THE BRITISH OFFENSIVE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3292, 18 April 1917, Page 15

THE BRITISH OFFENSIVE.

Mr Philip Gibbs' reports: The British offensive aims at wrecking' the northern end of von Hindenburg's line. General Haig was too quick and frustrated von Hindenburg's plans for a retreat. The titanic conflict has begun. Mr Gibbs. writing on the 9th inst. says: "I have seen fury, but this is the beginning of the most tragic and frightful sight men have ever seen. With infernal and indescribable splendour, the preliminary bombardment of several days reached its height on the Bth inst. In Arras it was hell itself. The enemy were firing high explosives, and clouds of shrapnel were bursting overhead, and shells exploding all round the country. Our bombardment swept Vimy from ridge to ridge. Above the Arras and Cambrai road it was one continuous roar of death, every battery firing steadily. Thero was a tragic irony in the remembrance that the eve of the new conflict was Easter Sunday. Church bells behind tho battlefield were ringing out the risen Christ, but there was no truce of God. As I went up the road towards the front trenches I sa'w fighting men stand in a hollow square and bow their heads. Tho chaplain was conducting tho Easter service. Peasants within shelling distance were ploughing their fields. Elsewhere tho only preparation for an advance was the vast concentration of infantry necessary to attack tho great natural fortresses facing Arras, and defended by German massed guns. Our artillery supply columns moved up in an endless tide. At the roadsides men could be seen with stacked rifles writing letters home. Before tho dawn they were in the midst of battle." Mr Philip Gibbs's second despatch describes the first attacks. At 5.50 tho guns almost ceased firing, and there was a strange and solemn hush. Then came the cry: "They'ro awa}-!" and tho bombardment broke out with 20 times greater force, tho Germans shelling Arras. Green lights arose along tho whole sweep of the German lines as signals of distress. At Arras. tho eastern suburb of Elangy, on the Douai

road, was soon in our hands, and we were lighting forward on to the higher ground beyond. Tho British advance was not hurried, though the enemy's shrapnel was searching our lines of attackers. Tho first prisoners camo back in 15 minutes, and already the British wounded reported that we were through four lines, and the German dead were lying thick and tho living surrendering. Tho British went stolidly through the enemy trench system to Fouchy, in the marshes below the River Scarpo, four miles cast of Arras. Tho enemy's trench system south of Arras was enormously strong, but our infantry went through it without much loss, and after heavy fighting reache.d Observation Ridge, from which tho enemy have for two years and a-half been directing their artillery fire against tho British and French positions. With tho help of the tanks wo took two formidable positions south of Tilloy, these being called the Harp and Telegraph Hill. We carried tho whole system of trenchos north of tho River Scarpe to Whitehouse Wood. Further north tho Canadians along the Vimy Ridgo achieved an heroic success by gaining this dominating ground, which has been the sceno of somo of tho fiercest Franco-German battles, and the groat wall defending Douai. Over 3000 prisoners were taken before noon. BATTLE OF ARRAS. Mr Philip Gibbs, telegraphing on 'tho 10th, states: The battle of Arras is tho greatest victory tho British havo yet gained. It is a staggering blow to tho enemy. As the Germans arc retreating, our guns are smashing them along all roads. The Canadians during the night won Hill 145, the last point of Vimy Ridge,--where tho Germans held out in a pocket with machine guns. By tho morning the whole ridgo was in our hands. Tho Canadian attack on Monday, the 9th ; was astoundingly successful. It was carried out by highspirited men with a joyous confidenco of victory. Tho men marched out at dawn, cheering and laughing through tho mud and rain. They followed close upon the artillery barrage, and by 6.30 had taken the first goals, including the front line system above Neuville St. Vaast and La Folie Farm to Thelus, where the resistance was of the fiercest description. Hundreds of Germans were hiding in the deep tunnels pierced

