held after the battle of the Marne and compares it with their
present position, one may gather some idea of how little progress they
have made.
It was in June and July, 1915, that the Germans displayed their main
efforts in the Argonne. Their three great attacks were made with
greater forces than ever before (two or three divisions), but the
results were as profitless as their predecessors. The heroism of the
French barred the way.
At Arras in June, there was almost as much activity as at Ypres.
During the last part of the campaign in the Artois, General d'Urbal
began an advance between Hebuterne and Serre. The former had been held
by the French and the latter by the Germans. The two villages were
each on a small hill and not quite two miles apart. There were two
lines of German trenches in front of the farm of Tout Vent which was
halfway between the villages.
The trenches were held by the Seventeenth Baden Regiment which was
attacked by the French on June 7, 1915. The French troops consisted of
Bretons, Vendeans, and soldiers from Savoy and Dauphine. The work of
the infantry was preceded by a heavy bombardment to which the German
artillery replied. Then the French charged with a dash that seemed
irresistible.
On the following day, June 8, 1915, the French gained more ground to
the north in spite of the activity of the German artillery. June 9,
1915, saw desperate fighting in the German communicating trenches, and
on June 10, 1915, several hundred yards of trenches to the south were
taken. The Seventeenth Baden Regiment was only a name and a memory
when the fighting ceased; and two German battalions had fared but
little better. Of the five hundred and eighty prisoners taken ten were
officers.
General de Castelnau, on the day before the fighting at Hebuterne,
made a break in the German line east of Forest of l'Aigle which is a
continuation of the Forest of Compiegne but is separated from it by
the Aisne. Within the French lines were the farms of Ecaffaut and
Quennevieres. The Germans held Les Loges and Tout Vent. There was a
German salient opposite Quennevieres with a small fort at the peak of
the salient. Defenses had been built also where the northern and
southern sides of the salient rested on the main line of trenches.
There were two lines of trenches on the arc of the salient with three
lines on a portion of the arc. An indented trench held the chord of
the arc. The Germans had placed several guns in a r
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