The gallant troops, which had thus inflicted a stinging defeat on the enemy, included the famous 20th Corps, which, a few months before, in a veritable inferno, had barred the road to Verdun.
THE SITE OF MONACU FARM ON THE MAUREPAS ROAD NEAR HEM WOOD.
THE BATTLE OF ATTRITION (North of the Somme).
In the main sector of attack the German line had not been completely broken. This attempt to break through was succeeded by a battle of attrition, in the course of which the Allies, working in close collaboration, dealt the enemy repeated blows.
North of the Somme.—After July 11, the Allied front between the Ancre and the Somme, held by the strong German positions of the Thiepval Plateau, passed in front of Contalmaison and Montauban. On the southern edges of Trônes Wood it turned southwards towards Hem.
This line formed a salient to the east of Trônes Wood—a narrow space bristling with guns. From the high ground of their second position in the north, and that of Longueval, Ginchy and Guillemont, the German firing line formed a semi-circle round this salient, which was threatened by incessant counter-attacks. While maintaining the pressure on the west, it became necessary for the Allies to widen the angle and enlarge the front, or, in other words, to obtain greater freedom of movement.
This was the aim of the various Franco-British thrusts during the second fortnight of July and in August.