BATTLE OF FLANDERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 August 1917, Page 8

BATTLE OF FLANDERS.

TIDAL WAVE OF SHELLS, ' ' t 'ALLIED LOSSES AGAIN LIGHT. London, August 1. Describing Sir oi"en- ; ve in Flanders, Mr. Philip Cirljis writes: I!riti-k correspondents in the field dnr>ing the past few weeks have not hinted at the approach of the battle, bat others have not been so discreet. The enemy liimself sounded the alarm. \Ve have f-een many prepartkms for this terrific adventure in the north. We counted the days when ail the men were seen advancing along the roads with all their guns, when a tidal wave of ammunition was flowing northwards in readiness for the conflict, the most formidable of any since April, and some of us shuddered at the frightful thing which was ripening for history before us. The difficulty of the ground between the coastline ami the newly-captured hills, like Wytsehnete, was horribly apparent. Those swamps to the north and around Bixmude and the Yser Canal, which must he bridged. r.nd around Ypres, were like tho well of an amphitheatre. with the enemy above on Pilkein Ridge. It wa.-, so full of peril for the ftttr rs that even the optimists were cautiously reticent. The enemy had massed great gnu-power, and he poured out Ids tire 'With unparalleled ferocity. T»nt our ibranbanlmcnts were more terrific: and alor.g the roads always puns, guns, guns goinnr up to increase the relative powers of the two artilleries. There •was litiic &oul<t that in lhe run ours, would he overwhelming. 111 Die meanwhile the enemy, ftnoic an,] destructively inclined throughout, wa= puzzled and nerve wracked.

THE FJXAL COMBAT! DMEXT.

Our gimliro ii:;d 'lytji r-.- for week? with its steady slogging and hammering, but shortly after'half-past three the noi.-p of the artillery quickened rind intensified to a monotonous ovenvheimincr tinnnlt, so prrt-at that for 12 mile; behind the lines big house? moved and were shaken nvilh a great trcniblins. People farther away were awakened with fonr and w;ent to {lie windows and staled into the darioiess. They saw wild, fireballs in the sky, nnd knew P.ghtin* and dying in Flanders in one of the jwit battles of the world. T watched this morning the fires of V.att!? from an observation nost on the edge of a salient. T know what I would have seen had there been light, for 1 saw those places a day or two ago from the same supot—l should have seen the great city of Ypres, the curve of Hie sal : ent round Pilkem, S;l''nt duiien. Ziliebecke, then H'.irueton, Houlhem,'below Jfe=.-ines Ridge. Tiiere wore hundreds of sharp, red flashes from groat gidfs of black smoke and black mist. The ibshes came from our forward .batteries and heavy guns, and throughout the battlefield, where hundreds of thousands of men werf in death grips. The heavy, smoke-laden vapours of battle and the morning fog swirled and writhed between flump* of trees across familiar phu.es of death, round Ypi'es, and hidim: everything and great masses of men. The drum lire did not slacken for hour.:. Siraimelv above the hainm<Tinjr and thundering of our 2r>!l) guns, or more answered by the enemy's barrage, the railway whistle-; screamed from trains taking up nlol ' o -'"''K alwaymore shells, to the very edge nf the lighting lines, and. in between the massed batteries which were using them as hard as thev couid be unloaded.

r CASUALTIES MOSTLY LIGHT.

Too soon rami' the details of the battle. and the full account of the progress in the battle :-o lar, English, Seotii-h, Welsh, and some Anzaes all along the line fought hard with good ynw.-s. The ground was as difficult as any that has ever been a battlefield, owing to the canal s'.vamps in the hollow cup of the Ypres area, with the enemv on the run of it. 1 was irlad to get the. tir-t real tidings from the long streams of lightly wounded. They spoke of a good day, and of good progress, of many prisoners, and of an enemy routed and surrendering—indeed, a good day. though for them it meant the loss of a limb, or great pain, and the remembrance of the blood ! and filth of battle.

TheV were eager to. ilescrite tiieir fighting. I saw tiio pride of men in their comrades' courage, forgetting tiieir own. \\hich was as jiro.it. So far our iosscs liavo been light. tlio majority of casualties beinir men slightly wounded. The resistance is now strengthening, Hie enemy realising tlie greatness of l.he menace. The Cuards, Welsh, Scottish, Australians, and New Zealanders fought abreast with equal heroism. The YVelsli wiped out the most famous of the Thirds Guards' division. Our success .is as great as we dared hope. The Morning Post's correspondent writes: —The batteries concentrated ill the preparation for the battle represented a strength manifold Ihat of the enemy, whose tenacity gradually decreased with tlie destruction of his sodden trenches. The guns searched bis every corner with deadly thoroughness. The enemy's counter-barrages were carried out. with the usual prodigality, the gunners doing their utmost, to letard our preparation? and cripple tnc plans of attack. Our bridging of the Yser is deserving of remembrance. Despite the ■bail of shells ami shrapnel, stout buis threw 17 bridges over one part of the tanal in a single afternoon. Some were broken afterward and when tlie attackers advanced in the rain and darkness last night the Herman barrages were still pounding blindly at the ditch, lint tlie assailants were unshaken, and gained tlie cratcrcd fields.

WHITE FLAG ABUSE. One contingent could not.refrain from cheers 'when the German hurriedly quitted their wrecked trenches. The contingent dashed through the barrage mkJ followed tho fugitives'into the wrecked refuges in the second line. The contingent Buffered practically no casualties from their own guns, ami they took

many prisoners. Wo oontpics a number of strong po.it 1 > with little or do trouble, except from a concrete redoubt studded with machine guns. where the garrison, alter displaying the white flag, immediately resumed firing. The treaehery was avenguu -by our men, nvho charged with the hayonet ; swnriKed the redoubt. unJ rjuickly gilenml the occupants.

The ianlcs assisted the Cuards, in reducintr a <-onrpof.it n 3itacl.°mo-gun fortress, fed by hidden passages. Some Prussians were taken prisoners. By noon the Hoards were .solidly in possession of l'ilkem Hidge. Four tanks victoriously deait with a fopso near Vcriore.nhoek. Tlie tree slumps auorded the enemy riflemen a fairly good shelter. Other correspondents state that our air supremacy is again unquestionable. Great darinjt and ingenuity were shown in getting the tanks across the canal and slend'T l>rii!ges, and. whether preceding or following the infantry, coming to the right stop at the right time. The day was notable for the successful storming of two entire defensive systems. and the rapture of ten fortress villages, placing the British again 111 .possession of numerous points and the scenes c? some of the most shattering combats of 1314 and the early davs of Ml*.