The Canadian troops, after the first preparatory fire of the British guns had ceased, advanced and occupied the German trenches in less than two minutes. The Germans, who had not expected that the raid would take place before Christmas Eve, were completely surprised. As they hurried for the saps and dugouts leading to the rear trenches, the Canadians showered hand grenades among them. Caught entirely unprepared, the Germans in the first line offered but a feeble resistance, the majority at once surrendering with cries of "Kamerad!" Many others were taken as they fled for the second and third lines while the Canadians pushed on to the second trenches. About twenty dugouts were destroyed, some of them with bombs captured from the Germans. In a few of these dugouts the occupants refused to surrender and consequently their lairs were blown to pieces. It was estimated that 150 Germans were killed during the raid. The Canadians took one commissioned officer prisoner and fifty-seven of other ranks.

A British officer engaged in the raid thus describes the struggle after the German line was penetrated:

"As we entered the trenches many Germans broke from the dugouts. All who did were subsequently well cared for. Each of our men was given definite instructions for his precise task and a map of the enemy's trenches, which proved absolutely correct.

"Each man knew every detail of the proposed operation. They were delighted at this and entered the fight with great cheers. When they came out two hours later they were singing and as happy as schoolboys on a holiday.

"The neatness and dispatch with which the raid was carried out were unique. The artillery cooperation of the British guns was perfection. Beautifully placed curtains of fire prepared our advance, and creeping forward protected us as they proceeded to demolish absolutely the enemy trenches and dugouts. The program had given the men an hour and a half for their work, but the clean-up was accomplished in an hour and ten minutes, when the raiders signaled that they were ready to return to their own trenches."

The Germans did not attempt a counterattack until the following night, when they mistakenly bombarded and raided their own first lines, believing that the Canadians were still there. As it happened, the Canadian troops who had carried out the successful raid were some miles away. They were not a part of the fighting line, but on rest, and had gone forward for this particular military operation planned some weeks before.

During the night of December 19, 1916, British troops made a successful raid on German lines in the neighborhood of Gommecourt, where after doing considerable damage to the defensive works they retired without any casualties. Early in the morning of the following day the British made another successful raid on German trenches north of Arras, where they captured a number of prisoners.

On the same date, December 19, 1916, a British contingent encountered a hostile patrol north of Neuve Chapelle. After a brief, sharp fight the leader of the patrol was killed and his men surrendered.

German official reports of this date stated that, west of VillersCarbonnel, Grenadiers of the Guard and East Prussian Musketeers forced their way into a strong British position that had been destroyed by effective fire, and after blowing up dugouts retired to their own lines, bringing away with them four officers and twenty-six men as prisoners. The Germans claimed that during various air engagements about this time along the Somme they destroyed six hostile aircraft.

During the night of December 20, 1916, a strong German raiding party attacked the British line opposite Lens, but only a few succeeded in penetrating the trenches. After a short struggle these were ejected by the British troops and the raiding party was driven off.

Southwest of Armentières a British raiding party entered German trenches and made some prisoners.

On December 21, 1916, the French Government made public the official order summoning General Nivelle to the command of the armies of the north and northeast and signed by General Joffre. General Castelnau, General Joffre's Chief of Staff, hav

ing reached the age limit, was retained on the active list by a special decree indorsed by the President of France, which was preliminary to his appointment to the command of an army group.

CHAPTER XVI

GERMAN ATTACKS AT
OF SIX MONTHS'

DU

VERDUN-RESULT

FIGHTING

URING the night of December 28, 1916, German troops in considerable force delivered a spirited attack on a threekilometer front between Hill 304 and Dead Man Hill, northwest of Verdun. The German advance was made after an intense artillery preparation. According to the official French reports the French infantry and machine-gun fire broke the attack, but a trench south of Dead Man Hill was occupied by a few German troops. In the account of the attack given out from Berlin it was stated that German troops penetrated the third and second lines of the French positions, from which 222 prisoners, of whom four were officers, together with seven machine guns, were brought back. All attempts made by the French troops to regain the captured trenches were defeated, the German report stated.

