was about to be launched. But in the British trenches well prepared and organized troops were waiting the order to attack. Suddenly the British batteries spoke in thunderous tones, showering German trenches and defensive works with shells of enormous destructive force. The barbed-wire obstructions before the German positions were cut like packthread. The British troops at the signal sprang out into no-man's-land following the curtain of fire. Sweeping over and around the position, the Germans were trapped in their dugouts before they could get up to bomb the invaders or fire upon them with machine guns. The whole German garrison of this strong position gave up the fight after making but slight resistance.

The prisoners, numbering six officers and 352 men of the Hundred and Nineteenth and Hundred and Twenty-first Regiments, the Württembergers of Königen Olga, who had hardly recovered from the surprise occasioned by their capture, were packed into old London busses and were hurried to their camp on the British side of the battle field.

The prisoners confessed that they had been caught napping. The British gunfire they had believed was simply the usual morning salutation, and remained in their dugouts until it was over. They said they would have put up a fight if they had had any kind of chance, but taken by surprise they could only surrender.

German gunners at other points had by this time observed the red lights that went up, the signals of distress, and thus learned that the position had been captured. But they were too late in getting their guns into action, and the white haze that hung over the scene at that early morning hour hindered their observation, so that the feeble fire they could concentrate on the captured position did no harm.

The British had pressed on farther than the objective given to them to a point 500 yards beyond the German first line, where they established themselves, finding the deep warm dugouts much more comfortable than the temporary shelters of their own which they had left. Later in the day the British troops occupying the most advanced position were withdrawn to the ground which had been assigned as the obiective in the attack. The Germans

made different attempts to force them out of this position, but all attacks broke down under fire, for the British had perfect observation of their movements from the higher ground they had won in recent battles in this sector.

On the French front there was active fighting all day long on January 27, 1917. On the left bank of the Meuse French troops engaged the Germans with hand grenades on the eastern slopes of Hill 304. On the right bank of the river they made a successful attack against German positions between Les Eparges and the Calonne trench. The German position was found to be strewn with dead, and a great quantity of booty was taken. In Lorraine there were numerous artillery duels in the sector of the forest of Bezange. Near Moulainville a German aeroplane was brought down in flames by the fire of French guns.

The continued bad weather that prevailed along the Somme and on the Verdun front did not hinder the Allies from assuming the offensive whenever there appeared to be an opportunity to make even the slightest gain. At daybreak on January 28, 1917, British forces penetrated German trenches northeast of Neuville-St. Vaast, where they successfully bombed the enemy in dugouts and brought away a number of prisoners. All day British artillery was active north of the Somme in the neighborhood of Beaumont-Hamel, Lens, and the Ypres sector. Northeast of Festubert the British carried out a successful raid in which they captured an officer and a number of other ranks. The British raiders escaped without any casualties. The Germans after an intense bombardment attempted to rush a British post east of Fauquissart, but were repulsed in disorder.

On this date the French forces also displayed courage and activity in carrying out successfully important minor operations at different points along the Somme. During the night they entered German positions in the sector of Hill 304 on the left bank of the Meuse; artillery duels and grenade fighting were almost continuous. In the Champagne, and at various places on the front in Alsace, there were numerous patrol encounters between the Germans and French in which the latter were generally victorious. A German attack made on a French trench at

Hartmannsweilerkopf was repulsed with heavy losses to the raiders. An attempt made by German aviators to bomb the open town of Lunéville proved abortive. No damage was done and no lives were lost.

The British forces in France did not attempt any offensive during the day of January 29, 1917, but at night a successful raid was carried out in the neighborhood of the Butte de Warlencourt north of Courcelette.

The British penetrated the German trenches and bombed the dugouts, destroying a gun and taking seventeen prisoners. East of Souchez another British raiding party penetrated German lines and wrecked the defenses.

The Germans continued their efforts to drive the French out of their positions in the region of Hill 304. On this date, January 29, 1917, they made a violent attack with grenades on an advanced French trench in this sector, but were repulsed with losses by the French artillery. Three German aeroplanes were brought down.

