The sun., 1918-10-05
GREAT FIRES MARK
RETREAT OF ENEMY
Even Churches Are Destroyed
as Germans Retire From
Flanders.
ARMY IS DEMORALIZED
Men Of Many Units Herded
Into Divisions in Effort to
Stay British 0nrush.
ARMY IS DEMORALIZED

sp,cidi Gable Despdtch to The SUN from fAe
London Times Service.
Copyright. 1915; oil rights reserved.
WITH THE BRITISH ARMY IN FRANCE,
oct. I've learned early yesterday
morning that the German positions on
the Armentieres front had been evac-
uated an hour and a half before dawn,
tie rear areas presumably having been
cleared in advance. Contrary to their
usual custom the Germans left no rear
guards to cover their retirement; the
trenches, snipers' posts redoubts, all
were empty. There was no fighting ex-
cept at n few points. where machine
guns disputed the advance. To-day the
enemy seems to be blowing UP churches
and buildings everywhere and blowing
up mis- stores everywhere the landscape
is dotted with columns OF smoke.
The British northeast Of st. Quentin
advanced to-day two and a quarter miles
and took seven villages, with several
thousand prisoners. They took back all
that they had lost in counter attacks
and also the notorious Beaurevoir lire.
oyerrunning its entire length of 5000
Yards. The German defence was weak
and many prisoners were taken there
also. The impetuoslty OF the British
advance east Of lie Catelet was over
whelming.
Morale OF Enemy shaken.
The morale OF the prisoners generally
seems bad. An instructive thing is the
extraordinary motley chracter of the
prisoners taken. There are representa-
tives among them of fifteen battalions
Of divisions known to be in the line and
sp adj nj cd rAart-
ments from two other divisions, which
divisions themselves are at this moment
far away from the scene Of the fighting.
The explanation undoubtedly Is that in
4, their desire to use every means to check
the British advance the Germans hur-
redly emptied into the front here the
entire contents of some field recruit
depots, just pouring them pellmell out
o. the bag without regard to appropriate
ness The whole performance was ex-
tremely satisfactory; the prisoners taken
in the attack undoubtedly will reach
1000 and may be a good many more.
In the southern area also the Germans
are blowing up and destroying villages
and buildings behind the lines. OF many
fires and explosions seen this morning
the most notable were at Montbrehain
before our advance to FoncheuX and
Fresnoy. Four hours later than our
attack the French also broke forward
east of ST. Quentin. No details are
available. but the frightening barrage
told plainly that our allies were going
fast.
Defence Chiefly Machine Guns.
The Cambria sector was without large
Incident to-day. Scottish and British
troops slowly are fighting their way
At tN~r
is entirely with machine guns, many of
which are mounted on the roofs of
houses and have wide field of fire.
In Cambria itself. while there was no
such great confiagration as threatened its
destruction day before yesterday, fires
again have broken out.
Evidently the systematic burning Of
the city is going on, as many fires are
burning inside the houses. only the glow
and smoke OF which can be seen, while
az two or three points in the town build
tngs and blocks OF buildings are smoul-
dering. Fires and explosions are going
on also at other points in this area, al
though not all were caused by the Ger
mans. as a particularly large one seen
a, Cattonvillers, 1000 yards southeast
Of Cambria. Is known from the state
ments Of prisoners to have been the re-
Sllt Of the setting afre of a trainload
q explosives by one OF our shells.
Corporal's Brave Deed.
The whole advance is replete with
dramatic episodes. The crossing of the
canal was a dashing achievement with
The assistance of hastily made RATS and
ships life belts, while those who could
swim took light lines over by which
ropes were hauled to help over those who
could not. At bridge a corporal
charged single-handed and wiped out
me machine gun crew defending the
brdgehead. Then he rushed the bridge
and found three engineers at work p!ac-
ing mines. He killed all three and sew
cred the mines, which fell harmlessly
'nto the water. BY the bridge which
was saved by this mans gallantry many
ot our men got over safely.
Another extraordinary episode was
mat Of some infantry which. after a
battery Of German guns had succeeded
In checking the advancing tanks,
charged the battery, which fired at them
at point blank range, got among the
gInners while they still we're trying to
work the guns. killed all of them and
captured the whole battery.
From the tunnel which runs north
eastward from Bellenglise to Magny-la-
Posse, We got more than 1000 prisoners.
the story Is that when we had one end
o. the tunnel the officer in command or
dered a captured German howitzer run
III and on shot fired blndly straight
INTO the tunnel. II was more than the
garrison could stand and they came
pouring out faster than a thousand men