The Story of the Great War, Volume III (of 12): The War Begins, Invasion of Belgium, Battle of the Marne
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume III (of 12): The War Begins, Invasion of Belgium, Battle of the Marne
World War, 1914-1918
On October 22, 1914, the fighting was most severe all day; but
later in the day the most violent assault of all was made by the
Germans upon the First Brigade on the left. There the trenches were
held by the Camerons, north of Pilkem on the Langemarck--Bixschoote
road. Here the Germans broke the line and succeeded in capturing
part of the Camerons--the famous Red Tartans. Further south, the
Royal Scots Fusiliers were obliged to give way. The Germans pressed
hard in the vicinity of Hollebeke which point opened a clear road
to Ypres; but here the allied forces stood their ground. Still
farther south the Essex Regiment and the Lancashire Fusiliers fought
savagely, but were driven back upon Armentierre when night fell.
[Illustration: BATTLE FRONT IN FLANDERS]
Early Friday morning, October 23, 1914, the Allies made a desperate
assault upon the trenches lost by the Camerons on the previous day.
The fighting culminated in a savage bayonet attack which resulted
in the recapture of these trenches by the British composed of the
King's Royal Rifles, the Royal West Surrey Regiment and the
Northamptons.
On October 24, 1914, the Germans advanced upon the allied extreme
left; but were successfully repulsed between Zonnebeke and Poelcapelle.
Later in the day the Germans renewed their attack and compelled
the allied troops to retire some distance.
The advance on the allied left was continued on Sunday, October
25, 1914. Repeatedly the Germans succeeded in piercing the allied
lines; but at one time, even though they had broken through, a
momentary lack of reserves compelled them to retreat to avoid capture.
A savage enveloping attack was made during the night, north of
Zandvoorde, where again the Germans broke through the allied lines,
but were unable to maintain their advantage through failure of
reenforcements to come up in time. The Leicester Brigade were shelled
out of their trenches and were obliged to fall back to the south
of the River Lys.
During the following three days--October 26, 27, 28, 1914--artillery
fire was resorted to and desultory fighting and skirmishes along
the entire line resulted in no noteworthy advantage to either
belligerent.
Thursday, October 29, 1914, opened with clear and bracing weather
which promised to continue throughout the day. The German attack
which had been preparing for the past three days now broke like
an irresistible wave upon the salient of the Gheluvelt crossroads,
where the British First Corps was stationed. The first division
was driven back from its trenches and after that the line swayed
forward and backward for hours, but by two o'clock in the afternoon
the position remained unchanged.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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