Part 2

On February 12, 1916, the Germans launched fresh attacks in the west, near Steenstraat and Het Sas, and attempted to cross the Yser. After being smartly checked, they furiously attacked the British trenches between the Ypres-Comines Canal and the railway, and succeeded in capturing one of them for a length of 600 yards. This trench, on account of its frequently changing hands, came to be known as the "International Trench." A few days later (March 2) the British retook it.

The struggle now became limited to a continuous artillery duel, with occasional surprise infantry attacks. The hamlet of St. Eloi to the south was the scene of constant fighting for the possession of the shell-craters.

On April 19, the fighting assumed a more serious character. An unimportant German attack near St. Eloi and along the Ypres-Langemarck Road was the prelude to operations by considerable enemy forces, having for their objective the great undulating slopes between Hill 60 and Armentieres.

The first of these attacks took place on April 25, 1916, but failed. Two days later a night attack with gas was repulsed with hand grenades.

A third attempt was made in May, 1916, more to the south towards Armentieres, on the sides of the road connecting that town with Ypres. The British, entrenched in a wood near Ploegsteert Village, were assailed by three German columns, and were only able to repulse two of them. The third took the position, but Scottish troops counter-attacked and drove the Germans back.

The most important of the enemy attacks during this period took place on June 1. The preparations included a concentration of troops between Tournai and Baisieux, from May 21 to 27, supported by guns of all calibres. The attack was carried out in considerable strength between Hooge and the Ypres-Comines Railway.

The artillery preparation began at 9.15 a.m. on June 1, and at noon the first assaulting wave entered the front-line trenches. The battle died down for a few minutes in the evening, only to break out again during the night. The Germans succeeded in crushing in the front to a depth of some 700 yards in the direction of Zillebeke, but the next day a portion of the lost ground was retaken by the Canadians.

On June 6, a fresh assault began, preceded by the usual bombardment, and further assisted by mine explosions. The front line trenches to the north of Hooge were lost; but on the 13th the valiant Canadians, who had previously recaptured the original positions abandoned on June 1, resumed the offensive, and re-established the lines from the southern part of Sanctuary Wood to a point 1,000 yards north of Hill 60.

Throughout the days of June 26 and 28 there was an extremely violent bombardment, to which the British guns replied effectively. The Germans, whose losses from the attacks and this artillery fire were very heavy, declared: "_Belgium will be our grave._"

These were the last operations in which the enemy took the offensive. All their efforts had failed, whether their object had been to turn the left flank of the Allies, to break the lines around Ypres, or merely to take the town.

=THE ALLIED OFFENSIVE OF 1917=

_Series of powerful attacks with limited objectives. From June to October, the stages of the offensive were punctuated by breathing spaces, during which the conquered ground was consolidated, in view of counter-attacks, and the artillery brought up, to prepare the following attack._

=Preliminary Operations= =The Capture of Messines Ridge by the British= (June 7, 1917.)

From July, 1916, to May, 1917, the Ypres sector remained comparatively quiet. There were few attacks on either side, but the guns thundered day and night. It may be said that the British were "trying their hand."

In June, 1917, certain at last of their strength, they made their first big effort, and step by step, in accordance with a carefully worked-out plan, they completely liberated Ypres by a series of offensives lasting four months, and broke the iron circle which, for two years, had been strangling the town.

For several months before the battle, the attack on Messines Ridge had been carefully planned by means of a model in relief, situated in the open air and covering an area about equal to that of a tennis court. Here were reproduced in relief all the contours and peculiarities of the ground. Everything, down to an isolated tree trunk, was reproduced.

British effort took definite shape for the first time on June 7. The attack, planned by Sir Douglas Haig, had for its objective the capture of the crests between Wytschaete and Messines, which the Germans had seized on November 1, 1914.

For seven days an artillery preparation of incredible intensity hammered the villages of Messines and Wytschaete, until they had completely disappeared.

On June 7, about an hour before dawn, at 3.10 a.m., the sky was lit up by an intense light, while a series of terrific explosions were heard; nineteen mines, some of whose galleries had taken more than a year to bore, exploded along the enemy positions.

The Germans were taken completely by surprise, and gave way before the impetuous onrush. In a few minutes their first line was carried along the whole of the attacked front. Then, almost without a pause, the British troops attacked the western slopes of the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge, and by about 6.30 a.m. held the crests along the whole line.

The village of Messines offered resistance, but was captured by the New Zealanders in a vigorous attack, as was also the village of Wytschaete. By noon the second stage of the offensive was about to begin.

Descending the eastern slopes of the ridge the British carried a second strong position, then attacked a fresh line--chiefly in Rayon Wood--in which were large shelters of reinforced concrete, each capable of holding a company. At about 4 p.m. Oosttaverne Village, lying west of the centre of the position, fell. At sun-down the day's objectives had been completely attained, and the advance at certain points exceeded two miles in depth.

