LATE NEWS

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 36, 10 August 1918, Page 6

LATE NEWS

THE NEW'BATTLE A WHIRLWIND ADVANCE ATTACK BEGUN IN THICK MIST SWIFT WORK OF ALLIED ARTILLERY. (DNITBD rRBSS ASSOCIATION.—COPYRIGHT.) (AUSTRALIAN-NEW ZEALAND CABLE ASSOCIATION.) (Received August 10, 1 p.m.) . LONDON, 9th August. . Mr. Percival Phillips writes: Thanks to th,e almost ceaseless ■ Allied artillery fire, the enemy k for the most part unable to develop any formidable system of defence, such as we had to overcome on the Somme in 1916, and in Flanders in 1918. The consciousness of this weakness is probably responsible for the recent withdrawals.. . The preliminary bombardment in the .new battle consisted of three minutes' of • whirlwind fire on the front position, then the field guns and trench mortars began to lengthen out in. a creeping barrage, whilst the heavy artillery continued to pound, away at spots likely to: prove troublesome. Hundreds, of tanks advaned'with the infantry waves, many.crossing the Avre with gratifying ease.

A large number of low-flying aeroplanes participated in the battle when the light had broadened sufficiently, and shed a terrible hail of bombs and ma-chine-gun fire. It was so hazy when the advance began that the gun flashes were- often invisible fifty yards away. It was just the weather for a surprise,.

The advance was uniformly rapid everywhere except at Morlancourt, where the enemy's positions were well fortified, and the\ fighting there was continuous throughout the morning.

.Below the Somme the men literally .vanished into the fog of war, and. it is difficult to pieco together anything like a connected narrative because the fighting rolls away over a wide sweep of country and becomes impossible to. follow. But prisoners are coming in in shoals. The trim, condition ,of many of them indicates that , they have been oveivrun and have surrendered without fight. ■: • ■- . ■■•■ ; : ■-„■

Ono General, referring to tho captures of guns, laughingly said: "It will take days to count them." A swift surprise drive on such a length of front to such a depth gives the enemy no time to got his batteries away or even to destroy them. The infantry in many places overran the support of our artillery, but it did not matter, because they, had already advanced beyond where any German guns were posted, and because we had plenty of German guns to swing round and serve. Our batteries advanced with wonderful smartness. In one instance a wholo field brigade got beyond the original front lino and was in action twenty minutes after "zero." Wo were successful in getting two companies of tanks across the Luce river under cover of darkness, and they did invaluable work in clearing up what it, was feared would prove a' difficult situation owing to the strong German positions in the Dodo Wood and on the neighbouring high ground. Such casualties as the tanks suffered were inflicted by gunfire from the south bank of the Somme. We therefore directed a converging attack against the Gressaire Wood and Chipilly, and secured large hauls of prisoners and field guns in both places.., Our. men speak >of the .wonderful • effectiveness of our barrage. The enemy's machine-gunfire was less intense than was anticipated, ho doubt owing to the smothering of observation by the mist." . . ■ '

The prisoners arc of a good type, of soldier, but wore depressed by the news of the Marne defeat.