WESTERN FRONT.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 August 1918, Page 5

WESTERN FRONT.

STEADY PROGRESS. OHIPILLY RETAKEN*. Paris, August 14. The Allies are making steady "progress. >neral Foch's hatchet Mows axe redusing sfclient after salient The French entered Montdidier towards noon before tin; enemy liad lime f .o got away. Meanwhile the Allies' centre between Lihona and Favcrolles, unshed on with further great hauls of prisoners until possession was gained of fresvoy-les-Roye. three miles norlhtvar.l of Roye. The Americans co-operated with (lie fivitish on Friday night in recapturing lie Ciiipilly Spur. They were preceded by tanks and a well-tir.ied barrage. They swiftly gained the objectives, while . terrific ."tritvale at close quarters enabled tin Allies to nke Morlancourt. — Aus.-XZ. Cable Ar.sot.

COMPLETENESS OF SURPRISE.

EN'K.MY TERRIBLY PUNISHED. London, August 11. Mr 'Murdoch, writing from Australian ; ieedi;iarters. says the surpri-p of the Germans wrs so ei,;i'.p'..-lc that the fighting of the Australians ha* so far been wmparatively easy. Thousands of men nave not used a weapon: the simply walked forward through the shattered thing crust of defences to the objective* eight miles away, carrying iron rations !>nd sufficient ammunition for several day They »eciired village after village .tnd passed deer, mtu Oman territory. Examinations of prisoners and dead show that the Australians alone wiped out three divisions of W'euphalians, the Prussian Guards Reserve and mixed East Prussian and Saxon and Prussian divisions. The booty was unlimited. The prisoners include battalion and regimental commanders.—United Service

AUSTRALIAN ATTACK DESCRIBED.

WORK OF ARMOURED CAKS. London, August 11. Mr Gilmour, writing on Friday evening, says that since General Foch countered the Crown Prince at Rheinis the moral of nil the Entente troops received such a stimulus that it became certain the initiative in other parts or the front would not be allowed to remain with ilie enerry. The troops are now fighting with much impetuosity. Referring to the Australian attack, he sirs they went over in two ivavis, one wave going through the other and, thus expediting the unusually deejj advance. Tanks accompanied the troops, who, after a four minutes bombardment, quickly broke the pie??iist of the first •ierman defence. We had all our own way behind. A feature of the Australian sectors was the advance of armoured motor-cars who"e officers had a field day bowling alcng eastward. They found tivos down across the road ami requisitioned tanks to haul them off. The armoured cars, on reaching a certain village, found the enemy transports ready to move back and fired 3WM) rounds into them, causing complete confusion. The cars had lively moments in other Villages where they tackled a collection of steam wairflfls, causing an impassable block. They encountered_a German gun which blew the wheels off one ear and damaged three others, which, however, escaped. I.TWO cars penetrated the main street of a small town, firing into the billets where the German troops were lunching. The ears had quite a battle with the Germans In rest billets in the old trenches and killed many. One ear penetrated beyond I.aflaque where it secured roanv prisoners round a big dump.—Aus.-N-Z. Cable Assoc.

THE GERMAN VERSION.

CHARACTERISTIC ACCOUNTS. London, August 0. Wreless fternmn official: The enemy attacked with strong forces oi- the eighth between the Ancre and the Avre. Favored by a thick fog lie forced his way with tanks into our infantry and artillery lines. We threw him i.'.u of our positions north of tho Somroe and between the Somme and the Avre. Our counter-attacks brought him to a standstill. AVe suffered 10-ses of prisoners and «uns. and took prisoner English, Australians, Canadians and French.— Aus.-WZ. Cable Assn and Reuler. London, August 11. Wireless Herman oflicial:—We repulsed partial attacks at many points between the Yser and the Ancre. The British and French bringing up strong reserves, continued their attacks on trie whole front between the Ancre and the Avre. We threw back the enemy on both Bides of the Somme and astride the Foucaeourt-Villers Brettoneaux road. The enemy gained ground in the centre of the battkfn nt between Rnsicrcs and Hangesl. Our counter-attacks brought him to a standstill westward.s of Uhons and eastwards of the Rosieres-Arvillers line. We withdrew during the nighttime to rear lines eastwards of Mont-didlt-r.

