St. John's Daily Star, 1918-08-09

              The St. John's Daily Star  Newfound land VOLUME IV, ($3.00 per Annum) «^I!^] FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1918. (PRICE: One Cent.) No. 17S ALLIES SMASH HUN LINES ON FRONT OF TWENTY MILES Paris, August 9—The Number of Prisoners Taken by The French and British in Their New Picardy Drive fSTow Exceeds Ten Thousand, According to the Latest News from the Battle-Front. The Allies also Have Taken an Enormous Booty in Guns and Material Says Marcel Hutin in the Echo De Paris. HUNS STRONGLY HOLD NORTH BANK OF VESLE Have Destroyed Bridges of The Aisne and Have j Brought Up Some Heavy Gnns—Make Determined Effort to Hold up Allies ' lONDON. Aug. B—News from the' Soissons- Rheims front ihis af- . ternon is that the Germans are hold- j ing the northern bank of the Vesle j in sonsiderable strength with a large ' rumbeT of guns.. fhey are believed to have destroyed some of the 1 ;;dges over the Aisne and to have j taken some of their heavy guns d- ', cross the river. ough the Germans ha\c recent need out various withdrawals between Mont Didier and the sea, ihere is no indication that they have made any extensive preparation for I a retirement . It is considered prob-' - however, that the enemy may be forced to abandon the line on the Vesle. • • BULGARIANS WANT PEACE German Ally Seeks to Escape From : Trials of Warfare \ihens. Aug. B—Bulgaria is engaged in a peace offensive synchronizing v.! h German movement in the tion according to Alexan-.! Dei Garapanos, former minister of I ie reign affairs. RUSSIA DECLARES WAR ON ENGLAND Berlin Newspaper States Rasa. GoTernment Proclaims "Slate of War" Exists Stockholm, Aug. B—The Russian government has issued a dec laration that a state of war exists between England and Russia, according to a despatch to The . Loka! Anzeiger of Berlin, which prints it "with reservation." WOMEN BARRED FROM COMMONS Net Eligible as Candidates for Seats In House of Commons London-, Aug. 8— Women are not entitled to become candidates for parliament, according to a decision reached by the law officers of England. Scotland and Ireland, who were unanimous in their ruling, Andrew Bonar Law said in the house of commons to-day. This settled the controversy which to women. Some have he-, 'hat this arose out of extending the franchise gave them the right to sit Iβ parliament, and several women have announced their candidacy for office at the next general election.  (',reat allirc! commander-in-chiet tin i!r-r whosr direction two victorious drives have been conducted against the bans. ADVANCED 7 1-2 MILES British and French Launch New Drive Against Ger. mans and Penetrate deep ly over a Front of Twenty Miles GREAT QUANTITIES MATERIAL TAKEN £ONDON, July B—The historic battleground between Amiens and Mont Didier again is the scene of a nighty contest. This time the British and French are the aggressors, and under their fierce onslaughts on the first day of the battle they have penetrated deeply into the German positions over a front of more than twenty miles, reaching from the region of Braches to the neighborhood of Marlancourt.Following short but intensive artillery preparation, and aided by misty weather the allied attack took the Germans completely by surprise, and they fled almost everywhere pell-mell before the tanks, motor machine gun batteries, cavalry and infantry sent against them. All the objectives set for the Englishmen, Australians. Canadians and French were attained in remarkably quick time. Still Make Progress At last accounts on Thursday night the allies were still making progress. Wherever the enemy turned to give buttle he was decisively defeated. Thousands of Germans were made prisoners, large numbers of guns were captured, great quantities of war materials were taken, and a score or more villages and hamlets were occupied. In addition, heavy casualties uere inflicted upon the enemy. At its deepest point the penetration of the German line was about seven ?.id a half miles eastward from Villers-Bretonneux to Framville. while from two to five miles were gained ail j along the front from northwest of ! Mont Didier to the region around Marlancourt. The fighting extended from Marlancourt to the Albert sector. j but no official details concerning it j have been received. Astride Railroad The advance of the allies in the j centre places them well astride the railroad leading from Villers-Bretonneux to the important junction at Chaulmes, where the lines radiate northeastward towards Peronne and southward through Roye to Compiegne. The railway running northeastward to Baraye was crossed when the allies took Frameville well out on the plains and are pressing forward seemingly with great rapidity. The present offensive of the French and British gives promise of seriously menacing the entire German front from near the sea to Rheim*. i ANGLO-FRENCH FORCES START NEW OFFENSIVE ALONG FRONT FROM ALBERT TO MONT DIDIER, AND MAKE AN ADVANCE OF OVER SEVEN ILES Allied Troops Attain AH Objectives And Capture 7,000 Prisoners and 100 Guns In First Day Of Attack HUNDREDS OF FIGHTING TANKS ARE USED IN NEW ALLIED DRIVE London, Aug. B.