THE ATTACK OF THE ARMY GROUP FABECK ON 30TH OCTOBER 1914 67 THE ATTACK OF THE ARMY GROUP FABECK ON 31ST OCTOBER 1914 73 THE CAPTURE OF MESSINES ON 31ST OCTOBER 1914 81 THE CAPTURE OF DIXMUDE ON 10TH NOVEMBER 1914 108 THE ATTACK OF THE SIXTH ARMY ON 11TH NOVEMBER 1914 112 THE ATTACK OF THE 2ND GUARD DIVISION ON 11TH NOVEMBER 1914 115 INTRODUCTION The German book of which a translation is here given was written in the autumn of 1917 by Captain Otto Schwink, a General Staff Officer, by order of the Chief of the General Staff of the Field Army, and is stated to be founded on official documents. It forms one of a series of monographs, partly projected, partly published, on the various phases of the war, but is the only one that is available dealing with operations in which the British Army was engaged. Several concerned with the Eastern theatre of war have already appeared, and one other entitled 'LIÈGE-NAMUR,' relating to the Western. Field-Marshal Viscount French, in his book '1914,' has said that the period 27th to 31st October during the first battle of YPRES was 'more momentous and fateful than any other which I directed during my period of service as Commander-in-Chief in the field. 31st October and 1st November will remain for ever memorable in the history of our country, for during those two days no more than a thin and straggling line of tired-out British soldiers stood between the Empire and its practical ruin as an independent first-class Power.' The German account accentuates the truth of Lord French's appreciation of the great peril in which the Army and the Nation stood. It tells us of the enemy's plans, and of the large forces that he brought up with great skill and secrecy to carry them out, and, generally, to use Marshal Foch's expression, lets us 'know what was going on in the other fellow's house.' But it does more than that: unconsciously perhaps, it bears convincing testimony to the fighting powers of the British Army, the determination of its leaders, the extraordinary effectiveness of the fire of its artillery and of its cavalry and infantry, and the skill of its engineers; for it repeatedly credits Field-Marshal Sir John French with 'reinforcements in abundance,' insists that our troops 'fought desperately for every heap of stones and every pile of bricks before abandoning them,' and definitely records that 'the fact that neither the enemy's commanders nor their troops gave way under the strong pressure we put on them ... gives us the opportunity to acknowledge that there were men of real worth opposed to us who did their duty thoroughly.' We are further told that the effect of our artillery was such that 'it was not possible to push up reserves owing to heavy artillery fire'; that 'all roads leading to the rear were continuously shelled for a long way back'; that the German 'advancing