Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-28

| StaTeu through ms BlasS anu th'i'
sure enough Yas a column OF men GO
ing slowly toward the little wood on the
northeast of the Flesqueres. but whe-
ther they were British or German
could not make out.
There goes a tank" said the officer
It was crawling steadily. but present
halted and | did not see II move again
so that II may have been hit.
| Artillery Goes Forward
A little later there was a new stir OF
| movement over wide stretch OF ground
behind where ! stouc and ! could sec
from many folds in the earth and down
many sunken roads and along many field
tracks horses and guns and wagons COM
ing forward, as If at a given signal
.Ieavy guns were being dragged forward
by caterpillar tractors. and lighter guns
harnessed to teams Of horses and mules
were coming quickly over the rough
ground,
Even the kite balloons were going
forward in spirit OF victory, ] saw
one of them tethered to n motor lorry
riding through the sky most gallantly
to get n nearer view OF the enemy's de-
feat. A few minutes later there was ar
! air fimt overhead.
|
the British airmcn were on the wing
and the drone of their engines was loud
In the sky, even above the tumult OF
the guns. They were flying low over
! the German lines. dropping bombs or
| guns and transport and demoralizing in.
| fantry by their fierce swoops with ma.
chine-gun fire.
! one German airman was bold enough
to come on the British side | think
| he had designs on that travelling balloon
But suddenly one of the British scouts
passed above him and then swooped like
a hawk and machine -gunned him. The
| German airplane burst into flames. II
| became long tongue of scarle' flame
! caught like a feather by the breeze, ant
| below II dropped a dark body which
only a second before was "A living mar
with heart beating to fierce purpose
| He was net the only one to dis amone
the German airmen. I met two of the
young British pilots sanding in a field
and watching German prisoners cominl
| back Behind them was n crashed ma.
chine in which they had come to eartl
with a bump.
How are things going?" ] asked, b,
| way of greetings, and the younger Of
| tho two grinnc1, and said:
Pretty quick, but was too busy &c
wa'ch much Of the battle. had Il
| deal with my own Hun after bombing
| their depots at night. My man has gon,
west followed him down as he crash
ed, to make sure of him."
Fewer Prisoners Than Expected.
Prisoners were late in coming down
and on the Canadian side Of things
| where ! happened to be, there wer,
fewer than had been expected after tn,
'aklng of the first detectives IL seem,
pretty certain that the enemy antici
pated the attack here beyond Moeuyre
ana thlnned out his line by withdrawn,
many men behind the Scheldt canal.
lhe Canadians were astonished at III,
| weakness of the resistance thcv met wit,
in getting over the Canal du Nord
AFTER their luck In escaping the Germa,
barrage the used scaling ladders I,
climb the steep sides of THAI cutting. an,
the Germans they met did not nut II,
much of fight. though they say the,
mad been ordered to make a small out
post attack at o'clock. Perhaps .hi
was to camoufage their weak line.
The Canadians having passed thei
nrst obJectives ! expected next that the
would nave tc fight hard for the secon,
wood.
not even there did they have mucI
trouble from the German infantry, an,
quickly overpowered those they found
though some of them fought hard Thei
prisoners were Of divisions we believe,
we should find--men of the Seventh
cavalry division and Of the Sixth an,
twentieth infantry divisions, reputet
to be of first-class fighting quality. viii
remnants of other divisions the 2Ols
, Alpine and Fifty-seventh, who have beel
terribly mauled during recent weeks
Those | saw marching back from tn
Canal du Nord and Bourbon We're worl
and pale, men so white-faced that the,
seemed to have been living for year
below ground or without proper nourish
ment, though they were tall fellows
Before they arrived at the advance,
cage they came down the roads wit
hardly any escort, and many wandere
down alone
Some of them were wounded, wit
bloody heads, broken arms and holes /
their legs, and the walking wounde
were arm-in-arm or in hobblng couple
: with their arms on one another's shoul
ders 1t Is a scene | have described s
often tlfat / cannot picture it agar
though every time one sees it, the dram
and tragedy of Il move one to emotion.
Prisoners Show Gratitude
The men spoke of the terrible barrag
which wiped everything out, and the
made no secret Of being at tn end O
their tether. They tried to sho,
gratitude to the British by Offering ther
picture postcards and other souvenirs.
Our fellows make pets of EN-" sal
one of the British intelligence officer,
"And one would hardly think that a
hour ago it was a fight to the death,
a man did not surrender mighty quicl
The good nature of the British soldie
is marvellous and | am glad of II, be
cause it leaves a little chvalry In tn
world"
There seems to be no doubt that SUI,
cess was with the British from the star
In center and on right of attack her
they worked steadily down behind III
Hindenburg front and the support line
outfanklng Flesqueres ridge and nc
, attacking it frontally, as in Novembs
of last year.
One body of British troops not Cana
dians, who had only a section on II
left of the assault line) swung soutl
eastward in the direction of Graincoul
village down sunken road, while oths
men were engaged in mopping up pocl
, cts of Germans and machine-gun nes
in the Hindenburg support line west ,
, Graincourt.
On the Cambrai road the airmen r,
ported patches Of the enemy advancir
to surrender with hands held high. TT
. enemy beyond Flesquieres were seen
be assembled with their faces turnt
r southwark, expecting attack from tn,
direction, while the British were bea
ing down from the north.
: That is all ] can tell today, becau,
3 of the time which ends this messa q
but l may sum 1t all up by saying tn,