Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-07-31
HolO Participants Stand

The French and British struck togeth-
er, the French below the Somme river,
the British north of it, towards Bapau-
me, Combles and Peronne. British ar
tillery for the first time in the war
showed superiority over the German and
its continual roll rumbled day and
night. Prussian airmen tried to give
Prussian gunners the range as they had
always done in the past, but now Brit
ish airmen swooped upon them like en-
ragged hawks and drove thine down, or
back beyond the lines completely dom
mating the air. German observation bal
looms were sent blazing to the earth by
British planes, out in sufficient num-
bers at last So the enemy IS guns were
blind.
Fight Not a Walk-0ver.
But the fight was anything but
walk-over for the British and French
The Germans, accustomed to winning,
always with every advantage on their
side, could not realize that the tide had
turned in this, the third year of the
war, and from their miraculously strong
and well-ehosen positions, fought like
tigers.
All through August the British Tom
mics kept doggedly at the enemy, bomb
ing him, bayoneting him, driving him
back inch by inch up the slopes to-
wards Thiepval, from Mouquet Farm to
Posieres. DEVILS wood, as the south
Africans called Delville Wood, was TAX
en- literally foot at time and held
despite internal shellfire. The British
would not let up.
In September they got their reward.
They had gained to the crest of the
deadly ridge and then, with one swoop
almost, they captured village after vii
lage-Guilemont, Ginelly, Flers, Mar
tinpuich, Courcelette, Guedecourt, Les
boeufs, Morval and Thiepval
On the 18th of this month the tanks
went into action for the first time. On
that day the famous official message
of an airmen read:
"a tank is walking up the High
street of Flers with the British army
cheering behind it.
And it was a fact A complete surprise
to the Germans they crawled over tren-
ches and trees, shell-craters and the
walls of ruined villages startling humid
reds of the enemy into surrender all by
themselves.
Combles was abandoned by the Ger
mans during September, the British en-
tering before daylight from the north,
the French fro mthe south, the two al
lies meeting in the center of the town
and shaking hands. This was the first
town of the war to be given up without
fight, owing to Franco British press
ure.
British Make Advances.
During October, in the drizzle, the
British took Eaucourt l'Abbaye and lie
Sars. November was wet and soggy and
during the short lull which came in the
fighting about this time, the Germans
boasted that the British army had spent
itself and was no longer dangerous,
/ The reply was one of the most brilliant
victories eff the war, the capture of
Beaumont Hamel, one of the solidest
of Hindenburg's points, along with
Beaucourt, st. PieTreDivion and 1000
prisoners.
Besides these and other towns and
villages taken by the British, had fall
en- an incredible number of positions,
the capture of any one of which in pre-
vious wars would have made gener
al's reputation. During the first five
months of Somme fighting fell the
Windmill beyond Pozieres, Mouquet
Farm, Stuff and Schwaben Redoubts,
the Quadrilateral north of Flers, the
other one near High Wood, High Wood
itself, Mametz Wood and Fricourt, Del
vile, Angle, Wedge, Acid Drop, Arrow
Head and other woods and strong points
all interlocking and making their cap
ture the harder because each was sup
ported by the rest. All of Britain 3
children did WELL the Canadians at
Courcelaute, Australians at Pozieres,
New Zealanders around Flers, New
foundlanders near Thiepval, South At
ricans at Delville Wood, Irish at GULL
emont, Welsh at Mametz, Scots and
Longueval and Beaumont Hamel where
the soldiers fought to the pipes playing
"Stop Your Tickling Jock. "
81 Divisions in Fight.
The Germans threw into the Somme
battles 81 divisions( all different, but
as some of these went in twice OF three
tins the equivalnt of lao divisions were
used against the British and French.
The losses averaged about As per cent,
killed, wounded and prisoners, or about
100000 French and British together
took over $4,000 prisoners, the British
share of the booty being 80 heavy guns
and howitzers, SO field guns, 1876 trench
mortars and 514 machine guns, plus
stores of all kinds.
As 1917 advanced the British kept
pounding away at the Prusians. In
February and March, unable to stick it
out under the everlanstin hammering
the kaiser IS men fell back, abandoning
Bapaume, Peronne, and surrounding
country. The German High Command
had previously prepared what is known
as the Hindenburg Line, Arras to Cra-
onne, via st. Quentin, and counted up
on that to hold.
But on April 9th, by a marvelously
rapid manouvre, Sir Douglas, now Field
Marchal Haig, struck at the Arras piv-
OF and broke it, driving in the German
line to the "switch' position between
Lens and Queant. So was the Spring
offensive launched, the first few days
netting the British 19,343 prisoners, 251
guns and howitzers, 227 trench mortars
and 40 machine guns in addition toI
many which were destroyed.
Thus the third year of the war has
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