WESTERN FRONT.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 March 1918, Page 5

WESTERN FRONT.

VIOLENT BOMBARDMENTS. ON FRENCH SECTORS. Received March 8, 7.20 p.m. London, March 7. A Trench communique reports fairly violent bombardment on various sectors GERMAN STRENGTH. BELOW THAT OF 1914. Received March 8, 7.20 p.m. United Service. Paris, March 7. Colonel Feyler, the loading Swiss military critic, in exhaustive calculations, claims that, despite reinforcements from Russia, the German'troops on the West front are over a million -below those of. 1014, whilst the quality is inferiorHe estimates that '2,500,000 Germans are dead, 500,000 are prisoners, and 2,500,000 are incapacitated. THE AMERICAN; FRONT. Washington, March 7. Tht Americans hold eight miles of trenches on the French front. (Allowing for ample reserves, the Americans can hardly have more than three or four divisions, 00,000 or 80,000 men, in or near the trenches.) GERMAN ACTIVITY. Sir Douglas Haig reports considerable activity of enemy artillery in the Neuve Chappelle setcor. NEW ZEALANDERS IN THE ', WEST. SOME STIRRING RAIDS RECORDED.; REMARKABLE COURAGE AND ACU- : . MEN DISPLAYED. (From Malcolm Ross, Official War Corrc- ( spondent with the New Zealand Forces.) ' "—--, March -1. Since my last cabling the New Ze&{ landers have been enjoying a time ofi comparative quiet so far as fighting is' concerned. There has been one raad by' an Otago battalion,, carried out alter' bombardment, by one officer and thirty men. A post in the German lines was surrounded and six Germans captured. At first the prisoners offered no resistance, but later one man attempted to draw his revolver and was promptly sliot. The going was very heavy, and before tbo party, which was detailed to attack another pust, had got within thirty yards of it the signal to return was put up. Some members of the party, however, went forward and threw bombs into the post before retiring. In another Otago battalion a plucky exploit was carried out by a noncommissioned otlicer and a private. Having observed some new work 50 yards in front of the enemy's line, they crawled out ut !) o'clock in the morning to investigate. They found on getting close that it was an organised shell hole. Pulling the shutter of a sniper's loophole aside they saw a number of rifles at the bottom of the cavity. They threw in two bombs, and after these had exploded jumped over the rim of the shell hole and attacked five Germans found sheltering there. One of these was killed and two wounded. The two New Zealanders then marched hack across No Man's Land with their four prisoners—two wounded and two unhurt—to their own lines. The daring nature of the adventure is exemplified by the fact that it was carried out in broad daylight within 150 yards of tho enemy's main position. For their bravery in this exploit Sergeant Basil Warner Crooker and Private Alex: ander Mac Donald have since been awarded respectively the Military Medal and Distinguished Conduct Medal. Recently our patrols have been going out in places to a depth of 1000 yards, and in one locality our line was advanced several hundred yards to obtain better observation. Various battalions have been doing excellent work on defences during the last three months. The corps commander has expressed his appreciation of this. Some officers' names, including a General, recently appeared in the casualty lists. These officers were only slightly gassed, and are not at all serious cases. The majority of these officers will shortly return to duty. The New Zcalanders are still having a quiet time. SPAIN. ANOTHER POLITICAL CRISIS. CONFLICT BETWEEN MILITARY AND CIVIL AUTHORITIES. London, March 7. . There is another crisis in Spain, and telegrams, which are censored, indicate a conflict between the military and civil authorities, apparently due to the insistence of the army, with the" support of the War Minister, on the adoption without Parliamentary authority, of the army reforms demanded by the military committees which overthrew the Government last June. THE CRISIS AVERTED. Received March 8, 750 p.m. Madrid, March 7. The crisis was averted by Cabinet unanimously approving of the proposed military reforms.