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Show HISTORIC CITES WITHIN REACH Wonderful Work of British Engineers Throwing Pontoons Pon-toons Over River. Allies Take Flemish Villages Vil-lages Inhabited by Civilians Ci-vilians in Cellars. By PHILIP GIBBS. (New York Times-Chicago Tribune Cable. Copyright.) WAR CORRESPONDENTS' HEADQUARTERS, HEAD-QUARTERS, Oct. 21. Our troops are engaged in heavy fighting on the whole length of our front .northwest of Cour-trai Cour-trai to the southeast of Le Cateau for more than fifty miles, and, in spite of the enemy's desperate resistance in order to hold the line of the Scheldt southward from Ghent, covering Tournal and Valenciennes, Valen-ciennes, we are getting close to that canal everywhere, and are beyond it between be-tween Denaln and Le Cateau. This morn- -ing's advance by our Second and Third armies threatens the crossings of the canal, and the two historic cities of Tour-nai Tour-nai and Valenciennes will soon be within our reach. Service of Tanks. There was terrific fighting yesterday by the English, Scotch and Welsh divisions for the heights above the river Selle, and our tank corps rendered great service to the infantry by getting across to the east flank and destroying many German machine-gun nests in spite of the flooded ground. Our engineers have been wonderfully gallant in their work of throwing across pontoon bridges under heavy fire, especially espe-cially under the hail of machine-gun bullets bul-lets from high groind on the enemy's side, and by their courage our field gunners gun-ners were able to get across close behind the infantry and open fire on hostile positions posi-tions at close range. Hun Poison Vapor. On the Third army front by the town of Solesmes, south of Valenciennes on the German line of resistance, there has been extremely severe fighting, and the enemy . has massed artillery behind the Scheldt with which he barraged our line of advance fiercely, using large numbers of gas shellB in order to soak the woods and villages with poison vapor. The valleys of the Avially and the Selle have choked with this gas and the German gunners have defended their positions stubbornly. Nevertheless, our troops broke down this opposition and have taken many hundreds of prisoners. Germans Shattered. The German casualties have been heavy, and on one part of our Third army front 52G German dead were counted count-ed last night. The enemy made a strong counter-attack against our Third army last evening between 5 and 8 o'clock, debouching from the town of Romeries, but our men shattered him by machine-gun machine-gun and rifle fire, supported by our field artillery. East of Courtrai the second army resumed re-sumed its advance this morning and is pushing forward steadily toward the Scheldt and taking many little Flemish villages still inhabitated by civilians crouching in their cellars while machine guns sweep their streets and shells plow up their fields. Pitiful Side. That is the pitiful side of this fighting, fight-ing, and this morning around Courtrai I passed many groups of Flemish peasants with their babies and old people passing our guns, trodding by wheelbarrow from one village to another In search of greater safety or standing in the fields where our artillery was just getting into (Continued on Page Two.) HISTORIC CITIES mm m (Continued from Page One.) nrtlon and where new shell craters should have hi. I them a way If they had hail more know ledge of war. I went Into court ml myself this morning. morn-ing. It has now been freed from the neniy, but It was not wholly a Joyous entry, like that Into Ulle or Bruges or other towns where civilian crowds have greeted any Englishmen with cheers and embraces, The people here, 25,000 to .10.000 of thetn, have suffered too much to hi ve any complete reaction, yet some of them called out "(Jood morning," nnl nil their men doffed t heir hats lo us. but with a kind of dullness, like people who have long b?en stunned by misery. I could not wonder at that. I was chilled by thf sinister spirit of this old city. So beautiful In time of peace, with Its tall belfry of fit, Martin chunh hiKh ahnve lis houses and the Flemish town-hnll town-hnll and broad market place, where six eiil;. lies ago English merchants came to bUV their cloth from the Flemish burfheTf and where, after the battle of Spur, many knights wllh broken armor and tattered plumes were brought In as prisoners of i he Flemish crafts men who nt I fought against t hem for their liberty, lib-erty, look First Welcome. Hevera of our men went forward alone ti nd we i e t he first British fcoltileTi I en ter t he Jranile l'lncc, nnd t hey look t he f Irit welcome of t he people, which (hen wiih full of enthusiasm and Joy of their M Iteration The v had suffered t en lllo things, but they thought they were Hiife now for several 'days. While the fighting l&flttd thy Imd lived In their odlars, men, women and children herded together In the dark ami nairow vaults, wsltlng, fheping fcnfl IS tlfl thlffl until the nlr bt i n me foul, ftome peopln eitger to escape from thin confinement wont up Into the streets and wpio killed nnd wounded. others stayed bew with the pry nf shnlls ovei hiMid and frlgh t fid e plosions IhftkllUjl the earth about them. When nt hist( Ihnl hd passed and the (lertnnns had left, they mini' up Into the fresh nlr to greel our trofipa, but a tiew phase of fenr began. Hat ilrdttv the enemy wns Mill close about Coiirtrnl with his guns and men, and not respecting the town full of women and dmldfefl, as he has dOfll a I I ,IU a ud Tnuroolhg a nd Hrugns. nnd oilier towns whbdi he had been forced to deliver, he opened a hoinUa rdineul On the city. lie fired all through Hiifunluy and nil yesterday and when I went In t hern today h" had not renned I hud bardic reaelied Qrnnda I'lnce before I big inefl arnved, buret inat in the st rents with a rrlfhtfui era ah nnd iiiis wns followed by other hih vatooltlee. |
