TOMMIES WELCOME FIGHT AT CLOSE QUARTERS

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 158, 4 July 1916, Page 5

TOMMIES WELCOME FIGHT AT CLOSE QUARTERS

SUPERHUMAN OBSTACLES OVERCOME BY THEIR PLUCK. ENEMY'S COUNTER-ATTACKS EVERYWHERE REPULSED. LONDON, July 3. Describing the view on the battlefront near Albert, the correspondent of the "Morning Post" writes:—"The whole sky was ablaze. Peasants twenty miles to the rear, in awe-stricken groups, watched the display, which resembled brilliant summer lightning. A French officer, who had experienced the worst phases at Verdun, declared that he had seen nothing to surpass the British artillery vomiting millions of shells all day and aU night. "The great day of battle broke in sunshine. The guns were gathered for a final effort before the British lions were loosed on their prey. Soldiers watching the pandemonium said: 'Pity the poor wretches catching this lot.' Great clouds of thick, black smoke, carried by a light breeze, drifted over the German trenches. The accuracy of the fire could not have been surpassed. There was opportunity to note the extreme usefulness of the new British trench mortars firing 25 rounds a minute, trustworthy for the destruction of entanglements and obstacles. The quiescence of the Germans had become remarkable, and it was surmised they were lying low. They occasionally scattered shrapnel over our lines, but did not resent the numerous flights of our aeroplanes. "Non-combatants were not permitted to witness-the British charge, but I am reliably informed that the men leapt from the trenches with a vigour and earnestness worthy of the best traditions of the Army. They were tired of the trenches, and welcomed a fight at close quarters. GERMANS REALISE THAT THEIR TIME HAS COME. "The Germans realised that their time had come, and fought grimly, inch by inch, the capture of the first line was a walk-over, but the British encountered difficulties deeper in the trenches, and only indomitable pluck and perseverance enabled them to triumph over superhuman obstacles. "The German counter-attacks were everywhere repulsed, except at Serre, where the enemy developed a desperate offensive, and we fell back a little. We pushed through the village of Thiepval early on Saturday. The Germans, hidden deep in dug-outs, suddenly emerged in the streets, and there was furious fighting. All sorts of weapons were used. The Germans rained a, hurricane of shells and the British artillery replied. Watching the incessant bursting of projectiles it was difficult to understand how anything human could survive. "'The toll was fairly heavy, but not excessive, considering the magnitude of the operations. Happily a large proportion of the men are only slightly wounded." 4 EVERY REASON FOR BRIGHTEST HOPE. The "Morning Post" says:—"No longer may the Kaiser sarcastically refer to Britain's 'contemptible little army.' People have every reason to be buoyed up with the brightest hopes, but itgs premature to assume that the offensive will soon bring the end. Sir Douglas Haig and his staff left nothing undone to pave the way to success. They were encouraged by valuable information obtained by trench raids and by the air service. We probably now possess an advantage in artillery, having concentrated every type of gun. The medical and Red Cross services are probably the best ever created, and there is every arrangement to alleviate the inevitable toll of suffering." Special trains with v --unded arrived at Charing Cross this evening. The wounded men were loudly cheered. ENEMY'S LOSSES TN MEN AND MORAL, The chief fruits of the British and French offensives are the enemy's losses in men and moral. Nowhere was the fight sufficiently uniform to make a general summing-up possible. South of the Ancre the British scored the greatest successes. Northwards progress, on the whole, was greater than the map shows. Under the dreadful hurricane of shells whole reaches of the enemy's trenches were battered out of existence. His nearer communication trenches were obliterated, and whole villages behind the lines were rendered untenablejind woods were swept away as if a forest fire had raged through them. The Tillage of Thiepval was converted into a veritable cauldron. The German lines during the past four days must have been a hideous nightmare.