The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1917-12-06
BRITISH REPvLsE
NINE BICATTAcks
GERMANS. SUFFER BIG LOSSES
n. I AROUND MAsNIEREs.
BYNG SURPRISED BY TEUTONS
Crown Prince Ruppreeht Fails to Re.
gain Ground Lost in Recent Drive
Dead Piled High on Bat.
-. .. tlefield. ~

... BIZ. g. tiefielu.
London, Dec. 3.-The Germans made
/ desperate efforts to increase the ini-
!, tial gains achieved in their counter-at-
tack on the Cambria front, but were
defeated with, heavy losses. The Off
Eeiar communication reports that nine
separate attacks were made IN the
British positions near Masnieres, south
of Cambrai. a}tt'T. -"
The statement follows: j ~"
+ SIN the course of the fighting In the
neighborhood of Masnieres the enemy
delivered no less than nine separate
attacks upon our positions In and
around the village. All were beaten
off with heavy losses to the enemy.
In the lats attack detachments Of Ger
man infantry succeeded in gaining a
foothOld in the adjoining villages of
Les Rues Vertes, on the west bank Of
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 of
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 a distance of two
miles. Counter-attacks by the Brit
ish sent the enemy reeling backward
until their maximum gain, won lit only
zone point, was d scnnt 5000 yards. q
Saturday the Germans struck again
I'm massed form, hut all these assaults
crumpled under the British artillery,
machine gun and rife fire. 80 .rt'%',3I Z
|. The armies still are struggling on
approximately the line marked by the
nnurthernost advance of the British
q week ago. -'s4 ~ T..''." ~
f. 't'- Losses Are Appalling. - .>
The losses of the Germans were ap-
palling. The British also suffered
heavy casualties as 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 field of horrors. The
ground is Uttered with German dead.
The British are dug in" amidst shat
tered human bodies and broken fmple-
mentS of war. b..
A great German wave moved across
this ypa,1nd IN a oo,1, ~. 4. So, ,lr - -. L.,
the British Friday night. The wave
receded, to leave behind q quiverlng
foam literally composed Of strips Of
flesh, bits of bodies, uniforms, metal
and cloth. -. =, '. "~.'
Use Old Storm Methods.
I Using their old storming methods,
sthe Germans charged full into the
British machine gun positions in
densely packed masses. Into the wall
of humanity, the machine guns poured
steady FIRE. =. ~. t'''".', s".'.s.} ~ ,'
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 fight. S9rf, ~ - 'A,-t.r~
,.. Open With Two Attacks. @t'
Two great attacks were delivered in
the morning. One extended from
Moeuvres to Bourbon wood; the other
was along approximately q 12,000-yard
front between Vendhuile on the south
and CrevecOeur on the north.
In the northern attack the Germans
succeeded In pushing down between
Moeuvres and Bourbon wood for con-
siderable distance, but were hurled
back by Il coHntef-attack after partic-
ularly sangiiinary fightfng. The line in
this section today was virtually as 1t
stood before; the Germans attacked.
~, b Take British by Surprise. - "
Taking the cue from the recent Brit.
lsli victory. the Gefmaas used no ar
tilIery preparation for their first as
sault. -,&ll.EY -, !. s{65 4s.rs
At Gouzeaucourt the attack was like
a bolt out of the blue. A minute be-
fore the town was as quiet as a church.
yard. T,rSp 'e s,.. MI
, Suddenly, there was a burst of rife
fire In the streets. Those who looked
out saw the Prussians pouring into the
city, NJ s# ,s a3lsI ~ ~.
K British land dreadnaughts again
played big part in saving the day
and II was due to these machines that
the British again are In possession Of
most Of the ground they originally
won. 'Nh- ~ hts% ~
The same great regiment of tanks
that smashed way TO victory In the
surprise battle was called on again.
To Get Rid Of Ants.
n - - tE- - VI ~ a = =