THE ALLIED OFFENSIVE

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 28 September 1915, Page 5

THE ALLIED OFFENSIVE

BRITISH GAINS ANL CAPTURES. ' NOTABLE FRENCH PROGRESS. TWENTY THOUSAND PRISONERS IN TWO DAYS. THE GERMAN REPORT. •s__OSS* OF SOME POSITIONS ADMITTED. SANGUINARY HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTS. k CALM PARISIAN COMMENT. ■"THINGS ARE GOING WELL." TERRIFIC BOMBARDMENT OF BELGIAN COAST. LONDON, Sept. 27. Sir John French's despatch, dated 'Sunday morning, says: We attacked the enemy south of La Basses Canal and east of Grenay and iVermilles, on Saturday morning. We j captured his trenches on a front of •over five miles, penetrating his lines in some places for four thousand yards, j We captured the western outskirts of Hulluck, and also the village of Loos, laming the works round it and Hill 70. Other attacks were made north of La Bassee Canal, which drew strong «nemy reserves towards these points, where hard fighting occurred all day long with varying success. At nightfall the troops north of the canal occupied the positions of the morning. We made another attack near Hooge, -on either side of Menin road. By the attack on the north side of the road ■. we occupied Bellewarde farm and ridge, tout the enemy retook them. The attack on the south road gained 600 ."yards, and we have consolidated the ground won. To the present we have taken 1700 prisoners eight guns and several machine guns. The report in Friday's German communique that our attempted attack on -Thursday south of La Bassee Canal failed is untrue. No attack was attempted. There was severe fighting on Sunday, and determined enemy counter-attacks. We bold the ground gained, including the whole of Loos. Our aeroplanes fcombed and derailed trains at Douai and Raches, those at the latter place feeing full of troops. I On Sunday night we retook the I "quarries north-west of Hulluck, which i were won and lost on Saturday. In this fighting we drew in the enemy's 'reserves, thus enabling the French on our right tb make further progress. The number of our prisoners after yesterday's fighting was 2600. Nine guns •and a considerable number of machine guns were captured. Our aeroplanes "bombed Valenciennes station. PARIS, Sept. 27. A. communique says: We occupied, 'toy main force, the whole of the village •of Souchez, and advanced eastward in the direction of Givenchy. Further ■ south we reached La. Folie and pushed north to Thebus, taking -a thousand prisoners. After crossing almost the whole front between Auberive and Villes Surtourbe, in the Champagne, •where a powerful network of trenches •and forts had been established and perfected during many months, we advanced northward, compelling the Germans to fall back three or four kilometres. Fighting continues on the whole of this front. We reached "Epine de Vilegrande, further east, and •hold" the Maisson de Champagne farm. The enemy suffered heavily from artillery and in linnd-to-hand fighting. The material captured includes twentyfour field guns. Wc took sixteen thousand unwounded prisoners, including two hundred officers, and on the whel» front in two days the prisoners ■exceed twenty 'thousand.

AMSTERDAM, Sept. 27. A German communique states: The Anglo-French offensive, which had been prepared for months, progressed without bringing our assailants appreciably nearer. British warships attempted, without success, to harass us, and the enemy in the Ypres sector suffered heavy losses without success. The enemy south-west of Lille succeeded in repulsing one of our divisions near Loos from the advanced line. Naturally we suffered considerable losses in men and materials of all kinds.

Our counter-attacks are progressing favorably. We voluntarily evacuated the ruins of Souchez, but easily repulsed other attacks, with heavy enemy losses.

A German division between Rheims and the Argonne, north" of Perthes, was obliged to evacuate their advanced positions, which were ruined by a seventy hours' uninterrupted bombardment, retiring for three kilometres. Otherwise all the enemy attacks, to break through failed.

