LATE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 37, 7 November 1918, Page 5

LATE NEWS

GERMAN RETREAT I IN THE WEST ] SITUATION CHANGING j EVERY HOUR j ! HAIG SCORES GREAT VICTORY j ~ . ■, i . (Rec. November 7, 0.50 a.m.) | London, November 5, 9.30 p.m. i Tho Germans are retreating along the j wholo front between the Scheldt,and tho I Aisne. Iho situation is.changing hourly, j It is impossible to give any definite idea of ouv advance. Roughly, ire have crossed tho Franco-Belgian frontier between Valenciennes and Bavay, and are /be- | tween a milo and. two miles westward | of the latter We have captured the whole of tho Jlorinal Forest,' with the ex- I ception of the eastern edge.; Thcnco our I line runs to Marcoilles, along the western : edgo of JJouvron. Forest, to two miles I eastward of Guise, through Sains, con- j tinues two miles southward of the Marie, j line, two miles southward of the Serre i River, and then in a straight line to the: j Chateau of Porcien. The weather has . i temporarily slackened our pursuit, and' j we have lost touch with the enemy's i main body, which has made off .to the { eastward. • . ■

The French are astride the Lechesne,. | and have crossed' the Ardennes Canal and advanced a mile northwards. The Ameri- > cans, co-operating, hold the whole of the I road from Stenayto Lechesne. and- have j occupied Beaumont, , reached Enor,. in a loop of the Meuse, and formed a bridgehead' southward of Dun, but apparently wo have not yet occupied Dim. We here again iost touch with the.main German > forces, although less than/six miles from { the main lateral line of communication, j It appears that a large-scale retreat, fore- J shadowed for some time past, has really Cable Aesn.-Beuter. ! SIR'DOUGLAS HAITsCORES A GREAT ! VICTORY . I (Hee. November 7, 1.45 -a.m.) i ■ ! London, November 6, 0.45 a.m. i Sir Douglas Hnig reports: "In the ''I great battle which opened yesterday be- i tween the Sambre aud the Scheld* our '. Third and First Armies heavily defeated > with severe losses in killed, wounded, j and prisoners, and guns and material, no i fewer than twenty-five German divisions, > thus breaking down the German defence : on a thirty-mile front. Owing to this : brilliant success the enemy to-day is re- ■' treating along the whole battlefront. Deepite tne rain, we are pressing him close- | ly, taking prisoners. The enemy aban- ; doned complete batteries and quantities j of material. We passed through Moraal j Forest nnd reached a general line from : Barzy to Grandfayel, Berlairaont, west- ; ward of Bavay, Rosin, and Ereenes. ;

"Our air squadrons successfully at- i tacked important railway junctions and ,' aerodromes, -setting fire to throe hangars.' , We dropped a total of thirty-five tons of : explosives. The enemy showed great ac- ; tivity, and there-was'heavy fighting,-in ; which we brought down forty aeroplanes,' | and drove down fifteen out of control,' i Thirty-five British machines are missing. , Our night-flyers dropped fourteen tons ,- ! of bombs. Tour 'planes did not return" j —Aue.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-R-euter. ]

NEW ZEALANDEES' .DRAMATIC ' ' EXPLOIT. ' j ' ' . ■ (Rec. November 7, 0.5 a.m.) ; London, November 5, j The enemy is retreating on seventy i miles of front between the Scheldt and j the Aisne. The New Zealanders' cap-, ture of Lβ Quesnoy was the most dra- J matic feature of Monday's battle. They i broke into the gun positions eastward j of the fortress and captured one hundred gunS; many of which were limbered In readiness for retreat. The New Zealanders penetrated the wagon lines and. j rounded nip the transport. The garrison j refused three aeroplane invitations to surrender. The Now Zealanders by the , evening had forced ttu>.- rampsrto, and;. wiped out the machine-gun nests. The remainder of . the ' garrison laid down their arms.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ENEMY ABOUT TO NEGOTIATE FOR | ■ ARMISTICE J . IMPRESSION IN AMERICA. I (Rec. November 7, 0,45 a.m.) \ Washington, November 5. I Tho goueral impression here :is that j Germany is. about to open negotiations for an armistice.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Aesn. . ENEMY'S POSITION" DESPERATE. (Rec. November 7, 0.50 a.m.) , | New York, November 5. Tho opinion expressed through the Press is that tho terns of the Austrian I armistice could not hove been exceeded j in severity if sho had actually surrender- j ed on the field of battle. It is pointed ; out that Germany's position is now des- . porate. The fact that the Allies will be j ablo to use tho Austrian railways to ak 1 tack Gormany at strategic points marks j the Teuton's death knell. The general j opinion is that Germany will not contimie j the struggle, no matter how severe and J humiliating tho terms of the armistice - j may be.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. |