YSER BATTLES--ATTACK ON YPRES
A large part of the Belgian forces with some of the English marines were
forced across the Dutch border, where they were promptly disarmed and
interned, while the remnants of these forces retreated toward the west
by way of St. Nicolas and reached Ostend on October 11 and 12, 1914,
with greatly reduced numbers. Many were cut off and captured by the
German forces, which entered Ghent on October 12, and pressed on to
Ypres in one direction and to Lille in another. Next day, the
thirteenth, they approached Ostend, forcing these Belgians who had
managed to get through, to evacuate.
Bruges was occupied by the German forces on October 14, 1914, and other
detachments appeared in Thielt, Daume, and Esschen on the same day, thus
getting under their control the entire Kingdom of Belgium, with the
exception of the northwestern corner, north of Ypres, to the coast of
the channel. For Ostend, too, had fallen into their hands by October 15,
after the English and Belgian troops had been taken away by an English
fleet; the Belgians were transported to France where they were
re-formed while the English marines were sent back to England.
In the meantime the Germans were drawing on reenforcements from the
Vosges and the Champagne districts and every day their numbers
increased. West Flanders was swarming with German cavalry, and about
this time they were as far west as Hazebrouck and Cassel, and only
twenty-five miles distant from Dunkirk.
By October 20, 1914, the allied line was in position from Albert to the
sea, a little short of 100 miles, eighty as the crow flies. From south
to north the allied front was commanded by General Maud'huy from Albert
to Vermelles; General Smith-Dorrien from Vermelles to Laventie, opposite
Lille; General Poultney, from Laventie to Messines; General Haig from
Messines to Bixschoote; General de Mitry had French and Belgian mixed
troops defending the line from Bixschoote to Nieuport and the sea,
supported by an English and French fleet.
For days this fleet under the British Admiral Hood had shelled the coast
defenses under General von Beseler's command. As the naval guns had a
far better range than General von Beseler's artillery, it was an easy
matter to hold the coast at Nieuport Bains, and even six miles inland
without subjecting any of the ships to the fire of the German guns.
On the German side General von Buelow held the front against General
Maud'huy, the Bavarian Crown Prince against General Smith-Dorrien, while
the Duke of Wuerttemberg commanded the forces on the balance of the line
to the sea. It is estimated that upward of thirty army corps covered the
German front.
Throughout the balance of October, 1914, and well into November, 1914, a
great many different actions and some of the heaviest fighting of this
period took place all along this line. On the 21st the new German
formations pressed forward in great force all along the line. On the
south of the Lys the Germans assaulted Violaines. On the north of the
Lys in the English center a fiercely contested action took place near La
Gheir, which village the Germans captured in the morning. The German
Twenty-sixth Reserve Corps pressed on to Passchendale, where they met
with stout resistance from the English-Belgian forces.
On October 22, 1914, the Germans attacked from the La Bassee region and
gained several small villages. Both Allies and Germans suffered immense
losses. Much of the slaughter was due to the point-blank magazine fire
and the intermittent shrapnel explosions from both sides.
The most savage fighting was kept up all along the line, but no
advantage accrued to either side until Friday, October 28, 1914, when
the Germans succeeded in crossing the Yser at St. George and forcing
their way two miles to Ramscapelle, retaken on the 30th by General
Grossetti. This was accomplished by General von Beseler's troops,
opposing the mixed troops of the Belgian and French. On that night
fourteen separate attacks were made by the Germans on Dixmude and they
were repulsed each time.
On October 24, 1914, about 5,000 German troops crossed the canal at
Schoorbakke and next day there were more to come, so for the moment it
looked as though the allied line on the Yser had been broken. The
struggle at this point continued until October 28, during which time the
Allies contested every inch of ground. The kaiser was with the Duke of
Wuerttemberg on this day, expecting every moment that his great design to
break through the lines and drive his forces to Dunkirk and Calais would
be accomplished.
At the crisis the Belgians broke down the dykes and flooded the country
for miles around. Heavy rains during the last weeks had swelled the
Yser. The Belgians had dammed the lower reaches of the canal; the Yser
lipped over its brim and spread lagoons over the flat meadows. Soon the
German forces on the west bank were floundering in a foot of water,
while their guns were waterlogged and deep in mud. The Germans did not
abandon their efforts. The kaiser called for volunteers to carry
Ramscapelle--two Wuerttemberg brigades responded--and gained the place,
but at terrible loss.
On the 30th of October, 1914, again the Wuerttembergers advanced to the
attack. They waded through sloppy fields from the bridgeheads at St.
George and Schoorbakke, and by means of table tops, boards, planks and
other devices crossed the deeper dykes. So furious was the attack
pressed home that they won the railway line and held their ground. They
were to do some severe fighting, however, for next day French-Belgian
and African mixed troops fought fiercely to drive the Germans back but
failed.
