May 1--Germans continue the bombardment of Dunkirk with a huge gun or
guns, doing considerable damage and killing several persons; Germans
make further gains on the west bank of the Ypres Canal; French repulse
Germans in the Argonne, near Bagatelle; French take trenches in the
Forest of Le Prêtre; French artillery bombards fortifications of
Altkirch, in Upper Alsace.
May 2--French have been bombarding for two days the southern
fortifications of Metz; British and French attack the new German
positions northeast of Ypres, but are beaten back; Germans make
progress in the Argonne; German General Staff in Belgium admits a loss
of 12,000 dead in the battle of Ypres.
May 3--Germans renew assaults near Ypres, the British lines being
pounded north and south of that place, and Germans gain ground
southeast of St. Julien; Germans damage French positions in Champagne
at Ourchen, Sopain, and Perthes; French repulse an attack in the
Forest of Le Prêtre.
May 4--Germans gain more ground northeast of Ypres, and take the
villages of Zonnebeke, Zevecote, and Westhoek, and the Forest of
Polygonous and Nonnebosschen; French gain in the region of
Steenstraete.
May 5--Germans gain ground northeast of Ypres, British losing four
positions and being forced to retire; Hill 60 is again menaced by the
Germans, who, the British state, have obtained a footing there through
the use of gases; French check one German attack near Perthes, and
another at Four de Paris; French take two lines of German trenches in
the Mortmare Wood; French gain ground on the north bank of the Fecht
River, in Alsace.
May 6--Germans make further gains near Ypres, taking two positions
from the Allies; British recapture some of the trenches at Hill 60,
recently lost; French repulse a German night attack near Steenstraete;
Germans repulse French near Flirey; Germans advance west of Combres;
Germans take French positions in the Ailly Wood, capturing 2,000 men.
May 7--Germans make more gains near Ypres; there is severe fighting
for Hill 60; German artillery checks a French attack near Steinbrück,
in the valley of the Fecht; French repulse German attacks at Frise,
west of Peronne, and in Champagne, around the Fort of Beauséjour.
May 8--French capture a German position west of Lens; French check
three attacks in the Forest of Le Prêtre; French advance two-thirds of
a mile along a mile front on the right bank of the Fecht River;
British repulse a daybreak attack near St. Julien; British recapture a
further section of recently lost trenches at Hill 60.
May 9--British repulse German attack east of Ypres; British gain
ground toward Fromelles, after a vigorous attack on the German line;
Germans capture the villages of Fresenburg and Terleranhoek; French
make gains north of Arras; south of Carency the French make an advance
by which they capture two lines of trenches over a front of 4-1/3
miles; French take the village of La Targette and half of the village
of Neuville-St. Vaast.
May 10--The Allies are attacking along a front of twenty-six miles in
the direction of Carency and Souchez; Allies repulse German attacks
near Ypres; Germans make gains near Nieuport, and renew the
bombardment of Dunkirk; French repulse Germans at the Forest of Le
Prêtre and at Berry-au-Bac.
May 11--A strong French offensive against the German lines north of
Arras is being pushed; the French carry the German trenches guarding
the road from Loos to Vermelles; French take a strongly fortified
position on Lorette Heights; French make gains at Souchez and Carency;
Germans shell the town of Bergues, near Dunkirk; Germans heavily
bombard British trenches east of Ypres.
May 12--Severe fighting is now raging over the whole front from Ypres
to Arras, the Allies taking the offensive; to the north the British
centre has Lille for its objective, while to the south the French
centre is aiming at Lens; French repulse counter attacks at
Neuville-St. Vaast, and between Carency and Ablain; French make gains
in the wood east of Carency, and take three successive lines of
trenches bordering the wood to the north of Carency; French take
another portion of the village of Carency; French lose some of the
ground they captured near Loos; Germans take a hill east of Ypres;
Germans bombard Dunkirk.
