HEAVY FIGHTING.

Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 2464, 5 October 1914, Page 3

HEAVY FIGHTING.

THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE

Park, October 3. Le Temps gives the first connected account of tne'battle of the Marne. On September 5 the Crown Prince was advancing from Argonne, the Duke, of Wurtemberg between the Aisne and Chalons, the Saxons npon Rheims, General yon Buelow towards Esternay, and General yon Khick towards Meaux. We first threatened a feint on Yon Kluck's right wing, then on the 6th we ordered a general offensive. The British moved against Yon Kluck's jright, and the general army., advancing from Ourcq, threatened Yon Kluck from behind. On the first clay. Yon Klj-ek s column-*, moving to Provins, turned back, while the Germans confronting the general army retreated on the Grand Morin. This enabled tho British to straighten its line northward of Ourcq and to attack. The army confronting the forces on the British right, supported by the British, made a vigorous attack and threw Yon Kluck's left aud Yon Buelow's right back over the Marne. On the Bth, the general army, which was entrusted with the task of holding the front, began the offensive. AVhile its right held the Prussian Guard and three German corps at Lefere Champenoise in check, the left fell on the enemy.'s flank, compelling a- retreat to Rheims, Simultaneously, the general army occupied Virtre,* a forward move relieving the army. The Rcvigny district was meanwhile being attacked on the right from Clermonten and Argonne, and from behind from the direction of the Meuse heights it was threatened with being thrown upon Verdun, nevertheless they- succeeded in maintaining their positions, and on the 15th forced the Germans to retreat. Throughout the activity the Lorraine army assisted in the result. . Details of the disaster to the Prussian Guards on the 26th show that they included the regiment former)v commanded by the Crown Prince. The brigade, taking advantage of a fog, advanced unperceived against the French lines; but they had not reckoned the strength of the French entrenchments. When the sun broke through the. mist, the French commander ordered silence until the word of command. The Guards were deceived, and advanced until a bugle call was followed by a volley which decimated their first line, and, despite the officers' encouragement, the second lino wavered. The Crown Prince's regiment, officered by the flower of the German aristocracy, charged one flank, and found themselves opposed by battalions of the d'Afrique Guards. They made a heroic resistance, but were unable in

live in the withering fire, and the French, dwindled to a handful of d'Afriques, completed ihe task. The Prussian Guards' attack aimed at cutting the raihvay between Rheims and Verdun. They encountered the French batteri&s near Sousins. Regimants of French saw the Death's Head Hussars 1000 metres away, aud quickly took out their horses. When within 600 metres, the batteries loaded, and as the Hussars continued their furious gallop the gunners fired. The plain was dotted with black masses and struggling horses. The Prussian officers tried in vain to rally their men. The batteries fired again, and the Hussars failed.

Paris, October 2. The feeding of the army is magnificently organised. Supplies of food and forage readied the base from oversea, and are forwarded thence by rail to a railhead station sufficiently advanced for motor transport to carry the stuff to the lines of communication and distribute the supply. A column of 38 lorries carried sufficient for 17,000 men and 4000 horses, in -addition to the ordinary-ration, each soldier carries in a haversack a reserve of biscuit and tinned moat. In the recent fighting the enemy's shell fire was so accurate that the roads were impassable in daylight, and transport was only possible at night, though even then the roads were shelled periodically. The Allied commanders warmly praise the British volunteer motor cyclists for the despatch of orders. One Cambridge undergraduate, an Australian, encountered fourteen Gcrmen cavalrymen. He shot the officer and a man and the remainder fled. The.Australian delivered bis despatcn, thus preventing an ambush. The condition of prisoners shows that the failure of" the German commissariat has begun to materialise, j The' Germans staked everything ou I holding the position at Noyou, and j the debacle has now commenced. « London, October 2. A British correspondent telegraphing from Calais on Wednesday, alter a tour of the country north of the Allies' left wing, says there is no longer room for misgivings as to the ultimate outcome or the battle. The German wing between Lassigny and Cnaulues is in extreme danger, due _ to the fact that above Chaulues the lines, which a few days ago fated the Avest, are now facing north-west, having been bent back on the line Chaulues, Cambrai, and Valenciennes, The German General Staff's action in crowding reinforcements upon General Yon Kluck from the centre and left has made the position of the enemy's right more precarious. The Daily News says a message from the Aisne attributes the recent lull in the fierceness of the struggle to the great changes then in progress on both sides. The French reinforcements were hurrying round their lel't wing, while the Germans were pouring in reinforcements and the army from the Vosges on the line of the Oise towards Peronne. The mass ol these troops and the rapidity of their swing across the inner lines, ena'.'icd the Germans to anticipate the Allies' move, temporarily pushing them back at certain points at La6signy, Chulues, and Peronne. Paris, October 3. Official (Friday midnight).—A violent battle continues on the left, especially between Roye and Lassmgy, where the Germans aro concentrated. We delivered violent attacks, which shattered the enemy, who attempted to put bridges over Hie .Meuse near St. Mihiel, which the French artillery destroyed. It is reported that, in tho vicinity of St. Mihiel; there are no Germans any longer on the left of the Meuse. French detachments debouching Irom Arras have fallen back slightly. 1 lie French are progressing before Albeit, and progress is continued at Wuevre.