SENSATIONAL ADVANCE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume VIII, Issue 214, 12 August 1918, Page 5

SENSATIONAL ADVANCE

OF THE ALLIED ARMIES. A GREAT VICTORY WON. Montdidier, and Chaulnes Captured. Roye also Reported to be Taken. Thirty-six Thousand Prisoners and 500 Guns. Enemy Preparing a Counter Offensive. Forced Marches of Strong Columns From Cambrai, Peronne and St. Quentin. ir**M AMOOIATCOH OOHMIOIiI (Received 12, 9.25 a.m.) London, August 11. Thirty-six thousand prisoners and 500 guns have already been captured. The Canadians and Australians took Chaulnes.— (A. & N.Z.) Paris, August 10. It is believed that the Allied advance is greater than announced. Half the total guns behind the German front were captured. —(A. &N.Z.) < (Received 12, 9.0 a.m.) • London, August I I. Mr. Lloyd George, speaking at Newport, said the Allied victory on tM Marne and Somme resulted in the capture of nearly 60,000 prisoners and 900 guns. One of the greatest factors of these victories had been the combined command. (A. & N.Z.) (Received 12, 9 a.m.) * London, August ir. The result of the two days attack on a twenty-mile front is 24,000 prisoners, 300 guns, and a maximum advance of twelve miles. The French resumed the attack at dawn on Saturday, penetrating four miles in six hours and surrounding Montdidier on all its four sides. _our field guns command the important railway junction of Chaulnes, compelling the Germans to abandon its use and depend on thtf roads and light railways, which are inadequate for their needs. Canadian cavalry operating near Chaulnes report that strong enemy rearguards are covering the evacuation of the stores. The whole situation offers great possibilities. ex P ected that the enemy will be compelled to retire to the Somme line seven miles distant.— (A. & N.Z.) (Received 12, 9 a.m.) Paris, August 1 1. The Allies are steadily progressing. General Fooh’s hatchat blows are reducing salient after salient. The French entered Montdidier towards noon, before the enemy had tijne to get away. In the meanwhile the Allies’ centre, between Lilwrs and pushed on with further great h"t'ls of prisoners, until it gained possession of Fresnoy les Roye,“three miles northward of Roye. The Americans co-operated with the Btihsh on Friday night, recapturing Chipilly Spur. They were preceded by tanks and 3,* ell ~ti?ned barrage. They swiftly gained their objective, while a terrific struggle at close quarters enabled the Allies to take Morlancourt.— (A. & N.Z.) (Received 12, 10.5 a.m.) me t, ■■ e New \ork, Augn.*.t 1 1. T? r * Simmonds, a leading American military expert, The German defeat between the Somme andthe Oise has already attained proportions of a great disaster. Within three days General Foch’s second blow has dislocated more than one hundred miles of the German front. There is reason to believe that the German withdrawal will reach the old Hindenburg line. • ,15® J? ccup .? tfon of Chau,n es paralyses the railway lines within the collapsing salient. The Germans east of the line from Chaulnes x o .Noyon are in a desperate situation. They may escape, but will be forced to leave behind guns and munitions. A great victory has teen won, the consequences of which may not yet be measured.—(A. & N.Z.) (Received 12, 12.15 p.m.) . „ . , Paris, Avgust 1 1. Semi-official.— Montdidier fell owing to a combined movement of the right wing and the Third French Army in command of General Humbert. “ Le Journal ” states that strong enemy columns are advancing by forced marches from Cambrai. Peronne and St. Quentin. Apparently the enemy is contemplating a violent counteroffensive in* order to save Roye, the fall whereof was hitherto unconfirmed.— (Reuter.) GENERAL MAURICE’S COMMENT. FASTEST ADVANCE^ON RECORD. London, August 10. General Maurice says: I don't think there has been any battle in the west since trench warfare began wherein we or our Allies or the Germans have ever before penetrated seven miles in the first advance. It seems improbable that the enemy will be able to maintain himself in the Roye Montdidier salient. Certainly he must make a withdrawal comparable to that on the Marne if we capture the Chaulnes railway junction. The best the Germans can hope is that their reserves will arrive in time to prevent such a disaster. STRANGULATION OF ENEMY'S COMMUNICATIONS. EFFECTS OF VICTORY ALREADY APPARENT. (Received 12, 1 1.25 p.m.) London, August 11. Major-General Maurice writes: The British near Chaulnes should now be able to strangle the enemy’s communications in the Montdidier salient in the same way as General Foch’s blow on the Aisne upset his arrangements for supplying his troops in the Marne salient, and thereby eventually force his retreat. Our rapid advance southward of the Somme has begun to have that effect. The French have extended the attack south as far as the Matz river, and are steadily pushing the enemy back from his position on the Avre. It is in this quarter that we may expect the greatest progress in the immediate future, because the enemy is certain to strive desperately to check the centre of attack in the neighbourhood of Chaulnes. where our men are fighting, until he extricates his left flank to prevent it getting into a dangerous position. Some effects of the victory are already apparent. The main line from Amiens to Clermont and Creil is m working order, and possibly, within a day or two. we will be using the line from Amiens along the Avre Valiev to Compcigne, thus improving the chances of developing the victory. The Germans are now pressed everywhere along ?. forty-fv'c mile front, and we may fairly hope, working from such a wide base, to force the enemy back as far as the Somme from Peronne

to Vojennes, thence along the canal to Noyon, implying the recapture of the bulk of the ground lost in the great battle last March.

