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Show : ; . ' in Huns Open Offensive on Large Scale j I Against French and Fail Utterly j LONDON, Aug. 26, 1 p. m. This morning's attack was fa J launched between the Scarpe river at Fampoux and the 1 heights northeast of Neuville-Vitassc. 1 In a few hours the British made an advance of two miles on a front of four miles, according to a dispatch received here '5 : from the battle front. Monchy le Preux, Guemappe and Wancourt, a little less : than five miles southeast of Arras, has been taken in today's jj : attack. Further south the British have taken Mory and made progress southeast of the village. 1 1' In the battle area south of the Somme General Debeney's French army has captured Fresnoy-les-Roye, about three miles I north of Roye, according to today's dispatches. i , General Mangin's army also has made a slight advance . between jhej4uleiteandjtlicL-Aisiic EoiirhjiiidEcd,pri,son rrs. 5 ; were taken by this army yesterday. j Towns on Hindenburg Line. The towns of Monchy-le-Preux, Geumappc and Wan- court were on the Hindenburg line as it stood prior to the ? ; German drive on March 21. In this sector the Germans drove 'i ahead slightly but were held up after the second day of the f . fighting and after that time could not get nearer Arras. j This morning's attack apparently was between the Cojeul ' river and the Scarpe and adds about four miles to the length of i ! the battle front. 1 ! Fighting is reported proceeding at Hcninel. j : The line of battle, starting with Fampoux on the Scarpe I river, follows: j Monchy-le-Preux, Geumappe, Wancourt, Heninel, i Croisclles, east of Mory, Favreuil, Aveesncs, Eucourt L'Ab- i bayc, Martinpuich, west of Bazentinc-lc-Petit, Mammetz and i Carnoy and then proceeds to the Somme just to the west of Maricourt. There is little change south of the Somme. PARIS, Aug. 26, 1 p. m. The Germans today at-tempted at-tempted a counter-offensive on a large scale against the right s wing of General Mangin's army in the region between Hailly and Soissons. The attack utterly failed. General Mangin's army repulsed the German onslaughts on-slaughts everywhere and in some instances gained ground. , ; The French flung back the attacking troops even beyond their starting points. WITH THE BRITISH FORCES IN FRANCE, Aug. 26, by The Associated Press. British troops in their new drive J on the Arras front this morning arc reported to have entered j the town of Monchj'-le-Preux and to have captured Orange j : ; hills. ' North of Bapaume the Germans have been driven fur- ther back. According to a report from the front lines, the British have reached the Bapaume-Beugnatrc road and have established themselves there. The Germans are making great efforts to hold Bapaume but the town is gradually being surrounded. ! The British success this morning in pushing back the German line southeast of Arras considerably relieves the position po-sition of that city. LONDON, Aug. 26. The official correspondent with the Australian forces in France telegraphs: 'The Germans are retreating and fighting rear guard actions. ac-tions. On Saturday night ammunition dumps could be seen burning everywhere. "About 1 2,000 Germans have been captured by the Australians Aus-tralians alone since August 8, a much greater 4 number than the Australian casualties." (By The Associated Press.) f S,h,er,e1fhe Ger7ian.c. h'd singly , i tif led lines and which have been held Extending the Plcardy battle line by tnem foP the ,ast two yearSt far to the north In the Artois sector, South of the Cojeul river the British the British launched an attack this have seemingly encountered a slight morning In the Scarpe region east of sctb?,ck'or today's reports show they . Arrac This attack may be considered arc fighting west of regions where the as a new development of the terrific W3S " t0 be Sing 00 yester battJe east of the Ancre river, which day has been going on since last Wedne6. Bapaume is seemingly being slowly . pocketed by the British. Favreuil, a The British war office reports good mile and a half to the northeast, has Progress being made In the new at- been taken by the British, who have Ucks which was begun in an area passed beyond the village while fur- ther north Mory has been taken. Progress on each said of the Somme river is officially reported from London Lon-don and it is said that the British arc advancing toward Mericourt, four miles northeast of Bray. There has been great artillery activity acti-vity from Roye to the Aisne river, according ac-cording to the French official report but there is no mention of new Infantry In-fantry attacks in this vital sector. German Ger-man surprise attacks on the French lines in the Vosges sector have been repulsed. As the battle stands today the British Brit-ish appear to be quite near the old Hindenburg line south of Arras, while they are making an attack directly against it along the Scarpe river. If the attack launched this morning is successful it may have a determining effect on the course of the battle further fur-ther south, for a German retreat over a wide section might be forced. It also will affect the Flanders sector to the north from which the Germans are said to be retiring. Heavy rain is falling over the battle area. |