The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-02
BATTLE ON S0MME COST
 ENEMY 35O,00O MEN, SAYS
 STATEMENT FROM BERLIN
Official Estimate of British and French Losses Place Figures Three Times Estimate of AL lies Germans Casualties Claimed to Be Small.

Berlin, Aug. 2.-Germany's official estimate of the total losses Of the British and French in the first month of the Battle of the Somme, just end ed, is placed, "according to very cau- tious valuation," at 35O,0o0 officers and men.
 The German losses, the official re- port declares, cannot be compared to this figure" The report also declares that what progress the allies have made has been so slow that there has been ample time to construct new lines, as strong as those taken, in the rear. so that the allies are as far as ever from breaking through. Allied Forces Repulsed In the last 24 hours of the battle. the regular daily official bulletin today an- nounces, the British, who had gained some ground west of Foureaux Wood | (northeast of Bazentin-le-Petit), were driven back again, while the French were repulsed completely in a. furlous attack west of Maurepas, and also north of the Somme. The days fight | ing is characterized as 'extremely | fierce"
 The official report, giving the Ger man estimate of the allies losses, says:
 "A month, has elapsed since the great Anglo-French thrust, during i which, according to the enemy's pre- vious announcement, a decision had | to be obtained under all circumstances by the enemy.
 l con a 28-kilometre (17-mile) front, the enemy advanced four kilometres 1.-two and a half miles) on the aver age, but, after his experiences of July | 20, 22, and 26, he will not affirm that the German line has even been shaken lat any place.
 British Success Costly "This success cost the British at least 2S0, 900 men, according to very cautious valuation. For the French losses there are no accurate basis or calculation, but since the French had to do the largest part of the job, even taking into consideration their super for fighting skill, the total enemy losses will reach 350,000. The Ger man losses cannot be compared to these figures. E l f { (ReDOTLS bIltloL hSoAf0N ters in France, both official and unof- J ficial, have invariably admitted, al- though always in general terms, that the British losses in the Somme cam paign have been very heavy. How l ever. an official British casualty list l for July-thus cvfnciding exactly with the period of the German esti- mate-was issued in London Monday night. This casualty list was not con- fined to the Somme Battle, but cov- cred, all fronts on which British troops are engaged. It listed 7,0S4 officers and 52,591 men, a total of 59,- 675 casualties for all fronts, against the German claim of 230,00O for this front alone. As regards the French losses on the Somme, no definite fig ures have ever been given, but all reports agree that they were surpris- lingly light and much less than the Bri- T tish.)
 l "As a result bf the slow progress made by the offensive, we have had time to construct new Qualifications behind our actual lines, identical with those lost In order to illustrate the facts mentioned in the foregoing. 1t is stated that, in the first month of the fighting at Verdun we gained double | the amount or LeTTlIOTy, WiliiO lAC German casualties were no larger than we could afford"
 | "Extremely Fierce Fighting"
 The daily official bulletin on the western front says:
 II ''North of the Somme, extremely fierce fighting took place in limited areas, the engagements being the af- ter-throes of the great attack of Sun- day. British forces which had pene- trated on a narrow front west of Fourneaux Wood (about a mile north east of Bazentin-le-Petit) were driven out again.
 "An enemy attack near Maurepas, carried out in eight waves, was com lp1ete1y repulsed. Due north of the Somme. French troops advancing in the evening were completely driven back, after a bitter fight near Monacu Farm"
 The report mentions artillery ac-
 tivity south of the Somme and at
 Verdun, where French hand grenade
 parties are reported repulsed early yesterday. North of Flirey, in Lor-
 raine, it is announced, German mine
 blew up a French position over 200- yard front.
 Among other minor activities it is lreported that three more allied aero-
 planess have been brought down. l
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