The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-01-01
RESUME Of WAR
SHOWS BIZ ALLIED
VICTORY IN WEST

French Front, Dec 31.-One mil
lion casualties have been suffered oy
the German armies along the front
occupied by the French troops during
1917, according to statistics carefully
compiled here. French territory
amounting to many hundreds of
square miles has been freed from
German domination by the years
fighting and the German Grown
Prince Frederick has been compelled
to leave between 10000 and 10000
prisoners from among his best troops
in French hands. His cannon TO
tured, and, in addition, thousands Of
machine guns and hundreds of trench
mortars.
front of the French a~ni~s in France
have marked the year and has ter
minated in a brilliant victory for
French armies First came the en-
forced retreat in march of the Ger
man forces from the greater part of
the Departments of the Somme. Disc
and the Aisne, brought about by the
! combined smashing blows delivered
by the French and British during the
battle of the Somme in the fall of
1916.
Then followed the French offensive
on the Aisne and in Champagne,
whose conclusion came only at the
end of seven months of almost con
tinuous fighting with the capture
| from the Grown Princes armies of
the key of the Hindenburg position
formed by the fort of Malmaison
and their reluctant retirement from
| the famous Chemin des Danes. This
left in the French hands al the good
| observatories useful for future op-
eratIons.
| In the meantime the French had
fought and won the eliminating bat
| tie for the liberation of Verdun, in
| the course of which the French
| troops regained nearly every inch of
the ground around the fortress which
| it had cost the Crown Prince 100000
men to capture in 1916.
Aviation played a leading part in
all operations in the course of the
year. No matter what weather pre-
vailed, the airslen were out observing.
accommodating, fighting Off German
airmen, accompanying the attacking
invader, bombarding the communi-
cations and depots of the enemy or
| making raids on German towns This
| latter, although they effected only
such towns as were used as military
centers, were made by way of repri-
sal for German air attacks on French
cities IN the east and north, where
numbers of French civilians had fall
! len victims to German bombs.
| In aerial combats the French avia-
tors undoubtedly proved themselves
masters of their German adversaries.
| BY the end of October, the last COM
plete return available, French avia-
| tors had destroyed in ten months SIT
German airplanes whose fate is was
| possible to confirm with certainty.
Besides these they had brought down
another 513, the absolute destruction
| of which could not be confirmed but
which had been seen to fan out of
control.
These figures totalling 1880 make
an excellent record and to them
0ust be added - German captive
balloons.
The American aviators of the La
fayette squadrilla who have now
teen Incorporated in the American
army, PLAYED a very credible part
With their French comrades in the
conflicts in the air Several of them
lost their lives in 1917 as did three of
the best known French ai-men, Guy
nemer, Dorme and Ltnoir
Besides the bombardment of
French open towns. German airmen
on several occasions bombed French
field hospitals at Dueny, Vadelain
court, Chateau Petit Monthairon and
Belrupt-