Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-10-18
FIGHTING IN FLANDERS.
French. British and selsians Have the
Germans on the Run.

prt 49,. (By the Associalca tFess-
so %. m)-The Germans nave start
.J n retreat on tremendous scale
from northern Belgium. French cav
airy IS approaching Thielt. seven miles
from the banks OF the Ghent- -bruges
canal The canal itself Is only ~
miles from the border OF Holland. 80
fast Is the enemy retreating that the
French. British and Belgian infantry,
-, j,,st in the center of the battle
from, have lost touch entirely with the
enemy. a.
Th. Helcians. advancing astride the
.rnorout Bruges and Thorout-ostend
roads. having defeated the Germans.
WHO are rctreating rapidly.
This undoubtedly is one OF the wars
Greatest ami most vital victories lof
IN, .allant little Belgian army:
ably assisted by the crack Frcnch ana
British troops. now has driven the de-
Spoilrrs OF its country from large Soc
lion which the Germans have occupied
sinc. the early days of the war ana
Ih,s rnin,d positions Of such lmpor-
If
abandon the entire coast ol bclSIuH'.
Moreover the sweeping advance ot
rhr Allied infantry. preceded 10y
IAN of French cavalry, advancing rap
iIly has left the entire area Ill whlch
are the city OF Lille ana the EF''u
mining and manufacturing ulstriS's vi
.rnt,, uin-. RoubaiX and Tournai, III Il
salient which is growing deeper ever!
hm,r and which the enemy cannot
hop, TO hold. A..
The French cavalry. which Is on th'
cr,s, of the Allied advance. mas uo'r
r,rvrI,us work. To-day II galord
forward more than 10 kiloihv'CrS' I'm ,I
uu,ntly carrying out charges WIN All
tho dash usually associated WIN cav
airy upon isolated posts OF enemy ma
hin. ,yInuerS which vainly attempted
In hold up it's advance. som" oi 'n'S'
r,nncrS. taken prisoners, sllu t",S
w,r, totally unable To undcrslailu WY
the war WAS going on anu WI! th'!
w.r,. called upon to continue hShiihE:
nr,, officer said. I'VE have offered all
I'm. terms in the world for peace no
body seems willing 10 accrpt th'h''
Resistance. where II mas "'rh VI
rrrrd bv the enemy. has been cNtraor-
Isr,rily fierce. for i'm these places II
nhyiousIy has been the purpose oi thr
commanders of the fleeing Germans 10
",in time in which to rcmov" thrir
materials. stubborn fighting has been
reportrd, especially from IN" region oi
Thurout. The battle here has been from
street To street and house 10 houS''
and large numbers of the enemy nave
hrrn killed. Some Belgian forces nave
swept around the city i'm order 10 r"t
rho roads at the rear and also assist
in bottling up the enemy trying 10
hold ont i'm the city Itself.
The Germans had placed machln'
,,uns in thc windows of houses and III
cellars and fired murderous streams Oh
bullcts into the advancing Belgians'
but were unable To stop them. inc
Relginns fought with dOggcd deter
mination such as only troops hghting
10 regain their outraged country could
display. Nothing could stop them.
The British. following up the re-
treating Germans and overcoming thc
rear guards. are reported as reaching
Qucsnoy. and as having captured Lin
sclles. along the Lys. The BclglanS
at the time this dispatch was filed
were reported to be past keyem ana
10 have reached positions on the oth-
er side Of Cachten and Ardoye. both
of which they captured. Northeast
of COurtrai, Bavichovc was stormcd
and taken and the Bcgians were still
going.
The LinsclleS position Is most valua-
BILE for, the place being northwest OF
Tourcoing. the Allied troops are grad
ually outiianking the entire Lille sa-
ient, from which there are further
signs that the enemy is withdrawing.
N% n matter of fact. his troops In this
salient are in an extremely prccariouS
position. They must get out rapidly
or face disastrous consequences.
\ thousand more prisoners and
many more cannon have been captur-
ed. The Germans ut many places. cs-
pccially in the northern part Of the
battle area. seem to be surrendcring
freely. Many more civilians have been
rescued from the towns and districts
captured and little professions OF
these are struggling rearward out Of
range of the guns and out of the way
of the fighting troops. Stories are be-
Ginning To come back how liberated
Belgium women have seen their sons.
brothers or husbands going forward
into battle.
Quite Il number of civilians also
have been rescued from Roulcrs and
its cnvirons. the Germans having left
in such a hurry that they had not
time To cvacuatc the civilians who
wanted to stay and take a chance at
being liberated. Today these nen. wo-
men and children are again walking
on the free soil Of France.
The Germans appear to be making
strenuous efforts 10 save their muni-
tionS and equipment and their mate
rial the accumulation OF four years,
from the coast districts Of Belgium.
The roads behind the Germans are
Uttered with all sorts OF transport and
Allied airplancs are again playing haN-
oc with the retreating enemy.
The weather today was cloudy, but
thus far no more rain has fallen.
However. Flanders Is mud from one
end to tho other and this condition
makes movement difficult for the AL
lied troops. The ooze and soft ground
make il doubly difficult for the enemy
Ia move back. Therefore. the Allied
soldiers have put up with great hard
ships, for they realize that they have
the enemy on the run in the most vital
section OF the west front and do not
desire To let him have "A chance 10 re-
ass"mbl" his tattercd units.
Outside Courtrai the infantry has
progressed about three miles and here
have been compelled to fight their
way forward. for the Germans had or
derS 10 hold on to the last and they
did so. Not many Of those who had
been stationed with machine guns to
try to hold up the advance OF the AL
lied troops managed to escape. Virtu-
ally all were killed or wounded. or are
prisoners.
IL would seem that IL the weather
holds out long enough and the advance
continues at the present rate Of speed.
the Germans soon will have lost con-
troll OF great stretches OF Belgium, cs-
pccially the coast which is important
for submarines, aside from stretches
of northern France from where, all
rules Of tactics strategy demand they
must evacuate as being outflankcd
with their lines turned. So far as Is
known. the Germans have not any for
midable lines in their rear where they
can find refuge.
Moreover, the German high COM
mand Is not in position TO send REIN
forccmcnts of any consequence to
Flanders. as they are all needed and
fully occupied elsewhere along the
front
The Bclg'ans, British and French