Seeing their success in partially flooding the battle field, the
Belgians made more breaches in the dams, and, opening the sluices in the
canal, threw a flood of water greater still over the area occupied by
the Germans. In seething brown waves the water rose up to the high
ground at the railway near Ramscapelle. The Germans were caught in this
tide and scores of them were drowned. Many escaped, some struggled to
land on the Allies front and were made prisoners.
Sir John French summarized part of the fighting in Flanders, after the
capture of Antwerp, in the following official report: "The Second Corps
under General Smith-Dorrien was opposed by overpowering forces of
Germans, but nevertheless advanced until October 18, 1914, when the
German opposition compelled a reenforcement. Six days later the Lahore
Division of the Indian Army was sent to support the Second Corps. On
October 16, Sir Henry Rawlinson, who had covered the retreat of the
Belgian army from Antwerp, with two divisions of English cavalry and two
divisions of French infantry, was stationed on the line east of Ypres
under orders to operate over a wide front and to keep possession of all
the ground held by the Allies until the First Army Corps could reach
Ypres.
"General Rawlinson was opposed by superior forces and was unable to
prevent the Germans from getting large reenforcements. With four
divisions holding a much wider front than their size justified he faced
a rather awkward situation, as the enemy was massed from the Lys.
"The shattered Belgian army and the weary French troops advanced to
check the Germans--but in vain. Sir Douglas Haig with the First Army
Corps was sent to recapture Bruges on October 19, 1914, while the
Belgian army intrenched along the Yser Canal. General Haig failed--owing
to bad roads. October 21 brought the most severe attack made on the
First Corps at Ypres, in the checking of which the Worcestershire
Regiment did good work. This day marked the most critical period in the
battle which resulted in the recapture of the village of Gheluvelt."
South of Dixmude is one of the most historic and quaintly attractive
cities of Belgium, Ypres. It is situated on a tributary of the Yser
called the Yperlee, and a railway runs through it from Roulers to the
main Lille--St. Ower line at Hazebrouck and a very important canal runs
from the Yser in the north to the Lys at Comines.
The allied lines were held by the British First and Third Corps and
several cavalry divisions, at this point all under the chief command of
General Haig, while the Bavarian Crown Prince directed the movements of
the German forces. On October 20, 1914, the allied line stretched--a few
miles to the northeast of Ypres--from Bixschoote to the crossroads a
mile and a half northwest of Zonnebeke. The cavalry only were kept busy
during this day, while the other forces were making elaborate
preparations for the main drive. The great attack was delivered October
21 against the point of the salient between Zonnebeke and Besselaere.
The allied line on the left was so much exposed that the Twenty-second
Brigade was enfiladed by the Germans at the very beginning, and in the
center the Germans pierced the line held by the Royal Scots Fusiliers,
with the Yorkshires on the extreme right. The fierce assaults from both
sides ended in a draw for this day.
On October 22, 1914, the fighting was most severe all day; but later in
the day the most violent assault of all was made by the Germans upon the
First Brigade on the left. There the trenches were held by the Camerons,
north of Pilkem on the Langemarck--Bixschoote road. Here the Germans
broke the line and succeeded in capturing part of the Camerons--the
famous Red Tartans. Further south, the Royal Scots Fusiliers were
obliged to give way. The Germans pressed hard in the vicinity of
Hollebeke which point opened a clear road to Ypres; but here the allied
forces stood their ground. Still farther south the Essex Regiment and
the Lancashire Fusiliers fought savagely, but were driven back upon
Armentierre when night fell.
[Illustration: Battle Front in Flanders.]
Early Friday morning, October 23, 1914, the Allies made a desperate
assault upon the trenches lost by the Camerons on the previous day. The
fighting culminated in a savage bayonet attack which resulted in the
recapture of these trenches by the British composed of the King's Royal
Rifles, the Royal West Surrey Regiment and the Northamptons.
On October 24, 1914, the Germans advanced upon the allied extreme left;
but were successfully repulsed between Zonnebeke and Poelcapelle. Later
in the day the Germans renewed their attack and compelled the allied
troops to retire some distance.
The advance on the allied left was continued on Sunday, October 25,
1914. Repeatedly the Germans succeeded in piercing the allied lines; but
at one time, even though they had broken through, a momentary lack of
reserves compelled them to retreat to avoid capture. A savage enveloping
attack was made during the night, north of Zandvoorde, where again the
Germans broke through the allied lines, but were unable to maintain
their advantage through failure of reenforcements to come up in time.
The Leicester Brigade were shelled out of their trenches and were
obliged to fall back to the south of the River Lys.
