Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1916-09-29
p RA N A TIC
SCENES At
COMBLES
Battle For Possession Of the
City, Taken From German
Forces by Allies, is Mark
ed By Ferocious Fighting
BY Henry Wood.


With the French Armies near
Combles. France, Sept. 29.--Horses.
lashed into furious gallop by mad
riders. dashing forward over a sunk
en- road with huge quantities OF am
munltion: aeroplanes. soaring above
vultnre-like. awaiting the fall OF
Combles: men. sweating. fighting
their way forward over shell -pocketed
roads In terrible shell fire.
These were some Of the dramatic
scenes that preceded the capture OF
the strongly fortified village that had
blocked the allied advance north OF
the Somme.
The eventual capture OF Combles
became certainty on Tuesday morn
Ing when French cavalry patrols ad-
vancing northeastward and English
cavalry patrols. thrustlng south
eastward. met eastward OF Combles
They thus completely enoircled the
village. cutting on the last communI-
cations with the German army In the
rear.
On the same morning I approached
Combles from the west. starting from
Maricourt, the junction point from
which the French and English often
sive was launched July I. and ira
verslng each successive step in the
advance made In the intervening
three months toward the attainment
OF this first great objective, When
we arrived within less than a mile
and quarter OF Combles the town
Itself was then undergoing the final
bombardment and assault.
Although Combles was a mere vii
lage OF $500 people. the Germans
had so fortified every house, espe-
cially the cellars, where machine guns
were installed, that the allies were
forced to employ siege methods. They
completely encircled the town with
their heavy artillery. which generally
closed In with every advance Of the
infantry lines.
From the viewpoint OF the enorm-
GUS quantity Of artillery massed
against II, and also from the incal-
culable number Of shells rained into
Il. Combles can easily boast of having
undergone the most terrific siege In
the history Of the world.
II was only on reaching the most
advanced artillery lines before
Combles that one could grasp mathe-
matically the methodical progress
which had rendered the allies new
tactics OF advancing by heavy artil-
lery absolutely irresistible, though
the final artillery lines before
Combles consisted of comparatively
light batteries. These have been
rushed forward during the night over
ground rendered almost impossible
by she'll shots to everything but foot
soldiers, But while troops were tug
ging guns across the ground, a veri-
table army of soldiers had sunk
tortuous winding roadway several
feet below the surface OF the ground,
paving 1t with bricks from nearby
houses, wrecked by artillery fire. Over
this, when We arrived early the next
munition caissons. screened
from the enemy's observation by the
depth of the roadway, drawn by four,
six and even eight horses, were dash
ing along every moment with an in
credible number of shells necessary
to feed this advanced artillery which
could be reached in no other way.
Back from these advanced lines of
galloping, careening calssons were
thousands more soldiers, methodical-
ly transforming what had been on
CONTINUED on page s.)