This fine success was due to the carefully detailed preparation carried out under the orders of General Herbert Plumer, to the destructive effect of the mines, to the violence and precision of the bombardment, to the excellent co-operation of the Air Forces, and to the harmonious working together of all arms. The tanks rendered excellent service.

The Germans made an effort to rally, but their first counter-attacks, near Oosttaverne and to the east of Messines, failed.

At about 7 p.m., on June 8, a fresh German counter-attack was launched along the whole of the new front between St. Yvon and the Ypres-Comines Canal. Other engagements were fought to the east of Messines and near Klein Zillebeke. Although reinforced by fresh divisions, the German attack was broken by midnight.

Resuming their offensive, the British, on the morning of June 11, captured the whole system of German trenches, nearly a mile in length, situated near Poterie Farm, to the south-east of Messines. The next day fresh progress was made along nearly two miles of the front to the north-east of Messines, and the hamlet of Gapaard occupied.

After the offensive--limited in scope--of June 7, which reduced the salient, south of Ypres, the British continued to press the enemy. Frequent raids kept the Germans on the alert and secured important _points d'appui_.

On June 14, the Germans were forced to abandon an important part of their first-line trenches between the Lys and St. Yvon. On the same day a considerable advance was made east of Ploegsteert Wood, and in the immediate neighbourhood of Gapaard Village.

During the night of the 14th a double attack was made: one to the east of Messines; the other along both banks of the Ypres-Comines Canal, to the north-west of Hollebeke. These attacks gave the British a large number of trenches, which they held in spite of fierce counter-attacks.

To sum up, during the latter half of June an advance of 500 to 1,000 yards in depth was made along the whole front line between Klein Zillebeke and the Lys.

The month of July passed in raids, patrols, and reconnoitring, preparatory to the new offensive of July 31.

This far-reaching offensive, which lasted from July 31 to the end of October, may be divided into six successive phases, and ended with the liberation of Ypres.

=First Phase= (July 31--August 15.)

=Capture of the First and Second German Lines=

When the battle began, the firing line extended from Dixmude, along the Yser Canal, then followed the Yperlee River, on the left bank of the Yser Canal. It next passed through Lizerne to Het Sas, whence it followed the canal to Boesinghe. Opposite this village the line crossed the canal and the Ypres-Bruges railway, then passed the Quatre-Chemins cross-roads, descending thence to Essenfarm and Kruppfarm, which lie on either side of the Pilkem Road. Continuing west of Wieltje Village, it passed south of Verlorenhoek Chateau, skirted Verlorenhoek Village, and descended west of Hooge, after crossing the Ypres-Roulers railway. It next skirted the northern part of Sanctuaire Wood, then entered the latter, coming out to the south of Zwateleen. From there, the line extended southwards, passing west of Hollebeke, east of Gapaard, and skirting the eastern fringe of Ploegsteert Wood.

During the fortnight preceding the offensive, changes were made in the order of the forces holding the line.

British troops relieved the Belgians and French who had been operating near the coast, in the direction of Lombaertzyde. Moreover, the French forces, placed at the disposal of General Anthoine, had taken up positions between the Belgians and the British from Reninghe to Elverdinghe.

At 4 a.m. on July 31, in spite of unfavourable weather, the British troops, under the command of Generals Plumer and Gough, co-operating with the Franco-Belgian troops led by General Anthoine, attacked in force along a front of fourteen miles from Dixmude to the Lys.

In the French sector, the greater part of the troops had crossed the Yser during the night. The artillery then pounded the first and second German lines, and as soon as the range had been lengthened, the infantry dashed forward. At the scheduled hour the first and second enemy lines from Dixmude to Bixschoote, to a depth in places of almost two miles, were occupied, while Bixschoote, Steenstraat, and Kortekeer Inn fell.

The British were on the right of the French. The Ypres-Roulers Road formed the axis on which their attack turned. On the left of this road they pierced the German lines to a depth of nearly two miles, and occupied the bridges over the Steenbeek Canal. Several villages were captured: Verlorenhoek, Frezenberg, St. Julien, Pilkem, in addition to a large number of fortified farms and woods.

On the right of the Ypres-Roulers Road, the British encountered a very strong resistance. The ground, more broken than that on the other part of the battle-front, and also intersected with woods, enabled the Germans to keep several _points d'appui_. Despite the fiercest fighting, it was impossible to drive them out of part of the second position on the right wing. Nevertheless, an advance of about a mile in depth was made in this sector, and the village of Hooge and Sanctuary Wood were captured.

On their extreme right the British had captured Hollebeke Village early that morning.

The next day (August 1), the Germans replied but feebly in the French sector, while in the British sector, in spite of the rain, they counter-attacked with the greatest fury.

