The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, August 14, 1918, Image 2

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THE SUMTEK W ATCHMAN, Kstab Consolidated Aug. 2,1 ALLIES, PUSH FORWARD. LEFT FLANK LN PICARDY SEES TOMMIES ADVANCE. German Attack North of Kiirunel Re pulsed, With Prisoners for Haig's Men. London, Aug. VU?Further progress ?was made last night by the British on their left flank in the Picardy battle front north of the Somme, the war office announced today. Fighting con tinued at various points south of the river. On the right center the French have pushed forward on the south bank of the Avre to the outskirts of Le Eschell-St. Aurin, seven miles northeast of Montdidier. A German local attack north of Kemmel, on the Flanders front, was repulsed after sharp fighting. The text of the statement reads: "By a successful operation during the night we advanced our line north of the Somme on the high ground be tween Etinehem and Dernancourt. "South of the river local fighting is reported at different points. "The French troops made further progress along the south bank of the Avre river and reached the outskirts of Le Eschell-St. Aurin. "Early this morning the enemy launched a local attack against posi tions north of Kemmel. The attack was repulsed after sharp fighting, prisoners being left in o?r hands. "Hostile raiding parties, were driv en off north of the Scarpe. "We improved our positions slight ly east of Robecq (Flanders front)." RETREATING ENEMY HARASSED. French Scatter Terror and Destruc tion in Ranks of Germans Fleeing From Montdidier. On the French Front in France, Aug. 11 (Havas Agency).?When the French troops entered Montdidier at 12.30 o'clock Saturday afternoon the Germans had not yet completely evacuated the town, clinging to the outskirts of the place with the help of machine guns, some of which werfe being served by the officers of the de tachments, all the men having been killed or wounded. The French troops are pursuing their success and have now progress ed far east of Montdidier, gathering up along the route thousands of pris oners, together with enemy cannon ( and machine guns. Harassed by the French cavalry, whiab. had pushed far ahead, the Germans were thrown into great disorder, ?s they sought to faJl^ came armored" cars with atitoniciticj guns which scattered terror and de-! struction amongst the retreating foe. j ^ jThe enemy was engaged in a desper-i ate effort along the roads to the rear,! crowded with masses of men and ma- j terial, seefcing to disengage himself; from the French pursuit. Farther south the French army on; the right continued equal pressure, j taking the heights of Boulogne-la-1 Grasse. At the end of the day yester day, the French held the front of Orvillers, Boulogne-la-Grasse, La j Poste, Conchy-les-Pots, La Neuville, Biermont, Le Plessier and Chevin court. The French artillery has under its fire important enemy concentrations of men and material retreating near Noyon and Guisecard. Everything tends to confirm the impression that z a great victory has been won. RETREAT TO AISNE IMMINENT. Allies Continue to Press Em my Hard. London, Aug. 11.?The Allies con tinued to make splendid progress this morning along the whole front be-, tween the region to the south of Ar-j ras and the river Oise. according toj reports reaching London this after-; noon. There have been large cap-! tures of guns and materials and the; numbers of prisoners is increasing. | The fall o<^Chaulnes is said to have; followed a desperate struggle withj strong forces rushed up to cover the retreat. . * The British encountered fierce op-! position north of the Somme, but they are now advancing down the longj slopes toward Bray if they have not already succeeded in reaching that; town. Between Arras and Albert the ene my is showing sigrs of great anxiety; and apparentlv is anticipating a wide) extension of the fighting front to the north. On the Soissons. Rheims front. th'-: enemy is contesting every inch of ground along the Vesle river with the Americans, who are fighting with su perb heroism. The struggle can not last long, however, and a German re treat to the Aisne or beyond is clearly imminent. FRANCO-AMERICANS RESIST VIG OROUSLY. Counterattack Diseonrages Infantry Attack of Germans on Vesle? Fighting for Fismette. With the American Army on thf> Vesle. Aug. 11. S p. m. (By the Asso ciated Press).?The Germans made two artillery attacks against th ? Franco-American troops on the Vesle.; but the Allied troops counterattacked so vigorously that the Germans did not launch an infantry attack. Th" struggle for the retention of Fismette. on the north brink of th< Vesle near Fismos. has developed virtually into a continuous fight. The Americans, however, are holding tie