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Show BRITISH PRESS BUREAU- ISSUES I REPORT OF WAR OPERATIONS I Field Marshal Sir John French Details Movements of British and French Forces From September 4 to September 10 How German Army Made Colossal Strategic En- deavor to Create a Modern Sedan for the Allies j and to Outflank and Envelop Them. j GENERAL ADVANCE OF ENGLISH FORCES I ! Order to German Troops to Retire When So Close to Paris a Bitter Disappointment Soldiers Expected to Make Triumphal Entry Into Paris Turning Movement Unexpected Arrival of Reinforcements and ' Continued Pursuit of Retreating Germans Delights British Troops Flying j Corps Does Great Work. J London, Sept. 14 2 45 p. m Important Im-portant details of the operations ot the British army in France are contained con-tained In a report which the war office of-fice issued this afternoon. When the German army becnan Its eastward movement to cut the French center, accordiug to General French. It was ignoring the British as a factor fac-tor in the fight The allies began a general advance on September 7 against the German rear guard ot their riht wing which had been left along the river Ourcq. The British army was reinforced. The Germans began a retirement on their right on the 7th. It was the first time they had turned back since the battle ot Mons, According to letters found on prifl oners, they had expected to enter Paris In a few days. The order to retreal vae a iMtter disappointment. The British crossed the riwr Marne on the 9th with the French forces j and on the 10th captured 1500 men, I four great guns, six machine guns and fifty transport wagons. The Germans of the right seemed demoralised. They were without food and surrendered readily, according to the British report The continued advance. General French sis, lias delighted de-lighted the troops, who, with the reinforcements re-inforcements received, are filled with zeal and unxious to press on London, Sept. 14, 1 52 p. m The I official press bureau Issued the fol-! fol-! lowing statement this afternoon: The following report is compiled from information sent from the head quarters of Field Marshal Sir John French (commander m chief ot the 1 British expeditionary forces on the continent) under date of September i 11 A summary of the operations of the British army in France was issued is-sued by the war office on the sixth Instant, and one account, stated to be incomplete, of further operations, was Issued from the bureau on Saturday night, the twelfth instant. "Today it Is possible to give more complete reports of the movements of the British force and oi the French 1 armies in Immediate touch with It 1 Tht3 account is compiled from data I received from the front and carries the operations from the fourth to the tenth of September, both days inclu she. "It will he remembered thnt the general position ot our troops on Sun day, September 6, was stated to be sotfth of the river Marne, with the French forces In line on our right and left "Practically there had been no change siuce Saturday, September which marked the end of our army's long retirement from the Bellau frontier through northern France. " 'On Friday, September 4. it became be-came apparent that there was an alteration In the advance of almost the whole of the first German arm That army since the battle near Mons oti the 33d ol August had been playing play-ing Its part In a colossal Strateglt en- (Continued on Page 4 BRITISH PRESS BUREAU ISSUES REPORT OF WAR (Continued from Page 1) deavor to create a Sedan for the allies al-lies by outflanking and enveloping tho left of their whole line so as to encircle and drive both the British and French to the south. "There was now a change In Its objective ob-jective and It was observed that the German forces opposite the British were beginning to move in a southeasterly south-easterly direction instead of continuing continu-ing southwest on to the capital, leaving leav-ing a strong rear guard along the line of the river Ourcq (which runs south and joins the Marne at Llzy Rur Ourcq) to keep off the French Sixth army which by then had been formed and was to the northwest of Paris They were evidently executing what amounted to a flank march diagonally across our front Prepared to Ignore British. "Prepared to ignore the British as being driven out of the fight, they were initiating an effort to attack the left flank of the main French army which stretched In a long curved line from our right towards the east, and sought to carry out against it alone an envelopment which so far had failed against the com blned forces of the allies. "On Saturday, the fifth, this move ment on the part ot the Germans was Continued and large advance parties j crossed the Mnrne southward at Trll-lort, Trll-lort, Sammeron, LaForte. Sous Jou-arre Jou-arre and Chateau Thierry There was I oiisiderable fighting with the French fifth army on the French left, which fell back from Its position south of the Marne, towards the Seine. 