CHAPTER IV
HAIG STRIKES AGAIN AT YPRES—THE FRENCH BREAK THE GERMAN LINES ON THE AISNE
The greatest gun duel of the war continued to rage in the region around Ypres in the last days of September, 1917. East of the city the Germans launched six attacks during the day and night on October 1, 1917, against the British lines. Every assault was smashed by the British artillery, rifle, and machine-gun fire. Not since fighting began in this area had such hurricanes of shells and explosives been seen. The Germans gambled against great odds and lost heavily. It was only in Polygon Wood that they obtained the slightest success. Here two small posts were won, but otherwise the British line remained intact.
On October 4, 1917, Field Marshal Haig delivered another mighty blow against the German lines east of the Ypres, gaining territory at the most advanced point to a depth of about a mile and a half on a front of more than eight miles.
The ground covered by the British assault was from north of Langemarck on the Ypres-Staden railway to a point south of Tower Hamlets, a height south of the Ypres-Menin highroad. The very important system of defenses along the Passchendaele-Gheluvelt road, which the Germans had held so long, was swept over by the victorious British troops.
On the northern wing they pushed on to within a short distance of Poelcappelle and gained a footing on Gravenstafel Ridge which projects from Passchendaele Ridge on the west, and broke through Zonnebeke-Broodseinde Ridge of bloody memory. The crest of the ridge was held against counterattacks which the Germans launched again and again with desperate daring and at the cost of frightful losses.
The British had begun the attack at 6 o'clock in the morning. The day was cloudy and promised rain. A mist hung over the battle field. The advance made into the enemy country was preceded by a heavy barrage, which, breaking in a fiery flood over the German lines, created such terror that in many places the enemy rushed out in groups with raised hands in sign of surrender.
The drive forward had forestalled a German attack which was in preparation near Zonnebeke on the same morning. Three German divisions here were ordered to take the line the British had captured the previous week. As they were pushing forward they were caught in the British barrage and met with appalling disaster.
The loss of the Passchendaele-Gheluvelt Ridge was a serious one for the Germans, as it constituted a barrier between the British and occupied Belgium. Many important positions had been torn from them during recent thrusts, and on the 4th the British by a dashing advance penetrated German lines to a depth of 2,500 yards, carrying important defenses. South of the Ypres-Roulers railway the British troops could now overlook the slopes of the main ridge, and in some places had pushed their way into the valley below. Along the Strombeek River, on the left, the advance was slow owing to the marshy condition of the ground. The troops were aided in the advance by a number of tanks which performed immense service in reducing strong redoubts and concrete "pill boxes." Poelcappelle, which the British reached by 10.30, though heavily garrisoned, did not offer very strong resistance.
Abraham Heights, near Gravenstafel, was the scene of brief cellar fighting, but a sharp struggle developed near the fort where the Germans had eight strong concrete redoubts. The fighting here was close and heavy, but in the end the German resistance broke down under rifle fire and bomb. In the course of the day's fighting the British took 4,446 prisoners, including 114 officers.