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sure on her front while she was trying to reorganize her Government; and if she should fail to reorganize it, the Allies in the west had little, if anything, to gain

by delaying their blow. Preparations were pushed on accordingly, the most urgent initial step being the development of adequate transport facilities.

Spring Campaign-Preparations for Arras Offensive

(8) When transport requirements on the front in question were first brought under consideration, the neighborhood. was served by two single lines of railway, the combined capacity of which was less than half our estimated requirements. Considerable constructional work, therefore, both of standard and narrow gauge railway, had to be undertaken to meet our program. Roads also had to be improved and adapted to the circumstances for which they were required, and preparations made to carry them forward rapidly as our troops advanced.

For this latter purpose considerable use was made both in this and in the later offensives of plank roads. These were built chiefly of heavy beech slabs laid side by side, and were found of great utility, being capable of rapid construction over almost any nature of ground.

By these means the accumulation of the vast stocks of munitions and stores of all kinds required for our offensive, and their distribution to the troops, were made possible. The numberless other preparatory measures taken for the Somme offensive were again repeated, with such improvements and additions as previous experience dictated. Hutting and other accommodation for the troops concentrated in the area had to be provided in great quantity. An adequate water supply had to be guaranteed, necessitating the erection of numerous pumping installations, the laying of many miles of pipe lines, and the construction of reservoirs.

Very extensive mining and tunneling operations were carried out. In particular, advantage was taken of the existence of a large system of underground quarries and cellars in Arras and its suburbs to provide safe quarters for a great number of troops. Electric light was installed in these caves and cellars, which were linked together by tunnels, and the whole connected by long subways with our trench system east of the

town.

A problem peculiar to the launching of a great offensive from a town arose from the difficulty of insuring the punctual debouching of troops and the avoidance of confusion and congestion in the streets both before the assault and during the progress of the battle. This problem was met by the most careful and complete organization of routes, reflect

ing the highest credit on the staffs concerned.

The Enemy's Defenses

9. Prior to our offensive, the new German lines of defense on the British front ran in a general northwesterly direction from St. Quentin to the village of Tilloy-lez-Mofflaines, immediately southeast of Arras. Thence the German original trench systems continued northward across the valley of the Scarpe River to the dominating Vimy Ridge, which, rising to a height of some 475 feet, commands a wide view to the southeast, east, and north. Thereafter the opposing lines left the high ground, and, skirting the western suburbs of Lens, stretched northward to the Channel across a flat country of rivers, dikes, and canals, the dead level of which is broken by the line of hills stretching from Wytschaete northeastward to Passchendaele and Staden.

The front attacked by the 3d and 1st Armies on the morning of April 9 extended from just north of the village of Croisilles, southeast of Arras, to just south of Givenchy-en-Gohelle at the northern foot of Vimy Ridge, a distance of nearly fifteen miles. It included between four and five miles of the northern end of the Hindenburg line, which had been built to meet the experience of the Somme battle.

Further north, the original German defenses in this sector were arranged on the same principle as those which we had already captured further south. They comprised three separate trench systems, connected by a powerful switch line running from the Scarpe at Fampoux to Lievin, and formed a highly organized defensive belt some two to five miles in depth.

In addition, from three to six miles further east a new line of resistance was just approaching completion. This system, known as the Drocourt-Queant line, formed a northern extension of the Hindenburg line, with which it is linked up at Queant.

Fight for Aerial Supremacy

(10) The great strength of these defenses demanded very thorough artillery preparation, and this in turn could only be carried out effectively with the aid of our air service.

Our activity in the air, therefore, increased with the growing severity of our bombardment. A period of very heavy air fighting ensued, culminating in the days immediately preceding the attack in a struggle of the utmost intensity for local supremacy in the

air. Losses on both sides were severe, but the offensive tactics most gallantly persisted in by our fighting airplanes secured our artillery machines from serious interference and enabled our guns to carry out their work effectively. At the same time bombing machines caused great damage and loss to the enemy by a constant succession of successful raids directed against his dumps, railways, airdromes, and bullets. The Bombardment

(11) Three weeks prior to the attack the systematic cutting of the enemy's wire was commenced, while our heavy artillery searched the enemy's back areas and communications. Night firing, wire cutting, and bombardment of hostile trenches, strong points, and billets continued steadily and with increasing intensity on the whole battle front, till the days immediately preceding the attack, when the general bombardment was opened.

