The daily banner., 1917-09-28
BRITISH FORCED
BACK SLIGHTLY
Heavy Smelling CompeIs Retire.
ment at zOnnebeke.
BATTLE ON SIX-MILE FRONT
General Haig Holds Nearly All His
Gains and Captures About 1000 Pris
onsrs.

onSFS.
London, Sept. 2s.-Very heavy Ger
man shelling had apparently forced
the British TO retire slightly in the
area of Hill No. 40, Immediately north
of Zonnebeke
The Zonnebeke railway station, il
consequence, is again in German
hands
However. outside the town an6
northeastward the major portion OF
the advances remain in control of the
British
Further counter attacks won the
Germans local posts in the region OF
Winzig Fan and Valehouse. but Brit
ish troops, desperate fighting, wrest
ed back some of these points.
1.-The struggle" says the war office
was the most severe in the area
south of Polygon wood, where English.
Scottish, Welsh and Australian troops
defeated repeated attempts of the
enemy to break into our positions
The enemy's attacks all were repuls'
ed after fierce fighting in which the
German losses from our artillery and
infantry fire were extremely heavy.
Later in the evening the fighting
gradually died down, leaving ou1
troops in possession of the ground
they had captured during the day"
Battlefront dispatches indicated the
fighting vas almost continuous along
all the six-mile front over which the
British registered their successes pre-
viously The most determined resist
ence was encountered from the Ger
mans, and when the British drove
them out of petitions the enemy
sought in violent counter attacks tc
regain the lost ground.
Zonnebeke was held firm against
strong enemy attacks. At several
places the Germans succeeded in
reaching the British lines. but were
later elected.
These important results had been
attained By the British:
he British line has been advanced
from one half of mile to a mile over
q front six miles wide east of Ypres.
The newly won ground is being con.
solidated.
About 1000 German prisoners have
been captured.
The fortified village of Zonnebeke
IL now in the hands of the British.
The German front has been beaten
back until it is now only seven miles
from the great German base of Rou
lers, where German headquarters on
the west Flanders front is maintained
Important high ground, commanding
the Flanders plains. is now menaced
by Field Marshal Haig's army.
Australian troops took an important
part in the latest British thrust, but
the glory of storming the strongly
fortified village of Zonnebeke fell tel
English, Welsh and Scottish soldiers
Prisoners pouring back of the lines
were heartily glad to emerge from the
fighting alive. Bavarian and Baden
troops who opposed part Of the Brit
ish advance declared they were sick
Of war. They complained that the
losses of their troops were higher than
those of the Prussians, whose battles
they were now forced to fight. Still
other prisoners declared unless peace
comes soon the German high command
may have difficulty in keeping all its
troops in the fighting.
This latter statement of serious dis
content in the German ranks is com.
pletely belied, however, by the stub
born German defense which the re-
cent fighting has developed.
During the fighting British warships
hovered off the Belgian coast and
threw shells into German military
works near Ostend while swarms oil
British airmen flew over the German
trenches turning loose their Machine
guns upon the Teutons.