THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE

Timaru Herald, Volume CVII, Issue 16525, 22 April 1918, Page 9

THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE

THE ENEMY REPULSED,

WITH .HEAVY LOSSES,

JJeuter's Telegrams..,

LONDON, April 19. Sir Douglas Haig reports:—We repulsed the hostile attacks which, were reported to be in progress yesterday morning southward of Kemmel. Our I artillery and machine-gun fire broke ■ up attacks in the evening in the samo I locality. The night was comparatively j calm on the whole British front,' save for reciprocal artillerying in the battle 1 Ffctor. Regiments from six German I divisions participated in unsuccessful I attacks'yesterday in the Givonchy-St Venaiit sector. The fighting at Given. j clry, as elsewhere, ended in the comj plote repulse of the enemy, who after , determined and most costlv assaults | only secured a limited footing in one or two points of our more advanced defences. . Our artillery inflicted, heavy casualties before the attacks opened and the enemy Josses in the day's fighting were, equally severe. FRENCH; ATTACKING. I ok both SIDES OPVAVRE. - j Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn. ' A French communique reports:—We • attacked on Thursday morning enemy i positions on both" (sides of the Avre on j a ■ -.front of four kilometres, between j Thennes and Mailly Reinothal. We made appreciable progress east of the | Avre, while westwards .w carried the | greater part of Senecat Wood, advancI ing our lines to the outskirts of Bast.le. Southwards, we reached the western slopes of the heights dominj ating the Avre. We took 500 prison- , ers, including fifteen officers.'-' There wa? fine weather yesterday and much aerial activity was shown, with heavy nil"-fighting. "We carried out several long-distance reconnaissances. LATEST FIGHTING DESCRIBED. Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn LONDON, AprJ 19. i'" Mr Philip Gibbs writes:—During the withdrawal from P.»ssch.?ndaele the Germans hesitated to follow up for many, hours before their advanced patrols drcr.v anywhere niear. Meanwhile our guns, winch, had baen awaiting theni, swept tho ground, killing their outpost parties ;:nd breaking up assemblies at Polygon Wood and elsewhere. The whole of this country is still of a forbiddng nature, the shell craters b:-jng brimful of water. The prisoners here are disconsolate, and have little hope, of reaching Calais. A perious German effort b?gan this morning from Robecq, below St. Venatit, down to Giveuchy, with the* object of gaining the La Bnssee Canal and forming a defensive flank for the enemy, while proceeding with attacks. farther north, and also giving him more elbow room from the salient in which he is wedged below Merville. For this purpose tho enemy brought up several more d'visions. Thr- fiercest fighting 'ccurred opoosibo Givenchy and Festubsrt, lastinir sevpral hours, but the attack failed against the wonderful resistance of our troops. Many German, doad were left 'ying about at La Bsiequerolles. We iosb ihis outpost, but the German •divisions attempting to storm the 'heights of Givenchy itself wers< raked by our lire. ; Several enemy divisions hare lost 50 per cent, of their number in tihe most recent fighting, and the German hops must be dying with their lost men. LUNGE AT BETHUNE. Mr Hamilton Fyfe writes:—This morning the enemy was trying by the uso of very large forces to break through our Givenchy positions and capture Bethuno, but, if he was more successful than before, all the essential points remain steady and secure. The enemy momentarily gained a hill opposite Hinges, two miles north of Berbhune. Fresh troops, attacking vigorously, reached the La Basse? Carnal and threw bridges across, but no Germans crosaad, except as prisoners. Many were shot while attempting to cross, and then tho guns smashed the bridges and gave a, bad time to the enemy masses on the opposite bank, so destroying their moral that parties who crosstd the broken bridges surrendered. There are now ten divisions opposite us on the Givenchy front, four of which have reoently arrived. Thres of thc-m attacked Hinges, using four naves, which is now the usual method tho enemy 'anticipating the loss of tlio first two and expecting the remainder to press over their bodies. 1 ho preparations suggest /that the grea; .effort.here is likely to be pressed to the utmost. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. Mr: Percival Phillips writes:—The ■storm centre was swung to-day back to £]°, Lys Plain, where the reinforced *--Jxth Gorman Arniy is attacking in .tlie.hope of taking Bethune. He has so far failed in this, for nowhei'6 on the fifteen-miles front between Nieppe Forest and Gail, beside the earthwork ol Givenchy. lias Our line given way. Apparently throe German divisions ■"'fire allotted for the. capture of Gvenchy, and ten wore compressed into a'• narrow' space for a drive against the La Basse© Canal westward of Festubert. At Givenchy we met the advancing enemy waves with massed machine-gun fire. There was hard fighting, but the enemy failed to occupy isvon.aii advanced, position. Tho greatest pressure above Givenchy .came against the La Bassce Cin.il from Paoaut Wood, the enemy making an effort to capture the 'oridgebesad on the Hiuaes Boad towards Bethuno

He advanced in the densest waves and our gunners mowed them down. Some reached the Canal, holding up their hands in surrender, and then turned and ran, but few reached Pacaut Wood alive.

