BRITISH HOLDING GREAT GAINS.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 September 1918, Page 5

BRITISH HOLDING GREAT GAINS.

GERMANS' DESPERATE EFFORTS FAIL. COMMANDING 'POSITIONS WON. Received Sept. 20, 7.55 p.m. London, Sept. 19. Tiie latest reports of this morning's fighting show that the British are holding great gains on an 18-mile front, while the Germans' desperate efforts to beat back the elements of General Byng's army, which were too near to the Hindenburg line in tho neighborhood of Havrincourt, were entirely unsuccessful. VERY FIERCE FIGHTING. The fighting here on Wednesday afternoon was the fiercest of the whole battle, the Germans launching six divisions at one point and gaining temporary success at the cost of a fearful death roll. The indications are that General Bawlinson's army is operating in force between Pozierea and Holnon Wood, and part of General Byng's is already beyond the Hindenburg line. GERMANS THROW IN GREAT MASSES. The Germans believed the British were seeking to turn the line. In any event tie enemy threw in great masses about Havrincourt and as far south as Gauche Wood and south-west to Gouzeaucourt. The result was that General Byng gathered in 32 officers and 1438 men, who, added to General Rawlinson's make more than 6500 prisoners. He also took a complete battery and crew and 77 horses. ENEMY'S COUNTER-ATTACK. The enemy's first counter-attack came in Gauche W r ood. Early in the afternoon grey masses were emerging from Villers Guislain, after an artillery tornado, gaining tie wood and holding it briefly; but they were driven back. They again essayed an attack in the evening, but again were repulsed. At five o'clock, south-east of Havrincourt, the enemy, with forty batteries and six divisions (some of these from behind the Hindenburg line), attempted to crush the British who had advanced here during the day. The assault was repulsed with heavy loss. ENEMY GAINS SUNKEN ROAD. North-east of Havrincourt, and beyond the canal and the main defences, where the British recently installed themselves, the Germans attacked and temporarily gained a sunken road. The Brrtish soon ousted them, but they still hold Boine. Further north, the resistance was more stubborn. There waß long and bitter fighting at Gauche Wood and Epehy. But the most determined effort was south of Berthancourt, where our artillery played such havoc that it was a mere straggling remnant which received the final repulse from our infantry. EFFECT OF THE TANKS. The moral effect of the tanks has been immense. They frequently gained their objective without firing a shot. The numerous gulches and sunken road gave them a great opportunity for tactical enterprise, their skill and daring being too much for the Germans. RESULTS SUMMED UP. Summing up, we advanced over four thousffld yards on a front of eighteen miles, engaging thirteen divisions between Gouzeaucourt and the Somme, obliging the enemy to throw in two divisions from a close reserve. At no period of the war has the individual superiority of our soldiers been more pronounced. In an order dealing with raiding parties, General von Below, commanding the 17th Army, says: "This shows that presently the British have a fighting superiority over our troops in No Man's Land." THE BRITISH HOLDING. This morning it was reported that we were holding all our gains. The enemy desperately counter-attacked on the evening of the 18th south-east of Havrincourt Wood, employing six divisions, but were completely repulsed, as was a similar effort in the vicinity of Villers Guislain.—United Press. GREAT QUANTITIES OF STORES TAKEN. Reuter's correspondent at British headquarters states that on the front held by the 4th Army alone eleven divisions have been identified. In addition to prisoners and guns, great quantities of stores were taken, but the tactical value of the gains far exceeds the material. One of the main objectives was to gain clear frontal positions commanding the Hindenburg line. Along the face of the attack this was practically accomplished. , By three o'clock we had taken Belleglise and Bellecourt and established ourselves along the St. Quentin canal in places within fifty yards of the Hindenburg outposts. MUTINY OF GERMAN YOUTHS. The Hague, Sept. 19. Les Nouvelles reports a mutiny among German troops at Aix-la-Chapelle. They are mostly boys of 18 who were proceed-, ing to the front. Their escort fired and killed eight, wounding many others. When they were driven into the train they flung their rifles out of the windows.—Reuter.