upper hand. notwithstanding the German attempts to dislodge them. j Nebuchadnezzar had to eat grass. Is Hooverism really new? Many a beautiful Kaster bonnet represents the milliner's unpaid bill. ifcfeed April, 1850. "Be Sw* m 881. SI PROGRESS NORTH OF SOMME LONDON REPORT CREDITS HAIG'S MEX WITH ENTERING CHAULNES. j Forces of Petain Continue to Advance Eastward in Victorious March?To tal Number of Prisoners Taken in Drive Now up to Thirty-six Thou sand. By Associated Press The Germans have materially stif-J i fened their- defense against the Brit- j ! ish, American and French troops of! I the Picardy front, but they have been j unable to stem the tide of advance j j against them. j Although the forward push of the; ; Allies has been slowed down some- j I what, nevertheless they have made I I further important progress from thei \ north of the Somme river where the ' Americans and British ere fighting to I geth^r to the northern bank of the j Oise where the French troops are en I gaging the enemy. The Americans and their British ; brothers in arms at last accounts J were pressing closely upon Bray-sur Somme, aided by tanks and armored j cars, which inflicted heavy casualties ! on the enemy as he advanced to re ! tard their progress, j Across the river the Germans heav j ily engaged the British at Lihons and ! in its vicinity and at one point pierced j the British line and gained the out i skirts of Lihons. A counterattack, j however, entirely restored the British j line and the enemy retired to positions j east and north of the village. Unoffi ! cial reports from London credited the I British with entering Chaulnes and j British cavalry with a penetration o' ? the enemy's territory almost to Nesles. j These reports, however, have received I no official confirmation. By f?j r the greatest progress has j { been made by the French from the j I region imediatel?* southwest and \ i south of Rove to the Oise river. Here j 1 they have driven their line well across I the Roye-Compiegne road and at Cam brenne have, reached the road lead-! I ing from Compiegne to Noyon. Since 1 j the capture of Montdidier thz French ! ; have penetrated eastward to Tillotoy. I i a distance of about seven miles, and j j to Canny-sur-Matz, jmore than eighty' land a half miles and through the ? hilly region southward to the Oise ! have averaged gains exceeding six j miles over a front of 12 miles. Th" j stiffening of the German defense does ! not, in the minds of observers on the i battle front, indicate the retreat of the enemy has ended. Rather it is to those carried' out over the Marne front, when strong rear guards cov ered the retirement of the Crown Prince's armies northward. The smoke of large fires continues to be seen far behind the enemy's lines and. the movement of long trans port columns eastward is considerd evidence that it is the intention of i I the enemy ultimately to retreat to j j new lines of defense. I -Aviators have destroyed all the I bridges across the Somme from the i region of Peronne sotuhward and ? with the enemy's communicating lines j j either in the hands' of the Allies or | I dominated by their guns the retro- i j grade movement necessarily must be | I slow. j ! Therefore strong rear guard ac- j tions are required to save large num-l ; bers cf men and guns and enormous j ' quantities of stores from capture, j The allied troops gradually are en ; circling Roye and its capture, which i now seems imminent, will greatly j heighten the .difficulties of the Ger-j mans in falling back. ? Intensive air fighting is proceeding' over the battle line. In Friday's bat- j tie 39 German machines were de-! stroyed and 22 driven down out of; control. The British war office | acknowledges that 22 British ma-j chines are missing. Reports bring the number of pris-! oners by the allies up to 36.000 and! the number of guns captured to! more than 500. On the Vesle front the Germans on the .north side of the stream are re ported to be entrenching and string-! ing barbed wires over the territory 1 where thev nre facing the French j and Americans. PERSHIXG IN COMMAND. Plan to Coordinate All American Forces in France Now Under Wav. With the American Army in j France. .Aug. 12 (By the Associated! Press).?The first American field ; army has been organized. It is un I der the direct, command of Gen. John; J. Pershing. commander in chief oi" 1 the American forces. The corps corn ; manders thus far announced the Major Generals Liggett. Bullard, Bun dy. Reed and Wright. ] The creation of the first field army t is thA first step towards the coor- j; dination of all the American forces in i 1 France. 11 This does not mean the immediate' < withdrawal from the British and, < French commands of nil American j 1 units and it is probajde that divi-j sions will be used on the French and"h British fronts for weeks yet. ? 