New-York tribune., 1917-06-09
THE OFFICIAL
STATEMENTS
West Front
British

The position captured By u yesterday was
one Of the cnemy's most important strong
holds on the Western front. Dominating. as
il did. the Ypres salient and giving the
enemy complete observation oveT IT, ne
neglected no precautions 20 render the posi-
ton impregnable. These conditions enaDed
the enemy 70 overlook all our preparations
for attack. and he had moved mp reinforce
rnents 10 meet US. The battle. therefore be-
came O. gauge Of the ability Of the German
troops 20 stop our advance under conditions
as favorable 10 them A. an army can ever
hope for. with every advantage OF ground
and preparation. and with the knowledge
that an attack was impending.
The German forward defences consisted Of
an elaborate and intricate system OF well
wired trenches and strong points forming
q defensive belt over a mile in depth. Numer-
GUS farms and woods were thoroughly pre-
pared for defence. and there were large num-
bers Of machine guns in the German Sarf'-
sons. Guns Of all calibres, recently increased
in number. were placed to bear not only on
the front. but on the tanks OF an attack.
Numerous communicating trenches and
switch lines. radiatng in all directions. were
amply provided with strongly constructed
concrete dugouts and machine gun empiace-
ments designed TO protect the enemy CARR
son and machine gunncrs from the eHect OF
our bombardment.
In short. 10 precaution was omitted that
could he provided by the iucgssant labor OF
vcsre o1,;dcd bv the experience gained by the
enemy in his previous defeats on the Somme,
at Arras and on Nimy Ridge.
DESPITE the difficulties and disadvantages
which our troops had 20 overcons' further
details Of Yesterdays fighting show that our
first assault and the subsequent attacks were
carried out in almost exact accordance WIN
the time table previously arranged.
At $40 a. m. nineteen deep mines were
exploded simultaneously beneath tne enemy
defences by which large portions OF both
his front and support trenches incluo'hg eN-
tensive dugout and mining system were COM
ploteiy wrecked. Immediately upon the tN1
plosion Of the mines our guns opeheu anu
our infantry assault was launched.
Within fcS minutes the enemys hrst inc
eyetem was carried on the whole front ~
tackled Our troops then pressed on, WIN
scarcely pause. "a; he western slopes OF ue
Nessiues- Wytschacte ridge, and three h0uis
after the commencement OF the aJUaoN ",u
stormed the entire crest line from south 10
shortly afterward the whole of Messines
wa. capttred and before midday the capt
urc of Wytschacte village also had Deeh CUM
plctrd after hard fighting.
I'm the second stage Of the attack our
troops pushed down the eastern slopes oi
the ridge and advanced against "A po"tilu
line nj German rear dcfcnces. which lay hAe
a chord Of an arc across the base oil u'e
salient formed boy the ridge itself
Ucayv fighting took place IN turther
so,ies or ,yoods and strong points. but at
2.t5 u. M. the village Of Cost'averne' NlnE
lust west Of the centre Of the hne' was capt
r. richtfaU practically the whole of this
trench system was also in our hand' anu anu
had Gained the whole days objcctves. 1rea'
rI,rbe,s of German dead lying in the cant
ured ro-itious proved the severity OF tie
ororly's losses. q large proportion oi "hl'h
,,.s AGAIN horne hy Bavarian troops. Our
own losses were light. Tho enemy made no
attempt duriuc the night 20 recover MS 'o'1
positions. .t.....,,,,h-
Following on the great care and thorousn-
r,ss in rrepa~ation made under the orders
or General Si- Herbert Plumer, the coinpl,F
success gairsd may be ascrihod chiehy 70 me
destruction caused hy our mine, 70 l"e VIZ
lorce and accuracy of our homnarlmeli'' -
Tho ye~y fuo work of the ROYAL Flying Corps
ard IN tbo uncomfortable dash and courage
of tho infantry The whole force acted III
rarfect combination. Excellent work was
doro bv thc tanks. and every means OF oi-
feuce mt our disposal was made use o. so
that every arm Of the service had snare J"
the victory.
Niqbt Statement During the day our new
line eouth Of Nprcs has been organize ana
secured German counter attacks southea-t
and northwest OF Costtavcrne and cast oi
Ncs4ines were repuscd with loss by our IN
fartrv orr broken up by our artillery fire.
Over G. 500 prisoners. including l"@ oiicers'
have alraadv passed through the collecting
.tatiors as A result Of yesterday operations
More thnn twenty guns thus far have been
collected.
During the battle our aircraft yesteraaay
.o..,,orstcI ycry successfully with both the
infantry and artillery. performing valuable
services. In addition 10 large number ot
succcssful air raids which were carried out.
during which the cneny's airdromes. balloons.
trains. billets depots and troops we're at
Tackled with bombs and machine guns. enemy
aircraft were prevented from participating
in the battle.
We accounted for twelve German machines
brought down and eight others driven down
out Of control Fourteen Of our machines arc