WESTERN FRONT.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 March 1918, Page 5

WESTERN FRONT.

A TREMENDOUS STRUGGLE. 4? BAPAUME AND PEROXNE. London, March 25. A tremendous struggle is proceeding in I?™w , Ba ? aniße - The Gemans lave iMßdied fresh attacks north and south Pt the town, and their losses have been enormous. fferonnejs still in the hands of the """«, wo are fiercely eounter-attaek-™Sjbetween Nesle and Ham. The French armies are heavily enpagrt at_Noyo)i and on the right bank of _ London, March 25. xae British are holding well in the Bapaume region and successful counterattacks have opened southward of Per. mae. THE LONG RANGE GUN. ( BOMBARDMENT RESUMED. &.1 . —- / «» - , London, March 25 The long-range Bombardment of Paris Wm resumed, hut interrupted after the frecond ahot. j . \ Paris. March 25. Crowds are not allowed to assemble. fWtale gnn-fire experts suggest that the Well and cannon may both be rifled thus enormously increasing the speed of the projectile, another theory is.that the gun is 260 feet long. Washington, March 24. There is tremendous interest in the great offensive, especially La the mysterious report of the shelling of Paris bv long-range guns. «™SI? *f d MB sceptical regarding » gun with a 02awe range. There is speculation as to whether aerial torpedoes are used or Mortars mounted on aircraft. Some suemg betwees Nesle and Ham. g«t that eannon shells are dropped by aircraft, others speculate on the possibilISneh .^rito I** 1 *** 1 Wdden g,m Within -•♦f^ 1 ?™ n Btates that ordnance with a TO-mile range is not theoretically impossible but impracticable because of its unwieldiness. ; Received March 26, 5.5 p.m. _. Paris, March 25. TIM longe-range gun resumed its bomtapoinent of Paris at 6.3G this morning.. HEROIC EXPLOiTS. WAR CORRESPONDENT'S NARRATIVE. „ _. London, March 25. Mr. Percival Phillips writes:—TenGersan divisions were employed in the ini0* ** the Bapaume-Cambrai road. The Germans had 110 new battery positions, of which we discovered 72 during the two days before the battle They bore heavily on Langicourt, Morchieß and Demicourt held out the longest. We were back to the Vraucourt-Beaumets line by Friday. *'

Other German divisions driving westward betwett Cambrai and St. Quentin faced the famous 9th. Division, composed of South Africans and Scottish troops, who were holding the line around Cauche Wood. They battled for hours against the heaviest odds, and stuck to fragments of the. old defences, refusing to surrender. One party of Leiceaters fought atiVaucelette Farm until all were killed. * The Din-hams, coming up behind also helped to hold up the attack, though the British on the right were forced back by the overwhelming numbers. other companies of Leicester? assorted by two tanks, held Pie2ere, where the Germans crept in under cover of a dense tog. Finally one company of Leice'sters was completely cut off, but instead of surrendering, held the village until the only surviving officer led « charge through two lines of Germans. The Leicesters fought their war back to the British line.

The field batteries by Epehy fired steadily with open sights at 400 yards for.four hours, and when seemingly inexhaustible hordes of Germans succeeded in dribbling past on both sides the gallant gunners continued to shoot at point-blank rang*, surviving in a miraculous way after being' surrounded. Some Irishmen formed a provisional line behind Epehy, assisting in the escape of the British troops, who retired from isolated pockets after fighting 12 hours unceasingly against fresh German divisuras, which leap-frogged through the shock troops used on the previous day. There was little rest on Friday night, and the German blows were renewed at Fins, Nnrlii. and Tempienx la "Fosse on Saturday morning. The hardest fishtmg of Saturday was east of Peronne. We fell back as er> ranged, worrying the tired, hungry German advance guard, and riddling hit, columns of infantry with maehine-gun«. It was a well-organised, coolly executed, rearguard action.

The Germans, nearly droDping with fatigue, were lashed to fresh exertions by their officer*. We drew them clever-' ly into an ambush and harried them from our carefully chosen places. One body came on a deserted camp and searched for food and water. Our ma> chine-guns watched the trap until it was full of misty men in grey, then the guns riddled them. Not a man came out again.

All the officers, from generals to subalterns, insisted on the magnificent behaviour of all the troops, who were often so heavy with fatigue that they slept wheb they dropped for a moment's rest by the road. One voung officer stumbled into divisional headquarters, pallid, unshaven and dirty, and made his report in a voice vibrating with enthusiasm. He concluded: "It is the beat show we have ever been in, General. You don't know how fine the men were."