MUTUAL ARTILLERY ACTIVITY

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, Issue LXXII, 28 May 1917, Page 5

MUTUAL ARTILLERY ACTIVITY

HOSTILE RAIDS REPULSED

BRITISH POSITION SLIGHTLY IMPROVED.

LONDON, May 25. Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig reports : Reciprocal artillerying has been active, particularly on the left bank of the Scarpe and in the neighborhood of i Loos. There was much air fighting on Thursday, twelve German machines being brought down. Six of ours are missing. We repulsed raids last night northward of Gouzeaucourt and east of A"rmentieres. We slightly improved our position on the left bank of the Scarpe. There was increased hostile artillerying between Croiselles and the Scarpe. , A French official report states : After a most violent bombardment northwest?- of Bray-en-Laonnaise, three •strong German columns assaulted our salient north of the Chemin dcs Dames, and succeeded, after sanguinary losses, in gaining a lodgment at some points of our advanced trenches. Immediate counter-attacks recaptured most of these. A French communique states: We conducted a successful operation against a portion of Chevreux wood. There has been great mutual artillerying on the other sectors. A wireless German official report states: We drove back English advances at the Wytschaete sector and north-east of Armentieres. The English penetrated our first line hear Loos, but our counter-thrust drove them out. English advances north-west of Bullecourt failed. French attacks northward of Craonelles and west of the Cabery-Pont-a-Vert road broke down. The enemy lost ten aeroplanes yesterday. The Times' Paris correspondent states that a great general has permitted the announcement that the entire German effective army consists of 233 divisions of 13,000 each, whereof 66 are facing Russia, three Roumania, 154 on the West front, and 10 in reserve. The total is half a million less than in September, representing casualties and the difficulty in securing reserves. A French communique states: Intermittent artillerying is proceeding in the Champagne district. French aeroplanes dropped thirteen thousand kilos of bombs on Mare la Tour, Conflans, and elsewhere, doing considerable damage.