FIGHTING IN A SNOWSTORM

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3051, 12 April 1917, Page 5

FIGHTING IN A SNOWSTORM

BRITISH ADVANCE PRESSED ON GERMAN MORALE SHATTERED A3!'. .YEjfe'. (Bjf Telea™pht—!Pr«ss- Association—Copyvigit).. j ■ London, April-. 10: Sir Douglas Haig reports"During. the night there was severe, fighting jafc. the. northern end of the Vimy Ridge, where: the■ enemy retained a,footing. :He was ejected,. and ; an*, attempted counter-attack failed to materialise; The. .eastern slope of the ridge was cleared'of the enemy,, and- counter-attacks. were jjrepulsed. We seized the village of Fampoux and. neighbouring . defences, '•north, and south'of thel-River Scarpa. • . i |i , "The mimher of prisoners captured yesterday exceeds. 9000. ' Over, for.ty. guris were also captured. ! "In the neighbourhood of St. Quentin, the enemy- has. been driven- from' the high: ground between La Verguier ami Hargicour.t. "After an- intensei bombardment, the enemy, made, a. strong attack during the night: on. a narrow front, south-eastwards of Ypres,. where: he succeeded, in reaching our 1 support line. The enemy was. immediately ejected, ' Ifeaving. iseveral dead. . : . , | "Fighting continues' on- the whole battle-front."-—Aiis.-N..Z.Canle. 'Assn.jßeuter.- , LATEST' DISPATCH-OVER 11,000 PRISONERS . AND GREAT ,HAtH< OF GUNS' : " (Eec. Spril lij 9:25: p-.nt.) . . . 1 London;. April.. 10. , Sir Bouglas Haig reports-: —"Our-operations; were'energetically continued 1 , heavy' snowstorms. 'We reached the. outskirts: of: Monclr-le-Preux, jSvs miles; eastward of Arras, and-, clfearedl Farbus: and, the Farfiua woodt There was hard; fighting in: the: afternoon': at the: northern' end' of the Vimy ridge, 'where we captured further prisoners: and, important positions. We advanced: our line- northward: off liouverval. The> enemy's counter-attacks'at-different points were'unsuccessful:; _ , "The number of- prisoners since. yesterday morning, now exceeds., eleventhousand, including 265 officers-,, while ;we have captured; over a. hundred guns; a number being of heavy calibre,, up, to eight-inch guns, sixty trenchmortar?, and' 168' machinerguns.. "Valuable- aeroplane: work wasMbue. _ In many cases the airrnem ma.-ohine-gnnned l hostile' reinforcements;, and in'-bombing expeditions, a large-Tail* way station was hi£,, and three trains!." —Ahs.-N5.J5. Cable- Assn;-Jte\iter.

ACCOUNTS. OP GORBESPONDENTS '; GLOWG-NMRATIVES' OF CANADIAN VALOUR. '-..-. (Rec. Aprit 11, IO'.SO, nlniv)' . .'•''■ . ' London,. 'April' 10. t ■■ ' Mr. Philip Gibbs gives- a glowing account of the exploits of the. Canadians on the Vimy Ridge. Be emphasises the disgust, of the,. German 1 officers at seeing the anxiety of their, men. to. surrender. The: Canadians on, Tuesday occupied the- Lens* railway emhankment. The pursuit of"the Germans, continues. . .' " . "The Germans, hi hundreds were hiding. ihj deep, tunnels, which, were pierced: through the hill. As. the Canadians surged, up, with their bayonets, the Germans screamed,, rumiihg forward.like-,- a. landslip,, their chief' desire being; to escape the barrage- from their own-, giins,,. which was falling fiercely on their trenches-, though; ib came too late, to, damage our men, who were-already beyond it. The- German) prisoners' wore.- gladr to pay. life. for. life hy carrying, back the-Canadians''woundedi. The:, Canadian escorts, had. to guard sucli enormous numbers of men that, thei prisoners- themselves , directed' the latercomers to. the Barbed-wire- enclosures;. The- officers, were bad-tempered, because: the-men. hotted and left them in-the'front, trenches. These officers admitr tei'the horrors of our, bombardment. Some-had'been, without food'for four days, because- they wereboxed up in: our barrage.'?—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. "THE,GREATEST BRITISH VICTORY TO DATE" . RETREATING ENEMY SMASHED' BY: OUR. GUNS.' (Rec. April 11, 11.50 p.m.) London, April 10. Mr. Philip; Gibbs, telegraphing, to-day, says:—"The battle of. Arras is the greatest, victory the-British have-yet gained, and is a staggering-blow to the enemy. As the Germans retreat: our guns- are- smashing- them; along all the roads. The Canadians during the night worn Hill 145, the last point, on Vi'my Ridge>. where- the- Germans had- held out in, a pocket with machine.'-, guns. By morning the whole of tho ridge was in our hands. The Canadian, attack, on Monday was astoundingly successful, and: carried our by, highspirited'' men,, with joyous- confidence in victory. They marched 1 out at dawn, cheering, and: laughing, through tho mud and the rain. They- followed'' close upon our artillery barrage, and ! by 8.30 a-.m. had taken, the, first of their, goals,, including the front-line system above Neuville-Sb, Yaast, from. La Foe*, die farm, to-Tlichis, whore tho-resistance- was- fiercest."—Aus.-N.Z'. Cable Assn. BIG FACTORS IN BRILLIANT SUCCESSES THE TANKS, THE, HEAVY GUNS, AND THE CANADIANS. (Reo. April 11, 8.25 p.m.) London, April 10: An extraordinary feature, of the. tigbting- has- been tho*. use of a variety of new inventions, including tanks of a new model; which are considerably faster than the o}d 3 . and mop, .with the battalion,, instead of: singly. They,

