WESTERN ATTACK.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 July 1916, Page 5

WESTERN ATTACK.

THE BRITISH OFFENSIVE. LORD DERBY'S VIEWS. A SPLENDID EFFORT. HARD FIGHTING INEVITABLE. New York, July 9. The Brooklyn Eagle interviewed Lord Derby on tlie results of the British offensive. He said the advance was marked by extreme gallantry of action and buoyancy of spirit. The British offensive on the western front uas proceeding in logical accordance with the British policy of wearing down tho enemy. An advance along twenty miles of diffitult country defended by immense masses of enemy troops, equipped with evendeadly device, cannot effect a sudden collapse of the resistance. The war will not be ended by spectacular assaults upon detached sectors of the German line, but by putting as many German soldiers out of action as lies in'the Allies' power, flic British are now contributing a splendid effort to that end and the effort is meeting the full measure of expected success. Preparations were complete to the last detail for the supply of munitions, resulting from months of strenuous nation-wide endeavor, which is adequate to the demands of the unprecedented bombardment. The co-ordination of each department of arms seems perfect. ''l have always deplored the wicked tendency to under-estimate German efficiency, but the British armies have demonstrated, during the last seven days, that their organisation is inferior to no prmy in Europe. Ncuve Chapelle and Loos were the initiation of the new British armies and the battle of the Somme has supremely proved our volunteer soldiers to be worthy of the most splendid British traditions." Asked if the present British offensive is the big push, Lord Derby said: "Everything which decimates the German Army is the big push. I do not believe it is possible to characterise any given operation as the final offensive. The task of defeating Germany is slow and cannot be materially affected by spectacular spurts. We shall defeat Germany by incessant pressure. That is why the offensive is proceed ing steadily and surely day by day. This is more significant than any separate incursion through the German front. I am only a civilian, but it seem? obvious that the present advances of the French, Russian, Italian and British armies are the only sort of push which can ultimately end the war. "The advance of the British was necessarily slower than that of the French under General Foch. The Germans seem to have known our offensive, was imminent and had concentrated masses to meet the attack. General Foch's attack vas apparently unexpected. "The British' hospital arrangements are proving superb. Soldiers twenty-four hours after the,' have been wounded have leceived expert attention in London bosfitals. This is a fair indication of the efficiency of the new British armies. "An advance- necessarily entails casualties, but our losses are not unduly large. A considerable percentage of the casualties are slightly wounded. We are demanding the full price for every British life. "There is no likelihood of Germany i collapsing like thr Austrian? before General Brusiloff. \Ye shall have a hard fight, demanding the best British manhood we can give. The wai will end in only one way, and that way will be the British way." i 1 RECAPTURED GUNS. OF RUSSIAN AND FRENCH ORIGIN. Paris, July 9. The guns captured at the Somme include a Russian cannon taken by the enemy on the eastern front in 1915 and French guns from Maubeuge. THE GERMANS BEATEN. THE FRENCH HAPPY. Paris, June 1. "Our previous station at Pont-a-Mous-son was a gentleman's country clubhouse compared with Verdun, which is a heli of mud, blood, flames, and noise," said the driver of an American ambulance returned to Paris after serving at Verdun since February 21. "Our latest billet," he said, "was just north-east of one of the Mouse bridges, which a battery of Austrian 150's has tried to hit for weeks. Shells which passed squarely over onr heads bothered us at first, but for the past ten days an earthquake would not have kept us awake. We worked eighteen hours daily and fell asleep in the 'mud beside the cars, too tired to eat. "The French are marvellous. They all know that they've got the Germans whipped. I've seen men shot to pieces who shouted: 'We've got them; we're top dog now," literally with their last breath." IN RESERVE. ' I FRENCH HAVE PLENTY OF MEN. London, May 26. The Times' military correspondent says:— "The Germans: continue to exhaust their army before Verdun to the point of extermination. They bring up divisions in reserve from every quarter where one is to be found. "There are ample French guns and there are still French troops in reserve in plenty for any purpose which may enter Joffrc's mind. "When the Writer visited Verdun be found the whole countryside outside the f.re. zone filled with French reserves, and although the battle was raging with all the fury which had been its distinguishing characteristic, French permissionaries were going off to their homes on furlough as if nothing was happening. "The French practice has been to give the divisions a rest after serious fighting in order to prevent their quality from deteriorating, and they can afford to do so, because they have ample reserves. "The Germans <ire not in this fortunate position, and so they have to draw their shattered divisions out of the line, .fill them up from the field depots as best they may and then hurry them back again to the fight."

