OFFENSIVE AGAINST A FRONT OF THIRTEEN MILES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16202, 12 April 1916, Page 7

OFFENSIVE AGAINST A FRONT OF THIRTEEN MILES.

GERMANS FAIL TO ACHIEVE APPRECIABLE RESULTS.

ENORMOUS LOSSES SUFFERED BY MASSED TROOPS.

Paris, April 10.

An official communique states that the operations on Sunday marked, the first great attempt at a general offensive since the failure at Verdun. The operations extended over a front exceeding 13 miles. The Germans obtained no appreciable results, especially in comparison with the efforts they have made and considering the losses to which the bodies heaped in front of our lines bear witness. A violent bombardment was maintained west of the Mouse throughout the night, specially on Hill 304. ' The enemy's attack at Mort Homme yesterday was generally repulsed with important losses, but the attack enabled the Germans to penetrate a length of 500 yds of our advanced trenches on Hill 295. We took 100 prisoners. There was a very sharp struggle east of the Meuse during the night in the little wood at Fontaine Saint Martin. We made progress in the enemy's communication trenches south of Douaumont. In the Woevrc there was a bombardment of villages at the foot of the Meuse heights. The Petit Parisien states that the Germans hurled at least a division into the fray between Avocourt and the cross roads south of Bethincourt. Their objective was Hill 304. They advanced in company column, taking no heed of their enormous losses till within a hundred yards of our lines, where they were completely mown down. They returned to the attack three times, and then retreated beaten. A German wireless report states:—"We isolated two fortified points of supports called Alsace and Lorraine, south-west of Bethincourt. The French sought to avoid danger by a hasty retreat, but the Silesians cut them off and inflicted sanguinary losses. We captured 700 unwounded men, two guns and 13 machine-guns. We also carried the front due north of the village of Avocourt, south of Crows' Wood ravine, and south-west of Priore Hill."

MAP ILLUSTRATING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE IN ARMENIA. , One Russian force is approaching Diarbekr, near the Bagdad, railway, and another is advancing on a line further cast. The Turks have concentrated 100,000 men at Mofiul, and are feverishly preparing to meet the Russian attack.