The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1917-03-27
GERMANS RETIRE
ON WIDE FRONT
FRENCH AND ENGLISH, IN HOT
PURSUIT, EAGER TO FOLLOW
UP ADVANTAGE GAINED.
ALLIES SKATER
FAMOUS ELBOW

Constant Gun Fire by Allies Reduces
to Heaps of Ruins Entrenched Po-
sitions Reaching From Arras TO
Scissors. Devastation Everywhere. |
The army of the kaiser on the
western front is in retreat before the |
British and French forces, the most |
notable advantage gained by allied |
troops since the beginning of the war
being the recorded in Northern
France during the past week. From
the Scissors region around the Noyon !
bend and north as far as Arras the
German troops have withdrawn from
the trenches they have held since the
/ fall of 1914, when they failed in their
great drive on Paris and were forced |
to dig themselves in following the
defeat on the Marine.
Allies Regain Much Ground.
The allied troops have pushed for
ward over front of about 80 miles, |
the total territory now regained be-
ing roughly estimated at l 900 miles. |
The nature of the ground over which |
the Germans retreated was almost all |
| against them, and they were harried |
by cavalry, which is now being used
in force for the first time since the |
| battle of the Marine.
The important towns of Peronne, |
Chaulnes, Nesle, Noyon and Ba-
paume, together with more than 100 |
villages, have been taken by the Brit
ish and French troops, who are con-
tinuing their pursuit of the retreat
ing Germans.
Military critics say it is difficult to |
determine where the Germans pro-
pose to establish a line of defense.
The retreat of modern armies, en- |
numbered with great supplies of ma
terial, can be effected only with ex-
IRENE slowness, which permits an act
i've and resolute adversary to main |
tain contact increasingly. The Ger |
man war office announces that the |
retreat was for strategic reasons, !
the Strengthening out of the famous |
''elbow," whose apex pointed toward |
Paris and marked the most advanced |
position the Germans held IN French |
territory.
Towns Rejoice Over Victory. /
This is the first occasion since the
armies have been established on the
hot III,
hav been evacuated by the Germans
and occupied by the French and Eng
lish Bapaume, Roye, Lassigny and
a large number of villages in Picardy
and Artois, which for two years have
not seen French uniforms, now are
under the tri-color and the flag of
their allies.
The victorious entry of the French
into ROye on the heels of the retir-
ing Germans was marked by stirring
incidents, characteristic of the ;ecep-
ton accorded the triumphant allies
in the other French towns md viii
lagos. The inhabitants threw them
selves in front of the arriving French
and English soldiers, all shouting as
they did so, give lie France" and |
singing the national hymn, in which |
the soldiers Joined.
Germans Make Hasty Retreat.
Signs of the hasty German depart
ure were visible everywhere, espe-
cially in the villages and towns, in
the shape of houses torn to arfgments
by the explosion of incendiary bombs.
Here and there were a few corpses
of German soldiers, evidently killed
while acting as rear guards. Former
German positions were mere heaps of
scattered wire entanglements and the
trenches were found to be half filled |
with water.
The inhabitants of various villages
assert that the German soldiers told |
them weeks ago that they were about |
to retreat, as they were not able to
withstand the constant attacks from
the entente allies on all parts of the
line, and, further, that they were
suffering from a shortage of food
supplies. These statements confirm
information that new military works
have been under construction for
some time past in the rear of the
German front line.
Hidden Flags Brought Out.
At one village a priest burst
through the crowd and blessed the
cannon as they rolled along from
hiding places in gardens and cellars,
the people drew forth the tri-color
of France and waved them before the
troops.
Hundreds of dramatic and thrill
ing scenes were enacted in various
villages when the French troops
found themselves once more in their
home towns and clasping again in
their arms their parents, wives and
children after nearly three years of
separation. Many of the troops were
not so fortunate. They found moth
ing but masses of ruins where their
homes once stood, or learned that
Their parents had persisted or their
families deported to German soil.