On the 11th November the combined offensive of the Fourth Army and the Army Groups Linsingen and Fabeck took place. The remainder of the Fourth and Sixth Armies continued their attacks. The great efforts made by the Fourth Army on the 10th had considerably weakened it, and further handicapped by a heavy rain-storm which beat in the faces of the attacking troops, no special success was gained by it on the 11th; nevertheless the enemy was everywhere held to his ground and prevented from transferring any troops to other parts of the front. On the extreme right wing the Marine Division made a successful attack on Nieuport, capturing several hundred prisoners. At the same time the Guard Cavalry Division, affiliated to the Fourth Army, was sent up to the Yser, in order to relieve part of the 4th Ersatz Division, which went into Army Reserve. On the left wing of the Army, the XXVI and XXVII Reserve Corps worked their way towards the hostile positions by sapping, whilst the units on the extreme south flank of the XXVII Reserve Corps attacked in close co-operation with Plettenberg’s Corps.
On the 11th, in pouring rain, the Army Groups Linsingen and Fabeck began the last phase of this severe and terrible struggle for Ypres; and it was destined to fix the general line on which the opposing armies were to remain rooted till the spring of 1915.
Von Winckler’s Guard Division fought on the right wing of the Army Group Linsingen, and for us the day was to be a historic, though costly one. In former wars the Guard had always been in the heat of the fray at its most critical stages, and the sons were to show themselves worthy of their fathers. The spirit of Frederick the Great and the glory of St. Privat shone again on the battlefield of Ypres. The British speak of the attack of the Guard as a most brilliant feat of arms.
Before the infantry of the Division could come into immediate contact with the enemy, a broad zone had to be crossed under his artillery fire: through the hail of shell the pride and iron discipline of the Guard brought its regiments unshaken. At 7.30 A.M. the German batteries opened, and a furious bombardment continued for two and a half hours, and then the infantry attack began. It struck against two divisions of the I British Corps, a war experienced foe, whose fighting methods were well adapted to the country.[104] The artillery preparation however had been a thorough one, and in spite of the enemy’s superiority in numbers the advance made good progress, so that shortly after 10 A.M. the strong position along the southern edge of the Polygon Wood was in the possession of the 3rd Guard Regiment.[105]
At the same time the butt ends and bayonets of H.M. the Emperor’s 1st Guard Regiment had forced a way through the wire entanglements and trenches in front of Verbeck farm, and it was taken in the first assault. The regiment had thereby captured an excellent position from which to support the right wing of the attack.[106] Led by its fearless commander, Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia, it then pressed on without a moment’s delay into the wood north-west of the farm. Meanwhile the 3rd Guard Regiment was still engaged along the southern edges of the woods west of Reutel, with its front facing north, and it put in its last reserves to help forward the left wing of the 54th Reserve Division.
At 10 A.M., on the last artillery salvo, the battalions of the 4th Guard Brigade advanced to the assault on both sides of the Ypres-Gheluvelt main road, and they took the front British trenches in their stride.