Oerman evening ollklal: Between the Ancre and Oise .the enemy attacks were shatered before our fighting position.-,

THE BATTLE FOR ROYE,

DEFENDED AT ALL COSTS. SLOW, BUT SURE, PROGRESS. ' j I Received August 1:1, 12.10 a.m. I London. August 12. TiiC battle for Roye has become desperate. The enemy has idled every village and every house with troops and machine guns. Evidently Rove has been ordered to be defended at all costs. Elsewhere on the front, (hough progress since Friday > s slower, it has been sure. The advance has been continued methodically, almost by time-table. Later accounts of the resistance at Chipilly state that the Hermans allowed an Australian patrol to traverse the village unmolested. The patrol reported that the village was deserted, but the enemy was merely in hiding, hoping to ambush the main body, which encountered a heavy fire, but a determined attack later demolished the defence.

EFFORT TO STEM THE ADVANCE.

IN THF. ROVIC DISTRICT. HKAVV AND MOST STUBBORN FIGHTING. A THRILLING SIGHT. Received August 12, 11.40 p.m. London, August 12. The Morning Post's correspondent at British headquarters states: The region fronting Roye has become the scene of heavy and moat stubborn fighting. It was ' expected that the Germans here would make a determined effort to stem the advance. When they reached the old defences these were found to be largely derelict, h.ut masses of twisted wire encumber the ground. The trenches are in fairly good condition, and the vast underground galleries are still serviceable. Several concrete redoubts remain intact. The fighting ou Sunday centred on this old battlefield. Many reserve divisions concentrated every available man, including non-combatants, who were impressed for defence. The Germans brought up puns of all calibre* from Peronne, putting up a hasty barrage. In the middle of Saturday afternoon one of the most thrilling sights of the campaign was witnessed, when large masses of British cavalry rode out against Damery village, northeast of Roye. They rode superbly, through a hail of bullets, while the infantry cheered them. .Waring the village the cavalry e;; ountered many ma-chine-gun nests, while shell holes, overgrown w'uh weeds, increased the difficulties, and the cuvalry was obliged to leave the task to the tanks.

Meanwhile other units began to outflank the Damery front, from the north. The lighting proceeded all night long, English, Australian and Canadian patrois continuing their outflanking movement, despite the tog. Th(! bailie was resumed at daybreak. The tanks took up the task of attacking Damery, which was abandoned by the cavalry. A long line of tanks emerged from their hiding places, crawling up the slope which hid them from the enemy, while at least a hundred aeroplanes established an impassable barrier overhead. Thus the tanks completely surprised the machine gunners lining the woods. Surmounting the slopes, the observers clearly saw five hundred Hermans trying to boll to the rear, but staggering under the weight of their machine guns. The infantry followed the tanks and skirted Damery. moving eastward in the direction of (ioyeaeourt. ENEMY RESERVE DIVISIONS STRONGLY ATTACK BUTTISH. REPULSED WITH GREAT LOSS. Received August 12, 7.55 p.m London. August 11, 11.SO pin. Sir Douglas Haig reports;—' Fresh enemy divisions from his reserve strongly attacked our positions at Lihons and south and north thereof, but all the attacks were repulsed after severe fighting, in which we inflicted great loss upon the advancing lines. At one point, immediately north of Lihons, the assault troop's broke into our positions and penetrated the western side of the village- We counter-attacked with determination, and, in the course of fierce fighting over difficult ground, drove hack the enemy to the eastward and northward of the village, our line being eomcompletely restored. fin our ri.«rht, the French co-operating with us, continued the attack and progressed south-west of Rove. Our patrols took prisoners on the remainder of the British front. ADVANCE OF 12 MILES. London. August 11. The result of the two days' attack on 20-milcs front Is prisoners, 300 Tins an:! a maximum advance of 12 miles. The French resumed the attack at riawi< on Saturday, penetrating four mi" in si>: hours and surrounding Montdidier on four sides. The fieldgun- command the important railway junction at Chaulnes, compelling the Hermans to abandon its use and depend mi reads and light railways, which are inadequate for their needs. Canadian Cavalry, operating near Chaulnes, report that strong enemy rearguards- are covering the evacuation of stores. The whole situation offers irrcat possibilities. If. is expected that the enemy will (he compelled to retire to the line of the Soiume, se\">n miles distant.— Aus.-N.Z. Oa;b]e Assoc,

