Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-03

three milss). The French have cap
.tured the village Of Hsrbscourt-
East of the Meuse on the verdun
front tho Germans captured Damlour
-.edoubt. but tho French soon after re-
ka.ned possession of It.
Where Gains Were Made.
The trenches of the second German
nosition captured by the French extend
rrom Mereaucourt wood. which is in
possession Of the French, as far as tho
e.ss of Assev.llers- The village OF
Herbecourt, taken by the French, lies
between these two points. Further
south the French made progress to-
ward Assevillers and Estrees.
North Of the Somme the Germans
made no attack on the positions pre-
viousiy taken by the French.
/, The French captured heavy artillery
and took more prisoners. The state
ment says thirty-nine German oatta,
lions participated IN the fighting. and
that thirty-one of these oattalions sus-
tanned important losses
-eedins the Inauguration OF tho OMEN
stve thirteen German captive balloons
were burned.
OmC1al fTeQCu StdLe4AeAS'
h. The text of the statement follows:
:; North of the River Somme the enemy
last night made no attack upon the
positions conquered by us, and which
;;we are now organising.
/. South Of the River Sonme the ngne
t;has been continued with complete
success for our arms. Yesterday even
Ing and last night We entirety oc-
.oupisd along a front of more than nVe
::::kiiometers (three miles) the Two
imam position. from the Mereaucours
wood. which Is In our possession. as
far AZ the edge Of Assevillers.
i: Between these two points We TOOK
possession, a. a result OF a orilhane
::;engaSement. Of the village Of Herbe-
court, which had been defensively or
ganised by the enemy.
~ Further to the south we have made
,iprogress in the direction OF Assevll-
hers, the northern and western boun-
darfAS Of which are In our hands.
'HTo the north Of the village Of Es-
trees, and between Estrees and As
,eevillers, our troops have made per-
,,csptible progress.
I: More Prisoners Taken.
i. More prisoners and moro pieces Of
!heavy artillery. the counting Of which
has not yet been completed. were cap
tured by us during these recent ao-
tions- According to Information at
hand. 1t has been established that more
than thirty-nins German battalions
participated in the attack along the
French front on July 1. According to
the statements Of prisoners. thirty one
Of the battaltons suffered very heavy
losses and are at present completely
disorganized. Most Of the prisoners
taken by us July 1 and July are very
young. As q result of the questioning
learned that the preparatory fire OF our
!, artillery was very efhcacious, not only
In annihila ting defensive organizations.
but in rendering impossible all lateral
<communication behind the lines and in
preventing the bringing up of provi-
: sions. At the same time our artillery
/: fire made it impossible for the enemy
ito transmit orders to the troops en-
gagged in the operations"
During the preparatory Offensive
dre. Of our artillery French aviators set
nre' to thirteen captive German bal
looms. Two others were set on fire the
LIST Of July. During the attack our
aeroplane scouts were masters Of the
front During this time only nine aero
planes Of the enemy showed themselves
and not one crossed our lines. OF these
nine machines one was destroyed.
"Clsaned' German Trenches.
South Of the rfVer. Avre. In the re-
Gion Of Dancourt. and in the vicinity of
the Wood des Loges French recon
noiteranS parties Penetrated the Ger
man trenches and cleaned them out
with hand srenades. In the region Of
SfAssigny a surprise attack against q
trench Of the enemy was successfull at
verlot wood. near Canny~Sur-Matx.
Another French patrol made some pris-
.oners in the region Of Moulin Sous
Toutvent- In the Champagne district
.one of our patrols took some prisoners
not tar from Prunay. and brought back
. r4pid-dre gun.
"On the left bank. Of the rfvsr Neuse
the night passed in relative quiet with
the exception Of the bombsrdment Of
our positions to the west Of Hill 304.
On the right bank of the river this
morning at about $3.50, after q violent
bombardment, the Germans delivered a
strong attack upon the Damloup work.
They took possession of 1t. but our
counter attack delivered shortly after
resulted In driving them completely out