A GLIMPSE OF FLANDERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 March 1916, Page 3

A GLIMPSE OF FLANDERS.

GOOD BIG GUN WORK. SAILORS LEND A HAND. Tho mythical German offensive upon which some of the prophets went nap (they forgot that neither men nor guns can move through swamps) has failed to appear on the western front (wrote Mr. Philips Gibhs in the Daily Telegraph). But tho artillery on both sides, especially on our side, has been more busy than usual, and tho gunners down the whole length of our lines are engaged in a daily battle, which sometimes reaches to a violence almost equal to the bombardment which precedes an attack. , The enemy is retaliating by mining operations, by sweeping certain crossroads with machine-gun fire, and by hurling high explosives into places wrecked leng ago by shell fireIt is difficult to calculate the damage done by all this expenditure of projectiles, ft is strange how often men escape death by a yard or two. . Our losses lately have not been great. Our gunners are confident that tho enemy is suffering ten times more, and that their moral is being shaken by this continual "strafe."

The German blockhouse was a solid structure of reinforced cement, with an enormously strong roof, which resisted the force of lighter shells. Probably it was a machine-gun fortress placed near the lines, so that the roads behind our trenches could be swept at close range. The heavy howitzers made short work of it. They got the range perfectly with the first four shells and scored two direct hits, which tore great holes out of the structure and made a ruin of it. A mass of twisted iron and great coils of wire were thrown up through the litter of the explosion. At another part of the line the German gur.ni-rs fired back some heavy shells, which gave out. great volumes' of sulphureolorcd smoke, which looked like gas flames to observers who did not go near enough to test, the truth of the suggestion.

Not content with building little pepper-box forts above ground, with enpola roofs which protect the men inside until big shells hit them fair and square, the Germans are burrowing underground in quite a number of places, with the idea of blowing up our trenches. The idea does not often work out in practice. Tt did not the other night—when five mines were touched off at the the same moment opposite a certain place about the Quarries near TluUuch. The explosions were terrific, and the noise and scatter of earth alarming even the men whose nerves seem stronger than all the powers of fear. The ground quaked and opened, anil the deafening roar was heard for miles. A few poor soldiers were buried in the mine crater, but the casualties were few, and in spite of the shock there war 110 sign of panic among the men holding this part of the line. As it happened the seamen of the Grand Fleet, about whom 1 have written once or twice, were paying a friendly visit to this very section of trenches, and they behaved with the greatest valor. The enemy's attempt to rush the craters was cheeked at tlie outset. Without a moment's hesitation, two of the seamen rushed to ;i couple of machine-guns and swept the ground in front until the cartridge belts were used. They were specially praised for their gallantry, but their comrades from the Fleet were not idle, and maintained a heavy and effective rifle fire, supported by bombs and rifle grenades, so that if the Germans contemplated an infantry attack it was a futile hope, and they had to keep to earth. An exciting night, for sailormen paying a New' Year's call in the trenches! By good luck not one of them was wounded, and they have gone back to the Grand Fleet with a great story of personal experience and all the parts of their bodies.