the Prussians in a heroic charge.

The struggle continued fiercely during the following days, the Germans launching numerous attacks with compact masses of troops. The deep lines of infantry, led by young officers, whose undeniable courage did not compensate for their lack of experience, were mown down.

Exasperated by this check, the enemy set about to destroy the town which they were unable to take. On November 10, German aeroplanes dropped incendiary bombs, and thenceforth the bombardment was conducted methodically both by aeroplanes and by guns firing from ten to twenty shells per minute.

Up to the 13th, the town had suffered comparatively little. The Cloth Hall had only been hit by two shells (on the 5th) and by a few bombs. But in the disastrous days of October 22, 23 and afterwards, the bombardment became more intense and better regulated. The Germans brought up an armoured train to Houthem, which, directed by observation balloons, rained incendiary and explosive shells on the town. On the evening of the 23rd, all that remained of the Place des Halles was a heap of ruins.

THE CLOTH HALL IN FLAMES (NOV. 22, 1914)
The Germans, unable to capture Ypres, destroyed it methodically by shell-fire
(photo, Antony, Ypres).

DURING THE WINTER MONTHS LOG-ROADS WERE NECESSARY FOR THE LORRIES AND ARTILLERY, AND EVEN THESE SANK IN THE BOTTOMLESS MUD

Period of Comparative Calm

Having failed to pierce the front in the neighbourhood of Ypres, the Germans abandoned their attacks in close formation, and operations in this sector were soon limited to incessant artillery actions, occasionally followed by fierce surprise attacks at isolated points.

Some of the attacks during this period of comparative calm are worthy of note.

On December 10, the Germans launched three attacks against the British troops in front of St. Eloi, only one of which gave any result. The enemy captured the first trenches of the Allies' line, but were driven out on the following night by a counter-attack.

Other attempts were made during the following week, with the same negative result.

On December 17, the Germans attacked in force to the north-west of Ypres. Zonnebeke, Langemarck and Bixschoote were bitterly disputed, and the two last-named villages remained in the hands of the enemy.

These battles were fought in a sea of mud formed by the rain and the flooding of the land by the Belgians.

One Colonel wrote: "The ground on which we are fighting is awful. There is a crust about a foot thick which is comparatively good, but underneath there is bottomless mud. Men standing in trenches four or five feet deep are almost unable to get out, and gradually sink until it takes several men to extricate them."

The first fortnight of January was comparatively quiet. During the second fortnight a strong German attack broke down before the front-line trenches near Bixschoote.

The continual rains in this previously flooded district rendered all activity impossible, save that of the artillery, which continued to bombard unceasingly during February.

THE FRONT-LINE DURING THE WINTER CAMPAIGN OF 1914—1915

It was only in the first half of March that the opposing armies became really active. From the 5th to 11th, powerful German attacks were repulsed between Dixmude and the Lys.

The British, on their part, were not inactive during this period. They fought a vigorous action between the Lys and La Bassée, captured Neuve-Chapelle after prolonged strenuous fighting, and took a thousand prisoners, including several officers.

As the weather conditions improved, the number of local engagements increased. In an enemy attack on St. Eloi, between March 12 and 18, the British first lost and then recaptured that village. Further south, during the first half of April, fierce engagements were fought without decisive result in front of the villages of Kemmel and Wulverghem.

The Germans continued to bombard Ypres with large calibre shells, heaping ruins upon ruins.

THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES

The long period of enforced inaction during the winter months, and the depressing waiting in the icy mud, were now succeeded first by local enemy attacks, then by a fresh powerfully organised attempt by the Germans to capture Ypres.

The battle began on April 14 with a strong unsuccessful thrust to the north of Ypres. The British replied by attacking Hill 60.

On April 17, after the firing of a powerful mine, the hill was brilliantly captured, and in spite of bitter counter-attacks on the 18th by the Germans, who fully realised the importance of this point d'appui, the position remained in the hands of the British.

Meanwhile, a new German offensive was being prepared, which their High Command believed would prove irresistible, thanks to the use of a new weapon, as murderous as it was unexpected.

Although Germany had signed the clause of the Hague Convention (July 29, 1899), which prohibits the use of asphyxiating gas, the unscrupulous leaders now made use for the first time of this treacherous weapon.

In accordance with their usual practice, they claimed that the British used the gas first, and that they used it only in reprisal. Needless to say, this assertion was pure fiction.

On April 22 the front ran as follows: Belgian troops held the canal; the French 45th Colonial Infantry Division, resting on the canal, and passing through Bixschoote, linked up with the troops of the Canadian 3rd Brigade.

Throughout the morning of April 22, the Germans bombarded the first lines, while the roads behind were swept by the fire of the heavy artillery, including 16½-in. guns. The bombardment continued into the afternoon.

Suddenly, at about 4 p.m., there rose from the German trenches, opposite the lines occupied by the French Colonial troops, a strange opaque cloud of greenish-yellow fumes. A light breeze from the north-east wafted this cloud towards the French, who, a few moments later, fell gasping for breath in terrible agony. Terror spread through the ranks, especially among the African troops. A panic inevitably followed, which quickly spread from the front to the rear lines.

Behind that cloud of gas the German troops advanced, protected by a heavy barrage and intense machine-gun fire.

The French Colonial troops fell back several miles towards Ypres, and the Germans took Steenstraat, Het Sas and Pilkem, together with many prisoners.

The withdrawal of the French uncovered the left flank of the Canadians, who were on their right, and they in turn were obliged to fall back, leaving four guns in the hands of the Germans.

In the afternoon the Canadians, rallying, took the offensive, recovered part of the lost ground between Steenstraat and Langemarck, together with their