IN THE WEST.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1915, Page 5

IN THE WEST.

WINTER IN THE TRENCHES. THE CHEERY BRITISH. ' MUCH RAIN AND COLD. Received Nov. 29, 9 p.m. London, Nov. 29. Mr. Philip Gibbs, in the Daily Telegraph, gives a remarkable pictuu of winter conditions on the Western front. The soldiers are experiencing all the frightfulness of the elements, and rain it filling the trenches with ice-cold water. A German shouted from his trench: "How deep?" and a Britisher replied: "Up to our blooming knees." - The German retorted: "We are up to our belts." Frequently the German soldiers plead for a truce because of the awful discomfort. Many Britishers are provided with waders, reaching to their thighs. Several are suffering from what is —noWn as "trench feet," their limbs being numbed by the intense cold. There was one particular instance of heroism. A sergeant was thigh deep in water in a trench, when a mortar smashed one of his legs. A surgeon operated on the spot, comrades holding the patent while he was half in and half out of the water. The sergeant joked after the operation and wrote a letter to his wife. Many trenches are simply puddles of mud which fouls the rifles and get mixed with the food. The w:nd is so cold that cuts through the clothes ing like a knife. THe German soldiers appear to suffer more than ours. The Britishers' unconquerable cheeriness enabled them to paddle through the wet trenches and stand for hours in the freezing slime without despair. GERMAN ATTACK REPULSED. FRENCH OFFICIAL REPORT. Amsterdam, Nov. 28. Allied airmen on Thursday destroyed « railway bridge over the Scheldt, near Outdaide, on the Courtrai-Brussels railway. London, Nov. 28. An Exchange Genera telegram says that Germany has agreed to repatriate many French subjects taken as hostages. Twenty thousand have been sent to Switzerland. Paris, Nov. 28. A communique says: The enemy sent out three successive clouds of asphyxiat* '"S gas in the Bethincourt sector and afterwards began a violent bombardment. Our curtains of fire stopped the infantry the moment the attack began. A communique says: A feature of the fighting in the labyrinth, where the enemy attacked, is that they occupie-1 only a mine cavity and failed to reach our trenches. A violent struggle followed, which resulted in our favor. French aeroplanes did splendid work. They dropped ninety bombs.on the stati°n at Noyon and compelled German captive balloons to descend. On other fronts there is no change.