The Western Front.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 301, 29 May 1915, Page 5

The Western Front.

A PAINFUL SIGHT. SCENES AMONG THE WOUNDED. Received May 28, 4.:i0 p.m. London, May 28. A Reuter correspondent iit Headquarters says doctors describing the patients say they have never seen a more painful sight than the rows of strong men in the prime of life suddenly stricken down by a power they are without means of resisting. Some suffered such torment that they shouted to the doctors to shoot them, llcre is lusty young Highlander tearing at his throat in a vain effort to get relief, and then another victim passive and limp, and too exhausted to continue the unequal light. HEAVY GERMAN LOSSES. FRENCH MAKE PROGRESS. Received May 28, 8.15 p.m. Paris, May 2S. Official: The Germans bad very heavy losses at Angres. We carried a cemetery at Ablain, taking four hundred prisoners. A SOUTH AFRICAN CONTINGENT. Received May 28, 10.30 p.m. Capetown, May 28. Official: The Government is eonss.krint« sending u .South African ,•;> ;lingcni to Europe. BRITISH LINE STRAIGHTENED. MUNITIONS FACTORY BOMBED. London, May 27. A correspondent in the north of France says we have straightened the line from 'Festubert to Richebourg-L'Avoue. Wi. have taken the enemy's, trenches cast of La yuinquc Rue. They were wonderful constructions of concrete, with electric light, and fans for creating a draught. The mechanism is worked by electricity. Most of the trenches are provided with machine-guns embedded in cement and with concrete casemates. Reutcr's correspondent with the British headquarters reports that the only result the Germans achieved on Monday in a gas attack on Ypres was to infjict terrible suffering on a large number, many of whom were caught by tin. fumes while asleep. Nearly; all tile lost ground has been recovered. The Britishers are more embittered by the outrage. The majority of the men w : io had time used respirators and were more or less affected. Amsterdam, 'May 27. An official statement from Berlin denies the report of the British "Eyewitness" that the German artillery fired into Saxon troops who wished to surrender. It also denies that the Germans used British uniforms and endeavored to approach the British lines in disguise. Paris, May 27. • A communique states that eighteen French aeroplane-, each carryingg 50 kilogrammes (1101b) of projectiles, bombarded the aniline dyeworks at Ludwigsliafcn (Bavaria), now one of the most important explosive factories in Germany. Several buildings were struck and numerous fires started. "-The aviators were nearly six hours in the air, and travelled 400 kilometres (250 miles). This Was in retaliation for the air raid on Paris. London, May 27. . In connection with the loss of a German aeroplane, on May 21 the ''Eyewitness" at headquarters states that the machine fell headlong on the parapet of a German trench and excited the enemy's interest. 'Meanwhile the Frenchmen trained a machine-gun on the spot, and when sufficient Germans had collected round the aeroplane, opened fire and decimated the onlookers. A; British howitzer shelled a bathing establishment^, at La Basseey wounding twenty or thirty Germans. During the action on the 'lfith and 17th in the Festubert district, the 57th Prussian infantry lost 241:0 out of 3000 men. Some Germans at Pilkcm 'were suffocated by gas escaping from a cylinder blown up by a French shell. .Our artillery effected a similar result in a trench near the Ypres-Comines Canal.