The Hawaiian gazette., 1918-01-22
GERMAN LOSSES
HEAVY INFRANCE
Million Casualties Are Suffered
Along Front Occupied BY PoiIus
Under General Petain

FRENCH FRONT, January 6--Ont
million casualties have been suffered BY
the German armies along the front oc
cupied by the French troops during 1917
according to statistics carefully com
piled here. French territory amounting
70 many hundreds of square miles has
been freed from German domination by
the years. fighting, and the German
Crown Prince Frederick has been com
PEELED to suffer the modification OF
leaving between 10000 and 10000
prisoners from his best troops in French
400 have been captured and, in ad.
ditiOn, thousands of machine guns and
hundreds of trench mortars.
Although the defeated Germans did
their utmost before Withdrawing Ia
turn the fertile fields and picturesque
villages Of the Somme and Aisne regions
into n desert of waste, these acts Of
vandalism did them more harm than II
did the French, whose soldiers were
stirred thereby to an even stronger de-
termination than before to beat back
the German invader.
Dominant Events
Three dominant events on the front
Of the French armies in France have
marked the year and each has termin.
ated in a brilliant victory for French
armies. First came the enforced retreat
in March of the German forces from
the greater part of the departments Of
the Somme, Disc and Aisne, brought
about by the combined smashing blows
delivered by the French and British
during the battle of the Somme in the
fall of 1916.
Then followed the French offensive
ON the Aisne and in Champagne, whose
conclusion came only at the end Of
seven months of almost continuous
fighting with the capture from the
crown prince 8 armies Of the key of the
Hindenburg position formed by the
Fort Of Malmaison and their reluctant
retirement from the famous Chemin
des- Danes. This left In the French
hands all the good observatories useful
for further operations,
Aviation Plays Part
{. In the meantime the French had
fought and won the eliminating bat,
tie for the liberation Of Verdun, in
the course of which the French troops
regained nearly every inch Of the
ground around the fortress which had
cost the crown prince 100000 men to
capture in 1916. k.F E%G
Aviation played leading part in all
operations in the course Of the year.
No matter what weather prevailed, the
airmen were out observing, reconnoit.
ering, fighting of German airmen, ne.
eompanying the attacking invader,
the communications and
depots Of the enemy or making raidS
ON German towns. This latter, al
though they affected only such towns
as were used rs military centers, were
made by way Of reprisal for German
air attacks on French cities Of the
east and north, where numbers Of
French civilians had fallen victims to
German bombs.
In aerial combats the French avia.
tors undoubtedly proved themselves
masters of their German adversaries.
BY the end Of October, the last com.
plete return available, French aviatOrs
had destroyed in ten months SIT Ger.
man aiTplanes, whose fate it was pos.
sible to confirm with certainty.
Many Others Destroyed
Besides these, they had brought down
another 513, the absolute destruction
Of which could not be confirmed, but
which had been seen to fall out Of
control with q great possibility of a
fatal crash.
b These figures, totaling 1890, make
an excellent record and to them must
be added twenty 1.-TWO German captive
balloons.
The American aviators Of the Lafa
yette squadrilla, who have been in
corporated into the American army
played very creditable part with
their French comrades in the conflicts
in the air. Several of them lost theiI
tives in 1917, as did three of the best
known French airmen - Guynemer,
Dorme and Lenoir.
Besides the bombardment of French
open towns, German airmen on several
occasions bombed French field hospitals
1t Dugny, Vadalaincourt, Chateau Pc
tit Monthairon and Belrupt.