advance on April 4, 1917,
through violent snow squalls and over sodden ground, and the Germans
were pushed back along the whole front from the Somme to the Oise.

A dashing attack carried out near La Folie Farm, about a mile and a
half north of Urvillers, threw the Germans in such disorder that they
fled precipitately, abandoning three lines of strongly fortified
trenches, leaving behind the wounded and much war material, including
howitzers. The French had now gained the foot of a ridge 393 feet high
on the southern outskirts of St. Quentin. By the capture of La Folie
they cut the railroad connecting St. Quentin with the Oise, leaving
only one line on the north by which the Germans could escape from the
doomed city. On the west bank of the Somme French patrols had pressed
forward to the outskirts of St. Quentin. On the British front west of
the city the Germans made a violent attack, but were driven off with
heavy losses. Farther to the north the British succeeded in
straightening their line between the Bapaume and Peronne highway
converging on Cambrai.

The most important event during April 5, 1917, was a powerful attack
made against the French by picked German troops to the northwest of
Rheims along a mile and a half front. The purpose was to clear the
left bank of the Aisne Canal. They succeeded in gaining a foothold at
certain points in the French first-line trenches, but were thrust out
later by counterattacks.

The only other important event on this date was the strong
bombardment by the Germans of the new French positions south of St.
Quentin. The British and French troops, despite occasional checks
occasioned by the frantic efforts of the Germans to stay their
victorious progress, continued to steadily advance their lines, which
now extended in a semicircle two miles from St. Quentin.

CHAPTER LVII

THE BRITISH TROOPS CAPTURE VIMY RIDGE AND MONCHY--FRENCH VICTORIES ON
THE AISNE

The steady pressure maintained by the Allied troops on German
positions culminated on April 9, 1917, when the British launched a
terrific offensive on a twelve-mile front north and south of Arras.
German positions were penetrated to a depth of from two to three
miles, and many fortified points, including the famous Vimy Ridge,
were captured. The line of advance extended from Givenchy, southwest
of Lens, to the village of Henin, southwest of Arras. For a week
British guns had been bombarding this sector without cessation