March 4—Hard fighting in the Vosges; Germans spray burning oil and chemicals upon French advancing in Malancourt woods.
March 5—Germans checked at Rheims; report of Sir John French says situation is unchanged in Belgium; Germans are holding reserves in Alsace.
March 9—Floods hamper campaign in Alsace; it is reported that Germans are shelling factories in France which they cannot capture.
March 10—Germans declare that the French have failed in the Champagne district and have lost 45,000 men.
March 11—After several days of severe fighting the British capture Neuve Chapelle, the German loss being estimated by British at 18,000; the British also have lost heavily, particularly in officers; British believe they will now be able to threaten seriously the German position at La Bassée; French War Office says operations in Champagne have aided Russians by preventing Germans from reinforcing eastern armies.
March 12—British are pressing on toward Lille; they gain near Armentières, occupy Epinette, and advance toward La Bassée; Germans are intrenched in Aubers; the new drive is expected by Allies to prevent Germans in the west from sending reinforcements to the east.
March 13—Sir John French reports further gains in Neuve Chapelle region.
March 14—French occupy Vauquois, the key to a wide area of the Argonne; they capture trenches and occupy Embermenil; Belgians gain on the Yser; British repel German attack on Neuve Chapelle; it is announced that the French recently won a victory at Reichackerkopf in Alsace.
March 15—French capture trenches north of Arras; Germans drive back British south of Ypres; Germans meet reverse at Neuve Chapelle; it is announced that the French recently won a victory at Combres; French and British are preparing for a general offensive; the first installment is given out from French official sources of a historical review of the war, from the French viewpoint, covering the first six months.
March 16—Belgians cross the Yser; they drive Germans from trenches south of Nieuport; British retake St. Eloi; barbed wire fence, ten feet high, encompasses entire zone of German military operations in Alsace; British still hold Neuve Chapelle after several spirited attempts to retake it.