—Seven thousand prisoners and ioo guns have been captured in the Franco- British offensive, Andrew Bonar Law announced 4 to-night. Harbonnieres, six miles east of Villers- Bretonneux, has been reached. Field Marshal Haig's statement concerning the new offensive by the British and French troops shows that the enemy line has been driven in about seven miles and a half i n the center. At Plessier, which lies southeast of M oreuil, it shows that goodly gains also have been m ade eastward over a front of "fifteen miles, lying between Plessier and Morlancourt.OX THE FRENCH FRONT IN FRANCE, Augi 8—(By A. P.)—A co mbined attack by the French and British was begun at dawn to-day along the front between Albert and Mont Didier. ' Satisfactory progress was made despite strong enemy resistance.The assault began exactly at dawn along a front of between forty and fifty kilometres and a success was scored at Marceloav. . The French advanced towards Corisy Cailly on the south side of the Somrne east of Saillylaurete and Ma rceloav. The French advanced at the same time in the direction of Domuis and Aboricourt. Around Morisal and Moreuil the German resistance is terrific. Along the French front the artillery preparation las ted for forty minutes after which the troops left their trenches with wonderful dash. Before eight o'clock considerable progress had been recorded and all the first objectives had been attained.Hundreds ok Tanks British Army Headquarters, Aug.. B.—The main weight of the allied blow was directed against yon Mutiers eighteenth army. Some hundreds of fighting tanks advanced as the infantry waves advanced. Many Positions Taken With the British army in France, Aug. B.—(By the A. P.)—ln then offensive on ihe front east of Amiens today the British have taken Mahneer wood, Dodo wood and probably have possession of the towns of Marceloav, and La Mot*e en Santene.An advance by ihe British to Marceicav and Molie e.i Sant<*rre would represent a j;?i>etratio i of ap- tv~o miles into ins German lines. The latter town is about three miles east of Villers Bretonneux, slightly to the east of which the former British lines ran. Marceloav j? two miles southwest of La Motte en Santerre and about two and a half miles southeast of Villers Bretonneux. .The woods nan«ed do not appear on available maps. The advices md'rate that the principal force or the British stroke was exerted in the Villers Bretonneux area slightly to the southeast of Amiens* where Field Marshal's Haig's troops had an advantageous jumping off place from the Villers Bretonneux ridge. All Obstacles Overcome With the French army in France, Aug. S.— (By the A. P.)—The slopes of the valley of the Avre have been carried and the allies have reached the plateau beyond. They are making further progress and overcoming every obstacle along the line. Advance of Three Miles London, Aug. B.—According to advices received in London the French and British forces which attacked this morning in the Picardy sector, have advanced at some points to a depth of more than three miles. The attack must have taken the Germans by surprise as the weather has not been such as would generally be chosen for the commencement of new operations.On Monday there was a continuous downpour of rain along the Amiens front, but advices state the British troops were congratulating themselves that the ground was not as bad as they had experienced in Flanders where shell craters were filled with water and there was no means of draining them. All Objectives Reached With the British Aimies in France Aug. B.