The 30th of January, 1917, was an unimportant day in the fighting in France. The British bombarded German positions opposite Richebourg l'Avoue, east of Armentières and Ypres. Between Soissons and Rheims the French artillery dispersed two surprise attacks attempted by the Germans, one in the sector of Soupir and the other in the region of Beaulne (Aisne).

In Lorraine during the night a French detachment penetrated the first and second line of German trenches at a point south of Leintrey. The defenders of these positions were put out of action and the French took about fifteen prisoners. In the region of Moncel another party of French raiders successfully carried out a surprise attack on German positions.

On this last day of the month the British headquarters in France reported that during January they had captured 1,228 Germans, including twenty-seven officers.

PART II-EASTERN FRONT

CHAPTER XVIII

THE NEW DRIVE AGAINST LEMBERG

OINCIDENT with their attempt to recapture Kovel, the

COINCIDE

Russians launched a new drive against Lemberg, the ancient capital of Galicia. This movement was a result of the successes which they had gained in the Bukowina and in eastern Galicia during July, 1916. By the end of that month, as has been previously told, the Russians had reconquered all of the Buko wina, overrun some of the most southern passes of the Carpathians, and were in possession of that part of eastern Galicia located north of the Pruth and Dniester Rivers and east of the Strypa River.

Having gained these advantages, they now attempted to press them and attacked Lemberg both from the north and from the south. In the former direction they advanced from Brody and Tarnopol against the strongly held Styr and Bug line. In the south Lemberg was defended by the Dniester line. Before forcing this line it was necessary to capture Stanislau, an important point on the Czernowitz-Lemberg railway. Between the Bug and the Dniester lines of defense Lemberg was secured in the east, and still farther by a third line of natural defenses. This was formed by a series of northern tributaries of the Dniester, of which the most important were the Sereth, Strypa, and Zlota Lipa Rivers. The former two had already been crossed by the Russians, but there still remained the very formidable and extremely strong line of defenses along the last, which had more than once before proved very difficult to overcome.

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On the Russian side there were engaged in this struggle three army groups under Generals Sakharoff, Stcherbacheff, and Lechitsky. The Austro-German forces were divided into four groups under Generals Puhallo, Boehm-Ermolli, Von Bothmer, and Von Pfanzer-Ballin.

During the first few days of August, 1916, the fighting along this entire line, though continuous and severe, was not particularly well defined and was more or less split up into comparatively small and local engagements. On August 1, 1916, engagements of this nature took place southwest of Burkanoff and west of Buczacz. In the latter region the ground offered great difficulties. A small but very marshy river-the Moropiec-was strongly defended by the Austro-German forces, and when these finally had to give way, they destroyed all bridges. Nothing daunted, the Russians waded across in the face of severe fire and frequently up to their necks in water, gained the western bank, and after making some hundreds of prisoners, promptly dug themselves in. Other engagements occurred on the same day in the Dniester-Pruth sector-in the direction of Stanislau near Wisniowcza and Molodgonow.

On August 2, 1916, the Russians developed a strong attack on both sides of the railway near Brody against Ponikowica, but were unsuccessful. However, the attacks were kept up and by the next day, August 3, 1916, yielded not only considerable ground, but more than 1,000 prisoners. Fighting was kept up in this locality throughout the following day. The AustroGermans launched nine counterattacks, all of which were repulsed. The losses on both sides were very severe. For, though the Austro-German forces had to give way, they did so only after the most stubborn resistance. Every little village had to be fought for for hours, and each street had to be cleared at the point of the bayonet. Especially severe encounters occurred near Meidzigory and Tchistopady. By August 5, 1916, the Russians had registered some important successes in this small sector. The number of their prisoners had mounted to over 5,000, and a considerable number of machine guns and bomb throwers had fallen into their hands. The Austro-Germans tried to dislodge