WESTERN ATTACK.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 July 1916, Page 5

WESTERN ATTACK.

TERRITORIALS DO GOOD WORK. BRITISH WELL ESTABLISHED. GERMANS MASSING. A GREAT STRUGGLE IMMINENT. Received July 28, 8.35 p.m. • ■London, July "28. Correspondents at the British Headquarters detail the capture of the positions at Pozieres, which the Territorials, co-operating with the Anzacs, had taken with great difficulty. They showed the utmost dash and staunchness in clearing the Germans out of the west of the i village, whilst the Anzacs were attacking on the south-east. The ground was gridironed with enemy trenches, dotted strongly and fortified by inachine-gun posts, in addition to being commanded from the trenches before Pozieres and the high ground above Thiepval. The Territorials made a lot of ground the first night, and afterwards continually forged ahead, rushing every bit of trend' and attacking the machine-gun posts till tliey functioned with the An-zacs-'at the top of the village on Tuesday evening. i The British are now well established on the line whereto the second main | push, which was begun on July 14, was | directed.1 Evidence is accumulating that the | enemy have concentrated great quanti-I-ies of guns and troops to oppose the next Britisli move.

BRITISH POSITION IMPROVED AY OR ST OF DEFENCES BROKE.W GERMAN INFANTRY MASSED. TJnlted Service. Received July 28, 3.20 p.m. London, July 28. The correspondent continues: The capture of Pozieres distinctly improves the position. There are some who believe we are through (lie Germans' most elaborate defences. The Germans doubtless :ire feverishly working for miles behind, but they have no time to create anything like wlwt they did in t.lie past. I am well informed in saying we are not afraid of anything they can create, but they are enormously massed, entirely of infantry, which is now our most serious problem. THE KAISER'S ORDER. BSITiSH MUST BE KEPT"-OUT. APPROACHES STRONGLY DEFENDED. BAVARIANS SUFFER HEAVILY. Received July 29, 12.45 a.m.

London, 'July 2S. The correspondent adds: The stubborn resistance at Pozicres was due to the Germans having picked troops. It is reported that the Kaiser himself ordered that the British must be kept out at all costs. Over 200 machine-guns defended the approaches to Pozicres alone. Our bombardment destroyed most of these, and the remains must be scattered among the ruins, but thirty were captured in good ondition. A German company in a-small fort in the centre of the village was completely surrounded, but teld out for twelve hours. When taken, only four men were alive. Sixty dead were heaped one above another in a little armoured shelter. A commander of a Bavarian battalion, which was defending the north-west of the village, realising that danger was menacing the garrison, ordered a retirement. The Bavarians were obliged to coss a fire-swept zone for 300 yards where the British batteries decimated them, POZIERES A DECISIVE FACTOR. „ * • CAPTURE OF OPEN GROUND FACILITATED. Received July 28, 8.50 p.m. London, July 2S. The Westminster Gazette's military correspondent states that the capture of Pozieres may prove to he a decisive step in the war. Pozieres and Longueval command the main roads converging on Bapaume, whilst the Foureaux Wood commands the cross road running between them. The capture enables oui attack to gather weight and momentum in falling on the open agricultural country, requiring missed forces to resist its capture. Pozieres decides the crux of the battle in our favor.

NEARING THE SUMMIT OF THE PLATEAU. AUSTRALIANS' GOOD WORK. Received July 29. 12.10 a.m. ■ Paris, July 28. With the capture of the windmill the. Australians were only a few hundred yards from the highest point of the plateau, which is a slightly more commanding position than tliaiiof Foureaux '.Vood. three to the tutwar?

NORTHWARD OF POZIERES. STUBBORN fighting. IMPORTANT TRENCH GAINED AND LOST. - A FOOTING REGAINED. HEAVY FIGHTING AT DELVILLE. Received July 28, 7.5 p.m. London, July 28. General Sir Douglas Uaig states: We captured last night an important troncli northward of the line Pozieres-Bazentin-le-Petit, which had hitherto resisted all attack. The Germans next morning regained somplete' possession. We immediately re-attacked and regained a footing at the southern end. We, after hard fighting, drove the Germans out of the east and north-east of Delville Wood, including Longueval, the northern part of which we regained. A small party of Germans entered the trenches westward of the Yprcs-Pilcken road, but were driven out. .Further south, after an artillery bombardment, we raided their line and encountered the Germans' front entanglements. We killed thirty men and found many others dead' in their trenches. Aviators are doing good work in locating batteries and new defences.

