BRITISH RAID WHICH MET WITH NO OPPOSITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16435, 11 January 1917, Page 5

BRITISH RAID WHICH MET WITH NO OPPOSITION.

MEN PENETRATE TO THE THIRD ENEMY LINE. ONLY DEAD GERMANS IN WHOLE TRENCH SYSTEM. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON, Jan. 9. Describing a raid near Arras by men of an Anglo-Scottish Regiment which penetrated the third German line on a 2000 yds, front, Mr. Philip Gibbs writes: "It is remarkable that there were only a score of casualties. There was practically no German machine-gun fire. One fired 20 shots, and was then silenced. The enemy barrage was erratic and feeble. It is difficult to divine the reason for such a state of affairs. Possibly the Germans are nursing their ammunition and holding their lines thinly with youths. Certainly we were able to walk through the old original trench system without finding the enemy. It is wrong to build extravagant hopes, but the enemy cannot afford to be weak anywhere. > " A heavy bombardment, preceded the raid. The attackers trudged quietly over No Man's Land in the afternoon, deliberately, but horribly close to the edge of the British barrage. Aeroplanes flew thickly and low. The lack of opposition was uncanny. The entanglements were destroyed and levelled, many of the gaps being 10 or 15yds wide. The trenches were reduced to rubbish heaps and shell craters, some filled with German dead. A young English officer, with a reputation for nonchalance, strolled over No Man's Land, led a detachment to the third line, and mounted the parados, observing the lay of the land. He had a clear view of Tilloy, and saw no Germans. He then returned homewards. A Scottish officer had a similar experience. He reached the third line, and saw no living German from first to last. His men blew up a number of dug-outs, sat on the parados, and lit cigarettes. A few German guns at Tilloy fired weakly, but the Scots leisurely examined the shell craters, the officer finished the cigarette, blew the tantara on a French hunting horn, and the men slouched home.".