BRITISH TROOPS IN FOUR DAYS' BATTLE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2243, 1 September 1914, Page 5

BRITISH TROOPS IN FOUR DAYS' BATTLE

OFFICIAL STORY OF lONS FIGHTING \ , LOSSES ESTIMATED AT BETWEEN 5000 AND 6000 . London, August 30, The Press Bureau states that the War Office, gives a general outline of the British share in the recent operation#. There was, in effect, a four days' battle, from' August 23 to 26. ■During the whole period the British, conforming to the general movement of the Trench armies, resisted thp German advance, and .withdrew to new lines of defence. The battle began at Monß on Sunday, the 23rd. The German attack was stubbornly pressed, but was completely ohecked on the British front. The Germans on Monday made vigorous efforts with superior numbers to prevent tbe British from withdrawing, a&d tried to drive thtfm into the French fortress of Maubeuge, which lies eighteen miles south of Mons. The steadiness and skill of the retirement frustrated the Germans, who lost very heavily on both days, their looses far exceeding those of the British. The retirement was continued on Tuesday, the 25th, when the fighting was less heavy. •' ' . ' • The British that night occupied the line of Cambrai, •Le Cateau, and Landrecies, extending about thirty-five miles east and west, and lying about 4o miles south--,vest of Mons. The British intended to resume tho retirement at daybreak on the 26th, but the attack of five German army corps was 60 close and fierce that the operation was delayed. The battle.was most severe and desperate, but the British made a superb resistance against tremendous odds. They extricated themselves in the ■ afternoon, but suffered severely. The only guns captured by the Germans were horseless or shattered. Sir John French estimates the losses on the four days at between 5000 and 6000. - . The German losses were out of all proportion to the British. Dreadful havoc was caused at Landr6cieß on the 26th, where a German infantry brigade advanced' along a nar row street in the closest order. The 'machine guns mowed down the nead of the column, and the remainder wore seized,with panic, and left 900 dead and wounded. Elsewhere the German Guard and cavalry division oharged the British 12th Infantry Brigade, and were repulsed with great loss and in absolute disorder. Since the 26th the British have been unmolested, except for cavalry engagements, and have rested and refitted after their glorious achievements. Reinforcements equal to double the losses have already joined, every lost gun' has been replaced, and the Army is ready to meet the next encounter with : undaunted spirit/ ... , , , , , To-day's news is again favourable. The French armies brought to a standstill the-German advance. , . , .„. General Chetwode's sth Cavalry Division was engaged in a brilliant action on Friday, tho 28th. The 12th Lancers and the Scots Greys routed the German cavalry, spearing large numbers, LandTecies is a fortress on the River Sambro, 125 miles by ■ rail from Paris. It has a population of about 4000 inhabitants. Cambrai, with 30,000 Inhabitants, lies on a slope on the rig fit bank of tho Scheldt, 123 miles from Paris, and 85 miles west" of Landrecies. Cambrai gives its name to cambric," a file linen invented in the fifteenth century, and still one_of the principal products of the town. Le Cateau is 20 miles south-east of Cambrai and 12 miles south-west of Landrecies. It is a town of 11,000 people, on the river Selbo. and l has important woollen mills. A peace between England, France, and Spain was signed in the to wn in 1559.