WESTERN FRONT.

Taihape Daily Times, 14 August 1918, Page 5

WESTERN FRONT.

BRINGING UP THE GUNS. LONDON, Aug. 12. It is premature to regard the pause on the Western front as closing the offensive. Time is needed to bring up artillery and reorganise, prior to a further push. Reuter’s correspondent at the British headquarters, writing on the evening of the 12th inst., says: Stiff fighting is in progress to-day, the main feature of which is the greatly Increased enemy artillery and machine gunning, proving the rapid swelling of reinforcements. Our long-range 60 pounders have some bridges on the Somme under steady fire, so enemycommunications must be • difficult — sometimes deadly. In the neighbourhood of Hulhu, ground were retaken by a counter-at-tack after we were forced to fall back ■ therefrom, Reuter’s correspondent at the French headquarters, writing on the afternoon of the-12th, says; ■ The period ;of arrest in the development of t£a battle continues. This morning some villages behind our front were heavily bombarded by the enemy, hoping tp .disperse troops’ concentrations. A pause while we are gathering strength for a further push on the new line -is probable. AUSTRIANS ON WEST FRONT. : LONDON, August 12. An Austrian division has been discovered on the West front, but thus far it has not been engaged ,the object of its presence probably being to demonstrate the solidity of the Aus-tro-German alliance, and to improve the morale of the troops. ROYE UNDER ALLIED GUNS. LONDON, August 12. Yon Hutier’s armyj, with its left resting on the Thiescourt massif, and the Oise at Noyon, is sufficiently well placed for the defensive, except for the threat of a further advance of the British at the Amiens-Roye road. The Allies at Andechy are only four miles away. Roye is already under fire from the Allied guns. The enemy position on this part of the line s anything but solid. AN ATTEMPT AT EXCUSE. 4 ' LONDON, August 12. A Berlin semi-official message attributes the latest German defeat to the fact that only hasty defences were posible in the over-run area owing to lack of time and transport for material. The message mentions that hurricane fire was concentrated on the trenches and garrisons, breaking down telegraph and telephone communication. Signal rockets were also .visible in the thick fog. The gunners suddenly found themselves attacked in flank and rear by squadrons of tanlfs, whose machine-gunning played terrible havoc. GERMAN PRESS ADMITS ALLIED SUCCESS. , LONDON, August 12. German newspapers are beginning to admit the Allied success, though professing calm confidence in the future. The Cologne “Gazette” says; There 3s no good hiding the fact that this check by an enemy not numerically stronger, hits us hard. The “Tage Zeitung,” the organ of v&e Pfeff-German, says: The first serious defeat of the war is due to the Istate of the morale of Prince RupBrecht’s troops.

“Vorwaej;ts,” commenting on the crisis confronting Germany, says: The morale of the nation has been damaged by the Pan-Germans’ wild cry of “conquest.” General von Ardenne, in the “Berliner Tageblatt,” says the failure of the defence must he admitted. The losses of ground, guns and prisoners must be painful, as the German High Command is now particularly anxious to economise forces. The military crtic of the “Mittags Zeitung” prepares the public for a further retreat. ENEMY COUNTER ATTACKING. LONDON, August 12. A violent battle is proceeding be-., tween Bray and Villerg le Roy. An American, division - is hotly engaged in the Bray sector. The Germans are everywhere vigorously counter-attacking. The French are now practically on the crest of the Lassigny massif, firing into the German rear. It is anticipated that the massif, which is a heavily wooded plateau eight miles square, will fall to-night. Its- loss would involve a further retirement, menacing Noyon. The Allies captured Gury this morning. We are now bringing up heavy guns. German artillery is also coming up. Twenty-nine German divisions have already been identified. FRAN CO-BRITISH SUCCESSES. LONDON, August 12. Sir Douglas Haig reports: There was successful fighting in the neighbourhood of the Roye road, eastward of Fouquescourt and on the south bank of the Somme. We advanced our line in each of these localities, taking a hundred prisoners. We captured Proyart, southward or the Somme, after sharp fighting, in which the enemy lost heavily in prisoners and killed. Fighting continues. GERMAN OFFICIAL REPORT. LONDON, August 12. Wireless German official. —We repulsed violent attacks northward of the Somme and between the Somme and Lihons. The enemy advanced beyond Lihons, but our counter-attack threw him back to the northern and eastern edge of the village. We toox Hallu. During July we shot down 518 aeroplanes, of which 239 are in our possession. We lost 129. ’ ENEMY RECOVERS FROM PANIC. AUSTRALIANS WIN GLORY. LONDON, August 12. Mr. Robinson writes: The 1 enemy has recovered from his panic. Although the divisions which bore the brunt of the attack on the British front were practically blotted out, only remnants escaping, new divisions are fighting with greater determination, resisting in the 1916 trenches and dugouts along the river on the line Chuignolles-Pro-yart-Bray, where machine guns were so fierce that the attackers were compelled to crawl on their stomachs the last thousand yards. Nevertheless, the’ Australians determinedly attacked and won the ground, but failed fo get beyond Proyart, owing to the great number of machine guns. We captured a wood north of Proyart after a two hours’ stiff battle, while the Australians on the left worked through strong defences, winning the ridge Chuignolles to Raincourt, and captured the latter, greatly improving the situation for troops on the northern side of the river.

