Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-04-08

81 ~.
OF their retirement ana since then
have successfully deied the enemy to
|dislodge them.
within the salient Is an unacceptable
zone which formedSa part of No'Man's
Land In the first battle Of the Somme.
" ~ shell torn and altogether is an
unpleasant place e which to con-
duct operations. Not only is the
ground bad but the whole sector Is
dominated by British machine guns
which send n~ever-ending streams of
camps which present excellent
targets.
Would Find Difficulties. t1s
II h Germans wereS to start the
second phase of their grand offensive
now and we're forced.to Kick OF
from their present position in this
salient they would encounter tre-
'Mendpus difficulties in maintaining
she assert vb Somm nun ;nst b.. across es
their front line. They need the>high
ground on the edge of their saucer
where they can begin q big attack 70
that they can get their guns forward,
for otherwise the artillery be OUT
dtstanced and everything would de-
pend upon the infantry.
1t was, because of this situation that
attdShS were Andue IdSt frl0av W LIE
Germans. -Four more or less fresh di-
visions we're brought MP for this OPP
Grafton and a huge number of guns
were brought into play especially over
the back areas. Considerable guam
titles Of gas also were thrown into the
vicinity Of Fonquevillers, indicating
that the Germans did not intend to try
to advance to a"great depth. since
this gas hangs bout fora long time.
Tried to Get Hold.
The enemy was simply trying to get
a hold on the dominating ridges. They
failed to advance at most points about
the salient and even lost a consider
able stretch Of ground in a counter at
tack by the British between He
huterne and Rossignol woods where
the British pushed forward some 500
yards. At Bucqueri the Germans had
some g and got a footing in
whole was a big filure. The enemy
casualties we're very, heavy because of
the dominating positions held by
British machine gunners and rif1emen.
Rossignol wood was found filed
with German dead and the low lying
ground in front of the ridges told an
awful story. 1t seems certain the
Germans will try again to capture the
heights. for they cannot sit where
they are.
The British counter attack at Ave-
luy wood, south Of Hesnil yesterday
was an entire success and the old po-
sitions were returned. The men who
went through this fight declare that
h Germans lost 3 killed to l for the
British. 1t was a desperate fight. The
British stormed the wood after bat
Ting forward with machine guns and
rifles and then continued the, battle
with hand grenades and bombs, The
Germans chung t~enaciously to their
positions but were gradually forced to
fall back, leaving many dead.
Many Hun Officers lost.
Prisoners captured by the British
when Ayctte was taken Wednesday
say that the casualties among the
German officers and non-commission-
ed officers have been very heavy since
the beginning of he offensive. The
situation is SO bad regarding nom
commissioned officers that the higher
command has cen bringing back in
to the line those previously combed
out because of age or wounds.
\ German airn1an just taken pris.
"ner has proved most interesting. He
was formerly a school master. He
said that the British had more and
better airplanes than the Germans
and this accounts for the fact that
the British aviatorS did far more work
over the enemy lines than the Ger
mans did. He said the Germans
could not run the risk of wasting ma
chimes in this sort Of warfare.
The soldier school master was con-
WINGED firmly that the wal would end
/ this year. Willie he did not say SO
directly. he implied that he thought
the Germans would wear the allies
out. for he declared the Germans
would keep on attacking. .