Western Campaign

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 155, 7 December 1914, Page 5

Western Campaign

• THE WAR REVIEWED. FROM THE FRENCH STANDPOINT. TROOPS IX RARE FETTLE. COXFIDENT OF VICTORY. • Received (i, 3.50 p.m. Paris, December 5. An official bulletin sketehes the war to date. "The -violation of Belgium showed that the main struggle would occur in the north. We were unable to engage the enemy until the Britisli came into line, therefore we sought jto retain as many army corps as possible in Alsace and Lorraine. '

"From the Bth September onward General Jlannowy's new army's attack against the German right began to take Tlie enemy shifted liis front, thus presenting a weak point to the British army, winch crossed the Marne, and came to grips with the German flank. Meanwhile General Desperey, with General Mannowy on the wing, also crossed and drove back the Germans, supported by the British on his left, and General Focli on his right. It was upon this army that tne Germans sought to avenge the check of their right, and from the Oth to the 9tli September tliis force was compelled to face repeated attacks, until, on the evening of the Oth, its left near Laureehampinoise took the Prussian Guard and another German corps on the flank. This audacious manoeuvre decided the issue.

"The Germans, still at the back of Focli, entered Chalons-sur-Marne on the 11th. From the loth onwards began a contest—a real race to the sea. The Germans had this advantage of a concentric front, shortening the. distance. Nevertheless, the movement of tlusr weight failed, and the victory of the Ifarne was eonlirined.

"General Castelnau, on the 20th, formed a new army on llonnawy's left, and strongly established himself in the Lassigny, Royc, Peronne district. Mannowy's army entered the Aisne on the 30th, occupying the region around the Arras, with a view of junctioning with the Dunkirk division, but the line was still too thin. Sir John French instantly decided to transfer the British from the Aisne to the vicinity of Lys. The Belgian army from Antwerp, covered by British and French marines, arrived to strengthen the projected barrier in the Yser district. The British werc*unable to come into action before 20th October. The Belgians were short of munitions, therefore Ger.eral Jofl're entrusted to General Focli the task of co-ordinating the operations of the northern armies. Fresh reinforcements enabled him on the 12th November to constitute a Franco-Belgian army, under General Dourbal, co-operating with the Belgians and Britisli between the sea and Lys against a dozen Geryian army corps and upwards of four cavalry divisions. The Kaiser has issued proclamations, emphasising the necessity for. a decisive blow, reaching Dunkirk, Calais, or Boulogne, along the coast, or piercing the line towards Ypres, and then declaring Belgium annexed.

For three weeks the Hermans launched | repeated and furious attacks in dense masses, but it was obvious after 12th Xovcmbcr that the balance was on our side. We yielded not an inch, and held an impregnable position against the (lerman offensive for a fortnight in November. Then the attacks weakened, and the artillery became less active. . The batle of Ypres cost the enemy 120,001) men. Never has an attack, so carefully prepared and so furiously delivered, suffered a more complete check. "The 3£aiscr witnessed the repulse eastward of Klieims, and a week later the repulse at Ypres. "Our forces are now as large as at the outset of the campaign. The quality has greatly improved, and all are profoundly imbued with a sense of superiority over the enemy, and with absolute confidence of victory. The (■ermans' futile efforts exhausted their reserves, while the troops they are bring-_ ing up to-day are badly officered and badly treated. '■' The Kussians are more and more asserting their superiority, and the German halt in the east is doomed inevitably to become a retreat."

THE NAVAL BRIGADE AT ANTWERP. OF GREAT VALUE TO BELGIANS. Received G, 10.30 a.m. London, December 5. Sir John French's despatch to the Admiralty on the naval brigades assisting it Antwerp declares that General Paris handled them with great skill and boldness. The fortress was not saved, but the marines certainly delayed the enemy for a considerable time, and enabled the Belgian army to withdraw. They destroyed war material and ammunition, which would have been of great value to the enemy. The Belgians were afterwards a great asset to the Allies on the Yser. Also, the moral effect on the Belgian army by this necessarily desperate attempt at succour was of great value in tlie'r use and efficiency. General Paris reported that when it was evident that the Belgians were unable to hold the fort, in order to avoid disaster, he retired under cover of darkness. The roads were crowded with Belgian troops, refugees, cattle and vehicles. Partly from this, and partly from fatigue and unexplained causes, numbers of the brigade became detached. Meanwhile the main body entrained and effected their retreat, iMMMMMMfiiI

drowned. There was considerable confusion. The darkness and the agitation of the refugees made the passing of orders difficult. The battalion behaved splendidly, and fought their way tnrough, but the loss in missing was upwards of half the number. FREXQH OFFICIAL REPORT. ■SUCCESSES IX THE NORTH. PROGRESS i\ ALSACE. Received G 10,30 a.m. Paris, December 5. Official: We took 1191 prisoners in the northern region on Wednesday, and made progress towards Altkirch to-day. Received 0, 0.5 p.m. Paris, December 5.