During the latter period extensive gas discharges were carried out, and many successful raids were undertaken by day and night along the whole front to be attacked.

Organized bombardments took place also on other parts of our front, particularly in the Ypres sector.

The Troops Employed

(12) The main attack was intrusted to the 3d and 1st Armies under the command of General Sir E. H. H. Allenby, G. C. M. G., K. C. B., and General Sir H. S. Horne, K. C. B., respectively.

Four army corps were placed at the disposal of General Allenby, with an additional Army Corps Headquarters to be used as occasion might demand. Cavalry also was brought up into the 3d Army area, in case the development of the battle should give rise to

an opportunity for the employment of mounted troops on a considerable scale.

The attack of the 1st Army on the Vimy Ridge was carried out by the Canadian corps. It was further arranged that, as soon as the Vimy Ridge had been secured, the troops in line on the front of the Canadian corps should extend the area of attack northward as far as the left bank of the Souchez River. An additional army corps was also at the disposal of the 1st Army in reserve.

The greater part of the divisions employed in the attack were composed of troops drawn from the English counties. These, with Scottish, Canadian, and South African troops, accomplished a most striking success.

My plans provided for the co-operation of the 4th and 5th Armies under the command respectively of General Sir Henry S. Rawlinson, Bart., G. C. V. O., K. C. B., and General Sir H. de la P. Gough, K. C. B., K. C. V. O., as soon as the development of my main assault should permit of their effective action.

The Method of Attack

(13) The attack on the front of the 3d and 1st Armies was planned to be carried out by a succession of comparatively short advances, the separate stages of which were arranged to correspond approximately witn the enemy's successive systems of defense. As each stage was reached a short pause was to take place, to enable the troops detailed for the attack on the next objective to form up for the assault.

Tanks, which on many occasions since their first use in September of last year had done excellent service, were attached to each corps for the assault and again did admirable work in co-operation with our infantry. Their assistance was particularly valuable in the capture of hostile strong points, such as Telegraph Hill and the Harp, two powerful redoubts situated to the south of Tilloy-lezMofflaines and Railway Triangle, a stronghold formed by the junction of the Lens and Douai lines, east of Arras.

The Arras Battle

(14) The general attack on April 9 was launched at 5:30 A. M. under cover of a most effective artillery barrage. Closely following the tornado of our shell fire our gallant infantry poured like a flood across the German lines, overwhelming the enemy's garri

sons.

Within forty minutes of the opening of the battle practically the whole of the German front-line system on the front attacked had been stormed and taken. Only on the extreme left fierce fighting was still taking place for the possession of the enemy's trenches on the slopes of Hill 145 at the northern end of the Vimy Ridge.

At 7:30 A. M. the advance was resumed Somewhat against the second objectives. greater opposition was now encountered, and at the hour at which these objectives were timed to have been captured strong parties of the enemy were still holding out on the high ground north of Tilloy-lez-Mofflaines, known as Observation Ridge, and in Railway Triangle.

North of the Scarpe, north country and Scottish territorial troops, attacking east of Roclincourt, were met by heavy machinegun fire. Their advance was delayed, but not checked. On the left the Canadians rapidly overran the German positions, and by 9:30 A. M., in spite of difficult going over wet and sticky ground, had carried the village of Les Tilleuls and La Folie Farm.

By 12 noon men from the eastern counties of England had captured Observation Ridge and, with the exception of Railway Triangle, the whole of our second objectives were in our possession, from south of Neuville VItasse, stormed by London territorials, to north of La Folie Farm. A large number of prisoners had already been taken, including practically a whole battalion of the 162d German Regiment at the Harp.

Meanwhile our artillery had begun to move

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forward to positions from which they could support our attack upon our third objectives. The enemy's determined resistance at Observation Ridge, however, had delayed the advance of our batteries in this area. The bombardment of the German third line on this front had consequently to be carried out at long range, with the result that the enemy's wire was not well cut.

