_The following dispatch was received on June 4, 1915, from Field
Marshal Sir John French, commanding in chief the British Army in the
field:_
On the night of the 30th of May we seized some outbuildings in the
grounds of a ruined château at Hooge. Since then our trenches there
have been subjected to a heavy bombardment.
Fighting on a small scale has been continuous. At one time we were
forced to evacuate the buildings, taken by us, but last night we
recaptured them.
Northeast of Givenchy last night we expelled the enemy from his
trenches on a front of 200 yards, taking forty-eight prisoners. Our
infantry, however, was unable to remain in occupation of these
trenches after daylight, owing to the enemy fire.
_Field Marshal Sir John French in a report, dated June 8, on the
fighting along the British line, says:_
The situation on our front has not changed since the last
communication of June 4. There has been less activity on the part of
the artillery.
On the 6th, in front of the Plogsteert wood, we successfully exploded
a mine under the German trenches, destroying thirty yards of the
parapet.
We have brought down two German aeroplanes, one opposite our right by
gunfire, and the other in the neighborhood of Ypres, as the result of
an engagement in the air with one of our aeroplanes.