PROGRESS CONTINUED.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16309, 5 September 1918, Page 7

PROGRESS CONTINUED.

further important captures

thousands of prisoners taken.

FIFTH YEAR—36th DAY,

! the allied advance.

REPORTED capture ' OF LENS. XEN thousand prisoners CAPTURED. (Br CaU«.-Pr«s Association.— Copyright) (iosindion and N.£. Cable A«ooi^n.) NEW YORK. September 3. 1 Tinitpd Press London message JL ttat tta KritW. hav. taken ££ and Queant, and are advancing ' nn a twenty-mile front. They captured 10,000 pnsonars. Tney have also occupied ulverghcm (north of Neuve JttgLae) and Bertincourt (east of Bapaume). The enemy is retreating along the whole Drocourt-Queant lino. The British have captured Ham-blain-les-Pres (east of Plouvam), and are en route to Douai. , The British have captured Le Mesial /north of Peronne) and Richebourg fat. Vaast (north of La Bassee). lroops are now near Neuve Chapelle (northeast of Richebourg St. Vaast). LONDON, September 3. The English and Canadians attacked, at five o'clock this morning on n twenty-three mile front southward or the Scarpa river. The Canadians smashed through the switch line, cut-: fW it in twain on a six-mile »ront between Etaing and a point south or Cagnicourt. Our line now runs along the weßtern edge of Etaing, the eastern side of Dury, the western edge or Cagnicourt, and west of Queant. Heavy fighting continues in our favour. The British are co-operating with the Canadians near Queant. A series of enemy counter-attacks expelled ufl from Vaulx Wood (east of Vaulx Vraucourt), which we captured in the morning. ; . . . We are advancing on Rocquigny, eastward of Le Transloy. ' SOI DOUGLAS HAIG'S REPORTS. LONDON, September 3. - Sir Douglas Haig reports:— "Monday's operations south or the Scarpe were completely successful. The ' enemy wai heavily defeated in bis prepved defences on the Drocourt-Queant nitem, with the result that he. is retiring this morning along practicrt fy th& whole batfclo-front. In Monday's battle, besides inflicting heavy losses, j J 'weviiopft ; i»bout 10,000 ■prisoners. .Our ' troops' are now advancing, and it is reported that they have entered Pron- ' • vifie, 'Doignies, and Bertincourt. 1 ' ' 'The Canadians showed the greatest ' doll and courage on Monday in storm- ' ine the Drocourt-Queant lines, which Bad been perfected during the last eighteen months, and provided a most formidable obstacle. < They were furnished with every device or modenl en- . 'gineering. The defences here were reinforcedto such a degree that op n front of 8000 yards eleven German divisions were identified. Undeterred ■■ by the strength of th« enemy's defensive organisation the Canadians, assist- ' od admirably by English troops on the left, carried all before thom. "Southward of the Canadian corps the English, Scottish. and naval troops of the Seventeenth Corps, under LieuSir Charles Ferguson, performed a no less gallant and arda--1 ous tupk in stqnning the junction of the Drpcoqrt.Queftnt and Hindenburg systems. These yere of the most formidable chnractor, bnt the troops swept over and around them, encircling Queant from the north. As a result this important pivot fell into onr hands by nightfall, The tanks corps again assisted materially in the success of tbb operations." ' (Received September 4th, 11.10 p,m.) LONDON, September 3. Sir Donglas Haig reports "After the heavy defeat inflicted on the enemy on August 2nd, our progress . between Peronne and the'Sensee continued. We have reached the general line Beaumetz-lez-Cambrai-Baralle- ■ Rumancourt-Le Cluse. We captured or ; drove back with loss hostile rearguards who resisted our advance. Our. artillery inflicted heavy casualties on the retreating enemy. Our batteries, over .' open sights, successfully engaged large numbers of the enemy retiring in clo6e formation over the ridge north-west of Equancourt. In the hurried retreat the enemy left quantities of stores and ma. 'terial. "Southward of Lys the English cap-, tured Richebonrg-St. Vaast, and established themselves on the line 6f the L& Bassee road between Richebourg and Estaires. We captured Estaires, also a number of prisoners and a few guns. "We advanced slightly on the western outskirts of Lens and eastward and northward of Givenchy and La Basses. We also progressed north-east of Steen- . werck, and entered Wulverghem. "Our aeroplanes worked all day long in front of the advancing battle line, 'while observation balloons followed closely. Large formations of hostile machines frequently attacked our airmen, who persisted in their various tasks, maintaining contact with the infantry and artillery. They bombed and machine-gunned hostile troops and transports. They also silenced antitank guns, dropped supplies and small arms ammunition to the infantry. In the advanced rone there waß much air fighting. Wo destroyed ten hostile ma- <*_ chines, and drove down two uncontrollable. Twenty British machines are missing. We dropped 24 tons during the daytime and night-time." FRENCH OFFICIAL REPORT. j (Australian &iid N.& Cable Association.) (Beutor'a Telegrams.; (Received September 4th, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, September 3. A French communique, despatched at 4 p.m., states:— "There was nrtillerying during the -'bight-time on the Scjinme and between Oiae and tho Aisne. "There were enemy raids in the ro-

