GOBBLES AND THIEPVAL TAKEN.

Timaru Herald, Volume CV, Issue 160, 28 September 1916, Page 7

GOBBLES AND THIEPVAL TAKEN.

f GREAT BOOTY CAPTURED. i. THE ROUMANIAN CAMPAIGNS. REVOLUTION IN GREECE. \ THE ZEPPELIN RAIDS..:".., GERMANY'S FOOD . SHORTAGE..;.;.

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-u.uaiidu.ui Roceived 6.50 p.m., Sept. 27th".-\ - LONDON, Sept. 27. Sir Douglas Haig reports:—We have caprared Thiepval and the .high ridgo eastward, including the Hohenzollern redoubt. The successes of the last two days are of very considerable importance. [Thiepval is on the left of the British advancing line and about seven miles north-west from-Combles.]

could. v The enemy's guns wore-quick to barrage our lines. Our, mou-along the Morval-Lcs Boeufs road went through the curtain, of firo and the trenches and villages in a rapid, irresistible assault. The trenches were attacked by a body of troops already sorely tried by great and" successful' achievements elsewhere., They were' tired in body, but their spirit was alert and keen and they advanced grandly. The whole operation was carried out without heavy casualties, except at-- one point where machine guns in strong emplacement caused a temporary check. By 3.30 all the ground south-westward of Morval and tho whole village of Les Boeurs were in | our hands. At 5 o'clock our airmen reported that tha Germans wero withdrawing their batteries. Higher up between Les Boeufs and Gueudecourt (north-west of Les Boeufs) we did not progress so much! The enemy was able to maintain his defence of the village of Gueudecourt, though the British forced their way to tho outskirts in tho face of machine gun | fire. VIOLENT BOMBARDMENT. A' TESRIBLE BATTLE. PARIS, Sept. 27. An eighty-four hours' bombardment of unprecedented violence preceded the ■ general attack on Monday. The deafening roar of guns suddenly ceased at 12.30 and from Martinpuieh to the Sommo there was a deadly silcuce. The French and British sprang from their trenches and advanced to the assault. Tho ensuing battle was possibly tho bloodiest ever fought. Tho understanding between, the artillery and infantry, was so perfect that the seventy-fives were sometimes hurling volleys only twenty-five metres in front—(a metro is roughly 39 / inches) the assaulters. ' The British had the first success, tho French having a terrible struggle with a Prussian Brigade between Lo Priez and Raneourt. The British carried Hill 150, east of Flers, in a most brilliant manner and penetrated the ruins of Les Boeufs. But they had three hours' hard fighting before they penetrated part of the village. The rest of the read between Fregicourt and Les Boeufs and the entire village wore captured by 6 o'clock. .. COMBLES AND THIEPVAL. STORY OF THE CAPTURE. Received 11.45 p.m., Sept. 27th. PARIS, Sept. 27. Tho Allies celebrated tho anniversary of last year's offensives in Artois and Champagne with a brilliant advance, culminating in the capture of Combles and Thiepval. Tho twelve miles offensive was the most extended yefc at- „ tempted on the Sonime., and included i

- HEAVY COUNTER ATTACKS. • (Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) Received 10.5 p.m., Sept. 27th. LONDON, Sept. 27. As a result of the capture of Fregicourt and Morval the Anglo-French occupied Combles. We have beaten off heavy counter attacks in the neighbourhood of Marval and Les Boeufs, with severe enemy losses. We stormed the fortified village of Gueudecourt, and have driven the Germans back in disorder. The Zollern redoubt was very strongly fortified by an elaborate system of heavily wired trenches, and was defended with desperation.

(High Commissioner's Cable.) LONDON, Sept. 27 (1.5 a.m.). French official. —The booty captured in Combles is enormous, comprising munitions and provisions of all sorts. Ono hundred German wounded are prisoners. Combles is" full of German corpses. Since yesterday we captured 1200 unwounded prisoners and 30 machinp guns.

FRENCH PUSHING FORAVARD

(Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) PARIS, Sept. 27. Communique.—The French, pushing forward this afternoon, seized a small wood northward of Fregicourt, and the bulk of the strongly organised ground between the wood and the western point of Saint Vaasb wood, eastward of Bethuno road.

