IN THE WEST

Taranaki Daily News, 1 October 1915, Page 5

IN THE WEST

THE ATTACK ON LOOS. Vivid description. A WONDERFUL ACHIEVEMENT. Received Sept. 30, 9.46 p.m. London, Sept. 30. : Mr. Gibbs, in the Daily Chronicle, continues:—"It is now possible to givi a clear story of the fighting. The brigades who disappeared into the smoke on Saturday were only able to send back brief messages of the severity of their ordeal and the greatness of their success. "Details that are now available prove that it wan one of the greatest British achievements of the war. Many battalions of Kitchener's new array were engaged and acted splendidly. TESTING THE NEW ARMY. "Boys who had recently landed liad their first nerve test when listening to the intense bombardment on Friday night. These new recruits, associated with battle-scarred veterans, leapt out of the trenches with a wild hurrah on Saturday morning to attack Loos, 3% miles eastward.

"They reached the first German trench with slight casualties and found that two lines of entanglements had disappeared under the bombardment. The third line, which was uncut, consisted of the strongest wire with great barbs, and was the first formidable obstacle. INTO A VALLEY OF DEATH. "The men charged, shouting hoarsely. They encountered an enormous number of machine-guns, which were pouring out streams ol lead, in every part of the village, iliichine-guns were posted at the windows of houses, trenches were dug across the streets, and the Germans were crowded in cellars, firing through apertures opening on the street.

A VALTANT FIGHTING ENEMY. "There were hundreds of little sieges, in eases where email parties of Germans, with machine-guns in a garret defended a house with the courage of despair, and did not yield until the last man was killed.

.'Our attack was hampered by ma-chine-guns that were placed on the tops of cranes, at a height of three hundred feet. Another hundred machine-guns were posted in the cemetery in the south-western suburbs. BRITISH FORCE THEIR WAY. "The men, having tastediof the lust of battle and bayonetted the Germans in two trenches, the British, reckless of their lines, attacked their remaining obstacle. They desperately stood up under the deadly fire of machine guns, and forced a way through the entanglement.

One of the most extraordinary incidents of this grim scene occurred when a company of Highlanders, charging through the smoke-laden mists, encountered an unusually tall German, stone dead, with a bullet in liis 'brain and his face blackened bv battle grime, standing erect and mysteriously, without a prop. The sight was so startling and uncanny that the Highlanders parted on either side as though they hmi seen u spectre. . The great tide of soldiers poured into the breach, swarmed forward for threequarters of a mile, and entered Loos. THE BATTLE OF CELLARS. Mr. Gibbs continues:— "Undoubtedly the Germans were surprised and demoralised bv the rapidly sweeping strength of the attack, and surrendered wholesale. A midget Highlander in a doorway and shot down three Germans. The remaining thirty cried out, "Mercy!" In some places the resistance was prolonged, the rapid fire from cellars caused heavy losses to the besiegers. The cellars are now full of dead, the result of bombing parties flinging grenades from the head of the stairways. , A BRAVE GERMAN.

"A colonel of one of the first battalions to enter Loos established a signal station at a convenient house. It was soon the target of German guns. Suspecting treachery, he searched the cellars and found three Germans. Later on he discovered an officer in a deeper cellar, telephoning and directing the guDfire. The incident reveals the highest form of courage, as a lucky shot would have meant the Germans' death, as well as that of the British. The officer died bravely, and made the supreme sacrifice for his courage. ON THE WAY TO HILL 70.

The battalions, having fought through Loos, struggled ahead towards Hill 70, a mile distant, on rising ground, from which the Germans had swept the road with machine guns and shrapnel. There was an incessant storm of fire from windows and cottages in St. Auguste, and this raked our approach. The first British troops reached Hill 70 at ten o'clock and clung to the position all day long with heroic endurance. Fresh troops relieved them at eleven o'clock in the evening, carrying on the struggle till Sunday, when the position was organised. The advance continued with varyfng success. ANOTHER TRIUMPH FOR THE RAWS. '"Hie attack on Saturday, northward towards Hulluch, was another triumph for Kitchener's Afmy, who formed a good proportion of the troops engaged. The struggle here was fierce. We advanced under a terrible fire after the first assault, which was carried out swiftly. Then our machine guns were brought forward rapidly in considerable numbers and inflicted heavy losses, bayonets finishing the. work. The British stormed forward three miles and reached the outskirts of Hulluch, which was bristling with machine guns. During the most fierce hand-to-hand fighting the Germans yielded ground wherever we engaged them closely, but the British were repeatedly swept back by a tempest of bullets. This continued for two whole days. "The mud-caked lads, resting in the rear after tramping on the shambles of the battlefields, looked proud and exultant because they had led a great assault, and had broken the Germans' line. It was one of the hardest encounters ever fought, resulting in a victory for the British arms. Sir John French rode about those mining villages, leaning on his horse and speaking to groups of men, personally thanking them for their gallant work. DISMISSED. IGNOMINY FOR GERMAN uENERALS Amsterdam, Sept. 29. Two German generals have been dismissed, it is believed in connection with Saturday's defeat. The newspapers are discussing the question of sending General von Hindenberg or General von Falkenhayn to the Western front.

