SUBSTANTIAL FRENCH PROGRESS EAST OF RHEIMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16914, 29 July 1918, Page 5

SUBSTANTIAL FRENCH PROGRESS EAST OF RHEIMS.

ADVANCE BEYOND ORIGINAL LINES AT POINTS. MAIN DE MASSIGES WHOLLY RECAPTURED AND HELD. FURTHER ADVANCE ON WEST OF SOMME SALIENT. Australian and N.Z. and Router. (Reed. 5.6 p.m.) LONDON. July 27—3.30 a.m. A French communique states : South of the Ourcq there is reciprocal artillery activity, but no infantry fighting. North of the Marne we captured Previl and Savares Farm on Thursday evening, and drove back the enemy to the southern outskirts of Binson, Orquigny, and Tillers sous Chatillons. Altogether 700. prisoners were taken on Thursday at Villemontoire and Oulchy le Chateau, north of the Ourcq. Local attacks undertaken in the Champagne, after breaking the, enemy offensive, resulted, notwithstanding enemy resistance, in our, advancing a mile on a front of 13 miles, east of the Buippe and north of the general line at St. Hilaire, Grand Souain, and Mesnil les Hurlus. We recaptured the whole Main de Massiges and reoccupied our old first lines in that region. We captured in these operations 1100 prisoners and seven guns. The previous evening's communique states: Last night we captured Villemontoire after a desperate struggle, capturing 200 prisoners and 70 machine-guns. Further south Oulchy le Chateau fell into our hands. We advanced east of the town and captured four guns. We took several hundred prisoners south of the Ourcq yesterday. An American official report states : We captured Le Charmel, between the Ourcq and the Marne, on Thursday. An earlier report stated : Fighting on the Ourcq front continues. We occupied Oulchy la Ville, north of the river. French and American troops on the south advanced two miles at certain points, despite very severe resistance, especially in the Dormaus region. We captured Hill 141, south-east of Armentieros, and crossed the Nanteuil Stream. Further south we captured the village of Courcy, and the bulk of Tournelle Wood. We made progress at Waigly, and in the forest of Fere as far as the general line Bouvardes-le-Charmel. The advance also was continued favourably in Riz Forest and north of Dormans. The enemy south-west of Rheims, after violent attacks on our positions between Vringy and St. Euphraise, gained a footing on Hill 230, which we soon recaptured. m ir ' '"■" ' ' GERMAN MAN-POWER RESOURCES SERIOUSLY DEPLETE!} DIMINISHING CHANCES OF FURTHER GREAT ATTACK. ATTEMPT TO SAVE THE SITUATION ON THE MARNE. Beuter. . (Received 5.5 p.m.) , LONDON, July 26-7 p.m. The French have made little progress round Soissons, where the German resistance is strong. The French situation here is rather unfavourable owing to the enemy being able to keep up an enfilading fire. Still the French can maintain their position on the heights overlooking Soissons. There is good reason to think the enemy had made up his mind on July 19 to undertake a general retirement to the Ardre and the Vesle Rivers, but later cancelled the orders. He may now try to hold his present line at all costs or straighten the front between Soissons and Rheims. His object in holding on may be the desire to save the enormous accumulation of stores and to reduce the confusion in the congested transport area. Should he fall back on the Ardre or the Vesle it would be an admission of complete failure, and seriously affect the morale of the Central Powers. The Crown Prince's reserves are entirely used up. Prince Rupprecht's 30 fresh divisions are all that are left on the western front. The prospects of an attack are less apparent than a week ago. The enemy appears disinclined to stake everything on an isolated attack on another front. Another reason is that his man-power situation is not as good as he would like, but he cannot expect an improvement until the 1920 classes are ready to take the field two months hence. UNREMITTING OFFENSIVE BY ALLIED AIR SERVICES. HEAVY TOLL OF ENEMY MACHINES OVER THE MARNE. TWO HEAVY BRITISH RAIDS MADE ON BADEN TOWNS. Australian and N.Z. end Beater. (Reed. 55 p.m.) LONDON, July 27. A French communique states: We brought down seven enemy aeroplanes, and the British brought down 18, on Thursday. We dropped 38 tons of bombs by day and night on stations, roads, hangars, and dumps near the battlefield. Fires and explosions were observed. The British dropped four tons on Bazoclp, Fere-en-Tardenois, and Mont Notre Dame. The British Air Ministry reports: Our high-flying aeroplanes on Thursday successfully attacked the station and a faotory at Pforsheim, and a factory and balloon station at Offenburg, both in Baden. Two fires broke out at Offenburg. We bombed four aerodromes, hitting the hangars. We attacked trains, aircraft, and batteries with machineguns. All our machines returned. , , Aviation reports by Sir Douglas Haig state: We attacked three large ammunition dumps and also the docks at Bruges and numerous villages used as billets. A strong west wind greatly favoured the enemy in air fighting, 'but 25 hostile machines were brought down and six others driven down out of control. Fifteen British aeroplanes are missing. Our night fliers attacked the railways at. Courtrai and Seclin and dropped 300 bombs on rest billets. All the machines returned. Our anti-aircraft artillery shot down enemy night fliers behind our lines. Towards evening on Wednesday the sky cleared, permitting air fighting. Twenty-four tons of bombs were dropped at night on railways at Valenciennes, in the Ypres salient, at Courtrai, and at Armentieres, and also on various enemy billets. Two trains were hit. Our aeroplanes fired thousands of machine-gun rounds at targets, including active anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, and transport. The Admiralty reports: From July 18 to 24 air force units, co-operating with the navy, dropped 15 tons of bombs with good results on military objectives at Zecbrugge, Bruges, and Ostend. Six hostile machines were destroyed and eight driven down out of control. Five British are missing. GERMANS PAY DEARLY FOR UNDERESTIMATING ENEMY TREMENDOUS LOSSES IN MEN, GUNS AND MATERIAL. „ , LONDON, July 28. Renter. Router's correspondent at French headquarters, writing at eleven o'clock on Thursday night, says: Since Monday week 25,000 prisoners, 400 guns and several thousand maehine-guns have been captured from the enemy, whose loss in munitions and material is incalculable. Nightly fires indicate where the depots of stores which he is unable to remove are burning. It is clearly proved that the Germans, when beginning the offensive, were again deluded with the idea that the French army at length was exhausted, and left the possibility of a counter-offensive on their right flank out of calculation. They failed to reckon on the presence of the Americans, which enabled the French commanders to take measures which they might have hesitated to tnkp with their own resources alone. taJSC wiiu mw WASHINGTON, July 28. Officials estimate that in a fortnight the German losses amounted to 150,000, the Americans to 25,000, a.ad the total of the Allies to less than 100,000. - PRINCE RUPPRECHT'S ARMY THE CRITICAL PROBLEM WHOLE WAR TURNS ON CAMPAIGN EAST OF AMIENS. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON, July 26. Mr. Philip Gibba writes: The chief problem is what Prince Ruppre'cht of Bavaria is going to do east of Amiens. This historical situation is of enormous and terrible interest, because it is the turning point of the war. Meanwhile there is much harassing mutual artillery firing The Germans are violently bombarding the ScherpenbergBethune area, in the Ypres salient, and also Villers Bretonneux, south of the Somme', where as many as 7000 gas shells fall daily. The country round Hebuterne, where the New Zealanders are working, is another scene of activity, but the enemy is always worsted. - I witnessed a bombardment beyond Rossignol Wood this morning, when the New Zealaadera advanced their, line under. injenaa fiw.