north the ground fell away gently in an even slope broken only
by the unexpected Buval ravine. The entire German part of
the ridge was covered with trenches and obstacles and swept by
batteries (at ranges of two to four thousand yards) around
Lievin and Angres and behind Vimy ridge.
The troops which held these defences belonged to the German VI. Army which held the front from south of Ypres to within 10 m. of Arras. It comprised 16 divs., at a combat strength of about 17,000 per division according to the reduced German divisional organization dating from the early winter of '14. This gave a little less than three men per yard of front considering the irregularities of the line. Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria commanded the army, with Maj. Gen. Krafft von Dellmensingen for chief-of-staff, and headquarters at Lille.
The attack, originally ordered for May 7, was put off to the 8th and then to the gth. Demolition fire was begun on the 7th and continued on the 8th, especially against the region of Neuville and the Labyrinth, but was hindered by the lack of all observation from the ground (no commanding points being in French hands), and by the serious imperfections of the aerial observation attempted by planes and dirigibles. The morning of the gth dawned fair, with a light mist that soon cleared away. At six o'clock an intense bombardment was opened along the whole line from Loos to Arras, with heavy, divisional, and trench artillery. On the front of the XXI. Corps the 75's held their fire until eight o'clock, then began, and continued, at the rate of four shots per piece per minute. Amid the din of the bombardment, the French observers saw the German posi- tions lost in vast clouds of smoke and dust sent up by the exploding shells. The German artillery replied energetically, searching for the French infantry assembled for the assault and occasionally hitting them with considerable effect. At 10 o'clock, precisely, the French artillery automatically increased the range and the infantry attack began.
The assaulting troops left their jumping-off trenches without signal. In a few moments it was clear that both wings were held up. The XVII. Corps could not gain a foot; the wire in front of them was still intact. The X. Corps, attempting a diversion east of Arras, uselessly lost 3,000 men in 10 minutes from machine-gun fire. North of the XVII., the right of the XX. Corps was helpless in front of the wire of the Labyrinth. The left of the XX. was doing better, the wire in front of them having been cut by the bombardment. In spite of heavy losses from German machine-guns still in position, they slowly cleared La Targette, fighting hand to hand, and by 1 1 =30 they had advanced a little over half a mile and reached the westernmost houses of Neuville. On the ridge, the XXI. Corps was advancing only very slowly, at a cost of murderous losses. Their attack was peculiarly difficult to organize for want of a single conspicuous object in their front to serve as reference point for the artillery, and upon which the infantry could align their advance. Their assaulting elements came under heavy machine-gun fire as soon as they showed themselves, so that the communication trenches were obstructed by numbers of wounded who blocked the reserves. Machine-guns firing northward from Ablain made advance impossible along the southern slope. On the plateau itself and the northern slope, swept though they were at short ranges by the German batteries around Angres and Lievin, there was a slow and painful advance of about half a mile, which took three successive lines of trenches and reached, at noon, the neighbourhood of the chapel and the land N.W. of it. Through the morning, the extreme left of Petain's Corps, the XXXIII., was fixed in front of Ablain. Other units, fighting every step of the way, were slowly working forward south of Carency.
Meanwhile, the right of the XXXIII. Corps had broken clear through the German line. Here, alone on the attacking front, the wooded hill of Berthonval had given good land observation by which to direct the bombardment. The wire had therefore been cleared and most of the machine-guns put out of action. Carrying conspicuous markers to enable the artillery to follow their march, the infantry swept forward without a check. In the intoxication of such an advance after a winter in the abominable trenches, they got out of hand and ran forward, cheering as they rushed the German elements that tried to resist them. They crossed the Bethune road, gained the crest of Vimy ridge, and looked down upon the rolling plain to the north and east, towards Lens and Douai, with no more German troops before them. Hundreds of prisoners had been taken, it was only 11:30, and they had advanced over two and a half miles.
Naturally, the German command was frightened. Partially, at least, they had been surprised, for they had assembled no reserves. Twenty miles away, in Lille, the Prince of Bavaria's staff began packing up, for if the gap could be widened the whole front would go. But naturally, the assaulting troops were completely exhausted. They had run and yelled too much and their water-bottles had been emptied too quickly. During the advance, officer casualties had been numerous. About a mile of the crest between 119 and 140 was occupied, and patrols were pushed forward to Souchez and Givenchy.
Everything now depended upon the arrival of reinforcements. With them everything might be hoped; without them it would be hard to hold the ground already gained, limited as it was by concentric machine-gun fire from Souchez, Neuville, and La Folie wood; and no reinforcements came. The advance had been faster than had been planned, and either the army staff work was slow and the necessary orders not issued in time, or else the units ordered forward failed to make good speed. Perhaps, after all, the thing was impossible. Certainly no good road ran east into the newly created salient. At all events the opportu- nity was lost.
On the German side, when the first moment of panic had passed, the reaction was rapid. Great and deserved credit was won by the staffs concerned. During the afternoon, enough battalions from the second line of the division near by were scraped together for a counter-attack (supported by artillery behind La Folie wood) which retook the crest. The French-African troops, with most of their officers gone, failed to do themselves justice. All this time Neuville and Carency were holding out, and the - XXI. Corps could not clear the Lorette plateau. Towards evening the cemetery south of Souchez had to be abandoned. Through the night, third-line battalions from the neighbouring German Army Corps began to come up. The French maintained themselves with difficulty at the Cabaret Rouge and along the road from Souchez to Neuville. The golden moment had passed.
During the next three days, the French improved their positions in vigorous local operations, taking the debris of Lorette chapel, Carency, and most of Neuville. By June i Ablain, the sugar-works west of Souchez, and the south-eastern slopes of Lorette were cleared. June saw the Labyrinth pain- fully occupied, and a narrow and difficult salient (including a bit of Vimy crest) first thrust out eastward from the Cabaret Rouge and then withdrawn. About the same time the Germans were pushed off the north-eastern slopes of Lorette their last foothold on that murderous ridge now thickly covered with the dead of both sides.
The diversions attempted meanwhile by the British had failed to affect the general situation.
Tactically, the spring offensive in the Artois had partially succeeded. Twenty-five square miles had been gained, the enemy's local resistances had been beaten down, for some hours his front had been pierced. But strategically, the operation had failed. The German front had been very slightly modified and the Russians had been helped in no way.
During the summer, the usual round of little fights went on, barren of results but endured always with the same spirit. In Aug. trench knives were issued to the French infantry for the first time.
In the autumn, another Entente offensive on the western front was decided upon. The French prepared to attack in Champagne and both French and British in Artois, the French from Neuville to north of Souchez, which large village was,