May 13--The French are in complete possession of Carency, having
captured the last German position there; French take large stores of
German ammunition, twenty big guns and many machine guns; French also
make progress north of Carency, where they have established themselves
at Ablain-St. Nazaire; French have also taken all of the Forest of Le
Prêtre, although Germans retain positions on the north and south
slopes adjacent; Germans are making fierce assaults on the British
positions east of Ypres, piercing the line at one point; Belgians
repulse an attack on the right bank of the Yser; French now hold the
forest at Notre Dame de Lorette.
May 14--French offensive is continued by the capture of German
positions southeast of Angres, while they also make progress on the
southern and eastern slopes of the Lorette hills, and at Neuville-St.
Vaast; British attacks near Ypres are unsuccessful; Germans gain in
the direction of Hooge; French artillery levels German trenches in the
Valley of the Aisne.
May 15--French continue to advance near Carency; French also gain
north of Ypres; they take several trenches in front of Het Sase, and
occupy part of Steenstraete; French extend their attack southeast of
Notre Dame de Lorette; Germans make progress on the St. Julien-Ypres
road against the British; Germans state that they have taken since
April 22 in the Ypres region 5,560 unwounded officers and men;
artillery fighting is in progress southwest of Lille.
May 16--The first British army breaks the German line over most of a
two-mile front northwest of La Bassée, and wins nearly a mile of
territory; French repulse a counter-attack at Steenstraete; French
make gains north of Arras; lively fighting in Champagne; Germans
repulse French at Het Sase; British attack Germans south of Lille.
May 17--British make further advances northwest of La Bassée and carry
additional German trenches, all trenches on a two-mile front now being
in hands of the British; French and Belgians force Germans to evacuate
positions they held west of the Yser Canal; French maintain gains on
the east bank; French repulse German counter-attacks on the slopes of
Lorette.
May 18--Heavy rains and mists hamper operations in Northern France;
the French have consolidated the positions recently occupied by them
to the east of the Yser Canal; French make gains near Ablain; an
almost constant artillery duel is in progress north of Arras; Germans
repulse British south of Neuve Chapelle.
May 19--Germans capture trenches from the French on the heights of
Lorette; Germans repulse British attacks near Neuve Chapelle.
May 20--Recent heavy rains have made the ground in Flanders unsuited
to infantry attacks and there is a lull, but artillery engagements are
in progress; French make advances in Champagne by mining; French take
trenches near Bagatelle, in the Argonne; fierce artillery duels
between the Meuse and Moselle.
May 21--French drive Germans from the last of their positions on the
heights of Lorette; The French now hold the entire Lorette Hill and
the lesser ridges, which the Germans had defended for six months;
French repulse German attack to the east of the Yser Canal; Canadians
capture a German position to the north of Ypres after the British
Guards fail twice.
May 22--British repulse attacks north of La Bassée; French make gains
north of Arras; Germans repulse British and French attacks southwest
of Neuve Chapelle; German official report states that the Allies,
southwest of Lille and in the Argonne, are using mines charged with
poisonous gases.
May 23--British advance east of Festubert; French gain ground
northeast of Notre Dame de Lorette and near Neuville-St. Vaast;
Germans are repulsed east of the Yser Canal.
May 24--Before attacking the British northeast of Ypres, the Germans
roll a huge cloud of asphyxiating gas toward them, the volume of fumes
being forty feet high along a six-mile front; because of the use of
respirators, few British succumb; fighting in progress north of Arras.
May 26--British make further gains in their offensive against La
Bassée, and it is officially announced that the net result of their
operations in the territory to the west of that town since May 1 is
the capture of a total front of more than three miles, along a
considerable part of which two lines of German trenches have been
taken; in the district north of Arras there is desperate fighting near
Angres, the Germans attempting to regain ground lost yesterday.
May 27--French make further gains north of Arras; artillery
engagements along the Yser Canal; Belgians repulse two German infantry
attacks near Dixmude; artillery duels in the Vosges; French fail in
attempt to break German lines between Vermelles and Lorette Hills.
