New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 3, June, 1915: April-September, 1915Various
History
New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 3, June, 1915: April-September, 1915
Various
World War, 1914-1918
The morning of the 27th found our troops occupying the following
positions: North of Zonnebeke the right of the line still held the
eastern end of the Grafenstafel Ridge, but from here it bent
southwestward behind the Haanebeek stream, which it followed to a point
about half a mile east of St. Julien. Thence it curved back again to the
Vamheule Farm, on the Ypres-Poelcappelle road, running from here in a
slight southerly curve to a point a little west of the Ypres-Langemarck
road, where it joined the French. In the last mentioned quarter of the
field it followed generally the line of a low ridge running from west to
east. On the French front the Germans had been cleared from the west
bank of the canal, except at one point, Steenstraate, where they
continued to hold the bridgehead.
About 1 P.M. a counter-attack was made by us all along the line between
the canal and the Ypres-Poelcappelle road, and for about an hour we
continued to make progress. Then the right and centre were checked. A
little later the left was also held up, and the situation remained very
much as it had been on the previous day. The Germans were doubtless much
encouraged by their initial success, and their previous boldness in
attack was now matched by the stubborn manner in which they clung on to
their positions. In the evening the French stormed some trenches east of
the canal, but were again checked by the enemy's gas cylinders.
The night passed quietly, and was spent by us in reorganizing and
consolidating our positions. The enemy did not interfere. This is not
surprising, in view of the fact that by Tuesday evening they had been
fighting for over five days. Their state of exhaustion is confirmed by
the statements of the prisoners captured by the French, who also
reported that the German losses had been very heavy.
On Wednesday, the 28th, there was a complete lull on this sector of our
line, and the shelling was less severe. Some fighting, however, occurred
along the canal, the French taking over 100 prisoners.
Nothing of any importance has occurred on other parts of the front. On
the 27th, at the Railway Triangle opposite Guinchy, the south side of
the embankment held by the Germans was blown up by our miners. On the
28th a hostile aeroplane was forced to descend by our anti-aircraft
guns. On coming down in rear of the German lines, it was at once fired
upon and destroyed by our field artillery. Another hostile machine was
brought down by rifle fire near Zonnebeke.
Splendid work has been done during the past few days by our airmen, who
have kept all the area behind the hostile lines under close observation.
On the 26th they bombed the stations of Staden, Thielt, Courtrai,
Roubaix, and other places, and located an armored train near Langemarck,
which was subsequently shelled and forced to retire. There have been
several successful conflicts in the air, on one occasion a pilot in a
single seater chasing a German machine to Roulers, and forcing it to
land.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account