The Western Front

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 236, 15 March 1915, Page 5

The Western Front

GREAT GAIN IN ALSACE. IMPORTANT POSITION CAPTURED AND, HELD. | SIR JOHN FRENCH'S REPORT. / FURTHER GAINS IN BELGIUM. Geneva, 'March 12. The French had a great victory, s ''■'.- iiig Reiehaekerkopf, one of the hills in A:-aee. ' The French repeatedly repulsed violent counter-attacks on the Reiehackcrkopf, driving the enemy down kid with great slaughter. Paris, March 12. I A communique states that two divi- ' Mens of the Belgians progressed SO'i ■'metres (ti(H) yards), notably in the 1 direction of Schoorbakkc, south-east of Xicuport. - Amsterdam, March 12. ' A Tarseval airship has been wrecked ' in a wood at Ghent. Part of the. crew I were saved; two were injured. / London, March 12. Sir John French's bi-weekly report ; states that the success at N.uve Cliap-. ! elle has materially altered the -itvinf tion between Armentieres an 1 La Basr see. The losses, in proportie/i to the ■ results, were not great. We os'.ab'isl-.od ' ourselves twelve'r.'iidred yi'.r.ls behind ' t-ie tunny's advanced trcnclu-. The ent my made repeated attempts on tlie Uili to recover the lost grown 1, but was rpulsed with heavy loss. We rrc Bttadiiy progressing and hard fighting continues. Tlie 4th Corps and the Indian Corps repelled several counter-at-tacks on the night of the 11th and early on ilie morning of the 12th with heavy i lo'S to the enemy. The British 3rd f C's'.ps captured the village of Le Tinetee t with flight loss. r Wellington, March 13. 7 The High Commissioner reports under " date London. March 12: : Sir Jelin Fni'.eh report o : S've lln- - !ast cu-.munio ie the situation on cr t front between Armentieres and La Bas--1 see has been materially altered by s.ieeessr'ul initiative on the part of the trooos cio.c-.-d. Shortly after eigiit cVlo'ck on the morning of March 10 these troops assaulted and carried the German trenches in the neighborhood of Keuve Chapelle. The co-operation between all the artillery and infantry was very good, with the result that the losses inr furred were not great in proportion to a the rcstilts achieved. Tlie mutual sups' port of the individual battalions afford- - e.i during the operations a marked fean ture of the attack. Our heavy artillery was very successful. Part of the results were" observed, and prisoners ; statements confirm the accuracy of our fire and the. damage caused. Before noon we had captured the whole village of Neuve Chapelle, and the infantry proceeded to confirm and extend the M local advantage. At dusk the whole >' labyrinth of trenches on a front of r ~ about 40(10 yards was in our hands, and '"" we had established ourselves about '' 12D0 yards beyond the enemy's advanced trenches. A number of German prisoners were captured and brought to headquarters during the day. Toll and probably more. During the 11th the enemy made repeated efforts to recover the grounirle't. ~, but all his counter-attacks were repuL- ;, id with heavy loss. We continue ... steady progress and hard fighting is still 1,, proceeding. The local initiative ilis,e played by the troops daily is admirable, f. and says much for the spirit that animates the Armv. Tlie success achieved on the inth and I li.li is a striking'example of this spirit. Further information received from general headquarters stales that during the night of the 11th and 12th and ~ early in the morning several counterattacks were easily repulsed by the 4th '-" Corps and the Indian Corps, with heavy i- 10.-ses. Sixty prisoners were captured ,1 from the enemy. In a night attack the villase of Le Pinette was captured liv the 3rd Corps, '" with slight los-es. The fog prevailing '»• hinders operations. The casualties arc: —Officers wounded 7, men killed 133. wounded 27!>, missing 41, prisonered 1. rejoined 10. i ITRTHI.E PROGRESS OX SATURDAY. SEVERE FIGHTING AT AUBERS. Received 14, 4.1.-) p.m. The Pre-, Bureau publishe. Sir John French's report: -■ '• Slight further progress was made '" on Saturday by the seventh division r(L towards Aubcrs. Tlie fighting vai y veiv sevci'e, the ereniv having been relt_ hnfoi-eed ..;.[M,sit,. my right !,v ;,t ]ees( ( two divisions. We captured 012 nri'on '" j ers. and more are comitiL' in. '. " Our aircraft has been active, de stroving innctions at Dod and Douai.'

