WESTERN ATTACK.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 November 1916, Page 5

WESTERN ATTACK.

MAGNITUDE OF BRITISH VICTORY. A COMPLETE TRIUMPH. | MAZY INTRICACIES OF TRENCHES. WANING GERMAN MORALE., London, Nov. 10. Only now is the public beginning fully to realise the magnitude of the British victory. The latest accounts of correspondents emphasise the completeness of the triumph and the extreme difficulties of the attack. The conquered sector is described as one of the strongest on the West front. First-hand accounts show that the mazy intricacy of its trenches baffles description. In some places it is over a mile in breadth, and the pattern is compared to the tangle of a quickset hedge in winter. The barbed wire division consisted of four systems two hundred yards wide. The weather added mormously to the difficulties. Extraordinary stories are related of the attackers' difficulty in keeping touch. In the darkness and fog it was impossible to tell whether tho next trench was full or deserted, or how much wire remained standing. Accurate reporting was scarcely possible, especially in the absence of aerial 'observation. These difficulties often accounted for the attackers missing batches of Clermans, necessitating methodical rounding up all day. The mud was not bad south of the Ancrt, but was serious on the lower grouiid, especiallj to the north. Tho trenches were full of water, aijd'there were several escapes from drowning ir the darkness. The conditions were unsuitable for tanks, so the services of two units were all the more meritorious.

All the correspondents dwell on tin; nonchalance and cheerfulness of the British troops. Some sat carelessly on the parapets and others strolled in search cl relics. Their serenity passed all precedent, but the same quality alone enabled them to reach their goal in face of unprecedented difficulties._ The absence of German Artillery retaliation is not explained, since we know that recently they had about 1000 guns in the Ancrc sector. Though there is no disposition to depreciate the German troops generally, the victory again proves the waning German morale. Never were there such numbers that did not offer resistance Thirteen nundied men and 29 officer? were rounded up in a series of underground refuges on the south bank of the Ancre, and made no attempt to fight. There were remarkably few bayonet, wounds in the first two days' British casualties, the vast bulk was due to shrapnel and machine-guns. Our correspondent sums up: "The v : ctory was one of the most brilliant of the Somme offensive, if not of the whole war."

THE ANCRE VICTORY. GERMA S PRESS EXCUSES. Received Nov. 17. 8.30 p.m. London,, Nov. 17. 7he Berliner Tageblatt, commenting on the British / advance at the Ancre, says it followed a bombardment of twelve days' duration, with continually increasing guns, fed with as much ammunition as they wanted. He admits the attacks in the southern sector were stronger than the defence, the English being fresh and strong. The Frankfurter Zeitung says the English have gained merely a tactical success, which was unavoidable in the case of such a long defensive battle, The Kolnische Zeitung says the English employed their whole fury oF heaped up materials and projectiles of the heaviest calibre. With such a tremendous expenditure of ammunition, on offensive can always be' carried out after levelling the trenches. ! 3PITISB ECONOMY OF MEN. i GERMAN ADMISSION- ' Received Nov. 17, 10 p.m. London, Nov. 17The Berliner /ageblatt, commenting on the fighting on the Ancre, admits that the British shrewdly economised men. and were using them to advantage now.

I ARTILLERY WORK. FRENCH REGAIN POSITIONS. Received Nov. 17, 10 p.m. London, Nov, 17. l-eiieral Sir Douglas Haig reports: The enemy bombarded the new front northward of the Ancre. Our artillery caused severe explosions. We bombarded the lines in the Souchcz and. Armentiercs areas. Paris, Nov. 17. A communique states: Enemy parties, which gained a footing north-east of Saiilisel, were ejected. Artilleiying is vigorous in the Ablaincourt region. , FRENCH CAINS HELD. GERMANS EJECTED FROM PRESSOIR. London, Nov. 1(1. A Paris communique says: After an obstinate fight we drove out the enemy from St. Pierre Vaast Wood. Our gains arc entirely held. The enemy sustained very heavy losses in. yesterday's attack's ami employed troops belonging to three divisions. Wellington, Nov. 17 The High Commissioner-reports from London, under date Nov. 10, 3.15 p.m.: — A French official message states South of the Somrne during the night we attacked eastwards of Pressoir, the part occupied by the enemy where the French resisted enjrgetieally, finally ejecting the Germans after stubborn fighting. London, Nov. 16. The British officially report that during the night there was considerable shelling by the enemy northward and southward of the Ancre. Otherwise ihero was nothing to report.