Licking Valley courier., 1918-07-18
French ADVANCE
NEAR The O|sE
Strike South of Montdidier After
Mile Gain in Picardy; Cap
ture CaSteI.
SECTOR VITAL TO DEFENSE
Bad Weather Interferes With Opera
tlens In British Sectors-Llne Es-
; tabllshed From Adriatic to Sa-
lonlki-FIanders Positions
improved.

Paris, July 15-In an operation
carried out on the front between Mont
didier and the Disc the French pushed
their advanced posts forward dis
tance of approximately 800 yards in
the vicinity of the Porte farm, the
war Office announced.
Make Gain In Picardy.
London, July 10. = Success has
crowned further smashes by the allies
into the German lines between Ypres
and Reims For more than two weeks
the allies have been jamming into the
German defenses here and there and
the results now are just as favorable
as at the beginning
For the first time since the attrlti0n
campaign was undertaken the French
have struck with force In the Picardy
battle field. Along the Avre river
northwest Of MontdIder, the French
advanced their lines more than mile
on front Of three miles and captured
more than 800 prisoners. This blow.
like the recent ones by the British as
tride the Somme, has driven the enemy
back on sector vital to the defense
OF Afniens. the objective of the first
German offensive begun on March 21.
In capturing Castel and strong for
tilted positions the French have adj
vanced almost to the western bank of
the Avre. Ralneval will endanger Sc
riously the German positions west OF
the Avre to below Montdidier. west of
which the Americans hold Cantlgny.
In an advance toward Amiens the Ger.
mans would either follow the Somme
or go up the valley Of the Avre, which
Joins the Somme near Amlens.
French Gains Not Taken Seriously.
Between the Aisne and the Marne
the Germans apparently still do not (
take seriously the French gains east
pAets -
OF the forest of VIllefs-COttercS4~Sev-
eral villages and fortified farms. In
Guiding Corey and Longpont, have been
taken by the French this week, but the
Germans have made no serious eirorts
TO retake the positions and are slowly
being forced Off the high ground.
Bad weather continues on the Brit
ish front, especially hlndering the
bombing activities OF British airmen.
The German artillery fire is strong on
the Lys salient. At BucquOy. between
Albert and Arras, the British drove OF
German raiders. Confirmation Of the
rain on the British front may hamper
German plans, as the battle grounds
of Flanders and Plcardy are likely to
turn into seas Of mud. Rain has heen
falling on the British front of and on
for FIVE days.
ALLIES Establish Connected Lines.
Franco-Itallan success In Albania
has enabled the allies to establish
connected battle line over a stretch OF
200 miles from Saloniki to the Adri'
attic. The Italians rapidly are clearing
up the territory taken from the Aus
trians In western Albania and prepar-
Ing for attacks.
Between Berat and Lake Ochrlda
the French have occupied all the ter
ritory between the Devoli and Tomo-
rIca rivers except near the confluence
where the Austrlans still hold out
Prisoners taken by the French In the
Tomorica valley have increased to 4OO.
improve Positions In Flanders.
With the British Army In France
July. 15.-BrltIsh operations In the
Norris sector have brought Its line for
ward TO within about quarter of
mile west of that important hamlet
and secured for the British complete
observation Of German positions In the
village.
Australian units pushed forward
northwest Of Merris along a front OF
1900 yards to n depth of 25O yards ana
drove the enemy from the high ground
overlooking Merrls. Friday the Brit.
ish infantry again reached out ana
claimed another strip of hostile ground
west of Merrls. This advance reached
maximum depth of about half mile
and extended along front Of 2'2Oo
yards.
As a result the British positions
have been greatly improved and a
small salient which had been left IN
the line after Tuesdays attack has
heen eliminated