In the meantime a great French offensive had been launched on the Aisne and in Champagne and, in order to assist their allies, the British had decided to resume their operations at Arras. The British Commander in Chief, Sir Douglas Haig, in his report describes the participation of the Canadians in these operations as follows: "The first of these attacks was delivered on the 28th of April, 1917, on a front of about eight miles north of Monchy-le-Preux. With a view to economizing my troops, my objectives were shallow, and for a like reason, and also in order to give the appearance of an attack on a more imposing scale, demonstrations were continued southward to the Arras-Cambrai road and northward to the Souchez River. "The assault was launched at 4.25 a. m. by British and Canadian troops and resulted in heavy fighting, which continued throughout the greater part of the 28th and 29th of April, 1917. The enemy delivered counterattack after counterattack with the greatest determination and most lavish expenditure of men. Our positions at Gavrelle alone were again attacked seven times with strong forces, and on each occasion the enemy was repulsed with great loss. "In spite of the enemy's desperate resistance, the village of Arleux-en-Gohelle was captured by Canadian troops after bitter hand-to-hand fighting, and English troops made further progress in the neighborhood of Oppy, on Greenland Hill, and between Monchy-le-Preux and the Scarpe. In addition to these advances, another 1,000 German prisoners were taken by us in the course of the two days' fighting. "Five days later, at 3.45 a. m. on the 3d of May, 1917, another attack was undertaken by us of a similar nature to that of the 28th of April, 1917, which in the character of the subsequent fighting it closely resembled. "In view of important operations which the French were to carry out on the 5th of May, 1917, I arranged for a considerable extension of my active front. While the Third and First Armies attacked from Fontaine-les-Croisilles to Fresnoy, the Fifth Army launched a second attack upon the Hindenburg line in the neighborhood of Bullecourt. This gave a total front of over sixteen miles. "Along practically the whole of this front our troops broke into the enemy's positions. Australian troops carried the Hindenburg line east of Bullecourt, Eastern county battalions took Chérisy. Other English troops entered Roeux and captured the German trenches south of Fresnoy. Canadian battalions found Fresnoy full of German troops assembled for a hostile attack, which was to have been delivered at a later hour. After hard fighting, in which the enemy lost heavily, the Canadians carried the village, thereby completing an unbroken series of successes.