BRITISH TROOPS IN THE AISNE CONFLICT.

HARD-PRESSED DIVISIONS.

The reports received up to last night from the various parts of the battle-front show a slackening of the German effort on the east side of the great triangle of the offensive, between Rheims and Dormans, a pause at its apex on the Marne, and a strengthening of French resistance on the west side between the Oise and Châteauthierry, although more ground has been lost.

At the beginning of March I gave a full account of the last capture of the ruined fort of La Pompelle, four miles southeast of Rheims, by German storm troops, and its recovery a few hours later. This double feat was repeated yesterday, when the victory of our Allies was marked by the capture of four tanks and 200 prisoners.

British troops still hold Ville-en-tardenois and the greater part of the road from Rheims to the Marne. The divisions, after their severe trial, are cheerful, and ready to give the Boche another taste of their quality. They had been on the front only seventeen days when last Monday’s attack was made. The odds against us have been on this day two and a half to one. The 50th Division, on the left, were doing well on the Craonne Plateau, when, in the course of the morning, they suddenly found that the enemy was behind them. Owing to this surprise the neighbouring brigade of the 50th suffered badly.

By the afternoon Fritz von Below’s men had got to the line of the river, and in the evening we were back at Guyencourt. By Wednesday evening we held a large crescent around Fismes. Some day this splendid episode will shine among the greatest achievements of the war.

I went down to the Marne Valley yesterday afternoon, and could not find any trace of the enemy on the opposite amphitheatre of hills, but the French guns blazed angrily over my head and buildings were on fire in villages.

Two hundred greycoats came over yesterday morning, and are now more or less contented guests of the French Republic. Immediately behind the zone of mutual observation, the humming activities of an army are proceeding with a freedom unknown in the days of trench warfare. And amid all the flow, there is an air of calm over the whole scene that would astonish those who see the offensive.