STIRRING DISPATCHES FROM MESSINES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3108, 12 June 1917, Page 5

STIRRING DISPATCHES FROM MESSINES

HOW THE GREAT MINE WAS FIRED NEW ZEALAND'S DAY ON THE BATTLE FRONT % Sir Douglas Haig reports: We gamed further ground at iouthw.nl ot Ypres. Wo made successful raids ] a "st night so,.t" of j'pehv south oi: Annentieres and north-east of Ypres. We repulsed (he den cast of Leverguier and eouth-west of La Bassee.-Aua.N.Z. Cable Assu -Beuler (Km. .Time 11, 9.15 p.m.) Sir Uouglae Haig reports :-"No further counter-attacks have been delivered southward ot Ypres but. the enemas artillery is active here, and «I SO in the neighbourhood ..frontaine-lea-CrmsillM. We successfully raided the enemy? lines southward of the Souchez ltiver. Wβ brought down nine of the eS aeroplanes. Three of ours are missing."-Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Keuter. ON THE BATTLE-SCARRED RIDGE OF MESSINES VIVID DESCRIPTION OF THE MINE EXPLOSION. Wee. June. 11, 9.20 p.m.) Mr Philip Gibte writes: "The ground we have mined" , .? "'remains firm ,n our hand*. The artillery is brcakius the enemy's utemMs U. most cn«* before the enemy has fcen able to advance On' at Ktoin-ZiilUfeke. on he northern Hank of (he battle line, did the GcrmJis obtain a temporary footing, where many of their dead li P owing to Hie fiewe fighting which is still m progress. I saw new batehes of prisoner'mo >nel on Pridey night. It is no wonder that they don't xogret their eaptnre "to h"i ■ experiences ot our eunhre. They were young boys and middle-a«od men i sturdy and stroiw. and extraordinarily ignorant of the wld-wMe hatred' they had aroused. They expect admiration for the way they and they want the war to end quickly. They do not cave much whether the war *>mk in a German victory, After inspecting the smashed German trenches I' nnderstaml tlio German soldiers desire to see the end of this kind of warfare. The Si o ma is that any prisoners have J JO en taken. TWery yard of erouiK hv> Lμ, Ploughed and swept: fer shell-fire. Messines ridge is utte ■ v ta«. and d pv ™ P'tte.l by the tempest of shells. Some bodies of German sol Hot-He inTl e Hum,, but most ct the killed he buried under the masses of eavtli that have been flung up by the shells buried in tunnel, which collapsed b by the wild upheaval of mines which opened the earth bci>«atli them n « in? chasms a hundred yards wide and sixty feet deep. ~ A Great Moment for the Tunnellers. The milling- under, tho German lines was conducted for more than a vear by tunnelmg companies from Australia and New Zealand and tho English ing districts. It was hard and dangerous toil, because tho enemy was • "o counter-mming. There were frightful moments when the hmnelleM heard the sounds of the picks very close, and had to rush out, lest they shS be blown into the next world. The miners ndieved-one another in the daK, lest the enemy's aircraft eho.i d see them, and suspect what ivaa goin? on The Ustr, l.an tunnellers wa.tci ,„■ Wednesday night in. a .Ing-out not far awav for fh« moment when their year's work should bo accomplished l, v the ouch of flit » £ P !' IDS T?