QUIET ON THE WEST FRONT.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLII, Issue 11446, 28 January 1918, Page 5

QUIET ON THE WEST FRONT.

LULL BEFORE THE STORM,

HEW GERMAN WEAPONS. London, Jan. 14. Describing conditions on the western front, Mr Philip Gibbs says:—Since the counterattack at Oambrai our lines have been quiet and under heavy snow. The resting battalions have enjoyed a spell of peace with dry clothes, a sound roof, and fires. The silence has not been broken ny the crash ot shells. Even in the fighting line the tumult of fighting had died down, except for an occasional savage shelling. The men s y that they are ready for the enemy if they try to break our line, as is expected. “They could not do it when they were ten to one, ” our men say, “so will not do it now that we have man for man and gun for gun.” Our men are waiting for the arena to be cleared of snow and the roads to harden after the thaw. Then ferocious fighting will begin with the enemy’s great challenge, which jmay decide the fate of the world. Reuter’s correspondent at British headquarters writes: —Heavy snow has and will postpone indefinitely the much-advertised German offensive. The Germans are using a lighter type of flame throwers, wMeh do not require several operators. Enemy searchlights and fireworks are constantly seeking to locate our tanks. Drafts from Germany’s 1919 class are appearing opposite to the British. We recently captured two improved field howitzers with a maximum range of 11,000yds. I captured document records an instance where only nine of 24 field howitzers snrvived our bombardment.