ALLIES' SUCCESSES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 24 May 1915, Page 5

ALLIES' SUCCESSES.

FURTHER PROGRESS MADE

RECENT FIGHTING

ACCOUNTS BY "EYE-WITNESS."

PARIS, May 23

Official.—The weather has improved. We captured German works on the sole spur at" Lorette, where the Germans were holding out. The whole of Lorette and the spurs is thus in our power after six months of bitter German defence. •We " also conquered a further portion "of Ablain. Later reports increase the importance of our success north of Ypres. On Thursday night we captured several trench mortars. The Germans left 500 dead on the ground.

LONDON, May 23

Field-Marshal Sir John French reports that bad weather has hampered operations; nevertheless, the troops have made appreciable progress east and south of Quinquereue. The main characteristics have been numerous local fights for strong points behind the enemy's original line, wherein the infantry displayed great gallantry. A German aeroplane was brought down at Ypres on Thursday night. HAVRE, May 23. In an explosion in an explosive factory at Antwerp twenty were killed, including seven officers, and thirty were wounded. LONDON, May 23. '•Eye-witness" continues his description of the fighting, cabled on the 16th: By counter-attacks north of Hooge, in the neighborhood of Velorenhoek, we re-occupied trenches, or rather craters representing them. As our men crept behind a rise waiting for the signal to attack, a party of Germans suddenly bolted, and someone cried, "They're off!" Our whole line raced, after them. All the Germans, including those in the support and reserve trenches,, broke and fled, suffering severely from artillery and machine gun fire. Subsequently the position at Verlorenhoek was heavily bombarded. During the night we established our line a little way behind the original trenches, which had been destroyed. Our men often lay exposed to murderous artillery fire, but perfectly steady, and this | was largely due to the officers, one of whom, with his thigh shattered by a shell, lay on the ground in the open giving orders and directing operations When a retirement occurred, four of his own men tried to rescue him. Three were shot. He ordered the fourth to retire, and he was not recovered till the following night. Describing the Festubert-Ricbenour£ offensive, "Eye-witness"' says the Germans did not expect an attack on that part of the line north of Festubcrt. where we carried the whole of their 'ntncate entrenchments without difficulty and with' such great dash that we pressed beyond the enemy's third line until twelve hundred yards behind the German front in the direction of Ruedumarais. 'We took a hundred prisoners, some of whom were sitting iwind fires in dug-outs. The prisoners testified to heavy casualties from the artillery fire. The enemy's line was broken at two places, with a short intervening space. At a point where we pentrated right through the entrenchments our line formed a pronounced salient, defended by breastworks. The Germans counterattacked during the night and forced us to evacuate most of the exposed portions, but we maintained all our other gains. Our troops were much encouraged by the enemy surrendering in batches.