Dash on Calais.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVIII, Issue 288, 14 May 1915, Page 5

Dash on Calais.

DESPERATE GERMAN ATTACKS.' "I'UKJi KtLLIXu." SKY AHLA>/B HtOM riUES. A WEEK-END OF BATTLE. ghouxd lost and regained. Jteccived May ];j, ;i p.m. London, May 13. '"Kye-witness" savs the tiornians iniule a big concentration at Ypres mi Saturday, miller covi'r of a violent bombardnient. '1 he battle uiu commenced at 10 o'elock in the morning 'by a feint on the Ypres-PoelcapcHe road, 'tile real intention being to break our front in the \ KMiity of the \ railway. 1 he l.onmuib penetrated our front near Frezenberg. Vie counler-attackel between tile Zonnebeke road and the railway, but machine-guns soon checked a gallant advance. Meanwhile the enemy attacked through the woods south of the Menin road, while fresh inas. : ed troops threatened our ieft north of Ypres. Mo it desperate* fighting ensued. The (ioniums foreed us Lack a short distance despite repented counter-attacks.

I'ighting continued throughout the night with ever-increasing fury. It is impossible to say at what hour the line was broken, but at one time the enemy's infantry poured through along the l'o'elcapclle l-oad as far as Weiltjc. There wa> also at !> o'clock in the evening a considerable gap in our front round Frezeitberg.

Counter-attacks were quickly organised. At both points the Germans' east salient wa.s driven l)ack to Frezenberg, where tliey made a firm stand. Our counter-attack on the north-east salient at 1 o'clock on Sunday morning successfully swept out the enemy from iVVeiltje with tlu' bayonet, leaving the village strewn wit'i German dead. We pushed on and regained lost ground north'.Yards of Weiltje. The fight surged to and fro throu«;iout tile night. 'i'ne sky was lit up by the liames.

There was a comparative lull on .Sunday, which enabled us to reorganise and consolidate our new line. But the climax 01 the battle came in the afternoon when the Germans launched live separate assaults on the east salient. Masses of infantry were hurled along the South Ileum Road in absolute desperation and were beaten oil with corresponding slaughter. At one point five hundred of the enemy advanced from a wood, and not a single 1 man escaped. the Germans at ti.3o o'clock endeavored to storm the grounds of the Chateaux llooge ou the North Menin ltoad, -but the attuckg were broken under a hail of shrapnel. The ground was literally heaped with dead, and finally the Germans were unable to renew" their efforts.

Germans were seen stripping the British dead in the abandoned trenches and were afterwards noticed dressed in kha-

The British losses were comparatively slight. The Germans presented such a target that the action resolved itself into pure killing. The Ypres attack was due to the knowledge that we and the French were preparing advanced attacks on La Bassce and north of Arras, and the Germans intended to forestal our offensive. Their failure was due to the splendid endurance of the British troops who he'd the line under iire. which again and again blotted out whole lengths of the defences. Scores were killed, but the thinning of the band of survivors always built up the parapets. We steadily awaited the next onslaught. Meanwhile, attacks were developing at Quinchy, where the brickfields were in ruins. At Quinchy and Aubers the ridge bombardment commenced at daybreak on Sunday. Soon the whole air was quivering with the rush of the larger shells, the earth shaking with the concussion of the guns. At six o'clock our troops advanced between Hois Grenicr and Festuber and stormed the first line of trenches north of Fromelles. There was hand-to-hand fighting with and hand grenades, but we held the position the whole day, causing the Germans very heavy losses when they repeatedly endeavored to recapture the position.

Om" advance north of Fostii'bort mot with considerable opposition, and was not pressed. Meanwhile, the French had remarkable successes north of Arras, ad : vaneing two or three inihw in a few hours. The British lo=scs were necessarily heavy owing to the nature of the fighting. "FIGHT LIKE HEROES."

HEAVY ODDS ACAIXST KRITISTT. FRENCH PROGRESS BETTER. IiATTLK VvEAUIXG OKI 1 . lircrivcd Mav 14. 12.30 a.m. ' Dunkirk, May 13. The Kritish attack cuimiic-iiccil on Saturday with a terrific, bombardment of (lie German trenches ami hills. Then ri-jht in the centre tlicy carried the first line of trenches on the Anbors ridge almost without opposition. Our troops, including Indians, advanced to the second line camp under a wither'ni:; lire of rilles and machine•:llns. The German infantry massed in •rmil, forc> had suffered little from shellfire in their trenches, which were deep and made of reinforced concrete with underground galleries. When the British advanced the Germans issued from the subterranean trendies and turned on massed Our men fmifrhl, like heroes in the face of tremendous odds. Our left also reached Ihuibourdin. lint <_Tcat numbers were debouched from Lille. We were s'owlv driven hack. We are still a'foi.tiii" on (he Anbers ridge.