Oflieial: We have made appreciable progress north of the Lys, our infantry at ■daybreak carrying, in a single rush, two lines of trenches, and gaining 500 metres. We captured a house at I'oesele, on the right bank of the canal, between Dixmude'and Ypres. The house was stubbornly disputed at the mouth of the encmys heavy artillery. A violent attack vainly attempted to recapture it. There is intermittent cannonading at Arras and Champagne. The bombardment of liheims has been resumed with ■ marked intensity. Our artillery destroyed several of the enemy's earthworks. The struggle in the Argonne district continues severe. We have taken several trenches, and repulsed all counter-at-tacks. THE TRUTH COMING OUT. FRENCH WEAKNESS AT THE BEGINNING. ■-MILITARY MACHINE STRONG NOW. GENERAL JOFFRE CONFIDENT. Received (i, 11.40 p.m. I Paris, December G. General Jolire, in conversation with an officer, said coming victory was a mathematical certainty. His first task had been to forge his weapon. Reliable generals had taken the place of those found wanting, and the French military machine was now in such a state that a German attack would-dash itself against them in vain. He was not anxious that the Germans should decrease their forces in the west, as the present position would enable the Russians to advance at a greater rate.

The Germans force the inhabitants of' Ostend to stay in their houses after nightfall, while the trainloads of (lead are brought in and buried in the dunes. The Germans are having great difficulty at Zeebrugge, due to the silting up of the harbor, the Belgians having destroyed the dredges, which formerly worked day and night. MIDNIGHT ATTACK BY GERMANS. ! EVERY MAN LOST. jj Received fi, 11,40 p.m. jl London, December G. fe The Daily Chronicle's Dunkirk corre- j spondent reports that the Allies' sentries j at Pervysc, at midnight, suddenly ■ alarmed by figures creeping up in the darkness, discovered 500 Germans trying to cross the Y'ser, many up to their necks in water. Three hundred were drowned, and two hundred were taken prisoners. ENEMY RE TIRING ON THE Y'SER. ZEEBRI.'GGE SILTING UP. TRAINLOADS DAILY OF GKrctfAN DEAD. Received 0, 11.40 p.m. Amsterdam, Dectmber C. The Germans have retired two kilometres along the Yser, owing to the in- ' sanitary conditions on the marshy ground, wmch was also unsuitable for artillery. VERDUN! NOT THREATENED. GERMANS TWENTY MILES AWAY. Received 0, 5.5 p.m. London, December C. A Daily Chronicle correspondent who visited the Verdun area disposes of tli# German claims that the fortress is besieged. The six forts taken by the Germans were not within twenty miles, and the communications wen; intact: The Hermans were still in touch with the Mcuse, and at St. Mihicl, their communication with Met/, being precarious. The French are steadily progressing north of Verdun, and are excellently equipped for the winter campaign. He declares that for the present all danger on France's eastern frontier is past. THE POSITION" IN ALSACE. GERMANS PREPARE FOR ASSAULT. Received C, 5.5 p.m. Berne, December 5. The well-informed Genevan newspaper La Suisse states that guns have been mounted at C'olma (in Upper Alsace), parts of Mulhausen mined, and preparations made at Strasburg to flood the , country to the westward and southward ; of the town. SIGNS OF GERMAN RETREAT. FEAR OF INVASION. i . Received 6, 5.5 p.m. 8 London, December 8. 1 j Press correspondents at Nancy '\l sisc the signs of a possible German re

their fear of a possible early invasion. The bombardment of Arnaville continues. INDIANS IN THE TRENCHES. ■HARD PRESSED BY THE ENEMY. Received G, 9.50 p.m. London, December (5. An eye-witness' narrative says the Germans have lately presesd heavily our Indian lines, extending the taps for assaults at. short distances. None oi these were carried out by great forces, the Germans using civilians to dig the trenches. Both sides are sapping against each other, and preceding their assaults with grenades, which, with short-range bombs, are becoming a prominent feature of close attack. NEW FRENCH GENERAL. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, December 4. It is asserted that now the safety «f Paris is assured. General Gallieni will shortly coimntHid the new army. INTERMITTENT CANNONADE IN BELGIUM. JAPANESE AID WANTED. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, December 4, M. Gustav Herve, writing in a socialist organ in Paris, urges. that the assistance of Japan be invoked in Europe, in order to shorten the war. A communique states that there is an intermittent cannonade between the Ypres-Ronlers railway, and the road from Becelaere to Passchendaele, where the German infantry unsuccessfully attemped to gain ground. London, December 4. An officer, writing to the. Manchester Guardian, narrates 'that the Germans first spared the Ypres Town Hall! This aroused suspicion, and search revealed an enormous quantity of stores and ammunition placed beneath the Town Ha'l with the Mayor's connivance, when the Germans first occupied Ypres. Immediately the traitorous Mayor bad been shot the Germans shelled the Town Ilall. The Government will permit the exportation of merino wools to the United States on satisfactory guarantees. The British and French authorities have decided not to forward picture postcards to the army ridiculing the lvaiser or Crown Prince. If such caricatures are found upon prisoners or the wounded they are liable to' summary treatment by the Germans. Sometimes prisoners have been maltreated or shot. THE BRITISH ARMY. GENERAL FRENCH'S TRIBUTE. London, December 4. Sir John French's latest order issued to the troops says? "I have made many calls upon you, and the answers you made covered you and your jegiments and the army with honour and glory. Your fighting qualities, courage, and endurance have been subjected to the most trying and severest tests. You have maintained the magnificent British traditions and added to their lustre."