1917 in Retrospect
Looked at as a whole, 1917 has been a remarkable year. During it the war has assumed more and more the character of a struggle on the part of all the free nations for the final destruction of militarism and the establishment of an international order which will give real securities for liberty and public right throughout the world. The nations of which the British Commonwealth is composed have been drawn together in their joint effort for the common cause. And within the United Kingdom there has been a growth in the sense of public service and of the power to improve and adapt economic and social and administrative methods which will make it far easier to build up a healthier and more equitably organized society in future.
THE BATTLE OF CAMBRAI
Full Text of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig's Report of a Victory and Reverse
The battle of Cambrai began on Nov. 20, 1917, with the successful surprise attack of the British Third Army under Sir Julian Byng, and came to an end on the night of Dec. 4-5 with the withdrawal of British troops from Bourlon Wood to "a more compact line on the Flesquières Ridge." A German attack, which began on Nov. 30, had succeeded in wresting away a large portion of the British gains. This reverse was later the subject of British Parliamentary inquiry, but the commission found no serious military errors to censure. Sir Douglas Haig's official report to the Secretary of War is printed below in full. It acquires a fresh interest from the fact that the terrain fought over is in part the same as that across which the Germans have since swept in their Spring offensive of 1918.
General Headquarters,
British Armies in the Field,
Feb. 20, 1918.
My Lord: I have the honor to submit the following report on the operations on the Cambrai front during November and December, 1917: