Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1919-01-01
By Frank H. SimOnds.

opened March 81, when the Germans
attacked the British front between the
| Disc and the Scarpe valley and won
the greatest victory of the war on
the western front, up to that hour.
| The allied camp was confused. 1t was
appreciated that the Russian collapse
| had enabled Germany to concentrate
| her whole military power in the west.
The lagnitude of this power was cor
Erectly estimated at some 200 divisions
| approximately forty more than the
allies had under their hands.
! The French army at the outset of
the struggle was in far better shape
| than the British, since its losses and
effort in 1917 had been far smaller
than that of it's comrades The ter
ribfe losses of the Somme in 1916 and
Of Flanders in 1917 had MIXED the
British army of it's best human ma
teria1
The German was conscious of his
opportunity and had found in Luden-
dorff a leader calculated to get the
greatest possible advantage out of the
peculiar German methods and system.
Ltdendorff made the basis of his
strategy the fact that from the Ar
gonne to Ypres the Germans occu-
pied the interior of semi-circle and
could thus strike with equal ease at
any point
Had Two Clear Detectives.
The attack March 81 had two clear
detectives. Selecting the point in the
front where British and French ar
mics met and where the actual line
was thinnest, Ludendorff sought to
drive a wedge between the two ar
miles, He intended to push southwark
until his heavy artillery could pound
Paris into ruins or surrender On
March q the blow fell. Forty Ger
man divisions fell upon fourteen Brit
ish. By the third day the ruin was
complete, the Fifth army had dissolv
ed into fragments, a great gap was
opening between the British and the
French and continued to widen dur
! ing which all the French reserve ar
mics were rushed up. The German
host passed the Somme, reached the
Ancre took Albert and south of the
Somme approached within ten miles
of Amiens, the vital center of rail
way communications.
While Gen Foch reorganized the
situation in Picardy new German
blow fell in Flanders Failing to stir
the Third British army, which under
Byng held the ground north of the
Fifth and about Arras, the Germans
had turned north and breaking the
front of Horne's First British army,
had flown over in to the region south
OF Ypres. Once more the German
4 drive was headed for Calais. In this
critical situation the line held. French
reserves arrived, the situation stabil-
tied ITSELF following bloody defeat
of the Germans April 90 which closed
the German offensive efforts in Elan
ders.
The allies had suffered frightfully,
the British loss alone exceeded 300
000. The allies uttered a despairing
appeal to America to send men The
campaign became, in Lloyd Georges
words, trace between Wilson and
. Ludendorff." 1t was to be won by the
former. but not before September
could Foch expect large American
numbers
The Germans struck at the Chemin
/ des Danes and again won great
success. Strong positions north of
the Aisne were taken. The Germans
: pushed across the Aisne and the Yes
le, turned westward and began new
drive to Paris.
New Crisis EnSned.
new crisis ensued. French num-
, bers were failing. American numbers
were still small but in this emer-
gency the marines and two regular
infantry regiments were put in about
Chateau Thierry and along the roads
to Paris They we're the sole barrier
on the German road to Paris, but the
Germans were already weary,
i The Germans in June strove to force
their way southwark along the Disc
| toward Paris. In this effort they e. i
countered a severe check. This was
the turning point in the campaign; it
was the first measurable failure of
1 Iudendorff and the initial return to
the offensive of Foch American
troops were arriving in great numbers
and the German public was becoming
FESTIVE. In this time Austria was
thrown against Italy on the Piaye and
suffered q disastrous defeat
Ludendorff, July Is, flung his re-
naming reserves against the French
and Americans holding the line from
! Cbatpau-T'hiarrv to the ArgOnne His
purpose was to break through east
and west of Rheims, and begin an adj
vance on Paris. BY July Is the SUI
preme effort had failed on both sides
of Rheims, completely failed between
Rheims and the Argonne, where
Gouraud won a notable victory, and
| failed between Rheims and Chateau
! Ill.