FRANCE & BELGIUM

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144670, 3 May 1915, Page 3

FRANCE & BELGIUM

SITUATION UNCHANGED. HEAVY GERMAN LOSSES. LONDON, May 1. Field-Marshal Sir John French reports that the British situation is unchanged. Activity is confined to tho artillery, ' The Gorman losses in Flanders for tho past week arc unofficially estimated at 25,000 to 30,000. TEE CANADIAN EIGHT. A FINE RECORD. LONDON, .May 1. The Press Bureau published uio record ot aa officer witu tho Canadians. He stated four divisions (.80,000 men), supported by immensely superior heavy artillery, attacked the second ami third Canadian brigades (800.1 men), holding a live thousand yards front—namely, the Vpres-Roiilers railway to Vprcs-Poet Cappe.le Road. When the Zouaves retreated, the Canadians, iu a moment’s notice, imd to extend their lines to nine thousand yards. Liner on Thursday the first Canadian Brigade, which -was in reserve, was hurried up. The Canadian Scottish oatlaliotr and the IClh Battalion led tin- assault in a wood, west of Saint -Juhen, as cabled. They louud the Germans had blown up four guns which were captured on the evening of the 22iul during an assault. Fitenom machine-guns was played upon tho Canadians like a watering-pot. The situation was so critical at dawn that the commander decided it was essential to counter-attack the German trenches, two miles and a half ahead. General Mercer led the Ist and -Ith Battalions, assisted by a British brigade. Colcucl Burciiill, carrying a cane, cocfHy. rallied the men, wavering under a withering fire. A moment later he fell dead, heading the -!th Battalion. The Canadians sprang forward, to avenge, and an astonishing charge followed. ’] hey pushed home in tileface ot direct frontal lire in broad daylight. After a linud-to-hand struggle, llte last German was bayoneted and "the trenches were won.

.Meanwhile the Germans made several omissions of poisonous gas, forcing llic Montreal Highlanders to abandon tho trenches. Hut they rallied and reoccur iod them. The Herman onslaught finally loired the 3rd Brigade to retire to the left dank upon Saint Juhon wood.

Captain .M'Craig, of the .Montreal Highlanders, was seriously wounded in a trench, and might have been carried to safety, but refused, am] continued in command. When orders were received to withdraw, the men wished to take him, but Cap,lain M‘Craig resolutely rotnsed to burden them, and he was left m the abandoned trench with three loaded Colt revolvers waiting in racked pa [it to sc!! his life ns dearly as possible. Seven British battalions reinforced the Canadians on Friday afternoon, but ihe Germane increased their artillery fire and overwhelming superiority of numbers. Stubbornly contesting every yard, the 3rd Brigade abandoned Saint Julien. h would have been impossible, without hazarding a large force to disentangle the two to three hundred .Montreal Highlanders and Royal Montrealers in Saint dulien. As cabled, their rifle fire was heard hours after the rest of the Canadians had left. If the Montrealers died, they died wonhv of Canaria.

Meanwhile tho rediroment of tho 3rd Brigade left Brigadier-Genera! Curry's find Brigade in the air. General Gnrrv Hung his left Hank southwards, as the 3rd Brigade had done when expelled from the trenches by the emission of gas. General Curry counter-attacked and retook the trenches a! tho bayonet point. General Cnrrv did not leave tho trenches until the German artillery was obliterated.

(■eii'.'iai Aidorson. on Sunday, commanding tho British reinforcements, took up the attack. As the Britishers passed the Canadians’ lino they paused and gave deep-throated cheers lor Canada.

The German attacks wore pressed so fiercely on Monday that General Aiderson asked General Cnrrv if his shrunken brigade was able to return to the tiling line. He replied that tho men were tired, but ready and glad to return.

General Curry's brigade, though reduced to a quarter of its original strength, returned to the hottest section of the fiebt, and held the position through Monday, and only retired tVom the fight on Wednesday. FRENCH OFFICIAL REPORT. PARIS, May 1. _ Official.—We progressed north of Vpres five hundred metres to -a kilometre, capturing two lines of trenches and many prisoners. Onr dirigible bombarded the railway at Valenciennes. The Germans are hastily forming new infantry and artillery brig-dels at Bettes for the Vsrr, which in.'kc 120PO 1 ' smith of Peel Capueile. DUNKIRK BOMBARDED. BY GERMAN HEAVY GUNS. PARIS, May 1. The first shell fell at Dunkirk at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. It came as a bolt from tho blue and tho first effect was amazement. Presently three German aeroplanes appeared and reconnoitred over the town. Over a diameter of three kilometres shells began to fall in quick succession, the airmen apparently directing the fire. The shells were spattered over tho town and great diimage was done. Anti-aircraft gnus drove off the airmen and tho bqlnbardment ceased. There was no panic amongst the population, but a few thousand quitted tho town, mostly Calais-wards. Critics opine that the Germans brought up guns of largo calibre intended to assist in the recent effort to roach Calais.