The battle was especially stubborn north of Mourmelond and Egrand, close to the Western Argonne. Here we made the enemy suffer the heaviest losses. One of our warplanes 6hot down an aeroplane west of Cambra, and another was brought down south of Metz. One of our airmen repulsed an attack on Freeburg by three French warplanes, two being shot down. PARIS, Sept. 27. After a-spasm of firing the guns quietened and the bayonets got to work on the German tranches. For the first time for a month the French used their picked troops, who fought like demons and turned out the Germans, in spite of General yon Falbeck's furious resistance. The enemy threw hundreds of suffocating shells and aerial torpedoes.. The British attack against Prince Rupprecht's forces is proceeding to the left of the Lens and La Bassee main road, and is directed towards the north of Lens. An army (service driver states that the British artillery crumpled the enemy's front trenches, but when the British reached them the Germans advanced from their communication trenches. There were sanguinary hand-to-hand fights in the new trenches and the bayonets did excellent work. The British gained a footing on many sections of the enemy front. Prince Rupprecht's troops fought well. Many Bavarians were taken prisoner. NEW YORK, Sept. 27. The Allies captured 20,000 unwounded Germans, according to a French official communication. The French stormed and captured Souehez, and the Allies continue to make gains in the Champagne district. ROTTERDAM, Sept. 27. There are persistent reports that at various points of the Belgian-Dutch frontier the Anglo-French forces have achieved great successes, and are steadily pushing The movements behind the army lines point to something in the nature of a retreat. The German losses owing to the Allies' prolonged artillery fire are mounting enormously, while infantry losses in the last twenty-four hours have been terrible. Every available man in Belgium has been flung into the defence, and newly-arrived troops are being rushed into the firing line without a moment's rest. The villages and the frontier posts are being denuded of guards. LONDON, Sept. 27. The Daily Telegraph's Paris correspondent remarks on the calm wherewith the city received news of the success. Large crowds who were talking the boulevards read the communique, and the general comment was: "Things are going well." PARIS, Sept. 27. Though the last communiques have I proved inspiring, neither the press nor the public have displayed a tendency to an excess of jubilation, but accept the news with cheerfulness and equanimity, convinced that victory will be theirs, however long and hard the road. ROTTERDAM, Sept. 26. On Saturday the battle ranged widely, all arms toeing engaged. There was simultaneous fighting on land, on the sea, and in the air. Between one and ten o'clock in the morning the British squadron bombarded various ports on the Belgian coast, including enemy trenches at Westende and their line about Nieuport, the French heavy batteries ashore also sweeping the line. The British ships shelled the positions at Seijst, Duin-

-•-••-■ - ~. - * ' *, * vc. bergen and' Knock, as welf as the coastal batteries on the sand dunes from the Dutch frontier to Westende. Misty rain hid- the ships' approach* and the first notice of their presence was' shells bursting ashore. In intensity and duration all previous bombardments were .surpassed. Many shells fell - inland between Zeebrugge and LaV'saweghe.

Seven columns of black smoke towering in the air showed that the bombardment of Zeebrugge harbor was particularly severe, and it foiled the submarines from stealing out. The Allies' airmen, under cover of the mist, successfully bombed the German positions, and German aeroplanes were driven back to their own lines.. NEW YORK, Sept. 27.

Berlin advices state that the Germans admit north-west of Loos and also north of Perthes, with heavy losses.

AMSTERDAM, Sept. 27

The Telegraaf describes the gunfire as tremendous, and it was followed by a fearful bringing back of the wounded. Soon all available buildings in Roulers and Cortemarck were filled with injured. Large numbers of dead were buried in the numerous villages behind the German lines.

Owing to the Lille factories refusing to supply the Germans with sandbags, the Mayor was notified that an equivalent quantity of bags would be manufactured in Germany, and would be used at the city's cost of fifteen thousand sterling, to be deducted from the civic fund. The treasury was forced, and also an additional twelve hundred and forty thousand" francs of war taxes was demanded. Pending payment, the Germans placed seals on the banks' strongrooms and those of individuals, as a guarantee tHat the securities would not be removed. The authorities insisted that the city could not meet such huge sums, and the Hune thereupon agreed to a compromise, and said they would accept 640,000 francs, with a penalty of 4000 francs daily until the amount was paid.