The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1918-09-20
BRITISH GAIN
lconttxued from PaEy o1e.)

! tleIrunt to-day was strewn with dead in
/ field gray uniforms and more than 5000
, prisoners were in the British cages.
The cntirp British operation has
grown into a brilliant and important
! success, which was not forecast in the
! original limited plans Not the least
! important feature 81 the victory wa"
, the slaughter inflicted on the enemy
! forces. particularly during their frrn-
/ zi-i counter attacks. when they were
moved down like wheat with the ma
chine guns, or swallowed up in mae!-
strom ot crashing shells from the Bit
ish barrage.
There were few Spectacular incidents
in yesterdays lighting. although the
operation as whole was Spectacular
enough when one considers that those
, gallant English and Australian veterans
had in many places 10 fight their way
I'M three lines Of ridges. with valleys
| intervening, working forward doggedly
over Shiny ground in the face or n
: vicious machine gun and rifle fire from
: q myriad OF stronEholds and from NUM-
crous villages and hamlcts which had
! to he surrounded and crushed into sub
, nilsson.
| On the right flank there WAS cspec-
tally bitter fighting about lio!non VII
lagr Tho British had captured part OF
| this place the day before, but the Ger
mans still held n section Of H. with ma
chine guns trained from every house.
These had to: be cleared out. and this
had to be done systematically by small
parties who dared the hostile fire and
bombed the Huns out of their hiding
places.
A far more serious engagement was
wagcd east Of tho win &C. where the Ger
mans had constructed QuadrllateTal
trench system which was heavily armed.
Here the contending forces struggled
throughout the day ut clos" quarters
| Tho British toward evening gained
footing in the trenches and continued
"a press thr attack during the night.
Part Of the system was still unSubdu'd
this morning and il was being stoFH1eo.
Throughout this srctnr there wcro
pocket. "t German manned machine
guns, md each OF these Earrisons was
legion unto. itself. Between Holnnn
and Frcsnoy-lcPctit were three little
patches ri woods: these. fairly hristlcd
with machine guns. Thny we're finally
cleared out, hut il was a desperate adj
venture for doughty English troops who
went charging through them amidst
hail Of bullets and combcd the occupants
into silence.
The eastern part Of Frcsnoy WAS still
in the hands Of the enemy this morning.
with tho British holding the western
section and pressing the defenders hard.
To the north in tho center OF the bat
Tie line the Australians pushed through
to their final ohjcctircs and even be-
yond in some places with their accus-
toned thorouEhncsS and disregard for
their personal fate. TIL" overseas men
worked around those villages which were
strongly held and employed heavy
smoke barrnEe with great success.
Prisoners declare. that because OF this
smoke screen they never knew wh"r"
the Australians wrr1 gnirE to strike
next and as 4 result there WAS more or
p0Sitr them.
I.c vergucr and Villnrct were taken
without much trouble. About Hargi
court and TenplcuX leo urrard. how
ever there was hard tghtiag. There arc
numerous QUARTS in this section and
these were filled with German machine
cunners. whu had n b. disposed of be-
fore the advRnC" could proceed. The de-
lay was not great. The rangy Australians
were about and amongst tho enemy like
"A whirlwind. and hc WAS lucky Hun
who lived to take the long trail back 10
.hc prison camp.
IN: Australians had to negotiate :hrrn
ridges here and on tho Inst Of these.
which overlooked the Hind"nhurE line.
tho Germans madr~a determined las:
ditch" stand.
Savage work characterized tho hGht-
Ing here but the Germans wer" no
match for tho hRrd-hittinS Customers.
and wrrc forced tn fall back little by
little until they reached the outpost Sys-
tern IN the Hindnnburg line. This de-
frnsc was heavily wired and strongly
held. Back Of IL on the eastern side ~
tho canal lay the main IiindcnGurE line
Of Notifications.
French Gain.
PARIS. Sept. l9,--The French. contin-
uing their attacks southeast Of ST.
Quentin. have reached the. outskirts az
iA.nny. according to tho Frrnch war Of
lice announcement tonight. In the zones
sector numerous emmy attacks west
ri Jru"y were rcpulSed.
LONDON. Sept. l3~-Thc prisoners
taken by the British in the operation
hogan Wednesday north Of ST. Quentin
now .scred 10000. according TO Field
Marshal IIaig's report tonight. Nor"
than 60 big guns were taken.