Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-27
GERMAN ADVANCE ON
FLANDERS FRONT
HELD At ALL POINTS
Continued from First Paee.)


the defending lines and were encir-
cling the elevation, the French chung
to their position and obeyed their COM
mands to the letter. They battled to
es' bitter end AND aSe tn Rsn sss
crest only over tho bodies Of those
gallant defenders:
No more dramatic and inspiring stand
has been made in recent days than
this.
The allied counter attack began At an
early hour this morning. While the
French infantry drove forward against
KENNEL from the west their British
comrades began operations on their
left. In the first rush the sturdy Brit
ish Tommies forced their way forward
in the face of heavy FIRE and into
KENNEL village. 1t was striking
exhibition Of bravery that took the
men in khaki across the open ground
that was being swept with machine
gunfire.
For two hours they held the village
while Germans from the nsighboring
hill poured bullets into the place from
rapid nrers. At o'clock It became ap-
parent that 1t would be a useless sacri-
nee OF life to remain longer and the
British were withdrawn to safer ground
from which the assault continued.
The French were reported to have
made some progress. but they. too. were
KENNEL and other points. 1t was OBJ
vious that 1t would be extremely diff
cult to gust the Germans from this
commanding position which they held
with large numbers Of heavily armed
mon.
Fate Of Defenders Unknown.
How long the French regiment was
able to continue its dramatic resistance
on the crest Of Mont KENNEL yester-
day may not be known until the Ger
man historians record 1t after the war
It was about o'clock yesterday morn
ing when the Germans finally succeeded
IN encirciinB KENNEL after forcing
back the allied line at the junction Of
the French and British west of Wyt-
schaete. From that time until late in
the day regiments chung to the hill and
continued a terrible execution among
the enemy troops with machine guns
Beyond that nothing is known Of their
There were very heavy attacks
all day yesterday. The British imme-
diately began pushing troops down to-
ward the gap after the Germans had
driven an entering wedge and hard
nghting ensued, A particularly SAN
culinary struggle was waged at vier-
STRAIT. northeast of Wytschaete, and
here the contending troops fought in
and out Of the hamlet for hours.
the British counterstroke which GUST
ed the Germans from vilIers-Breton-
neux. south of the Somme, was a great
success from the start. The town had
been cleared Of the enemy by yesterday
afternoon with the exception of two
pockets" Of infantry. one near the
neighboring monument Of the war of
1870. These pockets were cleared up
last evening. Several light British
Tanks were used against the enemy at
the monument. There was fierce fight
Ing IN the streets Of the town after the
British launched their counter attack
at 10 o'clock. British gunners had been
deluging the place with gas and the as
saulting infantry went in wearing gas
Attack Was a Surprise.
The Germans also were forced to don
their masks and the streets were filled
quickly with madly fighting men who
looked ike beings from another world
In the big eyes of their face protectors.
The town hall was full of boches. Many
OF them had retired to the cellar, where
they were trying to sleep In their gas
masks. for there had been no Thought
OF British attack that night,
Large numbers Of the enemy wera
slain in the streets and many were
taken prisoner. BY Thursday morning
those who had been in hiding were
crawling out. and surrendering freely.
KaG
masks.
Among the prisoners captured were
several young officers who gave their
opinion Of things in general with re-
ar tha a. eandcr ,a They were chagrined
made Of the villers-Bretonneux at
TACK. Some had unkind things to saw
OF the higher command.
A large part of their trouble the ofi-
GERS laid to the fact that the Brftish
held hill just north Of the village
which gave the defenders full obserya-
ton on the Germans for mauy miles
This hill. known as Hill 104, lies cIose
to the front line and commands a Wide
sweep Of country.
Without Food for Three Days.
From it the British gunners hav.
played havoc with the German troops
and transport. The prisoners said that
for three days prior to the attack they
had had virtually nothing to eat. be-
cause the food trains were smashed by
she'll fire. and kitchens. which tried to
cock what food there was on hand.
were continually being demolished. AS
result the Germans had little love
for their task when the time came to
attack.
The Germans were more or less
buoyed up. however, by the promise of
great things from the tanks which
had not yet been seen in action.
A British officer in talking with one
Of the young German lieutenants. ask
ed the latter to explain why the Ger
man submarines had sunk only one
American transport.
THAT is what we would like to
know" the youngster replied.
When questioned as to what he
thought the reason for all the gorld
being against the Germans he gave
the same reply. The officer said the
Germans had been wondering about
these very problems and others Of
similar nature for some time. The cap
tured officers appeared to be clean-cut
fa1loUs Of Cood fvnoa