ARRAS

tn., former cap. of Artois (50° 17’ N., 2° 45’ E.), now of dep. Pas de Calais, France, on the Scarpe, 35 m. N.E. of Amiens and 120 m. N. of Paris; in 14th and 15th cents. famous for tapestries; one of principal grain markets of France; had many experiences of destruction and siege from the time of the Vandals (A.D. 407) to the Great War (1914-18). Pop. 26,700. An important ry. jn. and road centre it holds. a commanding position over the Scarpe and on the forward foothills of the high land stretching back to the Channel port, hence its stubborn defence by the Allies. The first train loads of Brit. soldiers arrived at Arras on Aug. 15, 1914. On Aug. 31 the Germans were at the gates in pursuit of the Allies, and on Sept. 8 quitted the town, moving. towards Amiens and Paris; on Sept. 16 after their defeat at the Marne, the invaders returned and remained till the 18th, when they were ejected by the French. From Oct. 1 to 8 a great battle raged E. of the town, which suffered severely by bombardment, the hotel de ville and the cathedral being repeatedly hit. In the succeeding months the shelling was resumed from time to time, and the town was even more; thoroughly ruined than Reims. In the spring of 1915 the French succe es to the N. gave the town greater security, and from early in 1916 onwards its defence was entrusted to the Brit. army, which in the spring of 1917 pushed the Germans farther back to the E., and defeated the enemy’s last attempt to capture the town on March 28, 1918. Had Arras fallen at that time, the Ger. thrust at Amiens would probably have succeeded. On Aug. 25 the British began to advance from Arras astride the road to Cambrai.