ard
movement was so well protected by their artillery that the French
loss there was comparatively slight. Some idea can be gained from
the fact that one French division killed 2,600 of their enemy and
captured 3,000 prisoners with a loss of only 250 slain and 1,250
wounded. But the greatest gain to the French was probably the fact
that the battle of the Artois had proved to the soldiers of the
republic that their artillery was the equal of the German, which
had been the arm in which the Teutons excelled. It also proved
that the Germans could not intrench themselves in any manner that
was impregnable to the French; for they had taken the Labyrinth,
a most complicated series of military engineering feats which were
supposed to be able to withstand any assault. And lastly, and perhaps
of most importance to the French, the belief in the superiority
of the German soldier, as a result of 1870, was shattered in the
mind of the Frenchman.

* * * * *

CHAPTER VIII

BRITISH FORWARD MOVEMENT--BATTLE OF FESTUBERT

To aid the French in the Artois, the British made a forward movement
in the Festubert region in May, 1915. Its purpose was to prevent the
Seventh German Corps from sending troops and artillery to reenforce
Lens. Moreover the British, if they succeeded, would take the Aubers
ridge, which they had tried to gain in the battle of Neuve Chapelle.
If they could capture the Aubers ridge, the way would be opened to
Lille and La Bassee. The action began on Sunday morning, May 9,
1915, in the region between Bois Grenier and Festubert, and was
a part of the forward movement of the British from Armentieres
to La Bassee. Part of the First Corps and the Indian Corps marched
forward on the right from the Rue du Bois toward the southern part
of the Bois du Biez, where there had been much fighting before.
The principal attack was made by the Eighth Division on Rouges
Banes, not far from Fromelies and the Aubers ridge, near where
the British had been stopped in the battle of Neuve Chapelle. At
approximately the same time that General Sir Douglas Haig with
the British First Army reached the slightly elevated plateau in
front of Lille, General Foch with a large body of French troops
made a desperate attack on the Germans on their front from La Bassee
to Arras. The French and British had joined their efforts here,
not only to relieve the pressure which was being exerted on Ypres
and to take Lille, whic