Belgium

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 67, 14 November 1914, Page 5

Belgium

THE BAtTLBfOF' THE AISNE. LIKENED TO THE SMILE OF A -' CHESrtfRE CAT. < >i 'AI# AN BEHINDA GUN. I ' Timm ikD Stdnbx Sun Services. i '• l 'r ' (Received- 8.0 a.m.) ’ London, November 13. The Times’; correspondent; says the Battle of the Aisne was like the smile of a Cheshire cat, continually fading away and're&ppeftring. At present it is at its broadest grin. The*supply of heavy artillery and airmen is greater than in September, though it . »ay hot portend a recrudescence of violence j but both; sides are engaged in 'firffi!; ‘sparring. The ' fighting in this J pmehsely ! influences the Left..^&^. ; /The’ Allies* 1 prospect Of turning the German position above materially ijaafproved/' The Germans ]dst but quickly recovered; lodged • the Allies by unexpectedly dragging i t^>' : 'hl l avy' artillery Jhd‘■'assembling'ft ai?]feriof force of infantry, widish outnum^‘ed' : ahd dhtranged the" B’r^nph f a,n<l compelled them to retire td tfiear .guns. They were immovable and held out to the last, until .finally there was only one gunner in kction, and he vowed to stick to hie post till he had fired the whole of the amunition. He poured shell after shell- at the steadily advancing enemy, but though it swept away line after line it, failed wholly to check them. ' The gunner still had twelve shells left when the Germans were 300 yards away, and he fired thd last when they were only 100 yhrds' away. Then ho cooly removed the breech and escaped, having killed. 600; ' One momentary retreat was marked by a gallant charge. The English Lancers were fully exposed to the enemy’s fire and had to choose between retreating and remaining under fire without a chance to reply; neither suited their kidney, and they charged • the German batteries which were a mile away and 2000 strong, lawless than ten minutes all the Geim»h artillerymen had been sabred.

GERMANS REINFORCED NEAR v YPRES. ■ ■ : . . , .'j, . r • ( ■Rave belcian bayonets. [Um Peeks Association.] (Received 8.50 ».m.) Amsterdam, November 13. The Telegraph states that the Bavarians reinforced the Germans near Tpres. The garrisons in central Belgium have been decreased in order to reinforce the front. ' Many hostages are being held in Belgian towns. One Belgian regiment made seven bayonet attacks one night between Nieuport and Dixmude, and of 210 only 60 survived. One submarine has been pufc together *t J2eebrugge. /THE OCCUPATION OF 08TEND. ; Paris, November 13. Official : We held our ground in all positions.- - The enemy, by a night attack, attempted to debouch from but were repulsed. The! enemy'was also, thrown back everywhere over the Tser, except 300 yards on.the'left bank. ■ Amsterdam, November 18. People who have crossed the frontier state that the Allies have entered Os tend, which the Gertaans abandoned.'

GERMAN METHODS IN WARFARE /; v '. 1 . - London, November 12. 'The- Daily, Telegraph’s Paris cor- \ respondent writes: “Interviews wirhi German wounded reveal that the fol-, lowing method of beginning’ trenches under fire is common in.the German ’army. First, an officer selects a : man, add orders him to divest uimself of his rifle and heavy pack, take up a spade and ; march fromcoyer some paces to the front. If he hesitates the officer. puts, a revolver ,at the man’s head, and covers him until lie has turned the first sod. The man seldom survives longer than that. Then a second is sent out, and a thirdirand fourth,'until the beginning of the trench is deep enough to cover a man, when another is sent forward with an armor-plated' shield, which is set up. The hole previously made enables tile rest to work in comparative safety.- On an average fifteen are shot down, before. the beginning of the trench .is effected. . ■

1 “Many of the German - wounded have been brought to the French hospitals naked, their comrades having stripped them, and sent the 1 clothes to Germany fdr'<• the drafts. ‘ ‘One wounded German said the German Red Cross had orders to pick up officers only unless there wae ample room for the men. Several times he had spen several wounded shot as they lay on the field, and stripped of oniforms and accoutrements before the bodies were cold.”

APPALLING GERMAN LOSSES ON THE YBER. # FIVE GENERALS KILLER. (Received 10.40 a.m.) .. London, November 13. The fighting in Belgium and Northern Frafice is really for vantage points, or some detail in the ground such as a /Wood or quarry, which will enable a battery or two to become unassailable and in a position to organise attacks behind it

The German .losses southward of Dix. mude are appalling. One body of troops*, who were thrice flung back, were finally allowed to come within twenty yards, when the French fired and cut down every man. Three thousand Germans w r ere killed in ten minutes. ■ , Captured German officers state that half' a million Germans are fighting in the Yser district, and their estimate o’ftbe losses is 90,000. One regiment of 1800 strong now numbers eighty. The losses include five Generals.

AVALANCHES OF SHELLS POURED IN YPRES.

(Received 11.35 a.m.) Paris, November 13,

The Gormans are pouring avalanches of shells on Ypres, but the Allies’ artillery is even more formidable, and is inflicting terrible carnage. The Allies’ guns demolished underground galleries in which the Germans were taking \ refuge, and numbers were entombed, ALLIES’ PROGRESS REPORT. (Received 9.35 a.m.) Paris, November 13. ' A communique states that the action from Lys to the sea is Ises severe. The German efforts to cross the Ysor canal failed, and the German attacks to the north-east of. Ypres were repulsed. We gradually advanced during the last few days in the line, Armentieres to Oise, and are now within 300 to 350 metros of the German wire entanglements. We captured Tracyleval and progressed slightly at other points north of the Aisne, We repulsed the

German counter-attack? at Chavonne and Soupir and also at Berry-au-bac, and made some progress elsewhere. GENERAL. The Daily Chronicle’s Calais correspondent states that Germans made a determined night attack on La Bussee on Tuesday. The British allowed the infantry to pierce their lines, and get well on the road to Bethuno Then they halted on the slope of the hill, and opened a terrifying rifle and artillery fire, which overturned the German gun-carriages, and reduced the infantrymen to a panic-stricken mob. The Germans abandoned ’wo 18-inch and one I&J-inch howitzers. During the bombardment of Ypres on Tuesday, the Germans shelled the railway station, hoping to blow uo an armored train. At the time a special train was at the station, conveying a thousand German prisoneis to France. Only 284 escaped unscathed, 161 were seriously injured, and the rest were killed. They lie unbtiried at the station.

A Swiss doctor serving with the Germans near Craonne declares that the misery in the trenches is inconceivable. There is no lire or warm food or drinkaible water. Night is dreaded, for fear of the Senegalese gliding ’in the dark over ramparts of unburied dead. They often leap from the glacis like cats, and cut the throats of the sentinels.

A correspondent says that the valley of the Aisne has been banged and battered in the most terible way. Village after village has been “knocked into a cocked hat.” The normal population of Soissons is 15,000, but now there are only 1500. The inhabitants of the valley exhibit unquenchable optimism. ,

According to Amsterdam reports, the Kaiser last week visited the trenches within 600 yards of the Allies, and urged the men to defeat the enemy. The soldiers cheered him. The Figaro states that the Allies have found numerous bodies of Germans in the vicinity of Ypres, executed and tied to trees because they refused to advance.