BIG BATTLE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 80, 26 August 1914, Page 5

BIG BATTLE.

Varying Fortunes, FIGHTING IX EARNEST. ALLIES ATTAOK GERMANS. THE WHOLE FRONT ENGAGED. Paris, August 24, It is officially stated that a great battle is extending from Mons to the frontier of Luxemburg. The Freneh have everywhere taken the offensive, in eonjunction with the British, against nearly the whole of the German army. The 'battle will presumably last several days. It is stated that the fight began in earnest on Sunday evening on both banks of the Sambre, from Maubeuge ta Namur. It is believed that Oharleroi, thc&entre of action, ,had been taken anaU retaken. (The Sambre is a tributary of the Meuse, which it, joins at Nam'ur. Maubenge and Oharleroi are both on the Sambre). London, AugustJtA* i*The Press Bureau states that tip British forces were engaged all Sundaf, arid held their ground, in the neighblfhoul' of Mons. I News has been received that the first line of defence at Namur has been taken, necessitating the withdrawal of a portion of the Allies from the line oa the SamWe to their original position on the French frontier. The Press Bureau states that the Earl of Leven has been dangerously wounded. Sergt.-Major D. S. Williams, an aviator, and Captain C. 8. Ackerman have also been wounded. ' i Namur is the second fortified place on i the Meuse, and is about 32 miles west of Liege. The town, which has a popula- ' tion of 32/100, ig situated at the junction ' of the Rivers Sambre and Meuse. It ] lies on the left bank of the two rivers, while the Tockv promftntorv forming the fork between them is crowned with the 1 old citadel. This citadel, however, is no ' longer used for military purposes. As a fortress, Namur did not attain the , first rank until after its capture by Louis XIV., in 1692, when Vauban en- ' deavored to make it impregnable; but it was retaken by William 111. in 1-605. ] The French recaptured it in 1702, and , retained possession for ten years. In 1815 Marshal Grouchy, on his retreat into France, fought an action here with the Prussians. In 18S8, under the new scheme of Belgian defence, the citadel and its detached works were abandoned, and in their place nine outlying forts were constructed, at a distance of from , three to five miles, round the town. All , the forts are placed on elevated points. , They are, in their order, beginning on ] I the left bank of the Mouse, and ending . lon the right bank of the same river:— < St. Hcribert, Malonne. Snarles, Emines, | Cognelee, Gelbressee, Maizeret, Andoy, „ and Dave. J AIXIES SUFFER REVERSES. ; NAMUR TAKEN BY THE GERMANS. . GERMAN INVASION OF FRANCE. London, August 24. , The Press Bureau states that Namur has fallen. New York, August 24. A message from Paris states officially that the Germans have occupied Lunevilli;, Amance and Dieulouard, in the department of the Mcurtiie-ct-Moselle. Otherwise, the French front has not been modified. THE ALLIES' MISSION. TO KEEP THE WESTERN ARMY ENGAGED. WHILST RUSSIA TROUNCES THE EAST. Received 25, 8 p.m. London, August 25. The French War Office announces that the mission of the British and French forces is to hold the; Germans engaged while the Russians are prosecuting their successes in the cast. UNBELIEVING EXPERTS. GIVE TIIE GERMANS SLIGHT HOPE. Times-Sydney Sun Special Services. Received 35, 8.5 p.m. St. Petersburg. 'August 2-5. Military experts knowing the distribution of the armies do not believe it possible that the Germans can overcome the Allied forces at vital points on tin- Franco-Belgian frontier. GERMANS THROWN BACK. FRENCH VICTORY ,\T OHARLEROI. Received 35, 9.30 p.m. London, August 24 (evening). It is reported that the French were successful at Charlcroi and the Germans thrown back on Hal, south-west of Hrussels, in the vicinity of Waterloo. DISCONCERTING NEWS. A GKNUKAI, RETREAT CONFIRMED. A DIVISION' I'.IiEAKS AND GIVES WAY. Received 25, 11..10 p.m. Paris, August 25. The newspaper J.e Matin describes the j retreat in Lorraine as a fact. A division of the 15th Corps, composed of Marx seilles anil Toulon contingents, gave way before the enemy, necessitating a retreat all along the line.

