WESTERN CAMPAIGN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 12 July 1915, Page 5

WESTERN CAMPAIGN

GERMAN ATTACK REPULSED , GOOD WORK BY FRENCH AND BRITISH TROOPS. (Rec. July 12, 9.20 aim.) PARIS, July 11. A communique states that the British oil Saturday evening repulsed- a German attaik. The Germans ■gained a footing in; portions of -the first line, but were ' driven oat "by sara immediate counter-at- ■ tacid. We dislodged Germans northwards of Arras from several portions" of trenches , -wherein.' ha<i'.;maantaxned themselves in. the lihe they captured on Thursday. A German! counter-attack which developed last night northward' of Souchez efcatiort was beaten back. Stench, aeroplanes brought down; a German- machine near Altkirch to-day.- - UNSUCCESSFUL GERMAN COUNTERATTACKS LOST GROUND NOT REGAINED. LONDON, July 10. Sir John French reports that since the -successful enterprise north of Ypres was reported On the 6th, the enemy have made repeated attempts to retake the loisfc trenches. All -counter-attacks ■were with the co-operation of tie French artillery. , . After a bombing duel lastmg ~two daysand nights, the enemy this, morning <fell back "along the canal, enabling us to extend our plans. We, in addition to prisoners, captured a machine gun and- three trench, mortars. _ AU r reporis indicate that the German losses were severe, particularly during the counter-attacks. IMPORTANT CONFEKENGE AT CALAIS BRiTISH MINISTERS IN FRANCE. LONDON, July 10. Mr Asquith, Lord Crewe; ; LordKitchener, and Mr Balfour on Tuesday conferred at" Calais with M. Viviani, M. Delcasse, M. MiUerahd, M.. Augagneur, M. Thomas, "arid General Joffre. Sir John French was also present. Mr Asgiiith arid iord Kitchener vs- - Sir John French'g headquaxters on ; Tuesday. : The*? toured the British, front for two days, and inspected the' First and Second Armies and' the Indian Flying Gorp's. They were speciaLLv—ittterested in the machine gun. school They met King Albert. • r ' Lord Kitchener visited " the - "Trench troops at Arras. They returned t-o Xiondon this afternoon. -i' AERIAL BOMBARDMENTS. . (Official.) ■ •PARIS, July 10. The prisoners taken at Font-enelie. on the Bth totalled 881, including 21 offi- ■ cers. ■ ■ ' --- - . Our aeroplanes bombarded the rac-1- ' -way Stations -at Arnaville and Bayonville and military 'huts at Norroy. TCwenty-six. tombs iand; & thousand darts were dropped. FRENCH SUCCESS AT CHAMPAGNE (Official.) PARIS, July 11. The Belgians repulsed an enemy attack on a point a'appui "on the right bank of the Ysetr, 'opposite the ferryman's house. A surprise attack in, the Champagne region Tendered us masters of a German . listening post, the occupants of which * were either killed or dispersed. GERMAN 'COMMUNIQUE. !(Rec. July 12, 11 a.m.) AMSTERDAM, July 11. A German communique states: —''The British northward- of Ypres on- Saturday renewed the attack against our positions on <tfre canal, and were repulsed with considerable enemy losses. "The trench captured north-west of Beausejour on Friday was lost on Saturday, but was again stormed arid held', y despite five counter-attacks. j "The French at/tack on- our new positions at ,Bois ie Pretre collapsed wi t ; h - beavy aieroy -losses. "The attacks against the German- posi-tions-east and south of Soridernac, and smith-west of iVfeoinster, were repulsed. "Our airmen a/ftacked .the railway at Gerdcrier." . - A BERLIN STATEMENT. LONDON, July 10. A Berlin wireless message "states: — "Our heavy 'bombardment of Arras destroyed stores,, the British being thereby handicapped. We regret that the Cathedral at Arras was burnt." A GERMAN COMMUNIQUE. AMSTERDAM, July 10. A German official message states: "We captured between the Meurthe and the Moselle since the 4th, 1798 prisoners, including 21 officers, besides three guns, twelve machine guns, and mine throwing howitzers." BRITISH CASUALTY LIST. LONDON, July 10. The last casualty list contains the namee of seventy officers, of whom 32 •were killed, and 915 men, 190 being killed. SIR JOHN FRENCH'S DESPATCH POSITION ON THE YSER. -PRAISE FOR THE CANADIANS. XONDON, July .10/ Sir John French's despatch, dated •June 15th, is as follows. "Since April sth the'aim has been - heavily engaged on ; both Ypres. which has again been successfully defended' against vigorous and sustained attacks bv large forces, supported by a. mass of 'heavy -field artillery, whcoh in-n-amber, weight, and calibre was superior 'to aay ccricentratioa which - had

previously assailed that part of the line.

