Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-11-22
CAVALRY IS THROWN
AT TEUTON HEELS
[Oontinued from FIrst Pagel

| Thought Imprcgnable
The Hindenburg lines on the
! Cambrai front were the strongest
the Germans had laid out in the
west. The enemy considered them
imprePnable. Not only were they
strongly fortified but they were
protected by a very deep belt of
barbed wire. which it was thought
that only protracted bombardment
! by great concentration of guns would
cut sufficiently to allow the infantry
| to go through.
! british tanks never have been
called upon for such extensive
| work before, but they did in a few
hours what the artillery would have
required days to accomplish. The
| Hindenburg line was pierced abso-
lutely on a wide front and to q
I greater depth than ever before.
| The correspondent to-day in
spected the main Hindenburg line
near Havrincourt and saw the
amazing work done by the iron
monsters. In most places they had
nc trouble either in tearing through
the wire or in crossing trenches.
There were gaps in the wire en-
tanglements rod in width where
not one Vestige of wire was left
standing and by following the tracks
! OF the tanks one could see whore
they trundled across the trenches
as though they were merely scratches
In the ground instead of wide, deep
| bitches.
Tanks Uniniurcd
The tanks of course, went through
NO Mans Land under the full OBJ
servatlon of the German artillery
and while the gunfre was weak,
some fire was directed on the tanks
as they advanced. 1t was interest
ing TO follow the trail of the tanks
and see where shells had struck all
about apparently without doing any
| damage, for in this whole section
the correspondent did not see one
| tank which had been knocked out
The condition of the German
trenches showed plainly that the oc-
cupants had abandoned them in a
hurry. All sorts of equipment and
personal belongings strewed the
| ground.
Since the beginning of the attack
| the gunfire had been extremely
weak. No Mans Land showed
comparatively few shell craters to-
FAY and this morning the British
guns were doing virtually all the
firing along most of the front in
volved. This is a striking contrast
to the Flanders region, which has
been an inferno of artillery fire for
weeks.
The Germans have attempted
very few counterattacks thus far and
| all of them have been smashed. The
latest counter thrust reported was
made last night near Demicourt and
this was dealt and promptly.
| The Germans, who at the first at
| tack yesterday retreated or surrend-
cred In dismay, were fighting desper-
rately to-day to regain a hold on
their rear positions. A particularly
hard hand-to-hand engagement oc-
| CURED this morning at Flesquieres,
when the infantry, accompanied by
tanks, stormed this place and drove
the Germans from it,
| Tanks Withstand Fire
| The fighting about Flesquieres be-
gan last night but it was not until
about 8 o'clock to-day that the Brit
1sh made an organized assault on the
town. The tanks went ahead and
were engaged Immediately by seven
heavy German guns, which began to
f1re at them point blank at short
| range. 1t was a critical moment, for
while the tanks will withstand heavy
fire, they cannot be expected to stand
up long under big shells hurled from
guns only a short distance away.
The British infantry which swarm
ed through behind the tanks saw the
| predicament of their iron friends and
deliberately charged the enemy ar
! tillery with rifles and hand grenades
| All the guns were captured and their
| crews were killed.
A similar incident occurred at
| Premy Chappelle, northwest of Mar
Going, where three guns were Storm
ed and their crews annihilated. Some
| of the most spectacular work of this
| nature Tell to the cavalry. The
mounted troops got into Marcoing
and Masnieres last night and in the
! latter town engaged in sanguinary
| battle with Germany infantry. An
! enemy battery there was giving trou-
| BILE and squad of horsemen charged
| the position, shooting or sabering the
entire gun crew. Another battery at
Rumilly was taken in similar fash
| ion.
British Carry Line
Graincourt was carried by storm,
cavalry, tanks and infantry working
| together. British forces at the latest
reports have carried their line in this
| section northward to the Bapaume-
Cambria road.
The Germans ran from Rlbecourt
with the British close at their heels.
| This town is a mass of ruins, partly
on account of shell fire and partly
from lack of repairs. The German
dugouts We're left intact.
The occupation of Marcoing and
Masnieres was a great stroke for the
British, as it gave them much need
ed crossings for the Escault river and
canal, which formed a natural bar
rier to the advance from this direc-
ton. Cavalry, infantry and tanks
! were poured Immediately across
| these passages and proceeded to
work northward.
Military necessity precluded the
mention of cavalry in the first dis
patches regarding the present often
! sive, but 1T may now be said that the
mounted men went into action at
11.30 o'clock yesterday morning,
after the tanks had opened the way
| through the barbed wire.
This was one of the features of the
battle in which General Pershing
appeared to take deep interest while
he was at the front yesterday.