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Show ALLIES GAINING MUCH ADVANTAGE London. Dec 19 8:51 a m. A Times correspondent in northern Trance, writing under date of Thurs-iky, Thurs-iky, says. The allies have advanced. Their tfbbps are reported to have passed Middelkerke and to have broken through the German line just below i ixraude." Paris, Pec is, 10.48 p. m The icllowing official communication was iued tonight- "We have gained some ground along the downs at the northeast of Nieuport. We have repulsed two strong counter-attacks by the enemy at the north of the road between Ypres and Menin. "The Rritish troops have advanced in the region of Armentieres. "Our artillery has destroyed two 1 eavy batteries in the region of Verdun. Ver-dun. "There is nothing of importance to report from the other parts of the front " Paris, Dec. 18. The allies' advance in Belgium is fast gaining momentum. The Germans are being forced back all along the Flanders front with great losses in killed, wounded, pris-orers pris-orers and war material. Marked gains have been recorded in every rorward movement attempted by the allies and the counter-attacks of the Germans have been successfully met throughout. At the extreme left of the allies' line where two days ago the French and Belgian troops broke from Nieu-pon Nieu-pon and ad anced as far as I.om-haertzyde, I.om-haertzyde, the allies today reached the Lombaertzyde road and. by a brilliant bril-liant offensive action, took all the German trenches to the east of Steen-straat. Steen-straat. capturing 100 prisoners and three quick-firing guns and gaining nearly 380 yards. To the northwest of Lombaertzyde. . I between the town and the bathing beach, "the fighting among th- sand dUItes has developed with advantage to the allies, who have made considerable consid-erable progress with the aid of the I British ships, which directed a severe '.re on the Hank of the Germans, silencing si-lencing their artillery wherever it en-u en-u red the engagement. Fleet Bombards Airships. The Germans attempted to blow up In allies trenches b bombs hurled trom a Zeppelin, but the British war (?his standing in close to shore pour-ed pour-ed such a deadly fire upon the airship I irom their high-angle guns that this Inenace was soon removed. The collaboration of the British squadron in this quarter has been n.ost valuable as the ships have heen I successful In diverting the attention of the German coast troops, which ere thus prevented from assisting the main force in opposing the land attack from the south. One unofficial report was that the illies had succeeded in advancing along this, coast point, Middlekerk, fie miles east of Nteuport. This i laim is not made by the French war ..fflre. The ships violently bombarded the I Germans, who attempted to counteract counter-act the British attack from the sea by ujvaneing all along the Leffinghc- Vinnnnri ranal nnrl ererntillC a COUfi- f. r-movement in the direction of the island formed by two branches of the canal west of St Georges They (attacked the allies' line in the envir-ons envir-ons of st c.eorge toward Mannekens-vere, Mannekens-vere, but while they succeeded Id getting get-ting out of range of the naval guns, i their attack was not successful and I they lost heavily. Part of Turning Movement. The action with the allies on the offensive continued In general between be-tween Harlebeke and Wytschaete. This is part of the turning moe inent directed against the German left ii i riter to the north of the road from Ypres ;o Menin, where the Germans today attempted two desperate counterattacks coun-terattacks to break the solid front of j the British and French forces, but without success. The progress made by the allies in this region shows that the resumption resump-tion of the offensive was well timed, for the Germans seem to have been taken off their feet by the fury of the allies' onslaughts. In the fighting along the Ypres-Menin Ypres-Menin road the allies gained more than 100 yards at one point after repelling the counter-attacks of the Germans, and captured, besides, a number of ammunition cases. A delayed report from the region of Bixschute states that the allies, by wading through the floods across the ground well known to the Belgians, drew close to the German trenches in the night and went over the front of the pits, bavoneting the Germans and digging them out. This advance netted the allies a gam of 500 yards. They captured eighty Germans and throe quick-firing guns, besides inflicting heavy losses in killed and wounded. Several other trenches of the Germans Ger-mans between Dlxmude and Ypres. on the right bank of the canal, have been taken within the last two days To the south of Ypres the British today made a notable advance in front of Armentieres. whore the Germans Ger-mans were pushed back by the Fng-lish. Fng-lish. who left their trenches and charged charg-ed across the open, attacking with rifles and quick-firing guns. About Arras the French made remarkable re-markable gains yesterday, according to the statement issued by the war office of-fice this afternoon Several German trenches before Uchy. La Bassee. Loos and St. Laurent were taken and in the region of Blangy the invaders were routed from all their first-line trenches for a distance of half a mile. |
