The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-12-30
1917 IS BLOODY
Year FOR HUNS
Million Casualties Suffered
on Part West Front Held
by the French.
THREE NOTED PERIODS
General POincare Has Ad-
vantage in Several Innpor-
tant Engagements.

French Front. December 2s.-(Corre-
spondence Of the Associated Press).-
One million casualties have been suf-
fered by the German armies along the
front occupied by the French troops
during 1917. according to statistics
carefully compiled here. French terri
tory amounting to many hundreds of
square miles has been freed from Ger
man domination by the years fight
ing andn the German Crown Prince
Frederick has been compelled to suffer
the modification Of leaving between
10000 and 10000 prisoners from among
his best troops in French hands. His
cannon to the number of 1,400 have
been captured, and, In addition, thou
sands Of machine guns and hundreds
of trench mortars.
Although the defeated Germans did
their utmost before withdrawing to
turn the fertile fields and picturesque
villages OF the S0mme and Aisne re-
gions into q. desert waste, these acts
Of vandalism did them more harm than
1t did the French, whose soldiers were
stirred thereby to an even stronger de-
termination than before to beat back
the German invader.
Brilliant French Victories.
Three dominant events on the front
Of the French armies in France have
marked the year and each has termi-
mated in brilliant victory for French
armies. First came the enforced re-
treat in march of the German forces
from the greater part Of the depart
ments Of the Sofnme. Disc and the
Aisne, brought about by the combined
smashing blows delivered by the
French and British during the battle
of the Somme in the fall of 1916.
Then followed the French offensive
on the Aisne and in Champagne, whose
conclusion came only at the end of sew
en- months of almost continuous fight
ing with the capture from the Crown
Princes armies Of the key Of the Hin
denburg position formed by the Fort
of Malmaison and their reluctant re-
tirement from the famous Chemin des
Danes. This left in the French hands
all the good observatories useful for
future operations.
vsrdun Reeaptured.
In the meantime the French had
fought and won the eliminating bat
tile for the liberation OF Verdun, in the
course Of which the French troops re-
gained nearly every inch OF the ground
around the fortress which it had cost
the Crown Prince 100000 men to cap
ture in 1916.
Aviation played leading part in all
operations in the course of the year.
No matter what weather prevailed, the
airmen were out observing, reconnoit-
ering, fighting off German airmen, ac-
companying the attacking invader,
bombard!ng the communications and
depots of the enemy or making raids
on German towns. This latter, al
though they effected only such towns
as were used as military centers, were
made by way of reprisal for German
air attacks on French cities in the east
and north, where numbers of French
civilians had fallen victims to German
bombs.
Master Huns in Air.
In aerial combats the French avia-
tors undoubtedly proved themselves
masters Of their German adversaries.
By the end of October, the last COM
plete return available, French aviators
had destroyed in ten months SIT Ger
man airplanes whose fate it was pos
sible to confirm with certainty. Be
sides these they had brought down an
other 513, the absolute destruction Of
which could not Ee confirmed, but
which had been seen to fall out of con-
troll with great possibility of fatal
crash.
Those figures totalling 1880 make an
excellent record and to them must be
added % German captive balloons.
The American aviators Of the Lafay-
cite squadrilla who have now been in
corporated in the American army,
played very creditable part with their
French comrades in the conflicts in the
air. Several of them lost their lives
in 1917, as did three OF the best-known
French airmen, Guynemer, Dorme and
Lenoir.
Besides the bombardment of French
open towns, German airmen on severtl
occasions bombed French infield hos
pitfalls at Dugny, Vadelaincourt, Cha