This wedge was widened and driven in harder by Sir Douglas Haig's old command—the First Corps. This corps had suffered heavy losses at the first battle of Ypres; but the men who filled the gaps in the line were hardy young men who made excellent soldiers from the start. Added to their enthusiasm was a desire to show their ability as fighters, with the result that the British right wing was so effective that it, in a great measure, made up for the failure of the Indian troops. The center and the right, with bomb and bayonet, drove the Germans from the trenches; and then together they forced their way into the Teutons' position 600 yards along a front 800 yards in length. Early the next morning, before daylight on May 16, 1915, the British Seventh Division forced its way into the German salient at Festubert. In the meantime the Germans were making hasty preparations for a counterattack. Sir John French's plan, however, had proved effective. It would have required a large supply of high-explosive shells to have made much of an impression on the excellent defenses which the German soldiers had constructed on this part of the front. The British had no such supply of ammunition, and, even if they had had it, it is doubtful if they would have been able to demolish the formidable wire entanglements. Yet in this night attack with the bayonet the British troops had accomplished all they could have done if supplied with proper ammunition. In the desperate charge which they made no wire entanglement could stop the British soldiers. They threw their overcoats or blankets over the barbed wire and then climbed across the obstruction. The Seventh Division took three lines of trenches in this manner, until it was 12,000 yards back of the original line of its enemy.
ATTACKS BY THE ALLIES IN THE ARTOIS
FRENCH, BRITISH, BELGIAN, CANADIAN AND MOROCCAN SOLDIERS AND THEIR GERMAN ENEMIES
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Liquid fire—a chemical which bursts into flame on contact
with the air—is discharged from an apparatus that resembles
a fire extinguisher. It is effective in fighting at close quarters
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Moroccan troops in camp at Arcy. France, like Great Britain, has
been able to draw upon her colonies for soldiers
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These Belgian soldiers are weary and covered with mud from the
trenches, but they are rallying for a fresh resistance to German
attacks
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Canadian volunteers at bayonet practice. From the beginning of the
war, the drilling of young Canadians for service in Europe has gone
on incessantly
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This large cave in the chalk hills of France furnishes homes for
three companies of German soldiers. It is divided by partitions
into many living rooms
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These soldiers have completed their underground shelter by
constructing a fireplace and are now adding the finishing
touches to the chimney
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A remarkable picture of French soldiers leaving their trenches at
the beginning of a spirited bayonet charge on the German positions
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