PARIS, May 2. Official. —The bombardment of Dunkirk is fresh proof that the Germans are unable to pierce our line. They are endeavouring td impress neutrals with demonstrations which are of no military value. Ton move shells were fired on Dunkirk. Thera were several casunlites.

LONDON, May I. Official. —British aviators dropped fourteen bomba on the German land guns which bombarded Dunkirk. ° Newspapers suggest that the Germans have established monster guns near Nieuport.

MORE ABOUT THE BIG GUN. RANGE OF 21 MILES. (Received May 3, 11-.28 a.in.) LONDON, May 2. Official.—A deserter to the French states that Krupp’s engineers have been two months at Dixraucle mounting a long range naval gun, which he believed bombarded Dunkirk from thirtyeight kilometres (31 j miles). As there were only nine shells in the second and third bombardments it is believed the discharges damaged the gun, or that French aviators prevent it firing. FRENCH AIRMEN KILLED. (Received May 3. 8.10 a.in.) PARIS, May 2. Two French aviators while roconnoit. ring near Chalons fell and were killed. A CARPET OE CORPSES. GERMANS MOWN DOWN WHOLESALE. (Received May 3, 9.10 a.in.) PARIS, May 2. After penetrating the Belgian line between Vpres and Langemarck the Germans entrenched preparatory tn a further advance. Meanwhile the Belgians concentrated a grenadier battalion with many machine-guns in strong entrcnehmenis and silence was ordered. The Germans confidently advanced in massed formation 1 towards Yprcs and were allowed to approach within 150 metros, when a Belgian whistle sounded and every rifle and maehine-gim worked at- its fullest capacity. The foremost German ranks were unable to escape owing to the pressure of the masses behind, and soon the ground was i carpeted with German corpses, a thousand being killed or wounded. Tim remainder broke and fled. The Belgians had a few killed and ICO wounded.

GERMAN’ AIRMEN WRECKED. (Received May 3, S.lO a.m.) LONDON, .May 2. A Dutch steamer picked up two German airmen in a wrecked at-roplano near the Nordhondcr lighthouse. TRADE WITH HOLLAND RESUMED (Received May 3. 0.1-5 a.m.) AMSTERDAM, May 2. The Zealand Shipping Company resumes its regular mail service to England to-day. HIGH COMMISSIONER’S REPORT. WELLINGTON. May 3. The Allies progressed non h of Ypres, capturing two lines of trencher. The Gormans used 15-inch guns from their lines in Flanders in. the bombardment of Dunkirk. British aviators located and dropped bombs on the guns. A Berlin official message states that the Germans'reached tlio Dundbergl.ihau railway. The Russians lost heavily and retreated, losing 1000 prisor/irs. German activity north of the Nit-men is believed to lie a demonstration connected with (ho movements c: the fleet covering the landitig of troops on Russian soil. THE EFFECTS OF BOMBARDMENT.

The following d.'.-rriptinu of tho effects. of the British borfibardment of the- German positions in the Belgian village of Messincs, near Vpros. is tonmint'd in a icount report from the official ‘'Kvo-tviino-t ' attached xo the hcad- ( quarters of the British Army in FlanI dels:—“The tiny was bright and clear. 1 and owing to the prominent position of the village the result of .he bombardment could be plain'y soon. As each shell burst, tlic village, with its old square rhnrrli tower and red roofs, was blotted out in a cloud of smoke and red dust tausoc by the shattering of bricks ■and tiles. file effect of high explosive detonating among buddings is tremendous, and does not depend upon the damage caused by the actual splinters of the shell, which is comparatively small, but upon the fact ’that every brick and stone, in fact, all solid objects within a considerable radius, become death-dealing missiles,, which are hurled for hundreds of yards in every direction. The astonishing strength of many of the old medieval buildings in this country, such as the Templars’ Tower at Nienport and the church tower of Messines, is evinced by the fact that they have resisted bombardment by modern artillery. The latter is. of course, in a more or less ruinous condition, ns a result of the German bombardment four months ago; great blocks of masonry have been blown off it, the belfry lias been shot away, the interior is completely burnt out, but the frame work, though irregular in outline and full of gaping holes, still stands doliatu amid the surrounding ruins. Tiro church contained a very fine oak screen, in the centre of which was a life-size plaster crucifix. When tho British evacuated the place on October 31. the llmnan she’lr. had set alight to the woodwork, which was completely burnt, and everything in the church destroyed, with thy sole exception of the crucifix, which was not touched.”