Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-04
NTS GIBBS PICTURES
4GALNST ENEMY SECTOR


they will be able to camoufiage all
this in the eyes of their own people OF
explain what cannot be explained
away is an interesting problem.
Our men are full of hope and eager
ness to make an end Of the whole
business; to strike so hard and to &c
so fast that the enemy will have nc
time to recover. To end the year
with peace is what inspires the hearts
Of our men, and for that they will
fight with their spirit keyed high. Per
haps our wishes go beyond realities
but at least the vision is good.
Some of our men are on their way
back to something like peace already
Red Cross trains are running dowr
from the casualty clearing stations
with Blighty men. They line close tc
the windows, and have passed dowr
from that abominable land where
nothing grows between the shell
craters but rank grass and weeds, and
where there is nothing human except
their own selves in this devilish desert
of war.
They travel now behind the lines
into the sweet good country of France
where the last of the harvest is being
gathered in and bronzed wheatsheaves
stand in stubbled fields and peasant
girls wave hands to them and small
boys and girls watch by clover
patches where sleek cattle feed, and
white, sun-drenched clouds are piled
high above peaceful villages.
Through this landscape, near to the
scenes of war now far away, in
beauty, our wounded pass homeward
bound after great victories.
Wonderful Battle Scenes
September 81 have seen some very
wonderful scenes on the battle fields
today. All were proof Of another vic
tory, a big and astounding victory, in
its first hours. After all our recent
progress and the long endurance of
our men, we have pierced the sector
of the Drocourt-Queant line, the main
line of German resistance, and our ad.
vanced troops are away beyond. The
enemy has massed units from divisions
fresh or broken, every man and batch
Of
them, pioneers and dismounted caval-
ry, labor battalions and signalers
whom he can gather together in his
back areas miles away, and is rush
motors and carts, in order to smash
us back and save himself from ir-
reparable disaster.
SO there may be hard fighting
ahead: but our men-Canadians and
Lancashire men and Scots and Eng
lish county troops-have reached the
enemy's strongest line, taken great
numbers of prisoners, utterly shat
tered the enemy's first lines of de-
fense and got into country where we
have never been before and where
now they are fighting against strong
and desperate resistance. II is a re-
markable military feat that this at
tack of ours should be made so quick
ly after the battles I described las,
week, in which our men engaged in
hard and bitter fighting around Bulle-
court and Hendecourt and Riencourt
with the Germans stiffening against
them every day. ] said in my mes
sage yesterday that we had gained
the phase of offensive, which starreu
on August 8, by driving the enemy
back to the edge of his main line of
defense-his famous Hindenburg line,
with the Drocourt- -Queant switch or
Wotan line, as they call it, at the
northern end-and that a new phase
would begin when we drove through
that. But I did not then think we
could start that new attack SO soo,.,
considering all that is involved.
The situation was still difficult yes
terday about Hendecourt and Rien-
court because the enemy had counter
attacked again heavily and we had
withdrawn from both those villages
1t was necessary to retake them be-
fore the Canadians and our English
battalons could go ahead today, to
storm the DrocourtQue--t line on
the way to Cagnicourt and Buissy
and the country beyond.
Lancashires Retake Villages
This task of retaking the villages
was carried out yesterday by Lanca-
shire troops who had already attacked
at 1890 a. m. on one day, 1890 a. m
on another, and at and 5 o'clock yes
terday morning, and now at Cos
o'clock that evening started out again
to meet the enemy in the open. They
stormed their way into the villages,
and our observers, whom l met today,
saw them fighting at close grips with
the Germans in the ruined streets,
while others of the enemy escaped and
ran.
The Lancashire machine gunners did
terrible work in this neighborhood fir
ing al the enemy with close targets,
and one sergeant claims to have killed
sixty men with his own gun. One
Lancashire light trench mortar bat
terY. further south by Rullecourt