The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-09-03
MAY mean The
EVACUATION OF
NORTH FRANCE.
German Armies in Motion
From Ypres to PerOnne.
Backward Movement Is on a
5O-Mile Front.
IS RESULT OF HAIG'S SMASH
DOuai and Cambria Are in I'M
minent Peril.
Large Areas Are Evacuated To
Escape Ruin.
HUNS ON VERGE OF DISASTER
Whole Front From Rheims to
North Sea Is Jolted.
Interesting Developments Ex-
pected on French Sector.
Whole Front From Rheims to
North Sea Is JOlted.
Interesting Developments Ex
pected on French Sector.
(By the Associated Press.)

On a front of virtually fifty miles,
from just below Ypres to a point near
Peronne on the Somme. the German
armies are in retreat.
This retrogade movement is not a
voluntary one on the part of the enemy
but has been forced by the series of
unremitting hammer blows inflicted by
Marshal Foch in the past six or seven
weeks. IT has now been accelerated
by the notable victory won by Field
Marshal Haig yesterday in breaking
thru the strong defensive lines pro-
tecting the railway centers of Douai
and Cambria. and threatening to out
flank even the main Hindenburg line
south of St Quentin. Already the
taking of ten thousand prisoners by
the British in their advance is report
ed and the German casualties in
killed and wounded are declared to
have been notably heavy as their
thickly massed forces felt the force
of the British blow. So pronounced
and so speedy is the German retire
ment that it seems as if the enemy. if
he has not met with disaster, is peri
lousy on the verge of one
Retreat Speeds Up.
In what appears like an effort to
escape in time, the German retire
ment, which had been proceeding
somewhat leisurely both north and
south of the Somme. has been
markedly accentuated north of that
river In this movement the i'm
portant French coal mining city of
Lens, at the gates of which the Brit
ish pounded vainly virtually all last
wear. has been evacuated, the British
moving in.
fastening Out of Lys Salient.
To the north in Flanders, the re-
treat is continuing and the British
have further closed up the Lys salient
by taking possession of Wolverkhem,
two miles south of KENNEL. South OF
Lens, the Germans apparently are ac-
knowledging themselves beaten on
the Queant-Drocourt line, where
Haig's break thru was effected, and
are retreating in this vitality important
sector without attempting counter
drive upon the victorious BRUSH
Still further south the retirement
has resulted in the evacuation OF
areas three to four miles deep on both
sides of the Bapaume- Cambria road,
the British taking town after town in
this area in their steady advance.
Took Huns BY Surprise.
Altho the German command must
have been expecting an attack on the
Hindenburg switch line, which the
British had closely approached In
their earlier advances, it apparently
was not expected at the moment. The
Germans seem to have been surprised
at the quickness with which Ha1g'
Canadians and other British forces,
after fighting their way up the line,
organized a crushing attack against
the line itself. This morning alone. on
the twenty mile front where the Brit
ish are mainly engaged. they are re-
ported to have advanced no less than
a maximum of four miles. This seems
to emphasize the clearness of the
break, and, with the large captures of
prisoners, points to the demoraliza-
fion of the German forces in this area.
May Force Evacuation North France.
1t is too early to estimate with any
degree of accuracy what effect the
present big drive of the allies may
ultimately produce. The fall of
Douai and Cambria. which now seems
not improbable IN the near future
would put the entire German line out
of Joint between the North Sea and
Rheims, however, and would be like
ly to force the evacuation of a great
part of northern France now occupied
by the Germans.
Operations by the French and
Americans in the south may be count
ed on to work toward such a result
There is a hint in today's dispatches
t,1at some development of importance
is impending on the southern front
where the left flank of the linden
burg line is under Franco-Americar
pressure