a series of long-running battles with numerically superior British forces. December 12: two German U-boats, and (captained by Max Valentiner), again bombard Funchal, Madeira. The attack lasts around 30 min and 40 and shells are fired. There are 3 fatalities and 17 wounded. In addition, a number of houses and Santa Clara Church are hit. December 17: German U-boat U-156 stops and scuttles the Portuguese ship Açoriano (a wooden three-masted schooner) southeast of the Azores. December 26: German U-boat U-157 (captained by Max Valentiner) sinks the Portuguese ship Lidia in the Azores. 1918 February 17: German U-boat SM U-157 (captained by Max Valentiner) sinks the Portuguese ship Estrella de Bissao off the coast of South Africa. March 16: The Portuguese artillery batteries enter in action. March 27: A German offensive restrains the Portuguese soldiers from being released. As a third Portuguese Division is never sent to France, the Portuguese Army receives no reinforcements at all. Portuguese soldiers have to serve in the battle front for long periods and are thus among the most exhausted men in the front. April 6: The conditions of the Portuguese soldiers become so difficult that the British finally decide to release the Portuguese. The CEP is supposed to be reorganised, the First Division going to the rear as a reserve force and the Second Division becoming part of the Eleventh Corps of the British Army, under General Haking's command. Haking visits the Portuguese troops and decides to send the Second Division to the rear from April 9, which would never happen. The Germans attack the British lines, forcing them to retreat about 60 km. Instead of being released, the Portuguese troops have to fight off the German offensive on its sector. April 9: The Battle of La Lys, as it becomes known in Portugal, or Operation Georgette or the Battle of Estaires to the British, starts with a heavy artillery barrage from the Germans, followed by a German offensive with intensive use of lethal gas. The German Sixth Army deploys eight divisions (about 100,000 men), supported by intensive artillery fire. Against the force, the Portuguese have 20,000 soldiers and 88 guns. As a result, the Second Division is decimated during the battle. The Portuguese CEP loses 327 officers and 7,098 soldiers, about 35% of its effective fighting capacity. The survivors are sent to the rear, some of the units being integrated into the British Army