*The British Defense at Ypres.*
[Dated Nov. 13.]
The diminution in the force of the German rush to the west has not
lasted long. The section of the front to the north of our forces was the
first to meet the recrudescence of violence in the shape of an attack in
the neighborhood of Dixmude and Bixschoote.
Our turn came next. After eight days of comparative relaxation we were
under constant pressure from Tuesday, Nov. 3, to Tuesday, the 10th. The
next day saw a repetition of the great attempt of the Germans to break
through our lines to the French coast.
What was realized might happen did happen. In spite of the immense
losses suffered by the enemy during the five-day attack against Ypres,
which lasted from Oct. 29 to the 2d of this month, the cessation of
their more violent efforts on the latter day did not signalize the
abandonment of the whole project, but merely the temporary
relinquishment of the main offensive until fresh troops had been massed
to carry on what was proving to be a costly and difficult operation.
Meanwhile the interval was employed in endeavoring to wear out the
Allies by repeated local attacks of varying force and to shatter them by
a prolonged and concentrated bombardment. By the 11th, therefore, it
seems that they considered they had attained both objects, for on that
day they recommenced the desperate battle for the possession of Ypres
and its neighborhood.
Though the struggle has not yet come to an end, this much can be said:
The Germans have gained some ground, but they have not captured Ypres.
In repulsing the enemy so far we have suffered heavy casualties, but
battles of this fierce and prolonged nature cannot but be costly to both
sides. We have the satisfaction of knowing that we have foiled the enemy
in what appears to be at present his main object in the western theatre
of operations, and have inflicted immensely greater losses on him than
those we have suffered ourselves.
To carry on the narrative for the three days of the 10th, 11th, and 12th
of November:
Tuesday, the 10th, was uneventful for us. At some distance beyond our
left flank the enemy advanced in force against the French and were
repulsed. Directly on our left, however, along the greater part of the
front, shelling was less severe, and no infantry attacks took place.
To the southeast of Ypres the enemy kept up a very heavy bombardment
against our line, as well as that of the French. On our left centre the
situation remained unchanged, both sides contenting themselves with
furious cannonading. In our centre the Germans retained their hold on
the small amount of ground which they had gained from us, but in doing
so incurred a heavy loss from our artillery and machine gun fire.
Incidentally, one of the houses held by the enemy was so knocked about
by our fire that its defenders bolted. On their way to the rear they
were met by reinforcements under an officer who halted them, evidently
in an endeavor to persuade them to return. While the parley Was going on
one of our machine guns was quietly moved to a position of vantage,
whence it opened a most effective fire on the group.
On our right one of the enemy's saps, which was being pushed toward our
line, was attacked by us. All the men in it were captured.
Wednesday, the 11th, was another day of desperate fighting. As day broke
the Germans opened fire on our trenches to the north and south of the
road from Menin to Ypres. This was probably the most furious artillery
fire which they have yet employed against us.
A few hours later they followed this by an infantry assault in force.
This attack was carried out by the First and Fourth brigades of the
Guard Corps, which, as we now know from prisoners, have been sent for to
make a supreme effort to capture Ypres, since that task had proved too
heavy for the infantry of the line.
As the attackers surged forward they were met by our frontal fire, and
since they were moving diagonally across part of our front they were
also attacked on the flank by artillery, rifles, and machine guns.
Though their casualties before they reached our line must have been
enormous, such was their resolution and the momentum of the mass that in
spite of the splendid resistance of our troops they succeeded in
breaking through our line in three places near the road. They penetrated
some distance into the woods behind our trenches, but were
counter-attacked again, enfiladed by machine guns and driven back to
their line of trenches, a certain portion of which they succeeded in
holding, in spite of our efforts to expel them.
What their total losses must have been during this advance may be gauged
to some extent from the fact that the number of dead left in the woods
behind our line alone amounted to 700.
A simultaneous effort made to the south, a part of the same operation
although not carried out by the Guard Corps, failed entirely, for when
the attacking infantry massed in the woods close to our line, our guns
opened on them with such effect that they did not push the assault home.
As generally happens in operations in wooded country, the fighting to a
great extent was carried on at close quarters. It was most desperate and
confused. Scattered bodies of the enemy who had penetrated into the
woods in the rear of our position could neither go backward nor forward,
and were nearly all killed or captured.
The portion of the line to the southeast of Ypres held by us was heavily
shelled, but did not undergo any very serious infantry attack. That
occupied by the French, however, was both bombarded and fiercely
assaulted. On the rest of our front, save for the usual bombardment, all
was comparatively quiet.
On the right one of our trenches was mined and then abandoned. As soon
as it was occupied by the enemy the charges were fired and several
Germans were blown to pieces.
Thursday, Nov. 12, was marked by a partial lull in the fighting all
along our line. To the north a German force which had crossed the Yser
and intrenched on the left bank was annihilated by a night attack with
the bayonet, executed by the French. Slightly to the south the enemy was
forced back for three-quarters of a mile. Immediately on our left the
French were strongly attacked and driven back a short distance, our
extreme left having to conform to this movement. Our allies soon
recovered the ground they had lost, however, and this enabled us to
advance also.
