New-York tribune., 1916-07-05
French Capture 2 Towns;
British Claim Steady
Progress.
BERLIN DENIES
HEAVY LOSSES
New Activity Develops on thl
British Front Around
Ypres.

London, July 4.-7hc French Of
fcial statement, as received here To-
night. says:
North Of the Sommc the day passed
quietly in the whole section occupied
by the French troops.
South Of the SOmme. in spite Of bad
weather, which interfcrcd with our op-
erations, we extended our positions in
the course of the day toward the south
and east. We captured woods IA the
neighborhood of Assevllers and the vii
lages Of Barleux and Bclloy-en -Santerre.
which we hold in entirety. Estrees
has also fallen into our hands with the
exception Of a small part where the
Germans are still resisting. In the
region Of Estrces alone. We took 500
prisoners.
The early day report said:
North and south Of the River Somme
the night passed quietly. The enemy
undertook no offensive action against
our troops. who have organized them
selves in the positions they conquered
yesterday.
Three New Batteries Taken.
Further information confirms pre-
vious reports that the war material
captured by US is considerable. Three
new batteries, two of them of heavy
calibre. have been added to the bat
teries already enumerated.
Further effects Of our destructive fire
have been noted. In one shelter forty
bodies of German soldiers were found.
In ravinc 70 the north of Asse-
villers and on the northern slopes Of
the village Of lIerbecourt the Germans
suffered enormous losses. To the
north Of Frise one Of our aviators
yesterday set on fire another German
captive balloon.
Between the River Avre and the
River Aisne French reconnoitring
parties have been very active, pene-
trating the first trenches of the enemy
as far as the supporting trenches To-
Gated 20 the northeast of Beuyalgnes
and opposite Ningrc. These eNpedi-
tons brought back prisoners.
The British official statement from
General headquarters tonight reads
on the southern sectors of our front
fighting continued throughout the day
and at some points we made slight
progress. The remainder OF a whole
German battalion surrendered in the
vicinity Of Fricourt yesterday.
Germans Launch Counter Attacks.
At La Boisselle fierce fighting and
bombing continued. and bombing en-
counters took place during the past
.wenty-four hours. Our troops arc
now in complete possession Of the vii
lare.
The Germans made n strong bombing
attack this afternoon on that portion
of their original front which is now
held by us south of Thlepvai. This at
tack was repulsed easily, with loss TO
the enemy.
Between Thiepval and the Ancre the
enemy heavily shelled our newly-won
trenches.
Immediately north of the Ancre there
is no change in the situation. There
was considerable artillery activity to-
day about Loos and the iohenZollern
redoubt. A German raid last night on
our trenches south Of ArmeEticres
completely broke down under our rife
and machine gunfre and considerable
losses were inflicted on the enemy.
Our aeroplanes successfully attacked
yesterday the important railway centres
AZ Confines Combles and s.. Quentin.
Our offensive patrols. working far into
the enemy's country, encountered hos
tile aeroplanes in great numbers, and
much fighting took place. Four German
machines were brought down inside our
lines and at least three others were
driven TO ground in a damaged condi-
tion. We suffered no further losses
beyond those already reported.
A statement issued earlier IN the
dag said:
Tho enemy. reinforced by many bat
talions drawn from other parts of the
line. contir ues 20 offer tery stubborn
resistance 70 us at all points. During
the night there was heavy lighting in
the vicinity of La Boisselle. Our troops
fought with great gallantry against
heavy attacks by the enemy The en-
cmy recaptured a small portion Of the
defences south of the village. Other.
wise the situation in this neighborhood
is unchanged
Further south some progress was
made during the night. We captured
a wood further war material and
prisoners.
On other portions OF the front con
tinuous trench warfare activity was
maintained. Several raids were car
ried out. In particular, raids by the
Rife Brigade and the Sherwood For
esters were especially successful.
In the vicinity OF Armentieres. after
a heavy bombardmcnt, an attempted
raid by the enemy was repulsed with
losses 70 them, some wounded prisoners
remaining in our hands.
Bcrlin's official statement says:
While the enemy did not repeat his
attacks north OF the Ancre Brook. he
brought forward from Mametz strong
forces between the Ancre and the
Somme against the front from Ihiep-
val 10 La Boissele.
South Of the Somme ne brought
strong forces against the line from
Barleux 70 Belloy.
His losses under our artillery and
infantry fire correspond 70 the great
number Of men employed.
The attacks were repulsed every
where.
Bitter fighting took place for posses
sion of Hardecourt, north of the
Somme. French troops which pene-
trated our positions there were thrown
out again.
East and southeast OF Armentieres
German patrols broke into British re-
connoitring detachments. and near
Fxbr,icke. west of Mulhausen upper
Alsaccl. into French positions. one
officer and sixty men we're made prs.
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