BRITISH OFFENSIVE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume L, Issue 175, 23 October 1917, Page 5

BRITISH OFFENSIVE

LOCAL ATTACKS SATISFACTORY PROGRESS REPORTED.

I Australian and N.Z. Gable Association a»d K»uter.)

(Rec. Oct. 23, 8.45 a.m.) - LOMDON, Oct. 22.

Six, Douglas Ha-ig reports: —Early in the morning, we carried out local attacks "astride the Ypres—Staden railway. The (French co-operated on our left. The progress reported is satisfactory.

GERMAN AERODROMES BOMBED

(Rec. Oct. 23, 8.45 a.m.) " ' LONDON, Oct. 22.

The Admiralty reports:—Naval aircraft- yesterday afternoon bom-bed Vlisseghem and Houtlave aerodromes. (Bombs appeared to burst accurately. Enemy aircraft attacked our bombers. All machines returned. IFive Oi our. scouts -during an offensive reconnaissance, engaged 20 hostile scoutjs..'. : They, destroyed two and- drove down two. One' of our pilots is smias-

DARING NIGHT PATROLLING

ANZACS ACTTVE. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Associaii^ji.) LONDON, Oct. 19. Mr Gilmour . reports - that the line weather of the /pastifcwo. days has produced great air activity, ri but there has been - little liveliness elsewhere, though all along the Australian and New Zealand front the Germans have been dropping many gas causing little trouble' to- .troops. "The Anzacs havetiibeen doing some ttSrTng night patrolling, securing valuable information about the enemy's dispositions. ■ "Our sharpshooters are keeping" the'enemy's-snipers well down, and they alco make a. sorry mess of his ammunition carriers'-^nd-wiring parties. .Mr"Gilmour'instances the case of an Australian padre- ; -Qtfho, after several hours of the heaviest work in dressing wounded at r a regimental aid post, stepped outside breath of air, and was blown to pieces by a shell. ARTILLERY AND AERIAL AC- - TIVITY. (Australian and N.Z. (table Aseociatio* r and 'Rftiter.V LONDON, Oct. 20. Sir-Douglas fiaig 1 reports heavy mutual artillery fire and-air' activity. British machines dropped large quantities of bombs at varip.us important points. Eleven enemy/;michines were brought down, and seven British are missing.

IRISH REGIMENTS

SUCCESSFUL RAID

BOMB-DROPPrNG BY ; AEROPLANES

(Australian anrl JJ.Z, ; .Gable Association and R.eufeer.)

Oct. 21. Sir Douglas Haig reports: The Irish regiments made a suceesslul raid northvast of Croisilles. 1, , There is great reciprocal artillery activity, and despite the mist there is extensive aerial work. / To-day our planes bombed a foundry and a railway junction north-west of Saarbrucken, "fires following Many scouts attacked the bombing squadron, and four of them were brought down. On Saturday bombs were dropped on aerodromes at Goutrode and Roulers, the station at Cortemarck, and various billets and hutments. At Roulers a bomb destroyed a grounded machine, and a second fell through the centre of a hangar. Meanwhile our scouts operating in the neighbourhood brought down' seven enemy machines. . A ton of bombs were dropped on Inglemunste aerodrome and railway staand also-on aerodromes at Courtrai,' where a direct hit was obtained on a machine endeavouring to leave the ground.

During, the day thirteen enemy machines were brought down.'

CONDITION GF THE GROUND IMPROVED

MAJOR OPERATIONS EXPECTED SOON. (Published in Tb« Times.} LONDON, Oct. 21. iMr Perry' Robinson says the condition of the ground has improved, and will soon allow of infantry action on a large scale. A letter found on a pioneer prisoner states that the English in four days smashed seven German divisions. *

FRENCH OPERATIONS

ATTACKS ON THE GHEMIN-DES-DAM.ES. HEAVY ENEMY CASUALTIES. (Australian and N.Z. Gable Association and Renter.) LONDON, Oct. 19. A French communique . says : After effective artillery preparation a series of local operations enabled us to penetrate the German organisations in the region Laffaux Mill and Braye-en-Laon-noia. ,

FRENCH ATTACK IN BiLGSUM

ALL OBJECTIVES GAINED.

(Australian and N.Z. Cable Association and Reuter.)

(Rec. Oct. 23, 11 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 22.

A French communique says •. —Wo attacked in the morning in Belgium on the left of the British army on a front of a kilometre, and captured all our objectives. We appreciably progressed north of Voldoese and took prisoners. Our ecouts penetrated the enemy line at various points south-west of St. Quentin, near Minnyian Farm in the Panthion region. The artillery duel was continued on the entire Aishe front.

MEANING OF THE tESffIAN THRUST

FORCED ENEMY RETREAT TO THE MEUSE.

DELAYED ONLY BY BAD WEATHER.

AMERICAN' CORRESPONDENT'S VIEWS.

.iTLstralian ana N.Z. Cable Association.) t

NEW YORK, Oct. 21. Mr Frank H. Simonds, in a striking article in the New York Tribune, says the British thrust threatens the whole of the Germans position from Lille to Verdun. Only bad weather delays the retreat to the Meuse.

•The real meaning of the British strategy is to force a retirement from the Antwerp-Brussels-Verdun line. The British will probably reach Menin and Roulers this year. • Although the "Russian collapse has re leased many thousands of Germans, they are unable to even hold down. The Allies are clearly over the crest of the hill, and the Prussian military machine is slowly but surely going to pieces. A raid between the Miette and the Aisne inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy. We captured war material. A detachment penetrating the German trenches north of Casque pursued the enemy, and after a lively combat gamed a complete entry into their lines. A German attack north of Chattalion-sous-les on the right bank of the Meuse, was" repulsed. ARTILLERY DUELS. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association and Renter.) LONDON, Oct. 19. A French communique reports marked reciprocal artillery activity on the Aisne ,at Souain, and on both banks of the Meuse. VIOLENT ARTILLERY AT CERNY. t (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association and Reater.) LONDON, Oct. 21. A French communique reports a violent struggle at various points on the Aisne front, especially in the region of Aiiles and Cerny. A strong enemy attack north-west of Bezonvaux was driven off after violent fighting. 'Enemy aeroplanes dropped sixty bombs m the region of Dunkirk this evening.

CONSTERNATION IN GERMANY. AMSTERDAM, Oct. 21. The Zeppelin disaster has caused widespread consternation in Germany. It is admitted that it demonstrates the failure of the Zeppelin as an offensive weapon. GERMAN VERSION' LONDON, Oct. 22. A German official message says: An airship squadron on Friday night made a specially successful attack on London, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Derby, Lowestoft, Hull, Grimsby, Norwich," and Mappleton, returning owing to an adverse wind and a dense mist. Our airships crossed the French battle zone, where, according to the French they were shot down or forced down. There are no details of the fate of these vessels or their yet available.

ALLIEDMTEAIDS

FRANKFORT BOMBED.

(Renter's Telegrams.)

AMSTERDAM, Oct. 19. Allied aeroplanes bombed Frankfort on Friday.

ANOTHER VISIT TO BRUGES.

(Australian and N.Z. Oable Association and Reuter.)

LONDON, Oct. 21TJie Admiralty reports )that navjal aircraft on Friday night dropped large quantities of explosives on Bruges docks and Engela aerodrome. A fire broke out at the latter place. All the" machines returned.