Noyon, unlike Chauny, Ham, and other neighboring places, was not greatly
damaged by the Germans before their retreat last year. South of the town
rises a conical hill called Mont Rénaud, which is capped with a wood
hiding the château built on the site of an ancient abbey. On Thursday,
when the Germans were ensconced on Mont Rénaud, a French General
expressed in the presence of the English General commanding a cavalry
division his intention of retaking it. The British commander at once
asked that his own troops should have the honor of making the attack.
This was agreed to, and the British cavalry, dismounted, carried the
hill by assault in face of a stubborn defense by the enemy.
I am assured that along the line where the French relieved the British
troops, or where they have been acting together, the best relations have
prevailed, and that the co-operation of the staffs and field officers
has been most cordial.
The French, like the British, aviators, by the boldness of their bombing
and their machine-gun work on the line of the German advance, have done
much to compensate for the allied losses and the unavoidable delay in
getting the French batteries into their new positions. Prisoners say the
German 88th Division was nearly wiped out, and that the 206th suffered
almost as badly.