The French now cDiiiniaiiil ii plain e\(eiidiu<£ from Doiuii In Lille, within striking distance of Lens iind L.i llassoo. They made lieUer process, but the llritisb had a linrder task, nur repeated rushes on (he outskirts of La. liassee cost terribly. Our men encountered entanjrleiuciits in the most unlikely spots. The Hermans largely relied on machine /.'mis. The number a-tpoared unlimited and thi' simply of ammunition inexhiiustihle. The tr -lies under the walls of La llassee are made of concrete and are shielded with thick steel plates ajrainst artillery lire.

Our troops returned heroically to the assault aaain and again. The buttle is now diminishing |)j intensity.

DOOR TO THE COAST, STILL BARRED TO GERMANS. ft BEAT KKiIJT 1-X Hi YI'HES. INCIDENTS RECALUXU MONS. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received ilay 13, (i.oy p.m. London, -May 12, iA correspondent in the north of France says the third battle for YpJes commenced on Saturday. The enemy massed heavy artillery on tlie Ypies front, and was conlident of the effect of the cleavage of our lines. Heavy losses taught him how formidable was the (ask. Still, Ypres at all costs was the prevailing order, and a furious bombardment took place. .The air was tilled with pises, ami there was a hand-to-hand light. The! Ocrmans sacrificed lives in a most reckless manner. '! lie British held the avalanche with diiliculty. There were glorious and terrible features recalling Mons. Thee Were welcome lVit-isll reinforcements on Sunday, at a moment when the most violent attack:! bv the enemy were exhausted. Our line was reset, and this was made possible by a vigorous Allied offensive. Further south the flermans were defeated. Our losses Were heavy, but theirs were heavier. N pres is not taken, and the door opening tlio way to the coast remains barred.

TERRIBLY COSTLY ; STRUGGLE. FAVOIIABi.i; TO T(II:1 ALLIKS. 1 London, Mart 12. ■ The fighting from Arras to the sea is developing into a sanguinary strung],, J here is no oilH'al news, but there fa too much evidence of a terribly costly struggle All news is entirely favorable to the Allies, and hopes are running Ivgh. The (leinifiis were checked a long the Yser, although there is no longer ], flood to stop the advance. Tie enemy resumed their attacks on Vpre.s on Ma'v 10 with a leekless disregard of life. Kvevywhere there was appalling slaughter. The JJritish renewed the attack on tliu Aubors ridge and have driven out the German-; from the village of AuWr; and Fromelles and gained a footui"' on tht ridge where they were checked.' Furious fighting continues. The Hermans have extensively successive earthworks, masked machine-gnus ,and ingenious concealments. They are fighting with a desperate courage and carrying out bayonet charges with unusual dash. The British aggressive courage helps the French s-j.i Hi ward, where the Allies are already established on the ridge, owing to the French capture of the villages near Vermelles which were lost in Deecmlior. The battle of La Jlassce uireatens to be more bloody than at Ypivs. It is reported that during the dc.ipcrate struggle of the last two days the British several times penetrated the La Bassie suburbs lioth along the Bethune and Festubert roads. A large squadron ot aviators succeeded in blowing up important works behind the enemy's line and destroyed a large, quantity of supplies. They created a panic of which the British immediately took advantage. It is reported that fie Germans were driven hack to Hanrlxnirdin along the Lille road, but re-formed and captured part of the lost ground. The Hermans have completed twelve rings of strongly fortified entrenchments outside Lille, facing the Allies. Paris, May 12. German aviators dropped bombs' harmlessly on Compoigne and Aiidry. A communique stales that the Germans during a counter-attack last night recaptured from the Freneb part of the Loos-Yerni'dlcs road taken yesterday. ■SVc maintained our gains elsewliere. London, May 12. Renter's Paris correspondent savs tbiit a wounded officer, referring to the taking prisoner of three thousand Germans, remarked, "We killed three times that number." Another declared that many Germans when surrendering now fall on their and beg for mercy and pardon. Officers act similarly.

NOTABLE FRENCH SUCCESS. STROXGLY FORTIFIED TOTXTS. Received Mnv 14, 12.1.") a.m. :Paris, Mar 13. Official: Tlic French success between l.oos, Xeuville anil Saint Vaast was oiio of th« most notable episodes in the western fighting area. Curency, Lafayette and Xeuville are enormously stronj;, especially Caremy. which is really a heap of ruins converted into a strongly fortified position, ond connected with Wntargettc and Xeuville by a labyrinth of strong trenches and defensive works. As a result of Sunday's victory we captured the whole of Latargctte and half Xeuville. GERMAN ATTACK REPULSED. GENERAL POSITION UNCHANGED. Received -May 13, 8.10 p.m. London, May 13. Sir John French reports that \ve repulsed another attack isonth of the 'Moilin road, being the third costly failure there yesterday. The position is unchanged elsewhere. VIOLENT BATTLES CONTINUE.

HEAVY GERMAN LOSSES. Yieeeived May US, S.-l.") p.m. Paris. Mays IS. Official: Engagements novlli of Arras continue with extreme violence. The enemy was reinforced at night and delivered several counter-attacks without result, lint there were particularly heavy losses at Xenvillii' St. Yaiist, whore uver two hundred dead (lerinans were found. IVVe progressed cast of Coroney and took 500 prisoners, making 4000 since Sunday.