In the Aisne Valley

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 102, 23 September 1914, Page 5

In the Aisne Valley

A TERRIBLE SPECTACLE.

DOGGED, DETERMINED, VICTORIOUS

TOMMY HTKIXS.

RUMORED SCARCITY OF GERMAN AMMUNITION.

London, September 21,

I Late on Thursday the valley of the Aisne was a terrible spectacle. The ground was strewn with dead men and liorse9 in inextricable confusion amid broken machine guns, foundered cannon and scattered accoutrements. The battle was nearly a week old. The Allies advanced foot by foot. Shot and shell poured on them in an avalanche, yet they forced the Germans back towards Xoyon. "They are terrible fellows. I have seen nothing like it," was a Froneh■i&n'a eommejit on tile doggedncss of the British who were fighting on the s'ope3 above Soissons. The British fougiifc in open order, ,each man in a 'little dugout, creeping and digging as they went. The Germans poured shells o:i them, but their resistance took the spirit out of the enemy. There was a furious battle east of IVronne, between Roisel and St. Quentin, the French left endeavoring to cut off the enemy's line of retreat towards Belgium. It is rumored at Amiens that the Germans are beaten, that their artillery is slackening, and their ammunition giving out.

A German airman, mistaking the Go;man guns at lioirf-de-Cacturan for British, threw u bomb, killing thirty Cor-

Paris, September 21. The Germans blew up a railway bridge near Etaples.

ALLIES STILL I'RESS ON

RAINS RENDER MOVEMENTS DIFFICULT.

Geneva, September 21,

It is reported at Basle that the German right wing is tlowly retiring in good order towards the Belgian frontier. Palis, September 21. It is officially stated that the left wing, below Soissons, was vigorously attacked by a superior force, and gave ground, which was almost immediately re-conquered. On the right bank of the Oise- we have continued our progress northward. Rheimfl is repulsing all attacks,, and in the centre, eastward of Rheimg; cur attacks hare further progressed. In the Argonnes the situation is unchanged. In the Woevrc district the rains have rendered tho movement of the troops very difficult. • London, September 21. A Frenchman, who was formerly :>.t Oxford University, writes to an English friend that when the Germans abandon villages they destroy everything, and kill all the cattle or cut off their feet. POSITION'S OF THK TROOPS. ALOES' LEFT WING ADVANCES. GKRJfAN COUNTER-ATTACKS REPULSED. ENEMY .STRENGTHENS FRONTIER DEFENCES. Received 22, 11 j p.m. Paris. Sept. 21 (evening). Official.—On the left wing, on the right bank of the Oise, we have advanced to the height at Lassingly, on the east of the Oise and north of the Aisne. The Germans have manifested renewed activity. Violent combats, ending in bayonet charges, ensued in the region of Craonne. Everywhere the enemy was repulsed. Round Rheims the Germans have not attempted infantry attacks, but have limited themselves to cannon- ' ading our front with heavy artillery. In the Champaogne district, and on the western slope of Lirgonnc, beyond Somaine, we have taken Mesnil and Woevrc. The enemy continues to hold Thiaii Court, and has cannonaded Ilassonchatcl. There is no new report from Lorraine and Vosges. The Germans are fortifying themselves on the Dclme side, and to tho south of Chateausalins. Received 22, 9.50 p.m. Paris, September 22. : Thirty duni-dums have been extracted 2 from wounded troops. WHAT WAR IS LIKE. j BRITISH SUFFER NAMELESS e HORRORS. - DIRTY, TATTERED, CHILLED TO THE BONE.

BUT STILL CONFIDENT. Kceeivcd 23, 12.30 a.m. London, Sept. 21. Mr Philip fiibln, cabling from Chaleus on Saturday, said: ''When the great storm was raging at Soissons on Thursday and Friday, causing Hoods, the British had tlie most trying time of the war. It tried their nerves and souls to the last point of human endurance. Several who left the trenches on a special mission looked its though they had been through a torture chamber. Tlicy suffered nameless horrors, were chilled to the bono, and were shaking in every limb. Nevertheless, there was no growling. The army, dirty ns mudlarks, unshaven aud tattered, were still confident, and in ready to joke as ever. "The strength of the German positio» made it very difficult for the British to cross the marshland, which is intersected by rivers and canals, i&t pre-

sent it is utterly impossible for infantry, cavalry, or heavy guns to cross the swamps.

"The German llin guns on the surrounding hills were giving a lot »f trouble to the British gunners." "An incessant artillery duel waged for days, covered whereby both sides have been entrenching and rushing over the open ground, with rifle fire and bayonet charges, in order to obtain advantageous positions for further entrenchments. Tin: British showed superiority in the battle of the trenches, and gained good ground, though at heavy cost. With the experience of the Boer war, the British were far better than the enemy at taking advantage of every scrap of cover. Fighting in open formation, on several occasions they took trenches which by all the rules of war were impregnable. The British ivere assisted by the Zouaves, who repeatedly charged under the deadliest fire and reached the enemy's positions. The Hermans fied, but not until the trenches were filled with the corpses, of the slain. The Frenchmen tossed them out of the pits 'as though they were haymaking,' as one of them said.

General von Kluck on Friday night ordered a general advance of the infantry from Chavinguy and Naizye Chateau upon, for the most part, the British trenches round Soissons, while the artil!ery again searched the position, endeavoring to unnerve the British. The wind was howling and the rain lashing down, and the British needed all their courage. Shrapnel killed many, but the Germans were not the right stuff 1o turn out the entrenched British, and they retired quicker than they came. The British guns pounded them, and the ride fire 'aid them in heaps."

FRENCH REINFORCEMENTS. FRESH TROOPS FROM AFRICA.

Received 23, 1.30 a.m. Paris, September 21. M. Mil'erand is despatching heavy reinforcements from a large body ol Turcos and Senegalese, who entrained at Bordeaux for a destination unspecified. TRAINLOADS OP WOUNDED. "CRAWL HACK FROM THE- FRONT." Received 23, 1.30 a.m. Paris, September 21. Every evening train crammed with wounded crawl l»ack from tho front, 30 coaches composing a train, packed fuller than excursion trains, the worst cases being lucky if they can licit full length. FEARFUL ENGINE OF AVAR. TIIE GERMAN 17-INCII GUN. TREMENDOUS RANGE AND DEADLY PROJECTILE. Received 23, 1.30: a.m. London, September 21. The German 17-inch siege guns discharge a projectile weighing 21,000 (i) pounds, describe a parabola covering 12 miles, rising in height 1300 yds, discbarge electrically from a considerable distance, the operator not daring to remain in the vicinity, the shells exploding with deadly gases. ALLIES HAVE NO LIQUOR. Received 23, 1.30 a.m. London, September 21. This is a teetotal war, so far as the Allies are concerned, while the trail of the Germans is marked by myriads of empty bottles. THE KAISER DESCRIBED. "BLINDED 1!Y HIS OWN BRILLIANCY." Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, September 21. "Memories of the Kaiser's Court," written by a lady employed in the 'Court and published by Mcthuens, says that the Kaiser likes to he identified with successful people of every class, lie believes himself very astute and is blinded by his own brilliancy. He has only one point of view, his own. l!e has a marvellous memory for facts, but deduces hasty inferences and relics entirely on his own personal desires and experiences. The Crown 'l'rincc has a facile, democratic, easy generosity which wins popularity, lie is very young for his age and is self-confident and rather selfish. There is still a good deal of tho schoolboy about liini, although since his marriage he has given up Mb favorite pastime of sliding down staircases and bannisters.