-!,l met £ P latB '. from wWeh an electric ,vir fl ran to t e mLo sh- t below Hi GO. They waited with nerves strung tensely, deeply excited thou«h quiet. They knew exactly tho explosive power of tons of Ammonal 2 under the enemy's portions. Always there was the risk of misXenture and the appalling risk of failure, because this work of nian-mado eaXuaHV P™ t [h™e SlnfiSS ' Tl ' e IOI,S SPeU ° f iutenS ° Sile,lCe *« ten Miinte a as & i^;i with the terror ot tne explosion. Home of them wero cowering iu dark p"ts AIRMEN AND ARTILLERY IN PERFECT COMMUNICATION THE NEW ZINLANDERS' FORMIDABLE TASK. , (Run. Juno 11, !).5, r i p.m.) .Mr H. Perry BoWneon, describiug the v «luo of the air wviw Vtho M« «n M hght, ears- "One supplied yeporta enabling ou B mners to si£ seventy-two ol the enemy's batteries, and one brigade sent in W IvV •mouse thereto. Our guns are known to have obtafned 160 d"» c hits fttX? f i 3 IOS, f v, ?, < 'V ll Hie °" the airmen flew down and attacked Mxfcy tf the German cwicontratwns. immensely iuipedius their mSihvv maebme The German wireless n.essages are hilariously\mh-ue-aiSb of Mel tlf total , cas "f ,cs when th«r wireless message was issued Z not ct eeed lon thousand. Alter seeing the number of our prisoners it k inmn«iM<. L behove that tho German losses can be under thirty thousand Every lenmm weapon except gas was need in our attack, including a new horror tsthe m.lk-cans, or bcbngail It ia not permissible to describe W throw for some dietanoe projectiles containing highly-inflammable stuff buiS „ u concußnoii and scattering the connt.gn.tion widely. The German priZer? Z that Hiese caused terror and did immense harm. ' ■ (hn'lin'p 0 "w W Z^ ,ando I s , heW - wlla(; w ?? Perhaps the most formidable part of the line. Jhe village ot Messincs was the chief objective of the German «im" which werei quicker in getting to work there than elsewhere, the New Tabu ?n being heavily shelled. The German infantry was strongly' fortified and stiff fighting resulted. The New inlanders took the villago and everytl ui' "4ed of thorn withui the time appointed, and then entrenched The A™?ralhns nccnrrl ;ng to our plane then went through tho New Zealande. s an cSied the vit ' <UICO P ' a ° £ fivD "wnsanfl "wils."-S THE GERMAN REPORT A Germaji official report states: "W« repulsed several EnglKgia advances between Ypres and Ploegsteert Wood. The enemy lost in Flanders aero? planes on Friday and Siitunky.'— Aiis.-N.Z. Cable Aesn.-Reutar. GERMAN PRISONERS MERE BOYS DELIGHTED TO FINISH THEIR FIGHTING. (Rec. June 11, 3.20 p.m.) Tho "Petit Parisien's" correspondent on the British front ot most of the Germau prisoners who wore taken at Mcssines averages about scv! cnteen or eighteen. With tho spontaneity of youth tliev ilirl >.nf cnnl- t« i ,-,!„ their joy at having, finished their fighting 7 The officers i that ho Ger mm leaders for a long timo have not counted on winning, and do not 1 elieve ( i,t the submariuoa tan bring them victory."--Aus.-N.Z. (fable Assn. A NEW BREED OF "CATERPILLAR." ~ J '-.^ n . dro Tmlffin. t.ho Pwis correspondent at tho British front!' JXs U.'nt tho British oiporimontcd m the l'landere batt.|fi with » now typo of -tanks room powcrFul and more rapid than thoao uaed at the Somme.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable' Assn.

THK AIR. WAR IN BELGIUM. ~,. . London, .(hub IU. .Ilio Arlniirally reports: "Oiu- naval, aeroplanes yesterday sucec.-sfuHy carried out a_lx)inb raul on the aerodrome at; St. Denis Wcisbein in Belgium. AH tbo mucinni-s returned safely ."-A us.-N.Z. Cublo AssD.-Keutcr. ON THE FRENCH FRONT (Ike. Juno 11, 9.4.5 p.m.) . ~ . . London, Juuo 11. A hrenoh communu-jiio stales:-"A violont artillery attack on the Nieunort-os-Baincs sector, in Belgium, Bevorcly damaged tho German trenches. We have brought down twenty-one of the enemy's aeroplanes and two captive balloons during the week ended Junu 7."-A.ue.-N. Z. Cable Assu.-Kcntor.