New-York tribune., 1915-03-14

"Ex .ept at one point there was
hardly any resistance, for the trenches,
which in places were literally blotted
out. ere filled with dead and dying,
partially buried in the earth and de-
bris. and the ma ority of the survivors
were in no mood for further fighting.
"To the northeast of the village,
however, ! dy of German ensconced
in some Enclosures, still continued to
holl out TO. a few hours. Three at
tacxs, in spi, of the extreme Tallantry
with which they were conducted, failed
to dislodge them, but by about noon the
arrival of rel. forcements drove the
Germens from their last stronghold in
the village.
"This part of the fghti: g was re-
markable for the manner in which every
part of tho attacking line fforded one
another mutual support.
meanwhile, on he right, rom the
direction of Ri,he)ourg, similar ad-
vance had been made toward Bols u
Biez, a sma rectan: ular wood lying
about one thousand yards to the south
east of Neuve Chapclle. Here also lit
tie res stance was met with, and our
line reached a point about four hun
dred yards fro tie wood.
"In .he afternoon the troops VINO had
seized Neuv Chapel advanced stlIl
further to the east, gaining nearly 1our
hundred yards, while on their LETT
again, north f the village, our forward
movemen progressed for consider
able distance and the fighting con-
tinued long after darkness !; set in'
"The enemy were by this time thor
oughly shaken, and in some parts OF
the field were surrendering in groups.
Throughout the day the Germans con-
tinued 70 hold out in a strong position
at the angle of the crossroads south OF
the village, where they were estao-
Ished in a perfect network of trenches
and barbed wire. This position had
been known as Port Arthur and
hard struggle ragged for some hours
around it, until, at $3.50 o'clock IN the
evening, it was stormed at the point OF
the bayonet.
"By nightfall we were in possession
of allao the enemy's trenches on
front of 1000 yards, representing an
advance of more than l,2OO yards from
our original trenches at the furthest
point. The number of prisoners cap
tured is officially reported to be !oo'
but there is reason to believe that
others were taken who have not yet
been sent in.
During the day two remarkable
feats were performed by our airmen.
One, flying at height OF only lou feet
in order TO make sure Of his marx
dropped bomb on the important rail-
way bridge at Menin, destroying one
of the piers. Another, flying over the
Courtrai Railway junction, dropped a
bomb on the station and completely
wrecked it. These two points are OF
vital Importance to the German COM
municatlons.
THE German batteries on this day
made no effective reply to our artillery
fire.
"On Thursday, March II, the fight
ing continued almost as fiercely as on
the preyious day. The enemy attempted
counter attacks at various points, and
especially from Bois du Biez, but our
GUNS opened on the woods with so
much effect that the Germans did not
emerge from their shelter. little
ground was gained at various points,
hut on the whole the situation re-
NAMED very much as it was on the
previous day.
"The enemy's resistance has stiffened,
hut all his efforts to drive US from the
positions we had gained have beer re-
pulsed with loss. The German drtll-
iery had now become more active;
Neuve Chapelle was heavily shelled,
and the whole line was strewn with
shrapnel.
at is difficult to give an idea of the
result of this striking success upon our
men. They have been paying OFF old
scores; they have now inflicted on the
enemy something of that ordeal which
he inflicted upon us in the earlier
stages of the war by dint OF superior
numbers and weight of artillery. The
enemy, for the time being, was beaten
and on the run. 1t was the cOnsc'o GUS
ness of this which filed the hospitals
and ambulances with the chcerlest
crowd of wounded ever seen there.
"If any further proof of this was
wanted it could be found in the spec
/ tace of an Irishman, shot through the
! chest, recounting his experience to a
voice, audible in the furthest corner
OF the large clearing hospital; 1t could
/ be found also in the sight Of groups
Of injured men on the roads talking
/ end laughing as they limped back to
| our firing line.
/ The columns of prisoners, as they
marched back, threading their way
through ambulances and transport, and
between the waiting ranks Of our re-
serves, afforded no little encourage
ment. The faces of many of them were
bright yellow from the effects of the
lyddite, the majority looked shaken,
and all admitted that the attack had
come as a complete surprise.
Our success does not lie in the fact
that we have gained an extent of ground
probably greater than has ever been
gained in the space of so short a time
/ since the commencement of the present
I form of trench warfare, but in that our
men, in spite of the disheartening ef-
| fects of months Of inactivity in the
/ trenches. have shown the utmost dash
/ throughout these operations.
They have had 10 advance over very