THE STORM CENTRE.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7920, 18 August 1917, Page 3

THE STORM CENTRE.

TERRIFIC FIGHTING IN FLANDERS. LENS A DEATH TRAP. ALL BRITISH OBJECTIVES GAINED. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON, August 16. Sir Douglas Haig reports: —Early this morning the Canadian troops stormed the German position southeast and east of Loos on a front of two miles. The formidable defences of Hill No. 70 were carried by assault. After storming the first trench system the whole front was attacked, and we advanced to the western defences of Cite St. Auguste, penetrating the position to a depth of a mile.

Besides an elaborate series of trenches and strong points on Hill No. 70, the villages of Cite St. Elizabeth, ! Cite St. Emilie and Cite St. Laurent, is well as Bois Rase and the western half of Bois Hugo are now in our possession. All our objectives were •aptured, and our casualties were slight. During the day five counter-attacks were repulsed by our infantry or broken up by our artillery. One was by troops of the Prussian Guard. Already Lens is a mere death-trap if the Germans continue to hold it. The enemy’s losses were heavy. The number of Germans taken prisoner is not ascertained, but 282 reached the collecting stations this afternoon. On the Ypres battlefront an attack against our positions near the Pil-kem-Langemarch road was completely repulsed.

The formidable defences of Hill No. 70, which since September, 1915, have resisted our attacks, have been strengthened by every device. We bought down nine German aeroplanes and drove down five. Seven of ours are missing, two of which were overtaken by a violent storm. ARTILLERY IN UNISON.

M. Marcel Hutin says that the arillery of all the Allies appears to be triking in unison.

The unfavorable weather in Flanders hampers aviation work, preventing the British artillery from achieving its maximum effect. FRENCH PROGRESS. A French communique states:—We have made appreciable progress west of the Dixmude road in Belgium. There is an active artillery duel on both banks of the Meuse. An enemy attack west of Hill No. 304 was repulsed. ANOTHER ADVANCE. PROGRESS AT ALL POINTS. LONDON, August 16. General Sir Douglas Haig reports: Eastward and northward of Ypres, at 4.45 this morning, the Allies again attacked on a wide front. With heavy fighting progress was made at all points, despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy. On the Lens battlefront three more ?nemy counter-attacks during the night were repulsed. At Cite St. Auguste our artillery broke up the enemy concentration. A French official report states: — Our troops in Belgium are keeping pace with the British, and have captured their objectives, including Steenbeke. LENS MUST FALL. IMPETUOUS ASSAULT BY THE BRITISH. PARIS, August 16. The “Matin” says that the impetuous assault by the British was the most violent witnessed for ten months past. The merciless violence of the fight and its swiftness explain the small number of prisoners captured. The few prisoners taken were completely exhausted by depression. They belonged to the older classes, many of them having been invalided early in the war.

The “Petit Journal” says that if the British attacks north of Lens are continued the fall of Lens is imminent.