arch 9, 1917, the Germans launched three
violent attacks in this sector in an attempt to force the French out
of their newly won positions. The Germans did not lack bravery, and
pressed forward in the face of a strong barrage and machine-gun fire.
The French guns, however, wrought such destruction in their ranks that
they were finally forced to retire, their number shattered and
depleted. In the two days' fighting in this sector the French took 170
prisoners, of whom four were officers.

The British captured Irles in the morning of March 10, 1917. Previous
to the attack their howitzers had deluged the place with shells. The
infantry followed closely, one force advancing from the south and
another turning north, to head off any attempt of the Germans to
retreat. In a sunken ravine the British found a small garrison of old
men with machine guns. Here thirty prisoners were taken and the rest
killed. The British swept on over the German trenches, meeting with
very little opposition. About 150 Germans were taken in this main
attack and quite as many more were gathered in by troops working west
and north. The prisoners were all Prussians, belonging chiefly to the
Second Guards Reserve. The Germans succeeded in withdrawing without
very heavy losses, leaving their rear guard to bear the brunt of the
British attack. The evacuation of Irles, which had become untenable,
had been fixed by the Germans for the 10th at 7.30 a. m., but the
British caught them napping by striking two hours earlier, with the
result that they captured three officers and 289 men.

In the night of March 10, 1917, the French carried out successful
surprise attacks on the German trenches in the Lassigny and
Canny-sur-Matz regions, and in the neighborhood of the Woevre north of
Jury Wood, destroying defensive works in these operations and taking
fifteen prisoners and some machine guns.

In the afternoon of March 12, 1917, the French troops operating on the
Champagne front recaptured all the trenches on Hill 185. These lines
lay west of the Maisons de Champagne Farm which the Germans had won
in the previous month. The attack was made over a front of nearly a
mile. During the night of March 11, 1917, French troops had crawled
forward and by the use of grenades prepared the way for the general
assault on the German positions which were carried on the following
day. All the German trenches were taken on the hill and a fortified
work on the slopes north of Memel