FRANCE AND BELGIUM

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, 23 October 1916, Page 5

FRANCE AND BELGIUM

FURTHER BRITISH AND FRENCH

PROGRESS

GERMANS .DISHEARTENED.

BUT WILL NOT SHORTEN LINE

PREPARATIONS FOR WINTER CAMPAIGN.

LONDON, Oct. 21. The Morning Post states that the headquarters or tne German army on the. &omme hare abandoned hopes, ox an cany peace, ana apparently lealise that tiiC' Allies aie aebernhntd to secure a coinpJtete- victory in the rieiu. The Germans are busuy preparing tor a hai'd winter campaign ana ■ even .harder figuting in we spring. 'iney are savage, disco urageu, and let* staunch and dependable tnan loimeriy, but. are lar iioxn beaten. Many more blows like those of the last tmee montns aie needed to bring them to submission, 'lju& can be cone, but not quickly. There is no ground for believing, that me enem> \\m Shorten, his line without pressure. ±Ie insists upon being blown homewards. 'J-he Army jfioneers nave readied pertection in the derences or Bapaume . and neighboring /mages, . aliiilully carving tne countryside beyond Jlapaume into the usual Irencn pattern, v and conyei ting every hamlet anto n miniature iort, while every ciossroad has its machine-gun redoubt. irue, they _ are not as iormidable as the original -thiee lines, but our engineers are using iime and labor to tne utmost, and the blasting process must continue, indefinitely. I'here are niany months;;of- stiif fighting ahead.. The .British Army contemplates the task with equanimity and signs are i promising. 'that the German army is suffering from the strain of'overwork. ■Some divisions on the Somme have been* thrice broken and reformed. The -jar- | tillery is overworked, justifying the belief that the Germans have insufficient guns to guve the necessary relief. Mr Ashmead.'Rartleti, in a review *>f vhe situation south of the Somme., says that the Germans ure Jiolding .the . remaining position at Barleux and Chaulnes almost on .sufferance; so .easy ■ lave the {successful recent French attacks been. BarLeux, however* is .a veritable 'fortress,' lying in & hollow like Combles, so that it was necessary first--to': drive the Germans from Mont St. Quentin. The Germans are now holding the losr-lying ground .south >OX the Somme in a' half-hearied manner. Their subterranean defences extort ■•the admiration or the French troops, also their gratitude,' because, they 'provide i ready-made shelters, .safe iivom tthe heaviest artillery.

The German position is daily more precarious, and the enemy has the most difficult river m France "behind him. The French artillery is ceoaartiriiually smashing extemporised rßridgfis. By holding the line'the •Germans are risking a crushing disaster^ Their tbr.aops may be driven into the river. The French infantry smell victory ki the air, and the officers have tfco hold them back like dogs in a leash.

The Daily Mail's correspcradeß.t reports: We abutted forward on Wednesday a long way, astride. of a sunken road south-east of Wariemeoitrt. The vadvance was l made in the wake :of a "tank." The animal prayer! .good,, .and in loul weather is likely to continue & useful ally. The mortality in the •"tanks" has not been high,, aad they •will prove useful even in death.. .One ithat is still straddling a trench as temporarily used as a dressing . Mation. IThe wliole of our /guns are p'oinrfcing at ; a strong line of Germans .attempting to dig and fortify across tke feont or 'Bapaume

AMSTERDAM/. oet. 21

The Frankfurter Zeitung^ in a thiVeecolumn leading article, reviews -the war •situation, candidly preparing the public :fe>r the fall of Pei'onne and Bapaume. The paper says that even if they fall the Entente will not have won dhe war,- as there are other obstacles eastwards. The article concludes-: "Germany must not expect her generals to do impossibilities."

LONDON, Oct. 22. General Sir Douglas Haig reports: A strong ' enemy attack on the Schwaben redoubt was repulsed with iieavy losses. Subsequently, on a front of 500 yards, we advanced our line from 300 to 500 yards. We captured the Stuff and liegina trenches, besides an advanced post north-east of Schwaben. We took some hundreds of prisoners

PARIS, Oct. 22. A communique states: Multiplied violent infantry attempts were made to expel us from Sailly-Saillisel. Our curtain of fire thrice broke the assaulting waves with sanguinary losses without the enemy approaching our line at any point. The Same fierceness of attack was developed on our position between Biaches and La Maisonette, it being particularly desperate in the Blaize Wood region. The «nemy, although using flaming liquid, were bloodily repulsed on the whole front, but gained a few advanced positions in +he trenches north' of Blaize Wood. Meanwhile we captured a wood northward of Chaulnes.