Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-08-16
CANADIANS KNOCK
TEUTONS OFF HILL
Suffer Only Slight Casualties
in Carrying Much Coveted
Post Near Loos.
COUNTERATTACKS REPUlSEO
British Also Push Lines Into
Northwestern Environs OF
Trembling Lens.
COUNTERATTACKS REPULSE0

BRITISH FRONT IN FRANCE
AND BELGIJTM, Aug 15.-After the
brilliant advance this morning IN
which the Canadians captured Hlli ~
and then swept on northwest OF Lens
the attackers were in close grips win
the Germans in the western part OF
Lens late today.
The attack began at 4:25 o'clock
lust as the first gray streaks I dawn
were appearing. All night the BRUSH
guns had been pouring steady stream
of high explosive shells into the German
positions great detonations overlap
ming one another like the rapid crack
ling of a machine gun fire and swell
ing into mighty volume of thunder
that shook the earth and stunned the
senses.
Calm Before Storm.
Then a short time before the hour
of offensive arrived the batteries
abruptly ceased and a strange, almost
oppressive stiffness fraught with the
portending cataclysm which must fol-
low crept over the country when until
then had been an inferno of death. 1t
had been raining and gray clouds sui
hung low over the trenches where
crouched the Canadian infantrymen,
waiting eagerly for the arrival OF the
moment which would summon them
to attack.
Suddenly ten minutes before the
time set for the attack every British
gun within range again broke out
with hurricane of shelling and solid
lives of crimson lightning belched
from the German trenches as the eX-
plosives broke about them. To this
lurid picture was added the unforget-
table spectacle Of the burning oil
which the British threw on the enemy
lines Great clouds of pinkish colored
smoke rolled across the country from
the flaming liquid and the murky sky
threw back myriad colors from the
conflagration below.
Attack by Moonlight.
The moment of attack arrived and
as the British guns dropped their pro-
tecting barrage in front of the Cana
dian trenches the clouds parted and
the crescent moon appeared. Under
the light of this beacon the Canadians
leaped over the parapets and began
their methodical advance behind their
barrage fire.
The British barrage was without
flaw Behind It the Canadians mounted
Hill 10 and swept along the rest Of
the .'ne. On the crest Of the hill
where so much blood had been spilled
before, heavy fighting might have
been expected IOr tne position WAS
well manned with machine guns. The
resistance here, however. was not
strong and II was not until the dwell
inF9 in the outskirts of the suburbs
were reached that vigorous fighting
occurred. The ground over which
the infantry advanced was honey
combed with British shell holes and
the barbed wire defensts had been
levelled so that they gave little
trouble
The first serious resistance from the
Germans was met at point where
the> enemy was entrenched strongly
in connected cellars and here sanguin-
airy fighting occurred.
Lens Mass of Ruins.
The place is sample of other
suburbs about Lens, The city is sur
rounded with collery communities,
which are so close together and so
near-the city proper that they really
form one large metropolis. Lens be-
fore the war had n population of
thirty thousand, but it now Is a mass
of ruins.
Following their usual tactics the
Germans had carried out systematic
distinctions OF the houses and had
constructed strong underground de-
fenses. The whole city is undermined
with tunnels and dugouts which have
been reinforced with concrete and
most of the ruined buildings have
been turned into machine gun em-
placements. 1t was in such difficult
surroundings as this that the Cana
dians were battling today.
The capture of Hill 70 is another
triumph for the British fighting or
ganigation. Wounded Canadians re-
turning from the heart of the bat
tie today were loud in their praise of
the perfection achieved in preparation
and the efficient protection afforded
by the artillery.