FESTUBERT & YPRES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 147, 23 June 1915, Page 7

FESTUBERT & YPRES

STORY OF HOT FIGHTING. GRAPHIC DETAILS BY "EYEWITNESS." LONDON, 22nd June. " Eye- Witness," describing the offensive commencing on the 15th south of Festubert, states that after a moderately prolonged, bombardment, the Allies immediately captured the first line of German trenches, about a mile in length, the enemy retreating towards itue d'Onvert, on the north of Chapelle and St. Roce on the south. * Our men then penetrated well behind the first line, bombing their way literally along the trenches to the second line. German bombing parties made strong counter-attacks. At night our troops vrithdrew to their original positions. The British assault on the right was prepared by the firing of a heavily-charged mine, which killed a considerable number who had collected because our artillery fire was less hot in that section. Many bodies were found. On the left, we took longer to cross No Man's Land. The Germans were able to return to the ruins of their first line of defences and open fire on the infantry stumbling across the ground pitted with craters, and cumbered with debris and wire entanglements. An artillery officer, however, luckily saw ,what was happening, and when the Germans rose to shoot they were greeted with an unexpected outburst of shrapnel and high explosive shells. After a further bombardment on Wednesday our troops recaptured some points, the net gain at Festubert being one hundred yards depth on a- three hundred yards' frontage. Meanwhile, at Ypres. we regained a section of the front lost by the gas attack on the 24th May. The Germans had constructed their usual I network of defences west of Bellewarde Lake, the projection extending westwards from the Chateau Hooge to the^ Roulers line. Our infantry rushed tho German first -line on a front of one thousand yards at 4 o'clock on Wednesday | morning, reaching the lake at some I points, though there was no progress on the right near Hooge. Fighting continued during the day. At one point the Germans were massed in the woods north-east of the lake, but the advancing infantry were caught by the cross-fire of our guns, and were driven back., leaving a largo number of dead. By the evening we bad them driven back to tho German first line,-

Some Saxon prisoners accused the Prussiau artillerymen of firing od their trenches when there was a possibility of the Saxons surrendering. Among the acts of gallantry at Festubert was the case of an officer who was seen lying limp in a mine crater, where he was hidden from the Germane, but could be bombed. The space between him and our lines was swept by rifle fire. 'When he gave signs of life, a non-com., under cover of the fire of British snipers-, crawled out with a rope, which was 1 made fast to the wounded officer, who was slowly dragged to the British trench, j The non-com, stayed behind, his place being continuously bombed, until later, j when he was able to crawl to safety.