Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-11-23
Hangs Master Stroke Most
Spectacular Since Trench
Warfare Was Established

points mentioned in today's official re-
port there is a distance of eighteen
miles. over this whole section the
British had made an average advance
of four miles.
The British drive must have been an
overwhelming surprise to the Germans.
Ever since September FL the British
have been concentrating all their eff
forts on the lines far to the north--in
the Flanders sector. General Haig made
some localized attacks there not more
than three days ago. The Germans evil
IDENTIFY figured the British strategy was
to press this Flanders drive unceas-
ingly Their lines must have been
greatly depleted along the whole Of the
Wotan and Siegfried fronts between
Arras and st. Quentin.
That General Haig should have been
able to mass sufficient troops and ma
terial before this German front to break
the Hindenburg line at various points
even to sweep over portions of the sec
ond line defenses-without the enemy
being aware of it, is almost new
achievement in the great war.
Haig's troops are now literally on the
threshold of Cambria, the vital spot in
the German communications line.
The biggest town captured in the
drive was Marcoing, five miles south
Grainco,frt also in British hands, the
British already have a segment approx
imately four miles wide in its arc,
showed around the depot city of the Ger
man communication artery.
Hindenburg Line
What is knawn as the Hindenburg
line was established by the German
command last spring when the famous
strategic retreat on the Somme front
uas carried out. 1t was a supposedly
barrier. which had been in careful prep
aration.
The British and French, however.
showed in the Arras battle last spring
and in the French drive on the Alsne
front that the line was by no means
a bar to their progress and serious in
roads were made upon 1T in various at
tacks on both these fronts. No definite
break however, sufficient to permit The
penetration of large force which
could debouch for large field operations
had ever been effected.
The British movement in it's early
phases gives the appearance OF being
the most ambitious that has been
undertaken by them on the western
front since the creation of their new
armies gave them the power to strike
affective blows. The attack came almost
symptoms being a series of somewhat
elaborate trench raids. Even the rather
extensive operations in this sector re-
ported last night by the British war
office, which the German staff an
nounced it had taken measures to meet,
gave hardly a hint that push in any
such force or over such a wide extent Of
front was in prospect.
There has been little speculation over
1P DrS+ CHI a4f ~,
force on the western front this fall in
any area other than that of Flanders,
where the main British effort for several
months past has been expended Even
here the lateness of the season and the
difficult nature of the ground, at this
time of the year particularly, seemed to
give little basis for expectation of any
thing more than local strokes here and
there.
Catch Germans Mapping
1t has been apparent, however, that
German attention was largely conferred
on the Italian front, where the military
move in force intended to crush Italy
is now in full swing. Admittedly num-
bers of German troops had been sent
to the Italian front but the assump-
tion has been that these had been large
ly drawn from the Russian front where
the collapse of the Russian military
had made it unnecessary for
the Germans to maintain much more
than trench garrisons. 1t is considered
possible. however that the British sec
ret service had knowledge of weaken
Ing of the German front in the west
by the withdrawal of highly trained
experienced troops to give backbone to
the push in northern Italy, an oppor-
tunity thus being afforded to catch the
Germans unaware and hit them crush