GENERAL RETREAT CLEARLY IMMINENT.

Desperate German Resistance. Allies Able to Maintain Pressure. Received August 12, 7.40 p.m. London, August 11, 9.20 p.m. The Allies are progressing splendidly on the whole front between the south of Arras and the Oise. There was a fierce struggle at Chaulnes. With strong enemy forces covering the retreat, t'ne enemy made a great effort during the preceding 48 hours to remove vast stores from "Chaulnes, but with only moderate success. The British are offering fierce opposition north of the Somme. They are advancing down a long slope towards Bray, which now has probably been reached. The Germans are contesting every inch of ground on the Vesle with the Americans, who are fighting with superb heroism. A Gernian retreat to the Aisne, or beyond, is clearly imminent. The enemy is showing signs or an ; anxiety between Arras and Albert, where no material advance was made. South of the Somme there was a slight retirement, in some places after desperate i fighting, the enemy throwing his reserves and fiercely counter-attacking. Large fires and long transport columns in the enemy's rear indicate that he is counter-attacking in order io gain time to save huge quantities of accumulated stores in this area. Our casualties were extremely light during the first tw ; o days while overrunning the enemy's positions, but are now heavier owing to the severe fighting. The enemy's available reserves cannot exceed 20 divisions. There is no apprehension that we are. unable to hold our gains and resume the advance when opportunity offers. Immediate interest, centres in the French troops' fight for Lassigny and Massif, commanding a cnosiderable extent of country, which, if captured, will render the enemy's hold round Roye and Nesle difficult. The Third French Army advanced in v.eghborhooil from three to fiv» miles since yesterday morning, over difficult, undulating country, intersected by valleys. An interesting development is here expected.—Press Association.

THE GERMAN MOVE.

!:l-:.Si;.\ll\Ci THE DEFENSIVE. I'RFPARIXC FOR EASTERN CAMPAK.'.Y. Received August 12, 10.40 p.m. London, August 12. Sidebothnm thinks that the nermans are preparing to resume a strategical defence of the West front. The movement resembled the retreat in the spring of 1017, probably making St. Quentin, Peronne, >;oynn, La Fere and the Aisne the 1 keys of the defensive system confining themselves to local offensives, while prosecuting a peace offensive arid military operations through Turkey in the east.— Press Assoc.

THE CAPTURES.

35,000 MEN; JO!) GUNS. Received August 12, 7.55 p.m. Paris, August 11. The Franco-British, up to last night, had prisonered 35,0011, including several thousand officers. The captured guns exceed 500,

THE CHIPILLY FIGHT,

A REMARKABLE FEAT. RETREATING ENEMY FIRING VILLAGES. Received August 12, 7.55 p.m. London, August 11, 11 p.m. The battle in which the Anglo-Ame-ricans cleared up the Chipilly triangle was a reniarkaiblo feat. The Americans arrived by a forced march, and, without halting a moment, fixed bayonets, followed the barrage ajid cleared the ground for a further advance, taking over WIO prisoner*. The ■English, who captured Chipilly, had some of the hardest lighting in this offensive, carrying th objectives :«• less than three-quarters of an hour, Prisoners state that the 7th Bavarian division, which arrived at. Lihons in time in receive the full weight of tile Australian assault, is incapable of further fighting, At present we are pushing forward along the Faueort Road, and In more than one place are back to our old ■Somnie positions, while at Fransart we are beyond these points. The retreating enemy is continuing to fire the villages and blow up the dumps a long way hack. —Renter,

