_Under date of May 28, an Eyewitness with the British Headquarters in
France continues and supplements his narrative as follows:_
Monday, May 24, witnessed a fresh development in the situation in our
front. It was a most brilliant May day, the heat of the sun being
tempered by a light breeze, which had blown from the northeast during
the night, and in the course of the morning had veered round toward
the north. This breeze gave the enemy the opportunity they awaited of
repeating their gas tactics against our position in front of Ypres,
which, though reduced in prominence, was still a salient in the
general line.
Between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning a violent bombardment with gas
shells was started against a section of our line about two and
three-quarters miles long, and divided into four approximately equal
parts by the roads from Ypres to St. Julien and Moorslede and the
railway from Ypres to Roulers. The supply of gas available must have
been great, for it continued to pour southwestward for some hours in
great volume, in some places reaching to a height of several feet.
Owing to the direction of the wind, also, it swept southward along our
line as well as penetrating behind it.
The manner in which such an attack develops with a favoring wind
cannot better be described than by the reports of its progress brought
in on Monday morning by our aerial reconnaissances. One observer who
crossed the opposing front in this quarter shortly after dawn reported
when he came back that a thick cloud of what looked like smoke
outlined the whole of the German trenches. The next observing officer,
who arrived some time afterward, stated that to the west and southwest
of the German line he could see a broad band of yellow grass and trees
which looked as if they had been bleached. A third, who came in later,
stated that the whole area behind our line was covered by a mist so
thick as to interfere with observation.
This attempt to asphyxiate was of course preliminary to an assault
against the salient, for which infantry had been massing on the east.
It was carried out from three directions, being pushed forward under
cover of a heavy bombardment against the northern face from the
neighborhood of St. Julien, against the northeast face from Zonnebeke
along the Roulers Railway, and against the west direct from the
Polygon Wood. On the greater part of the front assailed our troops
were able to stand their ground, and to maintain their positions in
spite of the poisonous fumes, but in certain sections they were forced
to evacuate the trenches, and the German infantry succeeded in getting
a footing in our front line near the farm to the north of Wieltje, for
some distance astride the Roulers Railway, and to the north and south
of the Menin Road on the south of the Bellewaarde Lake.
In doing this the enemy lost considerably both from our artillery fire
and the rifle fire of the sections of the defense which were able to
maintain their position. Counter-attacks were organized during the
morning, and by about midday our infantry had succeeded in reoccupying
our former line to the north of the railway. By evening there were no
Germans west of our original position on the south of the Menin Road,
though we had not been able to reoccupy our line in that quarter, nor
near Wieltje. The advance of the enemy, however, had been stopped. In
the neighborhood of Hill 60 a party of our infantry during the night
bombed their way for some forty yards up a trench which the Germans
had taken from us, destroyed the enemy's barricade, reconstructed it,
and held the trench.
In the centre, near Bois Grenier, a slight success was gained in the
evening, our troops seizing some ground between our front line and
that of the Germans near the Bois Grenier--Bridoux Road. This ground
had been partially intrenched during the previous night, and at 8:50
P.M. the infantry advanced under cover of our artillery and
established themselves in the new line.
On our right, in the neighborhood of Festubert, our troops continued
their pressure, gaining one or two points in the maze of trenches and
defended houses here and there, in spite of the heavy artillery and
machine-gun fire to which they were subjected. Before dark the German
infantry was observed to be massing opposite Festubert, as if to
counter-attack in force; but their two offensive efforts made during
the night were not serious, and were easily beaten back.
On Tuesday matters were quieter. On our left the German infantry
attacking the Ypres salient did not, in the face of our resistance,
attempt to push on further, nor was gas employed, but the bombardment
of our positions was maintained. Except where he had retained or
regained our original line our position was established behind the
portions which the Germans had succeeded in occupying.