BOMBARDMENT OF YPRES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 66, 18 March 1915, Page 5

BOMBARDMENT OF YPRES.

THE LISTENING PATROL. FIGHTING DT THE BARK. (Times and Sydney Snn Services:) ■.-";••■';-"..,•. LONDON, Marcli; 9. "Eye-witiiess," in a - report elated - Friday, which Sag .just beei" made "available by the Official Prese says that" t!ie activity on the western' front lias been, confined during the _ last. few - days ;to the .. region - south-east- of ; Ipre3. : -- ;:. =.-. -cJCs~-:2^f'V/ : "On Monday a email Tjody.'vof- our troops, at " midnight, 'forced""their"way into the German trenches, near St. Eloi," the report adds. -fought forward - in the darkness among the winding passages until sixty yards of the : trench had. been gained, M.heir progress was then .cheeked by barricades which were defended" "by firing along the trench ..and-also^—along the -communication trenches;; *° -V "Our men clung to the position most gallantly for a rain ot bombs and hand iiutiiti was 100 isolated.~"to"hold'it arid they withdrew:---.-;- \ ■: - —HiEMEXBOUS:-EXPI.OSIOXS. ' - , "During-the-monjingr further south, heavy howitzers- -bombarded ilessines.* The. day .was bright, and. clear. -As eael|" shell burst., the village with'its. old square church tower and red roo;a-waa blotted' out by -a" cloud of-' smoke and ..- : ; red dust, caused by the- shattcrmg of .:•.=■ >•' bricks and tiles. ' ' , • ' ...'.- • :'"The effect:.of the detonation -of liigh explosives - among buildings.-js trem'en- ■•■-■■' dous.-. It does-not. depend upon'the. damage caused"by the-"actual 7 spi'ster3 . of a ' "sttell, 'which* '. is comparatively . small, but, upon the iictv'tiiat.'.levorv brick, stone.Jand. .all solid: objects rtfithic ■ a considerable-radios - beeonie^deathI dealing missiles, -which are JiutlcJ hundreds of yards in every direction. '•The astonishing - strength k- of■'■• t?ie mediaeval buttding3- in the -country is evidenced by the :way they resist* the bombardment of. .modern artijlcrvv; Tiie . church tower at hcid. great blocks of masonry-blown-~"bif— it.- the ; j-belfry -was shot.."4urarj,arid*.thelia";erior . j burnt out, /but tlie framework. TtfiougU ifregiilar in; outline and' fnll of ga'pi-ig ■ holes, still/ stands defiant araidit* the surrounding ruins. ■" "When-, the British, .evacuated■ - ihe s building shells from the German ~gu:i3 set alight the woodwork, and everything in the church .was destroyed, the sole exception being, the "crucifix, which;, was -untouched. •■■ ■ .-.-- « . . . -- , AT THE BAYONET'S PCUXT. '•Ypres was somewhat heavily-' bom- ■ barded by howitzers during the (lay. and ' on Wednesday there was-increieed-iiiell-ing at-many points; In the centre it was especially severe. Our artillery replied,'and inflicted considerable damage. Our offensive measures hiave been aicfed , by. the daring enterprise of our patrols. ''"An exciting, encounter occurred in the dark between: one" of onr Patrols and a German listening pair pi. .;Tlig' two parties .went for one another -\vitK the bayonet, .and a .-/fierce-struggle- --ensued. Though the sounds of the' strujgle J broiigh t other " G eriirans from I the trenches, to...the support "of "their"comI rades, our men not only held their own but withdrew successfully, <earrving off severul articles of German equipment and leaving two of the enemy dead. "The line held by the ' British is divided roughly into two portions by the River tys. On the northern'side o? the' river -.-the; -broken- , anc rolling, and there are"-several commanding heights. The,"ground -to the .south is a fiat waterlogged,plain. Our line runs from the river a little south ot Frelinghien, through' Xetququet, - T.egii ■ cer ; and St. Yves.>'-I"t-then tiinis"sharp westward, round the foot of. "Hill C;% lor about a mile, then north " azain circling Wytseh'aete and;.Mesisnes; "The position represents a great wedge driven into the centre -of our- rliiej* ■whereby the enemy has 'placed; hinwelf" astride h the direct roadiirbttu Ypm. to Irme* uexta. , ' _ ..-. _ ■'..";- •"" ■'-'- ':"■:■• •' .' -■ r.. - -- ■. i» . " ' . '-■■■