THE WESTERN FRONT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 864, 16 November 1916, Page 7

THE WESTERN FRONT.

GREAT BRITISH ADVANCE. BATTLE IX A FOG. Australian and .V.7. Cable Afneiation. PARIS, November 14. The newspapers applaud the British success on the Ancre as being the more remarkable because the weather was not perfect. The assault commenced in a thick fog. The preliminary efforts to reduce the salient north-west of Thiepval included an immense number of aerial reconnaissances. Sir Douglas Haig thus ascertained the exact nature of the obstacles which the enemy had accumulated. The explosion of many mines enabled the seizure to be effected of important points d'appui in the German first line. The battle taking place in a fog necessitated infinite precautions being taken. The troops, advancing without the aid of airmen, were obliged to exercise every care lest they should mistake the enemy. The haul of prisoners is the largest since the advance on the Somme began. Sir Douglas Haig's push was based on his desire to remove an awkward angle in the line before resuming his grand attack on Bapaume. A GALLANT ONSET. FOLLOWS GREAT BOMBARDMENT. Australian and .V Z. Cable Aeutiation. LONDON, November 15. Mr Perceval Gibbon, telegraphing on Monday to the "Daily Chronicle," states:—The British objectives in the present attack included the formidable tangle of trenches and communications on both flanks of Beau-mont-Hamel—the most complicated and elaborate yet constructed on this front.

The village and line generally were subjected for days past to short bursts of intense fire from our heavy j guns, especially the strong points of | the salient. Yesterday the shelling j became serious and precise, and set lup a calculated searching of the ;■whole line. Finally, this morning j before daylight our barrage began, ,'and the attack was set in motion. Shortly after six o'clock BeaumontHamel, in the centre, was carried with almost a single rush, the troops plugging across the village to the sloping ground beyond, and to the road winding towards the Ancre. The land to the northward rises in a broad swell towards Serre. Thither the troops carried all positions until they were well advanced on the slopes, and have dug in successfully. The attack on these points met with the success of surprise. Wounded prisoners state that the first trench was weakly held, but the attackers encountered strong forces in the fourth trench where the enemy, escaping from the advanced positions through the tangle of intricate communications, gathered. Brisk fighting then ensued. Nothing remained of Beaum >nlHamel. It had been levelled like Pozieres, and a dozen other villages over which the tidal wave of battle has rolled. Not even a house remained. There were no signs of where they stood, but thirty feet below the ground a new village had been created, and a labyrinth of great dug-outs, lavishly excavated and finished with typical German thoroughness, constructed. The position south of the Ancre was carried with equal success. Our new line traverses the outskirts of Beaucourt.

THE FRENCH SECTOR. ARTILLERY ACTIVITY. A. and X.Z. Cable Association and Beuttt, PARIS, November 15. An official communique says:—< j North of the Somme the enemy ! artillery was active, but ours i ously replied. The enemy violently bombarded I in the region of Pressoir and in the sector and the branches of La Maisonette. In Argonne we occupied the crater which a German mine created. At Verdun there was an intermittent cannonading action in the region of Douaumont and Vaux. GERMAN ADMISSIONS. LOSSES ON THE ANCRE. A. and X.Z. Cable Association and Renter. LONDON, November 14. A German communique admits the British capture of BeaumontHamel and St. Pierre-Divion, with their lateral connecting fines. The communique adds:—"Our stubborn defence caused us important losses.'' The latter admission is almost unprecedented. TIRED OF VERDUN. CROWN PRINCE LEAVER. Australian and XJZ. Cable Association. LONDON, November 14. It is officially announced from Berlin that the Crown Prince is leaving Verdun, and is taking command in Alsace.