FROM SOMME TO THE SCARPE

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 204, 27 August 1918, Page 5

FROM SOMME TO THE SCARPE

NEW ATTACK EAST OF. ARRAS NEW ZEALANDERS AT BAPAUME

The British are still driving forward on their front from the Somme northward. Their strongest attack yesterday developed on the River Scarpe, where, on a four-mile front, from Fampoux to Neuville Vitesse, they made progress to a depth of two miles, capturing the villages of Monchy le Preux, Wancourt. and Guemappe. Round Bapaume they also made progress, taking Favreuil, which stands a little to the northeast of the city, and reaching the outskirts of Thilloy, which stands a little to the south-west. The New Zealanders had the post of honour in the centre of this attack, and they have reached the main defences in the suburbs of Bapaume, though they have not yet completed the capture of the city. Airmen, however, have sighted patrols in the city itself. Further to the south, on the Somme line, the Australians have advanced east of Bray, taking Suzanne and Cappy, with a number of prisoners. All the enemy counter-attacks on the whole battlefront have failed, and the manner in which his reserves have been flung in suggests great demoralisation behind his lines. The German newspapers warn the people that Germany is now fighting for her existence, and are preparing them for a possible retreat to the Rhine.