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The Ypres Times.
called Hyde Park Corner, on the saddle between the Scherpenberg and Mont Rouge. There
lay the 25th Division as far as the little stream which runs from Kemmel to the Dickebusch
lake. On its left was the 49th Division as far as Voormezeele, and beyond it the 21st
Division to the canal. The enemy made three main assaults, first against the French, to
carry Locre and Mont Rouge the second at the junction of the French and the 25th
Division, aimed at turning the Scherpenbergand the third between the 49th and 21st
Divisions, to turn the obstacle called Ridge Wood.
The Infantry attack was launched at o a.m., in a dense mist by at least 11 Divisions,
six against the French, and five against the British. It was delivered in mass formation,
the density being from six to eight bayonets to the yard. At first by its sheer weight it
succeeded. The Germans entered Locre, and even reached Hyde Park Corner, which all but
gave them their objective. Then came the French counter-stroke, which completely checked
them, and drove them back at points nearly a mile beyond the line from which they had
started. On the British front no ground was gained at all. The three Divisions in line,
with the assistance of troops of the 30th and 39th Divisions, not only stood firm, but
in some cases advanced to meet the oncoming Germans and drove them back with the
bayonet. A second attack at 6 a.m. was equally disastrous. At the end of the day
Locre remained in German hands, but it was retaken by the French the following morning.
Farther north the Belgians had been attacked on the Ypres-Staden railway, but had
repulsed the enemy with the same vigour that they had shown on the 17th. The result
of this action was a complete and most costly German repulse. The enemy attacked
with some 80,000 men, and his casualties were at least a quarter of his strength.
The fight of 29th April was the last episode in the Battle of the Lys. Thereafter
there were only local actions. On 1st May the French made a slight advance north-east
of Locre. On the night of 3rd May the British improved their position north-east of
Hinges. On the 4th the enemy opened an intense bombardment between Meteren and
Ypres, which, as we learned later, was intended as a preparation for a serious attack. But
the weather interfered, and still more our counter-bombardment. On the 8th an attack
between Voormezeele and La Clytte was easily repulsed. On the night of 10th May, and
on the 11th, the French gained ground in the Kemmel area, and on the night of the 12th
we made a successful Gas attack on the Lens-La Bassee front. On the 19th we straightened
out a slight salient north-west of Merville. On the 27th the French between Locre and
Voormezeele were attacked by four Divisions, but the little ground they lost was recovered
on the following morning. By that day the centre of gravity had moved from the Lys-
and the Somme to the Aisne.
PHANTASM.
Did you call me O, did you call me
Was it your voice I heard
My heart in my icy breast
Lay like a stricken bird
Until your cry from the muddy plain
Made it leap into life again
Will you love me, O will you love
If I should die to-night
The steel in my fait'ring hand
Is straightway gripped more tight
And the film melts from my weary eyes
I stand erect for the Sacrifice
Do you hear me, O do you hear me
Cannot my will pierce through
The dreary leagues of tortured land
That sever me from you
What does it mattermy Life's eclipse
If I die with your name on my lips
Let them lay me, O let them lay me
Amongst the nameless dead,
A little cross above the mound,
And when the years have sped
And you come seeking, wet-eyed, I
Will whisper, darling, where I lie
Ypres,
H. B,
December, 1917.
