On the 8th the South African Brigade moved to hutments along the road between La Clytte and the little hill of Scherpenberg. On the morning of Tuesday, 9th April, Ludendorff struck between the Lys and La Bassée with von Quast’s VI. Army. He broke that part of the line held by the Portuguese, and in the afternoon had swept over the Lys on a broad front. But at one vital point he failed. The 55th (West Lancashire) Division still held the gatepost at Givenchy, and throughout the whole battle that key position was never yielded by British troops. [Sidenote: _April 10._] That night General Tudor instructed Tanner that the South Africans would be placed at the disposal of the 19th Division, which, along with the 25th and 9th Divisions, was holding the Messines Ridge and the line just north of the Lys. The corps was the IX., under Lieutenant-General Sir A. Hamilton Gordon. Next morning, 10th April, at 5.30 a.m., the IV. German Army, under our old antagonist at Ypres, Sixt von Armin, attacked from Frelinghien to as far north as Hill 60. Under cover of the fog the enemy filtered into our positions from Ploegsteert Wood to Messines along the valleys of the Warnave and Douve streams. By noon he had taken Ploegsteert village and the south-east part of the wood, and had got Messines, while farther north he had driven in our line as far as Hollebeke, and was close on the Wytschaete crest. Ludendorff was striking hard against the northern pillar of the gate. At eight that morning the Brigade was ordered to move to a position of assembly just south of the village of Neuve Eglise, where they formed part of the reserve of the IX. Corps. During the morning the march was accomplished, and for the first time the South Africans saw the impact of war upon a land yet undevastated. Tanner wrote in his diary: “The sights in that march from La Clytte are never likely to be forgotten by those who witnessed them. With the falling back of our line that morning the shelling of the back areas had greatly increased, both in density and length of range. As a result, a large belt of country previously unmolested became subjected to a terrifying storm of long-range projectiles, and the inhabitants, who up to then had been conducting peacefully their farming operations, were compelled to flee for shelter beyond the reach of the enemy guns. As we approached Neuve Eglise the road from Scherpenberg onward presented a constant stream of fugitives, old men, women, and children, laden with what household goods they could remove in carts, wheelbarrows, and perambulators. The most pitiable sights were those of infirm old people being removed in barrows, pushed or pulled by women and children.” That was a spectacle which British troops had already seen east of Amiens, and it was not likely to weaken their determination in the coming battle.