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Show British Hold Line After Most I Spectacular Fight of the War I BRITISH ARMY HEADQUARTERS , IN FRANCE. Sunday, Nov. 25. (By tho Associated Press.) This morning found the line of battle of the weary, but determined British stretched in a semi'drcle about Bourlon wood and Bourlon village, which nestles at the northwestern edge of the forest It was a line which had been established' in the face of dogged renistance on tho part of the Germans who had fallen back stop by step, fishting with the fury of despair. All day yesterday the ' opposing forces struggled bitterly at close quarters quar-ters for possession of the little vil-lngo vil-lngo from which the British wero forced Friday after gaining a footing in tho rush that took them through Bourlon wood. Nightfall still found waves of infantry surging back and forth through tho streets of the hamlet ham-let and among tho houses, their crimson crim-son bayonets telling the story of tho terrible conflict being waged. Gradually Gradu-ally the Germans fell back, the British Brit-ish pressing forward with grim persistence per-sistence which the enemy could not" withstand, and the hamlet was finally cleared of the major portion of the German troops. Bourlon Is Surrounded. Today somo few of the enemy still remained in Bourlon to be mopped up, but all the main streets of tho place had been cleared and it was surrounded sur-rounded by a strong force of British soldiers. A llttlo to the southwest of hero another an-other intense struggle was being staged in the village of Moeuvres, into which tho British bad battled their way with rifle and bayonet $nd pushed the Germans out of the southern half. Elsewhere along tho Cambrai front there was no infantry action of importance. im-portance. Prisoners continue to arrive at the British cages from the front. Near 10,000 captives thus far have been counted, including 200 officers. In the capture of Bourlon wood and village the British have acquired pos-session pos-session of one of the most important points they have secured since the big drive began last Tuesday. This high ground controls a wide sweep of terri-tory terri-tory and its occupation holds out the possibility that the Germans eventu-nlly eventu-nlly will bo forced to withdraw their lines to the northwest Cambrai Hard Nut to Crack. The Bourlon position also overlooks Cambrai, but this city might be a hard nut to crack becauso the central part is walled and many suburbs radiate from it, forming natural barriers against an advance from the west. It seems possible that Cambrai might ultimatedly become a sort of No Man's Land, dominated by the big guns of I ( Continued on Page 4 ) IH uu BRITISH HOLD HI (Continued from page 1.) both sides, and that this ancient town with. its fino old cathedral and picturesque pic-turesque walls would go the way of so many other places which come under artillery fire. A large amount of traffic in the last few days has been pouring out of Cam-brai Cam-brai toward the southeast, Indicating the probability that the Germans have evacuated the civilian population and are preparing for eventualities. That the Germans attached greatest importance to Bourlon wood and the village was fully evidenced by their, strenuous resistance and the intense counter-attacks hurled against the British lilies. Several counter-thrusts succeeded but the British Immediately pushed forward again and regained the lost ground. The fighting over the wooded slopes of this elevation has been among the most spectacular of the war for the occupation of the forest was due largely to the work of tanks and airmen, air-men, who paved the way for the on-rushing on-rushing infantry. A number of iron monitors led the advance to Bourlon wood Friday, with British planes circling cir-cling over the enemy at a height from thirty to fifty feet and carrying on a vigorous warfare with their machine guns and bombs. It was hard fighting but the advance was continued successfully suc-cessfully until the northeast corner of the wood was reached, where the tanks were held up by a strong force of the enemy. British airmen, who had been fighting close to the ground, deliberately charged down on the enemy infantry with machine guns pumping a steady stream of bullets Into the German ranks. The battle was short and decisive. The airplanes wheeled and rewhceled over the heads of the Germans and maintained such an intensive fire that the defenders were forced to retire from the position after suffering considerable losses. The tanks then pushed on, the conquest con-quest of the wood being competed and an entering wedge having been driven into the village. Almost immediately the Germans delivered de-livered a heavy counter-attack on the troops who had penetrated the hamlet ham-let and after a stiff engagement forced them to withdrawn again to the edge of the wood. Saturday morning the British renewed the attack on the village. vil-lage. It was a battle in which the British troops gloried, for it took them back to the days of others wars when men struggled in the open. The trying period of fighting behind sandbag parapets was temporarily past and they wore at close grips with the enemy, where they could employ the bayonet which they knew so well how to use. The Germans had rushed up reinforcements which they had obtained ob-tained by raking