The attack was launched at dawn on the 15th in a slight mist, and the XV. corps in the centre made early and good progress, and by Io A.M. its left division was beyond Flers. But on the right the XIV. corps lost heavily and was held up long before it could reach Morval and Lesboeufs. The III. corps, on the left, also fell short of its objectives, although its 47th division finally cleared the long-sought High Wood. On the extreme left the projected "extension" of the attack was carried out and both Martinpuich and Courcelette were taken. As a result of the day the crest of the ridge had been gained, except on the right, and with it the commanding observation which the Germans had so long enjoyed. A fresh attack on Sept. 25, swept over Morval, Lesboeufs and Gueudecourt and by joining up with the French who had again secured substantial successes both north and south of the Somme, compelled the Germans to evacuate Combles (Sept. 26).
Simultaneously with this success operations were resumed by the V. Army on the British left and Thiepval was at last taken (Sept. 26). This left the Germans with only the scantiest foot hold on the main ridge. Thus by the beginning of October the enemy had been driven back to his last completed line of defences, which ran from Sailly-Saillisel on the right, past Le Transloy and in front of Bapaume : he was busily engaged on fresh lines further in rear but as yet these were unready. On the other hand, these days had proved the continued strength of the German resistance, and the limited success held out little hope of a real break through or its exploitation. The early onset of the autumn rains daily made this hope more slender. Continuous and heavy rain combined with the effects of the bombardments to make the ground a sea of mud, across which guns and transport could hardly be moved, and even lightly equipped men could only struggle slowly forward. Attacks under such conditions were terribly
handicapped; that most of them failed was not remarkable, for when a trench was taken the difficulties of consolidating it were greater than ever. Eaucourt l-Abbaye (Oct. 3) and Le Sars (Oct. 7) were taken, though repeated attacks on the Butte de Warlen court were foiled by the mud. Eventually the weather improved enough for a renewal of the attack on the left and the last important operation in the Somme offensive took the shape of an attack on Beaumont Hamel by seven divisions on Nov. 13. This proved successful on the right and centre, taking Beaumont Hamel itself, and Beaucourt-sur-Ancre with 7,000 prisoners. On the left, however, Serre again proved impregnable. Before the success could be expanded the return of bad weather again put a stop to active operations, which were not resumed on any considerable scale until well after the New Year, just before the carefully planned German retreat to the Hindenburg line. The folly of the third phase was that having at last won the crest of the ridge and its commanding observation, the advantage was thrown away, without adequate prospect of compensation, by fighting a way down into the depression beyond. Thereby the British troops were doomed to spend the winter in flooded trenches, and the battles of the Somme closed in an atmosphere of disappointment and with such a drain on the British forces that the coincident strain on the defence was obscured. For the fighting sometimes known as the second battle of the Somme, see ST. QUENTIN, BATTLE OF, 1918.