through the hill. As .tho Canadians surged uj) with their bayonets tho Germans screamed and came running forward as from a landslip. Their chief desire was to escapo the barrage lire of their own guns, which was falling fiercely in the trenches, though too late to damage our men, who wero already beyond . them. The German prisoners were glad to pay for the gift, of life by carrying back Canadian wounded. The Canadian escorts had to guard such enormous numbers of men that prisoners themselves directed the later comers to tho barbed-wiro enclosures. The officers among them wero bad tempered because their men bolted and left them in the front trenches. Tho officers admitted the horrors of tho bombardment. Some of the prisoners had been without food for four days, becauso they wero boxed in by our barrage. Mr Philip Gibbs emphasises the stiff fighting at Blagny. where, ho says, tho defences wero exceptionally 6trong. Tho troops, which belonged to old English regiments, smashed their way through a perfect nest of formidablo works with the assistance of the tanks, which knocked out tho machine guns. Tho Scottish troops' attack on tho famous railway trianglo was held up for a time iby machine guns, where the enemy's work had not yet been destroyed. Meanwhile the British barrage still moved ahead. Word was sent to tho rear, and the barrage crept back, coming perilously closo to the Scots, but not overdose. Tho gunners, with marvellous accuracy, found tho triangle, and reduced tho defences. The Scots then surged forward over a chaos of timber and barricades and reached their goal. Mr Phillip Gibbs gives prominence to tho South Africans' share in Easter Monday's attack. Colonels charged ahead of their men, and tho first line was captured without casualties. Afterwards the forces fought a wicked machino _ gun fire. They gathered in hundreds of prisoners and many guns, including 6in howitzers and a vast haul of ammunition. Their turning of tho guns upon the enemy was a triumph. Tho South Africans aro avenging the tragic episodes of Dclvillo Wood. M. Marcel Hutin, referring to the Arras battle, states' that the formidablo nature of tho fortifications, including extensive barbed wire entanglements and armoured cupolas, machine gun shelters, and guns of

ever calibre, manned by an extraordinary number of well-selected troops, indicates Prince Rupprocht's determination to maintain the position at all costs. Over" 100 battalion majors and commandants were jMigaged in the battle, and the prisoners taken are equal in strength to an entire division. ACCOUNTS BY OTHER CORRESPONDENTS. Air Beach Thomas says that the great battle continues without cessation. Describing the advance of the British, he says: "No shell pitched among them, so clean were the heavens swept of aerial observers and so muddled were the German gunners. We saw our field guns galloping into enemy villages. A little later spare horses were coming in the opposite direction with the German guns. We saw the Germans literally 'hoist with their own petard,' our liquid fire descending like gilded rain on the heads of the terrified enemy. As the prisoners came down good-natured Tommies filling their water bottles jokingly inquired after 'Kaiser Bill' and Hindenburg. All records of curtain fire were excelled at Vimy. Our airmen reported that trains of lorries were hurrying forward with strong supports for a counter-attack. Quickly every available heavy gun was directed to the new target. An" unique spectacle followed. The advancing Germans were cut off by the fire curtain and no more was seen or heard of them. The present position is that wo are up against von -Hindenburg's line from south of Arras to St. Quentin. We have turned his line east of Arras and broken his whole defensive system north-east of Arras. Above the Searpo the enemy are retiring to their reserve line before Douai."

Correspondents at the British Headquarters, report that the generals in command avoided the errors mado at Neuvo Chapelle and Loos. Owing to the splendid artillery preparations our casualties in the opening stages were unexpectedly light. The majority of the British wounded were Struck by shrapnel during the German bombardment prior to the actual attack. The correspondents say it is too, early to 6poak of a great victory, but the opening success is beyond expectations. The British are generally established in the third German line. The day's fighting represents a minimum gain of 30 square miles. The Harp redoubt would have been a difficult problem but for the'tanks. These "seven-o'clocks" calmly wallowed through the mud and over the shell craters to Telegraph Hill, from which they exerted a powerful moral influence on the Harp garrison. There was very hard fighting at Arras between the angle of the railway lines to Douai and Lens.