every available point on their line. During the morning the enemyad-vanced enemyad-vanced In strength from the north and threw themselves against the British lino at the edge of the wood. A sanguinary san-guinary struggle followed and tho British, unable to withstand the fury of tho German attack without too great a loss of life, withdrew slightly and the Germans gained a footing In the southern edge of the forest. But the British were not to let the matter rest and thoy surged forward again. This time dismounted cavalrymen advanced ad-vanced with the infantry and between them they drove the enemy back and re-established themselves on the old line. Little by little the Germans were forced to give ground at the northwest north-west edge of the wood about Bourlon village until the British infantry reached the bloodstained streets of the hamlet once more. Dusk settled down about the contending forces but thoy still continued to shoot and thrust at one another in the gathering darkness. No more grim tragedy has been enacted en-acted since the war began than that which waB staged among the Bourlon ruins last night. Its finish found tho shattered German forces outside the village boundary but still full of determination. de-termination. Several tlmeB through the night they reformed and Bwept forward through he village, but eaoh time were hurlod back with heavy losses. The village of' Fontaine Notre Dame, between Bourlon wood and Cambrai, was still In German hands today. This shattered hamlet, however, how-ever, was giving the British no cause for worry and at the latest reports they were ignoring it and continuing to push ahead on the northwest side. Great Work of Airplanes. The work of British airplanes during the present offensive forms a graphic chapter In itself. Despite the vile weather which compelled them to operate oper-ate within a few feet of the ground, they kept steadily at their task and rendered invaluable assistance both in reconnaissance and offensive operations. opera-tions. There have been almost continual battles between German Infantry and British airmen flying as low as thirty feet above tho ground. Never before has this kind of warfare been carried out on such a large scale. Pilots have attacked infantry and gun crews Indiscriminately In-discriminately wherever they encountered encoun-tered them and have inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy with bombs and machine guns. The nature of the fighting can be seen from the experience experi-ence of a British pilot whose machine was literally shot to pieces by rifle and machine gun fire and who finally crashed down behind his own lines with ten bullet holes through his clothing, although he, himself was unhurt. Another young airman yesterday yester-day presented himself at headquarters aftor having been shot down for the third time within two days. He was delighted over his experience and immediately im-mediately applied for another machine so that he might go out again. Aviator Bombs Infantry. One aviator attacked a column of German infantry marching in close formation for-mation and hurled two high power bombs directly among them. The troops scattered and as tho airman whirled away he saw two heaps of, dead about huge craters which the bombs had torn in the road. There were innumerable cases of airmen successfully suc-cessfully bombing airdromes, troop transports and gun crews. A large number of artillery crews have been . . II I IVI. rf I ill I I II I Mill I 1 i . i wiped out either by machine gun fire -vll at close range or by bombs. Naturally, many of the airmen had jjjOiZ miraculous escapes from death and flfc some, of course, have paid the full R price and have gone to swell tho toll H of brave men who have given their lives for their king and country. Among the hairbreadth escapes re-ported re-ported Is that of an aviator whose machine was torn to pieces while he was fighting German infantry with his machine gun. He was caught in the shell fire and all the wings of his ma-chine ma-chine were shot away. Fortunately he was flying only twen-ty twen-ty or thirty feet above the ground and close to his .own lines. He crashed in No Man's Land and found himself un-hurt. un-hurt. He Immediately came under rifle and machine gun fire but ho found a German rifle with some am-munition am-munition and engaged the enemy single handed. As he fired he worked his way back until he reached one of his own patrols. Occasional Humorous Incidents Bp There is no humor in fighting of this nature but one incident occurred ; X which Is making the whole British air ' service laugh today. Ope of the young- "MBfc est British airmen was flying at a low . altitude when four enemy machine guns opened on him. He swooped down M and shot three of his opponents as he swept by. The fourth machine gun . M , kept firing and the aviator, in a spirit tt i of boyish mischief, leaned over the mm I side of his car and wriggled his fin- Mm gers In joyous derision at the Ger- WsW man. Just as he was in tho midst of this interesting performance, his op- 'mmt ponont put a bullet squarely through .H tho palm of the airman's open hand. The aviator presented himself at a dressing station and when queried ad-mitted ad-mitted tho truth with crestfallen face. " His consolation for his wound was roars of laughter and advice to ba more polite to a boche in the future. mw |