Show A NO N OFFENSIVE I 1 ALLIES TEAR THROUGH THE GERMAN LINES IN FRANCE AFTER TERRIFIC GUNFIRE IR E I 1 anglo french fench army cuts gash awen ty five miles wide in n german front in drive WI och had been planned for months london the british have launched their long expected offensive on july 1 the british and french for forces ea began a furious attack against the germau german forces along fa a front crofit of awen ty five miles extending from ladlow the somme to Gomme court north of the ancee in the first thirty six hours of thair furious drive tife the french and british have captured more than german prisoners cleared fifty square miles of french territory of the invaders and have carried eleven villages and a L complicated series of entrenchments trench ments and re doubts that the germans have been more than twenty months constructing the long expected offensive trie me big push for which the british have been preparing for months and which is 4 a part of a i general clis closing lill in on oil germany on all fronts got under way at saturday morning tho the troops english scotch Scot clr irish arid and french surged from their trenches after a bombardment of an hour and a half which wa was s the climax of the steady pounding of the previous tour four days hundreds of batteries poured lone oas of af pf iron and explosives into the appos ilg drenches ir enches wrecking them and burying the becu occupants pants the attacking front of the british was approximately twenty miles ex lending from Gomme court I 1 to a a point aldith north ot of the somme the french stormed forward over about five miles on both sides of the somme it Is juat north of the somme that the british and french fronts join the french extending on to verdun and the swiss frontier and the british down dowa to the sea i the british french offensive in france w with ith its preceding five day bombardment is described by the military experts in that theater of operations erat ions agthe aa the last word wordin in scientific warfare here are some ot of the things the british and french did as a preliminary to their drive through the german front near somme built miles of ralli railroads oads to tofa facilitate cili Ili tate moving munitions ns and troops ind and handling the wounded put a metal surface on all the turnpikes rebbia 0 or r suen strengthened eithne d every bridge and railroad concentrated fighting men backed by auxiliary workmen bridge and railroad builders filled the whole region with hidden guns of the largest caliber many of bf them fifteen inch mortars and in manned these guns with french 1 artillery experts installed at all over the region a new phone system with i concrete poles augmented by a n network of telegraph wires and stations and field hospitals buried ammunition everywhere together with medicines and food supplies so that no matter maiter where the troops moved in an emergency they would have shells and food without the trouble and delay of ordinary modes of transportation arranged the big guns in such a way ivay as t to 0 provide concentric fire from many guns on small areas area of the german trenches in the preliminary five day bombardment the Fren french chaimy army fired shells over a ninety mile front |