VAST ERUPTIONS ALONG WHOLE FRONT OF ATTACK.
GEOGRAPHY OF AREA ALTERED BEYOND RECOGNITION. VILLAGES OBLITERATED BY PRELIMINARY BOMBARDMENT. Renter. (Received 8.40 p.m.) LONDON. June 7. Reuter's correspondent at British headquarters states the new offensive was opened an hour before daybreak at the pre-arranged moment by mining operations on the largest scale ever attempted. The sky was rent with ear-splitting crashes as a long series of mines, some of which were dug a year ago, exploded along the whole of the enemy positions. The total charges used in these eruptions was over a million pounds of high explosives. It was the most fitting answer to the Raiser's bombast about the collapse of our offensive in the west. The preliminary bombardment along the front of attack was appallingly intense. The villages of Wytschaete and Messines totally vanished. From north of Hill 60 to south of Ploegsteert the spectacle was incredible. The geography of the whole district has been changed ; it has been blown and furrowed beyond recognition.
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New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16561, 9 June 1917, Page 7
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165VAST ERUPTIONS ALONG WHOLE FRONT OF ATTACK. New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16561, 9 June 1917, Page 7
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