IN THE ARGONNE. CRCfYVN PRINCE'S WARM ATTACK. A PICTURESQUE NARRATIVE, Received Sept. 30, 9.55 p <m. Paris, Sept. 30. A wounded French officer, describing the Crown Prince's latest attack in the Argonne, declares that it was the most furious of the war. There was a tremendous bombardment, to which the French guns replied with little effect. The French parapets melted away, but the French troops did not flinch. HELL IN THE TRENCHES. "The German guns then abruptly ceased, and a new kind of liquid fire—a mixture of tar and petrol, was projected into the trenches, making them almost unbearable 'iy heat, but the French stood their ground. Suddenly the German infantry loomed , up. In the intervals between tlve liquid fires we poured in streams of lead, but the human wave slowly readied our trenches, and bloody hand-to-hand fighting followed in the dense smoke. We were obliged to fall back, and our reserves dashed forward, but were stopped by a curtain of lachrymatory shells. "Wo put respirators on, but these wore unavailing. Still, nothing daunted, we dashed through the vapor, holding our breath, with our eyes streaming, and fell in serried masses on the Germans, who wavered and broke. ''Our artillery prevented their supports coming up, and tliU9 after twenty-four hours' fighting the enemy retired to the trenches, though they held ours here and there." VIOLENT FIGHTING STILL. FRENCH REPORT. Received Sept. 30. 10.53 p.m. Paris, Sept. 1)0. A communique states that lighting all day long is maintained on the new positions between Souchoz and Yimy. There is a violent struggle in the Champagne district, before the inner German positions, and also for the possession of the salient north of Mesnil, where small German groups maintain their positions. We are progressing northwards towards Massiges, and there are violent reciprocal bombardments at Bois Le Pretre and Apremont. MAKING THE BEST OF IT. , Berlin, Sept. 30. A communique states: The enemy's attempts to break the line in the West continued with bitterness. A counterattack following was fruitless. The English attack led to our recapturing part of the territory north of Loos. The fierce English attacks from Loos broke down after heavy losses. We repulsed repeated stubborn French attacks in the Souehez and Neuville distrist. The enemy's attempts in the Champagne district were unsuccessful. The constantlj advancing waves of French attackers northwest of Souain broke down before the inflexible resistance of the Baden and Westphalian regiments. The enemy's heavy losses during the oftrepeated storming of the hills at Massages were vain. GERMAN CASUALTIES 120,000. IMPORTANCE OF THE SUCCESSES. FRENCH OFFICIAL REPORT. Paris, Sept. 20. A communique says: The latest reports enable as daily to gauge more completely the importance of the success in Champagne and Artois. The Germans were expelled from strongly entrenched positions on an extended front, in which they had been ordered to resist to the end. Tlve total enemy losses exceeded three army corps (120,000), including 25,000 prisoners. We have brought thus far 79 captured guns to the rear, also 17,000 prisoners with 316 officers. Stock-taking of the abandoned material progresses.

We captured, east of Souehez, yesterday, Hill 140, which is the culminating point on the Vimy crests, also the orchards to tlie south, taking prisoner three hundred Guardsmen.

The struggle continues in Champagne, a further thousand men surrendering north of Massiges. The total German casualties in the recent offensive of the Allies is estimated to exceed 120,000. 'i..e progress of the French in the Artois region continues.

BRITISH TACKLING THE THIRD LINE. KAISER HURRIES TO THE FRONT. London, Sept. 29. After a conference of the German war chiefs the Kaiser rushed in a special train to the Western front. The British are now closely engaged with the enemy's third line. GERMAN ADMISSIONS. Received Sept. 30, 11.25 p.m. Amsterdam, Sept. 30. German newspapers admit a severe blow on the West front. A General, commenting on the Champagne position, said that the battle continues in fearful intensity, but a great break through has not occurred. He says the Germans were reinforced, but they must expect a heavy struggle. The French are superior in numbers and are attacking with coloßsal fury.