Ypres and the Battles of Ypres Part 4

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THIRD STAGE: BRITISH ADVANCE FROM SEPT. 20 TO SEPT. 26 (20/9--26/9)]

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 a.s.saults gave no appreciable result.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BATTERY OF BRITISH HEAVY HOWITZERS IN ACTION]

=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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PART OF THE GROUND COVERED BY THE OFFENSIVE, SEEN FROM AN AEROPLANE]

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 Pa.s.schendaele, captured Gravenstafel and a certain number of fortified farms, and approached the western outskirts of Poelcappelle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FOURTH STAGE: THE 4TH OCTOBER, 1917 (4/10)]

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 ma.s.sed on the front at the time of the attack, the German losses, which included 4,500 prisoners, were particularly heavy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A DIFFICULT CROSSING. BRITISH AND BELGIAN SOLDIERS]

=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 ca.n.a.l 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 Pa.s.schendaele, and carried the line beyond the crests occupied on October 4.

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

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIFTH STAGE: THE BRITISH ATTACK HOUTHULST FOREST AND APPROACH Pa.s.sCHENDAELE]

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIXTH STAGE: BY NOV. 6, YPRES WAS COMPLETELY CLEARED]

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

After a short rest, during which the new positions were consolidated--in view of enemy counter-attacks--the battle broke out afresh on October 22.

The attack of the 22nd was, in reality, only of secondary importance, but thanks to the progress made, it was possible to carry out the operations of the 26th on a larger scale than originally intended.

In order definitely to consolidate the captured positions, it was still necessary to take the village of Pa.s.schendaele, which stands on the high ground dominating the plain of Flanders to the east of Ypres and from which Roulers is visible.

A fresh offensive was accordingly begun at dawn on October 26.

In the French sector, the troops, after wading through the St. Janshoek and the Corverbeek streams with the water up to their shoulders, stormed the village of Draeibank, Papegoed Wood, and many fortified farms.

The next day fresh progress, to a depth of more than a mile, was made on both sides of the Ypres-Dixmude Road, along a front of two and a half miles. The villages of Hoekske, Aschhoop, Merckem, and Kippe were captured, and the western edges of Houthulst Forest reached.

On the 28th, the advance continued on the left, in co-operation with the Belgians. The French took the village of Luyghem, and the Belgians Vyfhuyzen.

The British, on their part, advanced in the direction of Pa.s.schendaele, as far as the southern slopes of the village, capturing a whole series of positions east of Poelcappelle.

On October 30, British and Canadians continued their attacks, and in spite of the enemy's desperate resistance, reached the first houses of Pa.s.schendaele.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRENCH TROOPS Pa.s.sING IN FRONT OF THE RUINS OF YPRES CLOTH HALL]

On the following days they improved their positions. The struggle at this juncture was very bitter, Hindenburg having shortly before issued an order stating: "_Pa.s.schendaele must be held at all costs, and retaken if lost._"

On the morning of November 6, the British resumed the offensive. The Canadians, after b.l.o.o.d.y engagements to the north and north-west of Pa.s.schendaele, captured the hamlets of Mosselmarkt and Goudberg, and finally carried Pa.s.schendaele.

On the evening of November 6, Ypres was completely cleared; and from the top of the Pa.s.schendaele Hills the valiant British troops could see, stretching away to the horizon, the Plain of Flanders, which had been hidden from the Allies since October, 1914.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PREPARATION OF THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE OF APRIL 9, 1918. THE OBJECTIVE]