DASHING BRITISH CHARGE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 63, 15 March 1915, Page 5

DASHING BRITISH CHARGE.

TWO THOUSAND PRISONERS TAKEN. AUXILIARY CRUISER SUNK. TWO HUNDRED MEN DROWNED. MORE MERCHANT SHIPS TORPEDOED. Latest details of our victory at Neuve Chapelle show that it was one of the most considerable successes since the siege-battle of the four rivers commenced. The German trenches were subjected to a hurricane of shells, which killed scores and gave the others little .stomach for fighting. Then the word to charge was given, and, with a full-throated cheer, the Tommies swept out of their trenches and into the German lines, scattering the foe like chaff, so that in half-an-hour they ■were in possession of an elaborate series of the enemy's defences and over two thousand prisoners, while some of the trenches were filled with dead. The heart of the Britishers was in their work. They got some of their own back, and even the hospitals were full of laughter, the wqunded soldiers being delighted at the chance of paying off old scores. . The auxiliary cruiser Bayano, an ex-merchant vessel commissioned for patrol duty, was sunk off the west coast of Scotland by an enemy submarine, with the loss of nearly two hundred men. Several merchant vessels, including a French and a Swedish liner, were sunk. The Allies have decided to tighten the blockade on Germany, and not a ship will now be allowed through. Neutrals will be conveyed to British or French ports, and their cargoes, if seized, will be paid for. The bombardment of the Dardanelles continues, and further military positions have been destroyed. Bucharest is full of refugees from Constantinople. The Russian successes in the Carpathians continue, and Lupkow Pass, between Dukla and Uzosk, is now in their hands. A Zeppelin has been sunk in Belgium by two French and two British airmen. Twenty-one of the crew were killed and twenty injured.