1 jwimwp!^^^^^ A GREAT BRITISH ONSLAUGHT. AX IRRESISTIBLE DASH. CAPTURES IMPORTANT POSITION. ' Received 14, 5 p.m. Paris, March 13. The British success :it Neuvoeapelle has aroused enlliusiasm. After several attempts to dislodge the enemy from a village?, they resorted to turning movements. The French artillery un Tuesday night prepared the enemy to evacuate the first line of trendies. The German artillery was he'plcss. The Germans fearing a division, dared not diminish the immediate defenee of a village. This lost them the hattle. The British on Wednesday morning impatiently awaited the word "'Advance'.*' Then came a spontaneous yell from thousands of throats as the command was given. They overwhelmingly surprised the Germans. The British passed rapidly from trench to trench, sometimes rolling over each other in the mud. The Germans detected the manoeuvre too late. They hurled every available man forward in a futile attempt to force a passage, but tlie British firing paralysed the rush, and most of them surrendered without •a struggle. The British completely surrounded the village, and, profiting by the enemy's disarray, advanced in the afternoon to the Pietre cross roads, sixteen hundred yards from the village. The Germans, having been reinforced, vigorously counter-attacked, but could not gain an inch, and sustained heavy losses. .They rapidly entrenched in a strong poscition in front of Auhers, from which many machine, guns openoc* a terrible fire inflicting severe losses. Nevertheless, the Britishers have a firm grip on tlie new position. An artillery combat is now raging. FURTHER PROGRESS ON' SATURDAY. Received 14, 3 p.m. Paris, March 13. Official: At the bend at the Yser the Belgian Army has been strengthened, and extended tlie results obtained on Thursday. The British continued their progress and crossed tin; riverlet I.eyes parallel with the road from Xeuvechapelle to Fleurhai.v, capturing several groups of houses organised for defence. During the day a thousand prisoners were taken, and the Germans lost several machine guns. We continued our progress in Champagne. We took I*)!) prisoners including six officers, north-east of Mesnil. GERMANS ADMIT REPULSE. Received March 15. 12.15 am. Amsterdam, March 14. A German official mcssa"e «ays: '"We began attacks to recapture Neuve Chapelle, but discontinued, owing o superior English forces. We shot down three Britisli aviators in two days." PROBABLE DASH FOR CALAIS. ATTACK ON DIXMUDE. Received 14, 5.5 p.m. Amsterdam. March ID. The German concentration towards Ypres and La Ba=see continues. All the troops in Northern Flanders are being sent thither. The Germans have mounted heavy guns at Middlekorko and are endeavouring to destroy the sluices. A strong German attack has opened south of Dixmude. The now-famous Dingo Embrocation. or Training Oil, can be bought from the . following saddlers: R. Edwards (New . Plymouth), A. J. Kibby (Waitara), . Purchas and Son (Urenui and Uruti), . C. Meuli (Eltham), E. Crossnian (Tariki . and Inglcwood), T. C. Street (Okato), ;\T. J. Midcnhall (Opiinake), E. Tobler ■ (Okaiawa), S. Aylward (Whangamoi mona), Cosgrove & Co. (Mauaia), &:.

1 . . ._ . . MORE TRENCHES TAKEN. Received 14, 5 p.m. Paris, March 13. ' Official: After repulsing two strong counter-attacks, the British captured •part of the German lines in the Pietre region, taking four hundred prisoners. We captured several trenches in the Mc-mil region, and advanced two hundred metres at Reichackerekope. GENERALS TAKE BIG RISKS. Received 14, 5 p.m. iParis, March 1.1. General Mamoury and Devillaret were wounded while inspecting trenches, thirty metres from the enemy. BIG FRENCH LOAN. Received 14, 5 p.m. Paris_ March 14. The Budget Committee is submitting proposals for the advance to the Allies or Belgium £54,000,(100 sterling by increasing (be limit of Treasury bonds to ; £180,000,000 sterling. BOMB-THROWERS AT WORK. ' Received 14, 5.30 p.m. London, March 13. A correspondent, describing the British bomb-throwers, says ''they are strange-looking men. Round their waist they carry twenty or thirty bombs, little cylinders fastened to a long stick, round which fall streamers. Crouching among the barbed-wire, the bombers, with supporting infantrymen, raise themselves a little, and hurl their ' bombs high above Ihe parapet. Gaining ' their equilibrium from the, streamers, : the bombs plunge straight as a plumbline into the trench. Then follows a rush. As each trench is taken the ' bombers get to work again and throw bomb after bomb, jam-pot after jam- ' pot, grenade after grenade." i BRITISH. TROOPS WELL FED. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, March 12. "Eye-witness" at headquarters, describing the feeding of the armies and the excellence of the work the supply columns have shown, says there ha,s not, been a single day, except during the retirement from Menu, when food has not reached the men. In addition to importation the country has been requisitioned, the inhabitants readily placing cattle, forage, wheat and vegetables at the disposal of the British. The soldier has bacon for breakfast, ' bread and cheese for luncheon, hot meat | ' and vegetables for dinner, and bread 1 . and jam for tea. Soup, extra tea, sugar ' and cigarettes are served to Hie men in the trenches. Tobacco is provided iiiweekly. It is the first campaign in which there has been no grumbling as to the quantity and quality of the food. ] The most serious complaint is that plum 1 jam is too frequently issued. ' ' I NO FREE SPEECH. Received March 15, 12.15 a.m. Copenlmgen, March 15. Public meetings at Lille protested against increasing German persecutions. , Many were eourt-martialle.d and sentenced to death, on the allegation that ' they were organising a massacre of German troops. The city was further fined half a million francs and five thousand for cheering French prisoners.