THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS 1915 BY ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE AUTHOR OF 'THE GREAT BOER WAR,' ETC. SECOND EDITION HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO MCMXVII UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME. BY THE SAME AUTHOR THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS 1914 LONDON: HODDER AND STOUGHTON {v} PREFACE In the previous volume of this work, which dealt with the doings of the British Army in France and Flanders during the year 1914, I ventured to claim that a great deal of it was not only accurate but that it was very precisely correct in its detail. This claim has been made good, for although many military critics and many distinguished soldiers have read it there has been no instance up to date of any serious correction. Emboldened by this I am now putting forward an account of the doings of 1915, which will be equally detailed and, as I hope, equally accurate. In the late autumn a third volume will carry the story up to the end of 1916, covering the series of battles upon the Somme. The three years of war may be roughly divided into the year of defence, the year of equilibrium, and the year of attack. This volume concerns itself with the second, which in its very nature must be less dramatic than the first or third. None the less it contains some of the most moving scenes of the great world tragedy, and especially the second Battle of Ypres and the great Battle of Loos, two desperate {vi} conflicts the details of which have not, so far as I know, been given up to now to the public. Now, as before, I must plead guilty to many faults of omission, which often involve some injustice, since an author is naturally tempted to enlarge upon what he knows at the expense of that about which he is less well informed. These faults may be remedied with time, but in the meantime I can only claim indulgence for the obvious difficulty of my task. With the fullest possible information at his disposal, I do not envy the task of the chronicler who has to strike a just balance amid the claims of some fifty divisions. ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. WINDLESHAM, CROWBOROUGH, _April_ 1917. {vii} CONTENTS CHAPTER I THE OPENING MONTHS OF 1915 Conflict of the 1st Brigade at Cuinchy, and of the 3rd Brigade at Givenchy--Heavy losses of the Guards--Michael O'Leary, V.C.--Relief of French Divisions by the Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth British--Pressure on the Fifth Corps--Force subdivided into two armies--Disaster to 16th Lancers--The dearth of munitions CHAPTER II NEUVE CHAPELLE AND HILL 60 The opening of the spring campaign--Surprise of Neuve Chapelle--The new artillery--Gallant advance and terrible losses--The Indians in Neuve Chapelle--A sterile victory--The night action of St. Eloi--Hill 60--The monstrous mine--The veteran 13th Brigade--A bloody battle--London Territorials on the Hill--A contest of endurance--The first signs of poison CHAPTER III THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES