GENERAL MOVEMENTS ON THE FRENCH AND FLANDERS FRONTS
We have seen that at the end of November, 1914, Ypres was still in the
Allies' hands, though the Germans were exerting a fierce pressure in
that region, and were gradually, even if very slowly, getting closer and
closer to it.
At the beginning of December, 1914, the Germans drew their forces close
up to Ypres, so closely in fact that they could bring into play their
small-caliber howitzers, and before many hours Ypres was in flames in
many places. The allied forces fought fiercely to compel the Germans to
withdraw. Hand-to-hand fighting, bayonet charges, and general confusion
was the order of the day. Thousands of men would creep out of their
holes in the ground and crawl, availing themselves of whatever covering
presented itself, to some vantage point and there stand up as one man
and charge directly into the adversary's ranks.
All this was part of the general scheme worked out miles from the spot
where the conflict was going on. There in some quaint little town
occupying some out-of-the-way house was the General Staff. The rooms
were filled with officers; the walls were hung with large and small
field and detail maps, upon which were plainly marked the name of every
commanding officer and the forces under his command. Every detail of the
armies' strength--names of the commanders, and any other detail was
plainly in view.
It was here decided to turn the entire command of the allied forces
along the Yser over to the British to avoid confusion. It was well that
this was done just at this time, for on December 3, 1914, the Germans
made a fierce onslaught along the entire front of thirteen miles between
Ypres and Dixmude, bringing into use a great number of stanch rafts
propelled by expert watermen, thus carrying thousands of the German
forces over and along the Ypres River.
Again the belligerents came to a hand-to-hand conflict, and so well
directed was the allied counterattack that no advantage to the Germans
was obtained. For three days this severe fighting continued. The
struggle was most sharp between Dixmude and the coast at Westende, where
the Germans hoped to break through the allied lines, and thus crumple up
their entire front, making a free passage.
On December 7, 1914, the French captured Vermelles, a minor village a
few miles southwest of La Bassee. This little village had been the
center of a continuous struggle for mastership for nearly two months. At
last the French occupied this rather commanding point, important to the
Allies, as it afforded an excellent view over a wide stretch of country
occupied by the Germans.
The German Staff headquarters were removed from Roulers, which is about
twelve miles distant from Ypres, on December 8, 1914, from the vicinity
of Ypres, while their own forces had been concentrated upon Dixmude,
twelve miles to the north. This town had suffered severely before, but
the allied forces using what shelter they could improvise, were doing
considerable damage from this point. Therefore the Germans began to
bombard the place.
On December 9, 1914, the Germans succeeded in gaining slightly toward
Ypres. Farther north they were by this time also in a position to take
Furnes under fire. This town lies on the frontier between Belgium and
France, in the path of some of the most savage onslaughts on the part of
the Germans to break through the allied lines in order to reach the
channel towns of Dunkirk and Calais.
On December 10, 1914, the allied forces made an ineffectual attack on
Roulers, which the German General Staff had just left. South of Ypres
the allied forces made a severe attack upon the town of Armentieres,
about eight miles from Ypres, but gained no permanent advantage.
During this time the Germans had also so far succeeded in consolidating
their positions in the neighborhood of Ostend, that they could put their
heavy guns in position near the shores of that famous watering place.
This was a very necessary precaution to meet the attacks of English
gunboats, and even larger cruisers that were patrolling that coast.
On December 12, 1914, the severest fighting was along the Yser Canal,
which was crossed and recrossed several times.
On December 13, 1914, the Allies succeeded in repulsing the Germans on
the River Lys, where for three days the Germans had inaugurated a hot
offensive. These engagements were exact counterparts of the fighting at
other points in Flanders, where both opponents were apparently well
matched, and where advantages were won and lost in rapid succession.
There was severe fighting also on December 14, 1914, extending along the
entire front in Flanders from Nieuport to below Ypres. In the north the
Germans made severe onslaughts, all more or less held up or repulsed by
the Belgians, French, and English. The fighting was hottest near
Nieuport, where the Allies made some small temporary gains. Besides the
three armies participating in the conflict, the British fleet also took
part in bombarding the German coast positions. Three British barges
equipped with naval machine guns entered the River Yser in order to
cooperate in the fighting. These boats took the two villages
Lombaertzyde and St. Georges.
In this action some of the heaviest fighting was done by the French
marines. Some slight advantages were also gained by the Allies in the
neighborhood of St. Eloi and Klein Zillebeke.
Following these minor successes, attack was made upon the German lines
on the west side of Wytschaete, a village which the Germans had
succeeded in holding during the great battle of Ypres. To the west of
this village is a wood called the Petit Bois, and to the southwest is
the Maedelsteed spur, an eminence on hilly ground. From both of these
places the Germans covered the village, prepared to hold it against all
comers.