—The British attacked over a twelve mile front on both sides of the Somme and gained all their objectives within four hours and have captured a considerable number of prisoners and guns. s»r  Prime Credit for Succes of New Drive Belongs to Infantry whose Dash and courage were magnificent GERMAN DEFENCES WERE INADEQUATE [ONDON, Aug. 9—The D«uly Mail's correspondent at British headquarters under Thursday's date says the hardest fighting occurred on the extreme northern and southern wings of the British advance, the passage of the river Luce and the capture of ihc southern woods particularly proving very tough operations which checked the advance a while. But, notwithstanding these checks, says the correspondent, the advance went on with astonishing speed all aiong the line. The tanks, which did magnificent work, helped the speed, but the prime credit belongs to the dosh and training of the infantry. They smothered the German infantry as our gunners smothered the German gunners. Their movement was quick and concerted; the enemy had little time to remove his guns. It is reported that all along the line held guns were overrun and a particularly large group of them were captured north of the Somme near Chipilly, where escape was impossible owing to the sharp bends in the Somme river. I believe that more guns, and of course machine guns, were captured than can be catalogued in a a day [or two. Some few of them were used against the enemy quite early in the day. The feature of the day was the extinction of the German artillery; its answer to our barrage was rather slow and patchy. It was up to the standard at some places, but it lasted a very short time in the first degree of excellence. One isolated shot deserves mention. It hit one of our ammunition lorries engine but it did not explode a single shell or hurt the driver. Such partial successes were few and as soon as the infantry was well on the move the enemy gunners began to pack up. Many of them must have had little chance of saving their batteries. As the sun conquered the mist o.ur airmen saw scenes of complicated confusion much farther afield. Batches and strings of vans scampered off and in the middle of the hurry our airmen with machine guns and bombs took all advantages possible. The prisoners agree that the attack was an overwhelming surprise and that /all advantage was taken of it by the assaulting troops. The German defences, at any rate behind the front line, were for the most part very inadequate. The old zeal of digging in and going to the ground seems to have been lost, nor did most of the Germans fight well in the centre. The prisoners were very numerous though extremely few were taken on the front line owing to the devastating effect of the four minute barrage on the indifferent defences. The proportion of men killed was large and at one place the numbers were quite unusual. Allied Stroke Took Germans By Surprise and Anglo-French Forces Made Rapid Progress At All Points NUMEROUS POSITIONS ARE TAKEN DURING EARLY STAGES OF ADVANCE r ONDON, Aug. B.—Bonar Law announced tonight when addressing the house of commons that up to three o clock this afternoon on a twenty kiiometre front between Marlancourt and Mont Didier, we had reached all our objectives and captured 100 guns and 7,000 prisoners. The advanes was reported to be between four and five miles, and at one point ceven miles. The statement says that no estimate can be made of the num ber o! guns and material captured, but that several thousand prisoners and many guns have been taken. The text of the statement follows: The operations commenced this morning on the Amiens front by the French first army, under command of General Debetry, and the British fourth army, under Sir Henry Rawlinson, are proceeding successfully. The assembly of allied troops was completed under cover of the night unnoticed by the enemy. At the hour of the assault, French, Canadian, Australian and English divisions, assisted by a large number of British tanks, stormed the Germans on a front of over twenty kilometres from the Avre river at Braches to the reighborhood of Marlancoui< The enemy was taken by survrise, and at all points the allied troops, have made .•v.pid progress. At an early hour our first objectives had been reached on the whole of the front attacked. During the morning the advance of (he allied infantry continued actively assisted by British light cavalry, light tanks and motor machine gun batteries. The general line reached by our troops runs from Pessier Rozai-Nuille to Beauport, to Caix to Framerville to Chipilly and to the west of Marlancourt.No accurate estimate can be given concerning the number of prisoners or guns or the amount of material, cap tared, but it is known that several thousands of prisoners and many guns have fallen into our hands. ENTIRE CREW OF ZEPP PERISHED One of Zeppelins Attacking English Coast Shot Down in North Sea Amsterdam, Aug. B—Capt. Strasser, one