The Washington times., 1916-09-18

The British won Il. throwing back
the Germans with heavy losses and in
confusion. The official statement de-
scribes It thus:
Between Flers and Martinpuich an
enemy brigade advancing TO attack in
the direction of High wood (Foureaux
wood was met by two OF our battalions
In the open. Hand-to-hand fighting
ensued, In which we were completely
successful. the enemy being dispersed
and thrown back with heavy losses"
In all Of yesterdays operations the
number OF prisoners taken by both
armies totals Just about a thousand.
The French took 700 and the British
$50. or these. twenty-one are officers:
The British got quantities OF rifles and
equipment when the Germans fled from
the Danube trench.
All accounts agree that the ofhcial
statement which mentions the aban-
donment of the rifles and equipment In
to a condition that has existed on the
Somme front recently, the increasingly
low morals of the German troops.
Soldiers In trenches smashed by Brit
ish shell fire have run from the follow
ing infantry attack in disorder. but
seldom before have they abandoned
much equipment, as they did.
The British attacks were aimed at
Thiepvai. Practically all were made
Just south Of the Ancre. at almost the
front. The taking OF Mouauet farm
and Danube trench puts Thiepval In
great danger, as both positions are JUST
east OF the town. The gains about
Courcelette, still further east, also
make Thiepval an uncomfortable posi-
tion.-
Aim to Win High Ground.
Another important aim OF the at
tacks was to cover all the high
ground now occupied by the Ger
mans who hold Thiepval, and the
terrain a little back OF It, as the
high ground was occupied on FRI
day by the taking OF Courcelette'
Martinpuich and Flers. From little
north and east OF Thiepval the ground
slopes down to Grandcourt, where
the Germans are strongly intrenched.
The British attack that won the
Danube trench and Mouquet farm was
begun last evening" and Srn continued 1tr NED
Danube trench was of the kind that
the British Tommy calls nasty"
The trench in reality a whole sys-
tenn of interlocking trenches, was
fortified with all the ingenuity thai
German engineers could bring tc
bear.
Besides the actual intrenchments
approaches. gaps and communication
| trenches, there were dugouts In grea,
numbers, strongly REINFORCED with
| concrete, sandbags. beams and brick
All the dugouts were connected VIII
subterranean passages, and all the
passages prepared against attack. II
| front Of IL all was an elaborate sys
tenn OF barbed wire entanglements.
| British gun fire of tremendous In
| tensity had cut to pieces the barbeS
wire and smashed parts OF the trench
labyrinth. Then came the infantry
the official statement does not sa.
| whether or not the new armoreC
motor cars. the tanks" led the way
Fight RACES Dor Hours.
For hours the nghting ragged hand I
hand in the trenches. in pitch blac
passages underground. In the dugouti
Bombs and bayonets were the usus
weapons once the German machin
| guns were silenced.
At Mouquet farm. known to BIRTHS
soldiers as ''MoocoW" farm, the fins
capture of the main work ended one @
the bitterest struggles In the Who'll
Thiepval sector. Here the two armie
have grappled for weeks around thl
strong work. which most OF the tim
] the Germans held securely. sometime