France & Flanders

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 179, 7 January 1915, Page 5

France & Flanders

i RIALS IN THE TRENCHES. A FOOT DEEP, IN MUD. liiucs and Sydney Sun Services., Received G, 5.30 p.m. London, January 6. A soldier at the front writes:—"Our trenches aro awful places. There are four, feet of water in them. Imagine an incessant drizzle,, and.acres of.ploughed fields, averaging a foot of mud, with scores of dead bodies rising to the surface. There is an indescribable stench from the acres of rotten turnips. No light is shown" anywhere. A terrific bombardment of shells goes on, yet not a. single soldier is to be seen, all being under cover..

IN ALSACE

STUBBORN DEFENCE OF STEINBACH. FRENCHMEN INFURIATED ■BY GERMAN TACTICS:. WOMEN PLACED IX THE FIRINGLINE. WHOLE SERIES OF FIGHTS; FRENCH GAIN THE DAY.. Received' 0, 8-.30-p.rn. Paris, January-<J. The German commander at• Steinbach, replying to a French Parlimentaire on December 31st, said he did not regard himself ' as surrounded, as the Gernay road was still open, and it was possible to retreat. In any case the Emperor's troops might be killed, but' they would

not surrender;. The French approached the village'in open columns at noon. A mitrailleuse posted on a church tower swept the edge oi tlie wood where the farm was approached by cross-roads. It was necessary to capture this point d'appui at all costs.

The enemy used civilians to shield

them, including a woman with her hair waving and her hands tied'at-her back. The sight' inflamed the French, who charged with bayonets fixed, and' captured tlie farm, despite heavy fire. The ventilation Tioles in the granary wall" formed' perfect loop-holes, wherefrom the crack shots picked' off the Prussian gunners one by one, enabling the principal line to make a new advance. The- infantry tried' to take the fallen gunners'' places, but, through lack of knowledge, they lost valuable time and at the end' of the afternoon the French column turned the enemy's right along the b/ook. Tlie enemy's desperate counter-attack nortli of 1 the village completely failed. Tiie cavalry, who counter-attacked on foot, were thrown into a stream, and a number of the wounded were drowned. The' battle continued till evening. Every lane was an ambuscade, every ! cottage a fortress; the possession of a wall or a door became an object of a furious hand-to-hand fight, and the exasperation of both sides increased. Night terminated tlie battle.

A French volunteer, taking his life in

liis Hands, ignited a stable where Germans were sheltering. The flames enabled mitrailleuses to be used with deadly effect on the flying Germans. The latter's incendiary bombs blew up their own ammunition, reserve.

TEN THOUSAND DEAD.

BURIED BY GERMANS. Received 6, 8.30' pan, Rotterdam, January 6. German sappers buried 10,000 dead near Duffeed 1 .

GERMAN BARBARISM A TERRIBLE DOSSIER. iA TERRIBLE DOSSIER. Received. 6,. 10.50 p.m. Amsterdam, January 6. The Telegraaf secured the report of the- investigations of a Dutchman who visited a hundred towns and villages, following the German advance on Brussels and Antwerp, The document constitutes a terrible dossier of German barbarism, which will be made public at TTie proper time.

FRENCH OFFICIAL REPORT. SOME TRENCHES CAPTURED, Received G, 8.30 p.m. Paris, January 6. Official: We captured a quarry oil Monday night near the junction of the Rouvars, Saint Milriel, and Maizey roads, also trenches in the vicinity. There has been no fighting elsewhere. The weather is bad. Paris, January 5. A communique states that despite the condition of the ground the infantry made progress on the dunes facing Nicuport. We won two hundred to Ave, hundred metres in the vicinity of St. Georges, carrying houses and trenches, and silenced the German batteries at many points in Belgium. Our mortars and grenades stopped the enemy sapping at Netre-Damc-de-Lorette. The Germans near Lille captured a trench, which we re-took. We entered Creux-Argent, near Qrbcv.

Progress between Thann and Cernay has been mantained to a point a kilometre east of Old Thann.