Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-06-09
How British Blasted Way
Thru Foes Stronghold

I of the windmill spring birds. awakened
by the deadening clamor, had begun to
sing joyously. Like so many, children
who have come into the consciousness
of being in the midst Of the war these
birds regarded the appalling noise OF
the battle as a normal condition Of life.
The smoke of the giant mines ex-
| ploded along the battlefront meantime
rose in great curling plumes toward
| the sky and was punctuated by red sig
nails for help from the stricken Germans
in the front and support lines. Never
~. was the cir a!ieI with more frantic no.
tees of danger. The entire horizon
| glowed with, red balls of fire sent UP
by the nervous Germans.
| Asroplanss Scud About.
More and more British airplanes be-
gan to make their appearance. One
flew over the lines, the flashes Of the
guns being reflected brilliantly on its
highly glazed wings.
| Under this appalling fire trudged
| forward on the ten mile front Gen.
men found German troops utterly
dazed by the mine explosion and the
ordeal of the artillery FIRE.
1 Manly OI THESE lIOOpS. ldu Out o
Gently come from Russia, where they
| had spent eighteen months. and knew
nothing of what actual warfare was
like on the western front. They had
bolted at the first mine explosion and
had only been gathered together in
groups by their n-commissioned ohi-
GERS when the British appeared out of
| the smoke and shells and made them
prisoners.
cringe Before captors.
| Their surprise at what modern bat
tie is like was no greater, some Of the
prisoners said to the correspondent,
than the fact that they were not killed
| Immediately by their captors.
They said they had been given to
\ understand by their officers that the
British always killed their prisoners.
II was really pitiftll in some instances
to see the manner In which these pris-
oners cringed to their captors.
Some Of the prisoners taken today
had only gone into the German lines
last night and had made their way for
ward under a CALLING fire and had lost
| heavily. But the troops already In the
line were calling for relief in such .
manner that their appeals could not be
denied.
In view OF the fact that the attack
had been expected the German COM
manders were endeavoring to get their
best units actually into the fighting
| front, but had underestimated when
the British would strike. The troops
In strange line were utterly bewild-
cred when the attack began and fell
easy prey to the advancing British.
| All Rehsarsed For Show.
! The Irish. New Zealanders, and Aus
tralians. who had been rehearesd In
every detail OF the show" knew just
| what to do from the moment the word
to advance was given. The battle to-
day was far more visible during the
first uncertain moments than later
when the sun gradually burned its way
thru the eastern bank OF clouds.
BY that time the smoke Of exploding
shells and the vapors from the binding
barra8e. which had been part Of the ar
ttllery duty, obscured the more distant
landscape to such an extent that the
roaring guns could not be seen at all,
altho the firing was almost at ones
feet. The brilliantly leaping shrapnel
shells, breaking far above ground, ap-
1
and brilliant electric sparks.
| Fell Airships TO Blind.
| with the coming OF day, however. the
planes, which had already done SC
much preparatory work toward the
! success OF this newest assault upon the
time worn German positions. For a
month past, but especially since June
| 1. the airplanes on this front have
been indefatigably at work during
every possible flying hour.
/ They had brought down nearly nifty
machines in six days as a means OF
binding the enemy. Lately the Ger
mans have endeavored valiantly to OBJ
tain airplane observations for theil
artillery, but their observing machines
have seldom been able to direct more
than one or two shots before the Brit
ish fighting scouts had bounced upon
them and either sent them crashing tc
the earth or had driven them to cover
at breakneck speed.
Today the British planes few far and
low over the enemys retreating linel
and were challenged only by some bad
shooting of anti aircraft batteries
\ These batteries appeared so harassed by
the British shells which must have beer
falling about them that their efforts a,
the flying planes were almost ludicrou.
; at times. What they lacked in accu.
racy, however. they made up in guam.
tity, and by the time the sun shons
forth in summer splendor the sky wa.
completely dotted with black shrapne
puffs.
In the Face