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.
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