Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-16
Special Cable 10 Evening Public Ledger

Special Cable TO EVening Public Ledger
| copp'foht. 1918, by NetU York Times Co.
with the British Armies, Aug. 16.
very small change or movement is
reported along the battlefront of our
recent advance. When / was near
froyart yesterday morning a good
oeai or shelling on both sides burst
out at intervals, but as a rule 1t was
a oay characteristic of the compare
i've calm after a general advance. The
'front.' lay concealed as though dor
mant, but it was searched for re.
peatedly by shrapnel and high explo.
slNes. Now and again a heavy shell
cane roaring down, apparently in
Tended for reserves or deposits in the
rear as when I saw one plunge deep
INTO wooded lagoon of the Somme-
as far back as Caully Saillette is now
from our front and indeed a little
iurther. Occasionally there was an
outpurst of machine.gun fire as we'll
ana the enemy tried good deal Of
l7oombarding at night.
FOR myself / devoted the morning
from dawn to a position held by our
south country troops between the
Ancre at Albert and the Somme at
iElnehen. The southern part Of this
iine has been occupied by a body of
Anericans, while opposed to us along
the whole line the Germans have had
the Twenty-sixth, 243d and Fifty
fourth Divisions, chiefly Wurtemberg.
ers, the strong Twenty.seventh Divi.
sion apparently having been with
drawn.
Allied Line Crosses Ancre
starting from Albert, we hold the
west, or right bank of the Ancre, but
the slopes on the opposite bank are
hIyy l,a
crests OF these slopes are higher than
the ground on our side. The enemy
retains Meuille. but our line crosses
the Ancre not far below that village
and includes Dernancourt. There it
runs southeast, heading the persist.
emily contested ruins of Morlancourt
well within it, and crossing the main
road from Corbie to Bray It turns
sharply south about a mile and half
from Bray, SO as to include the village
ana most OF the loop or peninsula OF
Etinehem, and thus it reaches the
Somme. South of the Somme 1t passes
east OF Mericourt and southwark, SO as
to include Proyart, Lihons, Chipilly
and the rest down to the Roye road, as
l have described in previous telegrams
Along the whole line the enemy's
| resistance continues to stiffen and
more of his guns are brought up, al
though his balloons are being taken
further back.
! limited myself to the high ground
between the Ancre and the Somme yes
! terday. across which there runs an
old line of trenches dating from 1914,
and in passing ] must refer again to
the long and terrible fighting for the
possession of Morlancourt, which lies
about at the center Of this region. al
though on the slope toward the Ancre
more than toward the Somme l re-
ported at the time that the British ad-
vance was held up here until the end
Of last week. and the position was
finally won by the small and rapid
tanks which I have ventured to de-
scribe as the cavalry Of modern ar
mics.
Eyewitnesses tell me that as the
"Whippets" began to encircle Morlan.
court and to gallop around it, the Ger
mans could he seen scurrying away.
the men throwing down their rifles
and machine guns. while the officers
ran to and fro, trying in vain to check
the panic. German and anti-tank
guns may occasionally hit heavy
tanks, but against the whippets they
appear to be powerless, and the enemy