IN THE WAKE OF THE VICTORS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 22, 21 October 1918, Page 6

IN THE WAKE OF THE VICTORS

CORRESPONDENTS' STORIES OF i THE PURSUIT

1 MOVING SCENES IN THE '; LIBERATED TOWNS

i London, October 18. ■ ?Ir. Philip Gibbs writes: "The enemy have abandoned Lille and Turjcoing, and we hare captured Lombaertzvdovand Ostend. From one end of the line to the other the German armies ore retreating from Prance and Bel- '• gram. It is a landslide of all their 1 ambitions and military power. To-day iI; have ' watched scenes of history of i which many people .have been dreaming jfor years until they are sick with deSferred hope. I saw the French and (Belgian oavalry ridinginto the liberated I towns, cheered by people who have Lbeen prisonors in their own houses for [dreary years. Their joy was won:ler[ful to see. Almost every house in the [liberated villages flies a Belgian flag, ! hidden in the oellar for years against '■thia day.- The Belgians emerged from J the cellars in Eoulers and ran to wel- | come the French troops as they enterjed, and embraced them. The Mayor irushed forward and oried 'Be careful! j The town is mined.' ' French engineers • 'discovered big charges of dynamite at fthe crossroads and under the floors of i the churches. The Germans had looted the last fragment of furniture from '•every house, and have even stripped 'off panelling, and removed doors snd ■windW paries, leaving nothing hut the isholl of the town. Between 35,000 and (-40,000 civilians remained in Courtrai. iTlie Germans had forced all the jvble- ■ bodied men to leave, but the others :e----;fused, knowing that the English were • approaching the town. Our machineigunners, lying in the, ditqhes and /trenches, hold their fire while women j : with perambulators and old \yomen hob|bling .along with children at their jskirts,, pass by. .

f' The Return to Lille. i "Our airmen received the' first news iof the enemy's flight from Lille when jthey noticed the citizene frantically .waving their handkerchiefs. The airInien guessed thatf they had joyful news. i'A. civilian came to our lines and said, j 'You can go in, the enemy departed in fthe night.' Our patrols flew across, land encountered no opposition. The jiegaining of Lille is the most wonder-! ■;ful occurrence since the combined Al'lied offensive began. Lille is the prize jof many victories, 'the result of the iheroism of the soldiers and Marshal (•Foch's . strategy... Tho horrors of.war •are lifting, and the enemy's iron rami parts are }aelding at last. Our pursuit [has not yet become a dashing oharge, I but- it ia already too fast for the .•enemy." ■ j v :Mr, Perciral Phillips writes: "The !German Commandant of Lille, ~at 4 'o'olook on Thursday, morning, called ) the women, children, and old men from beds, and assembled them in the ■'principal squares. German officers, adjdressing them, said: 'Go. You may '.leave'.in the direction of your friends, [out enemy. , ; Thereupon little processions moved westward in the darkness. ■Siniultaneouely the German garrison prepared to maroh in the opposite way. Shortly after daybreak, ni consequence of the inhabitants' sk;Hals to the airmen, our patrols rapidHy pushed' through Haubourdin into tlie •city. It.is impossible to give an ade-tg-uato -summary of to-day's etirfing The Hun is cracking, and his j retreating armies, from the Channel to -Talenciennes, show greater signs of dej>moralisation. Only, the machine-guns {are holding out. At the town ;is not being bombarded, but the 'enemy's high explosives search ' the 'roads in tho quarter held by the Britciah. The Germans display almost ostentatious care to avoid the destrucition of the buildings in the town. [ "The women and children are so far 'safe. Those within the British lines ' been sent away, but others are J' caught in the screen of the .German riearguard, covering the retreat from il/ille. Theirs is a novel position, ali most unparalleled in tha war. They reI main in the cellars, or move behind 'shattered windows, listening • with [feverish impatience for the * sound of [British voices."—Aus.-N.Z. , Cabb pen: , -" ■■■■" ■■•■ I JJLLE PASSED BY ON EACH SIDE } (Kec. October 20, 5.J5 p.mi) I -.; . _ ' London, October 18. ■ J The United Press correspondent ! states that instead of entering Lille on (Thursday the British passed beyond' jon both sides as--part of an apparent j;unwritten agreement that Lillo was not to be used for military purposes, the city thereby remaining immune from • German. shell-fire in future, as from {(British shell-fire during the. past four 'only soldier, seen there after [the- , Germans withdrew . was Captain [Charles De Solle, an aviator, who flew .from Dunkirk in the afternoon to visit This father, the Mayor of Lille. They rliad not seen each other einco the outbreak of the war.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable r'Assh.

[. . LILLE BOYS DEPORTED. ! (Rec. October 20, 5.5 p.m.) , ! Paris, October 18. ;. One hundred and twenty thousand of jjts inhabitants remained in Lille. The i Germans had deported.nil boys over 15 [to an unknown destination.—Aus.-N.Z. i Cable Assn.

I OUTRAGE AND PILLAGE AT LILLE i; (Rec. October 20, p.m.) i : Paris, October 19. ;■■ The Haras Agency's correspondent Ut : Lille says: "'The enemy yesterday ■.bombarded tho town with long-range [guns. Prior to leaving they destroyed ■tlie ' municipal waterworks, gas ' and ('electric installations, and carried ■ off [ nil the electrical appliances. They ■'perpetrated hideous outrages on the jfemale population, foicing women and !yoiing girls to undergo medical iuspec[tio'n, on the pretext of safeguarding ithe health of the army. _ They, also [carried off all tho securities from the JBank of Lille, robbed and pillaged in Uvery direction, destroying furniture, jand breaking open the doors ff buildIngs."—Reuter. . j PARIS REJOICES !•• FIEST DISPLAY OF FLAGS f SINCE 1914. { (R«c. Ootober 20, 5.5 p.m.) , i Paris, October 19. ~ The capture of Lille was tho occa'eion for universal rejoicing, and the : capital was beflagged for the first time i during the war period , . Captured Gerjman guns were massed round the ; statue of Lille in the Place de la Coni corde.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.