'On Sunday large hostile forces crossed the Marne and pushed on throuch Coulommiers and past tho British rlKbt further lo the east. They were attacked at nlcht by the French fifth army which captured three villages vil-lages at tho point of bayonets. Allies' General Advance. "On Monday, September 7, there wns a general advance on the part of the allies. In this quarter of the field our forces, which had now been reinforced, pushed on in a northeasterly northeast-erly direction in co-operation with the advance Of the French fifth army to the north and of the French sixth army to the eastward against the German Ger-man rear guard along the river Ourcq. "Possibly weakened by the detachment detach-ment of troops to tho eastern theater of operations, and realizing that the action of the French sixth arm) against tho line ot Ourcq and the advance ad-vance of the British placed their flanking movement In considerable dancer of hnlnn taken in tlie renr and on Its right flank, the Germans on this day commenced to retire towards to-wards the northeast Soldiers Bitterly Disappointed. This was tho first instance in ; which these troops had turned back ; since their attack at Mons a fort ; night before and, from reports recelv-ed, recelv-ed, the order to retire when so close ; to Paris was a bitter disappointment i From letters found on dead soldiers I there is no doubt there was a general impression among the enemy s troops that they were about to enter Paris. "On Tuesday. September 8 the I German movement northeastwards I was continued. Their rear guards on the south of the Marne were being I pressed back to that river by our 1 troops and by the French on our right, the latter capturing three villages vil-lages after a hand to hand fight and the infliction of severe loss on the euemj . Bloody Battle Continues. "The fighting along the Ourcq continued con-tinued on this day and was of the most sanguinary character, for the Germans had massed a great force of nrtlllerv n Inn or thic lino Vn,-,- frti- of their infantry were seen by the French "The French fifth army also made a fierce attack on the Germans in Montmlrall, regaining that place. On Wednesday, September 9, the battle between the French sixth army and what was now the German flank guard along the Ourcq continued. British Cross the Marne. "The British corps, overcoming some resistance on the river Petit Morln, crossed the Marne in pursuit of the Germans who now were hastily retreating northwards. One of our corps was delaed by an obstinate defense de-fense made by a strong rear guard with machine guns at LaFerte sous Jouarre, where the bridge had been destroj ed. "On Thursday, September 10, the French sixth army continued its pres sure on the w st while the fifth arm by forced marches reached the line of Chateau Thierry and Dormang on the Marne Our Iroons also con tinued the pursuit on the north of the latter river and, after a considerable amount of fiehting, captured some fifteen hundred prisoners, four guns, six machine guns and fifty transport wagons. "Many of the euemy were killed or wounded and the numerous thick woods which dot the country north of the Marne are filled with German stragglers Most of them appear to have been without food for at least two days. "Indeed, in this area of the operations, opera-tions, the Germans seem to be demoralized de-moralized and Inclined to surrender in small parties, and the general situation sit-uation appears to be most favorable to the allies. Much Brutal Damage. "Much brutal and senseless damage has been done in the villages occupied occu-pied by the enemy. Property has i Deen wantonly destroyed Pictures in chateaus have been ripped up and houses generally have been pillaged.' I It is stated on unimpeachable authority au-thority also that the inhabitants have been much ill treated." Interesting Events Occur. "Interesting events have occurred during the fighting On the 10th or September, part of our second army corps advanced into the north, founa itself marching parallel with another! Infantry force at some little distance away. At first it was thought this; was another British unit After some time, however, it was discovered that I it was a body of Germans retreating "Heasures promptly were taken to head off the enemy, who were surrounded sur-rounded and trapped in a sunken road where over four hundred men surrendered " "On September 10 a small party under a non-commissioned officer was cut off and surrounded After a desperate resistance it was decided to' go on fighting to the end Finally the non-commigsloned officer and one-man one-man only were left, both of them be J Ins wounded. "The Germans camo up and shout ed to them. Lay down your arms The German commander however. ! signalled to them to keep their arms and then asked permission to shake I hands with the wounded non-eommis ' sloned officer, who was carried off on hlfl stretcher with his rifle by hisj side. Continued Advance Delights Troops "The arrival of reinforcements and the continued advance have delighted; our troops, who are full of zeal and anxious to press on. "One of the features of the cam I paign on our side has been the sue J cess obtained by the royal flying corps. In regard to the collection of information, it Is impossible either to award too much praise to our aviators for the day they have carried car-ried out their duties or to overesti- mate the value of the intelligence collected, col-lected, more especially during the re cent advance. 'In due course certain examples ot what has been effected may be spec! B fled and the far reaching nature ol B the results fully explained, but tha time has not arrived. Flying Corps Appreciated. "That the services of our flying I corps, which has really been on trial II are fully appreciated by our allies is J J shown by the following message from the commander In chief of the French armies received September 9 by Field Marshal Lord Kitchener: " 'Please express most particularly to Marshal French my thanks for the services rendered on every day by the Knglish flvlng corps. The precision, pre-cision, exactitude and regularity of the news brought in by its members are evidence of their perfect organ ization and also of the perfect training train-ing of the pilots and the observers ' "To give a round idea ol the amount of work carried out it is sufficient to mention that during a period oi twenty days up to the 10th of September Septem-ber a dally average of more than nine reconnaissance flights of over 100 miles each has been maintained." |