THE COUNTERATTACK.

WITH THE FRENCH ARMY, Thursday.

The withdrawal of the French forces in the forests on the left bank of the Oise was carried out without the knowledge of the enemy, and also without any interference from him. Our men retired under the protection of a screen of covering detachments, whose mission was to retreat as soon as they found that the Germans were advancing, and to lure them into carefully-prepared machine-gun traps among the trees. The Germans, feeling their way up to these, were to be received with a storm of bullets which would immediately lay half of them low. As soon as the situation became dangerous for the defenders, they were to remove their guns and fall back. The great counter-attack carried out by the French on Tuesday last was notable both on account of the co-operation of tanks in large numbers and the bombardment of the enemy infantry masses by squadrons of our aircraft. The long line of tanks, with the infantry marching between them, was an extraordinary sight. They gave an excellent account of themselves in the battle by taking the steeps hills in their stride, and scattering the German infantry before them. This affair was probably one of the largest tank operations the French have yet carried out. At the same time, the air bombardment squadrons were raining bombs on the enemy’s communications and batteries, as also upon the points of assemblage of his troops. The ground over which we advanced was found littered with German dead.