gion of the Vesle and the Vosges without result. "There is nothing to report elsewhere." GERMAN OFFICIAL, REPORTS. Admiralty per Wirekse Press. (Received September 4th, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, September 8. A German official message states:— "The English south-east of Arras by superior forces pressed us back on both sides of the Arras-Cambrai high road. "The French westward and southward of Couchy-le-Chateau, slightly pressed us back from the Ailette. "Strong, repeated enemy attacks between the Aisne and the Ailetto failed." LONDON, September 3. j (Received September 4th, 9.5 p.m.) I A German official message states: "Between the Scarpe and the Somme ! movements which we commenced on the night of August 2nd, were com- ! ploted in accordance with plan." LENS NOT YET OCCUPIED. (Australian and N. 4. Cable Association.) (Received September 4th, 11.25 p.m.) [ LONDON, September 4. Sir Douglas Haig's communique shows that Lens has not yet bean occupied, despite the earlier statement that the town has been evacuated. ANOTHER IMPORTANT ADVANCE. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) (Received September 4th, 11.5 p.m.) I LONDON, September 3. Router's correspondent at French Headquarters writes: General Mangin's attack on the plateaus between the Ailette and the Aisne yesterday afternoon resulted in another important advance. On the left, opposite Guny, we have the bridgehead across the Ailette, and the French troops have oocupied the woods westward of Coucy-le-Chateati. They have also established a footing in Little Wood, south-east of Moulin-do-Nogent, so we are now barely a'mile from Coucy. Terny and Sorny, which resisted several attacks, have been captured, and a footing obtained in the plateaus northeast of Crony. We. are on the edge of the second plateau - across • Margival Valley, through which the Soissons- : Laon railway runs. Over 1200 prisoners, were taken during the day. The tanks played an important part yesterday in the French attack, as also did the airmen. The enemy are naturally defending the plateaus tooth and | nail. The Prussian Guards delivered five futile oonnter-attaoks, leaving the ground littered with their dead. Five days' hard fighting between the Ailette and the Aisne have given good results. The first powerfully organised line aeroßß the Terny-Sorny Plateau has I been token. The second line has al- | ready been attacked. Tho French are across tlie Ailette at several points. I Tlie battle has used up several enemy's divisions, who are no. match foe General Mangin's colonials. PROGRESS CONTINUED. MORE VILLAGES CAPTURED. (Australian and N.Z, Cable Association.) (Received September 4th, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, September 3. Progress on the Western front continued to-day, and further villages were captured. This afternoon the enemy shows indications of further retreat. Large fires were observed in Bus and Bertincourt. We gained two miles on a six-mile front. Jn the lie Mesnil region we now hold Ytres, Etrincourt, Manancourt, and Le Mesnil. Our lines south of the Scarpe run south of Etaing, a kilometre east of Dury to the western outskirts of Pouissy and east of Pronville. The enemy southward of the Sensee river evacuated positions westward of the Canal du Nord. We are pressing the enemy closely. We have reached the southern outskirts of Sailly sur Le Lys, south-west of Armentierea. We have reached the western outskirts of Neuve Chapelle, and captured RichebourgSt. Vftast. There are signs of the enemy's retirument astride the Cam-brai-Bapaume road. APPROACHING THE ENEMY'S SECOND LINE. (Received September 4th, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, September 3 (9.20 p.m.). In the Lys sector we captured Riche-bourg-St. Vaast, and reached Neuvo Chapelle. Wo have made further progress eastward of the switch line, and are now approaching tlie enemy's second line, having made an advance of two miles on a six-mile front eastward of Le Transloy, capturing Ytres, also Le Meenil and several villages. ENEMY HURRIEDLY RETREATING. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) (Received September 4th, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, September 3. The enemy, contrary to expectations, is not attempting the recapture cf the Qucant-Drocourt switch line, but is hurriedly retreating. He has another lino behind the Canal du Nord in the Brebieres-Moeuvres district which will probably be the next line of defence. It is not strong, and too near Douai and Oambrai for comfort. Tho enemy last night evacuated Queant-, Pronville, Doiguies, Vein, Lens, and Wulverghem. The situation is extremely interesting, and opens i p enormous possibilities. Ten thousand prisoners were taken yesterday. -oday's are not yet counted*