FROM A GERMAN SOURCE. REPORTED DEFEAT Of ALLIES. TREMENDOUS LOSSES OF GUNS. Received 25, 9.10 p.m. New York, .August 2i. The German Ambassador at Washington states that the Germany Army, under the Grand .Duke Albrecht, defeated the French army at Neufchateau, in the Department of Vosges, in France, CO miles from the German frontier, capturing over 150 guns, the prisoners including several generals. A German force also advanced west of the Meuse, and defeated a force of British cavalry. ' DESPERATE BATTLE. GREAT FORCES OPPOSED NEAR MONS. BOTH SIDES LOSE HEAVILY. Received 25, 9.30 p.m. Paris, AugUßt 24. . The War Office has issued the follow-' ing statement:—The German extreme right sought to pass our left wing, and are now being attacked by our left, working in conjunction with the British troops, in the vicinity of Hons. A desperate battle continues. Both sides have sustained serious losses. i BRITISH IN NEW POSITION. CONTINUOUS FIGHTING. GERMANS SUFFER HEAVILY. j ALLIES FIRMLY ESTABLISHED IN GOOD POSITION. Received 25, 12.20 a.m. j Melbourne, August 25. Mr Cook has received the following cablegram from Sir George Reid, dated London, Tuesday, 3 a.m.:— Official.—'The British force has sue- ) cessfully reached its new position. The movement was executed with great skill by the commander of the Second Army Corps, fighting continuously. The enemy has not effectively harrassed British operations. Casualties, which it is impossible to estimate, were not heavy. The British were opposed by two army corps and two cavalary divisions. The enemy suffered heavily. The position now occupied is well protested, and the Allies are firmly established on tl v ordinal line of defence. Two Fr" divisions suffered severely, but t!:r :::ain body is firmly established. The German losses were considerable. THE ALLIES' LINE. Mr Belloc, in a remarkable' article published recently, discusses the time required for the concentration of the opposing forces, and continues: —"The larger the forces which may come up in relief! of the fortress, the larger the 1 covpring army has to be—quite apart from tho numbers which may be necessary for conducting the siege. It is precisely here that the advantage of a British contingent was evident to the French. That contingent in itself, even if we suppose that it would really liavs reached the numbers of 150,000 men, might not have been sufficient to prevent the immediate containing of Liege by the Geraians upon the outbreak of war, the passage of the Meusc below that town, and the formation of a large covering army to the west of it upon the left bank of the river. But the fact that a large army was preparing to gather in the flat country to the west of the town would inevitably compel the German plan to develop upon the Lower Meuse. It would fix the seat of i war, and it would fix it in n field eminently calculated to administer that first check to the German offensive, which, seeing that the whole German plan depends upon a very rapid and immediately successful offensive, would be the best possible opening of the combat for the Allies." Anticipating t'he course of a European war, Mr Belloc made the following forecast: —"To sum up, it seems inevitable that in ease of hostilities Liege and the Lbwer Meuse would he the point of attack; that the old German conception of 'rushing' a ring-fort-ress, even with no stronger rcsourecs behind it than the Belgian, must be abandoned; that a regular singe of Liege would have to be undertaken before a general German advance into Belgium was safe; that the forces required to conduct, such an operation would have to be larger in proportion to opposing forces that might soon be gathered in the Belgian plain; that Britain was peculiarly suited to afford aid at this point, and that the expeditionary force, which was prepared to leave for the Continent last September, would have landed upon the stretch of coast between and including Bologne and Ostend, and would have been asked to operate in the fiat country, whose limits upon the east run somewhat beyond the line of Naniur and Louvain."