May 28--British make further gains toward La Bassée; fierce fighting
occurs north of Arras; French advance in Alsace on the mountain of
Schepfenrieth; Germans repulse French attacks southeast of Lorette
Ridge.
May 29--The village of Ablain-St. Nazaire, for which fighting has been
in progress for three weeks, is now in the hands of the French, the
Germans evacuating their last position this morning.
May 30--French gain ground at four points--near Neuville-St. Vaast, on
the Yser, at Le Prêtre Forest, and in Alsace at Schnepfenriethkopf;
British make small gains at Festubert; Belgian and German artillery
are fighting a duel north and south of Dixmude.
May 31--Severe fighting continues in the region north of Arras,
Germans acting, for the most part, on the defensive; French gain
ground on the road from Souchez to Carency; artillery fighting at the
Forest of La Prêtre.
June 1--French gain more ground at Souchez, where violent fighting is
in progress, and also gain southeast of Neuville; French lose trenches
on the outskirts of Le Prêtre Forest.
June 2--Germans recapture from the French the sugar refinery at
Souchez, which has changed hands four times in twenty-four hours;
British, by a bayonet charge, take Château Hooge, in the Ypres region;
French make further progress north of Arras, taking trenches in "the
labyrinth," as the system of intrenchments in that region is termed;
Rheims is again bombarded.
June 3--Fierce fighting continues north of Arras; French and Germans
still battle for possession of the sugar refinery at Souchez.
June 4--In consequence of the successes in the Galician campaign, the
Germans are sending reinforcements to the Western line; Germans retake
some of trenches northeast of Givenchy captured by the British;
Germans take the village and Château of Hooge; French bombard the
southern front of the intrenched camp of Metz.
June 5--French make important gains in the area north of Arras where
desperate fighting has so long been in progress; they have taken
two-thirds of the village of Neuville-St. Vaast; they advance a
quarter of a mile in the northern part of the labyrinth; they hold the
sugar refinery at Souchez, where 3,000 Germans have been killed.
June 6--French capture two-thirds of a mile of trenches in a new zone
of activity, near Tracy-le-Mont, north of the Aisne; they take more of
Neuville-St. Vaast; they capture more trenches in the labyrinth, of
which they now hold two-thirds; they gain ground at Souchez; Germans
repulse French attacks on the eastern slopes of Lorette.
June 7--French make further gains at Neuville-St. Vaast, and in the
labyrinth; near Hebuterne, east of Doullers, two lines of German
trenches are carried by the French; French repulse a fierce attack at
Tracy-le-Mont, retaining their recent gain; at Vauquois, in Champagne,
the French spray flaming liquid on the German trenches, "by way of
reprisal," their statement says.
June 8--French advance on a three-quarters of a mile front south of
Arras, near Hebuterne, taking two lines of trenches; French make
slight gains at Lorette, Neuville-St. Vaast, and in the labyrinth.
June 9--French make gains at Neuville-St. Vaast, in the labyrinth, at
Hebuterne, and in the Forest of Le Prêtre.
June 10--French hold substantially all their recent gains; artillery
fighting is in progress north of Arras and on the heights of the
Meuse; Germans take French trenches near Souvain and Les Mesnil, west
of the Argonne.
June 11--French are organizing the positions recently won from the
Germans north and south of Arras; in the Neuville-St. Vaast positions
the French find 800,000 cartridges, three field and fifteen machine
guns.
June 12--Germans regain some of the ground they lost at Ecurie, north
of Arras; Germans repulse attacks northeast of Ypres, east of Lorette
Heights, and in the Souchez district.
June 13--French take a strongly fortified ridge near Souchez and three
trenches near Hebuterne; Germans bombard Soissons and the military
works around Lunéville.
June 14--Germans regain some of the trenches at Souchez recently lost;
Germans repulse heavy French attacks on both sides of the Lorette
Hills and on the Neuville-Rochincourt line.
June 15--Severe fighting continues north and south of Arras, both
sides claiming successes.