Germans are swept from Vimy Ridge
» Canadians in complete control of heights » Counter-attacks repulsed in severe fighting during the night — British troops make important strides on the road to Douai » Captures exceed nine thousand men » British drive extending — fighting in the neighbor
LONDON — The British offensive between Lens and St. Quentin, which opened spring operations and which is still in progress, has proven even more successful than the earlier accounts indicated.
General Sir Douglas Haig today reports that yesterday’s captures exceeded 9,000 men, while forty guns fell into the hands of his troops.
The Canadians, who had one of the hardest bits of the front to content with, now hold the famous Vimy ridge, even its eastern slopes having been cleared of the enemy. The Canadians captured the ridge yesterday, taking 2,000 prisoners, and last night, in sever fighting, repulsed German counter-attacks on the northern end of the eastern slope.
A wavering line
These reactions by the Germans indicate the importance they attach to this position whence the conquerors look down over the plain of Douai.
With Vimy ridge gone, the whole German line covering the French towns and industrial districts to the north becomes a wavering one, and any leisurely retreat the Germans may have planned is made uncertain and precarious.
With the capture of the famous ridge the British made a considerable stride along the road to Douai, while the capture of the high ground northwest of St. Quentin tightens the chain which the Anglo-French forces are drawing around that town.
Near St. Quentin the Germans have been driven from the high ground between LeVerguler and Hargicourt. Northeast of Arras, the direction of Vitry-en-Artois and Douai, the British have seized the village of Fampoux and the neighboring defences north and south of the Scarpe River.
Fighting at La Bassee
Indicating that the area of the British drive is extending, a headquarters dispatch reports fighting at La Bassee. There was also activity last night in the neighborhood of old Ypres sallent. “After an intense bombardment,” says the official report, “the enemy made a strong attack last night on a narrow front southeast of Ypres and succeeded in reaching our support lines. He was immediately ejected from our trenches, leaving several dead.”
Core of the attack
The fighting is going on over a front of about sixty miles, roughly from La Bassee to St. Quentin, the core of attack being around the north of Arras. As far as information goes everything is going well for the British and justifies their sanguine hopes, but the comments today generally include a warning not to allow these hopes to run too high. The enemy is known to have good reserves at hand and an iron compulsion bids him to make every effort to avoid defeat. The papers warn the country that it should await the event in a spirit of sober expectation and that it is not a time for exuberant boasting.