Fierce Battle in Belgium.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 164, 17 December 1914, Page 5

Fierce Battle in Belgium.

j THREE DAYS' FIGHTING. ULTIMATE SUCCESS OF THE. ALLIES. WEDGE DRIVEN INTO GERMAN LINES. Received ]<!, 0.15 p.m. London, December 10. The Daily Chronicle Dunkirk correspondent reports that ii three days' buttle at Ypres began with the bombardment of Sainteloi. The Allies replied with heavy artillery, under cover o[ whi b the infantry advanced on Moorslede, where they met a determined resistance from Germans concealed in armoured trucks on railway sidings, whence they directed heavy machine-gun and ride fire, forcing the Allies to retire and reform. Simultaneously the Germans advanced in wooded country near Zonnebeke, but were cheeked by the Allies posted on the heights at C'iieluvelt. Thereupon a general Allies' advance regained Moorslede. The artillery, locating the armoured trucks, blew u'r. the ammunition, and the enemy retreated, leaving the road to Roulers open. Meantime, other German attack* at Polecapelle, Fasschendaele, Langemarck, and Six-schoote, the enemy striving by weight of numbers to break the line but no where succeeded. It is estimated that there were 24,000 <. casualties on a line a few kilometies in I length north and south of Ypres. Red Cross officers declare that the onslaught was the fiercest ever seen in this region. Though Roulers was not taken, a solid I wedge was driven into the German lines. j . GERMANS EIGHT TO ONE. J TERRIBLE TOLL OF THE BRITISH. OVER TEX THOUSAND CASUALTIES. J Received 10, 11.45 p.m. I London, December 10. Newspapers publish General Rawlinson's and General Byng's thanks to the ■ 7th infantry and 3rd cavalry divisions for holding the Germans at bay, and stubbornly defending Ypres. The odds against them were eight to one. Subsequently, when the two divisions withdrew to refit and for roll-call, the infantry alone showed that of 400 officers starting from England, only 44 were left, and out of 12,000 men only 233G remained. IN THE VOSGES. FIGHTING AMIDST ICE AND Sl\OW. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received Hi, 5.20 p.m. London, December 15. The French are fighting at an altitude of eight thousand feet in the Vosges clearing the way towards the Rhine. Alpine troops cover thirty or forty miles daily on skis. GERMANY WEAK.EX ING. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received 1(1, 5.20 p.m. Paris, December IG. The Press maintains that the calling up of the Landstrum is a sure proof that Germany's immense reserve of men is slowly but surely diminishing. ORGANISED TERRORISM. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received l(i, 5.20 p.m. London, December 15. The Germans have developed a policy of organised terrorism in the Nancy I region, and are destroying church towers and all high buildings likely to serve the French as observation posts. They compel the inhabitants to dig potatoes, and the able-bodied to construct trenches. THE HOSPITAL DIFFICULTIES. Received 16, 9 p.m. London, December 10. The, War Office announces that no further voluntary hospitals whatever are required at present for the British expeditionary forces in France, and that any voluntary hospital now on the. Continent, or hereafter proceeding thither, must work as base hospitals, and not attempt to proceed further. FRENCH OFFICIAL REPORT. Received Hi, 0.15 p.m. Paris, Oeccinber ]fi. Official.—A force ci" Franco-Belgians debouched at Nieuport and occupied a line westward of Lombaertcyde to Saint George's. The Allies ndvanml five hundrcd metres south of Ypres towards Klcmzillsbcke. BRITISH ARSENALS CLOSE FOR CHRISTMAS. FIRST CESSATION SINCE WAR STARTED. Received Hi, 0.10 p.m. London, December Hi. Official.—Subject to a possible emergency call to supply the expeditionary force with munitions, Lord Kitchener U closing the ordinance factories at Woolwich for a short holiday on Christmas morning until the nightshift on December 27. This is the first time the machinery at the arsenal has been stopped, , even for an hour, since the war began. ' VIGOROUS HOSTILrnKS RENEWED. SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS OF THE , ALLIED ARMIES. BRITISH RECAPTURE GROUND. PECULIAK POSIT KIN AT VERDUN. London, December 15. The Press Bureau states that, after a period of quiet, fighting recommenced in northern France. The Allies combined in an attack on Monday from Hollebcke to Wytcsehaetc and captured several trenches and a number of prisoners. They made substantial progress. An eye-witness relates that the weaf thcr is very wet. Though there have 1 been no serious operations we have con- • siderably improved oitr situation gener- ) ally. Our artillery on the Bth put German field guns out of action, ignited a railway station and some rolling stock, and destroyed a chimney used for ob-