New German forces heavily counter attacked at Lihons, and succeeded in forcing us back. The Australians

dashingly re-attacked, and flung the enemy back, placing Lihons safely In our hands. MONTDIDIER SACKED. PARIS, August 11. The Germans, before evacuating Montdidier, left little more than a mass of wreckage. The Palais of Justice was devastated and ancient tapestries disappeared. They also sacked basilica, of St. Peter’s fourth century ediffice. FURTHER IMPROVEMENT OF POSITIONS. AERIAL ACTIVITY. Received 8.55 a.m. LONDON, August 13. Sir Douglas Haig reports: We further improved our positions north of Roye Road and on the north bank of the Somme, capturing additional prisoners. We repulsed a local attack in the neighbourhood of Fougnescourt. We repulsed an attack in the Morris sector, after sharp fighting. French aviation communique.— Despite attempts of enemy squadrons to oppose their passage, our bombers on August 11 made fruitful expeditions against enemy lines, copiously bombing bridges, roads, railways, and troops. Numerous convoys were blocked. Altogether fifty-seven tons were dropped by day and night. Fifteen aeroplanes fell and twenty-one were disabled by Fraaco-American action. ALLIED OFFENSIVE RESUMED,. ENEMY EVACUATING OISE TRENCHES. Received 10.35 a.m. NEW YORK, August 13. The Allies have renewed the offensive east of Chaulnes. The Germans are evacuating the Oise river trenches east of Bailly. Bailly is about ten miles due south of Noyon; “CRAWLING TO VICTORY.” AUSTRALIANS’ LATEST FEAT Received 10.35 a.m. LONDON, August 13. The Australians on Saturday night tried to advance between the Somme and Amiens Wood, with a view of taking Proyart, but the machine-gun fire was so heavy that the Australians did not attempt to proceed, but made a fresh attempt on Sunday night. The enemy, who had been strongly reinforced, fought strongly for two hours amid old dug-outs and trenches. The advance was therefore difficult and tedious, but the Australians, crawling on their stomachs for the last thousand yards, pocketed nest after nest, until the village was reached. GROUND CAPTURED FROM AMERICANS. REGAINED BY COUNTER-ATTACK Received 10. 5 a.m. NEW YORK, ug. 13. The Germans attacked Fismette on the banks of the river Vesle, and the Americans were forced to retire across the river. They counter-at-tacked and recovered all the ground. DESPERATE FIGHTING FOR LASSIGNY MASSIF. FRENCH WEST AND SOUTH OF ROYE. Received 10.25 a.mLONDON, August 13. The French have reached the Lassigny ridge. The Germans hold the northern corner. There is desperate fighting. The French are pressing close to Roye on the west and south. THE FRENCH VICTORIES. THE MASSIF CONQUERED. Received 11.5 a.m. NEW YORK, August 13. The French have at last conquers! tie Lassigny massif. (The importance of this success by the French can hardly be overestimated, as there are no heights in all this region north of the Lassigny massif and the Forest of 'St. Gobain. The Germans are now retreating over undulating country, where the eminences areisolated, slight and gradual and the roads run straight from town to town.)