ANGLO-FRENCH OPERATIONS.

• GRAPHICALLY DESCRIBED. FRENCH ARTILLERY MAGNIFICENT. EVENING-UP THE FRONT. (Times Service.) T.eceived July 10, 8.5 p.m. London, July 0. A correspondent, who describes the French operations, states that while the Germans battered Verdun, the French staff were busily employed in accumulating guns and men on the Somme front, also in re-creating General Foch's armies with the finest stock of troops, including the Moroccans, a famous Colonial corps, and new heavily artillery. Twenty..even German battalions opposed the French at the start, but they were subsequently reinforced to thirty-nine. The German staff distributed a circular to the troops before the commencement of the operations declaring that Ihe imminent fall of Verdun had prevented a northern offensive. The element of surprise greatly helped the French in the first five days of the enemy defence of their lines. In the first place, n triple l'ne of trenches was linked up anil heav■'y fortified at Count, Frisse, and Dompicrre. Secondly, twq miles behind, bases were formed at Feuilleres. Herbeeourt, Assevillercs, and Estrees; and thirdly, at riaueonrt and Belloyc. The new- French tactics first consisted of a prolonged heavy bombardment. Then their "seventyfivers," with shrapnel, blasted a lateral in the rear of the treni'h and the approaches, thus covering the •work of the reconnaissance raiders in ascertaining tlie damage. If satisfactory, they .signalled back summoning the main infantry. These tactics governed the whole of ihe Anglo-French strategy Anglo-Fiench troops, at the junction of the line, pushed forward together, and the French right held on till later. When the famous colonial corps heard that the British had captured Ma mete, they were given the word, and bounded forward. r; hey captured the first line immediately. The Germans trusted to their supposed impregnable position on the south of the Somme, their network of trenches having been strengthened to the utmost during the last month, but these were pounded into chaos, enabling the, infantry to capture them with lightning rapidity, and with a minimum of losses The French aitillery have never shown tn. greater advantage. By the fifth, the wliole of the second defences south of the Somme had been captured, and daring patrols were reconnoitering the third line, A brief halt was necessary to bring up tlie Anglo-French line north of the river. The infantry, meanwhile, were repelling counter-attack by brilliant .mint operations at Hardecourt and its vicinity, and evened up the position by the capture of Hardecourt, tlm.i facilitating the French advance north of the Somme, GERMAN REPORT. ENEMY EVERYWHERE REPULSED. Received July 10, 7.10 p.m. London, July ft. A German communique states: AngloFrench atlacks continue northward of the Somme. They were repulsed with sanguinary losses on the front at Ovillers and Mametz wood, also on both sides of Hardecourt. They vainly stormed Trones wood six times, but penetrated Hardecourt village, Tlie French showed increased artillery activity south of the Somme. but in spite of the violence the local advance ,ailed. On the remainder ••f the front there were violent artillery battles, the enemy having recourse to gas attacks and patrol fighting. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. MAXIMUM OF EFFORT MINIMUM OF LOSSES. (Main Cable Service.) Received July 10, 10.5 p.m. London, duly 10. The Times' correspondent, describing the French attack at the Somme, ays that all the positions attacked ivcrc carried with a minimum of loss. The French were completely masters of the air. The first stage of the offensive destroyed every German sausage balloon. Only nine enemy aeroplane? were sc-en during the first two days. Tlie troop movements and artillery expositions .vere thus effected m secrecy. During the previous month:? the jicrmans were disturbed at the evident activity of the Allies on tlie Somme, and gave urgent instructions for a big programme of digging, and multiplied their dugouts and shelters, but these elaborate precautions were unavailing against the French guns. As an indication of the slightncss ,f the French losses and casualties, the colonial force, in taking Dompierre bad only six men killed and sixteen wounded, while the losses in some of the companies were only from eight to fourteen men, the whole division having only 040 casualties. Beeouineourt, Bussu and Fay also fell without trouble into the French hands. There was some delay in dislodging the defenders from Estrees, but the whole operations :outh of the Somme proved definitely that German steel, as a bar- I rier, can be broken in the joint. Ih the Anglo-French operations against Hardecourt and the neighboring woods, the French won the whole of the positions assigned to them in thirty-live minutes, though their trenches were filled with three feet of water, and the torrential rain had made artillery support extremely difficult. A SAXON SUCCESS. AT AN AWFUL PRICE. Received July 10. fi.".o p.m. Paris, July ft. A Saxon division re-took Con-tal-ma.ison. We are holding the cemetery and confines of the village. The enemy paid an .awful price for success, there being only thirty survivors of the second battalion" of the Second Guards, while the third battalion of the Second and the tenth of the Ninth lost fifty per cent., the Guards leaving three thousand dead and several thousand wounded.