The number of guns captured is variously estimated at from 350 to 400, including a 15-inch piece previously used in bombarding Amiens the British turning it round to bombard Ham. is reported that both Roye and Chaulnes have been taken. (A. & N.Z.) VIEWS OF COLONEL REPINCTON. ENEMY STILL HAS STRONG RESERVES. „ . , . London, August 10. Colonel Repington says: The attack apparently struck the point of junction between Prince Rupprecht’s and the Crown Prince’s army groups. There may be some delay in bringing up Geiman reserves, because it is always more difficult for them to reach the wings, but it is premature to suppose that we have finished the battle. Sir Douglas Haig lias smashed eight German divisions, but there must be nearly a hundred at Germany’s disposal, exeluding / 4 engaged on the Marne and those between Verdun and Switzerland, and 23 of these divisions consist of good storm troops not recently engaged. THE SOISSONS-REIMS FRONT. DIFFICULT TO PROGRESS ACROSS THE VESLE. , „. , . London, August 10. A trench official communique states: On the Vesle the' Americans captured Fismette (a suburb of Fismes across the river). Reuter’s correspondent at American headquarters, writing on the 9th and describing the fighting in the Vesle Valiev, savs: The enemy methodically thought out the problem of holding the heights beyond the Vesle. Once across the river our troubles' precipitately increased The enemy has withdrawn the bulk of his automatics to the wooded slopes, leaving only a few in the corn where they could enfilade our advance from the river. Many were silenced by individual deeds of daring. When the outpost guns were disposed of a bridgehead wms formed, and more troops got over. We advanced to the foot hills, and are now lying on the hillside practically in the. open. The German gunners are ■watching every movement from the beet trees above their in visible machine-guns, which have a clear field of fire. Our gunners are shelling theirs with gas, but hitherto without sensibly keeping' down then" fire. The Americans were first across the river, their engineers constructing trestle bridges from material cut under fire. FOCH INTENDS TO CONTINUE HITTING AND KEEP THE Hl N ON THE RUN. Washington, August 10. General March says that the time has now arrived on the west front for the Allies’ greatest blow. Marshal FochJntends to keep on bitting. Any suggestion that the end of the* war is near is unfounded, but the time has come to keen the enemy running. The passage of the initiative to the Allies at this stage is all-important. lhe New’ Aork “Times’ ” Washington correspondent states that the opinion of military officials is that the startling rapidity of the Franco-British advance m Picardv, foilownrig other Allied successes, will force the German High Command either to use up its reserves in a pitched battle attempting to block the Allies, or to retreat to hold lines occupied last March. British captured Rosieres and Warvillers. lhe progress oil noth sides of Montdidier continues. Eleven German°divisions have been smashed in the present battle, and French patrols have entered Chaulnes. — (A. & N.Z.) BRITISH OFFICIAL DESPATCHES. DETAILS OF THREE DAYS’ BATTLE. ... , rT . London, August 10. Sir Douglas Haig reports: The Allies renewed the attack on the whole battle-front southward of the Somme, and progressed everywhere, despite the increasing resistance. The French extended their front southwards, and captured 1 icrrepont and the wood north and north-east thereof. The Canadians and Australians, with admirable dash, after capturing the outer defences of Amiens advanced two miles oc-yond after severe fighting. Before evening the Franco-British forces bad reached the hue of Pierrepont, Arviß.-rs, Ro-ieres, Rair.ecourt and Moreourt, where lighting continues. Local fighting is reported north oi the Somme. Our prisoners now number 17,000, with between 200 and 300 guns, including a heavy railway gun, large numbers of trend) mortarsi and machine-guns, and immense stores of material including a train. Our casualties are exceptionally light. August 10, 2.15 p.rn. Yesterday afternoon the advance of the Allied armies continued on the whole front from southward of Montdidier to the Ancre. The French, attacking southward of Montdidier during the afternoon, captured Le Tron-moy, Le Fretoy, and AssainvilLrs, threatening Montdidier from the southward. We took over 2000 prisoners in this sector. The Canadian and Australian divisions have taken Meharicourt and Lihons, and entered Ramecourt and Provart. In the evening Anglo-Americans attacked in the angle between the Somme and the Ancre with immediate success. Bv nightfall all tneir objectives were taken, including the village of Morlancourt and the high’ ground to the south-east. lhe