Western Campaign

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 156, 8 December 1914, Page 5

Western Campaign

INDIANS SUFFER FROM FROST-BITE. ALLIES PROGRESSING 12* BELGIUM. A GERMAN REVERSE. Received 7. 1-5 a.m. Boulogne, December 7. There is little activity at the front, and a noteworthy decrease in the number of wounded coming in, though there are many soldiers in the hospitals, particularly Indians, suffering from frostbitten hands and feet. The weather enabled aviators to make reconnaissances, resulting in the Allies progressing between Dixmundc and Ypres. The Germans at Turnhout are cutting down the forest of Castcrfe, with the object of building bridges and rafts to cross the Yser floods. The German attempt at Pervise resulted in the loss of eight machine-guns mounted on rafts. The Belgians had, only forty killed and seventeen wounded. BOMBARDMENT OF A CHURCH. SHELLS DROP AMONG SLEEPING FRENCHMEN. Received 8, 1.30 a.m. London, December 7. Deails of the bombardment of Lampernuisse, show that five hundred Trench soldiers were sleeping in a church. A spy hidden in the -belfry signalled to the Germans by means of a lamp. The Germans opened a violent bombardment. , The first volley killed a dozen of the sleeping Frenchmen. The church was soon in ruins. Few escaped without wounds. A FIERCE NIGHT ATTACK. FRENCH FIGHT FOR POSITION. Received S, 1.30 a.m. London, December 7. Four hundred French volunteers, inAiding a hundred Zouaves, made a night ittack on the ferryman's house at Poesele commanding an important bridge on the Yser canal, which had been .urned into a miniature fort. The French crossed the bridge under a mil from the machine-guns, and drove lie Germans from the outer walls, after i ferocious fight with bayonets and ;nives. The French then dasiied in the loers with axes. ! Hand to hand fighting occurred on ■ach floor, and the Germans were driven o the loft, where they surrendered. GERMAN AIRSHIP BEATEN. OUTMANOEUVRED BY LIGHTER VESSELS. , Received 8, 1.30 a.m. London, December 7. A German airship, loaded with exilosives, crossed the British lines near jille. Thre3 British aeroplanes ap>eared, won a superior altitude, and a ingle shell destroyed the airship, FRENCH RECRUITS WANTED. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received 7, !5.00 p.m. London, December 0. The French Government has ordered .n immediate census of 1910 recruits, to ■egin training in 1015. - GRAVES EVERYWHERE. MYSTERIOUS GERMAN OPERATIONS. GHASTLY OUTRAGE AT YPRES. | A VICTORIA CROSS HERO. J London, December 0. ' Mr Waters, representative of the American Christian World, has returned from a tour of Belgium. He saw )ver a thousand poorly-clad women in intworp, many smuggling babies to their jreasts, waiting in the snow and slush for doles of food under the shadow of the big hotel where German soldiers ivere making merry. Between Antwerp md Brussels the. road was full of refugees tramping homewards to their ruined villages. It was like journeying through a huge cemetery. There svere graves everywhere: Always between ruined houses, graves were marked by bayonets, caps and helmets. Qn »ne wns a child's shoe. There was desolation all round. Trees were felled, crops ruined, and seed rotting. Women were grubbing in the ruins of their former homi'H. There was only two weeks' food in Brussels. Antwerp, December 6. The Germans severely punish the photographing of the ruin caused by the war. I London, December 6. The Observer's Amsterdam corre- | spondent says that mystery envelops the | movements of the German forces in Belgium. Apparently it is largely bluff to deceive the Allies, giving the appearance of a strong offensive while sending large forces eastward. The (lermans have constructed a wall of concrete sixty miles long, from Eecloo to south-west of Brussels-, whither they will retire if the Allies take the offensive. London, December (!. Corporal Minns, of the Ist Queen'i Regiment, who was wounded at Ypres, reports that his section was instructed to capture a house, and were handicapped by a woman standing in the doorway before the Germans' bayonets and a child held at window from which a Maxim was being fired. They captured the hou.ie, but lost thirteen men. They found the child was pinned by a sword to the" window frame. There were twenty-three Germans in the cellar, and he left his men, who took no prisoners. London, December (i. The Victoria Cross has been given to Private George Wilson, of the Highland Light Infantry. He attacked a hostile machine-gun near Verhieul on September 14, shot the officer and six men. and captured the gun. Amsterdam, December 0. An official message from Berlin states: "We evacuated Vermelles (between Lena.,M)dJ> R "°"°' m-^i^rH^^miO,.

An eye-witness with the British headquarters confirms the wantonness and vindictiveness of the bombardment of the Cloth Hall and Cathedral at Ypres, which began immediately after the failure of the final effort to capture the I city ceased. The buildings destroyed served no military purpose whatever. ■ THE FRENCH .ARTILLERY SUPERIOR. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, December 6. A Times correspondent says that the French artillery in the Aisne Valley during the past month has been demonstrating its superiority. It was not realiaed at first that shellfire was bo important and it was necessary to use shells sparingly, but' ample supplies are j now available. The French gunners j maintain excellent practice, notably in \ the destruction of entanglements. Paris, December 6. The Matin says that maps of Switzerland were found on the dead bodies of several German officers, which had been printed in Germany witli Italian place names, for the use of Italian officers during an attack of France through Switzerland. The Matin recalls- the Kaiser's protestation of respect for Swiss neutrality. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, December 0.

The Dutch press states that when the weather is rainy and stormy some of the German trenches are like brooks. The soldiers remain two days in them and then have a day's rest. Burgomaster Max writes that he is confined in prison and subjected to the treatment prescribed for murderers. It is reported from The Hague, that the morale of the Germans is seriously affected by the hardships in the battle of the Yser. The number of suicides is increasing, especially among men with families, who feel that even if they are unhurt in the war, their health will bo permanently impaired. ■- I