New Britain herald., 1916-09-26
BRITISH BURST INTO CONBLES,
 BARRIER IN PATH TO BAPAUMl
Strongly Fortifie| Town on Som m
 Front at Last Fall Before Offensive
GERMANS REPORTED
 REMOVING BIG GUN

VLIG1V1Ih4Vo 4%1A& OA~ 4A%A(
 REMOVING BIG GUN ong-Continued Effort Crowned WI
 Success, But Only After Heavy CtI
 in Men-Fan of Position Had Bel Expected As Encircling MovemeI by Allies Effected Its IsolatiorI Berlin Admits Enemy's Advance.l London, Sept. 26, D. m.-I1 British have entered Combles, on tI 1 Somme front, the war office sa nounced today, and are overcomil the resistance of the Germans.
 Combles, a town of some 2,0o0 pd ulation before the war, had been res dered of small strategic importance the allies by their long continued eI circling movement. It has been notable value to the Germans, hol erer because as long as they clung l it the F'ranco-British freedom mov | ment toward Bapaume and Perora on either side of it was hamperl | Turned into a strongly fortified pol 1 ton by German defensive ingenuity has consistently held fast like rc1 in the course of a turbulent stred that has had to be blasted loose fore the channel was fully opened I
 This process has only been accol plished by long continued, severe a| costly effort on the part of the alliI Driving in from the south the F,psf, successively swept by Hardecoll | Maurepas, LeForest and finaI reached Fregicourt, mile to thea@I of Combles. More slowly, but nd the less surely, the British have pud ed their advance on the north of |
 German salient. Their struggle
 reach and hold Ginchy ana Guil| mont were expensive in time d men, but finally the ground north Combles and sonre distance to east was occupied putting the to1 in pocket of which the opening VI
 constantly being narrowed by
 drives of the allied entente armies-
 Yesterday came the com bined
 fort of the French and British close the opening, or at least rene
 it so narrow that what could be ( 1 tracted through it by the Germa
 would not be worth while. Only t
 roads remained over which the C.,
 mans could withdraw their men a
 guns. The singS-track railroad ru ming through the place had To since been rendered useless.
 Attacking from the north, Gene. TIaig's forces pushed to and occupi Morval, cutting the northerly TO- running to Le Transloy.
 Striking from the south, the Fren pushed their line to the environ F'regicourt, severing communfcati | with Combles over the southerly TO that stretching towards Sally. T gap between Morval and Fregicou mile and half in width, and reac ing back toward Combles, was sws from either direction by the combin fire of French and British guns.
 It is not thought probable that a considerable force of Germans ] mained in Combles. During the d yesterday, when it was becomm2 evident that the allied forces we achieving their object of closing in the east of the town, the Germans a reported to have begun withdraGrTtl guns from 1t.
 Germans Reported Leaving Conbit | Paris, Sept. 26, 5:45 a. m.-B9gh ing continued all night north of u Somme, the Germans making de 1 perate efforts to stem the tide whtf is engulfing Combles, According latest advices reaching Paris the a lies have so far succeeded in clingiH to their gains and have even trI proved their positions slightly.
 Early yesterday afternoon the Gc mans are reported to have begl moving out of Combles a number guns. This occurred before the Sri ish had taken Morval or the FrenG had reached the outskirts of Frea court The village of Fregicourt on the road from Combles to Saillisi 1 the only road which, before yeste days battle, the Germans could II 1 to evacuate Combles. The road ] now swept by the fire of the Frcn' machine guns.
 From the south of Morval, he | by the British, to the French pos tions south of Fregtcourt, a distan' of only about 1,S0O yards, was II only part of the loop around Compi' which it remained to close. That now practically accomplished sin' the fire of the English and Frenc crosses and the situation of the Gel mans in Combles is worse than pr' carious, in view of the allied officer French on Towns Outskirts.
 Paris, Sept. 26, 12:15 D. m.-Cor tinuing their offensive north of tn Somme. the French last night car