Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-10-31
VICTORY OVER CROWN PRINCE
Is ANOTHER PROUD ONE FOR
CANADIAN TROOPS IN FRANCE

British Front in Belgium, Tuesday,
Oct: 30.-(Ry the Associated Press)--
The forces OF Crown Prince Rup-
precht Of Bavaria today suffered an
other singing defeat when the Brit
ish reached out across q sea Of mud
and wrenched away still more Of the
few remaining defenses Of the en-
emy's Passchendaele system.
1t has been another proud day for
Canada. Her troops this afternoon
were sitting almost at the gates Of
P~asschendaele and from their posi-
tons astride the Broodseinde-Pass-
chendaele highway along the ridge
they could see only four hundred
yards away, the great church, which
stands in the center Of the village.
While the Canadians were battling
Of fierce resistance from the Bavar-
ians, comrades on their left were
hammering their way along the Meet
cheele OF Bellevue spur to points
which seem to have carried them we'll
beyond the hamlet Of Meetcheele and
h machine gun defenses
with which the elevation was covered.
There was sanguinary fighting In both
sections. The German losses were
not achieve their triumph without
casualties.
Protect Canadian Flank.
Meanwhile British home troops on
the left Canadians had undertaken
the task Of crossing the Paddebeek
river and the in order to
bring their line forward and protect
the Canadian flank. The men from
the British Isles knew that this must
be done and they did 1t. How they
accomplished this drive through the
i-VR-~l~~ -..S kl.>~,
selves could not tell. ~
One heavy counter attack delivered
by h Bavarians as early as 8 o'clock
from Masselmarkt against the Cana
dams was caught by artillery and ma
chine gun fire and smashed. The
gain on the Canadian front averaged
between 800 and 1000 yards along
most of it.
The Canadians encountered a stiff
position early in the advance at Fries
land; Copse, a machine gun defense ~
ing in the valley Of the Ravebeek
which runs down the slopes at the
junction of the Meetcheele spur and
the Passchendaele ridge. The enemy
turned a heavy machine gun fire on
the advancing troops and, when they
closed in. fought bitterly to retain q
hold on their concrete defense. But
Friesland Copse fell and the Cana
AASLllo. puS4lcu Ou up IAc oIOpSo.
The infantry, working eastward
along the crest Of the P~asschendaele
ridge toward the village, progressed
rapidly although under a severe fire
from many points. Crest farm, just
north of the highway, put up a siren
uous resistance. The farm was heav-
lily armed with rapid fire guns and
the Canadians attacked it with rifles
and bombs.
Artillery to Rescue.
While the British were struggling
with, the enemy at Crest farm, the
troops on their left, were meeting with
trouble from the enemy guns con-
contracted on them. The British ar
an intense fire against the German
batteries that the hostile Smelling de-
creased greatly. In this lull the Can
adams rushed ahead and stormed
their way to the village Of Meet
cheele. A violent struggle occurred
at close quarters among the cottages
in this little place. Those Of the en-
y who We're able retreated toward
D;4sselmarkt, but at $3.50 o'clock the
Bavarians marched out Of Massel-
markt for q counter attack.
The canadians at Crest farm, 1000
yards south of Masselmarkt, were the
first to see this threat, developing
against their comrades. A number OF
acquired enemy machine guns were
brought into play against the advanc-
ing Bavarians with disastrous result.
At almost the same time signals
reached the British artillery and the
enemy was caught in a swirl of gun
fire that shattered the ranks badly
and caused a hasty retreat. Shortly
afterward numbers of the enemy were
seen running eastward from Massel-
markt, evidently having had toe
strong a taste of the barrage fire.
At the left the Canadians and Eng
lish pushed rapidly across the Paddle
beck river and assaulted numerous
enemy d%efenses on the eastern bank
The ground was in very poor condi-
ton. The Paddebeek was not in
flood, but the whole country sur
rounding it was a marsh in which the
naen4loundered miserablY. To add to
their troubles there we're hundreds OF
great holes filled with water into
which they often plunged and from
which they were extricated with diff
ficulty.
Such strongholds as Sourd farm
and Cource farm maintained a heavy
machine gun fire against them from
the moment the advance began. In
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