e comfortable than
the temporary shelters of their own which they had left. Later in the
day the British troops occupying the most advanced position were
withdrawn to the ground which had been assigned as the objective in
the attack. The Germans made different attempts to force them out of
this position, but all attacks broke down under fire, for the British
had perfect observation of their movements from the higher ground they
had won in recent battles in this sector.

On the French front there was active fighting all day long on January
27, 1917. On the left bank of the Meuse French troops engaged the
Germans with hand grenades on the eastern slopes of Hill 304. On the
right bank of the river they made a successful attack against German
positions between Les Eparges and the Calonne trench. The German
position was found to be strewn with dead, and a great quantity of
booty was taken. In Lorraine there were numerous artillery duels in
the sector of the forest of Bezange. Near Moulainville a German
aeroplane was brought down in flames by the fire of French guns.

The continued bad weather that prevailed along the Somme and on the
Verdun front did not hinder the Allies from assuming the offensive
whenever there appeared to be an opportunity to make even the
slightest gain. At daybreak on January 28, 1917, British forces
penetrated German trenches northeast of Neuville-St. Vaast, where they
successfully bombed the enemy in dugouts and brought away a number of
prisoners. All day British artillery was active north of the Somme in
the neighborhood of Beaumont-Hamel, Lens, and the Ypres sector.
Northeast of Festubert the British carried out a successful raid in
which they captured an officer and a number of other ranks. The
British raiders escaped without any casualties. The Germans after an
intense bombardment attempted to rush a British post east of
Fauquissart, but were repulsed in disorder.

On this date the French forces also displayed courage and activity in
carrying out successfully important minor operations at different
points along the Somme. During the night they entered German positions
in the sector of Hill 304 on the left bank of the Meuse; artillery
duels and grenade fighting were almost continuous. In the Champagne,
and at various places on the front in Alsace, there were numerous
patrol encounters between the Germans and French in which the latter
were generally victorious. A German attack made on a French