took part in bombarding the German coast
positions. Three British barges equipped with naval machine guns
entered the River Yser in order to cooperate in the fighting. These
boats took the two villages Lombaertzyde and St. Georges.

In this action some of the heaviest fighting was done by the French
marines. Some slight advantages were also gained by the Allies in
the neighborhood of St. Eloi and Klein Zillebeke.

Following these minor successes, attack was made upon the German
lines on the west side of Wytschaete, a village which the Germans
had succeeded in holding during the great battle of Ypres. To the
west of this village is a wood called the Petit Bois, and to the
southwest is the Maedelsteed spur, an eminence on hilly ground.
From both of these places the Germans covered the village, prepared
to hold it against all comers.

Major Duncan, commanding the Scots, and Major Baird leading the
Royal Highlanders, attacked the Petit Bois, and in the flare of
terrible machine gun and rifle fire, carried a trench west of the
woods, while the Gordon Highlanders advanced upon the spur, taking
the first trench. They were, however, obliged to fall back to the
position from which they had started, with no advantage gained. This
engagement at Wytschaete gave a good illustration of the difficulty
of fighting in heavy, winter ground, devoid of cover, and so
water-logged that any speed in advance was next to impossible.
Just prior to the battle the ground had thawed, and the soldiers
sank deep into the mud at every step they took.

On December 15, 1914, the Germans attacked a little to the south
of Ypres, but no definite result was obtained. On the following
day the Allies replied by an onslaught at Dixmude with a similar
result. The Germans attempted to turn and strike at Westende the
next day.

Roulers was temporarily occupied by the Allies on December 18,
1914, and in another location, about twenty-five miles farther
southwest, in the neighborhood of Givenchy, the Allies' Indian
troops were put to the test. The attack was launched on the morning
of the 19th.

The Lahore and the Meerut divisions both took part. The Meerut
division succeeded in capturing a trench; but a little later on a
counterattack, launched by the Germans, forced the Indians back.
The Lahore division, including the First Highland Light Infantry
and the Fourth Gurkhas, took two lines of the enemy's trenches
with hardly any casualties. These captured t