line for ten miles was captured in a few minutes.

[Illustration: The Taking of Messines Ridge, June 7, 1917.]

Less than three hours after the first attack the Messines-Wytschaete
Ridge was stormed. The British pushed their advance along the entire
sector south of Ypres, from Observation Ridge to Ploegsteert Wood to
the north of Armentieres. Later in the day the German rear defenses,
which ran across the base of the salient, were assaulted. Here the
Germans had concentrated strong forces and the British encountered
stiff opposition, but by nightfall the whole rear German position
along a five-mile front to a depth of three miles was secure in
British hands. The Canadians, who were in the forefront of all the
fighting, had an enjoyable day of it, unsurpassed since they swept the
Germans from Vimy Ridge.

In the course of the day's fighting the British captured over 7,000
prisoners and a large number of guns of all calibers. The Germans, it
was estimated, had about 30,000 casualties, and the British less than
a third of that number.

Eyewitnesses to this spectacular and dramatic operation have described
the shattering effect the terrific explosions had on the Germans
defending the positions, especially on those protecting the ill-famed
Hill 60, where so many brave British soldiers had perished in previous
fights.

When this hill burst open and a dense mass of fiery clouds and smoking
rocks shot skyward, the British troops assigned to take the position
and while still some distance away were thrown down by the violence of
the concussion. But no one was injured, and finding their footing they
dashed on in the direction of the hill. Below Mount Sorrel and in
Armagh Wood they encountered groups of Jaegers and Wuerttembergers, who
crawled out of holes in the still quivering earth, and, shaking with
terror, weakly raised their hands in token of surrender. There was no
desire to fight left in these men, but where the dugouts had not been
shattered by British fire and were partly intact hundreds crouched in
the dark and could only be persuaded to come into the open when bombs
were hurled among them.

In other places the explosions had not produced such terrifying
effects on the Germans, and the British met with stubborn resistance.
This was the case in the neighborhood of the Chateau Matthieu, to the
west of Hollebeke, which was strongly held and where the Londoners who
engaged the Germans had a strenuous time of it befo