The morning of the attack was misty and rainy, and it was barely light when the French sprang out of their trenches, and, with a terrific barrage fire preceding them, swept over the first German positions, driving out or destroying the defenders. The front of the French attack was from the northeast of Laffaux, in the neighborhood of Vauxaillon, to La Royère Farm.
Six German infantry divisions tried to bar their way, but these were unable to check the spirited onslaught. The various stages of the French advance, which were carried out with precision and dispatch, were as follows: In the first dash the French captured the line indicated by the quarries of Fruty and Bohéry, and somewhat later Malmaison Fort was stormed and occupied. Montparnasse quarries, which had been previously damaged by big shells, was the scene of intensely hot fighting before the Germans were finally driven out.
The French center in its advance was opposed by fresh German reserves, and the fighting became bitter around the village of Chavignon, which the Germans only yielded after a violent struggle. It was in this area that the greatest advance of the day, two and a fifth miles, was made. On the right the French took the villages of Allemant and Vaudesson, and carried their line to the heights commanding Pargny-Filain.
Squadrons of tanks were active during the advance, while the French aviators distinguished themselves aloft by showering machine-gun bullets upon the German infantry from an altitude of not more than 100 yards.
The capture of the Malmaison plateau by the French was of the first importance, for it was the key of the ridge between the Aisne and Ailette Valleys; an unrivaled observation point commanding the Laon plain. In gaining it the French really "turned" the Chemin-des-Dames Ridge, to the northern slopes of which the Germans had clung so long.
The taking of Malmaison and Chemin-des-Dames.
On October 25, 1917, the French forces on the Aisne resumed the offensive, a general push being made beyond the positions reached in the last advance, extending to the Oise-Aisne Canal. The village and forest of Pinon were captured, and the hamlet of Pargny-Filain. South of Filain the fortified farms of St. Martin and La Chapelle Ste. Berthe were occupied. On the front between Mont des Singes (Monkey Mountain) and Chavignon French troops made further progress and reached Rohay Farm. The Germans counterattacked at various points on the fighting front, but were unable to make any progress. The French held securely all the new positions gained during the advance, and the number of German prisoners had now increased to over 12,000, of whom 200 were officers. Among the spoils captured were 120 guns, many of the heaviest description.
On the British fronts in France and Flanders there were no important actions. During the night of October 24, 1917, British aviators made a successful raid on Saarbrücken. West of this place naval machines dropped three and one-half tons of explosives on the Burbach works, and other factories as well as railway communications were attacked with good results, many explosions being noted. A train proceeding from Saarbrücken received a direct hit from a big bomb and was destroyed.