Near St. Julien the line fell back slightly, but along the rest of the front the positions were fully maintained.

The first phase in the liberation of Ypres was over.

In forty-eight hours, the offensive, methodically prepared and carried out, had attained the objectives, given the Allies more than 6,000 prisoners and an immense quantity of stores.

During the following days, in spite of torrential rain, the Germans attempted unsuccessfully to retake the lost ground, some of the attacks being particularly fierce.

In the sector held by the French troops there was little more than a heavy bombardment on either side. French raids on fortified farms held by the Germans resulted in slight progress being made to the north of Bixschoote and Kortekeer Inn.

The British, on the other hand, had to face strong counter-attacks. On August 1, the Germans succeeded in regaining a footing in their old advanced positions along the Ypres-Roulers Road. On the 2nd, the British lines between St. Julien and the Ypres-Bruges railway were attacked in force. The village of St. Julien was lost, but was finally retaken on the 3rd. On the 4th, the British line was advanced beyond St. Julien.

On August 5, during a fresh attack on both banks of the Ypres-Comines Canal, the Germans retook Hollebeke, but were driven out almost immediately.

On the night of the 5th they again attacked Hollebeke, but without success.

On the 10th, an interesting operation was carried out by the British. The front attacked was shorter than in the offensive of July 31, and extended about a mile and a half to the south of the Ypres-Roulers Road.

Early in the morning the British were in complete possession of Westhoek Village, after which a violent struggle took place for the high ground round the village. By evening all the objectives had been attained, including the capture of Westhoek Crest and Glencorse Wood.

August 12 was marked by six enemy counter-attacks, which caused a slight withdrawal of the line to the south of Glencorse Wood. Everywhere else the Allies' positions were fully maintained.

=Second Phase= (_August 15--September 19, 1917._)

The Allies resumed their offensive on August 15 along a front of some nine miles, from the Yser Canal to the Ypres-Menin Road.

The attack began at 4.45 a.m. The French attacked on both sides of the Steenstraat-Dixmude Road, crossing the Steenbeek stream in the morning. Driegrachten Bridgehead was taken after hand-to-hand fighting, while in the evening the whole of the strip of ground between the Yser and the Martjet-Vaart Canal was in the hands of the French.

The British operating on the right of the French rapidly attained their first objectives, then vigorously following up this first success, they took by assault the village of Langemarck and its strong defences, advanced 800 yards beyond the village and captured the whole system of trenches.

To the south, along the Ypres-Menin Road, the struggle was more stubborn, the Germans resisting desperately. A series of furious counter-attacks enabled them finally to preserve their line practically intact in this district.

The day's captures included more than 2,000 prisoners, of whom thirty were officers, and twenty-four guns, including several of large calibre.

Desperate fighting continued until September 19 without, however, altering the positions established on August 15.

On August 19, the British, by small local attacks, advanced about 500 yards on the Ypres-Poelcappelle Road and captured several fortified farms.

The Germans made desperate efforts to hold the high wooded ground comprising Polygone and Inverness Woods, near the Ypres-Roulers Road.

On the 22nd the fighting increased in fierceness. The British advanced only with great difficulty, and the eastern edges of Inverness Wood were hotly contested.

In these combats, from which neither side gained any decisive advantage, the Germans made use for the first time of liquid fire, thanks to which innovation they succeeded temporarily in retaking the north-western corner of Inverness Wood, but were soon driven out.

Further north, the British, on August 24 and 25, advanced their lines to the north of St. Julien and Langemarck.

During the following days, persistent rains prevented any further operations. Infantry actions were now succeeded by continuous bombardments on both sides, and by isolated raids.

=Third Phase= (_September 20--October 3, 1917._)

On September 20 a fresh offensive was begun along the whole front from Langemarck to the Ypres-Menin Road, a distance of eight miles.

The part assigned for the French troops under General Anthoine was merely to protect the left wing of the British Army which, pivoting on Hollebeke, was to wheel and advance its marching wing in a direction at right-angles to the Zonnebeke-Gheluvelt line.

All the objectives were attained at an early hour.

Inverness Wood, which had been hotly disputed for the six previous weeks, was taken by the London troops.

The Australians retook by assault Glencorse Wood--lost a few days before--and Nonnes Wood. The Scottish and South African Brigades captured the fortified farms of Vampire and Borry, and the Potsdam and Anzac Redoubts. Lancashire Territorials carried Iberian Farm and next day (the 21st) Gallipoli Farm.

The British then attacked the second German lines. On the right the Territorials[1] fought violent engagements to the north of the bend in the Ypres-Comines Canal, near Klein Zillebeke, and in the vicinity of the position known as Tower Hamlet.

