IN PICARDY AND ARTOIS

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13896, 23 October 1918, Page 5

IN PICARDY AND ARTOIS

LOCAL FIGHTING SECURES GAINS VILLAGES AND WOODS CAPTURED. (Australian and N.Z. and Reuter.) Received Octolter 23, 11.35 a.m. . LONDON, October 22. Sir Douglas Hnig reports that as the result of local fighting during the night we advanced our line to thp left hank of the Ecaillon River, southward of Ihiant, the western portion of which is in our possession. We further pro. gresscd between Valenciennes and Tournai. The enemy's resistance on this front is increasing. Tn the Tournai sector, as the result of sharp fighting during the nicht, we expelled the enemy from the village of Orcq and the woods in the neighbourhood of Froycnnes. We are within a mile of the town. HEAVY FIGHTING IN PROGRESS ON A 60-MILE FRONT. ENEMY'S DESPERATE EFFORTS. TO HOLD THE LINE OF THE SCHELDT. THE ENTRY INTO COURTRAI. POPULACE CRUSHED BY SUFFERING CLOTH-WEAVING MACHINERY DESTROYED. fAustralian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) Received October 23, 11.15 a.m. LONDON. October 22. Mr Philip Oibbs states that our troops are engaged in heavy fighting on the whole front north-east of Courtrai to south-east of Le Cateau, a distance of more than 50 miles. The enemy is making desperate efforts to hold the line of the Scheldt southwards from Client, covering Tournai and Valenciennes, but we are getting closer to the canal everywhere, and beyond it between Denain and Le Cateau. Eastward of Courtrai the 2nd Army's advance was resumed this morning, and it is steadily pushing towards the Schelt canal, taking many little Flemish villages still inhabited by civilians crouching in cellars. I visited Courtrai this morning, but here there was not a wholly joyous entry like Lille and Bruges. There were 30,000 people in Courtrai, but they had suffered too much—they were like people long stunned by misery. The Germans, being unable to carry off the cloth-weaving machinery, broke it into bits with hammers. The last commandant of Courtrai was Richtoven. father of the famous airman. The city is now being shelled, compelling the people to return to the cellars.