THE FRENCH OFFENSIVE

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9076, 22 June 1915, Page 5

THE FRENCH OFFENSIVE

A WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE

GERMAN SACRIFICES IN A DESPAIRING EFFORT By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. LONDON, June 20. The Dunkirk correspondent of the Central News Agency states that the French offensive from Lorette to Neuville squeezed 150,000 Germans into a front of four and a-half miles, where they were being sacrificed in a despairing effort to save the remnants of the German defensive system. The French artillery wiped out whole ranks of the enemy, and the heavy artillery mortars, grenades, and aenal torpedoes were utilised almost continuously. The bombardment was automatically followed by bayonet charges, when the Germans were incapable of resisting. A single mine shaft had 250 German defenders, of which number 200 were wiped out and the rest made prisoners. The stream at Souchcz village was blocked with German dead. The German heavy artillery continues bombarding, the officers ordering an advance which is costly. One shell struck the village of Marequi, where 160 men were billeted. The shell killed eighty-nine. .

The High Commissioner reports;— ... LONDON, Juno 21, 1.50 a.m

In the sector north of Arras the French are masters of Fond de Buval. A.n attack in the direction of Souohez resulted in one kilometre’s progress. In tho Argonne, a violent enemy attack has been repulsed and some prisoners taken. On the heights of the Meuse; two enemy lines were carried and seventy prisoners captured. The Frehch have arrived near Reillon, in Lorraine, a centre of resistance. The offensive in''the valley of the Fecht continues to progress.

JUMBLED HEAPS OF BRICK AND MORTAR (Received June 21, 10.40 p.m.) PARIS, June 21. The villages north of Arras are reduced to jumbled heaps of brick and chasmSj ii nec j w itfa sandbags, twist through the streets. Machine guns were hidden' under cupolas of armoured steel and the blockhouses with sandbags and armoured plate. , , , The enemy had burrowed so deep that the bombardment lost much oi its effiC ¥lm y 'attacks were sustained by showers of. hand-grenades and short, furiously determined infantry rushes, combined with the patient. rounding up of the enemy overlooked in the first dash, who attempted-to continue the fight in the inner recess of the trench maze. ' _ The French nicknamed the , Buval position* “Hell’s Mouth. It was sheltered by a ravine on the south-east flank of Lorette. It was a natural stronghold, bristling with subterranean forts and redoubts. , , ' The French invested it on three sides, and then avalanches of metal ©repared thb way for the attack. . Two Elides -Dressed on until their forces converged. The Germans fought with the ferocity of co.rnered rats. Owing to the steadily narrowing area of fire, their machine guns wiped out many of their own men. . , , , In: places the Germans took cover behind the piles of own “ p ad. • The French now swarming Up the rugged western slopes of Hill 119, wiuon is directly south-east of Souchez, soon obliged the enemy to abandon the fortress which they were defending on the road from Lievin to Lens. The slowness of the Allies’ progress has given the Germans time to prepare a strong second-lino at Givenchy brickfield, and Hill 140, east of, the Neuville-Givenchy road. . - V , Recent battles are proving the value of aerial torpedoes, which the -trench are able to regulate with great accuracy.

SIB JOHN FRENCH THANKS* THE CAVALRY *,. DUNKIRK, June 20. Field-Marshal Sir John French inspected the 3rd Cavalry Division and thanked them for their wonderful performance in the trenches at Ypies. He described the gas attacks as dastardly. The gas cam© as a bolt from the blue. Many troops dropped dead on the spot. ,It was impossible to see anything, and the darkness was rendered more opaque by the asphyxiatinc fumes. A certain amount of confusion was unavoidable, but the -troops recovered with superb quickness, and in magnificent manner filled the _gap in the face of a wall of gas miles long and yards high. They could not be too highly praised. He especially thanked the 3rd Dragoons for their work at Chatmtu |^ 0 S p rencll was leaving the men broke ranks and cheered and waved their caps. It was an impressive picture—Sir John French in the middle of the men with his hand stifly at the salute. It was indicative of the perfect trust and loyalty existing between troops and commanders.

GERMAN MESSAGE ON FLANDERSjnGHTING^ Y Berlin communique states:—North of La Bassee Canal and north of Arras we bloodily repulsed several partial attacks. VIOLENT ARTILLERY STRUGGLE CONTINUES (Received June 21. 9.15 p.m.) pARIg ?1 Official. -“Wo advanced in the direction of Souchez. The artillery struggle continues to b© very violent.”

OFFICER DESCRIBES ASSAULT ON LA BASSEE (Received June 21, 11 p.m.) U LONDON. June 21. . British officer, in a letter describing the assault on La Bassee, says that tbA artillery poured a tempest of shells into Givinchy brickfields. th “You wwld sec a high explosive shell crash into a square fort like a ~ T r baked solid You would watch the great cloud of smoke roll dlnf’ Nevertheless, your own experience tells you that the defenders are suffering from fragments of shells, and .bowers oL broken bncks which are breaking their bodies and shattering their nerves. The bombardment continued day meanwhile, enjoying the advantage or attackers, were able to rest in well-covered positions until the moment to advance, while the Germans did not know when and where the attack would fall. The first infantry rush was at 6 o'clock in the evening. Inside an hour the front line of trenches was taken and most of the defenders killed. The fight continued m the darkness, lit up by a constant succession of flares, while the Germans hurried up reinforcements in trains and motors , ~, ... . “We, however, had got our teeth in a bulldog grip, which would not com© away without tearing out the piece. 1 ’ ,j