The Story of the Great War, Volume VII (of VIII)

ntinued the day following. The stupendous efforts made by them to hold this important rampart had cost thousands of lives and had been i

rman Crown Prince lost the best elements of his armies and the best part of their effectives in the fighting here in October, 1917. Enfiladed day and night by French guns it was impossible for the Germans to keep their front lines supplied with food and ammunition, for th

e Aisne sector, giving them control of the St. Gobain region northwest of the

the different sectors of the Chemin-des-Dames. In the course of the night the French made progress between these two points and reached the south b

each the positions found tins containing soup that was still hot. The advance was made slowly and cautiously, for it was well known that the Germans left dangerous traps behind them when forced to retire. In Cerny village a German helmet wa

act that the Germans feared to destroy them lest the explosions would give the alarm. The result was

e during the first days of November, 1917. There was fierce sh

s captured. This failure to counterattack was afterward explained by one of the two German battalion commanders, who were made prisoners with their staffs when Passchendaele fell. This officer commanded a reserve battalion brought up for the express purpose of counterattacking. He had gone with his staff to consult with the battalion chief commanding in the village, and when both commanders were captured their troops w

would have been much higher, but a number of the enemy were killed by the fire of their own guns when the

le time to organize their defenses and secure a firm grip on the position. The enemy's heavy gunfire had slacke

, but on November 7, 1917, the French made an attack on the German positions at Schoenholz,

ard at 6.05 o'clock in the morning. The Germans immediately threw a heavy barrage along the front involved, and the advance was raked by machine-gun fire from numerous strong points. The fighting was especially intense at several fortified farms strongly held by the Germans. North of Goeberg t

of Passchendaele Ridge, north of the village, the Canadians held their advanced line strongly. On the lower ground, to the west, the scene of bitter fight

tempted by the Germans northwest of Rheims and north of Samogneux, which were shattered by the well-directed French

rp struggle in which neither side was disposed to yield, but ultimately the Germans after gaining a foothold in the French observation line were driven off. On November 10-11, 1917, the Germans bombarded French advanced posts in the region of Ramscappel

estroosebeke, advancing from the cross roads north of Passchendaele under the protection of a violent barrage. The British were not caught napping and their gunners concentrated a destructive fire on the German assembly places

ward over ground that was swept by machine-gun fire. The Germans were evidently taken by surprise, or were cowed by the impetuous dash of the British troops, for they did not attempt a strong defense. The struggle developed to the north of the ruins of Passchendaele village, and the Br

ish counterattacked across the open, and after a short, sharp struggle, repulsed the invaders and took a number of prisoners. In the night of November 17-18, 1917, Lancashire and Highland tro

, 1917, and was a complete surprise to the Germans as it had not been preceded by any artillery preparations. The operation was carried out by the third army under General Sir Julian Byng, the advance being made along a thirty-two-m

rd under a screen of smoke, and broke down the German barbed-wire entanglements, opening the way for the infantry to make their forwa

over the Hindenburg line. The surprise of the attack seemed to have dazed and bewildered the Germans; many of them hid in their dugo

comparatively few batteries, and their infantry gained little help from them. It was well known to the British that they ha

n hollows near the German lines were thousands of cavalry horses with their horse artillery limbered up ready for the dash forward. After the tanks had made clear the way to advance the cavalry

movement was carried out with dispatch, for a few minutes later the knoll, which had been mined, was blown up by the Germans. Havrincourt was captured in less than an hour, the Germans evacuating the place in such haste that they had not time to inflict any serious damage. The West Riding Territorials, who captured Havrincourt, also occupied enemy trench systems to the north of the village

fought together in the capture of Marcoing and Neuf Wood. East of the Canal du Nord the West Riding troops that took Havrincourt made important progress. They stormed and capt

by the West Lancashire Territorials, while Irish troops won importan

ish tanks, cavalry, and infantry were operating along a line running from west of Cambrai to the south of that town. On the left, in the region of Bullecourt, the German line had

of the British advance, and everywhere opposed a stiff resistance. At Noyelles, Rumilly, and Bullecour

the British had captured

ndred civilian prisoners, who hailed their rescuers with cheers and many wept for joy. At Masnières the same scene was enacted, where some hundreds of civilians were freed from the odious rule of their German oppressors. They had been kept from starving almost entirely by th

ing for three years in the cellar of his own house, where German officers were billeted, being fed by his wife out of the extra ration given to the

l du Nord, which runs east of that place and the village itself, still in German hands. At Fontaine Notre Dame, west of Cambrai, where the British had been pushed back,

und Fontaine. The British held a line on the low ground about the southern edge of the woo

ugh the center of the wood to the northwest of Fontaine. In hand-to-hand combats the Germans were slowly forced back toward the northern edge of the forest. A determined counterattack from the north was made by the Germans in an effort to oust the British, but they held firm. While this bloody struggle was going on in and around the wood Fontaine village, which the Germans

. The Germans about noon on the 25th succeeded in driving the British from the greater part of the village. In Bourlon Wood,

began the offensive on November 20, 1917, they ha

5, 1917. The fighting that developed was close and sanguinary, the losses on both sides being considerable, but the British

itish front in France. Bourlon Wood, to which the British clung so tenaciously, was of special value to the Germans if they were to hold their positions farther north, and fo

ne point and brought back a body of English troops that had been isolated for some time in the southern part of the hamlet. Having rescu

orner of Bourlon Wood, but were driven back so decisively that they made no further attempts to recover the lost ground. The British

deluged with shells by both sides, and attacks were made from time to time in which now the British and now the Germans gain

ween Bourlon Wood and M?uvres in the face of a heavy barrage and

rce on the British positions between Bourlon Wood and M?uvres on the west. In the first dash the Germans swept over

the advancing Germans with such fury that the advance was checked. Fighting still conti

n this area to replace those that had been captured by G

the British from the territory they had won in the previous week. Two great attacks were made early in the day, one exten

fficiently supported by newly concentrated gun

re under the intense fire from British rifles and machine guns. But where one fell a dozen seemed to rise up and take his place, and the hordes moved resistlessly forward like a tidal wave. British infantrymen were thrown into the battle line for a counteratt

ery hail, but there was hardly a pause in the advance and their numbers never seemed to diminish. Late in the day the British in counterattacks gained ground at some points, but the honors rested with the Germans, who by cost

of the line, which were to converge toward a common point. German infantry supported by cavalry at the northern end of the line delivered an assault across the canal f

t one point about 4,000 yards. This was at Gouzeaucourt, which they entered about 10 o'clock in the morning, and where fighting of the most violent description continued until the middle of the afternoon. The British had received reenforcements, but they were still heavily outnumbered. The fig

sh repeatedly attacked, and finally forced them to withdraw from the height to the lower groun

British regretted the loss of valuable territory, there was nothing in the situation to cause them uneasiness. There had been crucial periods in the fighting of the previous day, when it seemed that the Germans would win an overwhelmi

ttacks, made in massed formation, had caused a formidable d