of Germany's most successful squadron commanders in zeppelin attacks, and the entire crew of the Zeppelin which led the attack toward the British east coast Monday night, I perished when the dirigible was shot down over the North Sea. An official communication from Berlin dealing with the attempted raid on the east English coast *-as received here yesterday. It said the raiders caused heavy damage in bombing attacks, but that Strasser and his crew probably met a heroic death. MERCANTILE TONNAGE Britain Has 15,000,000 Tons Against 18,500,000 Before the War London, Aug. B—The British mercantile tonnage at the outbreak of the war amounted to 18,500,000 tons gross, and the figure at the present time is 15,000,000 tons gross. Sir Leo G. Chioza Money, parliamentary secretary to the ministry" of shipping, announced in the house of commons to-day. THE WAR SITUATION  (By J. T. M.) IN our review of the situation on V.ic western front on the 6th instant we remarked that "the Marne battle may be followed at no distant date with an atiack by the allies from the Oise to Ancre, which may throw the whole German front north of the Oise on the defensive." Although we did not know it at that time, the preliminary stages of such an attack were then in progress, and the full development of the battle was announced in the late cables yesterday, which show that the area of the advance is fiom Albert southward to Mont Didier, approximately thirty miles of battle line, or roughly from the Ancre to the Oise as the wing operations of the fighting line will ex•end from the north of Albert to beyond Mont Didier eastward toward, and probably reaching, the Oise between Compiegne and Noyon. Taking the cables which came to hand up to midnight we find that the allies have made very considerable progress in the loop formed by the course of the Somme. which swings Mruthward around St. Quentin, northward to Peronne, and east to Amiens. The salient points of the present drive may be regarded as Albert, Peronne, and Roye, extending probably to Noyon. Villers Bretonneaux. from where the British drive eastward, is 10 miles cast of Amiens. Framerville, said to be captured, is 8 miles east of Bretonneaux, and Peronne is 10 miles northeast of that village. The occupation of Framerville places the British astride the railway from Mont Didier to Albert, via Fricourt junction, four miles east of Albert.Chaulnes junction is four miles southeast of Framerville. Thro that towns runs the railway from Peronne to Mont Didier, via Roye junction. From Roye a railway branch runs to the Ouise, via Matz river valley, which almost parallels the present rear of the-German lines north of the Due, and i≤ their chief line of com-. munication for that section of their iront from Compiegne to Mont Didier. Along the area over which the British advance was made yesterday, between Villers Bretonneaux and Framerville, the ground to the south of the Somme has a gradual ascent reaching about 120 feet high in the vicinity of Cheulnes. The objective in that direction would appear to be an advance on Peronne, the attainment of which would squeeze the Germans into a sharp salient between Peronne and Albert, which would be completely dominated from north and south of the Somme river by the allies, and made untenable for the enemy. The success of the British eastward drive along the south watershed of the Somme, from Framerville to Fresno, which is on the Chaulnes-Peronne rail way, would force the Germans to fall back on Peroqne. That would be a letirement of some ten miles from the positions the latest cables show them to be in. It is not unlikely that the attack v>ll extend southward to the Oise. A retirement in that area would materially affect the present lines of the Germans between the Oise and the Aisne, and probably precipitate a with drawal of the whole front back to the battle line they occupied before ihe drive of March 21st began. We give this outline of the salient points of the scene of present operations to assist in a small way the tracing of the advance of the allies forces. It is not without significance that Foch has sprung the second offensive en the centre of the western front while the Marne drive was still in progiess. The German comment which has come through to us would appear to be based on the belief that Foch had used up so many of his reserves ir the Marne battle that he would not be in a position to launch an attack on any other sector of the line for some time. 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