South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-07-27
yANKS DRIVE
ON THROUGH
HEAVY STORM
Battle East of Charmed RageS
Under Radiant Rainbow,
Lending a Theatrical As
peCt to Battlefield.
BY NEWTON {. PARkE.
InteruatonaI News Service


WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY
AT THE AISNE nighu, July 20
Americans engaged the Germans
this afternoon in the heart of a
thunderstorm. attacking in the Riz
forest. east Of Charmed In the late
afternoon they were pressing for
ward beneath a radiant rainbow
that famed i'm the sky high above
the battlefield. giving it theatrical
aspect
Information reaching the rear to-
night indicated that the Germans
were offering the sJ!ffest kind Of
resistance in the raVine near Char
mel where there were thick nests
Of machine guns. The Germans,
further east. adopted their favorite
methods Of stringing machine guns
in the trees and in open spaces of
the forest They poured hot FIRE in
to our advancing troops. but the
American artillery d;d good work in
smashing the nests
Germans are 'Strafed."
The Germans were "strafed"
throughout last night by the Amer
lean gunners and the attacks today
were rendered less difficult by the
effective work of the artillery.
The stubborn way in which the
boches have been holding on i'm this
zone indicates that they either hope
10 deliver counter blows soon or else
they have not yet had a chance TO
remove their material between the
wooded ground north OF the Marne
and Fere en- Tardennois and are
prolonging their resistance until the
supplies can be Withdrawn.
North of this area we made fur
ther progress. taking a group Of
farm houses that the Germans had
converted into forts. They were well
defended with machine guns.
Raise White Flag.
One Of these bIoCknouses stood
near Beauvardes. commanding the
Chateau Thierry- -Fere en- Tarden-
nois road and was held by 19 Ger
mans led by 'non-cOm. The Ger
mans had been ordered 10 fight 10
the death. but this morning when
they looked out they saw Ameri-
cans on their right and French
cavalry on their left and they raised
TIE white flag without making any
.esistance whatever.
In the same region IA Germans
had been holding up our advance
from a slight rise in the ground.
They had been fighting by night
and sleep ng by day and knew moth
ing Of the retirement of their main
army. They began 20 wonder why
rations were not being brought up
ard started from their dugouts %
investigate They had not gone far
before they ran into patrol OF
American doughboys. The 9meri-
cans made prisoners of the IA.
There have been several instances
where the Germans deliberately
sacrificed small groups that We're left
behind 10 stay the Franco-American
advance
Company Nearly Wiped Out
One company had been reduced
10 92 men by the terrific shelling
Of the American artillery. 1t was
commanded by a "non-com" who
had three light machine guns TO
support the forces holding a front
Of nearly a kilometre east Of Epieds.
When the Americans swarmed IN
from both sides they captured all
but two Of the hoches. Among the
prisoners taken in this sector was a
Polish artillery officer who said he
had been ordered 20 retire But ne
treatment of the Poles. who ne said.
never received any decorations nor
the "a me treatment accorded % the
others. that he decided 70 stay be
hind and surrender.
In spite of low-hanging clouds
there w3s much air activity TO-DAY.