Chiefly owing to these causes the Fifth Corps, up to the beginning of March, was constantly engaged in counter-attacks to retake trenches and ground which had been lost.  In their difficult and arduous task, however, the troops displayed the utmost gallantry and devotion, and it is most creditable to the skill and energy of their leaders that I am able to report how well they have surmounted all their difficulties and that the ground first taken over by them is still intact and held with little greater loss than is incurred by the troops in all other parts of the line.

Describing an attack on the German trenches near St. Eloi on Feb. 28 by Princess Patricia’s Regiment, of the Canadian contingent, under command of Lieut.  C.E.  Crabbe, the Commander in Chief says:

The services performed by this distinguished corps have continued to be very valuable since I had occasion to refer to them in my last dispatch.  They have been most ably organized and trained and were commanded by Lieut.  Colonel F.D.  Farquhar, D.S.O., who I deeply regret to say was killed while superintending some trench work on March 20.  His loss will be deeply felt.

Emphasizing the co-operation of the British and French forces and the new role in warfare assumed by the cavalry, the Commander in Chief writes:

During the month of February I arranged with General Foch to render the Ninth French Corps, holding the trenches to my left, some much-needed rest by sending the three divisions of the British Cavalry Corps to hold a portion of the French trenches, each division for a period of ten days alternately.

[Illustration:  Map showing the field of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and its position in the Allied line.]

It was very gratifying to me to note once again in this campaign the eager readiness which the cavalry displayed to undertake a role which does not properly belong to them in order to support and assist their French comrades.  In carrying out this work the leader, officers, and men displayed the same skill and energy which I have had reason to comment upon in former dispatches.

Referring to Neuve Chapelle and the considerations leading up to this, the Field Marshal says:

About the end of February many vital considerations induced me to believe that a vigorous offensive movement by the troops under my command should be planned and carried out at the earliest possible moment.  Among the more important reasons which convinced me of this necessity were the general aspect of the allied situation throughout Europe, and particularly the marked success of the Russian Army in repelling the violent onslaughts of Marshal von Hindenburg; the apparent weakening of the enemy on my front, and the necessity for assisting our Russian allies to the utmost by holding as many hostile troops as possible in the western theatre; the efforts to this end which were being made by the French forces at Arras and in Champagne, and—­perhaps the most weighty consideration of all—­the need of fostering the offensive spirit in the troops under my command after the trying and possibly enervating experiences which they had gone through of a severe Winter in the trenches.