Mr Simms, the American war correspondent, states that the spring offensive is believed to have started with the Lens and Arras battle. The tanks are creating consternation, and the fighting is heavy. The Canadians are involved. The main objectives have already been gained. The airmen hovered overhead, rendering immense service, and the marvellous work by the artillery protected the infantry, which Struggled against sleet and the German bombardment with groat gallantry. The Canadians captured 3600 prisoners and 23 guns. Mr Simms expresses the opinion that tho present battle is greater in intensity than the Somme operations. The Petit Parisien. describing the Canadians' success at "Vimy, state:- that the British artillery put up a tremendous bar-

rage in front of their assaulting troops, also extending the fire curtain to tin enemy's rear, and isolating the Germans who, realising that escape was impossible, did not offer prolonged resistance. Whok battalions surrendered, although there was a fierce struggle to the death at certain points, especially Cojeul and Telegraph Hill. The British caught several hundreds of the enemy on the banks of- the Scarpe, and cut down those refusing to surrender. The Canadians rested momentarily on the Vimy slopes after the capture of the first two lines, then dashed to the summit, where the Germans threw down their arms. M. Marcel Hutin says that according to prisoners' statements, the rapidity of the British advance surprised them. Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria had expected 10 days' delay. Router's correspondent with the Head- . quarters states that there is unimpeachable ; authority for saying that the victory of i Vimy Ridge is directly associated with a pretty little model on a wonderful scale of reproduction in plasticene of the neighbourhood ■ and ridge, on which model a clever artist, furnished with a mass of aerial photographs and information by local inhabitants, worked for months prior to the attack and from which the staff officers were most carefully instructed. Canadian and British officers and non-commissioned officers were selected for the assault. Every detail of tho ground was reproduced with amazing fidelity, greatly assisting the operations. CAPTURE OP MONCHY. An eye-witness gives a thrilling description of the capture of Monchy, the key to the position between the Rivers Scarpe and Sensce. Standing on the edge of the plateau 100 ft above tho surrounding country the correspondents had great evidence of the results of the British bombardments and the machine gun fire. Post and reinforced concrete.2ft thick werodestroyed by. a single shell. Tho trenches' wore smashed to shapeless ditches, and the Germans tore up rails to make barricades, and used farm carts, ploughs, and heaps of bricks as cover; but all their precautions were viseless. Targets a yard wide wore hit from four miles away, and dead Germans lay everywhere. To facilitate the defence of Monchy the Germans planted a series of machine gun batteries around the outer houses and in the wood at the chateau to the north. Sunken roads radiated in all directions, and these were full of snipers and machine gunners. The capture of Fampoux, however, covered the flank of the attackers while the enveloping movement developed. Heavy snowstorms enabled a large force to advance between the Scarpe River and the Douai road without tho enemy realising the significance of the movement. Meanwhile our artillery crossed tho Scarpe near Roeuk and advanced upon Monchy. By dark the British bombing parties were on the fringe of tho village. The troops were so tired with j their 36 hours' continuous fighting that they quickly dug in, and slept throughout the night in shallow trenches despite the snowstorm, but they were ready to attack at dawn, and charged the hill_ cheering. Monchy was captured in 20 minutes, the remnants of the garrison collapsing.when at close quarters with our infantry. For the first time wo had the satisfaction of seeing our cavalry charge the broken foes, driving them terror-stricken over the fields. Tlie steady reduction of the German strongholds behind the breached line pro-

ccedcd so rapidly that our lancers and dragoons were able to drive ahead en .nasso. The tanks did great service in tearing the machine gun pockets, driving :.ae Germans into the open. Parties of the Lewis gunners pushing on hastened the surrender.

