March 29 was another eventful and critical day for the Nineteenth Corps, and began badly for them, since the remains of the Eighth and Twenty-fourth Divisions had, as already explained, been thrust out of their positions and were mostly on the west side of the Avre and out of the line. The Fiftieth Division was only partly in position, the fighting strength of the Sixty-sixth was reckoned at 750 bayonets, and that of the Thirty-ninth at 500 bayonets. The Nineteenth Corps at this moment was nominally composed of eight infantry divisions--Eighth, Twentieth, Twenty-fourth, Sixteenth, Thirty-ninth, Fiftieth, Sixty-first, and Sixty-sixth; but it is questionable whether their united strength greatly exceeded that of a single full division, to such a point had the army been reduced. On the other hand, there was no direct evidence of excessive wastage upon the part of the Germans, who could be seen in large well-organised bodies moving in front of the British lines. The one consolation lay in the fact that their heavy guns, and even a good many of their field-guns, had been {146} left behind. The machine-guns, however, and their newly-developed light field artillery were as energetic as ever. The British artillery had been weakened by capture and destruction, but it was greatly supplemented by several armoured-car batteries, Canadian and British, which did splendid service during these all-important days. About mid-day on March 29 the French, and the remains of the Thirtieth Division under the French Higher Command, had abandoned Mezières upon the right flank of the Nineteenth Corps, and by so doing they exposed the right of the steadfast Twentieth Division. The fighting extended from the River Avre to Demuin. The 59th Brigade, which was in the south of the line, was forced to fall back, but two battalions of the 60th Brigade were thrown out to cover the flank and hold the German advance from getting behind the British line. At 2 o'clock these two brigades gathered their thin ranks together for a counter-attack, aided by the Fiftieth Division, which had now been telescoped into a single weak brigade. It was a remarkable attack, for most of the men were stumbling with utter fatigue, and could hardly totter forward with their rifles at the port. It was the Riflemen and Shropshires who made the advance upon Mezières while their comrades stormed the surrounding woods. The 5th Durhams, 6th Northumberland Fusiliers, and 22nd Entrenching Battalion of the Fiftieth Division also did great things. There is evidence from the prisoners that the Germans at that particular point had lost very heavily and were much distressed, so that the combat was like those closing rounds of a hard-fought boxing contest, where the two exhausted combatants can {147} but push and paw as they lurch against each other. The village was actually carried by the British, and a temporary easement secured, together with a handful of the 352nd