New Britain herald., 1917-08-18

BtXSchoOte and Langemarck, It IS announced officially. They captured 1 strong point of support east of the Steenbeke river. German attacks on 1 the Aisne front were repulsed. British Front in France and Bel giun, (By the Associated Press), Aug. 18.-The fighting Thursday at Polygon was unusually desperate. Wave after wave of the enemy came surging up against the London troops, which held on determinedly with rifle and bayonet until two counter attacks from different directions forced them to retreat.
 Gradually they withdrew, fighting all the way Some few of them in- deed were surrounded and fought un- til forced to surrender One voung officer in command of ten men found himself encircled by the enemy and his men being swept by machine gun fire. The last heard of him was con- tained in a message he signalled back in his division saying that his men were facing certain death and that he saw no way but to surrender and save their lives
 Along most of the French front it was comparatively quiet although d hard local battle was continuing about a strong German redoubt known as Les lilas," which lies about thousand yards southwest of l the St. Jansbek river. In their advance, the French surged l forward on either side of this posi- tion making sort of pocket about l 1t, and it was expected that the small 1 German garrison would soon be com | pelled to surrender. The Germans l delivered a. counter-attack on the French extreme right flank, but this was repulsed by artillery fire. The contact between the. French and British armies was excellent. 1 The prisoners accounted for to date l total more than 37O and this figure | represents considerably more than the entire French casualties along their whole front in Thursdays offensive. The remarkably small casualties was due to the fine work of the French l artillery. Bombardment of German 1 positions was the most effective and | the advance was made under a per- fleet barrage.
 l. German Artillery Inadequate.
 As was the case with the British
  barrage was totally inadequate and their counter battery work. on which ! so much depends, gave no trouble. l French counter battery firing resulted in silencing a large number of enemy guns, and so as result the French have been little troubled by gunfire in | carrying out consultations.
 The work of the French. engineers in this difficult terrain. which, as it approaches the river, is veritable morass, had been thust forward swift ly, and when it came to bridging the flooded Steenbeke for crossing at dawn Thursday there was not the slightest delay in getting the numerous bridges over.
 The French air service played an important part in the advance, going ahead of the infantry all along the line and keeping up the contact of the patrols at the height of two or three hundred metres. The German airmen who ventured in the direction
 of the French were driven back and the air was cleared of enemy ma l chimes In addition to patrol work l,the French airnAen did good eXecu- tion with machine guns and bombs on
 enemy redoGbts.
 ! From a section of the French front
 comes word that the renowned av-
 iator, Captain George Guynemer, l broI sht down two more German ma
 chimes, aking 5 he has accounted
 for. Guynemcr visited headquarters
 to receive decoration from a dis
 tinguished Rumanlan general The
 Associated Press correspondent saw
 the medal pinned on the breast of the
 intrepid airman besides numerous or
 ders he won. including a decoration
 from the king of the Relgians, the l day before.
 Guynemer undoubtedly was proud of (Continued on Ninth PaEe)