1 It is understood that the policy 01 "< organizing other armies will be car < ried out steadily. ! 1 -j 1 A man who is good enough to she'1;1 his blood for his country is good ' enough to be given a square deal af- ; terwards. A man may have pbmtv of monevJv and yel be unhappy, but it iv be* . ter to be unhappy with money j than without it. A golden mirror makes a homely girl's face a thing of beauty. ? od Fear not?Let all the ends Thon Ptt be thy Country's, Thy God't a JMTEK, S. C, WEDN^tf?Y, ?UG OST 14, 191 III 10 HIT Hi?. GEN. MARCH REVIEWS BAr REPORTS FOR PRESS. ?TTLE SPREADS SOUTH. jIFS DRIVING SOUTH OF RAS TODAY. AR End of War Not in Sight But All Now Have Advantage of Initiat and Can Keep Enemy Guessing. Washington, Aug. 10? The whe battle line from Rheims to Fland^ is being straightened out and time has come for the greatest eflf< Gen. March, chief of staff, told newspaper correspondents at the s< weekly conference today. He said that any suggestion ihe end of the war is in sight sh< be discouraged, but the time had e?? to keep the enemy lunning and him hard. The greatest advantage to the.' lies is that they have taken the sive and can kep the enemy gues instead of guessing themselves. Regarding the situation on the .rl Vesle line he said the French ? Americans have been nibbling al< that line but had made no attemi advance up the slopes north of'1 river. The temporary stabilization^ the fighting on the Vesle was proi ly met by Gen. Foch by the blow, where the events of the -M battle seem likely to be duplicate ich Capture Hundred More Guns us Morning?Cavalry Nearing "haulncs Where Germans Fight Jsperately to Cover Removal of Stores. ndon, (From the Battlefront), 10.?The Picardy battle is spread. to south of Arras, the Pail Mall tte says this afternoon. One hun additional guns were captured by French in this morning's fighting, e Canadian cavalry operating Chaulnes report that the Germans fighing strong rear guard actions rder to enable them to remove r stores, munitions and guns from town. e new attack by the French ex ed the battle line some sixteen es further southeast in the Mont er sector. n the British front splendid pro is being made. The average pro forward by the infantry is 12 , with the cavalry, tanks and ar ed cars well ahead of the infan The Allies are pressing the re ting enemy at all points. res M KOTIER FLEEING. ?????. I RETREAT ON MONTDIDIER-1 ON LINE SHOWS UNDUE HASTE. E. INCH DRIVING GERMANS BACK ON IMPORTAXT FRONT. Much War Material Abandoned by ' treating Army?German Posit in That Sector Precarious. ish and French Lines Linked up )Hh of Somme River?German! tfack Repulsed. Paris, Aug. 10.?The German under command of Gen. von HUt is retreating from the Montdidi Xoyon line and the retreat shows\ idence of undue haste, much war, terial is being left behind. Theii treat would be cut off when the Frei capture Faveralles and the Gen positions' along Montdidier-Roy are precarious. , The movements of Gen. Deb? army have been lightning-like am suited in taking prisoners numb* several thousand. s >ndori, Aug. 2.?The French have tnced nearer the important point :oye from the Southwest by the ture of the villages of Armancourt Tilloloy, it is officially announced. >uth of the Somme the British tred two hundred prisoners, ghe British positions east cf Meri t, south of the river, have been ted with the British lines east of lehm, and north of the river. A mn attack on British positions of Lihons last night was re id. AMERICANS LEADING ATTA* I HUNS EVACUATE ROYE. With British They Are Driving ' Toward Bray^. With British.; Army M. says: Chipilty Spur, north of the Somme, was captured by the Ameri cans and British at 6 o'clock last night. The attack was supported by tanks and preceded by a heavy bar rage fire. The enemy were driven toward Bray. >rtant Depot Abandoned by Huns Sg-British Tanks Operating East of sn. . ?T5,"-2.1C afternoon state that the town of Roye. which the Germans have been defend ing so desperately, has been evacuat ed. British tanks have been seen op erating a considerable distance east, of that town. FIGHTING KV AIR. Germans Lose Sixty-five Airplanes and British Fifty. London. Friday, Aug. 9.?Sixty-five German airplanes were destroyed by the British or driven down out of con trol in the fighting on August Sth* when the Picardy offensive opened, it! is officially announced. Fifty British j machines are reported missing. GERMANS RESIST BITTERLY Bring up Reinforcements to Stopj Advance of Allies. Paris, Aug. 12.?Extremely bitter | resistance by the Germans is being I encountered along the line on the j Chaulnes-Roye-Noyon front. . The enemy is bringing up strong rein-j forcements while the allies