The Canadians, who had been closing in on Lens, made a further advance during the night of August 5, 1917, that carried their outposts to the main line of the German defenses on the railway embankment to the left of the city. Two battalions in a hotly pressed attack captured a crater east of Cité du Moulin and another to the north on the Lens-Lieven road, which runs through the former place. These craters had been held in strong force by the Germans from which they could work great damage to the Canadians by rifle and grenade fire during the night. The Canadians bombed their way forward through the ruins of houses and fortified points and the Germans after feeble attempts to hold fast retreated to their main positions. Having incorporated the craters in their advanced lines the Canadians rushed forward and bombed two tunnels that were known to be occupied by the enemy. On the same night the British beat off two new attacks made by Prince Rupprecht at Hollebeke southeast of Ypres and north of Arleux. The British lines around Lens were farther advanced on August 6, 1917, when Canadian troops pushed forward 600 yards over a front of about the same depth, a substantial addition to their defenses south and west on the outskirts of the mining center. That the Germans were worried over the continued advance made by the British, fearing the loss of Lens, was evidenced by their practice of throwing a curtain of fire on the British trenches at sunrise every day. In the morning of August 7, 1917, they directed a heavy machine-gun barrage and artillery fire on a crater recently captured by the Canadians. Under the protection of this shower of shells the German infantry pushed forward and the Canadians fighting stubbornly were forced to withdraw, without, however, suffering any casualties. On the Champagne front French troops during the night of August 6, 1917, broke into the lines of the German Crown Prince at three points, inflicting severe losses on the enemy and bringing back prisoners. In the Verdun sector the Germans made futile attacks between Avocourt Wood and Hill 304. In Caurières Wood they gained a foothold for a time in the French first line, but were driven out by a counterattack on the following day (August 7). The British front in Belgium to the north and east of Ypres was actively bombarded during the night of August 7, 1917. Near Lombaertzyde a British raiding party penetrated the German trenches and brought back prisoners and guns. In the early part of this same night the artillery on both sides was active over the Aisne front. Troops of the German Crown Prince attempted to reach the French lines to the east of Vauxaillon and west of the Californie Plateau but were driven back, their ranks shattered by the well-directed fire of the French guns. Other attempts at surprise attacks made by the Germans north of St. Mihiel and in upper Alsace were equally futile.