OCR Text |
Show German Armies Are in Retreat On jy 50-Mile Front, Fighting Desperate j 1 . Rear Guard Actions Losses Severe j I LONDON, Sept. 3. The British have captured the important im-portant town of Lens. The town of Queant also has been taken. Lens was evacuated by the Germans, the British moving mov-ing in. LONDON, Sept. 3. The capture of the town of Queant, the southern support of the famous German switch line before be-fore Cambrai and Douai, is announced in an official statement state-ment from Field Marshal Haig today. In storming the Drocourt-Queant line the Canadians assisted as-sisted the English" troops and carried evei-y thing "Kefofe them." Along this line the enemy was heavily defeated in his prepared defenses and is retiring on virtually the whole battle front. The British forces are renorted to have entered the towns If of Pronville Doignes and Bertincourt. I! ; The. British also hold Doignies, Velu and Bertincourt and Rocquigny, representing an advance to a maximum depth of four miles on a twenty mile front effected this morning, f; : In Flanders the British forces have captured the town of t Wulverghem, two miles southeast of FCemmel. r. Contrary o expectations, the enemy has not reacted L heavily with a view to the recapture of the Queant-Drocourt b line but has left the British in undisturbed possession of it. iT The British found Doignies and Velu unoccupied. 1 The situation in the southern part of the battlefield is t-j said to be extremely interesting but nothing more can be said for the moment, i In their pass beyond the Drocourt-Queant line the ESritish have advanced to a point just to the west of Buissy, 2Yi miles northeast of Queant and occupied Pronville, a mile and a half southeast of Queant. More, than ten thousand prisoners were taken by the ! British yesterday. Additional prisoners were taken this morning. LONDON, Sept. 3, via Ottawa. The town of Berlin-court, Berlin-court, about midway between Bapaume and Marcoing, has been taken by the British, according to today's news reports. WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN FRANCE, Sept. 3, by The Associated Press, 12:31 p. m. The determined German Ger-man resistance at the cross roads north of Villiers-les-Cagni-oourt was overcome by the British this morning and Haig's men are now shoving forward in the direction of Cambrai. A strong British force is driving forward on the northern reaches of the Hindenburg line. The British are well inside the Drocourt-Queant line. British troops today advanced well to the east of Peronne and are making steady progress. WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN FRANCE, 12:31 p. m., y The Associated Press. The British today pushed forward well to the east of Noreuil and the Australians made steady progress to the east oFPeronnc. -(By the Associated Press) On a front of virtually 50 miles from just below Ypres to anoint. near Peronne Pe-ronne to the Somme, the German armies ar-mies are In retreat. This retrograde movement is not a voluntary one on the part of the enemy ene-my but has been forced by the series ; of unremitting hammer blows Inflict-; Inflict-; ed by Marshal Foch in the past six or seven weeks. It has now been ac-' ac-' celerated by the notable victory won -1 . , r by Field Marshal Haig yesterday in breaking through the strong defensive lines protecting the railway centers of Douai and Cambrai and threatening to outflank even the main Hindenburg line south to St. Quentln. Already the taking of 10,000 prison-ers prison-ers by the British In their advance is reported and the German casualties in killed and wounded are declared to have been heavy as their thickly mas- T sed forces felt the force of the British Bri-tish blows. So pronounced and so speedy is the German retirement that it seems as if the enemy, if he has not met with disaster, is perilously near the verge of one. i In what appears like an effort to escape in time, the scope of the German Ger-man retirement, which had been proceeding pro-ceeding somewhat leisurely both north and south of the Somme, has been markedly accentuated north of that river. In this movement the French! I coal mining city of Lens, at the gates of which the British pounded vainly virtually all last year, has been'evac-uated, been'evac-uated, the British moving in. To the north in Flanders the retreat i Is continuing and the British have further closed up the Lys salient, by! taking possession of Wulverghem, two miles south of Kcmmel. j South of Lens, the Germans apparently appar-ently are acknowledging themselves beaten on the Queant-Drocourt line, where Haig's break through was effected, ef-fected, and are retreating in this vital i important sector without attempting a I counter drive upon the victorious Bri- Itish. j Still further south the retirement hac resulted in the evacuation of areas three to four miles deep on both sides of the Bapaume-'Cambrai road, the British taking town after town in this jarea in their steady advance. Although the German command ; must have been expecting an attack j on the Hindenburg switch line, which the British had closely approached in .earlier advances, it apparently was not expected at the moment. The j Germans seemed to have been sur- prisjed atthe .q.uickn,csF. with which ! hflug's ""Canadians and other British ' forces, after fighting their way up to I the line, organized a crushing attack I against the line itself. This morning on the twenty-mile front where the British are mainly engaged they arc reported to have advanced a maximum ! of four miles. This seems to empha-j .size the clearness of the break and, with the large captures of prisoners,' 'points to the demoralization of the I German forces. It is too early to estimate vhat effect ef-fect the present drive may ultimately; ! produce. The fall of Douai and Cam-j brai, which now seems improbable In) I trie near future, would iput the entire1 German line out of ioint between the I 'North sea and Rheims, however, and j would be likely to force the cvacua- tion of a great part of northern France j now occupied by the Germans. I Operations by the French and Amcr-i Amcr-i icans may be counted upon, to work toward such a result. There is a hint! , in today's dispatches that some devel-j opment of Importance Is impending on the southern front where the leftj ! flank of the Hindenburg line is underj Franco-American pressure. ! 1 . I j Constant Movement of Prisoners i I PARIS, Sept. S. (Ilnvas Agency) ; Constant movements toward the rear; ! of the German lines on the Nomine front in the- regions of Ilnm and Guls-1 ! card are reported. I I Hospitals and dressing stations are! being hastily cleared, while convoys iuu luuvmg noriueasiwaru, Harassed I by Entente airplanes. I British Forge Ahead WITH THE BRITISH ARMY IN , FRANCE, Sept. 3. 12:31 p. in. (By the Associated Press) In heavy fighting i last night beyond the Drocourt-Queant iline the British are reported to have made further progress on a front ofj 13,000 yards. I The villages of Saudeinont and Ele- J j court, more than a mile and a half bc-I bc-I yond Dury, the capture of which was i announced last night, are reported to j have been tuken today. j ; The village or Etaing. two miles' ! north of Dury. fell late yesterday at about the same time the British further fur-ther southwest captured the Viiicrs-lez-Cagnicourt. These captures were effected after most bitter fighting. Heavy Guns Busy PARIS, Sept. 3 Artillery actions on the Somnio front and further south between tho Oise and the Alsne aro reported in the official statement issued is-sued at the war office today. The text of the statement reads: "During the night there were artillery ar-tillery actions on the Somme and between be-tween the Oise and the Aisne. "Enemy raids along the Vcslc river riv-er and in the Vosges region were without with-out result." |