are pre paring for a further advance. AMERICAN CASUALTY LIST. Hard Fighting Reflected in List of Killed and Wounded. TELEGRAPHERS' WAGES CREASED. IX Western Union Gives Loya! Employees; Ten Per Cent Advance. Washington. Aug. 10. casualty lists issued in ?The army five sections New York, Aug. 12.?The announce-! total 516. Killed in action, 64; died I ment of a general increase of ten per of wounds, 28; died of disease, 3: j cent in wages of all employees of the1 died or accidents, 6; wounded severe- j Western Union belonging to the as-j ly 102; wounded, 102; missing in ac-1 sociaticn recently organized by com- ! tion, 211; wounded, degree undeter-j pany was made here today. The order j mined, Corporal Pinchard R. Carmine,; dates from July 1st and applies to Yuincy, Fla., Corporal Joseph C. Haire of Graniteville, S. C. Killed in action Paul E. Ragsdale, Pelzer, S. C. Marines Lose Twenty-Five. Washington, Aug. 10.?Marine cas ualties were 2?. Killed in action, 11: died of wounds, 5; wounded severely, 9. forty-five thousand workers. LENNINE AND TROTZKY TO FLEE Bolshevik Government (ioing to Pici^c and Premier and Minister Plan toj Quit Russia. j NO FIREWORKS ALLOWED. Council of Defense Urges all Towns and Cities to Forbid Their Use. London, Aug. 11.?The anti-Bolshe vik government in Russia is growing] rapidly, the Bolshevik soviet organi- j zation has virtually gone to pieces, and Nikolai Lenine, the premier, ami' Leon Trotzky, his war minister, in tend to flee to Germany should the Columbia, Aug. 12.?Every mu-1 situation become too serious, .accord-' nicipality in South Carolina is urged | ing to reeent Russian newspapers., the by the State Council of Defense to co- j Exchange Telegraph correspondent at operate with the organization by the Copenhagen telegraphs, adoption of an ordinance which will The Petrograd newspaper, Izvestia. forbid the use of fireworks during! is o.uoted by the correspondent as the period of the war. A resolution ? stating that at several points in that calling upon the municipalities of the| part of Russia not occupied by the State for such aetion was adopted at j enemy "counter revolutions have the last bi-monthly meeting of the broken out in a number of towns. Defense Council at the request of Wil-iThe Bolshevik Soviets have been over liam Panics, State Inspector of ExplO- j thrown in these places and replaced siyes. It is felt that, while fireworks j by councils consisting of representa are used only during the Christmas I tives of the Mensheviki, or moder holidays, as a rule, the present is the ales." Lime to take action for the reason that) in the city of Kazan, the newspaper merchants usually make their pur-j adds, the widely known Bolshevik chases of fireworks at this period of leader. Olschinsky. had been killed the year for the holiday trade. J while there has been great bloodshed ? Dealers in fireworks should, take among tlm Bolsheviki in the Xovgo varning and act accordingly, as it i-* regarded as very likely that the sate >f fireworks will not be permitted be cause of the waste of both money and ?owder. both of which are needed to velp in the winning of the war. und h<> danger to persons and property in ?ident to the use of fireworks. FORTY THOUSAND PRISONERS. rod district. AMERICAN CASUALTY LIST. \IIics Increase Toll of Men and Guns Paris. Aug. 2?Nearly forty thou :and prisoners :md seven hundred uns have been taken by the Allies in Picardy. according to reliable infor nation received here. Tolal Los? More Than Three Hun- | rtrcd. 1 Washington. Aug. 2.?Army casual ties, which wore issued in three list-; 1 today, total Killed in aetion. ? idied of wounds, in; died of disease. 2: '? died of accidents and other causes. ?}: * wounded severely. 67: wounded, de- 1 reo undetemined. l'S; missing in ac- i r.ion, 7: killed in action. Private Wil- > liara Morris, of Fort Lau.derdale :> Fla. Wounded, degree undetermined, I Private Sidney X King. Bethune, S. a C. 1 A Bd Tratte'*.71 THE TRUE s. BUCK TO OLD FRONT. GERMANS NOW FACING OLD DIN DEXBURG LINK. Victorious British Army Advances at Many Places?Big Gains Made on Upper Somme?Reliable Rei>oris From Front Tell of Disordered Flight Whipping Enemy. With the British army in France, Aug. 11, (By the Associated Press) { 3.SO p. m.?The Allied forces con-j tinued their victorious advance all | along the line last night and today, pushing in the general direction of the j upper reaches of the Somme. They I were smashing the stiff resistance in terpesed by the rear guards of the re- j treating Germans, the. bulk of whom, according to reports considered relia ble, are fleeing in disorder. Britisii I cavalry are reported this afternoon j operating close to the town of Nesle. j (Nesle is six miles southeast of Chaul-l nes.) Many hours ago the