GERMAN REPORT.

CONTEMPT HIDES CHAGRIN. Berlin, July 0. A communique states: The heroism and tenacity of the troops on the Somme prepared for tlie enemy a day full of delusions. Numerious continuously repeated attacks were repulsed with sanginary losses. The (mormons number t.f fallen Englishmen at Ovillers, Con-tal-Maison and B.isentin-le-Grand, and tlie Frenchmen at Diachos and Soyccourt, gave indications of the masses of the enemy employed and the devastating effects of our fire. At Froide Terre Hill, on the Mouse, v.-e ea|>tured 210 men during the repulse of repeated attacks.

THE FIGHTING AT FRICOURT.

A GLOWING TRIBUTE. Paris, July ft, A jrlowir.jr semi-official description of the British capture of the glorious ruins of Fricourt describes the laborious organisation of the German defences. The po.-itinn \v;>s more advantageous as the houses were built in echelon formation, sweeping up a gentle slope to a hill culminating in a wood, which was also full of formidable defences. Despite their first failure the British, chiefly the Yorkshire and Durham miners, jumped ilie parapets of the enemy trenches and rushed the village, taking 1500 prisoners. The message ends. "These are the soldiers whom the Germans considered amateurs."

STEADY PROGRESS.

COUNTER-ATTACKS BROKEN. FRENCH CARRY GERMAN POSITIONS. (Rettter Service.) Received July 10, 6.5 p.m. London, July ft. Sir Douglas Haig reports: We have again steadily progressed at Ovillers in face of stubborn opposition. The enemy's two furious counter-attacks at Trous wood in an endeavour to retrieve last week's losses, were completely broken. Paris, July ft. A communique states: The French attacked a front of four kilometres east of Flacourt and carried the German positions along the whole line to a depth of two kilometres. The French captured the village of Biaehcs, and established a position thereftom to the outskirts of Baileux. THE WOUNDED AT THE ! SOMME. A NOVELIST'S DESCRIPTION. GERMANY'S HOUR OF DOOM. London, July ft. Captain A. .1. Dawson, the novelist, in an article dealing with the wounded men at the Somme, says that only those commanding units ca» imagine tlie night before that memorable Saturday, the tense crowded preoccupation of that night of nights, the crowding in the vast warren, the endless carrying of ;immunition, bombs, tools, and the thousand and one activities midst tlie wild inferno of bursting shells, the soaring of enemy lights and the deadly ticktack of the Boehe machine-guns. What of the wounded, dazed, bleeding, fainting and mortally athirst? Some lay hours, other crawled a mile ; -iver the bullet-swept earth and along tiie shcll-Hattened trenches floored by corpses, themselves with unbandaged wounds, trailing limbs fractured and pain-wracked. Afterwards came the long and necessarily tiriiig journey to Southampton. Vet. though a tinge of pessimism migi.v be expected among these men, there was not the slightest sign of depression; their spirit was wonderful. A description .'f the fight given by one is vj'pical of this spirit:—"My God, sir, but it was fine. We've got em hopping this time. It was the best show 1 eve saw; 1 wouldn't have missed it for the world. A good many of ur got pipped, if course, but you should see the stacks of their dead. It isn't figures that count, nor ground taken; the thing is we know we can beat 'em now. We've sampled their best, the'ir Prussian Guard. We can beat their best, and they know it." Captain Ds.wson adds: "At all events our wounded know that while Germany's superb organisation, her massed engine- of destruction and machine-driven soldiers may win. her occasional reprieves, her hour of doom has struck and her end is written so far as this war is concerned. The German High Command was satisfied that th« penetration of the Somme was impossible, but the H'igh Command was wryng." VIOLENT ARTILLERY DUELS. GERMAN BATTERIES SILENCED. (Renter Service.) Received July 10, 11.55 p.m. Paris, July 10. A communique states: Violent artillery duels arc taking place on both, sides of the Mense, also"on the Belgian front at Dixmude, where German batteries were silenced.

