THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS 1917 BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE AUTHOR OF 'THE GREAT BOER WAR,' ETC. HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO MCMXIX SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE'S HISTORY OF THE WAR Uniform with this Volume. THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS 1914 THE BREAKING OF THE PEACE. THE OPENING OF THE WAR. THE BATTLE OF MONS. THE BATTLE OF LE CATEAU. THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE. THE BATTLE OF THE AISNE. THE LA BASSÉE-ARMENTIÈRES OPERATIONS. THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES. A RETROSPECT AND GENERAL SUMMARY. THE WINTER LULL OF 1914. THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS 1915 THE OPENING MONTHS OF 1915. NEUVE CHAPELLE AND HILL 60. THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES. THE BATTLE OF RICHEBOURG-FESTUBERT. THE TRENCHES OF HOOGE. THE BATTLE OF LOOS. THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS 1916 JANUARY TO JULY 1916. THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME. THE GAINING OF THE THIEPVAL RIDGE. THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME. THE BATTLE OF THE ANCRE. With Maps, Plans, and Diagrams. HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON, NEW YORK, AND TORONTO {v} PREFACE This, the fourth volume of _The British Campaign in France and Flanders_, carries the story through the long and arduous fighting of 1917, which culminated in the dramatic twofold battle of Cambrai. These events are cut deep into the permanent history of the world, and we are still too near it to read the whole of that massive and tremendous inscription. It is certain, however, that this year marked the period in which the Allies gained a definite military ascendancy over the German forces, in spite of the one great subsequent rally which had its source in events which were beyond the control of the Western powers. So long as ink darkens and paper holds, our descendants, whose freedom has been won by these exertions, will dwell earnestly and with reverence upon the stories of Arras, Messines, Ypres, Cambrai, and other phases of this epic period. I may be permitted to record with some thankfulness and relief, that in the course of three thick volumes, in which for the first time the detailed battle-line of these great encounters has been set out, it has not yet been shown that a brigade has ever been out of its place, and even a battalion has seldom gone amiss. Such good fortune cannot last for ever. _Absit omen!_ But the fact is worth recording, as it {vi} may reassure the reader who has natural doubts whether history which is so recent can also lay claim to be of any permanent value.