The prisoners confessed that they had been caught napping. The British gunfire they had believed was simply the usual morning salutation, and remained in their dugouts until it was over. They said they would have put up a fight if they had had any kind of chance, but taken by surprise they could only surrender.
German gunners at other points had by this time observed the red lights that went up, the signals of distress, and thus learned that the position had been captured. But they were too late in getting their guns into action, and the white haze that hung over the scene at that early morning hour hindered their observation, so that the feeble fire they could concentrate on the captured position did no harm.
The British had pressed on farther than the objective given to them to a point 500 yards beyond the German first line, where they established themselves, finding the deep warm dugouts much more comfortable than the temporary shelters of their own which they had left. Later in the day the British troops occupying the most advanced position were withdrawn to the ground which had been assigned as the objective in the attack. The Germans made different attempts to force them out of this position, but all attacks broke down under fire, for the British had perfect observation of their movements from the higher ground they had won in recent battles in this sector.
On the French front there was active fighting all day long on January 27, 1917. On the left bank of the Meuse French troops engaged the Germans with hand grenades on the eastern slopes of Hill 304. On the right bank of the river they made a successful attack against German positions between Les Eparges and the Calonne trench. The German position was found to be strewn with dead, and a great quantity of booty was taken. In Lorraine there were numerous artillery duels in the sector of the forest of Bezange. Near Moulainville a German aeroplane was brought down in flames by the fire of French guns.
The continued bad weather that prevailed along the Somme and on the Verdun front did not hinder the Allies from assuming the offensive whenever there appeared to be an opportunity to make even the slightest gain. At daybreak on January 28, 1917, British forces penetrated German trenches northeast of Neuville-St. Vaast, where they successfully bombed the enemy in dugouts and brought away a number of prisoners. All day British artillery was active north of the Somme in the neighborhood of Beaumont-Hamel, Lens, and the Ypres sector. Northeast of Festubert the British carried out a successful raid in which they captured an officer and a number of other ranks. The British raiders escaped without any casualties. The Germans after an intense bombardment attempted to rush a British post east of Fauquissart, but were repulsed in disorder.