The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1918-08-09
British and French Begin
Mighty Battle Between
Amiens and MOntdidier.
OVER A 20 MILE FRONT
Germans Taken Completely BY
Surprise and They Fled Pell
Nell Befoi the Great Tanks
and Machine Guns.


Is the scene OF mighty contest.
This time the British and French are
the aggressOrs and under their fierce
Onslaughts in the first days battle
they have penetrated deeply into the
German positions over front OF
more than 20 miles. reaching from
the region OF Breaches to the neigfI-
borhoOd of MorlancOurt.
Following short but Intensive Har-
tillery preparation and aided by
misty weather, the allied attack took
the Germans completely by surprise
and they fled almost everywhere pei
nell before the tanks, motor ma
chine gun batteries, cavalry and i'm
fantry sent against them. All the
objectives set for the Austra'ians-
Canadians, G Englishmen and French
men were attained i'm remarkably
quick time, and at last accounts
Thursday night the allied forces
were still making progress. Whcr
ever the enemy turned to give bate
he was deCisively defeated.
Thousands of Germans were made
prisoner. Large numbers Of guns
we're captured, great quantities of
war materials were taken and a
score or more OF villages and ham
lets were reoccupied. In addition,
heavy casualties were inflicted on
the enemy.
To Depth OF Over Seven Miles.
At its deepest point the penetra-
tion Of the German lire was about
seven and a half miles eastward
from Villers-Bretonneux to Framer-
vile, while from two to five miles
were gained all along the front from
northwest of Montdidier to the re-
gion around Morelancourt The
fighting extended north OF Morian-
court to the Albert sector. but no Of
fetal details concerning It have been
received.
The advance Of the allies in the
center places them well astride the
railroad leading from Villers-Bre-
Chaulnes. where lines radiate north
eastward toward Peronne and south
ward through Roye to Compiegne.
Well out on the plains and press
ing forward, seemingly with great
rapidity, the present offensive Of the
French and British gives promise OF
seriously menacing the entire Ger
man front from near the sea to
eastward to any great depth ii can.
not but affect the armies of the Ger
man crown prince now fighting be-
TWEEN the Aisne and the Vesle and
possibly make impracticable a stand
by them even north of the Aisne
along the Chemin-des-D Danes.
Menace OF Channel Ports Vanish.
Under the pressure Of the offensive
the menace to the channel ports al
so seems for the moment at least. to
vanish Already there have been
signs to the northward from the po-
sitions where Crown Prince Rup-
precht had formed his men for a
drive toward the channel that a re-
trograde movement by the Germans
was not improbable. With the ar
mics OF his imperial cousin on the
Soissons-Rheims salient badly shat
tered and unable to lend him aid
when his own forces north of Mont
didier are in rather precarious po-
sition as result OF the new offen-
sive. it is apparent that Rdpprecht
will have to defer his campaign to
cut of the ross-channel service.
On the Vesle front little 6ghting
occurred Thursday. except in the
process Of line-straightening- opera
tions on the. north bank where. un-
der an almost incessant n,,of en-
emy shells both the American and
the French troops improved their
'tands. The German guns not alone
played, upon the silted forces. but
also ara .hammerfne away al, .bridg res
across tho stream OVER whlchs men
constantly are making their way to
the northern bank of tneostream : ts
're.nforce III De- comrades already
lttn2s. by th, ~
r,oS a ,nem bef e s,~s<~ : a.
o'J ". ~ 49, 49,. -