INCIDENTS OF THE RETREAT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 279, 14 August 1918, Page 6

INCIDENTS OF THE RETREAT

UTTER CONFUSION BEHIND THE GERMAN LINES London, August 12. Mr. Gordon Gilmour, Australian Headquarters correspondent, writing on Saturday regarding the Australian advance, says.ihat on the first day there was not a rout; the enemy retired steadily. But all semblance of order had,vanished by Friday evening at the latest. Prisoners declare that the enemy did not expect any further advance after the first day, and thought themselves fairly secure in the little "cubby-holes" .they had dug overnight. "I saw scores of German dead round the machine-gun posts; and many Germans struggling painfully back to our lines. Our casualties were nothing like as many as in previous battles. Littlo knots of wounded came straggling back across (he vast battlefield, mostly hit by machine gun bullets. Among the captures was the headquarters of a unit, fitted up in truly German style with carpet on the floors, electric light, an elaborate scheme of telephones, and deep and comfortable dug-outs, where an enormous quantity of documents and gear had been abandoned. One officer found hero a packet of 250 iron crosses ready for distribution. Tho captures included gramophones, beds and bedding, libraries, and many personal belongings, which all prove the hastiness of (he retreat. It is amazing to see the Australians swaggering round in German officers' tunics." Panic Everywhere in Evidence. v Sir. Keith Murdoch, writing from tho Australian Headquarters on Saturday, says:—"l doubt if more than 200 Germans were killed on the Australian sector during the first'two days of tho battle, so weak has been tho resistance, and so complete the surrender when the bayonets became thieatening. Everywhere there two evidences of the Boches' flight. Booty is scattered in all directions. Helmets, packs, and rifles were thrown aside, and hundreds of minethrowers and big stacks of ammunition are hidden in the corn crops.' By noon yesterday we had taken over new encampments, replete with bomb-proof huts, elaborate kitchens, and even, a bandstand and a beer-garden. The first shock of the battle is now over, and organised resistance by fresh . troops has developed, so that whatever tactics are adopted, a further number of'prisoners are not to bo expected at tho mo-ment."—Aus.-N.55. Cable Assn. RECORD ADVANCE BY CANADIANS AND AUSTRALIANS. Ottawa, August 12. A Canadian correspondent explains that the Canadians secretly took over a Eection of the Australian front south of the railway in the Villers Bretonneux neighbourhood to the left of the Australian and British troops, and fought a bittor battle between tho Somme and the Ancre. The Canadians and Australians made what is believed to be a record advance for a single day in this war — Cable Assn.