Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-09-19
.HAIG'S FORCES
TIGHTEN GRIP
ON ST. QUENTIN
Yesterdays Attack Against
German Lines Achieves
Important Results
BY Associated Press

With the British Army In France,
Sept 19.-The British troops made a
powerful attack against the German
lines to the west and northwest. of
st. Quentin yesterday and most i'm
portant results were achieved. A
deep advance into the enemy terri
tory strengthened the already pow
erful grip the British have on St
Quentin, one of the most strongly
fortified parts of the Hfndenburg
line. To the south the French CO.
operated IN what is likely to prove
an operation of vast portent with re-
spect to the Hindenburg defensive
position.
The zone involved in the British
movement lay, roughly, between Hol-
non, on the south, and CouZeaucourt.
Within a few hours Peiziere. Tenn
pleux LIE Guerard, Epehy, Ronssoy
and Villeret were behind the advanc-
ed British forces, and bitter fighting
was in progress at many other points
in the forward zone. More than 5000
prisoners have already been sent
back to the cages.
The advance thus far recorded
in some places more than two miles
means that the British have at
numerous points gained the crest of
the ridge along which their old front
line ran prior to the German often
sive in March, and from their new
positions were looking down on the
Hindenburg line in the valley to the
east.
Germans Fight Fiercely
That hard fighting would be en-
t.. II. fAr
gone conclusion. The main enemy op-
position came from machine guns
and artillery The counter barrage
which the Germans sent over in re-
ply to the British bombardment was
much more severe than the enemy
had been able to provide IN the re-
cent fighting and, as an additional
feature, the Germans maintained a
heavy barrage over the back areas
with high velocity guns, which had
been concentrated for the purpose.
The German infantry surrendered
quite freely in places. In fact, in the
center of the attack where the Aus
tralians were working. a considerable
number of graycoats deliberately
charged through the British barrage
to give themselves up.
The operation cannot be consider
ed as a major operation, as compar-
ed with recent battles. The objectives
sought, however, were important,
both from the defensive and often
sive standpoints.
Attack Begins at Dawn
The assault began at dawn. Rain
began to fall about 2 o'clock, and
when the British went over the top
the ground was already Shiny and
hard to negotiate, especially when
h. ID 1erac 81, Cd a., H. on
had to charge up them. Tanks ac-
companied the troops and rendered
invaluable service in the early stages
of the conflict, which waXed warm
from the start.
On the north Peiziere and a
strongly fortified sugar factory to
the northeast were taken by storm
after hard fighting. Epehy proved a
tough nut to crack. Here the famous
Alpine corps had been brought up,
and the German army boasts no bet
ter troops than these.
1t was futile to attempt a frontal
attack against this place, which was
fairly bristling with machine guns
The British, accordingly, worked
about it to the north and south and
squeezed it out. Ronssoy was carried
by storm and a hundred prisoners
were cleaned from the surviving gar
rison.
In the center the Australians had
to fight for every inch of ground they
took, but they pushed steadily for
ward until they reached the crest of
the ridge. BY $40 o'clock the Aus
tralians had already taken a total of
500 prisoners. Most of these were
Bavarians and men of the First Ger
man reserve division and they ap-
peared to be a poor class of men as
they came struggling back.
One of the hottest engagements
took place just south of LIE Verguier,
where the Germans had fortified
themselves in a mill. This stronghold
was surrounded and $50 of the gar
rison were forced to surrender.
On the right flank there was
equally hard fighting. Holnon had
been taken on Tuesday as a preli-
minary to yesterdays attack, and
from this point the British, went for
ward.
Tuesday night German airplanes
were busy bombing the st. Quentin
sector, and the enemy utilized a
number of new type planes of huge
size. Three of these were shot down
east of Peronne. They were capable
of seating eight men. The most as
founding thing about them, however,
was that they carried bombs thirteen
feet long which contained 1000
pounds of explosives. This is by far
the biggest bomb the Germans have