In the centre, progress was more important. The ground hereabouts rises in a small plateau about 220 feet in height, which dominates the whole battlefield and extends in two long spurs: one running north-east towards Zonnebeke, the other southwards towards Menin. The Germans had fortified these positions very strongly and withdrawn their main line of defence to the eastern edge of the plateau, _i.e._ opposite the side by which the enemy must attack. This line protected the village of Zevenkote and the western edge of Polygone Wood, leaving in front the woods of Nonnes, Glencorse and Inverness, and Herenthage Park, the eastern edge of which latter it followed. The woods were strongly fortified, and the British had twice previously (July 31 and August 16) vainly endeavoured to capture them.

It was the Northern troops and the Australians who carried these positions, advancing to a depth of 1,700 yards and taking Veldhoek and the western part of Polygone Wood--the principal centre of the German resistance. Further north, Zevenkote was captured and the London Territorials, supported by the Highlanders, seized a second line of farms.

In the evening of September 20, the front ran approximately as follows: from Rose Farm (700 yards west of Poelcappelle) to Fokker Farm (on the eastern edges of Zevenkote); across the western part of Polygone Wood--including Veldhoek--then to the east of Herenthage Chateau, and ending at Hollebeke.

The Germans, in their costly and unsuccessful efforts to retake the lost positions, suffered exceedingly heavy losses, without gaining any advantage.

On the morning of the 26th the British continued their attack along a five-mile front, from the east of St. Julien to Tower Hamlet near the Ypres-Menin Road.

The rest of Tower Hamlet Spur was captured, in addition to the whole of Polygone Wood.

Further north, a fresh advance of 1,700 yards was made, and the strongly fortified village of Zonnebeke remained in the hands of the British.

Besides the gain in ground, more than 4,000 prisoners were taken.

The Germans, by a series of powerful counter-attacks, sought to win back the lost positions. On the evening of the 26th, four attacks were made in the neighbourhood of Tower Hamlet.

On the 27th they attacked the village of Zonnebeke, while on the morning of the 30th three attacks were made, without result, on both sides of the Ypres-Menin Road.

On October 1 the Germans attacked three times on a front of 1,700 yards to the south of the Ypres-Menin Road, while the same night two fresh assaults gave no appreciable result.

=Fourth Phase= (_October 4--8, 1917._)

The increasing activity of the Germans did not in any way prevent the British from preparing a fresh offensive. On the morning of October 4, English divisions, supported by Welsh, Scottish and Irish battalions, attacked along a front of ten miles, between Tower Hamlet and the north of Langemarck. The Germans, disconcerted and surprised by this unexpected attack--they were themselves preparing to attack with five divisions--fell back from the beginning of the action.

A rapid advance of one-half to nearly two miles was made.

South of the Menin Road the objectives were attained almost at the outset.

To the north of the same road the enemy resistance was more stubborn. Nevertheless, the villages of Reutel and Polderhoek, together with the chateau of that name, were captured, freeing at the same time the top of the crest, whose eastern slopes run down to the village of Bacelaere. Further north, the Australians captured Noordhemhoek and Molenaarelsthoek, reached Broodseinde Crest, and thus advanced beyond the Bacelaere-Broodseinde Road.

On the other side of the Ypres-Roulers railway, the British drew appreciably nearer Passchendaele, captured Gravenstafel and a certain number of fortified farms, and approached the western outskirts of Poelcappelle.

In spite of the violent storm which was then raging, all the objectives were attained and the line of crests conquered.

Owing to the very large numbers of troops massed on the front at the time of the attack, the German losses, which included 4,500 prisoners, were particularly heavy.

=Fifth Phase= (_October 9--12, 1917._)

To completely clear Ypres, a few strongly fortified villages beyond the line of crests captured on October 4 had still to be taken. These formed the objective of the attacks of October 9 and 12.

On October 9, in spite of the appalling weather, the British attacked again on a front stretching from St. Janshoek (a mile north of Bixschoote) to the south-east of Broodseinde. The French were holding a front rather less than two miles in length to the north of Bixschoote, and had for objective the southern edge of Houthulst Forest.

The signal to attack was given at 5.30 a.m. Despite the rain, which had been falling incessantly for several days, the infantry crossed first the canal in flood, then a veritable sea of mud, and captured Mangelaere and Veldhoek. They advanced rather more than a mile and reached the south-western edge of Houthulst Forest, after having captured numerous strongly fortified farms and blockhouses.

The British sector extended from the north-west of Poelcappelle to Broodseinde, and formed a front of some seven miles.

On the right, the Manchester Regiment and the Lancashire Fusiliers advanced from 1,600 to 2,000 yards in the direction of Passchendaele, and carried the line beyond the crests occupied on October 4.

In the centre, many farms, redoubts and blockhouses were captured.

To the north, the capture of Poelcappelle was completed, the British joining hands with the French on the outskirts of Houthulst Forest.

More than 2,000 prisoners were taken.

=Sixth Phase= (_October 22--November 6, 1917._)