March 2--Germans are pouring reinforcements into Belgium; British gain
ground near La Bassée.
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.
March 17--Westende bombarded; Belgians carry two positions in Yser
region.
March 18--Belgian Army continues to advance on the Yser; French continue
to hold the heights near Notre Dame de Lorette despite repeated shelling
of their position; Germans are fortifying towns in Alsace.
March 19--Belgians and Germans are fighting a battle in the underground
passages of a monastery in front of Ramscappelle; official British
report tells of new German repulse at St. Eloi.
March 21--Germans take a hill in the Vosges.
March 24--New battle begins along the Yser.
March 26--Belgians make progress on road from Dixmude to Ypres.
March 27--French capture summit of Hartmanns-Weilerkopf Mountain.
March 29--French are pressing the Germans hard at various points in
Champagne; as an offset, the Germans renew activity against Rheims with
lively bombardments; sapping and mining operations are stated to be the
only means of gaining ground in the Argonne.