The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-08-01

city German military leaders insisted
must be taken: and lot of other in
/ formation along with this. all of which
and more. OF course. the intelligence
section of the British army had found
out the same as |. This is not swank
on my part simply state these facts
to prove that Sir Douglas Haig knew
when. where and now Hindenburg's
offensive was coming.
BRITISH EXTEND LINES.
Not very long before the offensive
began. an unfortunate thing occurred.
I The fortunes of war necessitated the
taking over Of more line by the British.
Formerly the British line ended near
St. Quentin. Now il was extended as
far as La Fere. and before the troops
got fairly into their new sector. Hin
denburg's blow fell.
Against the long thin British line,
reaching from the RIVER Scarpe to
the oise. at La Fere. was hurled the
mightiest force ever seen in battle
Along this 90 mile front three army
groups swept forward at dawn. under
cover of the mist These We're the
eth army of Otto Won Below, said to
be the ablest army commander Hin
derburs has; the I'd army of Won der
Marwitz and the 18th army of Won
/ Hutier, together numbering more than
so divisions. of which II divisions
We're used in 1.-The first days attack
/ Opposing the enemy were the small
/ Sd British army under Sir Julian
/ Byng. of Cambria fame. and rile small
er 5th army, under Gen. Cough. worn
down in the campaigns mentioned and
very thinly spread out.
] No soldiers on earth ever went thru
such an ordeal as did the British dur
I ing the seven days following the start
of that offensive. On March 23 the
i enemy crossed the Tortille and for a
moment it seemed that they might
succeed in separating the French and
British armies. which joined up just
south of this point. but the gaps were
closed and the 5th army went on re-
tiring with the Sd army falling back
r
South the French Gen Favolle. with
superb skill. kept the gaps closed
around Ham, Nesle, Chaum. Roye and
Noyons.
On the Somme came another crit
} ical moment Here again. had the
Germans been so clever as they like
/ 10 believe themselves. they might have
broken thru: but again the gap was
closed. On the e5th the enemy took
Mantinpuich and Courcelette, and Al
/ bert was entered on the following
DAY. but by this time Gen. Foch had
I been mafs seneralissimo in charge of
all operations on the vestern front.
! to French had moved northwestws ID
as far as Moreuil on the Avre permit
7 ting Haig to thicken his line. and the
offensive was brought to standstill
/ In ALL 81 divisions had been used by
the Germsns out OF a total OF some
| 200 divisions then identified in the
West
! The drive in Flanders came a few
days later. on April 9. II started in
.
/ Jus; south Of Armentieres. and two
British divisions on their flanks. BY
their Unexpectedly rapid advance in
the center. crossing the River f4ys
at Bac-St. Maur and pushing on to-
wards Bailleul. dangerous situation
was created for the British. and the
Germans knew it, So they quickly
I flung in more troops to enlarge the
! breach and the following day. struck
at Messines. north of Armentieres.
T This city was deluged with gas and
! "pinehed out"
J AS on the Somme. the Germans un-
der Won Armin and Won Quasi by ad-
vancing against the British LIST Army
(and the French. who had come up).
towards Hazebrouck. which soon be-
came their objective. forced a retire
ment of the army to the north. the cd
which kad won Pssschendaele. From
the lpres salient. now a dangerous
| pocket. the British fell back with
practically no losses. to Ypres itself
This was heartbresking for the men
who had won this ground in 1917, but
the war had now become struggle.
not for towns and villages. but out
manoeTyre and annihilate armies.
THE DRIVE FOR PARIS.
But the great decision to brigade
/ Americans with the British and