the southwest. Nearly 1,000 prisoners were secured
by the Fourth Army in the course of these operations.

With the exception of his positions in the neighborhood of
Sailly-Saillisel, and his scanty foothold on the northern crest of the
high ground above Thiepval, the enemy had now been driven from the whole
of the ridge lying between the Tortille and the Ancre.

[Sidenote: Germans make repeated counterattacks.]

[Sidenote: British situation satisfactory.]

Possession of the northwestern portion of the ridge north of the latter
village carried with it observation over the valley of the Ancre between
Miraumont and Hamel and the spurs and valleys held by the enemy on the
right bank of the river. The Germans, therefore, made desperate efforts
to cling to their last remaining trenches in this area, and in the
course of the three weeks following our advance made repeated
counterattacks at heavy cost in the vain hope of recovering the ground
they had lost. During this period our gains in the neighborhood of Stuff
and Schwaben Redoubts were gradually increased and secured in readiness
for future operations; and I was quite confident of the ability of our
troops, not only to repulse the enemy's attacks, but to clear him
entirely from his last positions on the ridge whenever it should suit my
plans to do so. I was, therefore, well content with the situation on
this flank.

Along the centre of our line from Gueudecourt to the west of Le Sars
similar considerations applied. As we were already well down the forward
slopes of the ridge on his front, it was for the time being inadvisable
to make any serious advance. Pending developments elsewhere all that was
necessary or indeed desirable was to carry on local operations to
improve our positions and to keep the enemy fully employed.

[Sidenote: Strong enemy positions in eastern flank.]

[Sidenote: Enemy resistance weakens.]

On our eastern flank, on the other hand, it was important to gain
ground. Here the enemy still possessed a strong system of trenches
covering the villages of Le Transloy and Beaulencourt and the town of
Bapaume; but, although he was digging with feverish haste, he had not
yet been able to create any very formidable defenses behind this line.
In this direction, in fact, we had at last reached a stage at which a
successful attack might reasonably be expected to yield much greater
results than anything we had yet attained. The resistance of the troops
oppose