Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-29

prisoners and about fifty guns.
All this had frightened the enemy
commanders and they made frantic
efforts to stiffen the rising power
of their lines, but owing to the
rapidity of the British advance and
their heavy losses they had great
difficulty in reinforcing their de-
Tense. They had to make up d.
visions and bits of divisions al
ready cut to pieces in the recent
battles. Odd battalions and com
panies were mixed together in q
chaotic way and told to go forward
and fight. The German bandsmen
and transport drivers received rifles
and were sent into the lines with
orders to stand or die.
In an area of three miles there
were sixteen b~attalions made up
from five shattered divisions and
hopelessly mixed round about Mon
tauban. Further north, by Mory and
Cherisy, the Thirty-sixth and TWEEN
ty-third German divisions, both di.
visions Of storm troops, had been
so smashed that another division
which had been already in the
bloody fighting, so that many com.
panies were down to twenty-five
men instead of 100, had to be sent
up in their support.
Before their counter-attack or
Mory on August %, the Seventeenth
German army command issued 8
buasting orde" which said. 1--WE
have completely defeated four ant
a half British divisions and, what Is
more, they know it," Four Of theil
divisions were ordered forward tt
counter-attack and retake Moven,
neville and Ablainzeville. but only
n few men got to the railway anc
! there were many nonstarters, as the
British say. Those who did attemp'
to advance were caught by Jul al,
tillery and slaughtered. One battal
ion hear st. Leger found that regi
ments on the right and left of then
had failed and it was stranded.
Broke Commanders Nose
The British troops saw the stu
alton of these men and s%urrounde,
them so that they were forced t,
surrender in a mass to the num,be:
of 215. The company commando
of the Seventy-third Fusiliers
whose nose seems to have beef
broken by his men, was furious a
having been sent into the firing lin
after the dreadful slaughter of hi
regiment, and cursed his comman,
in strong language. Prisoners ais,
complained of their artillery frin,
as much as 900 yards short, and s
killing their own men.
Two new German divisions wer'
brought up against the Canadian
and the Thirty-fifth, which had beel
manning the Drocourt- Queant line
was ordered to go forward at
o'clock Tuesday night and retak'
Monchy, that high old hill which
saw under fire yesterday but still
securely in British hands. Again
there were many n~onstarters.
BY the results of this attempte,
attack one can picture truly enougl
the sullen revolt of the displrite,
men. Some units came forward un
der the sweep Of the British gums
whose fire was enormously strong
er than theirs in this part of tn
line, and fell under one of thos
slopes of death. A few resolut
bodies of men made as much as 40
va IDS of ground and there stayed
being wiped out man-by-man.
Once again the Thirty-ffth Ger
man division was ordered to ad
vance on Monchy, but after a dis
organized effort by the bravest me
they drifted back. For a time, a
any rate, the German infantr!
anart from the machine gunner
who were still most gallant an
resoluto, lost thei. spirit and ha