Another Canadian unit on the right, where the Passchendaele Ridge stands, was fighting its way up toward Crest Farm in the face of a heavy machine-gun fire. By dogged persistence they won the position, and quickly turning the captured German guns were enabled to smash up the counterattacks which followed quickly after the positions were occupied.
After these assaults that cost the Germans heavily the Canadians passed a quiet night in their newly won trenches only 400 yards from Passchendaele.
October 31, 1917, was warm and sunny and brought cheer to the Canadians, who had been lying out all night in the chilly air in their wet uniforms. The work of consolidating the newly won positions went forward rapidly. German gunfire, which continued during the day, was especially intense in the territory between Schaopbaillie and Poelcappelle north of the scene of the previous day's fighting. Here the Germans gained a small advantage: the British were shelled from two outposts in fortified farms.
On the French front artillery battles and local engagements were continued during October 30-31, 1917. North of the Aisne the guns thundered on the whole sector between Vauxaillon and Pinon, and along the new French positions in the region of Froidmont. German detachments, which attempted to storm French posts north of the Loivre and to the northwest of Rheims, were driven off with heavy losses. A surprise attack in the Argonne, in the region of Boureuilles, was defeated by the French after a sharp engagement in which the Germans were severely punished.
Since assuming the offensive on October 23, 1917, the French had captured over 12,000 prisoners, of whom 237 were officers. Large quantities of war material were also taken, including 180 cannon.
CHAPTER V
GERMAN RETREAT FROM CHEMIN-DES-DAMES—THE BRITISH ADVANCE TOWARD CAMBRAI
French victories resulted in the retreat of the Germans from the Chemin-des-Dames. It began during the night of November 1, 1917, and continued the day following. The stupendous efforts made by them to hold this important rampart had cost thousands of lives and had been in vain. They were forced to retire along a fifteen-mile front to the Ailette River, the prelude, perhaps, to the fall of Laon and La Fère.
The Germans had been in control of the Chemin-des-Dames since September, 1914, when Joffre turned back the Teuton armies in the Battle of the Marne. Since then they had clung desperately to this ridge, which dominates the valley of the Aisne and the Ailette Valley. The German Crown Prince lost the best elements of his armies and the best part of their effectives in the fighting here in October, 1917. Enfiladed day and night by French guns it was impossible for the Germans to keep their front lines supplied with food and ammunition, for the carriers had to pass through a storm of fire in crossing the valley of Ailette, where they were constantly under observation from the French positions. It was in anticipation of a new offensive that the Germans decided to retire from a position that had become untenable.
Possession of the Chemin-des-Dames greatly strengthened the French lines in the Aisne sector, giving them control of the St. Gobain region northwest of the highway. St. Gobain is between Laon and La Fère and dominates both those points.