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Show GREAT BATTLE RAGING I S I CRUCIAL TEST FOR ALLIES AT HAND I Enemy Striking I With Great Fury On Ypres Salient Germans Begin What Seems to Be General As-k As-k sault on British Hill Positions on Kemmel Front, Opening New Phase of Great Drive in Flanders. WITH THE AMERICAN FORCES IN FRANCE. Sunday. Sun-day. April 28, by the Associated Press. There was increased artillery activity on the Toul sector toda At dawn the Germans Ger-mans began a heavy barrage against part of our line. This was accompanied by intermittent machine gun and rifle fire The enemy's activity is taken to mean that he is striving i to keep the Americans busy so they cannot be sent north. I LONDON, April 29, to Reuter's Ottawa Age ncy. An intense bombardment from artillery concentration is in progress pro-gress from La Bassee to south of Houtholst forest and from Vim' to Lens. The Germans began today what seems to be a general assault as-sault on the British hill positions on the Kemmel front, southwest south-west of Ypres, opening a new phase of the great drive in Flanders. Apparently the crucial test of the Allied holding power in this area is at hand. The preliminary bombardment started in the early morning, morn-ing, took in a ten-mile front from Metern west of Bailleul to Voormezeele, two miles south of Ypres. Infantry attacks in; this area developed shortly afterward and the battle appears to have been on in earnest when Field Marshal Haig's report was issued in London at noon. Enemy Striking With Great Fury. The enemy has been striking with great fury at Voormezeele for the last two or three day.-. e idenlly hoping tu drive in behind Ypres and break up the orderly withdrawal of the British from the further portions of the Ypres L-alient which they have ben evacu-i evacu-i ating. General Armru has been -uc- ccs.-ful held oil from this southern hu'.wark of the sal. en, but meanwhile V he has been preparing to take advan-m advan-m tape of the success he won last vsfck m the capture of Mont Kemmel which he was unable to develop immediately because of the btiff allied resistance J Further Attack-; Expected. Further attacks in the Voormezeele Per tor may accjnipae." the delivery of today's blow, but the greatest force of tbiL- thrust beeiiu likely to manifest itself in the vicinity ol Locre where ! Scharpenberg, Mom Rouge, Mont Note I ::ud other emin uccs are the enemy ob-? ob-? jcctJves. The French are holding the line at Locre, fortified themselves late Just week by ciiu ling to thh village although more than once driven out bj save thrusts. nttbor attack which was launched titer-? yesterday afternoon after-noon was prompt.!,- repulsed. 1, . Heavy Bomb; rdmcntc. Frobably to mas.c their real purpose the Germani last night heavily bo;n- barded the southern portion of the Lys battle front from Givenchy to Nieppe wodd and likewise turned iheir artillery loose on the front between be-tween Lens and Arras lurtner south. No infantry' attacks have been reported report-ed in these sectors except on the part of the British who by a successful coup last night recaptured the post laken from them last week near Festu-bert, Festu-bert, north of Givenchy. As in the case of the last previous heavy assault in Flanders, the Germs Ger-ms U3 have also been demonstrating on the Soxnme front although not in such force as was the case last week. The) drove several times last uighl at the French positions in Hangard wood, however, and heavily bombarded this sector north of Villers-Bretouneux. The infantry attacks were broken up by the French fire and thr- allied artil-Iery artil-Iery vigorously answered the German guns in this region and between Las-signy Las-signy and Noyon on the lower Bide ol the Montdidier salient. LONDON, April 29. The Germans this morning opened a heavy bombardment bombard-ment with high explosives and gas shells on the entire front between Metern and Voormezeele, south and southwest of Ypres, the war offico an-nounced an-nounced today. Infantry attacks d vel-oped vel-oped shortly afterward An enemy attack which developed I yesterday afternoon in the vicinity of Locre, west of Mount Kemmel, was re pulsed. There was great activity b the hos-Ule hos-Ule artillery during last night from the river Scarpe, opposite Arras, north to Lens and between Givenchy and Nieppe wood, on the southern -Mde of the Lvs battle front The post near Festubert, north of Gii-nchy. taken by the Germans last week, was re-captured by the British last nighL More than fifty prisoners were taken here and othei prisoners and four machine guns were brought in as a result of raiding operations in sectors further south. Revivew of War Situation. German at lacks were renewed south and southeast of Ypres this morning, according to British official dispatches. dispatch-es. The Germans opened a heavy bombardment bom-bardment and infantry attack developed! develop-ed! shortly afterward. German artillery artil-lery was active north of Lens and on the southern side of the Lys front, Haig Gives Up Famous HIM Northeast and east of Ypres, Field Marshal Haig has withdrawn his lines to Verlorenhook and Hooge and has given up the famous Hill 60. south of Ypres. On the south the British hold Yoormezelle after two days of the most bitter fighting, so that the Germans Ger-mans are still two miles from Ypres, which is being bombarded violently. From Voormezeele westward there has been no fighting as v. as witnessed in tho last week except around Locre. where a German attack was repulsed yesterday afternoon. A foothold w..s gained in Locre Saturday by the enemy. Locre and the road running northward separate Scharpenberg from Mont Rouge, These two heights are links in the chain of hills running westward from- Mont Kemmel and the Herman purpose evidently Is to drive the French before them and take the elevations ele-vations by Hank movements. in Picardy there has been n.i actlv it except by the artiller, the German cannon being very active on tho front east of Amiens from Villers -Breton-neux to the Luce river. The French official of-ficial announcement last Wednesday that American troops are now aiding the British and French in holding up the German advance toward Amiens is confirmed in an Associated Press dispatch direct from the oew American Ameri-can positions. Bombardment of Tout The German artillery on the Toul sector is keeping up an intermittent Dre against the American position It Is believed the Germans hope by this show of activity to prevent tin: movement move-ment of American troops to the north Dispatches from Petrograd and Mos- 0 cow each dated Tuesday last give no indications of the reported revolt in Petrograd in behalf of the former Grand Duke Alexis Nikolaivitch. Swedish ami Norwegian correspond ents in Finland continue to report rumors ru-mors there that Alexis has been proclaimed pro-claimed emperor and that the new government will not be bound by the Bolshevik peace treaty. While the Germans announced that guards are rapidly approaching the Russian border north of Petrograd and the dissolution of the Red guard revolt Is said not to be far off. Red Guards Cut Off. The two largest Red guard forces have been cut off from each other and the capture of Viborg by the Germans is expected shortly. Communication between Viborg and Petrograd has been severed. In Trans-Caucasia the Turks continued con-tinued their forced occupation of territory ter-ritory ceded in the Brest-Lit ovsk peace treaty and report the capture of Kars. Eight hundred and sixty guns weie taken, Constantinople says. The controversy between Holland and Germany. 11 Is reported unofficially unofficial-ly in a dispatch to London, has be' n settled by Holland agreeing to the transport of sand and gravel through Dutch territor from Belgium to Germany. Ger-many. The Dutch government Is understood to have stipulated that tho amount of sand and gravel must be limited and not used for military pur-pi pur-pi ses. Rumors In The Hague are that Foreign Minister Loudon will resign as a result of the passing diplomatic crisis. New Long Range Guns. AMSTERDAM. April 29. Three new long-range German guns made at Dus-seldorf Dus-seldorf for the bombardment of Pans, according to the correspondent of Les Nduvelles at Maastricht, passed through Belgium last Friday In the direction of France. nrw |
