STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 16, 14 October 1918, Page 5

STORIES FROM THE BATTLEFIELD

CORRESPONDENTS' DISPATCHES

WONDERFUL ADVANCE ON •• ■ ■LE CATEAU

London, October 11

Mr. Percival Phillips writes: "The 66th Division, including the Con-

naughts, Dublins, lnniskillings, Manehesters, Lancashires, and Fusiliers, were prominent in Thursday's advance. The enemy was astouuded by tho .attack. One battalion commander said ho heard that peace would bn signed on Thursday night. The troops had been told that an armistice was certain, as Germany's offer covered all demands. The 66tli made a wonderful journey towards Lo Cateau. A great

wavo of enthusiasm carried them forward, .though they are footsore and dazed from want of sleep. The only resistance is from dispirited rearguards. The British swept over tho hills with 'such force that five German i divisions simply fled, abandoning their guns. The Connaughts captured three eiglitinch howitzers near Seram. The Germans tried to recapture tho guns.- The inhabitants, hiding in the cellars in the village, hoard them rushing machineguns forward and the officers cursing the men and urging them to hurry. The Conuaughts fell back awhile, and then came on again irresistibly, driving the enemy off_ in disorder. The British cavalry, pushing forward, reached the outskirts of Le but- met strong machine-gun opposition,' and did not attempt to enter the town. The Sixty-sixtn, on both sides of the main road, reached the outlying buildings on Thursday morning. The German Second Army seemed to be standing on the high ground east of Le Cateau, and there was heavy enemy artillery fire, apparently intended to prevent us entering the town. It came as a shock to see the villagers going about their daily tasks, the women washing clothes and the children'playing with dogs. The villagers seemed content to remain, though the fields near by were dotted with dead and littered with the wreckage of battle. One of the foulest of German deeds was the cjeliberate destruction of the lacemaking and embroidery machinery by which the villagers earned their living. Villagers state' that some British prisoners who escaped after the German advance in Starch, and hid in {he villages, were shot when they were found. A villager in Scvigny saw a group of men forced to dig a shallow grave and made to kneel on the edge of it while they were all shot.—Aus.N.Z. Gable Aesn. ■ - Rapid Advance by »the Cavalry. (Reo. Ootober 12, 5.5 p.m.) London, October 11. . Mr. Beach Thomas writes:—"A most interesting sight of the wonderfully rapid advance was the cavalry's sweep along the Roman road from Verniand to Le Cateau, capturing the outer defences at full gallop, then advancing slower into the outer suburbs, where machine-guns punished the horses. The Sixty-sixth Division assisted the cavalry to capture the outskirts, of the town. The continuous pursuit and the open fighting compelled 1 the rearguards frequently to turn and fight. Le Cateau js hi a fair state of preservation. —United Service. Undestroyed Villages Captured, ■ . London, October 11. Mr. Philip Gibhs states: "The earlier reports of the damage done by the explosion at Cambrai prove to be an exaggeration.. The fresh damage done is not extensive. The British have now, for the first time, taken undestroyed villages, after traversing a forty-mile belt in which not a house remains intact. Beyond Villers-Outreaux we found clean country, ploughed fields, and smooth roads. Tho inhabitants are still in the shops and houses, and try to give utterance to their inexpressible gratitude for their deliverance. We found 500 civilians at Sevigny, 'though, all the niales,between 16 and 60 years of age had been deported. -They told how the Germans stole everything valuable from the farms and houses, even the curfcains and linen. They killed the fowls, or fined the owners if the fowls did not produco enough egge. They requisitioned the milk, butter, and,vegetables^and even took lard and fats from the International Relief Committee's stores. The Germans ordered the inhabitants to flee at the British approach, but thov took refuge in cellars while the Germans looted the houses and smashed the furniture. A priest at Sevjgny states that he saw bombs fixed to the church on Tuesday., but he crept out at .night and cut tho wires, and the church was saved."—Aus.-Jf.Z. Cable' Assn. j