Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-20
down 81 GERMAN 4.
AEROS IN TWO DAYS
British Bomb Mannheim and
Other Points-Portuguese /
Repulse Enemy.
FRENCH DESTROY FOES

By the Associated Press
On the British and French fronts tho
German artillery has been most active
on the sectors which were bombatded
heavily last week-Ypres, Armentieres,
Cambria, the Champagne, Verdun and
the Vosges. The marked aerial fighting
on the British front continues and Brit
ish airmen have accounted for twenty
eight more German machines, making q
total of ffty;four in two days, thirty
seven of which were destroyed.
Entente aviators have been busy
bombing enemy billets and airdromes
and British airnen have dropped bombs
on Mannheim, Germany.
Portuguese Repulse Foe.
LONDON, March 2o.-:Raids attempted
by the enemy last night in the neighbour
hood OF Fauquissant were successfully
repulsed by Portuguese troops" says to-
days official communication
with the exception of some artillery
activity on both sides in the Passchen<
daele sector there is nothing further -
report"
Drop Ton of Bombs. 4
LONDON, March -. British air.
planes dropped a ton OF bombs on tho
German city of Mannheim on Monday
it was officially announced tonight.
In intense aerial fighting on thu
British front in France and Belgium
counted for by British aviators. says am
other official statement on aviation opera
lions tonight. Twelve British machines
are reported missing. The Statements
reads:
Nine tons of bombs were dropped
Monday on enemy rest bfllets and ans
munition dumps and also on the Busigs
ny railroad station and two atrdromess
one of which was occupied by large
bombing machines.
aerial fghting was exceedingly in-
tense, encounters occurring between
large formations. Nineteen German
airplanes were destroyed and nine were
driven down out of control Twelve
of our machines are missing.
six hundred bombs were dropped
during the night on two airdrones
used by enemy night flying machines
and on ammunition dumps and ballets,
All our machines returned"
Belgians Regain Ground. 1
PARIS. Tuesday, March 1s.-Fonow~
ing is the official Belgian communfcas
ton of today:
.An the advanced elements Of our
footing yesterday in tho region OF
Newport have been reconQuered by US.
The enemy is now without any part OF
the positions which he penetrated.
the enemy attempted to seize adv1ncs6
posts near Beyerdyk. but our barrags
fire defeated his effort :
Numerous bodies Of Ge9man8 Oro
found in the trenches which were -ocs
cupfed." -
French Destroy dermanA = I
BY the Associated Press. &s~;
ON THE FRENCH FRONT NJ
FRANCE, Monday, March 1S.-In . raid
into the German lines at AalAncour&
1000 eoc froons so,nS o. the ermsn sSsass
full Of troops waiting to launch a coun-
ter attack. The shelters, with all their
occupants. were destroyed by bombs A
large number of German trench mortars
were demolished and many machine guns
were brought back by the French.
While the prisoners taken in the raid
were going to the rear the German ar
tillery fired a large number of shells
the captires.
Interest at Verdun.
The center of military interest during
the last few days has passed from tho
Champagne to the vicinity of Verdun.
where both the French and the Germans
have broken into marked activity.
In the Verdun region the correspond.
entA watched the execution of two
trench raids on large scale carried
out by the French on Saturday even
ing and at dawn on Sunday. the results
of which exceeded all expectations.
Within twelve hours the French had
penetrated the remarkably strong sys-
TENS of German trenches in both
Cheppy wood and Malancourt wood to a
depth at some points of more than a
quarter of a mile. They destroyed all
the enemy works, his block houses and
shelters, which had taken the Germans
three years to construct, and brought
back two groups of prisoners, each
eighty men, wh1ie tho
French themselves suffered only the
slightest losses.
Gen. Won Gallwitz's army, acting un.
der the direct orders of the German
crown prince. displayed evident nerv-
BUSINESS under this pressure, as was
shown by the hurried arrival of large
reserves in motor lorrfes They were
too late. however, to hinder the French.
The ground was very unfavorable to
the French attack, owing to the clayey
soil, in which immense shellholes from
former battles had become filled with
Among these the raiders were forced to
pick their way under the constant peril
of slipping in and drowning. The ar
tillery preparation, however. was so
that the French met
with only slight opposition to their
progress.
Everything on Schedule.
The Cheppy wood operation was the
easier of the two. owing to the fact that
it was daylight. and within five minutes
after the assault groups had left the
parallels groups of prisoners could be
seen running toward the French lines.
was carried out on time,
schedule, and when the French returned
to their own lines they had secured
about eighty prisoners. 80.
The second raid. that upon Malan-
court wood. was a wonderfully impress.
sive spectacle, in the darkness just be-
fore dawn. The correspondent passed
the night on knoll opposite the OBJ
jective, from which nothing but the oc-