Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-05-03


On Thursday the Germans in great
force attacked the positions held by
the French on Mount KENNEL, and af-
ter a desperate battle the defenders
were forced to retire to the north and
west. The Huns continued their ad-
vance for a mile and q half and also
took the town of Dranoutre. Berlin
claimed the capture of st. Eloi, only
three miles from Ypres, and that city
was admittedly in grave danger. The
taking of KENNEL mountain permitted
the Germans to dominate the railway
from Ypres to Calais. On Friday the
allies began counter-attacks for the
purpose of regaining this height and
by Saturday they had made consider
able progress.
IA
The terrific slaughter of Germans
since their offensive opened, due to
their custom of advancing in mass
FORMATION across open ground, has
been more than they could stand, and
L~udendorff has put a stop to that
method of attack. The Huns now dash
forward in smaller and separate par
ties and take shelter when the chance
offers.
In the assault on Villers-Bretonneaux
the German tanks made their first APP
pearance, leading the infantry, and
a spectacular battle with British tanks
ensued. Several of the heavy Hun ma
ahfnnc, ~, no rod +uro 1fnht Rritich tanks
and disabled one of them. A big Brit
ish tank rolled up to the rescue and
after a sharp fight put one of the Ger
man monsters out of action and drove
the others from the field.
General Doyen's fine brigade of
American marines, 1t appears, has been
in the thick of the battle in France
and the casualty list sent over proves
the soldiers of the sea" have main
tanned their best traditions, for the list
shows "a killed, PA wounded and not
n taken prisoner. The heaviest loss
sustained by the marines was in the
forest of Apremont, in Lorraine, where
two hot attacks by the Germans were
epulSeO by the Americans.
The Americans in the Toul sector
have not been seriously attacked since
the battle of S~eicheprey. Belated de-
tails of that conflict tell of the heroic
conduct of our boys while they were
being driven back from that village
and were retaking it and r~e-establish-
ing the lines. Though their casualties
were about 200, General Pershing re-
ported they killed at least 300 Ger
mans. officers and men alike distfn-
guished themselves by their bravery,
individual deeds of heroism in the
lace of great odds being numerous.
Ia
There was great activity among the
air fighters on the west front last
week, and the outstanding event was
the killing of Baron Won Richthofen,
one of the foremost German aviators
and leader of the famous "circus." He
was engaged in a fight with two Brit
fsh planes and flew low over the Brit
ish lines, where a bullet pierced his
heart. With characteristic chivalry
the English gave him a fine funeral
paying tribute to the memory of a gal
liant and brave foe.
Several American airmen reached
the coveted distinction of being num-
bered among the "aces"-those who
have downed at least five enemy flyers.
And some of our aviators also met
death.
"a
Little news came out of Russia, but
1t is evident the Germans are still
pursuing their plans OF annexation.
Indeed, the kaiser is being openly urg-
ed to assume the kingship of Livonia
and Esthonia, and it is announced that
a valuable part of Poland will be add
ed to Prussia. German forces have
reached Simferopol In the Crimea, cut
ting the railroad connection of the fort
ress of Sebastopol with the mainland.
The governments of the Crimea, Minsk
and Homel have asked to be incor-
porated in the Ukraine. All attempts
to open peace negotiations between Uk-
raine and Russia have failed. In Fin
land the German forces cooperating
with the White guards have made fur
ther progress and the Finnish bolshe-
Wiki government has evacuated Viborg.
Ia
There was considerable severe fight
Ing on the italian front last week, but
without definite result, and In Mace
donna the allies made considerable ad-
vances, capturing several towns.
"a
Poor little Holland seems on the
point Of being dragged into the great