Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-10-27
DESCRIBE BATTLE
ALONG RIVER LYS
British Report They overcame
Germans With French Aid
on October 10.
ARMORED MOTORS DEAL
WITH KAlSER'S TROOPS
Allies Protect Themselves in
craters Made by the
"Black Marias."
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, Oct. 27.-The official
press bureau makes public today the
story of an eyewitness, supplement-
ing the narrative of October "a, and
bringing the general course of oper-
atoms in France up TO October 20.
The arrival of reinforcements, 1t
says, enabled the British troops to
ASST in the extension of the allies
line where the enemy advanced from
The northeast and east, holding a
front extending from Mont Descats,
about ten miles northeast of Haze
brouck, through Meteren, five miles
south of that point, and then on to
Estaires, seventeen miles west OF
Lille, on the river Lys.
The statement continues: South
of the Lys his line extended to three
miles east of Bethune and Vernelles.
The allies encountered resistance all
a.cng the line on the 18th and 18th,
when the enemy's right fell back
hastily. Bailleul, seventeen miles
northwest by west of Lille, which had
been occupied by the foe for eight
days, was abandoned without shot
being fired.
ION the 14th our left wing adj
vanced driving the enemy back, and
on the night of the 18th we were in
possession of all the country on the
left bank of the Lys to a point five
miles below Armentieres. The enemy
retired from that town ON the 18th
and the river line, to within a short
distance of Fre.inghien, fell into our
hands.
THE state of the crossings over the
Lys indicated that no organized
scheme of defense had been execut-
ed, some of the bridges being in a
state of repair; others merely barri-
caded, while one was not even de-
Tended or broken.
Meet Determined Resistance.
''The resistance offered to our adj
vance on the 18th was of a most de-
termined character. The fighting con-
sisted of fercely contested encoun-
ters, infantry attacks on the villages
being unavailing until our howitzers
reduced the houses to ruins. Other
villages were taken and retaNen
three times before they were finally
secured.
'',The French cavalry here gave
welcome support, and on the evening
Il the 18th the resistance was over
some, the enemy retiring five miles
o the eastward"
Describing an incident of the fight
ng on this night the narrative says
hat the important crossing or the
.ys at Werneton was strongly held
~ the Germans with barricaded
oophole at the bottom to enable the
lien to fire while lying down.
"Our cavalry with the artillery blew
he barricade to pieces and scat
cred the defenders" the narrative
ontinues. advancing three-quarters
a mile our troops reached the
quare, when one of the buildings
appeared to leap skywards. A sheet
f flame and a shower of star shells
It the same time made the place as
light as day and enabled the enemy,
,nsconsed in surrounding houses, to
pour devastating f1re from rifles
and machine guns. Our cavalry ex-
tricated themselves with a loss OF
one officer wounded and nine men |
killed and wounded, but party of
volunteers went back and carried off |
their wounded comrades from the in
ferno.
Held Some Villages on the Jys.
During the nth, 18th and 10Th of
October our men held some villages
on the Lys, in spite of the lombard
ment.
Our right encountered strong op
position from the enemy about La
Bassee, where they had established
themselves behind entertainments. On
the centre and the left we made bet
ter progress, although the Germans
were everywhere entrenched, and in
spite of the bombardment held some
villages on the Lys.
cat the close of each day night
counter stroke was delivered against
che or another part of our line, but
they were all repulsed.
''Tuesday, October 20, a determined
but unsuccessful attack was made
against virtually the whole of our
line. At one point, where one of our
brigades made a counter-attack, LOO
German dead were found in trench
and forty prisoners were taken"
The narrative points out that the
advance of the allies has been him
dered by the weather and the nature
of the ground. together with the i'm