Evening star., 1918-04-11
VIOLENT. BATTLE FROM La
BAssEE TO YPREs CANAL
Continued from First Pase.)

ago and now It appears that . serious
sasoe. AtsasKs. sirsady made are 30. 30.
lieyed to be but forsrunners OF other
assaults. which Will come in quick
sucosssion along the British front
Prisoners dsciars that the offensive
forty kiiomstsrs northward. Every
thing the Germans can put against the
British will ps kept on this front, end
desperate fighting must be expected.
Yesterdays gains south Of Armen-
Portuguese front upon which the Ger
mans delivered their main attack. This
assault had been anticipated and the
present line to. which the allies fell
back was prepared as q counter move
to check the rush.
Enemy Plans Ambitious.
A captured German document shows
They expected to push through ~ far
as Bethune in Z circular movement
southward along the canal. This doou-
ment stated that the ratio Of forces
0s ana 70 ~
enemy outnunbsred the allies greatly.
The British division, which mAda such
. gallant stand at aivenehy, twios
throwing the Germans out ahd then
holding the place. was recorded a. BE-
The Germans began the attack with
an intense bombardment and then put
down one Of their heaviest bArrages
thus far seen. Under protection Of this
they advanced, and. having filtered
noticed in the heavy fog. they threw
themselves on the front line.
After an hour Of lighting tho enemy
gained possession OF the front line east
OF FauQuissart. in the center Of tho
sector involved. With the aid Of fur
attacked the second line. which they
also occupied. It was about II o'clock
when the enemy pushed on into La
ventie, which rendered the situation
at Fleurbaix. on the north, . very
difficult one
Portuguese Forced Back.
The Portuguese were holding the
line from near LaventfS to Rlchs-
bourg-st. Vast. and here they chung
until until about o'clock in The afss.noon.
the open ground against them. The de-
Tending positions were carried by
storm and the Portuguese forced to fall
back to q line previously prepared,
where they were Joined by British re-
Inducements.
Nortn OF LaVentle th0 enemy h3o
succeeded in crossing the Lys in small
numbers. They got a footing in Es-
taires. but this morning were thrown
out by a counter attack During the
night counter attack farther north
also pushed the enemy back approx
mately to the river.
Givenchy was the pivot Of the battle
and the most important position along
the line, for the high ground here dom
mates the whole Lys valley. The enc
my tried to work round tho place and
twice succeeded in getting into the
town, but each time he was stormed out
by the grimly fighting division which
Is holding this section Of the front.
Gvenchy Battle sanguinary.
The battle in Givenchy was sangui-
nary. For hours the contending forces
fought at close quarters with rifles and
hand grenades. The nature of the
British defense may be seen from the
fact that one British division was be-
ing attacked by four German divisions
and an extra brigade.
The German artillery fire Of yester-
day and today has been terrific. Great
concentrations Of guns have been hurl-
ing steady streams Of high explosives
far back OF the lines, and virtually
every village within reach Of the long
range guns has come under the pun
-