ENEMY MAINTAINING OFFENSIVE AT LA BASSEE.
HEAVY GUNS SHELLING BRITISH POSITIONS.
SERGEANT SAVES HIS COMPANY FROM ANNIHILATION.
(Received February 2, 12.5 a.m.)
Paris, February 1
The Germans continue active at La Bassee. They have brought up heavy guns, and are shelling the British positions. The Germans attribute Monday's check at La Bassee to the fact that the preliminary shelling of the British position was inadequate.
The opposing trenches south of the La Bassee Canal arc 50yds apart. When the attack commenced the Germans advanced, two paces between each man. The five lines followed each other so closely that they were practically a compact mass. As some of the British soldiers said afterwards : " We couldn't miss 'em."
The Germans attempted to make a smaller target by running sideways, but fell in heaps.
A sensational episode that occurred in the defence of Givenchy ■was when the Germans abandoned a Maxim. The British commander called for a volunteer able to work the gun. A sergeant volunteered, and enfiladed the German trenches until wounded by a grenade. He saved his company from annihilation.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15833, 2 February 1915, Page 7
Word Count
179ENEMY MAINTAINING OFFENSIVE AT LA BASSEE. New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15833, 2 February 1915, Page 7
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