July 26 .1917 
LAND & WATER 
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to 
a great part of the stone used in the building of Rheims 
Cathedral came from the western end of it. 
The value of this ridge for military purposes is twofold. 
In the first place, it is difficult of attack, because the slopes 
falhng northward from its outer edge are very steep, and in the 
second place it gives perfect observation over the broad valley 
upon which the Germans were thrown back during the great 
offensive of last April. It does not, unfortunately, give 
observation over the whole country northward because, be- 
tween it and Laon, there is another ridge (called, from the 
•village at its foot, the ridge of Ste. Croix) which stands up 
I agamst the sky and cuts off from the observers upon the 
Aisne Ridge the vast plains that stretch out round Laon, and 
the roads and railways • whereby the enemy supplies this 
front. 
Nevertheless, the possession of the observation posts upon 
the Aisne Ridge and the possession of its steeply guarded 
escarpment is of the highest possible military value. It 
compels the enemy, as we have seen, to use much larger num- 
bers of men here than was the case when he was himself in 
possession of the ridge. It puts all his three parellels in this 
region under direct observation, and if it were lost the loss 
would correspondingly jeopardise the French line in that 
region. 
The main ridge between Troyon and Craonne is far from 
being a simple narrow line, such as is, for instance, the ridge 
"f Vimy and many other similar formations in Northern 
France and in this country. I cannot recollect any close 
parallel to it in England, but perhaps the nearest thing- to 
compare it to is the southern end of iJie Chilterns. 
The first or eastern half of that section we are considering, 
is fairly broad — from 500 to 1,000 yai-ds and more between 
the clearly defined northern escarpment and the dip of the 
southern slopes that run down to the Aisne Valley. This 
broad part is followed upon its summit by the country road 
now famous as the Chemin des Dame^. Its observation 
posts are in the hands of the French. Sone 4,000 yards east 
of Troyon the ridge suddenly narrows, an«l 800 yards further 
on eastward comes to a knife edge as restricted as the Hog's 
Back which carries the Portsmouth road bet's /een Guildford and 
Famham. This wasp waist of the rid,ge wa s marked in times 
of peace by the large farmhouse of Hurte.bise (" Take-the- 
Gale ") tl^e ruins of which with their observ. ation posts are in 
the hands of the French. 
Eastward again from Hurtebise the rid|'e broadens out 
once more, though not so considerably as wa s the case in the 
Troyon district. It is nowhere on the level fla t top as much as 
500 yards across, and in places it is not a . hundred. This 
eastern section rises gradually as it proceed s and is in all 
just 4,000 yards long — about 2J miles — and it was against 
this part that the whole of the German effort f last week wa? 
directed. It consists in two portions. The plateau called 
" The Casemates," and the plateau just a'l bove Craonne 
(the highest of all) which bears the local name ol " California." 
