machines and lost three.

The number of German prisoners captured in this sector had now risen to 6,122, of whom 132 were officers. The captured material included eight field guns, fifty-three machine guns and thirty-two mortars.

The territory about the Ypres salient showed the devastating character of the British fire. In many places the German dead lay in piles, and from their position it was evident that they were in the act of falling back when struck down. Many had fallen victims to their own artillery, when the German gunners in frenzied efforts to stem the onslaught of the Entente troops dropped shells among their own men.

East and southeast of Rheims the Germans attempted two surprise attacks on the French positions in the night of August 1, 1917, which were crushed. On the left bank of the Meuse there was violent artillery action, the Germans renewing their attacks at 9 o'clock in the evening in the sector of Avocourt Wood. The assaults failed, and cost the Germans heavy losses. In the same region in the Apremont Forest, southeast of St. Mihiel, attempts made to surprise the French met with disaster.

August 3, 1917, the British continued to regain ground lost to the Germans earlier in the week. They established themselves again in St. Julien. North of the Ypres-Roulers railway large bodies of Germans massing for a fresh attack were scattered by the well-directed fire of British guns and were unable to deliver the assault.

In the course of the day (August 3) the British drove out the Germans from most of the positions they had gained during the previous night east of Monchy-le-Preux, and in a determined push won considerable ground south of Hollebeke.

The Western Front, 1917-1918.

During the night of August 4, 1917, the Canadian troops to the southwest of Lens made a spirited dash and drove enemy patrols back 200 yards over a front of over 1,000 yards, sustaining very small losses in the operation. The majority of the Germans scurried back to Lens, but many were caught by the intense gunfire. The Canadians established themselves in the buildings and ruins between the Lens-Grenay railway and the Cité du Moulin.

This dashing advance further tightened the British lines around the city. The new position gained by the Canadians was now less than 1,000 yards from the center of Lens on the western front. On the south, at Avlon and Leauvitte, Canadian outposts were now about a mile from the center, while opposite St. Laurent in the northwest sector their line was about 1,500 yards from the heart of the city.

No attempt was made by the Germans to recapture their lost positions and the Canadians were enabled to complete their work of consolidation. By morning of August 5, 1917, they had linked up the new line with barbed wire and were prepared for any emergency.

After five days of almost continuous rain that had hindered observation and hampered military operations the sky cleared and the sun shone out. The Germans were the first to take advantage of the favorable weather and at 5 o'clock in the morning launched a heavy attack against Hollebeke and the British post just north of the Ypres-Commines Canal, hoping to regain the positions they had lost in the first day of the Flanders battle. The onslaught was preceded by a tremendous fire from the German batteries to which the British guns replied with equal vigor and for miles around the ground was shaken by the continued thunder of great guns.

After shelling British positions south and north of the Ypres-Commines Canal the Germans attacked on both sides of the waterway and succeeded in gaining temporary footing in Hollebeke. A spirited counterattack launched by the British drove the enemy out and a number of prisoners were taken. On the left front the British continued to make gains, pushing their posts forward to the east side of the Steenbeek River along a front of about a mile, beginning near St. Julien and running northwest.

In the morning of August 5, 1917, the Germans made a heavy attack on the French front to the northwest of Rheims south of Juvincourt. At only one point they succeeded in penetrating the French trenches and from this they were quickly ejected. North of the Aisne and at other points on the French front the Germans attacked again and again, but were unable to win a foot of ground.

The Canadians, who had been closing in on Lens, made a further advance during the night of August 5, 1917, that carried their outposts to the main line of the German defenses on the railway embankment to the left of the city. Two battalions in a hotly pressed attack captured a crater east of Cité du Moulin and another to the north on the Lens-Lieven road, which runs through the former place. These craters had been held in strong force by the Germans from which they could work great damage to the Canadians by rifle and grenade fire during the night. The Canadians bombed their way forward through the ruins of houses and fortified points and the Germans after feeble attempts to hold fast retreated to their main positions. Having incorporated the craters in their advanced lines the Canadians rushed forward and bombed two tunnels that were known to be occupied by the enemy.

On the same night the British beat off two new attacks made by Prince Rupprecht at Hollebeke southeast of Ypres and north of Arleux.

The British lines around Lens were farther advanced on August 6, 1917, when Canadian troops pushed forward 600 yards over a front of about the same depth, a substantial addition to their defenses south and west on the outskirts of the mining center.

That the Germans were worried over the continued advance made by the British, fearing the loss of Lens, was evidenced by their practice of throwing a curtain of fire on the British trenches at sunrise every day. In the morning of August 7, 1917, they directed a heavy machine-gun barrage and artillery fire on a crater recently captured by the Canadians. Under the protection of this shower of shells the German infantry pushed forward and the Canadians fighting stubbornly were forced to withdraw, without, however, suffering any casualties.

On the Champagne front French troops during the night of August 6, 1917, broke into the lines of the German Crown Prince at three points, inflicting severe losses on the enemy and bringing back prisoners. In the Verdun sector the Germans made futile attacks between Avocourt Wood and Hill 304. In Caurières Wood they gained a foothold for a time in the French first line, but were driven out by a counterattack on the following day (August 7).

The British front in Belgium to the north and east of Ypres was actively bombarded during the night of August 7, 1917. Near Lombaertzyde a British raiding party penetrated the German trenches and brought back prisoners and guns. In the early part of this same night the artillery on both sides was active over the Aisne front. Troops of the German Crown Prince attempted to reach the French lines to the east of Vauxaillon and west of the Californie Plateau but were driven back, their ranks shattered by the well-directed fire of the French guns. Other attempts at surprise attacks made by the Germans north of St. Mihiel and in upper Alsace were equally futile.

It was during the fighting at this time that the Germans introduced a curious device which they employed when withdrawing their batteries, and which would cause the opponents to believe that their guns were still in action. This was a mechanism with capsules filled with explosives which they placed on the site of the battery that had been, or was about to be,