n a waste of ammunition long-range artillery
fire requires constant and accurate observation; but this most necessary
condition is rendered impossible of attainment in the midst of continual
fog and mist.

Again, armies have now grown accustomed to rely largely on aircraft
reconnoissance for accurate information of the enemy, but the effective
performance of this service is materially influenced by wind and
weather.

The deadly accuracy, range, and quick-firing capabilities of the modern
rifle and machine gun require that a fire-swept zone be crossed in the
shortest possible space of time by attacking troops. But if men are
detained under the enemy's fire by the difficulty of emerging from a
water-logged trench, and by the necessity of passing over ground
knee-deep in holding mud and slush, such attacks become practically
prohibitive owing to the losses they entail.

During the exigencies of the heavy fighting which ended in the last week
of November the French and British forces had become somewhat mixed up,
entailing a certain amount of difficulty in matters of supply and in
securing unity of command.

By the end of November I was able to concentrate the army under my
command in one area, and, by holding a shorter line, to establish
effective reserves.

By the beginning of December there was a considerable falling off in
the volume of artillery fire directed against our front by the enemy.
Reconnoissance and reports showed that a certain amount of artillery had
been withdrawn. We judged that the cavalry in our front, with the
exception of one division of the Guard, had disappeared.

There did not, however, appear to have been any great diminution in the
numbers of infantry holding the trenches.

3. Although both artillery and rifle fire were exchanged with the enemy
every day, and sniping went on more or less continuously during the
hours of daylight, the operations which call for special record or
comment are comparatively few.

During the last week in November some successful minor night operations
were carried out in the Fourth Corps.

On the night of Nov. 23-24 a small party of the Second Lincolnshire
Regiment, under Lieut. E.H. Impey, cleared three of the enemy's advanced
trenches opposite the Twenty-fifth Brigade, and withdrew without loss.

On the night of the 24th-25th Capt. J.R. Minshull Ford, Royal Welsh
Fusiliers, and Lieut. E.L. Morris, Royal Engineers, with fifteen men of
the Royal Engineers