WESTERN ATTACK.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 September 1917, Page 5

WESTERN ATTACK.

GERMANS AT LENS. I ONLY UNDERGROUND SKELTER. TUNNELS ARE DEATH TRAPS : MEN STIFLED BY GAS. Received Sept. 18, 7.5 p.m. London, Sept. IT. Mr. Philip Gibl;<; dcsciibes the increasingly hopeless plight of tht* Germans at Lens, ..liich is one vast ruin, surrounded by other ruins, stretching for miles. The Germans' only chance <•{ safety is sholteri:i£ underground, but the tunnel is no more than a death trap when a falliny house blocks the entrance, or, as often happens, heavy deep-piercing shells cause the tunnel to collapse. The Canadians have frequently drenched Lens with gas, which, .penetrates tho cellars, dug-outs and funnels, and stifles the men before they have time to stretch out a hand for a mask.

ENEMY RAID REPULSED.

ARTILLERY WORK AT YPRES. AEROPLANE ACTIVITY. Aus. and N.Z. Cable Assoc, and Reuter. Received Sept. IS, 7.30 p.m. London, Sept. 17.

Sir Douglas Haig reports: The enemy's attempt to raid southward of Lombartzyde was repulsed. Our artillerying has teen active in the Ypres sector, while the enemy's ha 9 been less marked, except southward of Lens and in the neighborhood of Nieuport. The enemy's aeroplanes dropped fifty bombs behind our lines yesterday morning, the damage being slight. Our aeroplanes dropped 143 bombs on aerodromes and billets, and fired a thousand machine-gun rounds at various targets from a height of a hundred feet, scattering two thousand infantry. Wo brought down eleven enemy machines and eight of ours are misting.

I LIVELY ARTILLERY WORK. FRENCH (BOMB GERMAN FACTORIES. Alls, and N.Z. Cable Assoc. and Beuter. Received Sept. 18. 7.30 .p.m. London, Sept. 17. A French communique states: There lias been very considerable artillerying oit both banks of tbe Mouse, especially north of Hill Sli and Caurieres Wood. Our aviators dropped fifteen tons of bombs on barracks and munition factories at Stuttgart and Uckingen, aerodrome? at C'ohnar and Logelbaek, military establishments south of Metz, and the railway stations at Thionville and Sarrebourg, THE KAISER'S LATEST. • HEAD MONEY FOR CAPTURE OF AMERICANS. United Service. Received Sept. 19. 12.25 a.m. London, Sept. 18. The Pari., correspondent of the Daily Mail reports that the French military authorities have informed General Pershing that the Kaiser has offered £ls and threo weeks' leave to the first German soldier making an American prisoner.