The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-09-30
GERMAN LINES BROKEN. 4
BRITISH AND FRENCH DELIVER
SMASHING BLOW ON SOMIfE.
Six Miles Of German Trenches CaI5tur.
ed-Scveral Important Stratesic
Towns Taken from tho Germans
COmbles Almost Surrounded ss and
French Nearing PcrOnnc.


ultaneously ON an arc Of Is miles,
running from Martinpuich to S the
Somme, the British and French forces
have delivered another smashing blow
on the German lines and pushed Tor
ward their positions for notable
gains.
From Martinpuich to Combies q
distance Of six miles the British have
driven in their wedge to a depth of
more than mile and captured sinTthe
attack the important strategic towns
of Les Boeufs and Morval, the latter a
scant mile north Of Combles.
To the French fell the town of
Rancourt, two miles east, and the out
skirts Of Ere gicourt, one mile n6fth-
east Of Combles. In addition, trenches
near Fregicourt. in the vicinity of
Bouchauvesnes and to the south from
the vicinity CT the Canal du Nord to
the Somme were taken.
The capture of Morval by the Brit.
ish and Of part Of Fregicourt by the
French apparently seals the faAe' 'of
Combles. which the Germans have
determinedly held for weeks despite
the violent attacks thrown against it.
The defenders of the virtually Spr-
rounded town have left to thcms Tor
escape only the valley. q milf In
width. running north-northeast and
in the traver',ing Of which they must
come under ghe guns Of the British
and, French respectively from NAVAL
and the vicinity Of Fregicourt
Another notable step in their hp-
proach upon Peronne is marked IN
the capture by the French OF trenches
In the Canal du Nord region.
Except in France, there have been
no important engagements on arr <Of
the various fronts. Berlin reports
the repulse Of Russian attack s IA
volhynia,, Gilicia, and the CExaia-
thians. Petrograd still is silent u. to
the operations on the Eastern front,
but unofficial advices say the RsiS-
slams have begun a new offenaivx S6n
q large scale in the hope Of Diif&iAig
down the counterattacks OF the ,lf4n-
tons and piercing their front bsfore
winter sets In.
The Roum.nians still are i{S6g-
sling for su|sremacy over the Su-
tonic allies Nj ts ssurduk ana ii-
se4 Aasss 20 the IRE ehsxay
ouS 5000 rdini 70 Beflt1 e1f-
tacks have bsen repulsed. sk
In the Macedonian campaign 3on-
tinued report, Of successes for y the
entente allies come from their yari-
Gus. war cllancellories. West OF
Florina, the Russians have captSred
a hill from the Bulgarians: the ser
VANS have crossed the frontier into
their own country and reached a
position north Of Kreusograd, while
the French northeast Of Florina have
penetrated the outskirts of PeteraI.
The British to, the north Of Lake
Tahinos on the eastern end OF the
battle line, also report an advance.
but Berlin says that all their at.
tacks were repulsed.
Aside from the capture by the Ital-
ians of an important mountain peak
on the Trentiao front, only lombard
ments have taken place in the Austro-
Italian theatre.
Notwithstan ding the loss Of two
Aeppelins In sn air raid on eastern
England Saturday night, the Germans
Monday night again returned to- the
attack with airships and drobned
bombs in the northern and north
midland counties.