WITH THE AMERICANS. (Rentor's Telegrams.) (Received September 4th, 7.20 p.m.) PAR-IS, September 3. Router's correspondent at American. Headquarters writing on Monday night sayß: The great fight progressed all day long north and north-east of Soissons, the enemy rigorously defending thd Pont Rouge Plateau, east of Soissons railway; also the line right along the north of the Aisne. We are bombarding his positions from the south and? west. Villages which the enemy hold aro burning like vast torches. Tho fires are spreading through the neighbouring woods. The enemy drenched cur positions at midday with gas, but our retaliation barrage silenced his guns. NEW ZEALANDERS IN ENEMY COUNTRIES. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) (Received September 4th, 9.5 p.m.) LONDON, September 3. Out of 370 New Zealandcrs imprisoned in enemy countries, 207 are located in permanent camps in Germany, and 27 in Turkey. One hundred and thirty-six have not reached permanent camps, and are probably employed behind the German lines. There are also 14 in Switzerland and four in Holland. Twenty-two who aro missing are believed to be prisoners, but hare not yet been traced. The Graves Committee has prepared a report dealing with the upkeep of graves and the need of erecting monuments. ENEMY STRONGLY RESISTING. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) (Received September 4th, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, September 3 (4.15 p.m.). The Germans are strongly resisting the Americans. Northward of the Neuve Eglise line they wore pressed back slightly on Monday, but again advanced northward of Wulverghem. ANTI-TANK WARFARE. (Received September 4th, 9.35 p.m.) WASHINGTON, September 3. On tho American front German ma-chine-gunners are "ising armour piercing bullets against the British tanks which the Americans are operating. The Germans regard anti-tank warfare as simitar to anti-cavalry warfare. CANADIAN WORKERS' PART. (Received September 4th, 9.35 p.m.) OTTAWA, September 3. Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister Of Canada, speaking at the Labour Day demonstration at Toronto, said that Canada had sent 227,0G0 working men overseas. 1 GERMANS' WORK OF DESTRUCTION. ("The Times.") (Received September 4th, 7.20 p.m.) LONDON, September 3. Mr Robinson writes: — The retreating enemy is carrying out his old work of destroying everything. All the towns and villages on the horizon are wreathed in smoke day and the skies are ablaze at night. Bailleul is ruined. Like Ypres, the solid stone and brick town has been reduced to formless heaps and rubble. A few broken ruins, only fragments, of the Cathedral remain. Our other successes are of secondary importance. The great feat is the piercing of the switch line. The tanks terrified the enemy at all points, but the German artillery is better than it was recently, and knocked a few, thus preventing some valuable assistance in the further positions. THE DROCOURT LINE BROKEN. LONDON, September 3. Mr Percival Phillips writes: We broke the Drocourt line to-day,.British and Canadians driving a considerable distance into the open country beyond. Our troops are assisted by a force of tanks, which lat&st _ reports say are far anead of the infantry. ■ Thousands of prisoners have been taken. The German Seventeenth Army made a supreme effort to' hold General Home's army. Every scrap of available material was thrown into_ the battle. Divisions were bunched together indiscriminately, including tired infantry, dismounted cavalry, pioneers and headquarters clerks, all fighting with the energy of despair. ENEMY RAPIDLY RETIRING. LONDON. September 3. We advanced to-day four miles on a twenty-mile front, the enemy hurriedly retiring behind the Hindenburg switch line. Street fighting is in progress at Moislains and Ablaine, north-east of Peronne. Our line of advanfce now runs from Voormezeele, Neuve Eglise, Steenwerck, and Lacouture. Between the Scarpe and the Somme the enemy is strongly reacting in the centre. It is expected that he certainly will react against the switch. The weather is stormy and gusty. The jnemv has another switch line from Douai to Cambrai, but it is not very good, certainly less formidable than tiie switch in the region beyond the second line. The open country is somewhat marshy until the Cambrai plain is reached. Fighting continues near Lens. We have captured tho suburbs and Puitsfosse. THE EARLY MORNING ATTACK. A SMASHING BLOW. (Renter's Telegrams.) LONDON, Soptember 3. Reuter's correspondent at British Headquarters, writing last evening, says: The attack in the morning was conducted by General Home's an<l General Byng's armies on a front south of the Scarpe to nearly as *ar as Queant. This is one of the greatest battles, and there is every reason to hope that it will prove one of die most memorable victories cf the w&r. The attack was launched at 5.40 a.m., after a short intensive bombardment, which was effectual in cutting the wire, and . by 7.30 our troops na<l broken apparently right through the famous Drocourt-Queant switch line, with its fortified system to a depth of 2000 yards. We smashed through nearlv everywhere along tho front of the attack. Two hours later it was rumoured that groups of our motor machine-gunners had been seen upon the bank of the Canal du Nord, which is nearlv five miles eastward of the nearest point of the switchline. These, of course, were' only highly mobile patrols, which are pushing out to try to seize bridgeheads and destroy communications, but if they got so_ far it proves the success of onr opening at- ! Our success may be summed up by i saying that we struck the enemy one j of the most smashing and strategically ! serious I lows he has yet received in any j one day's fightiug. The enemy made, ! and is still making, every effort to check our advance. The Germans had eight divisions standing in readiness to meet the blow. German prisoners number thousands, and are coming in in shoal 9. The prisoners includo staff officers and several battalion commanders. Wo are now not only working behind the Hindenburg Line, but have also gained ground which commands a long j stretch of the line. The battle is still terrific.

