CHAPTER XXVI.

DAYS OF STRUGGLE AND ANXIETY.--I.

I have told you in the form of a continuous story how the Canadians saved the day. In doing so I have had to keep your attention fixed on that part of the British line extending from Grafenstafel to the little wood where the Canadians made their midnight charge in order to recover the lost guns. We have now to learn what took place on the left and right of the Canadian position, and to follow the fortunes of the long-drawn-out battle to its close.

You already know that when the poison gas rolled down on the French trenches and drove the panic-stricken Turcos in headlong flight, a great breach of four miles yawned in the Allied line. By swinging back their left the Canadians barred a portion of this gap, but only a portion. From the little wood on which their left rested to the line of the Yser Canal there was still an undefended gap of at least two and a half miles. Had the Germans been prompt they could have marched through this gap into Ypres, almost without firing a shot. Strange to say, they were slow in moving, and did not push their advantage. As in the First Battle of Ypres, they broke our line, but could do nothing in the breach.

Not until the small hours of Friday morning did the first British reinforcements arrive in the gap. They had been drawn chiefly from the 28th Division, which was holding the line from Grafenstafel to Polygon Wood. All the battalions that could be spared from the 28th Division were hurried across the salient, and it was a strange mixture of units that held the pass between the Canadian left and the canal. As the fighting proceeded, this force, which was commanded by Colonel Geddes, altered its character from day to day and almost from hour to hour. A grenade company of the Northumberland Fusiliers, consisting of two officers and 120 men, was added to it by accident. They had been fighting at Hill 60, and had been eight days in the trenches. On the way back to join the 28th Division, to which they belonged, these grimy, weary, and hungry warriors fell in with Geddes's force, and promptly took their places in his firing line. That night they lived up to the fame of the old "Fighting Fifth."

By the morning of Friday the Germans had crossed the canal south of Steenstraate, and were threatening that village, which was held by the French. Allenby's three divisions of cavalry, along with two Indian divisions, were being hurried up with all speed to help the French, who were struggling on the west of the canal. Meanwhile all along the line from Polygon Wood to the canal the big guns of the enemy were heavily shelling our lines. The fighting, as we already know, was heaviest against the Canadian 3rd Brigade, which had suffered great losses both from gas and from artillery fire. There were gaps all along our front, and in one place the machine guns of the enemy were behind our trenches.

While the Canadians between the little wood and Grafenstafel were holding on, British battalions were being hurried up as rapidly as possible. You will see from the map on page 208 that the 13th Brigade filled the gap between the canal and the Pilkem road, and that they were supported by Territorials of the York and Durham Brigade, who had arrived in France only three days before. Between Geddes's detachment and the little wood lay the 10th Brigade, consisting of Territorials, the 1st Warwicks, 2nd Seaforths, 1st Irish Fusiliers, 2nd Dublin Fusiliers, and 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The Durhams and the 1st Hants were holding the gap between the Canadians and the 28th Division. Such was the condition of the northern side of the salient on Saturday evening when the 3rd Canadian Brigade was retired. The Northumbrian Division took its place.

About 4.30 on Sunday morning the 10th Brigade and two battalions of the York and Durham Brigade made a great attempt to recapture St. Julien. The men reached the cottages at the end of the village, but were brought to a standstill by German machine guns. They lost very heavily in the advance, but for the rest of the day they hung on to the blood and gas stained position. Further east, at Grafenstafel, the Durhams were assailed by shells filled with gases that choked and stupefied them, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, before they could breathe freely again, the Germans charged down upon them. From two o'clock until seven the Durhams hurled back attack after attack, but as the evening wore on the pressure proved too great, and they were forced to retire with heavy losses to the little village of Fortuin. A similar attempt was made on the 28th Division, but without success. When night fell, our front was unbroken on the east as far north as Grafenstafel. That Sunday night, you will remember, the Canadian 2nd Brigade was retired only to be called up again the next day. Its place was taken by the Lahore Division of Indians.

Monday, 26th April, was a day of furious fighting and constant anxiety. The salient was greatly narrowed now, and our men were shelled on three sides. The Germans were making a curtain of fire behind our lines in order that no reinforcements could be brought up. Another fierce attack was made on the Durhams, who were compelled to fall back behind a little stream to the south of Fortuin, where they stood fast until the end of the day. Shortly after ten in the morning the Northumbrians and the Indians made another desperate attempt to recapture St. Julien. It fared