ked an important German trench known as "Bethmann's
Bowl," which they penetrated after a hard struggle and made the
defenders prisoners. Next Pepper Hill was attacked, and the two crests
of this height were won in exactly one hour after a start had been
made. During this time the Germans on the opposing slope were caught
in the rear by a French flank movement. Completely taken by surprise
they attempted to flee when French airmen, dropping their machines to
within 500 feet of the ground, brought their machine guns to bear on
the now disorderly crowd of fugitives, and those who escaped the
devastating fire sweeping down on them at once surrendered.

The French infantry now advanced along the valley behind Pepper Hill,
and with the aid of a French force that had fought its way through the
fortified fieldworks of Caurieres Wood took Louvemont by a brilliant
assault.

In front of Douaumont the French troops made a rapid advance, but in
Hardaumont Wood their forward movement on the right flank encountered
stubborn opposition. Fighting continued there until late in the
afternoon, when the German garrison in Bezonvaux Redoubt, about five
kilometers beyond the original French line, surrendered.

It was especially encouraging to the Allies that in this impressive
victory only four French divisions participated, while it was known
from prisoners taken that the Germans had five divisions in the field.

The French owed much of their success to the daring work performed by
their aviators. Dozens of airmen dashed here and there, taking
observations, correcting artillery, and accompanying the infantry's
advance. At intervals they dashed back to headquarters with detailed
reports of what was going on, thus keeping the commander in chief in
close touch with the operations of the troops. The German gunners
seemed to have become unnerved by the rapidity of the French advance,
and fired almost at random. They had no assistance from their own
aviators, who were kept in subjection by the French airmen, of whom
not one was lost during the day.

The French did not overestimate the magnitude of the victory they had
won. It compelled the Germans to move back their artillery, which up
to that time was a source of danger to the French supply depots and
works on the other side of the Meuse, and also laid open the flanks of
the French position on Le Mort Homme.

Owing to the swiftness of the advance and the disorganization of the
German batte