South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-04-10
Battle Which Opened at Dawn
Monday is Still Raging
Along a Hundred
mile Front.
CHIEF LAURELS GO TO
THE CANADIAN TROOPS
London Reports the Capture
of Over 5000 Germans.
Telegraph Hill is Cap
tured by Two Tanks.
International News Service (:

international News Service:
LONDON, April 10.-Tbe big
spring drive-the mightiest offensive
undertaken by England since the
beginning Of the war-is eating deep
into the German front and imper-
illing the whole Of the Hindenburg
line
The battle which opened at dawn
yesterday after "A cannonade of
weeks duration, was in progress all
night and is still raging between
Arras and Lens and south of Arras
on the old Somme line.
Fortified cities, railway centers
and artillery strongholds which have
been in the hands of the Germans
since the fall of 1914, are threatened
with capture unless Won Hindenburg
draws back his lines and voluntarily
gives them up.
Lille, Douai and Lens have been
endangered by the powerful out
thanking thrust of Gen. Haig's army.
All OF these towns. made strategical-
~ important by their railroads.
highways and fortifications. lie
along the extreme northern end Of
the so-called Won Hindenburg line.
Occupy Many Villages.
BY storming Vimy ridge. the Brit
ish were able to occupy more than a
score o. villages, fortified hills and
points of support which the Ger
mans gave up as they fell back.
The chief laureis of the first day
of the battle, when the British ad-
vanced from two 10 three days along
a 12-mile front. goes to the Can
adams. They swept forward in the
early morning darkness, which was
intensified by a driving sleet storm,
clearing the trenches with the cold
steel Before sunset the British had
captured prisoners estimated at
about 5000 in number. and about
125 officers.
Throughout the night, while shells
from German guns rained about
them British troops worked behind
the firing lines, organizing, cOnsol-
dating and strengthening the posi-
tons from which the Teutons had
been driven.
Battle on 1OO-MiIe Front.
Easter Monday will go down in
history as the day which saw some
OF the most desperate and bloodiest
fighting on the western front The
extension OF the lighting froIb Arras
10 the Lens sector brings the battle
front on which operations on a
grand scale are being carried out,
TO 100 miles in length
British officers express amazement
at the efficiency of their own artil-
lery fire Many German fortifica-
tions, built Of concrete and steel, and
designed TO withstand the shocks of
the heaviest guns, crumbled like
sandstone beneath the continuous
pounding of the guns. Many Of the
Germans were so dazed that they
could neither walk nor talk when
taken. As the British advanced past
trench after trench they met strong
err and stronger resistance.
The famous redOUbt. named The
Harp. fully as formidable as the
Labyrinth. on the Somme front
fell into the Britons' hands after
short but sharp struggles.
Tanks Capture Hill.
Two tanks got the honors for cap
turing Telegraph hill. They toned
painfully up the side OF the hill
under a hot and steady fire and at
ter the Germans saw they could not
stop the crawling armored cars they
| fed.
The terrific British offensive over
| Swallowed the fighting between
/ the Arras and the Aisne river. al
though the British and French con-
\ tinue their pressure against the Ger
man front In that region. The allies
\ loss all along the front have been
| comparatively slight. considerins
| the severity OF the German artillery
/ fire and the obstacles they had to
overcome, say the correspondents at
/ the front.