enemy counter-attacks m this sector were beaten off after sharp fighting. lhe prisoners captured by the Allies since the Sth exceed 25,000. August 11, 12.30 a.m. The attack launched on the evening of the Qth, in accordance with the Allied plan by the right of the French First Army south of Montdidier was developed by the Allies during the morning with complete success. We enveloped from north and south-east Montdidier, which fell mto the hands of the french before mid-day with many prisoners and a quantity of material. . The advance of the french First Army continued all day long in co-operation with the French army on the right and the right of the British Fourth Army. The British are hard pressing the retreating Germans. Southward of Lihons we overcame the enemy’s resistance and made substantial progress. The general line reached by the Allies now runs from north to south by Lihons, hresnoy, west of Roye, Lignieres and Conchy’ les Pots. The number of prisoners is increasing.—(A. & N.Z. and Reuter.) THE BIG PAR T PLAYED BY AIRMEN. Sir Douglas Haig states: Our aeroplanes co-operated with other arms on the battle-front throughout the day, and supplied our advanced troops with ammunition from the air. The;/ also dropped smoke bombs before the tanks on the line of advance, concealing their approach from the enemy'. Flying low, our squadrons machine-gunned and bombed the retreating enemy, causing havoc among the masses of troops and transport, also trains at junctions and bridges. We destroyed 48 aeroplanes and drove down 17 others uncontrollable, while 51 British machines arc missing, mostly' shot down from the ground. Our airmen continued on the 9th to co-operate with the infantry, cavalry and tanks. They heavily bombed the Somme bridges day and night. In air fighting on the gth we destroyed 37 machines and drove down 22 uncontrollable, while 23 of ours arc missing. We dropped 38 tons of bombs during the day-time and 18 tons by night-time. (Received 12. 10.30 a.m.) London, August 11. Sir Douglas Haig reports: In a successful operation in the night we advanced our line northward of the Somme on high ground between Etineham and Dernancourt. Fighting southward of the river is reported at different points. 1 lie 1-reach progressed along the south bank of the Avre and reached the outskirts of Lechelle St. Amin. On the Ypres sector we repulsed a local attack this morning m str portions northward of Kemmcl, taking prisoners, and we slightly' unproved our ncwitiurw eastward of Robecq.— (A. & N..Z. and Reuter.)

THE AUSTRALIANS WERE THERE. LARGE HAUL OF PRISONERS. Melbourne, August io. General Birdwood cabled to Senator Pearce, Minister for Defence: All our divisions participated in the recent successful operations, and again distinguished themselves by their gallant bearing, which coufd not be beaten. Our corps alone captured 5000 prisoners and 100 guns.. Our casualties were extraordinarily small, owing to the complete surprise of the whole operation. THE FRENCH DESPATCHES. RAPID ADVANCE EAST OF MONTDIDIER. London, August 10, 2.30 a.m. A French communique states:— Following up the advance on the right of the British Fourth Army, our troops to-day scored fresh successes. After breaking the resistance of the enemy, we carried the villages of Pierrepont, Contoire, Hangest-en-Santerre and Ar villers. Our progress in this direction since yesterday morning attained a depth of fourteen kilometres. Besides a considerable quantity of material, we captured 4000 prisoners. Our losses, like the British, were particularly light. On the Vesle the Americans captured Fismette (a suburb of Fismes across the river). A later message states: Our troops operating on the right of the British pursued their successes last evening. During the night wc progressed east of Arvillers and captured Davenscourt. Attacking south of Montdidier, between Ayencourt and Le Fresnoy we took Rubescourt and Assainvillers, and reached Faverolles. Our attacks on the Avre battle front continued all day' with increasing success. Montdidier was outflanked east and north, and fell during the morning. Continuing.our victorious advance on the right of the British, we pushed ten kilometres east of Montdidier on the front of Andechy, Laboissiere and Fescamps. Extending our action south-eastward, we attacked German positions right and left of the St. Just-Roye road on a front of twenty kilometres. We captured Rollot, Orvillers Sorel, Ressons-sur-Matz, Conchy les Pots, Neuville-sur-Ressons, and Elincourt, advancing ten kilometres at certain points. In three days fighting the French have advanced over twenty kilometres along the Amiens-Roye road and captured over 8000 prisoners. We have counted hitherto 200 guns among the enormous material abandoned. Despite bad weather, our air squadrons fought numerous actions, felling 14 German aeroplanes. About 40 tons of projectiles were dropped by day and night on enemy troops and stationary camps. OUR ADVANCE APPROACHING LASSICNY. (Received 12, 12 noon.) London, August It. A French communique states: Yesterday evening and night we further progressed on the whole front between the Avre and the Oise, and carried Dordogno and La Grasso massif, and advanced east of Buc. Farther south we penetrated the wooded region between Moreuil la Matz and the Oise, and reached the outskirts of La Berliere and Cury. We took Vil-Lamotte and advanced about three kilometres north of Chevincourt.