Show REPORTS ai BI Lu G IN BATTLE OF THE the official al press bureau S reports from field eld mar long it sir john french detailing wasl british a or of ene the and their force in in il france I 1 0 august 22 to october 18 in retirement ti rement of the covers alie I 1 e roni fron alons southward rd to the back to the advance and od the along and tie lie first stage or of the ie enciu encounters utters along the line of dyer it vaa 1 19 september 5 when took tho the offe offense 80 report contained this thia startling nation i la a fact that beewen september id doc october tober 8 the total of killed hilled ded oad and jil missing issing among the brit force has reached acers and men proving severity of the struggle in which oops droops have been engaged lowing Is the statement issued be a press bureau ir john frenchs franchs Frenc hs first rep report art dated aber 17 says bays n spite of very determined rests reals ce on the part a of f the enemy who aiding in strength and with great ee city a position peculiarly favor to defense the tha battle which corni need ced on the evening of september ha haa so far forced the enemy back a his first position secured pase of the river and inflicted great i upon him including the capture over cyer 2000 prisoners and several 8 he dispatch gives details of the eat on august 28 and 29 genis cough and chetwode Chet with witha the rd ird and fifth cavalry brigades red ered the retreat repulsing the ger IB a with great loss german pursuit vigorous the rhe pursuit by the enemy contin the report was very vigorous me e five or six german corps were the he somme facing the fifth army the he olse at least two corps were toward my front and were sing osing the somme east and west of ni i three or four more german ps 3 were opposing the sixth french y on oil my left on n september 6 5 general joffre do da ed 1 to take the offensive as he be conditions very favorable success ciesa eld id marshal french believes that out I 1 noon on the ath the enemy red iced that a powerful threat was waa ing made against the flank of his alumns anns moving south and east and gan i tile tho great retreat which opened e battle attic this la battle so far as s the sixth ench eh army the bri british t ish army and e fifth and ninth F rench french armies era co concerned neer ned was concluded on the e rig ng of 0 september 10 when the e r ans had been driven to the sols sois talis n R reims ims line with the loss of bou anda sands of prisoners many guns ad normous enormous masses of transport oil the ath both the first and see sec nd army corps made large captures nd took some guns gulls on the ath forcing the passage of the marne ey inflicted a heavy loss in killed A wounded bounded voun ded on the germans while le second division took some bun bull eds of prisoners and a battery of machine guns field id marshal frenchs franchs Frenc hs second re rt dated october 8 concerns the orations erat ions of the british forces since le evening of september 10 it reads early aly in the morning of the alth free corps crossed the fur ier pursuit of the enemy being cally f unopposed the cavalry reach 9 tile lia line of at the aisne aasne two brig le 9 south of soissons Sols sona sons and three brig les at rellis and Cars euil on e afternoon of september 12 battle of aasne aisne opens the la fifth division approached nils mis but it were unable to make headway west army corps reached the boyhood of Vaux cere without uch opposition in this manner the tile of the ainne aisne commenced tile ie position of the enemy was ry strong either cither for delaying action for defensive battle n i the morning ot or the lath I 1 orthe r e d british forces to advance A nake make the passage of the ainne aisne le first arst corps and cavalry advanced the e river the first division was acted ed on Chano uville via the tha canal edg e 3 at bourg by nightfall the first division oci pled the area around Mou moulins lins ns passa id geny the second division myc a ked od on the southern bank of the er leaving only the fifth brigade the ie north bank to establish a idge 3 head checked by artillery in the tha api approach roach to missy where fifth fifth division eventually crossed ere Is some open ground which Is swept by artillery fire from the ite bank the thirteenth brile de therefore was unab unable to ad alc but the fourteenth directed to bess i exposed point was batted rafted over d at t night established itself on the rt of f sainte marguerite where later th the fifteenth brigade supported the a fourth division on their left it exceeded eded in repelling heavy counter lacks ts on the third corps on 1 tho the morning of the lath the ard corps found the enemy bed in strength on vregny plateau le twelfth infantry In crossed at ve lel but the bridge was so damaged at the he artillery could only be across it meanwhile the conion ruction of a bridge began close to e road aad bridge at Ve venizelo venizel at 2 p ra m an infantry