servation. In 6pite of high wings the aviators made several valuable rceonnaisances. Referring to the censorship, the eye-witness says it is better to preserve tantalising retieience than to satisfy curiosity at the risk of endangering national success. A communique states that the British captured a small wood west of Wyleschaete. Wo retained the ground won at the Yprcs Canal west of Hollebeke, notwithstanding a vigorous counter attack. We progressed in the Argonne district. The enemy violently bombarded St. Leonard, south of St. Die. 'flu: enemy's artillery in Alsace is very active. We held our ground, except at Steinbach, where the Germs:u infantry gained a footing. Times and Sydney Sun Services London, December 15. The dispositions of the forces defending Verdun is the most cuiious in the whole field of war. The second and [ third French armies, standing back-to-back, opposite two German forces facing in opposite directions along Ihe sides of the St. Mihiel pocket, the mouth of which stretches from Fresues to Thianeourt. The growing frequency of German aeroplane flights indicates that the spy system has broken down in consequence of the special French effort. CONTEMPTIBLE GERMAN TACTICS. THE REFUGE PROBLEM IN HOLLAND. INTERESTING AIRMEN'S REPORTS, Paris, December 15. The Germans, at Vennclles, collected women and children in the school, in which they placed machine guns. The, French commander was in a dilemma. He had been ordered to assault the village, but feared to injure ihe children in the school-yard. Fortunately the attackers noticed a deaf mute conversing with the children on his fingers. A soldier was able to attract the mute's attention, and speaking on his fingers directed him to push the children under cover. Meanwhile ten sharpshooters picked off the German machine gunners, and a few minutes later Vermelles was taken at the point of tho bayonet. Amsterdam, December 15. The Munich Naehrichton publishes a letter from Lieutenant Eberlein, in which he boasts that he placed three civilians in front of the German advance at St. Die and that French bullets killed the civilians. London, December 15. Three hundred clerks and sorters have been sent to Y-.arxc to assist in dealing with the Christinas mails. There has been a stream of parcels to the front for several weeks ami it is growing enormously. Paris, December 15. . A French aviator ignited a German train at Pagny-sur-Moselle. Another aviator saw the' Germans trying submarines on the Bruges Canal. ADVANCE ON THE RHINE. INHABITANTS WILL EVACUATE COLMAR. Times and Sydney Sun Services. I Received Hi,' 5.20 p.m. London, December 15. ' The French are steadily advancing towards the Rhine. Residents of Colmar are preparing to ■ evacuate the town. It is asserted that the French can invest Guebeviller, and even Strasburg, whenever they choose. [Colmar is' a town of nearly 40,000 people, the capital of Upper Alsace, 42 miles S.S.W. of Strassburg.] FIGHTING NEAR ARMENTIERES. GERMANS PRESSED BACK AT LILLE Received 17, 2.10 a.m. Paris, Decemb-r 10. A heavy cannonade is progressing between Armentieres and the north-west of Lille. The enemy has been obliged to withdraw his guns a considerable distance eastward of their late position. The French southward of Lille are operating from a new point of advantage at Vermelles, and threatening the enemy's position at Lens. "DOOMED TO DEFEAT." OVERMATCHED IN ARMIES. A SCATHING CONDEMNATION OF GERMANY. Received 17, 1 a.m. New York, December 10, The. New York Times, in a scathing article declares that Germany is doomed to sure defeat, bankrupt in statesmanship, overmatched in arms, and under the moral condemnation of the civilised world. The article urges the German people to recognise the incompetence of the Kaiser's advisers, and to overthrow him and them. THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE. Received 17, 1.5 a.m. London, December 10. The Kolnische Zeitung states that France, equally with Russia, rejected the Pope's Christmas truce.