fre to be kind
enough to inspect a division on parade.

The General accepted my invitation, and on May 27 he inspected the 7th
Division, under the command of Major-General H. de la P. Gough, C.B.,
which was resting behind the trenches.

General Joffre subsequently expressed to me in a letter the pleasure
it gave him to see the British troops, and his appreciation of their
appearance on parade. He requested me to make this known to all
ranks.

The Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Right Rev. Dr. Wallace
Williamson, Dean of the Order of the Thistle, visited the Army in
France between May 7 and 17, and made a tour of the Scottish regiments
with excellent results.

In spite of the constant strain put upon them by the arduous nature of
the fighting which they are called upon to carry out daily and almost
hourly, the spirit which animates all ranks of the Army in France
remains high and confident.

They meet every demand made upon them with the utmost cheerfulness.

This splendid spirit is particularly manifested by the men in
hospital, even amongst those who are mortally wounded.

The invariable question which comes from lips hardly able to utter a
sound is, "How are things going on at the front?"

In conclusion, I desire to bring to your Lordship's special notice the
valuable services rendered by General Sir Douglas Haig in his
successful handling of the troops of the First Army throughout the
Battle of Festubert, and Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert Plumer for his
fine defence of Ypres throughout the arduous and difficult operations
during the latter part of April and the month of May.

I have the honor to be your Lordship's most obedient servant,

J.D.P. FRENCH,
Field-Marshal, Commanding-in-Chief,
the British Army in France.

France's "Eyewitness" Reports

HILGENFIRST

_The following details published in Paris on July 11 by an official
"Eyewitness" with the French army of the desperate fighting which
resulted in the capture of the summit of Hilgenfirst, more than 3,000
feet high, in the Langenfeldkopf region, in the Vosges Mountains, are
given in an account of the struggle written by an official eyewitness
with the French army._

In the fight for the capture of the eminence of Hilgenfirst, one
company of our advance guard which forced a breach in the German lines
was cut off from its battalion as the result of a German
counter-attack. This company, nevertheless, succeeded in maintaining
t