ttack with the result that
they regained most of what they lost with the exception of about five
hundred yards of trenches.

CHAPTER XXIV

FRANCO-GERMAN OPERATIONS ALONG THE FRONT

We have thus far dealt chiefly with the British operations in the
western front, but it must not be assumed that the French, in the
meantime, were idle. On the contrary, their operations, covering the
far greater territory, were proportionally more important than those
of their allies.

During the winter months artillery duels along the entire
Franco-German front were kept up without intercession. These were
varied by assaults on exposed points which were in many cases
repeatedly taken and lost by the opposing forces.

The French staff applied itself with the utmost vigor to the
accumulation of large stacks of munitions and supplies for the
production of active movements when weather conditions should permit.
For the most part, however, the Franco-German operations were
desultory movements occurring in various portions of the long line.
Actions of the first importance began with the attacks in the St.
Mihiel salient in April, 1915.

On the night of February 6, 1915, Germans exploded three mines at La
Boisselle in front of the houses in the village which the French
occupied, but the attempt of the Germans to advance was checked after
a small amount of ground had been gained. The next day a counterattack
carried out by a French company retook this ground, and inflicted a
loss of 200 men. The French seized a wood north of Mesnil-les-Hurles
on the night of February 7. Here the Germans had strongly established
themselves.

During the first part of February, 1915, the Germans made a series of
assaults on the Marie Therese works in the Argonne. Their force
comprised about a brigade; but the French repulsed all attacks. Both
sides suffered severe losses. On the night of February 9, there was an
infantry engagement at La Fontenelle in the Ban de Sapt. Two
battalions of Germans took part in the action and gained some ground
which the French regained by counterattacks on the following day.

Actions in the Vosges continued in spite of heavy snow. The French
carried Hill 937, eight hundred meters northwest of the farm of
Sudelle, in the region north of Hartmannsweilerkopf.

About February 9, 1915, there was considerable activity on the part of
the German artillery in Champagne, especially before Rheims. The city
being again bombarded.