THE BRITISH FRONT

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 153, 29 June 1916, Page 7

THE BRITISH FRONT

PATROLS ACTIVE EVERYWHERE 7

The High Commissioner reports :— .. LONDON, 28th June, 4.20 p.m.. Last night, south-east of the Ypres salient, a German attack was repulsed near the Ypres-Menin Canal. All along the front our patrols have been very active, entering the enemy's trenches at numerous points, inflicting many casualties, and capturing prisoners. / • ' Early this morning we successfully exploded two mines near Loos, the Leinsters inflicting many casualties during a successful raid. Yesterday five of our aircraft engaged four Fokkers on the enemy's' side of the line. Two of them were brought down, falling beyond our control. Two more were driven down in the course of the day. THE ANZACS' RAID. LONDON, 27th June. Mr. Philip Gibbs describes two successful raids by Anzac parties operating five thousand yards apart on Monday morning. In order to ensure success •for the raiding parties, all the six-footers underwent special training, their comrades rubbing them down after the morning's sprint. The French mortars at midnight began, cutting the enemy's barbed wire like beanstalks; simultaneously the guns made a barrage in the communication trenches, putting a fence of shell-fire round the positions to be attacked. Then the Anzacs went forward with bombs and truncheons, the German machine guns scouring No Man's Land the while.

The raiders escaped the bullets, and rushed on. One party encountered Prussians and the other met Saxons. It was a terrible ten minutes. The Germans came out of their dug-outs, terrified to see the Anzacs in their trenches. Some promptly surrendered. Others tried to defend themselves with bombs, many of these killing their own comrades. The Anzacs wasted not a moment. They accomplished a great deal of quick work—rummaged in the dug-outs for papers, hauled out prisoners, and bombed along the trenches, using tomahawks to break through the debris of sandbags, which was strewn with corpses as the result of the bombardment.

When ordered to retire one. Anzac, who was escorting prisoners over the parapet, shouted : "I won that five francs!" to an officer who had made a sporting bet regarding the number of prisoners taken. Another cheerily called attention to his "six bullets in one arm ! Remarkable luck." One burly New Zealander made a bet before starting that ho would bring back a prisoner As he dragged his miserable, terror-stricken victim over the parapet of the British trenches by the scruff of the neck -he claimed the bet, and apologised for not bringing a better specimen These raids demoralised the Germans, to whom they are dreadful nightmares, which are driving them mad. Another correspondent describes the Anzac raids in the neighbourhood of Armentieres. It was a calm, moonless night. The trench mortar bombardment lasted eight minutes, instead of the usual forty minute.. Both German trenches were heavily manned, and the defenders were unable to escape, owing to the artillery barrage. It is believed that every German was either killed or taken prisoner." The attackers advanced over No Man's Land through macliine-gun fire, but happily all the guns were misdirected, and there wore practically no casualties, owing to the Anzac's sprinting powers. The enemy was so flustered that many were killed by their own bombs, and the Anzacs effected a comparatively easy capture of Saxons and Prussians, many of whom went down on their knees and squealed. The difficulty was to get the captives out of the trenches, they were so terrified of their own artillery. IN THE VERDUN AREA. PARIS, 28th June. A communique states: There have been chiefly grenade skirmishes at Hill 304 and Mort Homme and north-east of Hill 321. Our curtain of firo checked a counter-attack between Fleury and the edge of the Vaux and CShagitre Woods