Western Campaign

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 129, 24 October 1914, Page 5

Western Campaign

LATEST OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE. STRONG GERMAN ATTACKS REPULSED. Received 23, 8 p.m. Paris, October 22 (Evening). Official: The Allies repulsed considerable German forces' violent attacks, particularly about Dixmunde, Warncton. Armcntieres, Radinghein, and La Basscc. In other parts of t'ne front the enemy delivered only isolated attacks, and all were repulsed. Wo havo progressed slightly in the Argonno and Southern Woevre districts. This has been a glorious week ot heroic deeds against bid odds. A few days ago Belgium was wholly German. Now even the most pessimistic are counting the days till the encmy'a crumbled forces arc hurled hack into their own country. GERMAN PLANS OOMPULSORII.Y MODIFIED. BETTER BEHAVIOUR IN THE VILLAGES.

Received 23, 6.10 p.m. London, October 23. A correspondent says that the recent movements of the Allies resulted in a pronounced modification of the Herman programme. After the great movement on the Aisne the German plan wns undoubtedly to drive a wedge, hoping fro take the Allies unawares, but the movement was too slow to prevent the Lillies from selecting a position to establish themselves. During the past week the German line has daily -....utfgono totally undesigned variations. It is only fair to say that the tiermans behaved well in most places recently visited. In one place the fine imposed on the inhabitants was returned when tho town was evacuated, in an; •■,■ , ciation of the hospitality shown lu !.!>.• Germans. GERMAN RETREAT EARLY EXPECTED. ENEMY LOSING HIS DAS if. Received 23, 8 p.m. London, October 2:'. Tho Daily Mail correspond';a .it France says the Germans in the C' p.| region are getting nervy at the in.-iv:!'--ing numbers of wounded arriving. Discarded uniforms found among the dunes suggest German desertions. Though the fighting is fierce, tin- '"..•; mans give the impression of l«s?i!.n !e and exhaustion in a marked <!'-; ; ,-ee. Their rapid retreat to tin- font's '■! Western Flanders is thought to be the prelude to a gmeral retreat. GERMANS EXASPERATED, RI'T POWERLESS. THEIR VIOLENT ASSAULTS UNSUCCESSFUL. ALLIES REPORT FURTHER PROGRESS.

Received 24, 12.40 a.m. Paris, October 23. The consensus of British and French military opinion regarding the repeated violent German attacks along the whole front of the German command daily is that it shows greatly signs of powerless exasperation. •■ The closing of the Thysscn mines and ' furnaces revealed gun emplacements: overlooking Caen, also parts of jruns that ;

"iiad been shipped to the French. Thysseu j suhttcribed a portion of the capital of a smelting company at Caen, which was "pounded" directly and indirectly bj Germans, with a view of enabling Krupps' to open a branch. Moreover,

the Diclctte mine was in dangerous proximity to Fort Cherburg, An official statement at midnight on the 22nd states that the enemy's activity to-day continued with undiminished violence at Bassee. The Germans were unable to force back the Belgians or the Franco-British. Similarly between Arras and Oise the cncim's great efforts were nowhere successful. We progressed in Argonne, between Saithurbert (?) and Fourdepais, and gained ground at Ilaument and Brabant, northward of Verdun, and in Woevre Wi repulsed attacks at Clianij.- i lon.

FAILURE OF THE GERMAN RIGHT. ENORMOUS LOSSES IN WESTERN BELGIUM. RAW AND UNTRAINED TROOPS. Received 21, 1.15 a.m. Paris, October 23. A French officer declares that the retreat of the German right threatens to become a rout. They are almost in a : panic owing to the futility of their ' violent efforts. \ Seventeen hundred German dead were J buried near Nieuport. Tiiir total casualj ties in the district were 10,000. Many of the killed and wounued were i raw, almost untrained, recruits. Thirty thousand Germans, who were strongly entrenched between Ostend and Nieuport, were hurled back on Ostend, abandoning many guns and rifles. It is reported that the British fleet's bombardment of the German lines destroyed a convoy eight miles long. VERITABLE SLAUGHTER.

APPALLING LOSSES OF GERMANS. Received 24, 1.20 a.m. London, October 23. A letter from a German oificer participating in the fighting in the region of Rove and Noyou, says; "Any successes Germany scores are neutralised .• the terrible losses of our men. We "•jilt bravely, but the enemy is becomng more and more audacious. "The warlike Turcos and Zouaves are l.ard'y fighters. They are deadly marksmen. Our l'th Army Corps especially has been badly cut up. Tlioy had a victory at Remicourt, but a victory that we ■'eplore. It was a veritable slaughter, the victims being youthful Schlesweiirllolsteiners, of whom few remain."

WANTON DAMAGE IN BRUSSELS. GERMAN AIRMEN PREPARE FOR LONDON. London, October 22. A party of German officers dined for three days at the Palace in Brussels and suddenly left, after slashing paintings and carpets, and riddling the furniture with bullets. Visitors saw thirty airmen in a Brussels hotel inspecting a map of London and marking the location of the Hack of England, the War Office, Parliament Buildings, and Buckingham 'lVnce. The aviation camp at Waelhen includes fix dirigibles. There, are five hundred trucks full of guns in Brussels railway yards. Amsterdam, October 22. The Telegraaf has reliable, information that the German commander of Brussels notified the German inhabitants to leave the town within 48 hours. This is interpreted to mean that be is unable to guarantee the uninterrupted occupation of the city. ON BELCIAN COAST.

