SLOW BUT STEADY PROGRESS

Nelson Evening Mail, 6 July 1916, Page 5

SLOW BUT STEADY PROGRESS

GERMAN ARTILLERY FALLING BACK. "SITUATION" RFVIKWED. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, July 4. 'Mr Philip Gibbs, correspondent uf the Daily Chronicle in France, writes: We are slowly but steadily gaining ground. The progress since Saturday is seen from the elevation of our shell fire. The German gtms are also retiring in. order to escape capture or direct h.-ts, proving that we are pressing the enemy hard. They are unable to bring supports to secure the defence. describing a visit to a portion of the 'battlefield,- Mr pibbs says: The great bombardment -with shrapnel is still raginjr at Fricourt. The enemy are shelling the captured places, while our guns are pumping a Ileavy l>ari-3ge upon t heir positions. Our batteries are firing single rounds, >■ the salvoes -in the direction of Contalmaison all concentrating on the enemy's lines : behind Fricourt," M&metz Wood and Xa Boiselle, shells from the heaviest . guns scream T ng overhead, and the field batteries firing rapidly and continuously. Out guns had the mastery, and the infantry had something them. It was not all flesh and Wood against great engines as in the earlier days. The enemy replied chiefly about I-<a - Boiselle. Though, nob like our bombardment, it was heavy enough to increase fie cost we'had to -pay for cur / progress. We could see our men moving .up in a quiet and leisurely way,

shells whining and' rending the air above their heads. We are occupied in laying telephones over the newly captured; ground.

Up to La Boisolle t-he shelling is still intense, but our troops had already purrounded part of the 'position and after the concenitration of our fire advanced and captured about -250 of the memv who stayed in their dugouts while our shells smashed ground. A German doctor, a giant of a man with a great heart attended to their wounds until the bombardment was such that none could live there. He, carried the wounded to a dug-out, and stayed there, expecting death. When the English soldiers came he said, "My friends, I surrender." Afterwards he helped to attend oar wounded, and did good work under bis and our gunfire. We found another German who, although. wounded in nine .places, still maintained a deadly machine gun fire. % Mr Gibbs visited Fricourt, which, he says, is just a .heap of frightful ruins, every yard 'being littered with vrar's aftermath. Many prisoners expressed their "oy at having escaped out of the terrible gunfire. ■German officers acknowledged the power of our artillei-y and the courage of the men. A German doctor said, "We are killing each other to no purpose. It is a war against religion and civilisation. | I can see no end to it. Germany, Eng- j laaid and ranee are strong, and !t is ! impossible for one side to crush the 1 other.' 1 The action at Comrnecourt salient j shows one of /the most heroic episodes I in British history. The enemy had ] concentrated a great mass of guns here '■ in the' belief that the main attack would j extend to Lille and Roye. /I As soon as our men had left the. trerich j the enemy barraged our front support trencher with a most infernal fire. We s advanced through this barrage, and, m I spite of heavy losses made our way over j 500 yards of No Man's Land to the ene- j my's front line. i The Germans also behaved with great ; courage. They carried machine right through our barrage until "hey*! met our men in the open, and swept i tnem with fire so that large numbers : fell. The attack fa.led, but it seiwed ! to draw on the enemy's reserves, and j was a glorious act of self-sacrifice.