GERMANY'S DESPERATION. BELGIAN GARRISONS WITHDRAWN. TROOPS RUSHED Tjg THE SOMME. Received July 28, 8.55 p.m. \ London, July 28. The Daily Mail's correspondent at Amsterdam reports that two divisions of infautry and lour thousand Uhlans have left the Ghent district and proceeded southwards. There is a continuous stream of men and gu>is eu' route to the Somme. One hundred and fifty heavy guns and two divisions traveled the Ghent railway, and foi two days the Germans suspended the passenger communication between Belgium and Holland. Most stringent restrictions have been imposed on the inhabitants of Flanders and the north of France. It is believed that the majority of the Belgian garrisons have been sent into the iiring line.

24 MILES GAINED. - SINCE JULY 1. i Received July 2S, 5.50 p.m. London, July 28. The captures at Poizeres include the windmill and cemetery. The British have won twenty-four square miles on the Somme since the Ist of July. VIOLENT ARTILLERY WORK. ALONG ENTIRE FRENCH FRONT. FRENCH TOWN BOMBED. Received July 2S, 5.45 p.m.' Paris, July 28. A communique reports that cannonade continues along the entire front, being particularly viole_nt at Fleury, Fumin Wood, and Chenoia Wood. Three German aviators bombed Crepy-on-Valois, killing a girl and wounding three women. (Crepy-en-Valois is a town of 5400 in habitants in the Oise department of France, 35 miles east of Paris,) GERMAN BARBARITY. 10,000 YOUNG WOMEN DEPORTED. TO UNKNOWN DESTINATION. New York, July 27. The following letter, smuggled out of Lille, has been received by the. New York Times:— The Germans have deported 10,000 young women and girls from' Lille, including ,"700 girls aged 15 to 25. They were rounded up by the Imperial Guard, which surrounded the city at 3 o'clock in the morning and visited all houses and called the roll. The women .were sent to empty workshops. Then the Germans herded the weeping and terrified girls into old carriages and cattle trucks, and the trains steamed off into the night to an unknown destination. Parents are distracted with sorrow and grief, and implore the press of the world to publish these facts. These charges were submitted by the American Ambassador at Berlin to the German authorities. It is understood they admitted that French people had been deported to do agricultural work, but insist that the numbers are exaggerated.

GERMAN OFFICIAL REPORT London, July 2T. A Berlin communique states: There was intense artillery activity on both sides between the Ancre and the Soiinne. We repulsed enemy hand-grenade attacks westward of Pozieres, and a French attack north-east of Uarleux failed. Several strong l'reiich attacks in the region of Froide Torre and Floury were repulsed. Strong British reconnoitring parties south-west o£ Warnewere rcc.'Ued.

MINIMISING THE CASUALTIES. •STEEL SHIELDS ADVOCATED. CONAN DOYLE'S SUGGESTION. Received July 28, 8.50 p.n? London, July 28. Sir A. Conan Doyle strongly advocates liody armor as a stop to machine-gun bullets during a rush on "No, Man's Land." A shield of steel seven-sixteenths of ap inch thick will stop a bullet at point blank range. The armor need only be 2ft. broad and 3ft. d<y;p, -weighing thirty pounds, hut it should only need to be carried a few hundred yards. If the first line of stormers carried these shields and helmets and a bag of bombs they could clear the enemy ma-chine-guns. Some of the attackers would be hit in the arms and legs, and high explosives would also claim victims, but many casualties would be saved. The sheets of steel could -be cut to size aud funiifched with a double thong for arm grip. They could be turned in any direction to form a screen against snipers and protect wounded Australians and Territorials.. AMERICAN PflAlSfl OP ANZACS. New Yrok, July 27. The newspaper "tJlobe states that- the heroic lighting of the Anzaes is of particular interest, because they closely resemble Americans. The holding of Poziefes for three days will prove one of the most wonderful tales of human endurance. A HUM AXE SCHEME; Copenhagen, July 27. A huge scheme is in progress, controlled by the Government, under which hospitality will be offered to poor and disabled belligerents. Two million sterling has ben promised, and an appeal to the public is projected. FIVE MILLION BRITISH SHELLS. London, July 27. A correspondent 'at headquarters said it is reliably computed that the British artillery lias fired five (million shells on the German positions during the last four weeks.