66
THE YPRES TIMES
Ypres during the first fortnight of November, during the course of those Franco-
Belgian-British operations, improvised defensive measures carried out in an
awkward terrain with insufficient means, during those days when disaster might at
any moment have arisen to our coalition, he came night after night at 10 o'clock
from British G.H.Q. at St. Omer to my headquarters at Cassel. It was at those
meetings that we informed each other of what had been occurring, and that we
agreed upon the dispositions which must be put into effect to meet events that
might occur on the morrow."
The records of Foch's work during the fighting in Flanders are rich with
interesting incidents. But it is only possible in a brief article to mention some of
the outstanding events of those days. He played a large part in assisting the
Belgian Army, after its retreat from Antwerp, to stem the onrush of the Germans
and to hold them on the line of the Yser. During this time he was a frequent
visitor to the Belgian G.H.Q. at Furnes. He kept General Joffre regularly informed
of the trend of events, and his personal letters to the latter show the energy with
which he sought to restore the morale and confidence of the Belgian troops.
Hurrying from sector to sector he planned the construction of defences and the
arrangements for flooding the plain of the Yser. At the most critical stage of the
fighting he brought up, to the support of the Belgians, the famous 42nd Division,
which had served him so well on the Marne. The Division rose to the occasion and
scattered the German columns in confusion. The flood waters had been steadily
rising, and the enemy had to retire as best he could, leaving behind him heavy guns
and field batteries. Foch described the occasion as being like duck shooting.
The Boches," he said, were just like ducks." It was during this period that he
came frequently into contact with King Albert of the Belgians, and learned to
admire the nobility and uprightness of his sterling character. The King never
forgot his services to Belgium, and paid a touching tribute to him when he passed
away.
At the end of October we find Foch actively engaged in the terrific fighting on
the British sector at Ypres, which followed the inundations between Dixmude and
the sea. Many vivid descriptions have been written of the terrific German attack
on the morning of October 29th, which broke against Sir Douglas Haig's 1st Corps
along the Menin Road. Favoured by a dense fog, the enemy advanced in mass
from all sides, inflicting the severest casualties on the British and threatening both
their flanks. Throughout October 30th they continued to mass enormous reinforce
ments against the thinly held British line. By nightfall Foch had received full
details of the situation, and, anxious to succour the British, he hurried to Sir John
French's headquarters at St. Omer, arriving there after midnight. Sir John
informed him that the British reserves were practically exhausted, and that there
was a gap in the line which must be filled immediately. Foch at once said, I have
eight battalions of the 32nd Division which General Joffre is sending to me. Take
them and go forward! Sir John was filled with gratitude for this timely aid, and
shook Foch warmly by the hand. The latter returned at once to Cassel, and by
2 a.m. the necessary orders had been dispatched.
The French reserves arrived in the line on that same day, and the allied
resistance was renewed with fresh vigour. But the climax was yet to come, and in
the end it was the British troops who were finally to break the force of the stupendous
German effort. Everyone knows the epic story of the desperate British defence
around Gheluvelt on October 31st. and of how Sir Douglas Haig rode up the Menin
Road into the shelled area, restoring confidence to his weary and exhausted troops.
That afternoon Sir John French visited Foch at General d'Urbal's headquarters
at Vlamertinghe. Many accounts of this historic meeting have appeared in French
books, and some of them tend to belittle the British Commander-in-Chief. But
