Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-11
FREDERICK PALMER GIVES
VIVID DESCRIPTION OF GREAT
FIGHT FOR CONTALMAISON
Ru FREDERICK PALMER
PRESS HEADQUARTERS WITH THE
RRITISII ARMY IN FRANCE. InlY 1

| PRESS HEADQUARTERS WITH THE
BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE, July H.
It was n midsummer afternoon, with
| heecy clouds, with bright sunlight and clear
| air which was all any army observer could
| ask, when the British stormed Contalmaison
on the Somme River front, the possession
| Of which both sides seemed to regard as a
tactical keystone in the present situation
Fragments of walls of the old chateaux
| still standing amidst the ruins was the last
| glimpse the correspondents had in their
PREDATORY bombardment before the attack
Fifteen-inch shells from the British guns
soon tore away this portion of the ruins,
from which rose a cloud of dust For
given area the artillery fire was the heav-
lest of any yet seen on this front.
The Germans answered the British she'll
ing with an immense volume of their own
fire, placing curtain in front Of the town.
which, at times, hid the cloud from the
British guns enveloping the town and also
scattering shells near the front line.
The British fire kept on increasing and
spreading and the Germans, in answer, ex-
| tended their shellng until the line stretched
from Trones wood, another hotly disputed
point which had already become stretch
of branchess leafless trunks, to Ovillers
and La Boisselle. Along this new front the
artillery duel continued to rage
AT 4:40 o'clock, when the British charged,
there seemed to be peace in Contalmaison.
But 1t was soon surrounded by walls OF
Germans were forced out German guns
took their turn in hammering the ruins and
knocking Off more sections of walls OF the
old chateaux.
While the British were tossing the Ger
mans from their second lines 1t was raining
shrapnel from the skies.
The amount of ammunition the British are
expending is astounding. From one point
the correspondent was able to see from
Albert the bend of the Somme in front of
Peronne. The present line of battle is
mapped across fields. woods, valleys and
hills by she'll bursts.
Nineteen great allied sausage balloons"
were visible and the absence of them on the
German side as the result of their destruc..
ton by British shells and airships is held
by artillery observers to be n big handicap
to the Germans.
over the French lines speedy Nieuport
aeroplanes dashing past balloons were going
and coming at the rate of 100 miles an hour,
and as one British officer said these little
machines with their smart build and tail
held high express the feelings OF the
French"
FRENCH RACE FOR VICTORY.
Passing through the French lines the
correspondent noted that the French had
something of the gaiety associated with
their national temperament instead of the
grimness to be associated with them in
war.
The sharp competition between two ia
nous French army corps as they pressed
forward to take Biaches which puts the
French on the Somme with gain of six
miles in depth, has set every Frenchmans
eye flashing.
Every village taken had been razed by
she'll fire, but there was no complaint, only
rejoicing when the village was captured.
The Germans have concentrated heavily
between the Ancre and the Somme, where
there is no river between them and the
Allies, and are evidently determined to dis
pute the advance that endangers their main
second line step by step