The main lines
were solid concrete, separated by an unending vista of wire
entanglements. At points this barrier barbed wire extended in solid
formation for ten miles. This tremendous system of defenses was
originally called by the Germans the Siegfried line, and in the spring
of 1917 they found it wise, at points where a strong offensive was
expected, to fall back to it for protection. It had been their hope that
it would prove an impassable barrier to the Allied troops, but now it
had been broken, and the moral effect of the British success was even
greater than the material.
One of the most noticeable results of the British advance had been the
capture of Lens. It had been captured without a fight, because of the
British threat upon its rear, but its capture was of tremendous
importance. Lens had been the scene of bitter fighting in the latter
part of August, 1917, when the Canadians had specially distinguished
themselves. This city had been heavily fortified by the Germans who had
recognized its importance as being the center of the great Lens coal
fields, and they had never given it up. It had sometimes been described
as the strongest single position that had ever confronted the Allies on
the western front. It had been made a sort of citadel of reinforced
concrete. Even the courage and power of the Canadians had only given
them possession of some of its suburbs.
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