New Britain herald., 1915-01-07
FRENCH LOST CHANCE
 TO R0UT GERMANS
British Field Marshal Failed to
 Ascertain Dangerous Gap.

A Town on the Aisne, France, De- cember Correspondence of the Associated Ress) "A little battle graveyard by the roadside. only half a dozen soldier graves with wooden crosses, marks the high water point reached by the British in the battle of the AiSne in mid-September. It lies near the Chamin des Danes (road of the Ladies) which roughly parallels the Aisne three or four miles north of the river and only short distance from the battered sugar factory of Troyon. for which the Royal Sussex Regiment, the Kings Royal Rifles and the Royal North Lancashire Regiment paid so heavy a price in the battle of Sept. 15.
 Field Marshal Sir John French reg istered the names in his report of Oct. 8. in which he tels how the Brit ish forces, following up the retirement of the Germans from the Marne line. crosesd the Aisne cast of Soissons and fought their way to the top of the ridge of hills on the north back, where they were checked and held by the German troops.
 Threc Months Ago.
 This was three months ago; the Germans later drove the allies from the hills almost to the river and now hold the ground in strong force, en- trenchcd to the eyes.
 There is therefore no harm in TO- vealing what Sir John may not have known, that a dangerous gap had opened between two of the retiring German armies at this point; that by a slightly more vigorous offensive he might have thrust the British forces into the openping and split the Ger man army in two, and that as 1t was the German army corps O. which tn correspondent of the Associated Press is now the guest arrived only in time to close the hole and enable the Ger man armies to stand on the line of the Aisne instead of continuing their retreat to some other line farther north. The English troops were all ready well over the crest of the ridge and the Germans had doubly diff ficult task to fight their way up the steep northern slope of the range and the range and re- establish their brok- en line.
 Germans Hold High Points.
 The ground over which the battle then swayed is now a labyrinth of ap- proach trenches, zig-zaggs and paral- lels. marking the successive stages by which the German troops sapped and fought their way forward to their pcrsent lines. They now hold the greater part of the southern slope. The allies lines, now occupied by the French instead of the English are in the lowlands of the valley. All the | high points on this SOde of the river are held by the Germans, so that the | French have no observation points | from which to direct the fire of their | artillery. They can only fire blindly over the ridge at points where they suspect the presence of German bat teries Or infantry supports, notably at little village called Cerny, which | is now as picturesque a heap of ruins as can be found along the whole ! Aisne front
 Silent at Noon.
 In the noon luncheon hour, during which the French artillery is usually silent, a visit was paid in reasonable | security to the village. During the i rest of the day and night shells are dropping in it at intervals. Partic- ! ular attention is paid to the village we'll the assumption probably being that the Germans come there for wa ter, and although the French artil- 1 lery practice is not so good as was that | of the British, German officers dis courage their men from the use of that | spring.
 Half a mile away, in a sheltered ! spot in the valley. within radius l of fifty yards, the correspondent | counted fourteen fresh shell holes.
 The French guessed that one of |
 
 said the artillery lieutenant acting as | guide, "and have just dropped a salvo | of shells there. The battery Is not 1 there, however, as you see.' Occasionally the French send up l one of their aeroplanes to attempt l peep over the ridge to locate bat l teries, but the anti-balloon guns and 1 machine guns adapted to high angle fire generally drive the flyer off be- fore he accomplishes his mission
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