VILLAGE OF THE DEAD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 16218, 24 August 1918, Page 7

VILLAGE OF THE DEAD.

TEN FOOT LAYER OF GAS. AMERICANS SHOW METTLE. LONDON, August 2. Router's representative, writing from American headquarters yesterday afternoon, says;— Tho heaviest fighting on the American front occurred yesterday round the ruined village of Cicrges, two miles southeast of Sergy. It iiad been a stumblingblock to tho advance for some days. Tho village lies in a deep hollow, and. there is a 10ft. layer of gas in it. Hcuco emphatically' it is a village of the dead. Tho battle raged on the surrounding bills, the Gormans cleverly defending themselves with machine-gun nests, especially at Bellevue Farm, just north of Cierges, where the wheat-fields gave them excellent cover. Meanwhile bitter fighting continued between Sergy and Scrcnges, where the Germans were also resisting desperately. It would be a mistake to suppose that a tremendous struggle is in progress on the American front, and the results are inadequate. Tho fighting was really on a comparatively small scale. The infantry fighting has been the bitterest, but the guns were little used, suggesting that our commander’s purpose may be to hold the enemy rather than hurry tho advance. In an earlier message the correspondent said that the Germans took the offensive on the American front, which was the centre of the salient. It was most significant that the attacks were genuine efforts to gain ground, though all attempts were defeated. They indicated that either the enemy was more confident that he could resist our advance, or was under tho pressing necessity of holding it up a little longer. He left a lot of men beside the Ourcq, some of his best, which meant that he thought that to gain one day was worth paying a' large price for, since he probably had 6000 men put out of action on a front of a mile and a-half. It was a large price to pay for a beating, for our front still goes forward. ' The correspondent of The Times at American headquarters in France says that when the ruthless Prussians met the remorseless Americans in.the latest stages of the prolonged struggle around Sergy and Sorenges, they all fought like tigers, regardless of the cost. The Americans proved the better men. They dauntlessly mounted a hill eastward of Sergy, and, facing a hail of bullets and shells, rushed the machine-guns. The Prussians continued firing until the bayonets silenced them. No quarter was given by either side. The enemy was reinforced and coun-ter-attacked later. They fell in batches under the accurate machine-igun and rifle fire, but they pressed on until the Americans rushed upon them with the bayonet. A .terrible melee followed, ending in the defeat ofifthe Prussians. After taking a rest they attacked twice yyith the same result. The Americans enticed the enemy into Serenges village. Then they gradually closed in, and the desperate bayoneting was resumed. The Americans paid a high price, but they wiped out tho Prussians. The streets were filled with 'dead and dying at the close of the bloodiest day the Americans have yet known. The Paris correspondent of The Times says: The battle of Sergy and Seringes lasted for 48 hours. It was fairly costly for the intrepid Americans, Tout the enemy’s losses were exceptionally high. A party of 300 Germans defending the l oad was surrounded. The Germans refused to surrender, and tho Americans exterminated them.