BRITISH GALLANTRY.

OVILLERS BEING ENCIRCLED. * FIERCE FIGHTING. ENEMY ATTACKS REPULSED, i Paris, July 9. French newspapers declare that the British yesterday fought with unsurpassed gallantry and tenacity. Their ehject was to straighten the' front and bring it into line with the French. The fighting was the fiercest during the present offensive. The centre of the combat was Ovillers, which the British are steadily encircling, despite Germany's luge sacrifices for keeping it. The Germans' action in sending the Prussian Guard from the east to Con-tal-Maison proves Hint they scented danger. The Kaiser's picked troops returned again and again to the attack and left 5000 dead on the battlefield. The Petit Parisien states that thu struggle for the Leipzig Redoubt was .specially severe. The British left the trenches with magnificent spirit and charged wonderfully. Spectators unanimously praise the intrepidity of the final overwhelming rush, which gained possession of a great portion of the fortress two hours after the beginning of the attack. Then the victorious troops attacked Ovillers, which was a veritable fortress, and, with splendid dash, seized tlie first streets of the village OFFICIAL REPORTS. " ' " London, July !1. Sir Douglas Haig reports:—The'fighting between the Ancre and the Somnie is considerably less violent than during Die last two days. We further progressed in (he neighbourhood of Ovillers ind, in another sector, raptured '■> group of defended buildings. The Germans made made no further attempts to recapture the lost positions. We successfully sprung three mines rear Givenchy. Further north after a heavy bombardment of a portion of a sector held by the New Zealanders, strong enemy attacks succeeded in entering the trenches at one point. After half an hour's fighting, the New Zealanders ejected 'the enemy, who left many dead. Paris, July fl. Another communique says: The night was calm on the Somme. Six hundred and thirty-three Germans were taken prisoner at Hardecourt during an attack. There was a violent bombardment .at Uiatancourt, Floury and Damlonp. The enemy attempted two eoups.-de-raain west of the forest o'f Apremont. One detachment penetrated one of our trenches, hut was driven out by grenades. The second detachment was dispersed before reaching our line. A communique states: Bad weather on the Somme impeded operations. . By a eoup-de-niain at Bclloy-eii-Sauterre we captured 350 men. A violent bombardment is going on at Verdun and infantry actions. MINE-MAKING EXTRAORDINARY. AN AMUSING PICTURE, London, July ft. A wounded sergeant gives a graphic description of the monster mine which was exploded at Beaiininnt-Hamcl. It tool: the crack Lancashire miners seven months to excavate the exploding chamber, which was as big as a picture palace. Fatigue parties were always being wanted to carry earth out and carry evplosivcs in, and they used to ask the miners, "Ain't your d—d grotty ever going ii])." Tlie sergeant added', "But by the Lord it went up all right on' July 1 Half the village sot a rise and the air was full of wagons, wheels, horses, boxes and Germans." RAIN HINDERS PROGRESS. London, July 0. Sir Douglas Haig reports that' very heavy rain in the afternoon and evening impeded operations between the .Anere md tlie Somme. The night was chiefly spent in 'improving the forward positons gained in Friday's fighting. We bombarded the enemy's trenches with field guns and trench mortars at Gonnnecourt. Despite the unfavorable weather aeroplanes did valuable service. They bombed the aerodrome at Douai, completely wrecking the hangar. During the offensive we have captured twenty guns, fifty-one machine-guns and many searchlights.