ALLIED ADVANCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17934, 30 October 1918, Page 8

ALLIED ADVANCE.

THE BRITISH FRONT. HEAVY COUNTER-ATTACKS REPULSED. A. Mid N.Z. Cable Association and Renter. LONDON, October 28. Sir Douglas Haig reports:— Determined counter-attaoks made on October 27 on Famars (south of Valenciennes) were repulsed, after street fighting, in which many of the enemy .•were killed. Wb> slightly improved our positions on the. borders of Mormal jForert and northward of Ralsmes For«t. LOCAL OPERATIONS. A. and N.Z. Cabl* Association and H»«t*r, (Received Ootober 25, 7.30 p.m.; LONDON, October 28. (Mr Douglas Haig reports:—As a re»nlt of local operations south of Valenciennes we advanced our line between the Rhonelle River and the Scheldt! in the face of considerable opposition. , Sir Douglas Haig's aviation report states:—On Sunday wo dropped twelve and a half tons of bombs, and shot down sixteen enemy machines and drove down ten. Eleven British machines are 'missing.

THE FRENCH THRUST. SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS MADE. A. and N.Z. Cable ABBOcistion and Router. LONDON, October 28 (3.15 a.m.) A French communique states: —The enemy, pursued by our advance guards, continued his retreat between the Oise and the Serre on a front exceeding twenty-five kilometres. Our advance to-day exceeded eight kilometres at certain pioints. We carried Boheries, Proix and Macquigny, and pushed on to the outskirts of Guise. Further south we approached the Guise-Marie xoad on the general line Bertaignemont Wood-Landifay et Bertaignemont, west of Faucouzy, Monceau le NeufMontigny sur Serre. We captured numerous prisoners and considerable material. The prisoners captured by the First Army .since October 24 number 37,000, and the booty for the same period includes twenty guns and several hundred machine-guns. The Tenth Army, co-operating with the First Army on the Serre front, is vigorously pushing 'tho enemy northwards. We occupied Crecy sur Serre. Fighting during the last two days has obliged the enemy to abandon part of the Hunding position between Herpy and Reoouvnance. We are following on the heels of the enemy. FURTHER FRENCH PROGRESS. A. and N.Z. Cablo Association and Reuter. LONDON, October 28 (5.55 p.ru. A French communique reports:—Between the Oise and Serre we are keeping in close contact with the enemy rearguards. We continued to progress during tho night, and occupied La Motto 'Farm. East of the Oise we reached the western approaches to 801 l ll eries and Lavievillo, and passed Moneean le Neuf. Wo reached the western outskirts of Pargny le Bois. On the Serre front we carried Hill 123, north of Crecy. Farther cast wo obtained a footing in tho enemy trenches north of Froidmont and Cohartille. East of Retire!, American units, by a brilliant local operation, advanced a kilometre in the region of Forest Farm and east '£ Attigny.

WITH THE AMERICANS. \ belli: wood captured. WASHINGTON, October 28. Americans have finally captured Bellu Wood. General Pershing reports that in ilic first month or the present battle the Americans captured 20,000 prisonsrs and 150 guns. .1. ami X.Z. Gable Association and Reuter. LONDON, October 28. An American communique reports:— Bellcu Wood is entirely in our hands. DETAILS OF THE FIGHT. ENEMY WORK IN LYS SALIENT. NEW YORK, October 28. Mr, Gi’igg, the "Now York World’s ” orrespondent on the British front,

says:—The colossal nature of tbo preparations tho Germans made on the West Flanders front, for an intended base for operations last summer against the Channel ports held by the Allies, can.now be estimated since (lie enemy lias withdrawn. The Germans had shored 1500 tons of ammunition and many thousand tons of supplies, in one area of tbo Lys salient. These munitions, valued "at many million dollars, were destroyed when the Germans were compelled to retreat. The enemy also constructed 108 miles of light railways in the Lys salient, at a cost of m<ore than a million dollars, made ISO miles of new road beds, orected eighteen new aerodromes and seventeen new landing grounds, and established seventy new hospital units. THE ENEMY.'S STRENGTH! LONDON, October 28. The " Morning Post" correspondent on tho French front states:—The enemy on March 21 had 2,800,000 bayonets, of which we have captured 400,000 and killed or seriously wounded 800,000. So tho Germans now have only 1,600.000 compared with 2,000,000 Allied bayonets on the West front, to which America is adding 250,000 monthly. EVACUATION OF GHENT REPORTED. AMSTERDAM, October 28. Unconfirmed reports from the frontier state that tho Germans have evacuated Ghent. ENEMY DECISIVELY BEATEN. LONDON, October 28. Mr G. H. Perris, writing from French headquarters, says:—Genei - als Debsney, Mangin and Guillaumat have decisively beaten the Germans, though the enemy employed considerable effectives and the German positions wore covered by the Oise and the Serre. General Mangin lias broken across the northern end of the marshes, capturing Ve3les, Gaumont and Pierrepont, while the Fifth Army has-attacked twelve miles of tho Hunding line, and has broken it to a depth of throe miles, capturing St Quentin le Petit, despite five successive wire fields, and five ranges of trenches with machine-gun posts and anti-tank minefields. The whole German defences in northern Champagne are endangered. Over 5000 prisoners were taken, though this is but the beginning of a great victory.

STATE ENTRY INTO BR.UGES. KING ALBERT’S ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME. LONDON, October 28. Mr Philip Gibbs gives a vivid account of the State entry into Bruges of the King and Queen of Belgium. Every f.oul in the city was in tho streets, at windows and on balconies, and every house was beflagged. After a review of the troops King Albert went to the Governor’s douce. The emotion of'the populace broke all bounds. Tens of thousands surged round the tall figure who stood at salute. The populace say tho Germans never told when a submarine was sunk, but tho people knew the commanders’ names and also tho dates of tho trips. When a fortnight or a month passed and the men. had not returned, the Belgians knew the British Navy had sunk them. \ The murder of Captain Fryatt stirred the people of Bruges to cold fury. Admiral Sehroeder hurried on the execution secretly in order that there should be no opportunity for a reprieve. SUFFERINGS OF REFUGEES. Reuter's Telegrams. (Received October 30, 2 a.m.) LONDON, October 28. Tho Belgian Relief Commission states that 14,000 refugees from Belgium and northern France have arrived in Holland, and thousands more are pouring in. Halting places for th© night are fixed along the route from northern Franco to the Dutch frontier. Tile refugees are in desperate need. Thero are also hundreds of thousands of refugees in tho territory still occupied. They are destitute and represent a moving mass of misery, largely children and aged men and women. Influenza is alarmingly prevalent.