FRENCH GENERAL'S STATEMENT. WEARING THE ENEMY. The "Daily Chroaiele's" Paris correspndent interviewed the French Genera] who jhtervoned at Noyon on March 3 and blocked the road to Paris when the British right broke down. The officer said: "Wo husbanded our strength and arrested the enemy. We now hold him firmly. Thanks to our ..superior artillery and our _ greatly superior aviation we are wearing him down. "Messine? and Wytschaeate are only episodes. The German armies have made an effort to score an immediate decision by dividing the Allies, and we h;ive therefore slaughtered his best forces. If thdr effort has not succeeded in a month, what is the future prospect? . . . "Tho enemy, can yet strike, severe blows, but we are daily better prepared, while their case daily grows worse.' Many German divisions nov? in the line are in a lamentable condi tion. Others which have been brought back for the second and third time are little better. For the first time the German 1919 class is now being used to a considerable extent in order to comolelo the number of effectives. •'Very soon, with British and American reinforcements, we shall have the margin we want.'' I GENERAL FOCH'S COUNTER. AN AMERICAN PREDICTION. NEW YORK, April 18. "Tlie Times"- comments that it. sti'i remaincs a secret what General Foch's resources are, but the indications are that he has-'penned a strategical counter-offensive on a considerable scale. Foch's counter-design should take definite form within forty-eight hours. '•The Times" condemns General Maurice's expression, "What's happened, to B.'ucher?" as peevish and in bad taste, and adds that tho reference to Waterloo are an unhappy parallel. The "Tribune" refers' to General Maw ice's "blundering expression," and expresses the hope that there will not be any repetition of it. HEAVY FRENCH BOMBARDMENT. NEW YORK, 'April 18. The United Press' correspondent on the French front reports that the •French are heavily cannonading German lines over a 56-mile front in the ; Somme and. Oiso sectors. k FORCES COMPARED. : v. April 19. British' military officials estimate that Germany still ha 6 840,000 fresh troops <m the West'front. The number of Italians going to France exceeds the number of Unitea States troops there. Official advices state thafc three enemy aeroplanes have been brought down for every one of the Allies in the great offensive. Scores of -Teuton planes-have beau downed datlyj Rome telegrams annc/unOe! thab Halian truons will be sent to France, ptid_ a London message indicates thafc Italian troops Jiave arrived in the Alsaoe sector. ■R-HEIMS RUINED BY FLAMES, j Riheims has been-completely ruined by flames. LATEST FIGHtTntT SUMMARISED. BAD FOR ENEMY. ,*'Tlie Time*." Af t> ' -LONDON, April 19. Mr ±erry Robinson writes:—The 1 news of the Inst twenty-four hours is all good. The Germans attacked .at several points and gained nothing. Their casualties were undoubtedly heavy. Though the heaviest fighting was at Givencny and Robecq, the northern sector remains of the chief interest. The retirement from PasschendaeJo achieved good results. The enemy was slow t» grasp what had happened, and allowed six hours to elapse before cautioiwly advancing. His caution was justified, tor wo wiped out or took prisoner his advance guards. While the enemy was endeavouring to advance in strength our guns were severely handling his formations. In the Polygon Wood area the Germans arc experiencing an unpleasant time in getting their troops, guns and transport, over the shell-pitted blasted region, an aeroplane phlotograph revealing shell holes brimming with water. * Since tho retirement wo have had almost iotal immunity from casualties, while handling the enemy very roughly. The enemy yestorday continued his attacks on Kemmel, without success. Our line runs practically through Moteren. Our guns are more active than the enemy's, their roar and the whistle of shells through the air completely dominating the noise of the German shell bursts. The attacks on Givonchy were very heavy and were desperately pushed There were sixteen or seventeen divisions on the front from Hollebeke to Morris yesterday. Attacks were launched in throe successive separate drives from Kemmel to midway between Baiileul. and Drnnsutre and at Meferen, and all were beaten off. The attacks at Kemmel were of the fiercest nature, involving great -enemy lofses. There was a bitter struggle around Meteren, practicably the whole village 'ceing p. No Man's Land. Wo hold tho northern edge. Mutual artillery fire make? the ruins untenable. The result of tho Germans' failure at each point has undoubtedly increased our confidence. If the line of IxilU is gained it will be at a great cost. The line was very thin five or six days ago, when the Germans were ordered to capture Kemmel at all costs, and its seema miraculous that we ' held them. The enemy should have got there cheaply. The position is different now. Apart from our own increase in strength it ispermissible to stairs that the French are with us here, as elsewhere. Last night the enemy shelled tho lines heavily, especially at Robecq. He succeeded in the darknesr, in rushing an advanced post at Saqucrelle farm. A heavy bombardment began this ir.orning and lasted five hours. The enemy attacked at nine o'clock. He was unfortunate from the start. Our guns aot on to the main forces assembling at Calonno, on the Clarence River, down to Riezze du Vinage>. His losses wore heavy. The attack extended to Robecq and Givenchy and was particularly heavy in the centre towards Hinges, but our guns and .machine-guns and rifles smothered four successive waves. The enemy nowhere gained ground, except at one post near Givenchv.