The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-08-30
Occupation Of Ham and Noyon
Gives Allies Possession Of
SOmme District. \
FRENCH VICTORY NOTABLE
British, Though Stoutly Re-
sisted, Are in Fair Way to
Retrieve Cambria Disaster.
NJ H. sIDEBoTHAM.
One Of the Foremost Military Critics
In Europe.

Special Gable Despdfch to THE Sun from hs
London Timss Serrics.
Copyright, 1918; all rights reserved.
LONDON, Aug. 29.-The feature OF the
news to-day is the rally OF the enemy
in the centre, between Bapaume and
Longueval, and the continued progress
Of the Allies on both TANKS 1t Is curious
that the Germans should attach more
Importance to the centre than to the
TANKS, for Ludendorff's normal defensive
tactics in the past has been to hold the
TANKS and decline In the centre. on the
principle that II you can hold the pins
to which an elastic band is attached no
harm will be done by stretching the band
at the centre.
There Is clear evidence that he has
heavily reinforced his troops holding
the region astride the Bapaume- Cambria
road. The reason is that he has great
accumulatlons Of stores In this region
which he 10 anxious to get away. North
Of Bapaume he seems to have done no
more than to hold our advance. South
Of Bapaume the enemy's counter attacks
made some little progress.
No doubt II the Germans go to such
pains in counter attacking these points
there is good reason why we should hold
them. Broadly, h0wever one would
think the less fighting we do in the old
Somme battlefields the better Off we will
be. 1t Is a difficult country, and move
ments that offer promise are not here
but further north, where we are con-
tinuins our good progress. and away to
the south. where the French yesterday
won notable success.
Ham Key to somme District.
The French followed their occupation
NJ IN
Nesle. Chaulnes, to which the enemy
SO long chung by the skin of his teeth.
In now French. We now have two vii
lagos within a mile OF the Somme above
Peronne. and the occupation OF Ham will
give to the French the key to all this
district. with a good bridsehead across
the Somme. This will enable them to
menace st. Quentin.
1t Is not very easy to keep all these
names in ones head, but the situation
may be visuaiized IL one remembers that
Nesle. Roye. Noyon and Ham form the
four corners Of square, nearly all Of
which In now In Allied hands. From
Ham one road leads to Peronne, another
to st. Quentin.
The Importance Of St Quentin, and the
reason the Germans held 1t so firmly
is that 1t TANKS the pivotal position Of
La Fere.
North of the Scarpe we lost a little
ground yesterday, but on the south side
Of the river and on both side Of the
Arras- Cambria road we continued to
gain ground. We are nearer the heart
OF the Bullecourt position now than ever
before. What Importance the enemy at
taches to this region the Australians
who fought SO hard there last summer
could tell.
There is no doubt that the Germans
are now fighting desperately. Whatever
plans they may have had to retreat to
new positions have been disarranged
The new positions cannot be ready, for
otherwise they would not have fought
so desperately to hold Bapaume and the
southeastern corner OF the Somme battle
field.
Many causes have been ascribed for