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LATEST DEVELOPMENTS OF GREAT WAR The Associated Press summary of the allies great victory on the western front is as follows followsOn On a front of virtually fifty miles from Just be ¬ low Ypres to a point near Peronne on the Somme the German armies are in retreat This retrograde movement is not a voluntary one on the part of the enemy but has been forced by the series of unremitting hammer blows inflicted by Marshal Foch in the last six or seven weeks weeksIt It now lias been accelerated by the notable vic ¬ tory won by Field Marshal Haig yesterday in break ¬ ing through the strong defensive lines protecting the railway centers of Douai and Cambrai and threatening to outflank even the main Hindenburg line south of St Quentin QuentinAlready Already the taking of 10000 prisoners by the British In their advance is reported and the German casualties in killed and wounded are declared to have been notably heavy as their thickly massed forces felt the force of the British blow blowSo So pronounced and speedy is the German retire ¬ ment that it seems as if the enemy if he has not met with disaster is periously on the verge of one oneIn In what appears like an effort to escape in time the scope of the German retirement north and south of the Somme has been markedly accentuated north of that river riverIn In this movement the important French coal min ¬ ing city of Lens at the gate of which the British pounded vainly virtually all last year has been evacuated the British moving in inTo To the north in Flanders the retreat is continu ¬ ing and the British have further closed up the Lys salient by taking possession of Whlvergheni two miles south of Kemmel Mr ai Pw V South VSouth of Lens the Germans are acknowledging themselves beaten on the QueantDrocouTtj QueantDrocouTtjUne Une where Haigs break through was effected and nre retreating in this vitally important sector without attempting a counterdrive upon the victorious Brit ¬ ish ishStill Still farther south the retirement has resulted in the evacuation of areas three to four miles deep on both sides of the BapaumeCambrai toad the British taking town after town in tliSSami la their steady advance Although the German command must have been exacting ah attack on the Hindenburg switch Hue which the British had closely approached in their earlier advances it apparently was not expected at the moment
