The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1916-09-21
FRENCH ATTACK
FOE At COMPLIES
Capture German Trench Short
Distance From Town.
TWO TOWNS ARE CAPTURED
Berlin Admits Loss of Berry and
Deniecourt-British Report New
Gains in Region of
CourceIette.

London, Sept. 19.-The French are
| attacking COmbles. A smashing at
tack took Il trench only POO meters
from the city, and its fall is believed
u matter of hours at most.
Berry and DeniecOurt have already
fallen to the new advance of the
French, and gains to the south are
officially announced by Paris.
In addition to these gains, chrOn-
icfed in the report from Paris, the
French also captured German trench
system west of HOrgny and drove the
TeutOns from three small woods south
est of DeniecOurt, taking prisoners,
which made total of 900 captured
In two days.
Berlin admits the loss of Berny and
Deniecourt, which the official report
says were RACED.
General Halg also reports new adj
vances In the region of Courcelette.
Paris, Sept. 19.-French troops com
pletely surrounded the Village of
DeniecOurt, south of the SOmme, in
heavy fighting, it was officially admit
ted. The Germans counter-attacked
savagely on the whole front south of
the Somme,, where the French scored
important gains.
Three particularly violent attacks
were made east of the Village of Berry
and south Og Deniecourt, where the
French repulsed the OnSlaughts and
then made further progress, complet-
Ing the encircling movement.
Twelve hundred prisoners and ten
mitrailleuSeS were taken.
Slaughter Two Divisions.
According to prisoners of the Tenth
Ersatz division, the German losses in
fighting south of the Somme were en-
ormous. Two divisions of the Thirty
eighth battalion were almost anhihil-
ated by French artillery fire that pre-
coded the capture of Berry and Yer
mandOviIlers.
North of the Somme the French car
ried German trench east of Clery
and repulsed counter-attacks.
ThiepvaI Now Menaced.
London, Sept. 19.-British troops be-
gan closing in upon Thiepval, after
capturing Mouquet farm, and took sew
eral German trenches south of the.
village, General Haig- reported. sr.s, y.
West of MOuquet farm the Germans,
resisting desperately the advance of
the British pincers, entered British
trench by heavy cOunter-attuck, but
were later driven out.
The ThiepVal village position, which
has held up the progress of the Brit
ish left wink since the SOmme often
sive began July l, was made most pre-
carious for the Germans by the loss of
the WelI-fOrtitied Mouquet farm.
British Win More Ground.
North of MartinpuiCh, Haig's men
improved their positions, and east of
COurcelette a minor attack on enemy
trenches was successful. The Ger
mans bOmbarded various parts of the
British line with great violence, rs
II in preparation for n cOunter-attack.
Forty thousand Germans have been
killed, wounded or captured since the
armies resumed the Of
fensive on the SOmme with battering
blows that bent back the Teuton lines.
Two Men invented Tanks"
Credit for the new travelling land
forts" which have been used during
the last few days on the British front
belongs to two men, Lieut.. Col. Ed
Swinton of the intelligence department
Of the general staff, and Maj. Stern.
Lieut.. Col. Swinton will be remem- !
Dered as one of the officer "eye-wit-
lesses" who wrote accounts of the
early days around Ypres for British !
newspapers. Major Stern is a bust ,
less man who has been for some time
n the employ of the government. The
Is follows:
"These long, low, dust-colored tor
discs have no resemblance to motor
.ars. They are, in fact, steel land
ships of immense power and wonder
ul capacity. They can climb walls, J.
,ush through dense woods, cross
renches and maneuver in and out of
'raters. One of the most remarkable
acts about them is the secrecy with
which the making of their thousands
# parts was yelled in the midland
own of their birth. The army likes
hem, but it is not placing too much
eliance on what is for the present