Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-11-22

greater depth than ever Defore. Tne
correspondent today inspected the main
Hindenburg line near Havrincourt and
saw the amazing work done by the
iron monsters. In most places they
had no trouble either In tearing
tre1sssss. sEa m Tsers we ns-s-eaps IN the s wins
entanglements q rod In width whste
not one vestl9e of wire waa left s4AAfs
ing. and by following the tracks of ths
trundled across the trenches as though
they were merely scratches in the
ground.
Not a Tank Knocked Out.
The tanks. Of course, went through
no mans land under the full observa-
tion OF the German artillery. and while
the gunAre was weak. some fire was
1t was interesting to follow the trail
of the tanks and to see where
shells had struck all about, apparently
without doing any damage, for In this
not see one tank which had been
knocked out.
The condition of the German trenches
showed plainly that the occupants had
abandoned them in a hurry. All sorts
| of equipment and personal belongings
strewed the ground.
Since the beginning Of the attack the
gunfire had been extremely weak. No
I
| shell craters today and this morning the
British guns were doing virtually all the
| firing along most Of the front involved.
This is striking contrast to the Flanders
! region, which has been an inferno Of
| artillery fire for weeks.
! Counter Attacks Smashed.
! The Germans have attempted very few
counter attacks thus far and all Of them
have been smashed. The latest counter
| thrust reported was made last night
near Demicourt, and this was dealt with
promptly.
The Germans. who. at the first attack
yesterday retreated or surrendered in
regain hold on their rear positions A
particularly hard hand-to-hand engage
!ment occurred this morning at Flesquieres
when the infantry accompanied by tanks.
from 1t: The fighting about Flesquieres
| began last night. but it was not until
about o'clock today that the British
made an organized assault on the town
The tanks went ahead and were engaged
Immediately by seven heavy German guns
which began to fire at them point blank
at short range. 1t was a critical moment,
for. while the tanks will Withstand heavy
fire, they cannot be expected to stand IN
long under big shells hurled from guns
| only short distance away.
Infantrymen Charge Artillery.
The British infantry, which swarmed
through behind~the tanks. saw the pre-
| dicament of their iron friends and de-
liberately charged the enemy artillery
with rifles and hand grenades. All the
guns were captured and their crews
were killed.
| A similar incident occurred at Premy
Chappelle. northwest of Marcoing.
where three guns were stormed and
! their crews annihilated. Some of the
most spectacular work of this nature
fell to the cavalry. The mounted troops
got into Marcoing and Masniers last
night. and in the latter town engaged
in sanguinary battle with German in
fantry. An enemy battery there was
giving trouble. and a squad Of horse
sabering the entire gun crew. Another
battery at Rumilly was taken in simi-
lar fashion.
Town Carried by Storm.
Graincourt was carried by storm, cav
airy. tanks and infantry working to-
iports have carried their line in this
Cambria road.
The Germans ran from Ribecourt with
/ the British close at their heels. Th;s
flown is a mass of ruins, partly m an
count of shellfire and partly from 1scL
of repairs. The German dugouts WERE
! left intact "eie
The occupation of Marcoine and Moe
nteres was great stroke for the Rr;1-
ish. as 1t gave them much h-needed crn.s
ings for the Ascault river ana cana,
which formed q natural barrier ~ ~ l.
advance from this direction. Cav,ir,,
infantry and tanks were poured in,n,ss
dfately across these passages ana nro-
ceeded to work northward
/ Pershing Watches Cavalry.
:
LOT cavalry in the first dispatches resarS-
ing the present oznanatve, but Il may no.