None the less, when the advance was resumed shortly after midday, great progress was made all along the line. In the course of this attack many of the enemy's battery positions were captured, together with a large number of guns.

German Third-Line Breaches

and

South of the Scarpe, Manchester Liverpool troops took St. Martin-sur-Cojeul, and our line was carried forward between that point and Feuchy Chapel on the ArrasCambrai road. Here a counterattack was repulsed at 2 P. M., and at about the same hour Scottish troops carried Railway Triangle, after a long struggle. Thereafter this division continued its advance rapidly and stormed Feuchy village, making a breach in the German third line. An attempt to widen this breach, and to advance beyond it in the direction of Monchy-le-Preux, was held up for the time by the condition of the enemy's wire.

North of the Scarpe our success was even more complete. Troops from Scotland and South Africa, who had already stormed St. Laurent Blagny, captured Athies. They then gave place, in accordance with program, to an English division, who completed their task by the capture of Fampoux village and Hyderabad Redoubt, breaking another wide gap in the German third-line system. The north country troops on their left seized the strong work known as the Point du Jour, in the face of strong hostile resistance from the German switch line to the north.

Further north, the Canadian division, with an English brigade in the centre of its attack, completed the capture of the Vimy Ridge from Commandant's House to Hill 145, in spite of considerable opposition, especially in the neighborhood of Thelus and the high ground north of this village. These positions were taken by 1 P. M., and early in the afternoon our final objectives in this area had been gained. Our troops then dug themselves in on the eastern side of Farbus Wood and along the steep eastern slopes to the ridge west and northwest of Farbus, sending out cavalry and infantry patrols in the direction of Willerval and along the front of their position.

Desperate Fighting of Canadians

The left Canadian division, meanwhile, had gradually fought its way forward on Hill 145, in the face of a very desperate resistance. The enemy defended this dominating position with great obstinacy, and his garrison, reinforced from dugouts and un

derground tunnels, launched frequent counterattacks. In view of the severity of the fighting, it was decided to postpone the attack upon the crest line until the following day.

At the end of the day, therefore, our troops were established deeply in the enemy's positions on the whole front of attack. We had gained a firm footing in the enemy's third line on both banks of the Scarpe, and had made an important breach in the enemy's last fully completed line of defense.

During the afternoon cavalry had been brought up to positions east of Arras, in readiness to be sent forward should our infantry succeed in widening this breach sufficiently for the operations of mounted troops. South of Feuchy, however, the unbroken wire of the German third line constituted a complete barrier to a cavalry attack, while the commanding positions held by the enemy on Monchy-le-Preux Hill blocked the way of advance along the Scarpe. The main body of our mounted troops was accordingly withdrawn in the evening to positions just west of the town. Smaller bodies of cavalry were employed effectively during the afternoon on the right bank of the Scarpe to maintain touch with our troops north of the river, and captured a number of prisoners and guns.

The Advance Continued

(15) For some days prior to April 9 the weather had been fine, but on the morning of that day heavy showers had fallen, and in the evening the weather definitely broke. Thereafter for many days it continued stormy, with heavy falls of snow and squalls of wind and rain. These conditions imposed great hardships on our troops and greatly hampered operations. The heavy snow, in particular, interfered with reliefs, and rendered all movements of troops and guns slow and difficult. It would be hard to overestimate the importance of the resultant delay in bringing up our guns, at a time when the enemy had not yet been able to assemble his reserves, or to calculate the influence which a further period of fine weather might have had upon the course of the battle.

North of the Scarpe little remained to be done to complete the capture of our objectives. South of the river we still required to gain the remainder of the German third line and Monchy-le-Preux. Despite the severity of the weather, our troops set themselves with the utmost gallantry to the accomplishment of these tasks.

During the night English troops made considerable progress through the gap in the German defenses east of Feuchy and occupied the northern slopes of Orange Hill, southeast of the village.

Throughout the morning of April 10 every effort was made to gain further ground through this gap, and our troops succeeded in reaching the inclosures northwest of Monchy-le-Preux.

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