Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1917-12-07
GERMANS REPULSEO
WITH BIG LOSSES
Nine Attacks Against British in
Cambria Region.
BATTLE ON 18-MILE FRONT
Teutons Gained Ground in Surprise
Attack on General Byng, but were
Driven Back in Fierce
Counter-Attacks.

! London. Dec. 3.-The Germans made
desperate efforts to increase the I'M
! tial gains achieved in their counter-at-
| tack on the Cambria front, but were
| defeated with heavy losses. The ON
cial communication reports that nine
| separate attacks were made on the
British positions near MasniereS, soutn
| of Cambria.
The statement follows:
"Tn the course of the fighting In the
neighborhood of MasniereS the enemy
delivered no less than nine separate
attacks upon our positions in anu
around the village. All were beaten
off with heavy losses to the enemy.
In the lats attack attachments OF Ger
man infantry succeeded in gaining
foothold in the adjoining villages or
Les Rues Vertes, on the west bank or
the Canal de Lescaut, but were driven
out by our counter-attacks."
Dead Piled High.
With the British Armies in France,
Dec. 3.-Crown Prince Rupprecht or
Bavaria has failed in his great strug-
gle to regain the ground won by the
British drive before Cambria.
Striking suddenly In two terrific
drives on an 1S-mile front on Friday,
the Germans forced the British back
at some points for distance of two
miles. COunter-attacks by the Brit
ish sent the enemy >reeling backward
until their maximum gain, won at only
one point, was a scant 1900 yards.
Saturday the Germans struck again
in massed form, but all these assaults
.crumpled under the British artillery,
machine gun and rifle fire.
The armies still are struggling on
approximately the line marked by the
murthermost advance of the British
week ago.
Losses Are Appalling.
The losses of the Germans were ap-
palling The British also suffered
heavy casualties as a result of the
hand-to-hand fighting as vicious as
ever took place In war.
The British troops holding the
ground between MOeuvres and BOulon
are clinging to a field Of horrors. The
ground is Uttered with German dead.
The British are dug in amidst shat
tered human bodies and broken nipple
ments of war.
A great German wave moved across
this ground in q counter attack against
the British Friday night. The wave
receded, to leave behind a Quivering
foam literally composed of strips Of
flesh, bits of bodies, uniforms, metal
and cloth.
Use Old Storm Methods.
Using their old storming methods,
the Germans charged full into the
British machine gun positions in
densely packed masses. Into the wall
of humanity, the machine guns poured
a steady fire.
British artillery, far behind, accur-
ately caught the wall with heavy
shells. They exploded, tearing to
pieces the sections of the German lines
that still stood in the face of the tear
ing of the machine guns.
The advancing wall melted away.
Exploding shells flung bits of what had
been human beings over the field Ma
chine gun fire continued to slice holes
into the quivering column. Then the
pitiful remnants turned and dissolved
in flight.
Open With Two Attacks.
Two great attacks were delivered in
the morning. a One extended from
MOeuvres to Bourbon wood; the other
was along approximately a 12,0O0-yard
front between Vendhuile on the south
| and CrevecOeur or the north.
In the northern attack the Germans
succeeded in pushing down between
Moeuvres and Bourbon wood for a con-
siderable distance, but were hurled
| back by q cOunter-attack after partic-
ularly sanguinary fighting. The line In
| this section today was virtually as 1t
stood before the Germans attacked.
Take British by Surprise.
Taking the cue from the recent Brit
| ish victory, the Germans used no ar
tillery preparation for their first as
sault.
At GouzeaucOurt the attack was like
q bolt out of the blue. A minute be-
fore the town was as quiet as a church.
yard.
Suddenly there was burst of rife
| fire in the streets. Those who looked
out saw the PrussianS pouring into the
city.
British land dreadnaughts again
played big part in saving the day
and 1t was due to these machines that
the British again are in possession Of
most of the ground they originally
won.