WESTERN ATTACK.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 November 1916, Page 5

WESTERN ATTACK.

MORE MEN FOR THE ARMY. CRGENTLY NEEDED Received Nov. 24, S p.m i London, Nov. 24. Writing to a Borough Council with reicrenci! to the enlistment of employees, (ieneral Robertson, Chief of ■Stall, said lie had no hesitation in saying tliorc was urgent necessity for more men of military age for the army.

THE ALLIES' FORCES. BRITISH ARMY OP G,000.00G. Received Nov. 24, 10.53 p.m. Paris, Nov. 24. M. Albert Favre, in a remarkable speech in the Chamboi of Deputies, said: Behind the rampart of French breasts the British army ha; grown to iormidable proportions, and is expected to reach 0,000,000. Italy lias 3,000,000 troops, and Russia liar, trained 8,000,000, which she can double. England's effectives are in proportion to one in ten of her population, ItiNv's one in eleven, Russia's one in twenty, and France's one in six.

SAVING MEN. FRENCH INFANTRY TACTICS. London, Nov. 23. The new infantry tactics, by which fewer men are employed, and much more powerfully armed, are described by Renter's correspondent at the French headquarters.

Hand grenades, rifle, grenades, and machine-gun rifles are largely displacing rifles and bayonets as the main weapon The users of the new weapons are called specialists. A demonstration showed that the hand grenadiers arc trained in groups to combine like a football team. Among them are interspersed voltigenrs, namely, men armed to repel attacks, whose duty is to protect th<jm at close quarters and clear their way in difficult moments. The methods make greater demands ok the intelligence and initiative of the oieh, especially when, waves of assault are necessary, and when speed and combination are of essential importance. The demonstration showed that an attacking line was able to bring a terrific and impassable fire to bear, and gave an equally convincing lesson in the art of smothering places where enemy groups are holding out after the wings had beer, driven back. The value of the new tactics is evidonced by the fact that the French had fewer casualties in the first four months of the Somme offensive than in the few days' fignting in the Champagne last yeaT. Furthermore, casualties in the advance south of the Somme and in the recapture of Douawnont and Thiaumont were well under half the number of prisoners. New methods are also being taught to the artillery and enginers.

WORLD'S FINEST SOLDIERS. Australians praised. New York, Nov. 2,1. Mr. Fr-:derick Palmer expresses un stinted admiration for the Australian soldiers. Interviewed by the Australian Press Association, he said that he had seen scldiers throughout the world, but neve.* anything iike the Australians. Advancing to the attack they impressed him as the finest Roldiers and men ever on a battlefield. The world does not yet realise the greatness of the feat of the capture of the Poaieres ridge, which was due to the Australians' dash and tenacity.

The Australians made a world name at GallipoJi, but a new and greater test waited them in France, where they were pitted against Germany's best, and yet entered the fight smilingly and with unwavering confidence. The result the world knows. Mr. Palmer was interested in the individual Australians, who are of a distinct type, courageous, unflinching in danger, dashing, and with amazing initiative and resourcefulness. While not under-estimating the magnificent heroes at the front, the Australians, he says, stand out for adaptability and general intelligence. The Australians c(o not show unthinking courage. They are clear-brained and capable. Conscious seemingly of the unequal conflict between the new-trained against Germany's super-drilled legions, they not only accepted the challenge, but forced the issue, and gloriously triumphed. Originally it was difficult to restrain them when they reached the objective, but they are rapidly learning the necessity of discipline and the futility of one section outpacing the line. This light curb discipline is moulding perfect soldiers.

Mr. Palmer was forcibly struck b> the Australians' early insistence on the equality of privates and officers, which is typical of the grand, free and independent spirit of the colonies, but now they understand that the officers must bo paid formal respect, and are becoming adept at saluting.

The Australians' democratic ideak are leavening the English Tommies, and the correspondent predicts, as the result, a striking growth of the democratic spirit in England after the war.

HEAVY BOMBARDMENTS. Received Nov. 24, 8.20 p.m. London, Nov, 24. General Sir Douglas Haig reports:~ We bombarded the lines in the neighborhood of Messines and Armentieres. Paris, Nov. 24. Official: There is intermittent artil-lt-rying along the whole, front. A FOOD-CONTROLLER. Received Nov. 24, 5.20 p.m. ' Paris, Nov. 23. The Government has appointed a food-controller. AERIAL WORK. (A. and N.Z. Cable Assn. and Reuter). London, Nov. 2!(. A French communique states:—There was only aerial activity. We dropped many bombs on stations and bivouacs ion the Somme. | Lieutenant Guynemer has brought down his twenty-second machine. '