Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-07-02

taken the hlaufnOnt WOrk, dCCOIulliS
to the official statement issued by the
war office tonight
London, July 1.-The grand often
sive on the western front begun by
the British and French on both sides
of the River Somme, sixty miles north
OF Paris, early this morning, has al
ready resulted in a great wedge being
driven into the German lines along
a sixteen-mile front with its sharp
point penetrating nearly five miles.
At E o'clock tonight the British had
rushed from a short distance east of
Albert as far as Montauban, more
than wife miles away, and had re-
pulsed a German counter attack on
that village,
Number of Villages Taken.
Both to the north and the south
number of other villages, including
Hebusterne, Scrre La Boishelle and
Mametz, had been swept out of Ger
man hands, some them only after de-
termined resistance on the part OF the
three defenders.
Fricourt, three miles east of Albert,
was still in German possession in the
early evening, but with the capture
of Montauban and Mametz to the east
and southeast of it, and La Boishelle
to the northeast, the place was nearly
surrounded and its speedy surrender
seemed inevitable.
Farther south the French are CO.
operating with the British and have
taken the village of Curlu and scored
other notable advances.
Million Shots Daily.
The entente allied drive was begun
against German trenches leveled after
a seven-day bombardment in which
more than 100000 shots daily had
been fired.
'~s~sRussian troops continue to drive,
back the Austro- Hungarian army in
the region south of the Dneister river.
in Galicia, says the Russian official
statement.
Many places south of Kolomea have
been occupied by the forces of En-
peror Nicholas. 1t is announced that
on June 28 and % General Letchitzky
took prisoner 305 officers and l4,574
men, making total of $4,000 Austro-
Hungarians captured since June a.
Take Mametz.
British Headquarters in ~ France,
July l.-(Via London.)--In pushing
their offensive against the Germans,
the British have taken the village of
Mametz. Friecourt, which has been
held tenaciously by the Germans, has
been nearly surrounded.
Under pail Of smoke, with the un-
broken roar of artillery, the struggle
over the longest line of any offensive
yet undertaken on the western front,
which began at 7:30 o'clock this
morning, is continuing at this hour.
From hill the Associated Press
correspondent watched the beginning
of the battle.
Notwithstanding the fact that
troops have been moved to the front
in immense numbers for the attack,
there are still remaining billets in the
rear which are apparently unneces-
sary in working out the present plans.
Whole Line Shelled.
With deliberate and methodical
precision, the gathering of human
and mechanical material proceeded.
The whole line was included in the
preliminary bombardment for the
purpose of deceiving the Germans as
to the point of attack.
Overwhelming as was the power of
the guns, the significant spectacle
was detachments of infantry, in field
fighting equipment, moving forward
until finally the dugouts were hives
of khaki about to swarm forth to bat
tie. Each of the officers had maps
and directions in detail of the part his
unit was to play in the complicated
scheme of attack.
The men had sewn in their uni
forms insignia to designate the diff
ferent units amid the dust and smoke
of action.
As the battalionS marched they
sang the tunes they used to sing on
the drill grounds at home.
There were quiet and undemonstra
tive English. There we're brawny
a