Rockingham post-dispatch. [volume] (Rockingham, N.C.) 1917-1965, 1919-01-09

meantime, on March 20. the allies. fac
Ing a catastrophe. at last agreed upon
unification of command, and General
Fochs the brilliant French leader. was
placed In supreme command Of all the
allied armies.
A few days after the launching Of
this drive. Paris was bombarded by q
mystery" gun which 1t was known
was at least So miles away. on March
20. Good Friday. this long,range gun
made q direct hit on Paris church
and Is worshipers were killed.. al
On April 10. the Germans shifted
their attack and began the second
phase Of their offensive--a drive
against the British in Flanders with
the channel ports as the objective.
Here again the British were forced to
give ground, but there was no break
such as occurred earlier on the Somme
front. The British and Portuguese
were swept back along the River Lys.
The Germans took the Messines ridge
and threw $4,000 men against the
British below Ypres. But the Ypres
defenses held firm, and In the west the
Germans failed in their efforts to reach
Hazebrouck. The terrific drive spent
itself and the Germans had failed to
threaten the channel ports seriously.
On April % the British navy execut.
ed one Of the spectacular feats Of the
war, blocking the channel of Zee
brugge, German Submarine base.
Germans Renew Offensive.
On May q the Germans renewed
the offensive with powerful attack
between the Aisne and the Marne. In
day they swept over the Chemin-des-
Danes on the heights north of the
Aisne and crossed the river in rush.
Next they took Scissors and reached
the Vesle. On they went to the Marine,
extending their front on the river from
Chateau-Thierry to yerneuil. and
threatening Reims in their advance.
The drive was halted with the Ger
mans occupying front 16 miles wide
ON the Marine. ws
In the meantime the Americans had
won attention ON May % by taking
Cantigny on the Picardy front IN
brilliant attack.
.On May rs, German U-boats began
operations off the coast Of the United
States, sinking IL ships.
The German drive for Paris was re-
sumed but the turning point was
reached when on June 6 and Ameri-
can marines were thrown across the
path of the advancing army at Chateau
Thierry. The Americans not only
stopped the Germans but drove them
back two miles, capturing several hun
dred prisoners.
In an effort to unite the Somme salt
ent with that of the Marine to provide
base for another move toward Paris,
the Germans launched another heavy
attack west of Noyon on June 10. They
made considerable gains on a 20-mile
front but the drive was halted within
two days.
Austrian Offensive ls Fiasco.
Attention was transferred from
France to Italy when on June Is the
Austrians opened an offensive on the
Italian front from Asiago plateau to
the sea. The attack proved complete
fiasco. 1t was repulsed at all points
and the Italians pursued the fleeing
Austrians across the Piave, taking As
600 prisoners.
The German commanders made one
last effort to break through to Paris
when the crown princes army group
on July Is, the morning after the
French national holiday, launched an
offensive along front from Chateau
Thierry to Massiges, 80 miles east Of
Reims.
This fifth and last phase of the great
offensive failed most signally, being
stopped on the third day. The Ameri-
can forces played big part In this See
ond decisive battle of the Marine. East
OF Chateau-Th the Germans forced
q passage across the Marine and the
Americans who opposed them were
forced to fall back temporarily. Then,
in a brilliant counter-attack, the Amer.
leans drove the Germans back across
the Marne, taking 1900 prisoners, In
Guiding a complete brigade staff.
Allied offensIve Opens.
On July IS General Foch assumed
the offensive. He struck the crown
princes right flank vital blow and on
the first day the French and Americans
fought their way for six miles along
the Aisne, reaching the outskirts OF
Scissors. For two weeks the great
counter offensive continued. On July
20 the Americans met the crack divi-
sions Of German guards and defeated
them In stubborn battle at Sergy.
scissors fell to the French on August
2 and by the following day the entire
Soissons-Reims salient had been wiped
out.
The Indignation OF the British peo-
pie. aroused by the U-boat outrages
perpetrated by the Germans, was M
tensifed early In July when news was
received Of the sinking by subma-
rine Of the hospital ship Llandovery
Castle. carrying wounded men and
nurses between Canada and England.
causing ! loss Of 25s persons, incIud.
Ing ~ rEfses. The United States con-
tintled to speed up IT'S war activities