New Britain herald., 1917-11-23
COMPANIES OF CRIPPLES
ARE RUSHING TO FRONT
Desperate Germans Send
COnvalescent Soldiers tol
Hold Back Onrushinql
British.
SOME ARE CAPTURED /
AND RECEIVE AID

Mothers Are Pusl1ing Baby Carrdaeea
Through the Lane Which the Tank
Opened in the Famous Hhadeubur1
Line-Old Men and Women Garry.
ing Effects on Backs.
British Army Headquarters II
France, Thursday. Nov. 22 (By th(
Associated Press) Tho success Of TIL
British arms in the Cambrai Secto]
has continued to grow steadily, and
Field Marshal Haig's troops in q ljt4I
more than two days" fighting haM
overrun an area equal In size to tEa4
won by the Germans during the dx
fifteen days Of their spectacular dE3v
on Verdun. British cavalry, tank
and infantry today were battling thof
way forward along line whieh q
many points west and southwest 8
Cambria was less than three nnaao
from that important town. The "a
vance also was spreading northWAH
near Bullecourt and the salient toV1nN
Cambrai was being widened. The tod
Of prisoners captured must approAA1
the 5000 mark.
The British and Germans are I
grips on open ground and some Of IA
| f1ercest hand fighting Of the war h
! been going on. The enemy troop
were unprepared for the attack, III
they have been putting every ounc
of their strength into an attempt
stem the rising tide.
Troops have been pulled away fro1
other points and rushed to the Can
/ brai sector by the desperate Gernan}
and 80 hard pressed were they ed
men that two companies Of crippla
and convalescents were recruits
hastily at one camp and thrown Int
the line near Masneries. Some
these pitiful objects are in Britis
hands and are receiving medical trea(
ment. One prisoner was in the lql
stages of tuberculosis and he had
ne moved to prevent the disease fro1
spreading to the others, who were
condition of cruel exhaustion al
virtually helpless from their valia1
attempts to fight under the lash q
their unrelenting officers.
The great battlefield has taken
the aspect of scenes in wars gone b
and shell holes, but of men ,struggIin
bitterly with rifles and bayonets owe
a virgin battle-ground, while the Ions
neglected cavalry sweeps in pictHI
esque charges against the enemy pos
| t1ons over the wide territory involved
Roads SWarmed.
The roads everywhere for two day
have been swarming with advancin
| troops and with prisoners and civij
| lans coming back from the from
Many rejoicing non-com batants, mel
| women and children, have been pou,
| ing out of the captured towns undo
| the guidance of their deliverers froI
German bondage
This has been battle of strann
| sights, but no more striking spectacl
| has been witnessed than that of thoa
| people marching toward homes an
| comfort back of the British from
| Through the very gaps which tn
tanks had torn in the famous Hinden
burg line, mothers yesterday and I'd
| day were pushing baby carriages cor
| tanning infants Or tramping happil
| along with their babies clutched
! their breast. Beside them toddle
other youngsters, many Of them car
rying their treasured dolls and not
| few clinging determinedly to squirm
| ing puppies which they dared not tru1
to run on the ground. Old men an
| women were bringing away all tn
household effects they could pack o
pushcarts or carry on their backs.
For three years they had beenE
captivity and some Of them in slaVe1e
They had been subs1sting on the houI
ty of the American relief commissio1
ioIH oh %hA~o -, ~. ~
only food they obtained.
Hard fighting has taken place toda
at Crevecoeur. southeast OF Masniere,
The British were holding a ridge
front of this place and some troop
had forced an entrance into the west
ern part OF the town. The German
still were holding the eastern sectior
A German battery here which ha
been giving trouble was charged an
captured by dismounted cavalrymer
The battery was surrounded by heav
barbed wire entanglements, preclu1
Ing tho use of horses, so the soldier
stormed the position on foot and ar
initiated the gun crews.
In the region of Rumily. heav
machine gun and rifle fighting wa
proceeding last night and this morn
ing.
West of Can. brai. tanks and infan
try were pressing the attack vigor
ously about Fontaine Notre Dame an
the strong position in RurlOn wood
Fontaine Notre Dame has not been OF
ficially reported captured, but TIL
story goes that tank crews were serve,
with hot coffee by the civilians
this place this morning. Field Mar
shall Haig's official report Thursda
night said the Germans had re-takel
this place.
Further north near Bu1lecourt th
British were in possession of the un
r.,