That the enemy was on the qui vive is shown by the fact that his barrage came within a minute of the opening of our bombardment. It_ was heavy, but was badly directed, ana caused great damage to his own men. As our lending waves broke forward many Germans sprang up, and c ®™ e running over with their hands up. ihe outposts and front-line trenches were cleared with the smallest resistance. Our airmen, though hampered by baa visibility, nevertheless reported that German batteries were limbering up and trotting rearwards. By 11.30 .a.m. we had reached Cagnicourt, and were attacking a great concentration of the enemy, with machine-gun posts, in the Bois de Bouche, considerably to the south-eastward of Cngnicourt. Dury wa3 captured, aud some of the heaviest fighting occurred on Mont Dury, the slops of which were honeycombed with defences. A dense mass of Germans were seen debouching on the sunken roads near by, and_ our batteries opened fire, inflicting terrible losses. Our own men were in many places exposed to terribly severe fire. The enemy seems to bo organising a resistance in echelon at great depth. GALLANT LANCASHIRES. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, September 3. Mr Philip Gibbs writes: The enemy has massed units fioin all sorts of divisions, fresh or broken, and is rushing them up by road, rail and in motorcars in order to avert irreparable disaster, so there may be hard fighting ahead. The Canadians, Lancashire, Scots, and English county troops have taken a great number of prisoners, and have reached country where we have never been before, and where we are now fighting against desperate resistance. The situation was difficult for the British, as prior to the attack we had to recapture Hendecourt and lliencourt, which the enemy had retaken. Although the Lancashires had made three attacks in thirty-six hours, they made a fourth on Monday evening, and stormed their wav into the two villages, and did terriblo execution. Next morning the same Lancashires continued the attack with the Canadians. The German High Command was expecting the attack, but not 60 soon, and collected units of all sorts, combed out from the poorest reserves. The Germans had intended to reattack this morning, but our blow, fell first. Ido not know how many prisoners we took, but I never saw bo many trooping from the battlefield. Many who were wounded were carricd shoulder high by their comrades, our own wounded being often intermixed in tho strange procession. There are seldom any British oscorts, as the troops are too busy fighting. ENEMY DEFEATED AND DISHEARTENED. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, Soptembor 3. Tho United Press correspondent states: —Thousands of German prisoners are swarming down the roads like sheep. Such disheartened masses of captives have seldom been seen since the war began. The Gormans in the front line ran screaming before the first assault, throwing up their hands. They admit that tno Germans are beaten, but this does not mean that today's battle is a triumphant parade for the Canadians and English and Scottish troops. On the contrary, some of the hardest fighting recorded for months occurred before an important stretch of the Hindenburg line was reported to be crossed. The Germans throw in great masses to stop the gaps and fought murderously at some points, but the German masses contained elements of fatal weakness, including worn-out divisions from Bapaume and Bullecourt. Further German masses are still coming up, and much fighting still remains. Our success in overcoming the deep wire barriers was due largely to instantaneous fuse shells clearing the wire, but scarcely disturbing the earth, and to the tanks, which played a big part. As an example of tho miscellaneous character of trie present German line, the "Lancashires took prisoners from six different divisions on a front of 2000 yards. Incidonts of the day include tho performance of a machine-gun sergeant, who killed sixty Germans at Hendecourt. GERMANY'S FIGHTING POWER DIMINISHING. NEW YORK, September 3. Mr Cyril Brown, the ''New York World's" Berlin correspondent, lately at Stockholm, has returned to NewYork, and in the course of an interview said: —"Six months ago Germany was at the zenith of her fighting power; To-day she has definitely passed the zenith, and her power shows a continuous downward tendency. The Germans arc now giving up hope of a victorious military decision or an early peace. For the first time in the war she has completely lost the initiative all along the line and the German people know it. The army's moral has suffered relatively more than the people s moral. Only picked shock troops retain the old spirit and moral the great hulk of the army being affected b7 the fear of impending defeat. Food conditions are no worse than they were six months ago, hut will be much more serious in the late winter and early spring, when acute starvation conditions will increase the pessimism caused by tho continuous military reverses.