ces evacuated were only slightly damaged as the result of military
operations.

British and French troops, keeping in close touch with the German rear
guard during the advance, pushed forward to a depth of from ten to
twelve miles, and their cavalry entered Nesle about the same time. The
occupation of Noyon on the Oise was of special importance, as the
nearest point to Paris held by the Germans. The famous Noyon elbow or
salient, from which it was expected the Germans would launch an attack
on the French capital, now ceased to be a source of anxiety and
apprehension to the French fighting forces in this region.

Peronne, for which the French had fought desperately for nearly two
years, was entered by the British on March 18, 1917, after a brief
action with the German rear guard. East of the place the Germans had
fired a number of villages as they retreated. Athies, a town of some
importance, was reduced to a smoldering ruin and the smoke of its
burning buildings could be seen for miles. The Germans displayed their
"thoroughness" as they retired by poisoning the wells with arsenic,
and setting high-explosive traps into which they hoped the British
advance guards would blunder. Bridges over all the waterways were
burned and the crossroads carefully mined.

[Illustration: The German Retreat on the Western Front, March 18,
1917.]

The capture of Bapaume, that quaint Picardy town which the Germans had
transformed into an almost impregnable stronghold and fortress, was a
special cause for rejoicing by the British troops. It was a prize they
had longed for through many weary months. There was no waving of flags
or beating of drums when the British patrols entered the town, for
there was stiff fighting ahead, and the place was filled with
underground strongholds. Soon the welcome message came over the wire
that all the enemy rear guard had been accounted for, and the British
were free to survey their new acquisition. Fires were smoldering in
many parts and not a house was left intact. Shells had wrought a great
deal of the ruin, but it was evident that many of the buildings had
been dynamited. The statue of General Louis Faldeherbe, who defended
Bapaume against the Germans in 1870, was missing, and had evidently
been carried off by the kaiser's troops.

The defensive works around Bapaume were of the most elaborate
description, and the highest ingenuity had been employed in making the
place impregnable. In addition to a sp