During the following three days--October 26, 27, 28, 1914--artillery
fire was resorted to and desultory fighting and skirmishes along the
entire line resulted in no noteworthy advantage to either belligerent.
Thursday, October 29, 1914, opened with clear and bracing weather which
promised to continue throughout the day. The German attack which had
been preparing for the past three days now broke like an irresistible
wave upon the salient of the Gheluvelt crossroads, where the British
First Corps was stationed. The first division was driven back from its
trenches and after that the line swayed forward and backward for hours,
but by two o'clock in the afternoon the position remained unchanged.
With the coming of the dawn on October 30, 1914, the fighting was
resumed with even more savage determination on both sides. The hottest
engagement centered about the ridge of Zandvoorde. German artillery fire
cleared the allied trenches, burying many of the British soldiers alive
under mountains of earth and debris. This forced the line to retreat a
full mile to Klein Zillebeke to the north. The kaiser witnessed this
engagement and by his presence cheered the German soldiers on to the
most desperate fighting.
On the following day October 31, 1914, the crisis came. The fighting
began along the Menin-Ypres road early in the morning and advanced with
great violence upon the village of Gheluvelt. The First and Third
Brigades of the First Division were swept back and the First Coldstream
Guards were wiped out as a unit. The whole division was driven back from
Gheluvelt to the woods between Veldhoek and Hooge. The allied
headquarters at Hooge were shelled. General Lomas was wounded and six of
the staff officers were killed.
The Royal Fusiliers who desperately stuck to their trenches fighting
savagely were cut off and destroyed. Out of a thousand but seventy
soldiers remained. Between two and three o'clock there occurred the most
desperate fighting seen in the battle of Ypres. At 2:30 o'clock in the
afternoon the Allies recaptured Gheluvelt at the point of the bayonet
and by evening the Allies had regained their position. Ypres had not
been captured by the Germans by this time, but they had secured their
position in all the suburbs of Ypres and had that city at their mercy,
provided allied reenforcements ordered up did not obstruct their path.
The fighting still continued for part of November, 1914, but for the
month of October no definite result was to be recorded.
At Ypres, on November 2, 1914, the Germans captured 2,300 English troops
and many machine guns. Dixmude was stormed by the Germans on the 10th of
November, and they crossed the Yser Canal, capturing the Allies position
west of Langemark, also driving them out of St. Eloi. Snow and floods
interfered with the fighting along the battle front. Ypres was bombarded
on several occasions and was repeatedly set on fire.
November 11, 1914, was another day of severe fighting. At daybreak the
Germans opened fire on the allied trenches to the north and south of
the road from Menin to Ypres. After a furious artillery fire the Germans
drove their men forward in full force. This attack was carried out by
the First and Fourth brigades of the Prussian Guard Corps which had been
especially selected to capture Ypres if possible, since that task had
proved too heavy for the infantry of the line. As the Germans surged
forward they were met by a frontal fire from the allied lines, and as
they were moving diagonally across part of the allied front, they were
also attacked on the flank by the English artillery. Though the
casualties of the Germans were enormous before they reached the English
lines, such was their strength and the momentum of the mass that, in
spite of the splendid resistance of the English troops, the Germans
succeeded in breaking through the allied lines in several places near
the road. They penetrated some distance into the woods behind the
English trenches, where some of the bloodiest fighting of the entire war
took place.
On November 12, 1914, comparative quiet reigned and with the exception
of artillery duels and some desultory fighting no results were obtained
on either side. The British report makes this comment on this attempt
upon Ypres: "Their (the Prussian Guard Corps') dogged perseverance in
pursuance of their objective claims 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'elite 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 formed
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."
Ypres was now but a name. Nothing but a mass of ruins reminded the world
of its previous quaint splendor. For Ypres had been rich in historic
buildings and monuments of past days.
With the fall of Antwerp the Germans had made every effort to push
forward strong forces toward the west and had hastened to bring up new
army corps which had been hurriedly organized, their object being to
drive the Allies out of Belgium and break through to Dunkirk and Calais.
Altogether they collected 250,000 fresh men. Eventually the Germans had
north of La Bassee about fourteen corps and eight cavalry divisions, a
force of 750,000 men, with which to attempt to drive the Allies into the
sea. In addition there was immensely powerful armament and heavy siege
artillery, which also had been brought up from around Antwerp. But in
spite of these strong forces it became clearly evident by the middle of
November that the attempt to break through to Calais had failed for the
time being. The flooding of the Yser marks the end of the main struggle
for Calais. The battle fronts had shifted. Between them there was a mile
or two of mud and water. The Belgians had lost a quarter of their
effectives. The Germans had evacuated the west bank of the Yser and were
obliged to return to the point from which they had started.