WESTERN ATTACK.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 October 1916, Page 5

WESTERN ATTACK.

FIGHTING AT VERDUN. VIOLENT ENEMY BOMBARDMENTS. Received Oetohei 29, 5.5 p m. London, October 28. 'A French, communique state* t!>at the enemy is making a. eontiiiuou* violent bombardment of our fust linos at Ear.dromont, Douaumont Fort, and Damloup Battery. An attempted at tack westward of Douaumont village was, instantaneously stopped by on? curtain of fire. ENEMY ARTILLERY ACTIVE. Received October 28, 5.3 p.m. London, October 27. Sir Douglas Haig reports; —Heavy, rain fell during the night. Enemy artillery is active south of the Anc.-':. Received Oct. 29, 11.50 p.m. Paris, October 20. A communique states: —E\cept for a most violent artillery duel in the region of Douaumont, the day has been quiet. The bad weather continues. GERMANS PLOUGHED UP BY FRENCH 15'- % t THREE REGIMENTS MELT AWAY. Received Oct. 29, 5.30 p.m Paris, Oct. 28. Newspapers describe the seventy-fives as ploughing tip the Germans in Thursday's counter-attack at Verdun. Three regiments melted away in two hours, and some battalions were reformed ten times. AN UNLIKELY STORY. Received Oct. 29, 5.30 p.m. London, Oct. 28. Mr. Ashmead Bartlctt, states that an eye-witness at Verdun says that since the battle of the Somme opened, the Germans at Verdun have been putting up a gigantic bluff. Divisions are being constantly withdrawn and clvmged, and Verdun has become a rest camp for divisions shattered on the Somme. Onethiid tci half the guns had been withdrawn, wiien finally General .loft're decided to call the enemy's hands. ; TRAGIC HEROISM. HOW A TRENCH WAS CAPTURED. UNDER ADVERSE CONDITIONS. | Received Oct. 29, 5.5 p.m London, Oct. 28. Mr. Percival Gibbon, a war correspondent, states that the hand-to-hand fighting in the gunpits at Hazy trench on Thursday was one of the bitterest episodes of the Somme action. The attack was undertaken in such weather conditions that only tragic heroism made an advance possible. The British units went into the trenches on the previous night in soaking rain. There were seven degrees of frost before the morning, and later, further rain melted the country to a loathly ycilow paste. The barrage was advanced ahead of the attackers, who were only half way out of their quagmire of trench when they saw a German officer recalling the defenders to the parapets. While our men floundered tlnougb. the mud, every German was firing a rifle. We took the German position, crawling and tumbling forward somehow until tlio trench was captured. Its defenders were the Bavarians, who captured Vaux in the face of a magnificent French defence, so that they were worthy foes, but were no match for the British bayonets. Dead Germans now lie thick on the ground. But for the miserable weather that has prevailed, the British would li.-ive sooner been attacking the great troreh system that is guarding Le Trailsloy, k, IMPORTANT TRENCHES CAPTURED.? ENEMY CAUGHT BY RIFLE FIRE. . Reuter Service. Received Oct. 29, 11.45 pm, London, October 2il. General Sir Douglas Haig carried out a successful local operation north-east of Les Boeufs, and captured several important enemy trenches. Our artillery bombarument was very effective. The enemy, when driven from the : r position, was caught by our rifle fire. FORTIFIED QUARRY CAPTURED. Received Oct, 29, 5.35 p.m. Paris, Oct. 2S. A communique states that after an arti'lery struggle at .Douaumont, we LWl.'iiintly captured a fortified quarry north-east of Douaumont fort.