The Daily Express states that Brigadiergeneral Bulkeley and Brigadier-general Johnson were killed in a brilliant cavalry j charge preceding tho capture of Monchy. THE ENEMY DEMORALISED. The correspondent at British flead- ! quarters calls attention to the demoralisation of the enemy. A single division took 24 guns and another 26; even a detachment of cavalry, which had little part in the general operations, charged one spot j and took four heavy howitzers. The number of machine guns and trench mortars captured is so numerous that no attempt has yet been made to salve them, much , less count them. In addition to tho Canadians taking prisoner 3200 men, a | neighbouring British and Scottish brigade '■. took 2000 prisoners. Among the Canadian prisoners was a' German general commanding a brigade, whose unit was taken almost without a casualty. The brigadier wept with shame at the capture of himself and staff without resistance, particularly as tho I unit had inflicted no casualties. The latest estimates in connection with the fighting on the 9th and 10th inst. show that the Allies captured 12,000 and innumerable machine guns and trench mortars. Experts suggest that the Germans were obliged to employ large forces at Bullecourt, eight miles from which the line still bulges westward, because they were in danger of being pinched out. Tho salient north of Vimy Ridge and south-west of Lens was also dangerously narrow. Tho capture of tho village and heights of Monchy-le-Preux and La Bergere completely relieves Arras of danger from tho German operations. M. Marcel Hutin says that the general commanding a Bavarian infantry division, in a rage, tore up a report he had just written asking Prince Rupprecht for reinforcements, when the British Tommies entered the shelter and took prisoner the general and his entire staff. This incident indicates the extent of the Germans' surprise. Much admiration is expressed in Franco over the new British tactics, by which the front of attack is widened as tho attack progresses, instead of narrowing, as in previous allied offensives. Thus it is now impossible for the enemy to make flank attacks, as no salient is produced. The British front has doubled two ways, like opening _ a fan. Its left commands the Douai Plain, its centre is within seven miles of Douai, and its right is dangerously threatening the German lines with envelopment, while progress is also being made towards'Lens. LENS ENTERED. The indications arc that the German retreat is extending. Fires have been observed from Lens. The fall of Angres (four miles southwest of Lens) is implied in the outflanking of Lievin. which has now been captuied by the British. The Daily Chronicle's correspondent at British Headquarters, telegraphing at 4 o'clock on Sunday morning, uays: " British patrols have entered Lens. Tho enemy left a rearguard in the redoubts, and made frantio efforts to remove their

guns, numbering 150, situated in the network of mine pitheads between Lens and Lieven (three miles south-west of Lens). They have blown up the roads, and orders were given to destroy the coal mines by firing charges into the pits and flooding them."

