re were
threatened with annihilation.

To the northeast of Gommecourt the British advanced their line more
than half a mile, and also captured the villages of Thilloy and
Puisieux-le-Mont. A successful raid carried out in the night by the
British in the neighborhood of Clery resulted in the capture of
twenty-two prisoners.

There was sharp fighting among the ruins of Puisieux, where the
Germans had to be hunted from their hiding places. After this
clearing-out process the British line now ran well beyond Gommecourt
on the left and down to Irles on the right. The Germans concentrated
heavy shell fire on Irles, and showered high explosives on Miraumont
and upon other places on the front from which they had withdrawn. The
British were now less than a mile from Bapaume, in the rear of which
the German guns on railway mountings were firing incessantly on
British positions.

On March 1, 1917, British headquarters in France, summarizing the
operations during February, stated that the British had captured 2,133
German prisoners and occupied either by capture or the withdrawal of
the Germans eleven villages. Some of the positions captured were of
the highest importance, to which the Germans had clung as long as they
could with desperate energy, and from which the British had tried
vainly to conquer. The Germans had retired on the Ancre on a front of
twelve miles to a depth of two miles.

The first stage of the German retirement plan was completed on March
2, 1917, when they made a definite stand, their line now running from
Essarts through Achiet-le-Petit to about 1,000 yards southeast of
Bapaume. The Loupart Wood occupying high ground along this line had
been transformed into a strong field fortress after German methods,
and here it was evident every preparation was made for a stiff
defense.

The British had an enormous task before them in building roads through
the recovered ground. The Germans had carefully timed their retirement
when the ground was hard, but now owing to a week's thaw most of the
Somme and Ancre area was transformed into liquid mud. In addition to
the difficulties presented by the terrain, the British patrols in the
evacuated territory constantly encountered isolated bodies of German
defensive troops who, obedient to their instructions, fought bravely
to hold the positions they had been assigned to. Everything that
cunning could devise was resorted to to delay the British advance. An
Australian patro