New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-22
5000 Prisoners and
Many Big Guns T aiken
in New Drive
by Haig
Byng's Cavalry
Joins in Advance
Berlin Admits French
Have Made Gains
Along Front of
Six Miles
By Arthur S. Draper

I
This is the British description OF
the surprise attack which found the
Germans off guard between Arras and
st. Quentin and cost them two great
gaps in the famous Hindenburg line,
] one of them, Swest of Cambria, rcore
than seven miles wide and five deep,
thousands Of prisoners, many guns and
vast stores Of supplies. And that COW
ers only the irst phase of the great
est feat of British arms, for General
BynG is still advancing.
The most remarkable feature of the
entire victory was that il was achieved
wholly without artillery preparation,
the British infantry sweeping forward
in the wake of great knd fleets of
tanks. which tore their way through
the German wire entanglements as
though they had been straw barriers
and wallowed their way across the
widest trenches. Apparently, the Ger
man High Command was caught com.
pletely mapping, not hint of the vast
British preparations having reached
the frightened enemy
5000 Prisoners Captured
Eight thousand prisoners have been
counted, Field Marshal Haig announced
tonight; the Scheldt Canal has been
crossed, additional villages occupied
and csptives taken from reserve forces
hurried up by Prince Rupprecht.
The latest dispatches from the
fighting fronts declare that thousands
of British mounted troops, charging
with the indefatigable tanks, are har-
rying the enemy in open country. The
cavalry, which has awaited just this
opportunity to vindicate Itself on the
Western front, has been engaged in
open fighting since yesterday, practi-
cally the first since the Battle Of the
Marne, and is d,ing great work in
thrusting the Germans back upon Cam
brai.
According to Berlin the French also
started an offensive on six-mile front
between Craonne and Berry-au-Bac,
southeast of Laon, the Germans admit
ting STRONG French advances" Ac'
cording to Paris the French blow was
only a minor one, being confined 70
front of two-thrds of a mile and
depth Of 400 yards.
As this is written the British threat
en- Cambria, one of the keys to the
whole German position in the West.
No stroke Of British generslship In
the whole war has been more brilliant
than General Sir Julian Byng's highly
skilful and successful thrust on part
of the front which has remained con-
spicuously quiet through many
months.
Militarily il is a great success In
every sense of the word and the hnest
the British have to their credit, while
politically it is of immense value, and
comes at psychological moment"
II will affect the whole situation
profoundly and it will count more
than dozens Of optimistic speeches and
hundreds Of stories of British prowess
Although il is now viewed in the
first flush Of enthusiasm, il is big
enough to bear the closest inspection
later, as Byng's thrust opens the way
TO farreaching results.
The political consequences arc just
as profound as the military. 10 ae-
complish his feat Byng returned TO
first PRINCIPLES and conceived the idea
Of launching a surprise assault.
Favored by Fortune
Fortune favored him. For the last
fortnight mis- preparations have been
carried on unobservcd by aviators, who
were unable TO see the concentration
of men, guns ana tanks.
German confidence in the strength
Of the Hindenburg line led them 10
strip it bare, no part of the Western
front being held so lightly. as the
French announcement of the disposi-
tior of German divisions shows.
Instead Of advertising his plans by
subjecting the enemy's lines 20 pro-
longed bombardment, Byng pinned his
faith on his tanks, and with good rea-
son, as results proved.
The greatest feet OF tanks yet con-
centrated at a single point was ready
early yesterday morning when the or
der was given for the advance. Over
comparatively solid earth swarm OF
monsters worked their way. hattenins
out masses Of wire entanglemsnts and
enflading trenches, across which they
rested.
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