"In.the south the First Army Corps had taken-. a vigorous offensive during which a large area of entrenched and fortified ground was captured, whilst valuable support was afforded to the French attack at Arras and Lens. USE OF GAS. - "I much regret that the fighting on the enemy's side was characterised by j a cynical and barbarous disregard for the well-known usages of civilised war, and flagrant defiance of The Hague Convention. All the scientific resources of Germany have apparently been brought into play to produce a gas so virulent and poisonous that human Ibeings brought into contact with it are first paralysed and then meet with a lingering and agonising death. "The e<nemy invariably preceded, prepared, and supported his attacks 'by the discharge of a stupendous volume of these gas fumes whenever the wind was favourable-. Such weather conditions only- prevailed to any extent in the neighbourhood of Ypres. fumes. materially influenced operations at Ypres until experience suggested effected counter-measures which, have since been perfeotd, rendering, the fumes innocuous ß . Their efficiency in practice shows that the Germans must have harboured the design for a long.time. As a soldier I cannot •help expressing- the deepest regret and some surprise that' an. army which : has hitherto claimed to be the chief exponent of chivalry in war should stoop to employ such " devices against gallant foes." ' HILL 60. Describing the capture of Hill 60, Sir John French states that it affordedi the enemy an excellent artillery observation post. Genera! Bulfin planned the: preliminaryl operation and (mining ; then Sir Charles Fergueson carried out the attack on April 17th, in which. French and Belgian 'batteries assisted . v An attempt to -recapture Hill 60 on May Ist was supported by asphyxiating gases, which caused nearly all! the men On a front of 400 yards to be immediately struck down by the fumes. The splendid courage whereby, tie. leaders rallied their -men and subdued the natural to panic, combined with the prompt intervention of supports, drove back the enemy. A severe gas attack on May -sth, under much more favourable . conditions, enabled the enemy to recapture Hill 60. A few days later, means of counteracting the gas, which have since proved: so effective, were introduced. Otherwise the a-ttack on May sth would have been lesultless.

THE FIRST USE OF GAS. Sir John French goes on to describe the first'-use of gas .On April 22nd, aircraft at 5 o'clock reported that *hick yellow smoke was issuing froni : 'the Gernian trenches between Langemarck and'Bixschoote. The effect of. the gases was so virulent ■ that it rendered the whole line held by the French- division between Steenstraete and the Poelcapelle road practically incapable of action. At first it...was: impossible for anyone to realise what had. actually'" happened, as the smoke and fiimes hid' everything. Hundreds were thrown into a comatose and "dying condition, and the -whole position within an hour had been "abandoned with 50 guns. _. "I wish particularly," says Sir John French,; "to repudiate the idea that the least blame attached to the French division. After all the examples our gallant Allies have shown of their dogged and tenacious courage it is superfluous to insist, upon this point: that if any troops -in the world could have held the trenches the French division would, have held firm. - ■ - ■ CANADIANS PREVENTED DISASTER. "The tetreat made the left flank of the. Canadians dangerously exposed, andthere was a prospect of the Canadians being overwhelmed, enabling the. Germans to cut off the British occupying the salient to the east. The Canadians, however, held, their ground with a magnificent display' of tenacity and courage. The conduct of these splendidi • troops avoided a disaster.

"In the confusion caused by the gas and smoke, the Germans captured the bridge at Steenstraete and works south .of Lizerne.' I sent some reinforcements from the Second Army Corps. "I had a conference with General Foch ii the morning of the 23rd, who asked me to maintain the British line while he endeavoured 1 to regain the trenches belonging to the £ French division. POSITION EAST OF YPRES CRITICAL FOR FEW DAYS. "I concurred, but stipulated that if the position was not re-established within a limited time the British troops should not be allowed to remain in. their existing exposed situation. Many circumstances combined' to render the situation- east of Ypres very critical for two or three days. Fresh units had to be pushed into the firing line in an area swept by artillery fire, which, owing to the capture of the French guns, we were unable to keep down. This led to very heavy casualties. "I wish to record any deep admiration of the resource and presence of mind of the commanders on the spot, particularly Major-Genera! Snow and Brigadier-General Hull. "The Lahore division made gallant attempts to push the enemy north, but thev were partially frustrated by gas. ""The French meanwhile • had retaken Lizerne, but as there was no further progress on the 28th towards the original line, I ordered General Plumer, who was now in charge of the operations, to prepare for a retirement. These orders were postponed until May Ist at General Foch's request, and were then carried out- with scarcely any loss, reflecting the greatest possible credit on General Plumer. "Our artillery, assisted by aeroplanes, caused the Germans considerable loss when entrenching opposite our new line, and advancing guns to. the new positions. '•During the whole of the 4th," the enemy heavily shelled our evacuated trenches, quite unaware that they were unoccupied." " '

