The Parisian. (Paris, Tenn.) 1907-1962, 1918-06-21
CAPTURE GERMANS
IN MIDNIGHT FIGHT
ATTACK IN THE HINGES SECTION
PREciPlTATEs HANn-To.
HAND CONFLICT.
TONNES ARE THE vlCT0Rs
Unusual Feature of the Attack Wa,
That II Was Conducted Entirely
In the Dark, Starting Just
Before Midnight.

With the British Army In France
Intense bombardments have been car
rttd out by the Germans during the
past "a hours in various sectors along
the British front These have been es,
pecially heavy In Flanders, about
! Hinges, where the British advanced
their line considerably. and in the re-.
gion of Dickebusch and Scherpenberg
The initiative, so far as infantry &C
tivtty was concerned, rested mainly
with the British, who carried out a
number of highly successful raids.
Whether Won Hindenberg will launch
another drive against the British in
the near future, there is no doubt
that his troops and artillery are ready
for any attempt that he may be able
to make.
The attack was made along front
of $500 yards just east of Hinges. II
had its northern extremity near La
Pannsrie. The Germans were holding
strong line of shell crater positions
close to the British on the eastern
bank Of the La Bassee canal.
A limited objective of 500 yards in
depth was set for the enterprise An
unusual feature of the attack was
that it was conducted entirely in the
dark. 1t began shortly before mid.
night. There was no moon to guide
the assaulting tooprs, and the success
of the entering troops depended on
each man keeping his right direction
as he pushed forward in the black.
ness.
Holding this sector for the Germans
was the 18th reserve division, which
was among the first to violate Belgian
soil, 1t was the 18th division which
committed SO horrifying deeds in Ter
monde and Louvain, which brought
down upon 1t the excavations of hun
dreds of helpless Belgian women.
The attack was preceded by an eight
minute bombardment of the front line
positions AT the same time British
gunners were carrying out effective
counter battery shooting and the heavy
artillery was pounding the enemy
back area hard.
AS the bombardment ceased British
infantry started forward toward the
shell hole craters which the enemy
held.
AS the British advanced the enemy
opened heavy fire from every ma
chine gun nest along the line. The
Germans were shooting more or less
blindly in the dark, which saved the
British many casualties But it was
firing work to push ahead through the
barrage of bullets sweeping waist high
across No Mans Land. The attacking
infantry finally reached the enemy's
posts and bitter hand-to-hand fighting
occurred at most of these nests
The battle in the region of La Pan.
merle, where the Germans were es.
pecially strong, was exceedingly fierce.
Here the contending troops struggled
VI LILO w I'LL
the arrival of daybreak, however, the
British had secured all their objec-
lives and forced the enemy to fall
back.
Upwards of 200 prisoners remained
in the British hands. Large numbers
Of German dead against gun positions
told OF the desperate fighting that had
taken place.
The morale Of the prisoners 40 o
whole seemed very fair Many OF them
were convinced that the Germans were
winning the war and confident that
they would break through the allied
lines to the coast. One highly-educated
captive, however, was not so optimis
tic. He said the German people were
disappointed because their troops had
not got ahead faster in their often.
sives,
Food conditions In Germany, said
this prisoner, were getting worse and
worse.