MAURICE'S VIEWS,

IFFECT OF ALLIES' VICTORY. GERMANS JRESSED EVERYWHERE. London, August 11 Gcner.il Maurice writes: The British are near Charities and should now lie aide to strangle the enemy's communv cations in the Montdidier salient in the a»iue way as Foeh's 'blow ou the <Somtne will upset the arrangements for supplying the troop; in Hip Marne salient, and thereby eventually force a retreat. Our .apid Advance southward of the Somnte ha« begun to have that effect. 'JHo French extended their attack south as far as the Matz, and are steair--51 v pushing the enemy back from his position on the Avre. It is in this qttarter that we may expect the greatest progress in the immediate future, ibeeajse the enemy is certain to strive desperately to check the centre of the attack in the neighbourhood of Cbaulncs, where our men are. fighting, until he extricates the k-ft flank to prevent getting into a dangerous position. Some of the effects of the victory are already apparent. The main line from Amieng to Clermont and C'reil is in working order, and pojsrbly within, a clay or two we shall Jio using the line from Amiens along the Awe Valley to Oompiegne, thus improving our chances of developing the victory. The Germans are now pressed everywhere along a, 45mile front, and we may fairly hope, working from such a wide ;base, to force the enemy back as fnr as the SVmme from Peronne to Voyemies, and thence along the Canal to X'oyon, implying the recapture of the bulk of the ground lost in the great tattle of last March. The guns captured are variously estimated at from 350 to 400, including a-I'-'in- piece previously used for bombarding Amiens . The British, turning it round, bombarded Ham. Tt is reported that both Rove and Chaulnes have been taken.—Au«.-N Z. Cable Assoc. ALLIES ADVANCE CONTINUED. London, August 11. Sir Douglas Haig reports: By a successful operation at night we advanced our line northward of the Somme, on the high ground between Etinehem and Dsrnaneourt. Fighting southward of the river is reported at different points. The French progressed along the south fcink of the Avre and reached the outskirts of ].echc!le-St. Aurin. We repulsed a local attack this morning on a position northward of Kemmel, taking prisoners, and slightly improved our positions eastward of Ro>becq.—Aus.N.Z. Cable Assoc.

TO SAVE ROYE.

VIOLENT ENEMY OFFENSIVE POSSIBLE. Pari?, August 11. A semi-official message states t'nat Montdidier foil owing to a combined movement by the right wing of tlio 3rd French Army, commanded by funeral HumbertLe Journal states that strong enemy columns are advancing by forced marches from Cambrai, Peronne and St. Quentin. Apparently the er.emy is contemplating a violent counter-offensive in order to save Rove, the fall of which lias hitherto not been confirmed.—Renter. THE ALLIES TOLL. London, August 11. Thirty-six thousand prisoners and 500 guns have already been captured. The Canadians and Australians took Chaulnes —Aiis.-N.Z. Cable Assoc.

AMERICAN EXPERTS VIEWS.

. GERMANS IN DESPERATE SITUATION. New Yovfc, August 11. Mr Frank H. Simmonds, the leading American military expert, writes: The German defeat between the Somme and the Oise has already attained the proportions of a great disaster. Within three days General Foch's second blow has dislocated more than a hundred miles of the German front. There is reason to believe that the German withdrawal will reach the old Hindenburg line. The occupation of Chaulnes paralyses the railway line within the collapsing salient. The Germans east of (lie line from Chaulnes to Noyon are in a desperate situation. They may escape, but will be forced to leave behind their guns and munitions. A great victory has been won. the consequences of which may not yet be measured.-—Aus.-N.Z. Cablet Assoc.