EARLY MESSAGES

Timaru Herald, Volume CVII, Issue 16619, 26 August 1918, Page 6

EARLY MESSAGES

-Western campaign : ADVANCE ON BAPAUaiE, . JBRpiSH AImIeS~PROGRESSING. , JFRESH SUCCESS IN FLANDERS. (Australian and N T .Z. Gable Assn.} £ LONDON., August 23. , Si£ Douglas Haig reports: English , Eastern 'County, London and Australiatn j.troops holding the sector between .thefSoniine and the Anere attacked witli rthe fobject of carrying positions on the tigh'ground traversed by the road between Bray-sur-Somme and Albert. The attack 'was completely successful. We captured the whole.of our objectives at an early : hour and advanced two miles on a front of over six miles. We re.took Albert. The enemy strongly resisted at certain points, particularly the slopes northward of Bray, .which itself did not .form part of our objective. In this ■ latter section a counter-attack.pressed .■us .back 500. yards. " ' The fighting continued for some time in Albert, until the town was finally .cleared by our troops. In this successful operation we took 1440 prisoners and captured a, few guns.

Wo also made progress on tho left bank of the Ancre southward of Beaucourt.

Northward of the Anere the enemy ': \ heavily at a number

of After we had repulsed mis hostile assault in the early morning in the Mirauniont sector, the.enemy again attacked in this sector andfentered our lines. -.■ A counter-attack immediately drove "him out. The enemy also succeeded north-westward of 'Acliiet lo Grand in pressing hack "our ' forward points, but again our re-established tho position and 200 ot the enemy-.were taken: prisoners.

We repulsed other attacks eastward of Courcelles and eastward of Moyenneyvillc. Wo took a total of over 5000 prisoners yesterday between the Sonune _and Moyenneville. On the Lys front we progressed eastward of Merville and in the direction of Neuf Berquin, taking prisoners and machine-guns. We also advanced on the line northwa'rd of Bailleul on a front of one mile and a half, taking prisoners. We repulsed a raid in the neighbourhood of Dickebush. WHOLE FRONT ABLAZE. SUCCESSES IN FLANDERS.' Sir Douglas Haig reports:—Fighting is proceeding practically on the whole front between Lihons aud the Cojeul river. AVe are progressing at a number of points. - We repulsed two attacks during the night in the neighbourhood of Dailiescourt Farm, eastward of Beaucourt.

v. "We slightly advanced- our.; /line eastward of Lc I'ouret and north-west of Ncuf Berquin and : eastward: of Outtersteene. A local hostile: attack lorMiwestward of Bailleul broke down bef jra our position. -''■', ?, •,-...

GREATEST BATTLE ON WESTERN j FRONT. I NEW YORK, August 23. The British have reached Gomiecourt and.Boyelles. The Albert-Arras battle is described as the greatest on the Western front. MIRAUMONT CAPTURED. GERMANS-MUST RETREAT. ON THIRTY-MILE LINE. . The British hold Miraumont/ :i r te.five changes of possession. Indications ara appearing that the Germans will be compelled to retreat along a line of thirty miles. The British have captured Bellevillo and reached a point south of Avol'iv. , ; , "« ON THE RAILWAY. THURSDAY'S GREAT STRUGGLE. LONDON, August 23. Mr Ncvinson, cabling at noon on Thursday, says:—The prisoners taken in to-day's advance already total 2600, and wje have captured three guns. The number would be larger, but the Germans withdrew their guns immediately the attack began. . Miraumont has not been occupied, but is becoming encircied It is full of gas. Some of our tanks have been reported to have got across the railway aud been seen along the Bapaume road. Their fate is not known. The heaviest fighting occurcd at Courcelles and the Beauregard "dovecote," which is northwestward ofMirau-

monk. Our casualties were slight. The prisoners taken by most of the divisions outnumbered tlieir casualties. Fuller details of .yesterday's fighting show that mist saved many hundreds of .British lives, because the German infantry and machine-gunners could not see the assaulting troops until they were close upon them. Very naturally, however, our tank battalions lost direction and became confused during the attack.

Wo took Moyenneville without difficulty and proceeded towards the railway.

It is stated that tanks crossed the railway line, but were lost in the fog beyond.

The struggle for the railway lasted till 6 o'clock in the evening, when it was gained. AVe are now holding tho ridge a mile beyond the line. Some of our tanks are reportbadly gassed by shells during the assembly, showing that the enemy on this part of the line vvas less surprised than elsewhere.

The prisoners taken ac- I.ogcast "Wood declare that their part of the German army is in good condition, and well fed, but there is a great vl-ortage of first lieutenant?. This gives an indication drainage of Germany's best young blood. There was some opposition at Ablainzeville, Bucquoy aud Achiet le Petit, but hardly any at Puisieux.

The division attacking Achiet lo Grand did not quite succeed. in taking it. The enemy still this afternoon held the railway cutting southwards of the town. This is unfortunate, because the lin-j curves westward and threatens to expose our right flank. We put down a barrage here at mid-day to-day preparatory to an assault.

