<– Part 144 – April 22, 1917 | Part 145 – April 29, 1917 | Part 146 – May 6, 1917 –>
Samarrah and its vitally important railroad fell to the British April 23, ending operations in that sector.
At Arras, a second round of fighting at the Scarpe has yielded territorial gains to the British. On April 28, British forces launched a shallow offensive intended to draw German reinforcements away from the Aisne. In addition to gaining territory at Arleux, German counter-attacks were halted. Despite the British efforts, French gains at the Aisne are minimal.
The British bombardment of Bulgarian lines at Doiran ended April 24, and the infantry offensive was launched, gaining several positions before losing them to Bulgarian counterattacks. All British attacks since have been stopped, and the British have withdrawn to their initial positions.
Due to heavy losses of Allied shipping, the British have agreed April 27 to use convoys. Initially hesitant to impose the delay on shipping that convoys require, the nearly 900,000 gross tons of lost shipping in April, over half of it British, has led to British supplies of wheat being less than six weeks worth. This has encouraged the Admiralty to revise its opinion. In the Meditteranean, no U-boat was sunk in the past month, although the Allies lost nearly 100.
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