To the southeast of Ypres the enemy's snipers were very active. On our
centre and right the enemy's bombardment was maintained, but nothing
worthy of special note occurred.
The fact that on this day the advance against our line in front of Ypres
was not pushed home after such an effort as that of Wednesday tends to
show that for the moment the attacking troops had had enough.
Although the failure of this great attack by the Guard Corps to
accomplish their object cannot be described as a decisive event, it
possibly marks the culmination if not the close of the second stage in
the attempt to capture Ypres, arid it is not without significance. It
has also a dramatic interest of its own. Having once definitely failed
to achieve this object by means of the sheer weight of numbers, and
having done their best to wear us down, the Germans brought in fresh
picked troops to carry the Ypres salient by an assault from the north,
the south and the east. That the Guard Corps should have been selected
to act against the eastern edge of the salient may be taken as proof of
the necessity felt by the Germans to gain this point in the line.
Their dogged perseverance in pursuance of their objective claims
whole-hearted admiration. The failure of one great attack, heralded as
it was by an impassioned appeal to the troops made in the presence of
the Emperor himself, but carried out by partially trained men, has been
only the signal for another desperate effort in which the place of honor
was assigned to the corps d'élite of the German Army.
It must be admitted that the Guard Corps has retained that reputation
for courage and contempt of death which it earned in 1870, when Emperor
William I., after the battle of Gravelotte, wrote: "My Guard has found
its grave in front of St. Privat," and the swarms of men who came up
bravely to the British rifles in the woods around Ypres repeated the
tactics of forty-four years ago when their dense columns, toiling up the
slopes of St. Privat, melted away under the fire of the French.
That the Germans are cunning fighters, and well up in all the tricks of
the trade, has frequently been pointed out. For instance, they often
succeed in ascertaining what regiment or brigade is opposed to them, and
because of their knowledge of English, they are able to employ the
information to some purpose. On a recent occasion, having by some means
discovered the name of the commander of the company holding the trench
they were attacking, they called him by name, asking if Captain ---- was
there. Fortunately the pronunciation of the spokesman was somewhat
defective, and their curiosity was rewarded by discovering that both the
officer in question and his men were very much there.
There have been reports from so many different quarters of the enemy
having been seen wearing British and French uniforms that it is
impossible to doubt their truth. One absolutely authentic case occurred
during the fighting near Ypres. A man dressed in a uniform closely
resembling that of a British staff officer suddenly appeared near our
trenches and walked along the line. He asked if many casualties had been
suffered, stated that the situation was serious, and that a general
retirement had been ordered. A similar visit having been reported by
several men in different trenches, orders were issued that this strange
officer was to be detained if seen again. Unluckily he did not make
another appearance.
The following remarks taken from the diary of a German soldier are
published not because there is reason to believe they are justified with
regard to the conduct of German officers but because of their interest
as a human document. Under date of Nov. 2 this German soldier wrote:
Previous to noon we were sent out in a regular storm of bullets on
the order of the Major. These gentlemen, the officers, send their
men forward in a most ridiculous way. They themselves remain far
behind, safely under cover. Our leadership is really scandalous.
Enormous losses on our side are partly from the fire of our own
people, for our leaders neither know where the enemy lies nor where
our own troops are, so that we often are fired on by our own men.
It is a marvel to me that we have got on as far as we have done.
Our Captain fell, as did also all our section leaders and a large
number of our men. Moreover, no purpose was served by this advance,
for we remained the rest of the day under cover; we could go
neither forward nor back, nor even shoot.
The trench we had taken was not occupied by us. The English
naturally took it back at night. That was the sole result. Then
when the enemy had intrenched themselves another attack was made,
costing us many lives and fifty prisoners. It is simply ridiculous,
this leadership. If only I had known it before! My opinion of
German officers has changed.
An Adjutant shouted to us from a trench far to the rear to cut down
a hedge in front of us. Bullets were whistling round from in front
and from behind. The gentleman himself, of course, remained behind.
The Fourth Company has now no leaders but a couple of non-coms.
When will my turn come! I hope to goodness I shall get home again.
In the trenches shells and shrapnel burst without ceasing. In the
evening we get a cup of rice and one-third of an apple per man. Let
us hope peace will soon come. Such a war is really too awful. The
English shoot like mad. If no reinforcements come up, especially
heavy artillery, we shall have a poor lookout and must retire.
The first day I went quietly into the fight with an indifference
which astonished me. Today, for the first time, in advancing, when
my comrades on the right and left were falling, I felt rather
nervous. But I lost that feeling again soon. One becomes horribly
indifferent.
I picked up a piece of bread by chance. Thank God! At least I have
something to eat.
There are about 70,000 English who must be attacked from all four
sides and destroyed. However, they defend themselves obstinately.