We filled the ruins of Irles, across the railway, and Miraumont with gas. Miraumout has .not been directly attacked and no-one would now wish to enter that once admired place. The heaviest fighting on Wednesday and Thursday night and Thursday was in the neighbourhood of Serre and the dovecote. Our forward battery at Serre was heavily gassed to-day. Counter-attacks, including one by fiesh divisions from Morris, failed.

Aeroplanes have dono great service, bombing transports and communications. They pursued ind destroyed a train.

THE "DOVECOT." ' BATTLE EOkTa REDOUBT. j LONDON, .August 23. j Mr Pcreival Phillips, describing the moonlight battle at Beauregard '•dovecot,'"' says the German gunners held out during most of "Wednesday, until the English cleared the position in the late afternoon. They found two wireless operators huddled amid the wreckage of their aparatus and a solitary field-gun. Before the gnn could be salved the Germans counter-attacked and we dropped back, picking our way amidst hot- shelling through the craters in the brilliant moonlight. The batteries concentrated in a kind of desperation, putting down as heavy a screen as they 'could before the gateway to Bapaume. The Germans had- hardly beguu to dispose their new machine-guns in niches of the redoubt before they were again overridden. Bayonets' flashed in the- moonlight, and the English again manned the redoubt. Then fresh troops re-attacked at dawn. The impact of this blow sent back some of our troops nearly" to the original line. This did not discourage them, however, for they stormed the dovecot a third time at 7 o'clock in the morning and got it. The airmen wore strafing the ground all day. They caught a transport column in a cutting and obtained eight direct hits. The remaining waggons bolted, tried to turn and became jammed at another angle of the road, where an airman fell upon them, with excellent results.

The prisoners include an Austrian artillery captain, whose unit from the ■ Tyrol has been in the line opposite us i at Courcelles. This officer Is polite ami anxious to please, very different from • the Prussians. A DAY'S HAUL. MORE VILLAGES OCCUPIED. The United Press Agancy's correspondent reports that the British to-day took 1000 prisoners and reached Biory, i Bequerelles, Hamelineourt and Gommie- . court, while Bray is practically surrounded. CONTINUED FRENCH PROGRESS. NUMEROUS VILLAGES TAKEN. A French communique reports: Dur ing the day we continued our along the whole buttle front between the Matz and the Oise. We are the Divettc from its mouth to Kvri<ourb. East- of the Oise we carried our lines to the oirtskrts of Quicissy. Between the Ailette and the Atstie we captured St. Aubiii, Selens, Thagneux, Epagny, Bieuxy, Vaurezis <ind Pommiers. The enemy abandoned great stores of material between the Aisne and the Oise. Over 200 guns have been counted since August 20. BRITISH GAINING "GROUND. PROGRESS TOWARDS BAPAUME. NEW YORK, August 23. The British between Lihons and the Cojeul river are fighting a heavy battle on a twenty-live mile front. The Germans are reported to he flinging masses of men against the British in an endeavour to stave off disaster. The British Third Army gained a mile on a front of seven miles. The British Fourth Army gained two miles on a front of seven miles and has taken 2000 prisoners already. French troops ars across the Oise eight miles east of Noyon. G fen era I Margin's Army has captured 3000 additional prisoners. The British are Hearing Bapaume. GENERAL MANGINS ADVANCE. DISORDERLY RETREAT. LONDON, August 28. Mr Pen-is writes:—General Mangin's advance eastward of the Oise was sometimes stoutly resisted. Elsewhere it proceeded with singular ease. The capture of Moufc de Choisy, bctweeu the Aisne uud Outs., standing *--„

feet above the river valley, was the'decisive point in the success. The Germans viciously defended Cuts, but seeing themselves irresistibly pressed into the low swampy land between tho hills and the river they accepted the inevitable and beat a rapid, and sometimes disorderly, retreat.

General Mangin is holding the Oisc near Koyou. This necessitated the abandonment of the last enemy hold in the Divette rallev

Thursday was mainly devoted to consolidation work. Many cannon, with material and stores, hurriedly abandoned by the enemy, were found behind the broken lines. French cavalry patrols and tanks were out in all directions sweeping the country free of all enemy groups. The French guns arc rapidly coming up. The aviators are incessantly bombing the river crossings. Skill in the plan, the execution of the Allies' latest movement and the way each move has aided she others are striking and big with promise.

THE GERMAN REPORT. A German official message states:— British and New Zealanders attacked between Moyenneville and the Ancre. Their' first onslaught broke; down beforo our battle positions. We captured in a counter-attack portions of " the ground which we had ceded according to plau. We retired a short distance southwestward of Noyon. Wc also withdrew our troops from Carlepont Wood to behind the Oise. The enemy gaiued ground at Bleraucourt. The English made large scale attacks northward of Bapaumo and between Albert aud the- Sorarae, but failed. . ALLIES' ENORMOUS CAPTURES. PARIS, August 23. The "Echo de Paris" estimates that over 100,000 German prisoners have been taken since July ]S. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7.