THE DEATH CRAPPLE ON IVANOFF'S FRONT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLII, Issue 12823, 15 April 1916, Page 3

THE DEATH CRAPPLE ON IVANOFF'S FRONT.

I Tin- fierceness ••< the the ter riMe losses and llif devices, employed for . attack and defenw art- vividly described in a mail account sent by the Exchange Tclearaph Company V correspondent at IVtrograd of Ueiiesal Ivanoff's recent -mat attack in IJukowina and Galicia. The correspondent, who obtained his details from wounded officers and others baVk H rom the front, writes : One of niv authorities, who went through the battles of the Bzura last winter, declares thai the present fighting far exceeds these for desperate ferocity and the percentage of losses which both sides l>-ar without flinching. First of importance is the lighting east ol" TVhernovit/.. success in which would Pill up to the whole Aiistro-German line. The Austrian* here have been entirely beaten l»v a superior artillery, and only a reckless waste of infantry has saved them iroin a debacle. The enemy were not surprised. The Austrian* ha<l been concentrating iiifanttv reserves arould Koloinea, apparentlv suspecting that Katioff s concenttatioii in Uessarabia would v be used ior a break through in .Galicia, instead of [•the advertised march through Rotimama. The Anstrian positions at Toporoiitr. and Kavanze weie totally destroyed by the I bombardment. The Austrian* tried, and in part-succeeded, in saving the situation l,v toiiitiiUated machine gun fire. Ihe chaffs of our troop? in close foniiatioii a-ainM hundreds of ma-hine gunsis one ..I the .greatest feats of the war. The captured trenches. being entirely destroyed and full-of earth and corpses, were extra..rdiiiarilv hard to hold. The Austrian*. -iMiKliiiu their infantry without shrinking, -nit wave alter wave of men into the lost • arthworks. with the result of prolonged bavoiHt some of which ended •miy afl-r few on either side were left alive. Th>- l : avaii e attacks produced many dn:m.ii.:- iucideiils. The Russians, shclteriii- u.liind their rolling shields, admired • ••■ the first Austrian trench. Hetore the :ii.ik-li. as was expected, was a i::i;:c. Volunteers offered to rush over lb,- iiwne so thai it might be exploded, tiiMiriii" safety for the men to follow. I The Russian "shields stuck in the deep j i-m.-tt. Austrian bombers, seeing their chance, rc-hed out. As they Mossed their ..wn inim- field an explosion killed all, and ; i.-II .ui'il exploded Iwhind the attackers ! -1.:,-M. .More Austriaiis, again with I 1..r..1>». advanced. ,aml a hand-to-hand I ti hi (..Mowed. * / Ivi-i of ToVopoulz was some of llic ;.i.,...1i..-t fightim: on record. Attacks were ij.ule in lliiek masses, a ud the Austriaiis, ...irsitri attacking in equally thick masses, in the hope of taking the battered I-niches, were cut to bits. Over a large ana snow-covered bodies lav touching. After two days' unbroken fighting the Vustriaus were too exhausted to bury llieir -lead. They made holes in the sii,«r. laid the bodies in the holes, and covered • them again with snow. Next •lav hand-to-hand Twilling raged over the -arm' area. Tlie, bodies were kicked and implied out of the snow, and mixed with them lav the newly killed. This made -uch a deep impression on both sides that a truce was arranged and the dead were •ieceiitiv interred. The assaults on i'tlaiizer-JJaltin s left on the Strvpa are being carried on with equal vigour.* These are the strongest enemy positions on the southern front, and during the present attacks parts are unapproachable owing to, numerous lakelets and streams,"which are only partly, frozen over. . One of the enemy's defensive devices is'the blowing of poisonous gas out of the mouth-of a tunnel dug through a bill; Olily such of our men as were collecting tiehind the rolling shields could stand the gas. Tliev 'did this by-bending close to the shields and letting gas drift overhead. Austrian bombers advanced on the shields. All were killed. The eneuiv brought field artillery to within 300 vards, and fired shell direct into the shields. The exposed Austrian artillerymen were shot down, and a respite was gained. Russian supports came up, and with the exception of a short section all of the two Austrian trenches were

laken. - v l The enemy refused to give way. They | poured infaiitrvmen .without cartridges in- | lo their lost trenches. - Our men had expended ail their, ammunition on the Austrian gunners. ' The residt was a trench light willi bayonets which, lasted Imll* a"n hour. Hundreds of men on both sides were bayoneted, and" the survivors fought standing on their bodies. Russian sm>-

fimits villi • •.-irtridncs first arrived ami . jili-kci "ft tli-- enemy. The iicnch lemainrd in the Russians' hands. At one point the Austrian*, lost by the bayonet 1100 men killed and several hundred wounded, mostly badly. At present the Butt-hatch bridge head is still held by the enemy, the redoubt in front being defended by a Prussian Hanover regiment, but the field fortifications just to the north of it have been battered to bits, and a hard frost, making the cotnflry passable would give them into our hands. The Austrian* in physical fighting are liuiiiK better than the Germans, most of whom arc elderly Landsturm men or indifferently trained men from the replacement reserve who have had no peace training. Attacks which have so far been feints have been made on the Archduke Josef Ferdinand's positions on the Sstyr front. The Austrians here were surprised and nearly lost their Archducal commander. Our men crossed suow-covertd marsh country made passable by an increase in the frost. Austrian outposts were overpowered, and a dash was made into a thinly-manned advance trench, behind which was seen a "roup of staff officers riding along the front of a second trench. From prisoners it wac later learned that this was the Archduke and his staff. They galloped away, leavin« a dead orderly. The i-liei'ny tried a counter surprise »t our men's expense. They dug with :• sm.w plough a five feet wide path through snow three feet hiph. and sent sharpshooters to creep round" our right. From the level the sharpshooters were invisible. An aviator saw them by chance and signalled. A Russian shell blew the snow plough to bits and showed. the Austrian* that°llie:r ruse was discovered.