Map to illustrate the British Campaign in France and Flanders [Transcriber's note: this map was omitted from the etext because its size and fragility made it impractical to scan.] [Illustration: APPROXIMATE POSITIONS OF BRITISH LINE AT THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME] {1} CHAPTER I JANUARY TO JULY 1916 General situation--The fight for the Bluff--The Mound of St. Eloi--Fine performance of Third Division and Canadians--Feat of the 1st Shropshires--Attack on the Irish Division--Fight at Vimy Ridge--Canadian Battle of Ypres--Death of General Mercer--Recovery of lost position--Attack of Thirty-ninth Division--Eve of the Somme. The Great War had now come into its second winter--a winter which was marked by an absolute cessation of all serious fighting upon the Western front. Enormous armies were facing each other, but until the German attack upon the French lines of Verdun at the end of February, the infantry of neither side was seriously engaged. There were many raids and skirmishes, with sudden midnight invasions of hostile trenches and rapid returns with booty or prisoners. Both sides indulged in such tactics upon the British front. Gas attacks, too, were occasionally attempted, some on a large scale and with considerable result. The condition of the troops, though it could not fail to be trying, was not so utterly miserable as during the first cold season in the trenches. The British had ceased to be a mere fighting fringe with nothing behind it. The troops were numerous and eager, so that reliefs were frequent. All sorts of devices were {2} adopted for increasing the comfort and conserving the health of the men. Steadily as the winter advanced and the spring ripened into summer, fresh divisions were passed over the narrow seas, and the shell-piles at the bases marked the increased energy and output of the workers in the factories. The early summer found everything ready for a renewed attempt upon the German line.