British, French and American troops had reached. | roughly, the old line held by the Ger-j mans before their retirement to the! Hindenburg line. They have now! pushed beyond in many places. Goyencourt, two miles northwest of i Roye, is reported to have fallen . to | British troops four hours ago. Other | British forces were on the front of Chauines-Hattencourt and Vdlers-les- j Roye. The Germans are retiring gradual- j ly everywhere in the face of the fire from the British guns, rifles and ma chine guns. The Americans and British north of the Somme had further hard fight ing and with fine spirit pushed on to ward Bray. They have traversed the j northern spur east of Chipilly, and j Etinehem is as well as in their hands 1 Gressaire wood had long since been j I cleared of the enemy, the Allied forces! [passing around the wood which was) I reeking with gas from many pockets, j Here both British and Americans were helped on their way by tanks. At one place a tank containing 1 volunteers rushed a strong enemy po sition. Scores of Germans were killed and seven officers and 200 men were captured. This permitted the infan try to get on to the line it was hold ing this morning. The Americans in the fighting of the past 20 hours had further casual ties, principally caused by machine gun bullets. But their casualties.were no more than could be expected among troops constantly delivering at iere_ any along the line, realizing, the im portance of the positions which are now in the hands of the American and Eritish forces. I A considerable number of add'tion I al prisoners were taken here and the! I Germans suffered extremely, heavy i j losses. Up to date 31 German divi- I I sions have been in contact with the; j Allied forces. Of these, 21 have been j ! engaged between the extreme left of: I the Allied flank and where the French i i 1 j join the British. A number of pns- j I oners from these divisions have also i been captured by the French. Ten | j divisions of Prince Ruppreehfs re- j serves have been identified in the j fighting. i Large groups of prisoners, hungry.; 1 thirsty and grimy and appearing1 thoroughly disheartened, continue to! arrive at the collecting cages. Among j the capture were five regimental com manders and ten battalion com- j manders. Late today strong enemy forces' were concentrating east of Proyart and apparently were making prepa-1 rations to oppose a determined re- \ sistance. However, the German ob-i jective probably is merely to cover! the retreat of the large enemy forces. They have the additional need of at tempting to take away a great amount j of heavy material of which they re- I cently lost a large quantity, and feelj the military necessity of risking man' power in order to protect the remain-j ing supplies. The scores of Allied observers inj airplanes reported that long streams' of enemy troops and transports were. J rushing eastward, including the vicin-J ity east of Bray. Great columns ofj Germans were crossing the Somme| River even by the bridges that had : been badly damaged by Allied bomb-; ers who have dropped many tons of: explosives at vital- points. The ene-; my bombers also have been busy and repeatedly were chased away by th^; British pursuit planes to prevent; them from dropping bombs to hind-j er the advance of the troops. : i The Germans were reported to 1)? ; ? retreating eastward past Peronne inj' the greatest disorder. Many were said!' to be without arms, apparently hav- \ ing discarded their weapons. Among j them were many wounded men, stag gering along on foot. -\ Reports from thrt south received here say that the French continue to : push along the Montdidier-Roye road, i Many fires and explosions are report- j rd within the German lines as their i retreat goes on. Much of this de- > -truction was caused by the Germans i themselves, but in some cases shells ( from Allied guns struck and explod- < ?d enemy ammunition dumps. t Chaulnes was shrouded in clouds of i anoke. shot with flame. Among otiter t ?uildings in the town, the railway sta- t :ion was reported as having been turning for many hours. ] The German resistance thus far ap- c >ears to become weaker as the battle ji ?rogresses toward the center, espec- l ally opposite the positions held by i he Australians. Here, for instance, a he artillery or the Allies oflen was "enuired to lift the fire a thousand an'.s at a time, so rapid had been the o dvance of the infantry. All the coun- jj erattacks that the enemy has been T1 tide to organize have failed, notah- t y on east of Folies, where extremely j. SOUTHRON. EetabHsbed Jons, )*?* VoLXLVI. No. 52. FOOD CRISIS PASSED. 