were-a brilliant success on the opening day. The offensivo astonishes the experts* but it would-bo a mistake to regaTd it as easily won. Wo. have-had a most valuable superiority in- heavy guns, tho new shells of which are more devastating than-tho Germans expected, but much of our sucooss was due to tho heroic Canadians. Experts pronounce tho capture of .Vimy ridgo as the,- greatest British victory, so far.—United Service. MAGNIFICENT WORK BY THE GUNNERS .VON; HINDENBURG'S- LINE TURNED EAST OF ARRAS (Rec. April 12, 0.40 a.m.) London, April 10. Mr. Beach Thomas, says:—"The great battlo continues without cessation." Describing the'advance-of the British,, he says: "No shell was. pitched among them, so clean was the heavens swept by our aerial'observers, and so muddled wero the German gunners. We saw our field-guns galloping into the enemy's villages, and : a little later our spare horses coming from- the opposite direction with the German guns in tow. We saw Germans literally hoist by their own petard; our liqnid' lire descending like gilded, rain on the heads of the terrified enemy. As the prisoners came down, the' good-natured Tommies, filling their water-bottles, jokingly inquired- after 'Kaiser Bill''and''Hiiidenbeggar.' All records of our cm-tain of fire were excelled at Vimy. The airmen reported' that trains of lorries were hurrying forward: with' strong., support for a counter-attack. Quickly, every available heaVy gun.was directed on the new target. A unique spectacle fo!l6wfi3i Tho advancing, Germans, cut offiby the fire-curtain, were no more seen, or heard-of. ■ "The present position is that we are up against von Hindenbunr,'s line from south of Arras, to. St. Quentin. Wo-have turned his- line cast of Arras and broken his whole defensive system north-east of Arras above the- Scarpe. The enemy is retiring to his reserve lii.ne before Douai." —United 'Service-. it— 'A' FRENCH- 'ACCOUNT.. PariSj ,'Anril 10. The Parisicn," in describing the-. Canadians?-success at-Vimy, that- the British- artillery P u * n B a tremendous-, barrage' in* front of- the- assaulting; troops; also extending, the fire-curtain to. the enemy's, rear, isolating the Germans, who, realising /that escape was impossible! offered no, prolonged resistance-.. Whole battalions- surrendered, although it was- a., fierce struggle to tlie death at certain points, especially, at Cojeul; and Telegraph Hill. The British caught. several! hundreds of the enemy on the, banks o£ the.- Scarpe, and' cut down those who refused to surrender: The: Canadians rested, momentarily on tho Vimy slopes, after the capture .oi the. first two: lines, and: then dashed to the summit, where the Germans, threw dowm their arms.. ByMonday evening the British, had taken,over, twelve.thousand-prisoners; W. Marcel PJutin states that, accordine;- to some of, tho prisoners,, the rapidity of the, British advance, surprised Prince Bupprecht, who expected', a delay of ten days. Duke Albert of Wurtemburg; commands, between-. Lorraine-. and 1 Switzerland.—Aiis-.-N-.Z'. CaMo Assn.