The third stage of the battle, 14 September to 23 October, saw the British extend their lines .down the northern and eastern slopes of the ndge. The defenses here had been com pleted since 1 July and were very strong. They stood just beyond the edge of the crest of the ndge. The British, therefore, were now going down the slope as they advanced, which made their task somewhat easier. At the same time they reached out on the west and took Thiepval and Moquet Farm, a vital part of the line they had not been able to carry in the attack on 1 July. They carried their lines within three miles of Bapaume on the south and stretched out in a broad bulge to the eastward. It seemed that onbr a vigorous push was needed to carry them to Bapaume itself.
Before this could be made General Haig thought it necessary to widen his salient on the west, and in doing that he carried the batde into its fourth stage The weather had already shown signs of approaching winter and a fortnight of rain and mud had convinced the Germans that vigorous operations were impos sible. They were thus thrown off their guard, when the British, taking advantage of a clearing spell, made a sudden and powerful attacic on 13 November on Beaumont Harnel, where the batde line crossed the Ancre, the scene of a bloody repulse on 1 July. The British had learned much since that repulse, one of the most important acquisitions being the proper method of co-ordinating a creeping barrage and an infantry attack. A division of Highland Territorials went against this place, strongly fortified by trenches with an extensive system of subterraneous chambers filled with troops. They advanced in a deep fog at the cradc of dawn and were in the German trenches before their attack was suspected. Then followed several hours of fierce hand-to-hand fighting in which die Highlanders closed one entrance after another until the underground defenders were trapped and surrendered. Other parts of the attacking line carried forward their positions. The fighting was renewed next day and Beau court was taken by the naval division, which had already distinguished itself at Antwerp and Gallipoli. It was not until the 18th, when icy rains had again set in, that the battle was given over. At that time three square miles of most difficult territory had been talcen with 7,000 prisoners and much valuable material, and at a cost in killed and wounded that was com paratively small. But the battle of the Somme ceased with this engagement in obedience to the conunand of "King Mud.° In following the battle through its four stages no mention has thus far been made of the brilliant operations of the French south of the British area. Strilcing out on 1 July they
made at once large gains on both sides of the Sonune and repeated die action as often as gains seemed necessary to round out the ad vance in the northern part of the sector en gaged. When the battle ended they had ad vanced from Maricourt to Rancourt and Bou chavesnes on the road from Bapaume to pi ronne and were within a mile of Mont Saint Quentin, which commanded Peronne on the north. South of the river they had reached La Maisonette, a mile and a half from the. same town and stood within two or three miles of the Somme for several miles below the town. To go further was only to spend strength for a river which could not be crossed until Peronne was taken and which would be reached without a struggle if that town succumbed. Further operations, thereforet on the south of the river but waited on the situation north of it. The more rapid success of the French as compared with the gains of the British was due partly to the greater difficulty of the country before the Bntish lines, partly to the better state of preparation of the enemy in that region, and partly to the fact that the French had a better trained army. The British forces in the beginning of the battle lacked battle experience. Every day it progressed brought them improve ment in this respect. Fighting day by day the same kind of battles the veterans of Clam pagne and Verdun were fighting in plain view of them, they could but contrast their methods of warfare with the methods of their Allies. This period of four months' hard battling gave the finishing touches to their military education.
It was in this respect that the battle of the Somme, extending from 1 July to 18 November, had its chief significance and not in the fact that it netted the Allies a gain of 200 square miles of French territory and the capture of 80,000 German prisoners. Germany had begun the war with one trained army against her in the West, she had allowed it to go on until two such armies sood before her on that front. At the same time she had suffered heavy losses. In the battle of the Somme her casual ties were perhaps 500,000 against 750,000 for her antagonists. The unbalanced ratio of losses was particularly noticeable in the first weeks of the battle. As the British soldiers learned the tricks of modern fighting they learned the art of taking care of themselves in perilous situations. In the later stages of the battle the losses were better balanced.