FRENCH SQUADRON HELPING BRITISH. 1 • BOMBARDMENT CROWING : STRONGER. : BATTLEFIELDS STREWN 1 WITH DEAD. I Received 24, 1 a.m. i Amsterdam, October 23. The bombardment between Ostend and Nieuport is prowing stronger. , The Allies' shells, dropping among the ' German guns, indict terrible loss. The battlefields are strewn with dead. Nev-

> crtheless, fresh German troops continue I to arrive. The Germans have been slightly dr'Vcn back from Middelkerkc. The Allies' positions are strengthened by entrenchments and inundations. A French squadron is now supporting I the British licet. British naval gun- | fire killed General Von Trip and his I staff near Middelkerke. Paris, October 23. The business quarter of Lille, between the railway station and the Town Hail, was destroyed by shell-fire -on the Kith. Received 2-1, 1.30 a.m. Paris, October 23. The Germans re-occupied Li'le on Tuesday, but commenced withdrawing under General Von Kluek on Wednesday. Received 23, (1.10 p.m. London, October 22. "It is estimated that the wounded i n France total nearly half a million. Berlin states that Dunkirk is strongly occupied by French troops, but the Germans will soon enter. BATTLEFIELD STORIES. BRITISH NAVALS' ESCAPE. Received 24, 1 a.m. London, October 23. Among the British Naval men at Groningeu are twelve who were, unaware of the British retreat. They held an Antwerp redoubt between the forts. A sub-lieutenant sent three men to milk cows in the vicinity, and immediately afterwards he was astonished to see a heavy column of German infantry Hearing the trenches. He ordered silence till the enemy had marched past. Meanwhile the milkers had returned to the trenches. Subsequently the little party pierced the German lines unobserved, and reached Holland. I

FIGHTING AIXtNO FRANCO-BELGIAN TERRITORY.

A UHLAN FORCE WIPED OUT,

GERMANS TRAPPED NEAR TOE COAST. STRENUOUS STRUGGLES AT ROULEES. GERMANS RUN RIOT AT LILLE. SAILORS PRESSED INTO MILITARY SERVICE. London, October 22. During an earlier batt'e westward of Lille an aeroplane reconnaissance disclosed two regiments of Ulilans bivouacked. A battery of Held artillery covered their road of escape, and the infantry advanced. The German sentries gave the alarm, and the Uhlans galloped back. The artillery opened at 2(K) yards with shrapnel and two squadrons" of Jiritish oavalry finished them. Three hundred Uhlans were killed or wounded, and many taken prisoners. The Daily Mail's Flushing correspondent says the German position on the Belgian seaboard and in the vicinity of Bruges and Ghent is becoming critical. They are still holding Ostend. The bombardment of Nieuport on Wednesday took place under the fire of eleven warships, the German fire falling short of the ships. The Germans in Ostend are sheltering behind the houses on the Digue. The firing was heard at Bruges all day, and was coming closer. The railway viaduct at Oostcamp was blown up, and trains of German wounded were obliged to return to Bruges. The Germans appear to be exhausted. French dragoons from Ypres, after expelling the remnant of the Germans from Rouhrs, barricaded the streets, and planted machine guns in the porches of prominent houses. On Monday a large force of Germans, from Ghent and Bruges, bombarded and took the town after fierce street fighting, the French retiring in good order. They were reinforced on Tuesday, and, after heavy fighting, Roulers was retaken. It is reported that French colonial troops dislodged the Germans from the forts north and east of Rhcims.

The Germans prepared long rows of miners' houses eastward of Lens for street fighting. The windows were protected by mattresses and the walls loopbolcd. During tho bombardment of Arras 22 civilians were killed. Throughout the Lille region the Germans abandoned strategy for pillage, with the object of inflicting the greatest possible economic loss on the French. Paris, October 22.

After sacking Baillcul the Germans let loose hundreds of lunatics from the great asylum. The unfortunates wandered over the country for days, suli'ering terribly from cold and hunger. A number died, but manv are still at liberty.

The destruction near Lille was terrible. Some villages were shelleJ by

both armies until scarcely a atone, was left standing. The inhabitants who were unable to escape died a terrible death. In one Hiousc the Allies found a family of seven dead. At Ennetieres no liabitnble house remains. Five hundred (Germans were found dead in the streets. The cartridges found on them were of the old Snider type. The Allies are entrenching near Lille, pending the arrival of reinforcements. Both sides are using huge, forces of cyclists to occupy advanced posts'. If •attacked by cavalry, the cyclists throw their machines in the middle of the road, where the spokes of the wheels form a perfect obstacle to the charging 'horses, anil the cyclists, sheltered in Jiedgcs, pick off the struggling horsemen. Amsterdam, October 22. ( Two thousand four hundred Hamburg sailors traversed Liego'' towards Antwerp, also two Zeppelins. The Allies' capture of Eoulers, an important railway centre, is a heavy handicap to the enemy's dispatch of troops to the front.

Witnesses of the fighting at Dixmunde state that the Germans, in withdrawing, suffered heavily from the bayonet, and abandoned a thousand dead and wounded. The Allies' casualties were also serious. Many of the injured remained on the spot for fifteen hours, owing to the darkness, and fifty succumbed to their injuries. ALLIES HOLDIXG TIIETR OWN. Paris, October 22. A communique, dated October 21 (midnight), says: —"There was a violent battle throughout the day on the left wing from the North Sea to La Bassee. The Allies arc holding their own everywhere, and the situation is unchanged."

The Hague, October 22.

The Kaiser's son-in-law (the Duke of Brunswick), who was leading the Zieten Hussars on the French front, is missing. It is believed ho has been cut off and taken prisoner.