PROGRESS OF THE WAR
I The stirring news is transmitted I to-day that the AmeHcan First I Array, has taken up the running in the Allied offensive' on the West front,; and' has scored a brilliant initial success. At time of writing .only unofficial reports.are available, but' taking, these at their face value the' Americans have- given' a -splendid' account of themselves in .their first independent battle ..on. a ..big scale. News as it stands declares that they have deeply penetrated the German defences of the St. Mihicl salient, taking ]0,000 prisoners, artillery, and material, and capturing ten villages. The- report that Thia-n----■court has been captured 'means, if it is accurate, that the Americans are. astride the railway communications feeding' the salient 15 mileseast of its apex. If the United States troops have in fact established themselves at 'I.hiaucourt the bt. Millie) salient is doomed, and the only-course 'open to tho enemy is to make' the best retirement possible towards the borders of German Lorraine. 'All details for the moment await official confirmation,' but the fact that the Americans are attacking as an army' obviously opens a new and promising chapter in tho war. 1 • They had already given signal proof of their quality as soldiers, but until the present battle opened they had fought only as units attached to the French and British armies, chiefly to tho i'rench. Full American divisions -wero--employed apparently in the battles-of • the Marne salient, but they were attached to French armies ■and French generals directed the operation?. Fighting- under these conditions- the Americans gained jiigli. renown, and- contributed I heavily to the (Meats. inflicted on the enemy this year,.but the appearance of a completely" organised American army, immediately con-trolled-by its own Gommander-in-Cliicf,.General Pekshijjg, marks a big step forward. Whatever course the Western campaign may take in .tho immediate- .future the significance of this event will not be lost upon the enemy. '.'-.* * . * . » The St. Mihicl salient, upon which, the American'blow has fallen, has Jong been a familiar feature on war maps. Wijt-h detail variations, but always with its apes extending across the Mouse at St. Mihicl, 20 •niles south of Verdun, it has been held by the Germans for nearly four years. It may be described as a relic of the abortive efforts made by the enemy in the early days of the war to i. break through tho line of barrier forts guarding the French eastern frontier. Fort clu Camp clcs.Romans, cpmmandingly placed ™ a." elevation., just south of St. Mihiel, stands midway between Verdun and the fortress of Toul. The Germans moved across the Woevre Plain from Mctz in the later period of their retreat to the Aisne, and in its early development the diversion looked formidable. Capturing St. Mihicl and the hill to the south on September 28, 1914, the Germans established a bridgehead west of the Mouse, and cut the direct railway connecting Verdun with the barrier torts further south. Had the attack developed prosperously it would have threatened' to envelop Verdun and portion of the -field army defending it. 'The German thrust, however, was speedily arrested, at first by a couple of French cavalry corps; and before long tho Germans were firmly held in •■ the bridgehead, which they were destined to hold, as the event proved for nearly four years. While the apex of the salient became a fixed point in the Western battlefront a< good deal of fighting occurred at different times on either flank". Before the end of 1914 the l'rcnch made some headway .in driving in tho southern wall' of the salient in the vicinity of Pont-a-Mousson, near the Lorraine border, and early in the following year they captured sonic ' high ground south-east of Verdun (including tho Lcs Eparges spur), looking intb the salient from the Prior to theGerman offensive against Verdun in 1916 the St. Mihiol salient was narrow, but its defence was'simplified by its excellent railway 'communications and.by the utilisation of tho deep narrow valleys, with abrupt sides, which intersect the Wonvro Plain. In tho course r>f their, great defensive battle at Verdun the .French withdrew their front south-east of Verdun from the Wocvro Plain and from some of the high ground on its verge, and the. St. Mihiel salient as a. result was considerably widened. While the struggle on tho Verdun front continued anxious eyes were at times turned upon St. Mihiel, for the danger appeared that the enemy might supplement his main attack with a turning movement on tho south. Of late, however, the vajjie of. the St._ Mihiel" salient as .an offensive-'.position.' has largely disappeared The attack in which
the Americans arc now taking tho principal part is significant, not as a mere rectification of line, but as a move, towards tho frontier\oi German Lorraine, and therefore as a possible step towards counterinvasion. * a * » According to the latest messages in hand the battle is going well. Official details are lacking, but -it is indicated' that the Americans are steadily driving in the sides of tho salient, while the French, keeping pace, are driving it in from the apex. As yet, however, there isYno other confirmation of the report that the Americans have captured Thiaucourt than a statement that they have advanced in places to a depth of five miles. A shorter advance than this, from the southern face of the salient, wuulcl give the at-. tacking'troops Thiaucburt and other villages named in the news, and carry them right across the enemy's railway communications with almost tho whole area of the salient as it stood when the battle opened. Although interest'centres at prosent in the enterprise of'' the American pioneer army, tho British also have made highly progress in recent fighting, particularly in the area south-west of Cambra i. Sir Douglas H,ug reports that in this area his troops have crossed the Canal du Nord and capfctircd tho village of Havrincourt, after reducing a..section, of tho. Hindenbnrg line between the canal and the village. _ Havrincourt stands nearly a mile cast of the Canal 'dii Nord and about seven miles, and a half south-west of Cambrai. Some miles further north the British have reached tho west bank of the Canal du Nord beyond Moeuvres, which place is also in their hands. On this line of advance they are less than seven miles distant from Gambrai. Several towns have been captured iurther south, and appreciable progress has , been made towards the Hindcnburg line on the approaches to' St. Quentin and at other points. .
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Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 306, 14 September 1918, Page 6
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1,077PROGRESS OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 306, 14 September 1918, Page 6
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