Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-07-13
4 AUSTRALIANS
GET 80 GERMANS
Then Anzacs Advance 800
Yards on 2OOO-Yard
Front -,
CAPTURE $50 BAVARIANS
Heavy Rains Reducing Somme
Battlefield to Old-Time
Slough
CAPTURE $50 BAVARIANS
By PHILIP GIBBS

Special Cable to Euening Public Ledger
Copyrioht. 1918. by Netc YORK. Times Co.
War Correspondents Headquarters on
the Western Front, July 13.
There were heavy thunder storms
Thursday and yesterday over the
northern front. and rain has fallen
heavily for several hours at a time
between spells of sunshine, rather
like April weather.
This is good for the French farmers,
except those who have not yet gath
cred in the hay, and may be good for
long enough to bog the old battlefields
behind the German lines and swamp
their ways Of communication.
A few days of steady rain will be
enough to reduce the Somme battle
fields again to the same old slough
of despond through which the British
had to wallow in the winters of the
war. In Flanders. between Passchaen-
dale and Ypres. there Will be filthy
lakes and slush in which the guns get
stuck and the feet Of the men clogged.
So let it rain. Anything that is bad
for the enemy just now is good for us.
He has been having a bad time from
the Allied artillery and the prisoners
talk of the heavy casualties inflicted
upon his gunners by the British coun-
ter battery work with airplane oh.
servation beyond the Lys. According
TO these men the German guns have
been DANA sed by many direct hits.
even though thev keep changing po-
sitions to avoid the British fire
Their transports also have suffered.
and In the district of Lys they lost 500
horses In six weeks.
The Flanders grip" as they call the
sickness which Is now rife among them,
is not the only form of sickness which
is weakening their man-power FOR the
time Typhus is said to have occurred
in Mt least one resting division. It
would be interesting to know how far
this has spread among the other troops.
and how the wet weather will tend to
Increase or diminish the chance of in
fection.
Many Small Raids
Meanwhile the British troops are not
giving much peace to the German
divisions holding the line. while behind
them there Is intensive training by
shock troops for the next assaults. Last
night and this morning there were
many small raids. which resulted in the
capture of prisoners and destruction in
the German trenches and dugouts These
covered much of the line between
Flanders and the Somme. and ought to
result in useful information regarding
the enemy's. present condition.
+ One Of the most important raids in
! the early hours this morning was made
by Welsh troops. who found the enemy
in strength against them around the
village Of Hamel. near the old British
victory ground of Beaumont Hamel. ana
I not to be confused with the other village
/ of that name, taken on July by the
Australians The Welsh attacked with
skill and resolution and carried out
their purpose in spite of strong machine
gun fire and desperate resistance by tho
German soldiers.
They brought back sixteen prisoners
and one machine gun, after destroying
many German dugouts and iniicting
heavy loss on the garrison. They were
not able to get off scot-free themselves,
and there was an exciting quarter of
an hour when only the gallantry of the.
Welsh officers and men overcame the
difficulty of the situation.
Australians Raid in Force
On a larger scale was an operation
of Australian troops near Merris
Thursday night. They had bided their
time again to make one of those as
saults on the German outpost line
which they carried out successfully in
the neighborhood of Lamotte forest
where they kept the enemy in con-
tinual state of nervous apprehension.
The German syste NOR defense here
is to hold fairly wide No Mans
Land and thrust out small posts,
linked up with small craters, in which
it hides snipers and machine guns in
advance of the main line. This is, of
course, to avoid the shell fire concen-
trated upon definite lines and to keep
his battalions as far back as possible.
1t Is not a pleasant situation for the
outpost garrison, who are often cut
off for :, time from rations and their
way bach by barrage of shell fire
which Is flung behind them. With
the Australians against them, they
know that any time of the day or
nigh tthey are likely to be looking into
the CLINT of bayonets.
So it happened to them last eve
ming. Quite suddenly the Australian
attack opened with an enterprise of
party of four. who went across to a
German strong point and returned
soon afterward with the astonishing
number of more than thirty prisoners.
Then a bigger crowd OF Australian
. lads got on the move and went as
dep as 500 yards and as wide as 1000
yards over No Mans Land and the
German outpost line. s.