THE RECENT GAINS. MORVAL, LMS~BOEUES, RANCOURS. HARD FIERCE FIGHTING. Received 8.35 p.m., Sept. 27th. LONDON, Sept. 26. Mr Philip Gibbs, war correspondent, states that tho enemy massed many machine guns against us. There was hard fierce fighting and they did not yield easily on tho first and second lines., though afterwards, when our men tried to atop them somo ran if they

a dcrablo movement against Bapaume and Peronno. Tho first two days cf the battle wero an excellent example of closo co-operation of General loch's and Sir Douglas Haig's armies. It was iinpossiblo for tho Germans to plead a surpriso attack, for an eighthours cannonade was ample warning. Yet tlio enemy in a few hours lost two imporant fortresses, five fortified villages, eight miles of trenches, and between four and five- thousand prisoners, apart from tho garrisons of Combles and Thiopval, tho numbers oE which are stiU unknown. Lastly the ofrensivo has driven a doop wedgo into tho angle of high roads leading to Bapaume, upon which the whole Gorman position in the Sommo was mvoted. Tho British advanced posts aro now within threo miles of Bapaume. i Tho Regulars, Territorials, and men from overseas all shared in the victory. As a wholo tho victory was cheap. The I rapidity of tho Allied success -was duo to tho fact that the British wore reaping tho advantage of the capture of tho heights from Thiepval to Comhhs earlier in tho month. The weather I was glorious, and excellent for aviation work.

VIVID -DESCRIPTION

OF THE ALLIED ATTACK

Received 0.35 a.m., Sept. 28th.

At the commencement of the battle on Monday tho British attackers were massed five hundred yards beyond Tho Flers crest and beyond Ginchy, overlooking Gueudecourt and Les Boeufs in the valley. Then a bend in the lino tended southwards. 'The Britishers massed in Leuzo and Bouleatix woods threatening Morval and Comblos. Tho French gathered at Le Priez farm and the suburbs of Rancourt, and ilso overlooked Combles, lying in a pocket of low hills. Tho Gorman resistance was everywhere determined, but the most desperate fighting occurred at Les | Boeufs, Morval and Fregicourt. The Germans knew that holding those v/as' the last hope of saving Combles Tho, British guns in Boulcaux Wood had ai- , ready made Morval road useless, sothat tho road running from Fregicourt to Saiily was the only German letreat. After Les Boeufs was taken'tho Germans counter-attacked again and again and in the end were forced to fall back to Saiily. Seeing the Germans running, the British, regardless of their own shell ban-ago, stormed through tho northern part of tho village and' well 1 out beyond. The defenders of Morval were covered by a height called the Old Telegraph Hill, whero the enemy had erected a number of batteries and machine gun forts, and an extensive sys--teni of wired trenches. This was.' a tough morsel but tho British rushed it.' There was also a formidable line of trenches, arid a well fortified sunken road, and tho southern-'side of JVloiial was exposed to enfilading fire from Combles increasing tho British ,diffi-, culties. Finally a mass attack at five i o'clock shattered the Gorman resistance ' and by six o'clock the remnants of the. dofendors were fleeing round and along i the Saiily road. i

Meanwhilo the French less sensationally advanced east of Combles, though thoy had equally fierce fighting." The Germans early realised the hopelessness of tho struggle, and while the French were attacking Rancourt thoy hurriedly removed, some of the many guns cefending Combles. The French met the most desperate resistance from a. farm between Trogicourt road and the main' road to Bapaume, which was strongly fortified with guns and machine guns. Tho French artillery had for days vairly sought to demolish the defences of tliis farm. Once tho infantry onterod it, but were forced bade. Finally it became a matter of bayonets against a hail of load from machine guns, and the bayonets won. By. 4.30 in the afternoon of Monday the Germans were flung beyond the Fregicourt road. Fighting in the suburbs of Combles continued all night long. Except in a narrow ravin o running north-eastward which was everywhere under Allied guns, Conibles was 'completely encircled.

Generals Foch and Haig determined not to delay its capture. Regardless of concrete subterranean shelters covering bombers and machine gun emplacements, and an extraordinary tajiglo of barbed wire, tho British attacked tho west of the town whilo tho French seized the cemetery on the cast. By night the whole of Combles' was captured, a railway dividing the sections falling to tho British and French attacks. Many of the garrison in attempting to escape strayed into the British lines, and others were killod in the Allied barrages.

; The captured guns and booty, liavo j not yet been counted.

BATTLE RENEWED. A GREAT DAY'S WORK. Received 9.40 p.m., Sept. 27th. PARIS,-Sept. 27. Communique.—r-The battle has been renewed north of tho Sommo. Tlio Allies largely increased their gain ond reached tho objectives lixed for tlio second day's fighting. In tho same hours as the French this morning captured part of Combles, east and south of the railway thoir patrols co-operated with tho British, who wero cleaning up the north-west of Combles. Shortly afterwards the whole village was captured. The booty is large as the C4ermans had accumulated enormous munitions supplies in subterranean galleries. A hundred abandoned German wounded wero collected and Combles was full of German corpses.