— (A. & N.Z. and Reuter.) ALLIED TROOPS IN FINE FIGHTING TRIM. AUSTRALIANS ADVANCE IN WAVES. (Received 12, 1.5 p.m.) London, August 11. Mr. Gilmour, writing on Friday evening, says: Since General Foch countered the Crown Prince at Reims, the morale of all the Entente troops has received such a stimulus that it became certain that the initiative on other parts of the front would not be allowed to remain with the enemy. Our troops are now fighting with much impetuosity. Referring to the Australian attack, he says: They went over in‘two waves, one wave going through the other, thus expediting an unusually deep advance. A FIELD DAY FOR THE TANKS. The. tanks accompanied the troops who, after four minutes’ bombardment, quickly broke the pie-crust off the first German defence, and we had all our own way behind. The feature of the Australian sectors was the advance of armoured motor-cars, whose officers had a field day.. Bowling along eastward they found trees down across the road. Here they requisitioned a tank to haul the trees off the road. Armoured cars reaching a certain village found an enemy transport ready to move back. They fired 3000 rounds into them, causing complete confusion. The cars had lively moments at other villages, where they tackled a collection of steam waggons, causing an impassable block. They encountered a German gun, which blew the wheels off one car and damaged three others, which, however, escaped. Two cars penetrated the main street of a small town, firing into billets where German troops were lunching. The cars had quite a battle with the Germans in rest billets and old trenches, and killed many. One car penetrated beyond La Flaque, where it secured many prisoners round a big dump.—(A. & N.Z.) AUSTRALIANS FIND THE FIGHTINC EASY. EIGHT-MILE ADVANCE WITHOUT USING A WEAPON. (Received 12, 1.5 p.m.) London, August 11. Mr. Murdoch, writing from Australian headquarters, says: The surprise of the Germans was so complete that the fighting of the Australians so far has been comparatively easy. Thousands of men have not used a weapon. They simply walked forward through the shattered thin crust of defences to their objectives eight miles away, carrying iron rations and sufficient ammunition for several days. They secured village after village, and passed deep into German territorv. CANADIANS SWEEP FORWARD. The Canadians, whose overflowing battalions were at top form, broke the enemy crust like thin ice, and then swept forward. Large bodies of cavalry secured the furthermost objectives. THREE DIVISIONS OF WESTPHALIANS WIPED OUT. Examinations of prisoners and dead show that the Australians alone wiped out three divisions of Westphalians, the reserves of the Prussian Guards, and mixed East Prussian and Saxon Prussian divisions. Ihe booty is unlimited. The prisoners include battalion and regimental commanders. —(United Service.) THE STORY TOLD !N BERLIN. London, August 10. A German official message states: The enemy attacked with strong forces on the Sth, between the Ancre and the Avre, I favoured by a thick fog. and forced his way with tanks into our infantry and artillery lines. We threw him out of our positions north of the Somme. Between the Somme and the Avre our counter-attacks brought him to a standstill. We suffered losses in prisoners and guns, and took prisoner English, Australians, Canadians and French. We repulsed partial attacks at many points between the Yser and the Ancre. _ The British and French, bringing up strong reserves, continued attacks on the whole front between the Ancre and the I Avre. e, threw back the enemy on both sides of the Somme and astride the FoucaucourtA illers Bretonneux road. The enemy gained ground in the centre of the battle-front between Ros'sieres and Hangest. Our counter-attacks brought him to a standstill westward of ' Lihons and eastward of the Rosieres-Arviliers line. \ve withdrew during the night-time to rear lines eastward of Montdidier. An evening message states: Between the Ancre and the enemy’ attacks were shattered before our fighting positions.—(A. & N.Z. and Reuter, Admiralty per Wireless.) L