FRANCE & BELGIUM

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144667, 29 April 1915, Page 3

FRANCE & BELGIUM

ADVANCE OF THE ALLIES. SOME PROGRESS MADE. PARIS. April 28. Official. —Our progress north of Ypres continues, also the British. M e have taken numerous prisonors*and captured a trench mortar and machine-guns. Wo assumed the offensive in the Fpargta-St. Bemy —Calonne district. Ac one point of the front an officer counted a thousand German dead. Wc advanced two hundred metres on the eastern slopes of Hartmanns Wilorkopf. DUNKIRK. April 28. The second phase of the battle began on Monday by counter-attacks made by the British and French, who junctioncd wof-t of St. Julicn. Amid the bombardment the Allies attacked along the Sl._ Julicn load, where the German advance was most dangerous. All arnm were engaged. including the cavalry and mounted infantry. The attack encountered varying miccess. At some points the German* held their ground with great tenacity, while at otimrs they ran. closely pursued. Meanwhile the British salient north-east of Zillebeke was much exposed and subjected to an almost overwhelming bombardment on three sides, including seven teen-inch howitzers. No Germans are now on the loft of the canal. The terrible accuracy of the British artillery forced the enemy to evacuate Lizerne. so that, when the Allies advanced they found only smashed walls and dead opponents. THE GERMANS GAIN GROUND.

TIMES AND SYDNEY SDN SERVICES. (Received April 29. S a.m.) LONDON. April 28. Tho Daily Mail correspondent says: ,l lt is even more apparent now that tile honours belong to tho Canadians for spoiling the Germans’ plan, but let none suppose that the Germans gained nothing, for they gained a great dcai, and tho menace remains.” ANOTHER CORRESPONDENT’S VIEW. TIMES AND SYDNEY SDN SERVICES. (Received April 29, 8 a.m.) LONDON, April 2S. A correspondent in tho North of Franco says; “it is generally believed bore that the crisis, has passed. The full force of the German attack has, at any rate, been broken, and ground gamed. They have not materially improved their position.” THE CANADIAN ATTACK. SOME HARD FIGHTING.LONDON, April 28. A Canadian present on Tuesday stated that at 4 o’clock in the afternoon the pickets reported that the French were retiring oil the Vprcs-Langemarck road. A strong north-east wind was moving vivid green smoke four feet high, extending within 300 yards to the left of the Canadian lines. Through the green mist, which was becoming thicker and patchy, came a mass of dated men, reeling like drunkards, who fell as they passed our ranks. The majority were uuwbunded, but- their faces wore an agonised look. Meanwhile the Germans advanced feverishly and entrenched until nine o'clock, when tho Canadians prepared, to attack. Thcfy advanced slowly in order not to tire the men. They found heavy fighting proceeding at St. Julien, where the 14th Canadian battalion was putting up a' stiff struggle. The night was very dark. They found the Germans entrenching in a wood near the British lines, whence they must he driven out with tho bayonet at all costs. They also had to retake the. British guns. The tenth battalion was in the van. Colonel Russell Boyle was killed while leading a charge. “When we reached a low ridge in full view of the wood a hellish fire ms loosed from German rifles and machine-guns hidden in tho. undergrowth skirting the wood. We rushed on, cheering, yelling and swearing. At first the Germans fired too high, our losses being slight until within fifty yards. Then our chaps beann,_to~dtoEl and the. whuja front. lino

incited away. only to be instantly closed up. Shouting, we jumped over the wounded, and not one German with the machine-guns escaped. But in rho wood they ) ought doggedly, though many threw up ilioir hands. M e fought in clumps and batches, the living struggling over tlie dead and dying. At the height of the fight the moon came out of the clouds. The clashing bayonets flashed like quicksilver, and the faces of .the contestants were lit up as by limelight. 5Ve swept on until we came to a lino of,trenches which had been, hastily thrown up. which wore stubbornly defended. All who resisted wcie bayonetted. The rest were sent to the rear.’’ The poison thrown by the Germans on the Vser coloured the ground yellow over a lagro area. Wounded Canadians speak bitterly of the fumes. They say the victims 'became black all over or black and yellow, it. made eyes swell, and if it got in the stomach they were done.General French said when the assault began. “The further they come this way the harder they’ll got whipped,’ 5 His remark has become a slogan among the troops. GERMAN TROOPS IN THE AVEST. , LONDON. April 23. .. The Daily Telegraph publishes a map supplied by the general staff of a foreign State, which shows the positions of the western German armies on April 11. General von Hosier then had four army corps from Nieuport to Ypres. the Dnke of Wurtombcrg live corps Ypres to Arras, the Crown Prince of Bavaria throe corps Arras to Chaulnos. General von Heoringen four corps from Roe to Soissons, General von Kluck three corps from Soissons to Hheims. General von Billow four corps from Uhehns to Suuain, Genera! von Cinern live -corps from Souaiu to Verdun, the Crown Prince four corps from Verdun to St. Miiiiel. General Falkenhauson’s force is not mentioned. A number of corps are distributed from St. Mihiel to Belfort.

THE TURN OF THE TIDE. AMSTERDAM. April 25. Telegrams state that Gorman reinforcements are exhausted and the tide of lighting has turned in favour of the Allies, who witli thousands of fresh troops have resumed the offensive, developing an outflanking attack near Steenstraate. The Germans are now practically fighting on two fronts. A HOSPITAL BOMBARDED. (Received April 29, 8.55 a.m.) PARIS. April 23. Tho Germans bombarded the infirmary at Poperinghe. which was flying the Rod Cross, on Sunday. Three nuns were killed ; one had her head blown off while rescuing children, and several of the inmates were injured. [Poperinghe is seven miles west of Ypres and a similar distance from the nearest point of the Vscr Canal. At such a distance behind the British lines it would be considered safe from attack, and the fact that it was bombarded shows how far tho German advance penetrated.] HEAVY GERMAN LOSSES. ALMOST INCREDIBLE FIGURES. (Received April 29, 9 a.m.) AMSTERDAM, April 28. Tho wholesale movement of troops in Belgium is partly towards tho Vser and partly eastward, presumably for, the Carpathians. The German losses round Ypres are said to be in the ratio of twenty to one of the Allies. (Received 29, 0 a.m.) PARIS, April 28. A communique states that the Germans suffered severe losses. Over six hundred dead were counted at a single point on tho Yser Canal. GERMAN ATTACK STOPPED. (Received April 29, 12.50 p.m.) .LONDON, April 28. Sir John French reports that the German attack on Ypres has definitely stopped. A FRENCH SUCCESS. (Received April 29, 10.15 a.m.) PARIS, April 28. A communique states : —We gained a kilometre on tho Les Esparges-Saint Reray front, inflicting very severe losses. We destroyed-a. .German battery.

FAILURE OF POISONOUS GASES. BELGIANS NOT TROUBLED BY THEM. TReceived April 29,- 9.25 a,m.3 PARIS, April 2?. Le Temps says that the Germans, on Monday night, attempted to c-ncat Saturday’s manoeuvres with The Belgians were warned and took the necessary precautions. When the Germans. confident that the gases had been effective, advanced south of Dixmude in compact masses the Belgian machineguns mowed them down; then the Belgians made a furious charge, routing them with enormous losses.