Between the Aisne and the Oise French artillery carried out a destructive fire on the German positions in the region of Quennevières. French patrols penetrated the shattered German trenches which had been hastily evacuated. All the afternoon of December 28, 1916, German guns on the left bank of the Meuse bombarded French positions between the Meuse and Avocourt. At several points on the French front in this sector the Germans made vigorous attacks with grenades, but in every instance they were repulsed with considerable losses.

During the night of December 28, 1916, a party of British troops made a successful raid against German trenches to the east of Le Sars with good results.

The closing days of the year were not marked by any important military operations on either side. Though no great attacks were attempted, the old business of trench warfare being resumed, the opposing forces continued to harass and destroy each other at every opportunity. The grim object of British, French, and German was to kill wherever shell or machine-gun bullet could reach an enemy. This period of "peace" was really one of ceaseless activity, and the British distinguished themselves in keeping the Germans constantly on the alert. To prevent the building of defenses, or smash them when built, to concentrate gunfire on communication trenches so as to render them impassable, to destroy reliefs coming in or going out, to carry death to the foe in ditches and dugouts-in short, to injure him in any way that human ingenuity and military science could devise -such were the tactics employed by belligerents during the days and nights when in official language there was "nothing to report."

Official announcement was made on New Year's Day by the British Prime Minister's Department that General Sir Douglas Haig, commander in chief of the British armies in France, had been promoted to the rank of field marshal. His chief aids on the French front, Lieutenant General Sir Henry Rawlinson and Major General Sir Hubert Gough, commanding the Fourth and Fifth Armies respectively, were also gazetted for promotion.

In reviewing the work of the Allies for the past six months Field Marshal Haig made no secret of the fact that he had been forced by circumstances to assume the offensive in July somewhat earlier than he intended. Had he waited until his munitionment was complete and his raw drafts had acquired more experience, the Battle of the Somme might not have resulted so favorably to the Allies. The Germans were near the outskirts of Verdun and striking hard, and the moral and political consequences of the fall of Verdun would have been so serious that it was impossible to delay the offensive. Field Marshal Haig stated in his summing up that the Battle of the Somme was begun to save Verdun, to prevent the transfer of further German reenforcements from the west to the Russian or Italian fronts, and

to wear down the strength of the enemy forces, and that all these purposes were fulfilled.

The brief period of so-called "peace" which had prevailed along the Somme during the closing days of 1916 was broken on New Year's Day, when a strong German patrol attacked the British trenches north of Vermelles. The British troops defending the position having foreknowledge of the attack, were quite prepared for a vigorous resistance and the Germans were driven off with sanguinary losses, leaving a number of dead and wounded on the field. In the evening of this date, under cover of a heavy bombardment, a German patrol consisting of about forty men made an attempt to reach the British lines to the north of Ypres. A few of the German troops succeeded in gaining the British trenches, but were ejected after a brief struggle. At other points on the front between the Somme and the Ancre the British troops started the new year in spirited fashion by carrying out effective counterbattery work and heavy bombardment of German positions in the neighborhood of Neuve Chapelle and Armentières.

During the afternoon of January 6, 1917, British troops under cover of a heavy bombardment successfully raided German positions southeast of Arras, where advancing over a wide front they entered the enemy's defenses and penetrated to the third line. Here they succeeded in bombing and destroying a number of dugouts and wrought considerable damage to the German defensive works. In minor engagements of this character the British reported to have taken 240 prisoners since Christmas.

French artillery on the Somme front was especially active during the first days of the new year. On the night of January 4, 1917, French aerial squadrons scattered projectiles on the German aviation field at Grisolles and on the railway station and barracks at Guiscard.

A number of explosions and four incendiary fires resulted from these attacks by French airmen.

Surprise attacks were attempted by German troops on the French advance posts east of Butte du Mesnil in the region of Maisons de Champagne. During the day of January 5, 1917,