STORY OF HEROISM HOW BRITISH TROOPS FACED THE GAS. CANADIANS SAVE THE LINE. (Rec. July 12. 8.20 aim.) LONDON, July 11, Six John French's despatch. referring to the attack upon the Fifth Aririy Corps at Frezenberg, states t-hat ''vastly superior German artillery .fire with . unlimited ammunition, rnade.it impossible to pt'Operly.. the line after gas attacks-. The German bombardment was finally concentrated on the "morning of the Bth May upon a line north and' south of Frezenberg. The German fire completely obliterated the trenches and caused enormous losses. The heavy infantry attack "following caused our line to give way. "General Plumer narrates that during the morning of the Bth, the right of one brigade was broken, then the centre, then part of the left. The' next brigade, Princess Patricia's Canadians, however, ©tuck to the trenches throughout the day. By midday the centre of another Brigade "was 'broken, but the First Suffolks, forming Brigades on the right held on, and were apparently surrounded and overwhelmed* THE COUNTER-ATTACK:. "We launched a- counter-attack at 3.30 which reached Frezenberg, but was driven back. "General Plumer concludes, 'Despite severe ehelling and many casualties, the spirit of all l ranks was excellent. The enemy's losses, particularly on the 10th and 13th were unquestionably serious.' Sir John French continues: "Desultory fighting went on to May 24, when there was a violent outburst of gas- on nearly the whole front. A most determined attack was made east of Ypi'es. A large proportion of the men were asleep,, and the attack was too sudden to give time to put on respirators. The Second Royal Irish, and Ninth Argyles -were overcome with gag' and driven out of a farm in front of our line which the enemy fortified, and all attempts to retake it failed. "We took up a position slightly in the rear of our old line. WORK OF THE FLYING CORPS. "The Flying Corps is becoming a more and more indispensible \factor m combined operations. The officers have shown marked ingenuity in' devising improvements in tactics. "Since the last despatch there has been a considerable increase in number and activity of German aeroplanes. There have'been- 60 combats in the air wherein-not one British.;aeroplane. was •lost. Most of ithe encounters were over German lines, but it is known that six German aeroplanes were wrecked and many others chased down and forced to land. THE NEW ARMY. . "Some divisions of the new army have reached France and ought to prove a valuable addition' to any fighting force. They appear-thoroughly) well officered and commanded, the equipment is in good' forward every diayg Not a line to be order and the*, shooting efficient. Their artillery is extremely good andi quite fit to take places in the firing line. The pioneer 'battalions created a very favourable impression. The officers are keen and . men of good physique and good- diggers. "Experience has shown- that the Territorials have now standard of efficiency enablin) gthem to he usefully employed in- complete divisional units, whatever kind of work the units have t odd. They have taken an active and . distinguished part and proved themselves thoroughly reliable and efficient. GENERAL JOFFRE AND BRITISH TROOPS. ' —— ■ i General Joffre on 27tb May inspected" the 7th Division and expressed his 'appreciation of their appearance on parade, despite the constant Strain owing to the arduous natiire of the fighting. The .spirit animating all ranks remains high and he was.confident that the men would meet every demand with the utmost cheerfulness. This spirit is particularly manifest in the men in> the hospitals., Even those mortally wounded, the. invariable question that' comes from lips hardly able to utter a sound, is "How are things going at the front.' , . Sir John French pays tributes to General Sir Douglas: Haigh. for valuable services at Festubert and to General Plumer" for the fine defence of Ypres.

BATTLE OF FESTUBERT.

Sir John French's despatch, referring to the-.battle of Festubert, states that in pursuance of. a promise given to General Joffre to support the" attack his troops were making on the 9th May, at Arras, I directed- General Sir Douglas Haigto attack the trenches at Rougebank. He found' the position much stronger' than anticipated, andi extensive artillery preparation was necessary to crush the_ resistance offered by numerous fortified posts. Repeated efforts to progress on the 9th and,- 10th, but the enemy's machine guns from posts on the flanks rendered' the trenches- iso difficult to hold that all unSts of the Fourth Army Corps had' to retire. I sanctioned! General Haig's proposal to concentrate all the resources upon the southern point of attackl Misty weather prevented' the action recommencing before the 15th, when I placedi a Canadian- division- at General Haig's disposal. r'During the night of the 20th the Canadians brilliantly seized, several trenches, rushing on the whole line of several hundred yards, and capturing machine guns. "By the 24th the immediate object of attack did' not exist, «> I directed 'General Haig tio consolidate the ground ■won.

'"The battle of Festubert resulted in 600 yards being won along a front of four miles. The enemy suffered very heavy losses. We captured ten machine guns, and destroyed a number of others. Throughout the Third Army Corps was active, making demonstrations and holding the enemy on its front. •