONT. TRANSPORTATION SPEEDED UP. NONDON, May 21. The United Press states that owing to the speeding up of the transportation of United States Troops to France, their number may soon equal the British forces facing the Germans. The announcement is, made that the first American field army has been formed, 200,000 men, divided into two corps and three divisions.