Anglo-French Forces

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 108, 30 September 1914, Page 5

Anglo-French Forces

AN OFFBOIAL N-AKRiATIVE. EVIDENOBS OF GiBRiMAiN iRETIBB(MHVT. t J Wellington, This -Moofjviinj. _ The (Premier has received Uio following from the High Commissioner, dated September 28:-^ vu'icial.—The following descriptive account, dated ijopteniiber twenty-flftfc, communicated by m eye-witness who who present with the general beadquarters, continues aud Burm.emeiita- the narrative published on the Sith of the movements of the Britisjh force ajid th» French armies in immediate touch, with it. BBINTOaCBMHNTS ARRIVE. .

"For four davs there has been a comparative lull all along our front. Tina has fori- accompanied by a tspell of fine weather. Advantage was taken of the arrival of reinforcement* to relieve by fresh troops the nwu who Have beat in the firing line for some time. Jtovoral units have received their baptism of ftro during the week.

I GERMANS' DANGEROUS EX- , . FERMENT. "Since my last letter left the gem.' - erai headquarters, evidence hau ibeea received which points to the fact thai during the eounter-attaiakui on tho night /of the 20th the German inlarary tired in-, ■to each other, the result of an attentat to carry out a dangerous experimentof a converging advance in tne, dark. Opposite one portion of. our position a iWisidiiralble , massing of the hostile, ' forces was observed before diW-K. Some hours later, a furious fuuilodc was beard in front of our lilies, though no bullets came over our trenches.

, \ ARTIiLLiERY DUEL.

"On the 21st there was a, little rain, but .bhe weather took a turn for the ! tetter, which has been ffiiiintained. Afttion was practically confined to artillery, ou guns at one point, shelling and driving away the enemy, who were endeavoring to construct a redoubt! The Itrennans expended a large number of hcavv shells in a long-range bomfcard'nient of the vilLage of Gi&ay.

DESERTED GERMAN TRENCHES.

"Reconnoitring iparties sent out during the night of the 21st and 22nd discovered some deserted trenches hi the ' ■woods, with over 100 d rul and wounded. They picked a number of rifles and

ammunition and equipment. There were*

various other sighs that the enemy's forces had withdrawn for some u%-

"The 22nd was also fine, with lets wind, one of the most uneventful days "' that the 'British have (passed since we I - reached the Aisne, There was lew artillery work on either side, the Get- '.", mans, nevertheless, giving the village * ■ a taste of 'Jack Johnsons' The apot' '■ / thus honored is not far fiom the irido» '' u •where Borne of the most severe cloae. " iighting in which we have taken part . ? > has occurred. All over'this 'no maitta land' between the Jim-*, lwdies of Get- <'i' ; man infantry aro still lying in heaps > - Where (they have fallen lit diffelrenfe^^i times. • ' ' jS GERMAN PERFECTION IN SPYING. ';£ "Espionage plays ho U;ige a part in ' ' $ the conduct of the war by the German* >;_ ■' that it is difficult to avoid re- ' " \ fcrencc to the subject. Apart, » !»e ", more elaborate anttngtm-ntg made in ■] time of peace for obtaining information t '•!■, by paid agents, ; jine of the methods .;■'*''■ employed for colleV'.ion or conveyance of ' intelligence are as follows:- _ t,t, "Men in plain >lothes signal to the German lines from points in the handa ■; ,* of the enemy by means of colored lishte - ■'; at night, and puffs of smoke from chim* ■■'■'; ncys by day. i, j£ "Pseudo laborers working in the fields' , \% between the armies have been detected' '*'% conveying information. ~ ih "Persons in plain clothes havo acted " *' ■* as advance scouts to the German cavalry . 5 when advancing. -•'"■& "German officers and soldiers in plain , , J clothes, or in French or British maforms, have remained in localities evaou- '• - t'Jj ated by the German o in order to furnish _2> them with intelligence. ft"> '<Oue spy of tiiis kind was found by ■ .s* our troops hidden in a church tower- . ;4 His presence was on'v discovered - ~*% through the erratic movements of the, i » hands of tOie church clock, which he was Vjg using to signal to his friends by means' *jS of an improvised semapliore code. Had &1 this man not been seized, it is probabjip *» j| that he would have .signalled to tlie '.*s German artillery :'•.« time of arrival and /t| the exact location of the headquarters. 'M of the force, and a high cxp'osive shell v~w would then mysteriously have dropped'-iJfJ on the building. ')'■£ "Women spies have been caught. '.'',. "Secret agents have been found, at <({ railheads observing entrainments and\i dctrainments. It it- a simple matter for S} spies to mix with a number of refugees-'; ■loving abont to anil from their homes,.,' and it is difficult tor our troops, who ~'ffi speak neither French nor German, to tect them. The French have found necessary to search villagers and casual j» wayfarers on the roads for pigeons. Rigoroiw prcnaulions are taken '% by us to guard airamst spying. . SS TRIBUTE TO BRITISH SECRECY. '£ "The following extract from a Gtr- '$ aian order of August 21 is evidence of • y the mystification of the enemy, and is tribute to the value, of the secrecy »<»• i well and loyalb' maintained in Eng»ia land: 'lt is renorin' iV* an English: 1 army has disembarked at Calais qndv| Boulogne, en route for Brussels.'" 'Jj? (The British fore actually landed iw#| France a week before > tS