Reuter's correspondent at Bi'itish Headquarters reports: " The latest Brftish captures include great pyramids of slag near th> mouth ' of the coalpits at Lens, which tha Germans had converted into fortresses. Altogether the German front has been broken along another four miles." Mr Philip Gibbs reports: "Tho German occupation of Lagnicouit was of the briefest, the Australians recapturing it with the utmost dash. Lens and Lieven were stacked witu guns and fortified in a most formidable way, being strongholds of massed artillery. But all these works were threatened by tho advance down the northern slopes of Vimy, for tho Canadians were unlikely to stay inactive after their great triumph. Tho defences were also threatened by the British advance from tho Loos battlefield. The German staff knew the peril, raid wild scenes took place at Lens during the enemy's efforts to remove tho guns by scores of troops. Until. dawn on Friday tho enemy hoped that the British would be held back by the_ German rearguards in Vimy and Petit Vimy villages; but. that hope disappeared "when the Canadians swept down Vimy Ridge and chased tho enemy out of those places on the lower slopes towards Douai. Groat and far-reachjng results followed swiftly on the Canadians' capture of Vimy Ridge. Our troops cleared out tho German machine gunners from their rear posts at Lieven on Saturday, enabling our patrols to penetrate Lens. The retaking of Lens will thrill France, and be one of the greatest achievements of the war. With cunning courage »some of our men entered tho southern outskirts of the city, while others advanced cautiously on the western side. The enemy are still there in their machine-gun redoubts, and will be troublesome; but they are only rearguards. The main body are already in retreat. After the British and Canadian success on Friday the enemy saw that their last chance for a successful counter-attack was foiled. They were immediately seized with fear, and prepared for instant retreat in wild confusion. One of the first signs of the German retreat was when they began to shell their own front lines outside Lieven and Lens. All night long the sky was j aflame, and in the morning I saw the i enemy making a ' merry little hell' in the Lens suburbs and dependent villages. The explosions continued through the morning and afternoon. Meanwhile our men were advancing from Lieven and through it, and were having a hard, costly task to root out tho machine-gun emplacements, especially two terribly strong redoubts called ' Crook' and 'Cragy.' Each group of streets had i separate defences, consisting _ of barbed wire and sandbag barricades, with a nest of machine guns.. A quick advance through Lens would have been a great and needless sacrifice of life. I witnessed the attack in the southern suburbs of Lens. The troops swarmed over the open ground in scattered groups, and took cover under an embankment, where other attackers joined | them. Waiting half an hour, they doubled half-left, led by an officer well ahead. They crossed a sunken road, ascended the slope, I then suddenly changed their direction before reaching the crest, disappearing down a long, straight street. The correctness of this manoeuvre -was immediately proved, as tho German shells .plastered the embankment where they had previously assembled.

Other troops crept up, steering in erratic, shortTrushes until they reached the same street. Lens was being breached. The last view showed the British shell-fire falling heavily about the church, and the enemy's troops and transport retreating hastily. [Section of message is missing.] A later message states that the attack on the southern suburbs was successful. The British, avoiding a direct assault on the hill, crept round to the left and gained ground to the north-west, from which they captured Bois de Riaumont. The enemy, recovering from their first panic, sent back I troops to the trenches and machine gun redoubts in the western suburbs. Two thousand women, children, and old men, unable to escape in the interval, are now taking refugo in the cellars and enduring the agonies of bombardment. The Germans quitted Lietin in* such haste that we captured vast quantities of bombs, trench mortars, and shells. The, German counterattack at Lagnicourt is clear evidence of . the enemy's anxiety at this portion of the line. The village faces the "important bastion of Queant." Correspondents give a graphic description of the attack on Lens. It was evident on the evening of the 13th that the enemy were quitting the town with the utmost) speed, but the events of Saturday showed that they still maintained a ring of strong machine gun redoubts. Consequently, when the attackers on the south side disappeared* in the Street near Bois de Riaumont the utmost caution was necessary. They wriggled through baclc%ardens until they reached another street behind the wood, which they attacked from the north. The German machine gunners were nonplussed. The British meanwhile posted machine guns which enabled them to snipe the entire crews from the new' vantage point. The enemy oh Sunday threw their entire weight on the inner defence in the desperate hope of checking the advance until their guns and stores were removed and the destruction of the mines had been completed everywhere. The same methods were used by which they sought to hamper the pursuit further - south. The pioneers are exploding craters along the roads to the eastward, blocking the streets with the debris and houses. It is stated that Britain is using 22in guns, with an effective range of 25^niles.

HINDENBURG'S LINE. The Daily Telegraph's Rotterdam correspondent states that Marshal von Hindenburg, alarmed that the British had thrown back his much-vaunted line, hastened to the western front and stayed there two days. He attributes the disaster to the divisional generals, and refuses to' admit that he underestimated British prowess. Reports from Cologne show that the Arras defeat has produced consternation throughout the German Empire. The newspapers are not allowed to publish the British reports of victory, and the public havo only the German communique, concluding with the words: "If Germany has to evacuate the occupied territories of France and Belgium they will be turned into a desert." The Lokal Anzeiger's war correspondent publishes the first German admission of

thoir treatment of the dead. Ho says: "We passed through Evergnicourt. There was a dull .smell like burning linio. It is from the great corpse exploitation establishment of tho Champagne tinny group. Hero tho bodies are treated. The fat won is turned into lubricating oils, and everything else is ground down at tho bono mills into powder for pigs' food and manure. Nothing must bo wasted.".

