GERMANS FORGE LANDING AT MOUTH OF GULF OF RIGA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16670, 15 October 1917, Page 5

GERMANS FORGE LANDING AT MOUTH OF GULF OF RIGA

SURPRISE ATTACK CAPTURES TWO ISLANDS. MODIFICATION OF DEFENCE LINES NECESSARY. GOVERNMENT TO CONCENTRATE UPON WAR SITUATION. Australian and N.Z. and Router. (Eeod. 5 5 p.m.) LONDON. Oct. 13. A Russian communique states: The enemy landed one or two divisions on Oesel and Dago Islands at the entrance to the Gulf of Riga, The debarkation was carried out with extraordinary rapidity. The enemy had been preparing this operation for a long time, while the weakness of the patrol service favoured the movement. The capture of these islands will deprive us of hitherto predominant positions in the Gulf of Riga, and indicates fresh enemy operations, probably in the direction of Hapsal, on the mainland, opposite Dago Island. These events may have a repercussion on the situation in the region of Sogevold, on the railway, 40 miles north-east of Riga. A change of front may be necessary, bringing it nearer to the VendenValk line. The Government has decided to put aside political and domestic affairs, and concentrate all its strength upon the defence of the country. Admiralty per Wireless. LONDON, Oct. 13, A Russian official message says: We counter-attacked and restored the position south of the Pskoff high road captured by the enemy yesterday. The enemy's artillery forced back our advanced posts northward of the road. The enemy took several trenches in the region of Buczacz in the southern portion of the line, 35 miles south of Tarnopol, but a counter-attack recaptured them. We drove Turks from a height south of Lake Urmia, in the Armenian sector. Australian and N.Z. Cable Asnooiation. NEW YORK. Oct. 13. The correspondent of the New York World interviewed M. Verkhovsky, the new Minister for War, who said: "By the spring you will see a new Russian army based on the principles of initiative, We are travelling right round and must succeed. We must triumph or our soul dies." The basic idea of the reorganisation is to gain the confidence of the rank and file, to oust the old commanders and their methods, and to utilise profitably the Soldiers' Councils. The coastal batteries were silenced by powerful firing from Dreadnoughts. The enemy's movements were rendered difficult by moles we had constructed, and by bad visibility. The garrison at Oesel engaged the enemy. Admiralty tier Wireless. (Received 11 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 14, A German official report states: In a combined action by the army and navy we obtained a footing on the Island of Oesel. Our naval airships and hydroplanes repeatedly attacked military establishments on the Gulf of Riga, and dropped 1000 bombs. Dago Island and Oesel Island Ho on the northern side of the entrance to the Golf of Riga, separated from one another and from the mainland by narrow / channels. Oesel Island is almost double the size of Dago Island, the one being 1010 square miles in extent, and the other, roughly, 500 square miles. Venden and Valk are two towns upon the railway line between Riga and Petrograd, approximately 40 miles apart. Segevold is a town on the same line 20 miles nearer to Riga than Venden. Hapsal is a coast town on the mainland directly across the channel from Dago Island. It is connected by rail with Reval, and thence with Petrograd.