The German offensive continues: the British line is broken west of St. Quentin but holds further north; the British fall back towards the line of the Somme; the Germans claim 16,000 prisoners and 200 guns. Palestine:--General Allenby crosses the Jordan and advances towards the Hedjaz railway. The British mine-sweeping sloop _Gaillardia_ is sunk by a mine in the North Sea (68 lives lost). Mar. 23 (Sat.) The peace treaties concluded by the German Government are adopted by the German Reichstag. The British fall back on new positions west and south-west of St. Quentin, 15 miles in rear of those held at the beginning of the offensive; the French enter the battle at Noyon, on the right of the British; the Germans claim 25,000 prisoners and 400 guns to date. Paris is shelled by a long-range gun from a distance of 74 miles. British air-raids on Bruges docks and Metz. Mar. 24 (Sun.) The Germans recapture Bapaume, Péronne, Nesle, Ham, and Chauny; they claim 30,000 prisoners and 600 guns to date. A British air-raid on Cologne. Mar. 25 (Mon.) The Germans make further progress between Arras and Péronne and at other points further south; near Maricourt they reach their line of July 1916; the French evacuate Noyon. Palestine:--General Allenby captures Es Salt and advances towards Amman on the Hedjaz railway (see April 1 and 30). Mar. 26 (Tues.) General Foch assumes supreme control of the Allied Armies in France. The British line runs from in front of Arras south-west to Albert and thence south, behind the defences of 1916, to Bray; south of the Somme the Germans capture Chaulnes and Roye; the Germans claim to have taken to date 963 guns and to have destroyed 100 tanks. Palestine:--British mounted troops approach Amman on the Hedjaz railway (see April 1). Mesopotamia:--General Marshall defeats the Turks at Khan Baghdadie and takes 3000 prisoners. Mar. 27 (Wed.) The northern sectors of the British battle-line hold; the Germans capture Albert and in the valley of the Ancre are within 12 miles of Amiens; further south they capture Montdidier (between Amiens and Compiègne); German attacks are repulsed near Lassigny and Noyon. Palestine:--The British destroy portions of the Hedjaz railway north and south of Amman. The British destroyer _Kale_ is sunk by a mine in the North Sea. Mar. 28 (Thur.) Strong German attacks on the British positions east and south-east of Arras are repulsed with heavy loss, but further south the Germans reach Hamel in their advance on Amiens. Palestine:--The British attack Amman, but make little progress. British destroyers capture and sink three German armed trawlers in the Heligoland Bight. H.M.S. _Tithonus_ (armed boarding-steamer) is sunk by a submarine in the North Sea. Mar. 29 (Good Friday) The Germans make further progress towards Amiens between the Ancre and the Avre.