WESTERN ATTACK.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 September 1917, Page 5

WESTERN ATTACK.

IN THE LENS DISTRICT.

OPPOSING THE, CANADIANS. Paris, Sept. 12. . The correspondent of the Petit Parisian says thai in the Lens region the British artillery in the parst' month has inflicted losces totalling one-half of the German effectives. The Germans have now brought Alsatian troops from the Russian front for exposed positions against the Canadians.

RAIDING ACTIVITY. BY BRITISH AXD FRENCH. London. Sept. 12. Sir Diutrlns Haig reports: We repulsed the enemy who attacked this morn in? eastward of Hargieov.rt. We successfully raided north-eastward of Kullecourt and .southward of Lombartzyde. A French communique says: There is en artillery strnjx'le in the sectors of Driegrachten am! Bixwhootc. We made two successful ra.ds north-east of Atiberive and east of the St. Ililaire-St. Souplet road, where we penetrated tile enemy s third line and killed or captured tile whole garrison. The enemv, in an attempt north-east of Tuhury, failed T»ith serious looses. We repulsed two attacks on our advanced posts north of the Caurieres Wood and north of Kou"vaux.

GREAT AERIAL ACTIVITY. 20 ENEMY MACHINES BROUGHT down. Received Sept. 13, 10 p.m. London, Sept. 13. Sir Douglas Hal? reports: Patrol encounters north-west of the St. Quentinpres sector yielded prisoners. Great aerial activity continues and successful fcrtillery work. A\e bombed aerodromes, ammunition d'tmp. the Roulers railway stations and trains at Courirai. Our air patrols encountered strong formations ami brought down twenty machines. Eight of ours are missing.

NEW FORM OF FIGHTING. GERMANY TRAININC STORMTROOPS. A TYPICAL AFFAIR. Received Sept. 13, 5.3 p.m. London, Sept. 13. Though there are no major operations on the British front the local lighting continues. The Morning Post's correspondent describes a typical affair arising out of the German attempt to re take Inverness copse by means of storm troops. The Germans iio longer are able to rely upon the ordinary line regiments to assault the Fritish line The necessity for the storm troops is a striking proof of the decadence of the army. The bulk of tiie German l ! are o"!v tit to hold a multitude of concrete forts, witn which the Hindenburg line and the farms in Flanders are studded. While the picked troops enter the barrage the infantry remain idle in their trenches and craters.

The attack on Inverness copse was care'iilly planned and rehearsed by Bavarian stormers and flame-machine men. The ground had been accurately surveyed by moana of aeroplane photographs. The Bavarian charge sceuiwl a few small trenches, but our ordinary troops, counter-attacking a few hours later, quickly flung them out.

Such incidents convince r >ur men that they arc more than a match for the best of Germain's infantry. ' General von Arnim is industriously training a fourth army opposite Ypres in the new open warfare which has developed from the shell hole system of defence, the Germans being accustomed to live cn the naked battlefield with a

:..'ip of canvas cloth across the shell he'e to screen them from aerial observation, AERIAL RAIDS. I-indon, Sept. 12. Tlie following operations by-the Xaval Air Service have ben carried out during the past 24 hours. We raided the St. Denis. Westrein, and Courtrai aerodromes. the Urines docks, the Tlionrout railway junction, una the rtU-vay iH.ir Ghent .Several tons of <j\ploshes we<\: dropped. We als'i <iro.);>e'. nurn tons on the Sparapelsoes, Thourout, end Engel ammunition dumps. All our machines returned.