On Monday Sir Douglas Haig extended his operations northward some
five miles, and by noon had taken Wancourt and Monchy le Preux, a height important in turning Bapaume from the north. Monchy overlooks the Hindenburg line. Our men were successful in pushing forward on both banks of the Scarpe. Bapaume is of importance as a road junction : the town itself is a ruin. During Monday German resistance stiffened notably at certain points, on the throwing-in of reinforcements. The enemy continued to give ground slowly instead of surrendering it—and themselves. What we have accomplished territorially during a four-days' "drive" is the recovery of over one hundred square miles of France : in 1916 we took four months to recover less than fifty square miles in the Somme area. That is only incidental to the destruction of Germans, their war material, and their moral ; but it is a useful way of measuring Sir Douglas Haig's successful methods of handling his armies.
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