The Story of the Great War, Volume 3: History of the European War from Official Sources
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 3: History of the European War from Official Sources
World War, 1914-1918
At Grafenstafel the Eighth Battalion of the Durham Brigade were
bombarded with asphyxiating shells before the German infantry attack.
The fighting on this section of the front was fierce throughout the
afternoon, but finally the British were forced to retire. At
Broodseinde, the extreme eastern point of the allied front, the
Germans made a desperate attempt to take the salient, using
asphyxiating and other bombs again and again on the men of the
Twenty-eighth Division of the British. King George's men, however,
repelled the attacks with severe loss to the Teutons, taking many
prisoners.
The French on the left, beyond the Yperlee Canal, prevented the
advance of the German troops; and, farther to the left, the Belgians
checked three attacks in which asphyxiating gas was used, south of
Dixmude. Thus it may be seen that the Germans had met with no success
worth while, when Sunday, April 25, 1915, closed, so far as the ends
of the salient were concerned; but in the center the British situation
was so critical that the Second Canadian Brigade, reduced to less than
1,000 men, was once more called into action on the following day. On
the same day, April 26, 1915, the Lahore Division of the Indian army
was marched north of Ypres. The point of the salient was pushed in on
that day at Broodseinde, but the German success there was short-lived.
The brigade holding Grafenstafel was attacked fiercely by the Germans.
The Durham Light Infantry was forced from Fortuin behind the Haanabeek
River. The Teutons made several attacks from the St. Julien district
against the section between the Yperlee Canal and the southern part of
the village. By this time Geddes's Detachment was almost exhausted,
they, with the Canadians, having withstood the heaviest fighting at
the beginning of the battle; and most likely saved the Allies a most
disastrous defeat. The detachment could stand no more, and the various
units of which it was composed were returned to their respective
commands.
But the salient was growing smaller as a result of the repeated
hammering of the Germans; and that exposed the allied troops to a more
deadly fire from three sides. It was evident that the Allies must make
a counterattack. General Riddell's Brigade was sent to Fortuin and
with the Lahore Division on its left was told to retake St. Julien and
the woods to the west of the village. Beyond the Yperlee Canal, on the
left, the French made an assault on Lizerne, supported by the Belgian
artillery; while the French colonial soldiers poured on Pilkem from
the sector about Boesinghe. On the right the allied troops were lined
up as follows: the Connaught Rangers, Fifty-seventh Wilde's Rifles,
the Ferozepore Brigade, the 129th Baluchis, the Jullundur Brigade, and
General Riddell's battalions. The Sirhind Brigade was held in reserve.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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