BRITISH PROGRESS EAST OF STRUMA.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 238, 5 October 1916, Page 5

BRITISH PROGRESS EAST OF STRUMA.

FIRST POSmONS CAPTURED IN SURPRISE ATTACK. DESPERATE COTTRTER-ATTACKS BEATSX OFF WITH HEAVY LOSS. mXTJOX, October 4. The British, have captured Jenikoi, 2J miles east of the Struma, on the road to Seres. A German communique states:—"We made progress against the English north-west of Lake Tahinos." In a dispatch from Salonika, Mr. Ward Price states:—"On Saturday the British crossed the Struma in strong force. Their immediate objectives were the twin villages of Karadjabala and Karadjazir- The Bulgarians in the first were surprised, and the village was captured in two hours, with few casualties. The other required a furious assault. Our success* was followed by a series of desperate counter-attacks. We took 300 prisoners, and killed and wounded 2,000. "■The British went into action carrying 220 rounds of ammunition, two days' rations, and pick and shovel. It was a most difficult task to cross the mile of shell-pounded country between Bala and Zir. They were enfiladed from both sides by machine-guns. The Bulgarians, in trenches, fired dcs- f perately until the attackers were upon them, and then flung down their rifles, and, scrambling on to the parapets, met the attackers with raised hands. '"The British dashed through the burning villages, and seized trenches beyond them- There they beat off counter-attacks for two days." Following several victorious combats by the Serbians in the region of lit. Kajmackalan, north of Fiorina, the Bulgarians have abandoned their positions, on the Starkovgrob River at Brod, and appear to be retreating northwards. The Serbians have occupied Sovio, and the French Petorac and VerbenL