in front of the Canadian trenches, the clouds
parted and the yellow crescent moon appeared. Under the light of this
beacon the Canadians leaped over the parapets and began their methodical
advance behind their barrage fire.

The British barrage was without a flaw, says an eyewitness. Behind it
the Canadians mounted Hill 70 and swept along the rest of the line. On
the crest of the hill, where so much blood had been, spilled before,
heavy fighting might have been expected, for the position was well
manned with machine guns. The resistance here, however, was not strong,
and it was not until the dwellings in the outskirts of the suburbs were
reached that vigorous fighting occurred. The ground over which the
infantry advanced was honeycombed with British shell holes and the
barbed wire defenses had been leveled, so that they gave little trouble.

FIGHT IN CELLARS AND DUGOUTS

The first serious resistance from the Germans was met at a point where
the enemy was strongly intrenched in connecting cellars and there
sanguinary fighting occurred. The place was a sample of many other
suburbs about Lens. The city is surrounded by colliery communities which
are so close together and so near the city proper that they really form
part of the town. Lens, before the war, had a population of 30,000, but
had become a mass of ruins.

Following their usual tactics, the Germans had carried out systematic
destruction of the houses and had constructed strong underground
defenses. The whole city was undermined with tunnels and dugouts, which
had been reinforced with concrete, and most of the ruined buildings had
been turned into machine-gun emplacements.

The effect of the preliminary British bombardment was most demoralizing
to the enemy. The first German prisoners taken were in a completely
dazed state as a result of the terrific bombardment they had undergone,
and other Germans were seen to flee to the rear, deserting their posts
as the attack began.

The result of this preliminary fire was shown in the speed of the
Canadian infantry's advance. The extreme depth reached in the first
stage was 1,500 yards, and this was achieved in ninety-three minutes.
This new front, taken into conjunction with positions secured previously
in the southwestern outskirts of Lens, established an angular line like
a pair of shears whose points reached out to the north and south of the
city.

As the Canadians pushed in on the northwest, a simultaneous advan