SURPRISE NIGHT ATTACKS

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 3989, 23 July 1915, Page 6

SURPRISE NIGHT ATTACKS

BRITISH BAYONETS WIN

THRILLING HASH AGAINST GERMAN PARAPETS.

(By COLONEL CHARLES REMINGTON, 0.M.G., Military Export of the London “Times.”!

Before the sun had risen this morning the British Army had stormed the ' German lines from Festubert to Richebourg-I’Avoue. After the failure i of May 9, the situation xvas recon- \ sidered and it was finally decided for j good and sufficient reasons to risk j night attacks. Every soldier knows ! the risks of such attacks, and how : rarely they succeed on a large seals i against good troops, but it was j sary for Sir John French to act in : order to support, his allies, and, as he could not emulate their example and smash the German parapets with high ; explosives, it was to British bayonets j that the task of overthrowing the Germans xvas confided. For several days a slow, well directed and persistent artillery fire xvas ! maintained against the German lines, j but there xxas nothing to indicate the direction of our next attack, and it is possible that these night attacks were not expected by the Germans, who may have considered our previous attack upon them was only a demonstration. HAD TO HOLD TRENCHES. Sir John French had not only to provide troops for the projected assaults, but to hold the long trenches and also have regard to the situation at Ypres, where the German guns have been causing us heavy losses. On Saturday morning I visited the Ypres district and found all reasonably quiet after the furious bombardments of the previous days. Our troops there had suffered much from their inability to silence the German guns of every calibre up to 12-inch, but our troops were still in good heart. A look along the rest of the line down to the region of Lavcntiega gave the impression that no hostile action was pending and I passed on fairly confident that- xve should not be disturbed that night by a German offensive. I wont down to the village of La Couture, where a good view was to be gained of the bombardment against that part of the German front selected for the night attack. This village has suffered much. Most of the inhabitants except the most gallant had fled. The church and church yard, as well as the village, showed signs of devastation, but the havoc wrought by our own shells on the German line xvas greater still.

HEAVY FIRE IN PROGRESS. From our guns and howitzers a well-timed, deliberate and fairly heavy fire was in progress all the afternoon and well into the night. This fire struck the German trenches and fortified posts. It wrecked the barbed wire in parts, and every now and then a heavy explosion or outbreak of fire showed whor our shells had told. I noticed that a heavy battery, which was to the right and rear of my observation post, was firing with groat precision, and its general effect of fire appeared to be good, although it could not be described as overwhelming, or likely to drive good troops out of their works. In the late afternoon Sir John French rode out among the troops, and was received with enthusiastic acclaim. He wished them good luck, and addressed to all a few warm, inspiring words. No one, knows better than he how to strike the right note m an appeal to the soldiers, and liehad the pleasure of observing how keen the men were for a dash at the Germans, how confident they were in his leadership, and how delighted they were that the hour had come at last for an attack. The staff arrangements for the attack were well made. All the column roads were marked, by sign boards; every attention was paid to the perfect ordering of troops. Every movement took place after dusk and it was in complete silence that the various units drew out -of their billets and bivouacs and gradually t-ook their places at the appointed spots. THE NIGHT WAS DARK. The night was dark. The weather was warm. The front?was selected for the first attack. It rained from near Fest-übert on the right to Riche-bourg-PAvoue on the left, but the troops in our trenches to the right and left on this front were also busy and ready to play their part if occasion offered.

We were anything .from 70 to -300 yards from the front trenches of tho Germans and many, nasty obstacles had to be overcome before the. first German trenches were reached. It is not, unfortunately, perniissable to name tho corps, divisions, and regiments of our army which wore engaged, and as the struggle still is in progress, only the briefest record or the night’s work can be given. Our left attacked first at 11.30 p.m. The greater part of it succeeded in storming the German line and in overthrowing the defenders, and bayonet and hand grenade being chiefly used by us with great effect. The night was too dark for any effective shooting. Before long our left centre, dashing in with, cold steel, had penetrated the two lines of German trenches and killed or wounded most of the German defenders and made good a front of about 800 yards in the Gorman position. » MAXIM IFIRE SEVERE.

■ Our extreme left 'attack was leas, fortunate, as the Maxim lire on this side .was severe as well as accurate,