attack in the lou of 0 chevres and had bad made good progress but at t 5 30 0 1 p in the artillery and machine gun tire from the direction of vregny became so BO severe that no further progress could be made tile the positions reached were held until dark the third corps made an all attempt to throw a heavy pontoon across the river lato late in the afternoon but gave ga up because of tile the heavy howitzer fire of the enemy in the evening the enemy retired at all points and Int In trenched ranched himself on oil high ground about two miles north of the river along which runs tile the chemin des dames build pontoons Pon under fire during tile the night of tile the luh and on oil tile the lath and following days daya field companies incessantly worked night and day throwing eight pontoons pon and lone foot bridge across the river under a generally heavy artillery fire which was incessantly kept up on most of the crossings after their completion tile the action of the first corps on this day under the direction and command of sir douglas halg was of so BO skillful bold and decisive a character that lie he gained positions which alone would have enabled me to maintain my position for more than three weeks of very severe lighting fighting on the north brink of the river about 1 ap p in the enemy obtained a tooting footing between the first and second corps and threatened to cut the communications of the latter general haig was hard pressed and had no reserve in hand I 1 placed a cavalry division at its his disposal part of which he skillfully used to prolong and secure the left flank of ther the guards brigade some heavy fighting ensued which resulted in the enemy being driven back with heavy loss general advance ordered about four a weakening of the counter attacks by the enemy and other indications tended to show that his resistance was waa decreasing and a general advance was ordered by the army corps commander although meeting with considerable opposition and coming under very heavy artillery and rifle fire the position of the corps at the end of the days operations extended from the chemin des dames on the right through chidy chivy to le cour do de soupir with the first cavalry brigade extending to the charonne chavonne soissons road on the right the corps was in close touch with the french moroccan troops of the eighteenth corps which were entrenched in echelon t to 0 its right rear during the night they entrenched this position throughout the battle of the ainne aisne this advanced and commanding position was maintained and I 1 cannot speak too highly of the valuable services rendered by sir douglas halg haig and the army corps under his co command on the morning of the I 1 became convinced that the enemy was making a determined stand reports reached us from the french armies on my right and left clearly indicating that the enemy was occupying a strongly in trenched line along the whole valley of the ainne aisne general hamilton with the third division attacked vigorously and regained the ground lost on the 1 I was compelled to change my plans when I 1 learned that further advance of the first birst corps carp would have dangerously exposed my r right ight flank and further also learned from the french commander ln in chief that he be was strongly re 10 enforcing the sixth french army corps on my left with the intention of bringing up the allied I 1 left eft to attack tile the flank and t thus bus compel his retirement on the and the whole of our line was heavily bombarded tho the first corps was constantly engaged the one enemy my was ultimately ti driven back with heavy loss on the esth information reached me that general joffre had bad determined to attack and envelop the german right fla flank night attack repulsed on the evening of tho the the enemy became active after dark he continued his attack on the second division only to be driven diven back our losses in these two days were considerable but the en as obtained vastly exceeded them on the night of the another violent attack was repulsed by the third division the enemy losing heavily on tile the four inch howitzer batteries from home arrived they were brought into action on art the with very good results on the the action of general de army on the allied left developed considerably and withdrew considerable forces of the enemy from the center and the east until the it appeared as though the en position in our front was weakening on that day however howee a marked renewal of activity commenced renewed counterattacks counter attacks were delivered and beaten oft off during the day and in the ahe afternoon a well timed attack by the first divie division ion stopped the entrenching during the night of the and the enemy again made determined attempts to capture the trenches of the first division but without success futile attempts were made all along our front up to the evening of the when they died away and have not since been renewed |