The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-09-09
FRENCH BACK
IN'17 TRENCHES
Between the Aisne and the
Disc They Can See the
Hindenburg Line
CROSSING OF AILETTE
A HAZARDOUS JOB
Germans Had Placed Great
Number Of Machine
Guns

w TN bnt rIbHCn AMY III fIduCts sun
day, Sept. (By the Associated Press -
The troops of General Mangin between
the Aisne and the Disc rivers now are
virtually behind their old wire entangle-
ments in their old trenches Of 1917 All
along the edge of the forest of Coucy
and through the western horn of the st.
Gobain forest the Germans are only 200
yards away and in some places they are
in positions in the old Hindenburg line
that are plainly visible from the heights
west Of Chateau Coucy,
The Disc Aisne canal and the river
Ailette that runs between the heights
and the chateau and which forms a sort
of advanced post of their main line six
miles further back at Fresnes was not
abandoned voluntarily but wrested from
the enemy after a struggle of five days
during which five different German di-
visions tried to hold off single French
division.
THE divisions that tried to prevent
the crossing of the canal and river" the
Associated Press correspondent was in
formed by French officer who has par.
ticipated in most of the campaigns OF
the war, accomplished the greatest con
centration of machine gun fire that has
been witnessed in this war"
The French troops were obliged To
face that fire at a range of 20 yards in
order to cross the 0ise-Aisne canal and
the river Ailette Pioneers throwing
bridges over the canal IL yards wide suf
fered not only from the quick firers, but
were in good range of German grenades
Ii required two days to advance to the
Ailette from the village Pont Saint Mard
and four days TO gain 500 yards OF
ground The machine guns were passed
thickly all along the canal in front OF
Quincy and in the woods, thickets and
marshes.
The French engineers finally succeeded
in bridging the canal and over the first
bridge an enraged sergeant charged the
Germans around a machine gun position
and single handed made IL Of them pris-
oner. Such was the work that went on
both along the river and the canal during
the five days, each day exhadsting Ger.
many's best divisions Twenty two
quick tirers were found in small thicket
called Etuaraissage wood, They were
almost as thick in Vaehe wood and the
more extensive timbered land fronting
Coucy lie Chateau and Coucy -laVille
Where the French could get az them they
charged and killed the German gunners
on their pieces, but many emplacements
were too well hidden or protected for a
direct attack and it was necessary to
shell them
During several hours, French projec.
tiles sent splinters flying all through
the timber and when the infantry
charged they had to 20 on to Couey Ia
Vile to catch the enemy, who had fled
leaving his guns and an enormous amount
of materials and supplies behind. Coucy.
lie. Chateau and the height on which il
stands thus was turned from the north
and hanked at the same time from the
south, while thousands of shells filed the
ruins Of the surrounding positions. Cha
| teau Nogent, to the southeast, was TAX
| en- about the same time and with it the
Germans lost positions on which they
| had spent tremendous effort They re-
tired behind their three lines of barbed
wire on the line to Fresnes. The booty
they left behind in two immense en-
gineering dumps include locomobiles
railroad material of all sorts and the
great number Of quick frers and EN-
placement guns and one l5-inch CUR
with which they had bombarded French
towns far behind the lines east of the
Ailette.