South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-08-16
DOMINION MEN
TAKE OUTPOST
Perfect Preparatory Bomb
ardment Followed by Un-
checked Sweep.

day were at close grips in a bitter
/ battle waged in the western part of
the city of Lens itself, following a
brilliant advance made by the Can
adams in the early morning when
| they captured the redoubt number
20 and swept on northwest OF Lens.
In the first stage of their offensive.
the Canadians met with compare
lively Small opposition. but as they
advanced into the environs Of the
mining city the Germans stiffened
their defense and began TO offer re-
sistance.
One Of Important Battles,
Whatever may be the outcome of
the battle il already has taken its
place in the list of the more import
ant conflicts Of the war through the
capture of hill 20, for this eminence
| has been a menace 10 the British
| from the beginning. standing as
| German guarding sentinel over
wide sweep Of country. which in
cluded Lens and the Loos salient
Not since September, 1915, had
1t been challenged, and in those
dark days. two years ago. an at
tempt 10 wrest it from the enemy
resulted in disaster 10 the flower of
the Scotch division, which attempted
its capture.
Attack Opens at Dawn.
The attack at dawn was along
front Of approximately 1900 yards
! The line which the Canadians
reached IN the early hours was in
the shape of a crescent which began
above the Hugo wood and circled
the eastern side Of hill 20, the point
| of the crescent reaching the north
western environs and the lower ex-
tremity encircling the suburbs of
Cite st. Laureat and Cite st. Emile.
The attack began at 4:25 o'clock.
| just as the first gray streaks Of dawn
were appearing. All night the Brit
| ish big guns had been pouring a
steady stream Of high explosive
| shells into the German positions.
great detonatiOns overlapping one
another like the rapid cracking of
machine gun fire and swelling into
a mighty volume of thunder that
/ shook the earth and stunned the
/ senses.
Batteries Cease Suddenly.
Then a short time before the hour
OF offensive arrived the batteries
| abruptly ceased and a strange. al
most oppressive stiffness, fraught
with the portending cataclysm which
i must follow, crept over the country
which until then had been an in
ferno of death. 1t had been rain
! ing and gray clouds still hung over
| he ha
| Canadian infantrymen. waiting Gag
| erly for the arrival of the moment
which would summon them to at
! tack.
Suddenly, 10 minutes before the
| time set for the attack, every Brit
ish gun within range broke out with
a hurricane Of Smelling and solid
lines of crimson lightning belched
from the German trenches as the
explosives broke about them.
To this lurid picture was added
the unforgettabIe spectacle Of the
burning oil which the British threw
| on the enemy lines. Great clouds of
pinkish colored smoke rolled across
country from the flaming liquid and
the murlSy sky threw back myriad
colors from the conhagration below.
Canadians Over the Top.
The moment of attack arrived and
as the British guns dropped their
| protecting barrage in front of the
! Canadian trenches, the clouds parted
and the yellow crescent moon ap-
! peared. Under the light of this bea-
con the Canadians leaped over the
| parapets and began their methodical
advance behind their barrage fire.
The British barrage fire was with
out a flaw Behind it the Canadians
mounted hill 70 and swept along the
rest of the line. On the crest of the
! hill. where so much blood had been
spilled before heavy fighting might
! have been expected, for the position
was we'll manned with machine
| guns. The resistance here, however.
was not strong and it was not un-
| til the dwellings in the outskirts Of
the suburbs were reached that vigor
| Gus fighting occurred. The ground
over which the infantry advanced
: was honeycombed with British shell
holes and the barbed wire defenses
had been ldVelled so that they gave
| little trouble.
Bloody Fighting i'm Cellars.
The first serious resistance from
/ the Germans was met at a poin,
where the enemy was entrenched
strongly in connected cellars and
here bloody fighting occurred.
The place is a sample Of other
/ suburbs about Lens. The city is sur
| rounded with colliery communities.
! which are so close together and so
near the city proper that they really
form one large metropolis. Lens,
before the war. had a population
Of 10000 but it is now a mass Of
/ ruins.
Following their usual tactics. the
Germans had carried out systematic
7 destruction Of the houses and had
/ constructed strong underground de
lenses. The whole city is under
mined with tunnels and dugouts.
I which have been reinforced with
/ concrete and most Of the ruined
/ buildings have been turned into
machine gun emplacements
1t was in such difficult surround
ings as this that the Canadians were
fighting today.
/ BOmbardment DemOraIizin2-
The effect % the British prelim-