of German
soldiers advancing to attack was thrown in disorder by the intense
gunfire from the British positions. A second wave of men
started--swept a little farther over the shell-torn terrain than the
others had done, then faltered, broke apart, and fell back, having
failed to get through the British artillery fire or even to approach
their trenches.

In the area around Mouquet Farm and in the trenches south of Thiepval
the British captured during the day one German officer and sixty-six
of other ranks. British aircraft displayed great activity in this
sector, dropping five tons of bombs on points of military importance
behind the enemy lines. One hostile machine was brought down, while
two British machines failed to return. South of the Ancre the British
made slight advances, capturing four German officers and fifty-five of
other ranks.

A great battle developed north of the Somme on September 2, 1916, in
which the British and French forces took thousands of prisoners and
captured important territory. After intense artillery preparation the
French infantry cooperating with British troops attacked the German
positions on a front of about three and three-quarter miles between
the region north of Maurepas and the river. The strong German forces
engaged were unable to resist the onslaught of the Allied troops. The
villages of Forest, east of Maurepas, and Clery-sur-Somme were
captured, as well as all the German trenches along the route from
Forest to Combles as far as the outskirts of the last place. The
Germans launched with heavy forces a counterattack against the
conquered positions, but were driven back by the heavy fire of the
French batteries. The French official reports gave the number of
unwounded prisoners captured in this battle as exceeding 2,000, and
the booty taken included twelve guns and fifty machine guns. German
aircraft which engaged British flyers during the progress of the
battle were driven off with a loss of three machines destroyed and
four badly injured. The British lost three.

Fighting on the Somme and Ancre was continued with increased severity
on September 3, 1916. The Germans stubbornly contested the British
advance, but were unable to gain any material advantage except at
Ginchy, occupied by the British, who were driven out of all but a
small portion of the place. As an offset to this loss the British
troops captured the strongly fortified village of Guillemont and the
German defenses o