During the first months of the offensive of 1916, the Germans, installed on the top of the slopes which dominate both banks of the river, resisted successfully in the Ancre sector. On the east, they occupied the whole of the Thiepval Plateau (maximum altitude, 540 feet), which they transformed into a veritable fortress. To the west, after crossing the Ancre below the hamlet of St.-Pierre-Divion, their trenches ran in front of the high ground of Beaumont-Hamel (Hill 135) and Serre (Hills 143 and 141). From these elevated points they dominated the British positions, which is why the British, before attacking, were forced to take the Thiepval Ridge (end of September, 1916). This enabled them to take the German intrenchments in the rear. On November 13, 1916, the attack was launched under very unfavourable weather conditions. The ground was sodden, and a thick fog hid everything from view. In spite, however, of the five successive lines of trenches which protected the enemy positions, the British first captured the hamlet of St.-Pierre-Divion, then, three hours afterwards, the fortress of Beaumont. [Illustration] In 1918, the German thrust broke down, as in 1914, on the banks of the Ancre. Caught in the swampy ground, they were unable to establish themselves strongly on the heights of the western bank. Leaving advanced posts only in the valley, with strong patrols, they reoccupied their old entrenched positions; but with the ground in such a state of upheaval, a prolonged resistance there was impossible. The Germans were unable to prevent the British, on August 22, 1918, from crossing the Ancre near Aveluy and carrying, within forty-eight hours, the Thiepval and Beaumont Heights, against which their efforts had so long been unsuccessful. _The road passes the railway station of =Beaumont-Hamel=._ The important market town of this name _(1 km. 500 beyond the station)_ is now a mere heap of chaotic ruins. The report of the Enquiry Commission appointed by the French Government, contains the following:-- _"On October 12, 1914, an aeroplane flew over Beaumont-Hamel. The Germans pretended that two women (Mme. Roussel and Mme. Flament) signalled to the aeroplane, the first-named by leading a red horse and a white horse into her yard, the second woman by displaying a large piece of cloth-stuff. The facts are: Mme. Flament had simply used her handkerchief, and Mme. Roussel, in the absence of her mobilised husband, having to attend to their large farm, had led two horses into the yard, to facilitate the cleaning of the stable._