WESTERN FRONT.

Taihape Daily Times, 22 August 1918, Page 5

WESTERN FRONT.

THE FRENCH ADVANCE. IN VALLEY OF THE OISE LONDON, August 20. General Mangin attacked on practically tie same front as in tlie previous attack, and despite stubborn resistance the offensive is going well on the whole front. A maximum depth of two miles was reached at a point northeast of Vassens. The lino now runs about five miles from Noyon, and the advance is valuable, as the French are now moving along both sides of the stream Duckiens, running into the Ainse, and endangering the German positions in the neighbourhood of Soissons, with a good chance of turning them and possibly forcing the enemy to fall back to the Chemin des Dames. General Mangin captured Namp cel and took the Bois de Vassens after severe fighting. The Third Army under : Humbert yesterday afternoon attacked bn the twelve-mile front from Fresnieres to the Oise, and at six in the evening, in the heavy resistance, had ad-, a mile down the further slopes of tlie Lassigny massif into the densely wooded Valley of the Oise. This line is now between five and six miles from Noyon, The First Army, under General Debeney, advanced slightly yesterday after lively fighting north of Eoye, ■and took the Bois de Bracequemont, the Bois the greatest part of Beauvraignes, and also made progress south-east of Beauvraignes. t THE LYS RETREAT. OTTAWA, August 20. The German army retreating on the Lys includes the celebrated writer, General von Bernhardi, who is commanding An army corps. EXPLAINING THE RETREAT. BEENE, August 20. The Frankfort Gazette explains the retreat hy saying that the General Staff proposes to resume the offensive in the autumn. German strategy is not stopped, but is merely interrupted. GERMANS’ UNLIKELY STORY... % ' LONDON, August 20. Reuter’s correspondent at British headquarters, writing on the evening of the 20th says: If the German retirement is according to plan, they are now confronted with a situation which must complicate their calculations. The hasty abandonment of Nferville on the 18th was doubtless due to our unexpectedly obtaining possession of the dominating contour (at Outersteen), east of Merris. ON THE SCARPE AND THE LYS. LONDON, August 20< Sir Douglas Haig reports; There iwas local fighting on both banks of the Scarpe. We repulsed attacks teouth of the river against posts we established eastward of the enemy’s former line. We advanced a short distance east jof Fampoux after sharp fighting, we took prisoners. We also gained further ground astride the Lys, We also took Le Pinnette, and are eastward of Mervllle. Also took Vierhook and La jConronne, of Merville. We repulsed” a raid north-east of Locre.

AERIAL ACTIVITY. LONDON, August 20. Sir Douglas Haig’s aviation report states: Early on the morning of tae 19th we successfully attacked Phalmpin aerodrome, south of Lille. We dropped many bombs from a low height, and machine-gunned grounc targets. We hit several aeroplane sheds and started big fires. We drove off enemy machines which attempted to interfere. All our machiens returned. We also bombed Bruges docks, Oise railway, and a number of dumps. We brought down fourteen aeroplanes anor drove down seven uncontrollable. Seven British are missing, THE VICTORIOUS FRENCH . ADVANCE. e * ..... NOYON OUTFLANKED. MANY VILLAGES TAKEN. 10,000 PRISONERS TAKEN. IN THREE DAYS. ON ONE FRONT ALONE. Received 9.10 a.m. /• LONDON, August 21. A French communique states: South of the Avre, after bitter fighting, we captured Beauvraines. In the course of yesterday’s advance between the Matz and the Oise we prisonered 500. East of the Oise, we attacked in the morning on a front of twentyfive kilometres, from Bailly to the Aisne. In the left we reached the southern borders of the Forest of Ouschamps and the outskirts of Carlepont and Calsnes. In the centre we have captured Lombray and Blereau Cordelle, and gained a footing on the plateau north of Vasseme. On the right we have captured the villages of Vezaponin, Tartiers,, Gucy on the Almont, Osly and Courdle. We have made an average advance of four kilometres on the 1 whole front, and prisonered over 8000. Altogether over 10,000 prisoners have been taken since August 19 between the Oise and the Aisne alone. ATTACK IN LYS SALIENT. Received 9.10 a.m. NEW YORK, August 21. A local British attack in the Lys salient threatens the German hold on Dramoutre. NOYON'S FALL EXPECTED SHORTLY. Received 8.55 a.m. NEW YORK, August 21. General Mangin is outflanking Noyon. Its fall is expected at an early hour. ALMOST IN NOYON. GERMAN COUNTER-ATTACKS. BLOODILY REPULSED BY BRITISH Received 9.50 a.m. NEW YORK, August 21. The French have reached Sarapigny, on the outskirts of Noyon. German counter-attacks south of the Scarpe were bloodily repulsed by the British. IMPORTANT BRITISH ADVANCE. COURCELLES AND MANY GUNS CAPTURED. Received 8.55 a.m, NEW YORK, August 21. The British have attacked on a wide front north of the river Ancre, and have captured Courcelles, and reached Noyonville and Beaumont sur Ancre. They also captured many guns.

ATTACK A COMPLETE SURPRISE. J OTHER POSITIONS TAKEN. Received 9.10 a.m. NEW YORK, August 21. General Byng’s attack was a complete surprise, tanks predominating. He has also captured Achiet-le-Grand. A later message says: The Third Army, commanded by General Byng, made a surprise attack on a nine mile front, and captured Courcelles, Achiet le Petit, and Ablainzonville, taking many hundreds of prisoners. HAIG’S LATEST REPORT. Received 11.45 a.m. LONDON, August 21. Sir Douglas Haig reports: We attacked at 4.55 a.m. on a wide front north of Ancre, making satisfactory progress. We repulsed strong attacks against our new positions north of the Scarpe, and advanced our lines during the night between Festubert and the Lawes River. We captured Colouret. The English troops carried out successful attacks on a mile front in the Locrc sector. STORY OF FRENCH OPERATIONS. CREAM OP GERMAN ARMY BEATEN. THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS TAKEN. Received 11.45 a.m. LONDON, August 21. Reuter’s correspondent at French headquarters, writing on Tuesday evening, says: The French advanced on a front of 20 miles from Primprez to Fontenoy. During the night the Germans brought up fresh divisions from a lone distance in the rear, A Jaegar division the captors of Mont Kemmel, were shifted from the region of Solssons to stop General Mangin’s shock, but these reinforcements were of little avail. Three hours after the attack began the French had pushed forward an average distance of 2i miles along the whole front, taking thousands of prisoners. The German infantry fought well, but the artillery was feeble, and aviation practically non-existent. The whole German, line was passed an hour after fhe attack began. The most difficult part of the operation was the passage of Andignicourt ravine, on the northern edge of which the German main line of resistance was encountered.