Major Duncan, commanding the Scots, and Major Baird leading the Royal
Highlanders, attacked the Petit Bois, and in the flare of terrible
machine gun and rifle fire, carried a trench west of the woods, while
the Gordon Highlanders advanced upon the spur, taking the first trench.
They were, however, obliged to fall back to the position from which they
had started, with no advantage gained. This engagement at Wytschaete
gave a good illustration of the difficulty of fighting in heavy, winter
ground, devoid of cover, and so waterlogged that any speed in advance
was next to impossible. Just prior to the battle the ground had thawed,
and the soldiers sank deep into the mud at every step they took.
On December 15, 1914, the Germans attacked a little to the south of
Ypres, but no definite result was obtained. On the following day the
Allies replied by an onslaught at Dixmude with a similar result. The
Germans attempted to turn and strike at Westende the next day.
Roulers was temporarily occupied by the Allies on December 18, 1914, and
in another location, about twenty-five miles farther southwest, in the
neighborhood of Givenchy, the Allies' Indian troops were put to the
test. The attack was launched on the morning of the 19th.
The Lahore and the Meerut divisions both took part. The Meerut division
succeeded in capturing a trench; but a little later on a counterattack,
launched by the Germans, forced the Indians back. The Lahore division,
including the First Highland Light Infantry and the Fourth Gurkhas, took
two lines of the enemy's trenches with hardly any casualties. These
captured trenches were at once occupied, and when they were full to
capacity, the Germans exploded the previously prepared mines, and blew
up the entire Hindu force.
At daylight on the morning of December 20, 1914, the Germans commenced a
heavy artillery fire along the entire front. This was followed by an
infantry charge along the entire line between Givenchy and La Quinque
Rue to the north. The defense of Givenchy was in the hands of the India
Sirhind Brigade, under General Brunker. At ten o'clock the Sirhinds
became confused and fled, enabling the Germans to capture Givenchy. The
Fifty-seventh Rifles and the Ninth Bhopals were stationed north of La
Bassee Canal and east of Givenchy, and the Connaught Rangers were
waiting at the south of the canal. The Forty-seventh Sikhs were sent to
support the Sirhind Brigade, with the First Manchesters, the Fourth
Suffolks, and two battalions of French Provincials, the entire force
being under command of General Carnegy. All these mixed forces now
essayed a combined counterattack in order to recover the ground lost by
the Sirhind Brigade, but this failed.
The Allies called up reserves and re-formed the ranks broken by that
day's reverses. With the Seventh Dragoon Guards under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel Lempriere, they began another attack. This, too,
failed. When the Sirhind Brigade fell back, the Seaforth Highlanders
were left entirely exposed. The Fifty-eighth Rifles went to the support
of their left. Throughout the entire afternoon the Seaforths had made
strenuous efforts to capture the German trenches to the right and left
of their position. Upon the arrival of the Fifty-eighth the fighting
redoubled in ferocity, but no advance was made. Finally word was given
to retreat. The Allies lost heavily in killed, wounded, and prisoners.
The First Brigade was detached, and by midnight it had reached Bethune,
about five miles west of Givenchy. Sir Douglas Haig was ordered to move
also, the entire First Division in support of the exhausted Indian
troops.
Action was begun on December 20, 1914, early in the afternoon by a
simultaneous attack, and was continued until nightfall without
important results. The next morning General Haig in person took the
command, but little ground was gained.
While this contest was in progress around Givenchy, the Germans took
possession of the city of Arras, ten miles to the south.
Between December 23 and 30, 1914, the Belgian army, strongly reenforced
by French troops, began a series of violent attacks upon the German
lines; but the Germans replied by a ceaseless bombardment of Nieuport,
which is about a mile inland. No results of importance were obtained on
either side.
The last week of December, 1914, bore a relieving holiday aspect, for it
seemed as though by general consent the carnival of blood was to be
considered not consonant with the solemnity of the season. But for all
that the French succeeded in blowing up some German trenches with a new
howitzer they were anxious to try out, and the Belgian-French forces
retook St. Georges in northern Flanders.
St. Georges had been held by the Germans for some time; the village
stands on the right hand of the Yser, and it was the only position they
retained on that side of the river. It seems from the very ease with
which the village was taken that the Germans felt their position there
untenable, and withdrew to their own side of the river in order to enjoy
a quiet Christmas with their comrades, whose singing of Christmas songs
was forever being wafted over that river of blood. Although the general
action continued on both sides, no serious battles are to be recorded in
Flanders for the balance of the year 1914.