The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-07-26
HOPE HIGHER WHEN


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mud quite as much as the other
enemy, were very tired.
Still, after pause, the Cambria
surprise was sprung on the Germans.
And this was q surprise, the Ger
mans themselves notwithstanding.
Personally, l believe the war might
have been ended there and then had
the allies not been dog tired at the
end of long, hard campaign, instead
of being at the start and fresh. For
the tanks, hundreds of them, broke
completely through before the panic
stricken enemy realized what was
going on. In front of the British in
fantry lay Cambria and the wide
open country. All that was needed
was a strong fresh army TO exploit
the breach. The whole German front
might have been rolled up.
But = = sand that's the whole
story 3 *the men were tired and
their ranks thin and, not being
strong enough 10 push on, had, ten days
later, to withdraw out of a dangerous
salient.
Rumors Of Offensive
About this time rumors of great
German offensive against the west
front began, to take form. The Rus
sian collapse had become practically
complete and a front which had re-
quired 76 German divisions to hold
down, disappeared. Even at the
time of Cambria German divisions
were arriving from Russia and from
that moment on the kaiser's armies
in the west grew bigger and bigger.
A little over year ago there were
but 12S German divisions on the west
tern battlefield. BY February of this
year these had grown to 1S1. Only
fifty five divisions were left in Rus
STA, two others being in the Balkans
and three in Italy total of 241.
The German offensive which began
March n was not a surprise in any
way whatsoever While in Switzer-
land during the latter part of January
| learned that the offensive would
commence shortly after March l,
depending upon weather and other
conditions for the exact date); that
1T would come in the country south :
ward of Arras; that the Germans
would depend largely upon gas; that
this gas was not new as the RAW
head and bloody bones scaremongers
and German ,,propagaandists insisted
but had been used both at Cambrai
and in Italy; that a very short,
artillery preparation, would be made;
something of the, approximate number,
of troops available; that a big effort
would be made. first, against the Brit
ish then against the French in a .drive
towards Paris. Which city German
military leaders insisted must be
taken; and Tot of other information
along with this all of which and
more, of course, the intelligence sec
ton of the British army had found
out the same as |. This. is not swank
on my part u simply state these
facts 10 prove; THAT Sir Douglas Haig
knew when, where and how Hinden-
Durg's offensive "Was Coming .h
British Extended Lines
Not very long before the offensive
began an unfortunate thing occurred
The fortunes of war necessitated the
taking over of more line by the
British. Formerly the British line
ended near st. Quentin. Now it was
extended as far as La Fere, and be-
fore the troops got fairly into their
new sector, Hindenburg's blow fell.
Against the long, thin British line,
reaching from the River Scarpe to
the Disc, at La Fere, was hurled the
mightiest force eyer seen in battle,
Along this fifty mile front three army
groups swept forward at dawn under
cover of the mist. These were the
7th army of Otto Won Below, said to
be the ablest army commander Hind
enburg has; the second army of Won
der Marwitz and the. eighteenth army
of Won Hutier together numbering
more than eighty divisions, of which
forty one divisions were used in the
first days attack. Opposing the
enemy were the small third British
army under Sir Julian Byng, of
Cambria fame, and the smaller fifth
army, under General Cough, worn
down in the campaigns mentioned
and very thinly spread out.
No soldier Yon earth ever went
through such an ordeal as did the
British during, the seven days follow
ing the start of that offensive. On
March % the enemy crossed the
Tortille and for 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 fifth
army went on retiring, with the third
army falling back in order to keep in
touch. To, the south the French
General Fayolle, with superb skill,
kept the gaps closed around Ham,
Nesle, Chauny, Roye and Noyons.
On the Somme came another critical
moment. Here again, had the Ger
mans been so clever as they like to
believe themselves, they might have
broken through; but again the gap
was closed. On the 25th the enemy
took Mantinpuich and Courcelette, and
Albert was entered on the following
day, but by this time General Foch
had been made generalissimO in
charge of all operations on the west
ern front, the French had moved
norlhwestward as far as Moreuil on
the Avre permitting Haig to tnicken
his line, and the offensive was
brought to standstill. In all eighty
four divisions had been used by the
Germans, out of total of some 200
divisions then identified in the west
The drive in Flanders came a few
days later, on April 8. 1t started in a
small way, against the Portuguese