Daily Kennebec journal., 1916-09-20
SONS OF MANY CHIMES TAKE
PART IN MOST DRAMATIC AND
UNIQUE BRITISH ARMY BATTLE
Gordon Rouge" Armored Motor Conveys A
Press Man Through of Sept 15s Memorable Strug
gle on From It in France

make good OF .heir first offensive.
When word was given they started for
Courcelette, which they were ordered
to take.
When no order came back for some
time the staff, sitting in the center OF
the web of telephone and telegraph
wires, over which was flashing the
news Of the progress Of the great bat
tie, began to wonder II the Canadians
were in trouble. But presently they got
word that the charge had swept be-
yond the village and that the cana
dams had been so busy digging in they
had not time to send news. 1t was ex-
planned that they thought that 1t
would be taken for granted that they
had got there. Among those who
made good" was a battalion OF
French Canadians, the kind of men
you see in times of peace working their
farms in Quebec or bending over the
benches Of a factory in New England.
I'VE had luck with us and we forced
it, one Of the Canadians said. 1T was
up to us to do so, that's all
Strong Point Taken
At one place in the village the at
tackers were held up for time by
strongly fortified post which bristled
with machine guns. .....'
Well" as one officer said, I'VE did
not have to tell the men what to do.
They stalked that strong point. man to
man moving around it, and got It,"
But the exploit Of the Canadians is
only one of the many chapters which
may be told now of what the soldiers
humorously called 'the tank offensive"
having reference to the new armored
motor cars. There was London divi-
sion with orders to reach their objective
in a given time. In front of them In
High Wood was a faStness Of machine
guns which neither the artillery nor the
trench mortars had been able to reduce.
However, it was the business of the
Londoners to hold on there until fur
ther notice. "These orders were all
very simple and direct" said one of
the Londoners afterward with a grim
smile; but those Germans in their fort
knew that 1t was a life and death fight
and all that was required of them was
to put their fingers on the triggers Of
their machine guns when we charged.
We left it to the blooming tank. We
had to take chances of these machine
guns shooting into our backs if the
tanks could not do the job, and the
tanks wiped out the machine guns
Cunning Fire
The battalions whose luck failed them
in this drive on the six miles British
front were driven back by the cunning
ly arranged enfilading fire of machine
guns in strong points which neither the
artillery nor the tanks could conquer.
AS the wounded from these haffied bat
talions came hobbling down the she'll
swept road they were cheered by the
news of successes at other points.
More than once, facing counter-at-
tacks, the British have gone out to meet
the German charges in the open with
the bayonet and the Germans have done
the same. All past records in ferocity
of fighting seemed to have been sur
passed during the latest advance So
freely was life given and so wonderful
was the courage shown on both sides
that the whole thing seems unreal to
the spectator. In todays mist and rain
the ceaseless pounding Of the guns goes
on as fresh troops march up to the
front from the rear to take their place
in the next battle Of this tremendous
offensive.