4 HOOVER SAW UNITED STATES REACH TEN DAYS' SUPPLY. Does Not Want to Run Any Such Colossal Risk Again, 'However. Washington, Aug. 10.?It is not gen erally known that Food Administrator Hoover was the winner this year in one of the greatest performances of ??taking a chance" in all history. It was in connection with the . wheat crop. When Mr. Hoover left for Europe last month, he knew that there was only about' a ten days' supply of wheat left in the United States. If the general public had known this, there would have been a sensation, and a very panicky'one, too. But Mr. Hoover also knew that the new crop of wheat, as he had cal culated and hoped, was going to be larger than the usual one. and that it was going to be ready for harvest ing considerably in advance of the usual time. So, he went on his trip overseas with "he assurance that the crisis was past,, that wheat conditions would improve instead of the contra ry, and that there would be no more need of wheatless days in this coun try. ? What Hoover had constantly had on his mind until the early maturity and large size of the new crop were assured, was that there might be a period of absolute wheat famine. If Mr. Hoover had not taken the chance he did as to the American stock cf wheat for home consumption, there would have been a serious wheat famine in all the Allied Euro pean nations which are fighting the Hun. That would have meant a loss of physical fitness and of morale in the Allied armies at the turning point of the whole war, and might easily have meant the Allies' collapse. The European is decidedly more de pendent upon wheat for daily nutri ment than is the American, though this great staple is undoubtedly the most important food stuff in all Cau casian countries and is not to be neg lected as a basis of American physi que and morale. But at tiie time when Hocver took his colossal'chance, it was upon European morale that every thing depended in the world/ war. The European Allies had to*" hold on until Uncle Sam could get there with .his army in real force. A gap had to be bridged, and to bridge it in the face of the enemy's fire it was necessary to take a big risk,v . as Napoleon did at the bridge, of Dodl^ ? Or Iris deserts are 'srriL. Who dares not put it to the touch To gain or lese it alL" .\ If the present wheat crop had been a failure, or if its maturity hac. been later than usual instead of earlier, Mr. Hoover would probably have lost his enviable standing as a success in the food control of the side of hu manity in the greatest war in all his tory He might have been the butt of popular wrath in his own country in stead of the object of admiration and esteem. Nevertheless, he had the chance to take, and as matters stood he would have been remiss in his duty if he had riot taken it and risk ed his own fame unhesistatingly on the venture. But it is a bad thing to have to take any such chance with a great nation's fundamental food supply. Nobody knows that better than Hoover himself. That is why he is providing against any future neces sity of such a fearful risk by plan ning to build up an emergemry re serve of wheat out of the present abundant crop. ZEPPELINS BROUGHT DOWN. British Score Air Victory Off Dutch Coast. London. Aug. 12.?A German air ship has been brought down in flames north of Am eland on the northern Dutch coast, the admiralty announced today. It was also announced that six Brit ish motor boats have failed to re turn from a reconnoitering expedition carried out on August 11th along the west Friesland coast of Holland. heavy casualties were inflicted on the Sermans. Tanks, both the large one and the 'Whippets." again performed tremen dous service at a small cost to them selves all along the line. At one small :own, south of the Amiens-Roye road the advancing French infantry sent ivord to the British that they could iot get on because of heavy machine :un fire *<ymi the town. Five ponderous armored monsters vent over and rolled directly into the "dace. Their crews discovered that he houses were crowded with Ger mans manning machine guns, princi pally from scond story windows. One ank leisurely advanced upon a hous? vhile a hail of bullets splashed off its Metal hide. After reconnoitering a ?lose ranae the tank backed off and ?harged. Tts great weight crushed in he whole building and it continued orward until the structure was flat ened out. with the enemy machine .Tinners thoroughly affaced. After this success- the four com panion tanks engaged various groups * the enemy and the house wrecking \ichinc proceeded to roll down and atten nine other houses. This tank tor-ally crushed the entire village and 1! the enemy within. When the French infantrymen who ad paused until the way was made lear for them by the British tanks roceoded on their way they met with o resistance. On the other side of je town '-?M-jnan - who h-?d ;vitnesssd s demolition fled in terror.