Professor Bidou, the famous military critic of tho journal Les Debats, in an article in Land and Water, discussing the 1917 campaign, says it is obvious that Marshal von Hindeuburg is preparing an offensive, retreats being a favourite preliminary to Hindonburg's offensives. He hopes to resume a war movement that will suspend on tho western front for two years and a-half. The Germans are training troops in the roar in an exerciso in which trench warfare is quite a subsidiary part, and aro also greatly developing their medium artillery, which is both powerful and mobile, at the expense of tho artillery in position. Tho alarming' pulverisation of the German positions on th.? Semitic showed that no position was safe from the British artillery. The troops in the shelters had no time to como out to meet tho assault, and whole units were thus captured. The Germans now roaliso that the men must be withdrawn from the dugouts as the guns are withdrawn from the fortresses. Tho Germans intend to refuse a battle and yield ground when the offensive is disclosed, and thus gain several weeks before a new attack is possible. The German medium artillery will reach perfection in June ff they can avoid defeat until then. Hindenburg intends to conduct his offensive with masses of manoeuvres created by deducting the fourth regiments from the divisions, a reorganisation which will produce 13 now divisions armed with extremely powerful artillery. THE KING'S CONGRATULATIONS. The King has telegraphed to Sir Douglas Haig: Tho whole Empire will rejoice over the successful operations;, and Canada will bo proud that the coveted Vimy Ridge has fallen to her troops. I heartily congratulate you and all who have taken part in this splendid achievement. PEASANTS RETURNING HOME. The London newspapers publish remarkable private letter's which describe the peasants' return to reconquered France. All smells of the Boche; none can mistake it. It is awful passing through the scenes of desolation. Villages are smouldering, churches aro blown up, cemeteries desecrated, and the peasants' furniture scattered outside the ruined cottages. All males between 15 and 60, besides robust women, have been carried off. Men were compelled to salute Hun officers by removing their caps and lowering them to the level of the elbow. There were frequent roll-calls, and as each man answered lie filed past a Boche officer with uncovered head for a distance of 15 metres before reaching him and 15 metres, after passing him.

Letters show that there are lots of Bocho babies about, and that many women loft with the retiring Huns. A party of Bodies arrived at one place. The news spread rapidly, and the villagers collected in the square and hooted and yelled at the Huns, shouting: "Dirty Bodies," "Murderers," "Incendiaries," u ßobbers," "Assassins," "Pigs." One old woman spat in the face of a ijarticularly arrogant-looking Boehe officer, and exclaimed : " Dirty Boche, you told the truth for the first time when you said we should see you back; and sure enough we have." There was much merriment when a party of prisoners wore told off to clean up some of -the filthy mess they had made. Tho inhabitants gathered round jeering. NEW ZEALANDERS NOT ENGAGED. Mr Massey states that tho New Zealanders did not participate in tho big offensive. An extraordinary feature of the fighting is the use of a variety of new inventions, including tanks of a new model which are considerably faster than the old ones and move in battalions instead of singly. The brilliant success of the opening day of the offensive astonishes the experts; but we will make a mistake if wo regard the battle easily won. We had a most valuable superiority in heavy guns. These and the new shells aro more devastating than the Germans expected, but much of the success 13 due to the heroic Canadians. Exports pronounce the capture of tho Vimy Ridge as the greatest British victory so far. Beyond occasional reciprocal shelling of trenches and counter-battery work, there is still no fighting on the Now Zealanders' front.

A special corps of. New Zealand miners partook of the extra ordinary and extensive mining which preceded the 'battle of Arras. There was strong rivalry among the various corps for the record length of galleries dug. The. New Zealanders came first, with the Scottish 100 yards behind.