On the 17th, six successive assaults were made by the enemy on La Maisonnette hill, but each time the Germans were repulsed with sanguinary losses. Renewing their attacks, they finally succeeded, first, in gaining a footing in the outskirts of Blaise Wood, and, later, with the help of liquid fire, in penetrating further into the French first lines, where they established themselves in the ruins of the farm. But, in spite of all their efforts, they were unable to establish themselves securely on Hill 97, to the west of the estate, which dominates the whole valley of the Somme, before and beyond Péronne. Throughout the winter of 1916-17 constant bombardments, grenade fighting from trench to trench, local attacks with alternating success and failure, made the position on the crest untenable to both sides. Finally, on March 17, 1917, Maisonnette Hill was entirely captured by the Allies, and the Germans fell back on the Hindenburg line, abandoning without striking a blow the few trenches which they had managed to keep on the left bank of the Somme and which they had until then so fiercely defended. The British, who, early in 1917, had taken over this sector from the French, entered the village, now completely destroyed. The pretty Maisonnette Château had been reduced to a shapeless mass of ruins, while the beautiful park in which it stood was so devastated as to be unrecognisable. The orchards were destroyed, the woods hacked to pieces by shell-fire. Only a portion of the organisations which surrounded the Maisonnette position, and those which connected the hill with Biaches, had withstood the bombardments. The picture of desolation which met the British soldiers' eyes from the top of Hill 97 was such as no cataclysm could have caused. Nothing was to be seen but devastated lands, destroyed villages and felled trees, while beyond the inundations which had been spread over the Somme marshes, the smoke could be seen rising from the ruins of Péronne, set on fire by the Germans. _Return by the same road to G.C. 1, which take on the left. Follow the Somme for a short distance to_ the ruins of =Biaches=. This small village formerly nestled in the bottom of a verdant nook near the Canal of the Somme, less than 1 km. from the ancient ramparts of Péronne, and separated from it only by the marshes and the wide and sinuous river. [Illustration: BIACHES CHURCH AS THE WAR LEFT IT. _In the background: The Marshes of the Somme; On the right, behind the trees: The beginning of Péronne._] [Illustration: BIACHES. THE SUGAR REFINERY IN 1916.] The Fighting at Biaches The fighting at Biaches, like that at La Maisonnette, gave rise to some of the most famous episodes in the Offensive south of the Somme.