THE ENEMY ASTOUNDED

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13887, 12 October 1918, Page 5

THE ENEMY ASTOUNDED

ARMISTICE FULLY EXPECTED GIRMANS ABANDON GUNS. THE HAND OF THE HUN. 'Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.> Keceived October 12, 1.25 n ra Mr Percival Phillips writes: The (ititii gviMoo; includmg the Connaught, Dublin Innmskilhng, Man Jiester and Lancashire !• usihcrs were prominent in rhursdays advance. Th c enemy were astounded by the attack, and one battalion commander said h 0 had heard that peace was to be signed on 'liur<. day night. The troops had been toid that an armistice was certain, as Germany's offer covered all demands. Th« 66'ths made a wonderful journey towards Le Cateau, and « great wave of enthusiasm carried them farther forward, though foot.sor- and dized froii want of sleep. The rnly resistance- is from dispirited rearguards. Th« British swept over th e . bills with such force that five German divisions simply iled and abandoned their guns. The Connaughts captured three, eightinch howitzers near Scrain. The Germans tried to re-capture the guns. The inhabitants, hiding in the cellars, heard them rushing machine-guns forward, the officers cursing and urging haste. The Connaughts fell back awhile, and then came again irresistibly, driving the enemy back in disorder. The British cavalry, pushing forward, reached the outskirts of Le Cateau, where they met a strong machine-gun opposition, and did not attempt "" to enter the town. The 66ths. astride the main road, reached the outlying buildings on Thursday morning. The German 2nd Army was seen standing on the, high ground east of Le Cateau, and a heavy enemy artillery fire was poured into the town, apparently in the liope of preventing us entering.

It came as a shock to see the villagers going about their daily taskswomen washing clothes and children playing with dogs. The villagers seemed content to remain, though the fields near-liy were dotted with dead, and littered with battle wreck. One of the foulest German deeds was the deliberate destruction of the lacemaking and embroidery machinery by which the villagers lived. The villages state that some British prisoners who escaped after the German advance in March, and hid in the villages, were shot when found. A villager in Seloigny saw a group forced to dig a shallow grave, and they were then made to kneel on the edge thereof, all being shot.