GERMAN ATTACKS SMASHED

From Philip Gibbs. War Correspondents’ Headquarters, France, Thursday.

Yesterday was one of our great days of battle, far more important and successful than I had guessed when I went among the Australians earlier in the day. And it developed into a big victory all along the line before nightfall, after many hours of desperate fighting, so that our prisoners exceeded 8,000, and nearly everywhere on the line of attack we had gained our objective and overlook the enemy’s main defences of the Hindenburg line north of St. Quentin, to the south of Villers-guislan. Very fierce counter-attacks were launched by the enemy against Gauche Wood, not once only, but many times, and these were crushed by our 17th Division – Lancashire, Yorkshire, and other Northern troops – with superb courage, an achievement deserving special honour when it is remembered that this division has been fighting incessantly since Aug 8. On the left of ourl.ney ester dy, thee ne mymdeform.db let t-k north of Moeuvres, ndg.nstHvr.n-ou rt, fter

tremendous bomb rd ment.Itwsenfo r-ed by the 6 th Germ nD.v.s. on, whodv n-ed, ordered tobrekourl.n es by the.r Comm nd, who re l.se perfe-tly th t they - nnot let d.s ster overt ke them w.thout los.ng ll power over the.r troops nd suffer.ng worse def et. Th. st t-kws.n order to de l us he vy nd demor l.s.ng blow, nd the enemy brought up some forty b tter.es. They flung down fr.ghtful l.ne of fire, nd dv n-ed under .ts -over. The Gu rds were there, nd our glor.ous old Th.rd D.v.s.on, the heroes of the defen-e of Arr s, nd they m .nt .ned the.r pos.t.ons by st ed yr.flendm-h.n e-gunfire, supported by our fieldb tter.es, who foundqu.-ktr gets mong these ms se sofG er mn sndsl ughtered them. Thee ne myw sb le to get.n to some of our dv n-ed pos.t.ons, but t tr g.- -ost of l.fe nd blood, ndws expelled from nerly ll the groundg.n ed tow rds thee nd of the dy, whenh.sdedlyt h.-k there.