dmitted that the Guard Corps has retained that reputation
for courage and contempt of death which it earned in 1870, when Emperor
William I, after the battle of Gravelotte, wrote: 'My Guard has formed
its grave in front of St. Privat,' and the swarms of men who came up
bravely to the British rifles in the woods around Ypres repeated the
tactics of forty-four years ago, when their dense columns, toiling up
the slopes of St. Privat, melted away under the fire of the French."

Ypres was now but a name. Nothing but a mass of ruins reminded the world
of its previous quaint splendor. For Ypres had been rich in historic
buildings and monuments of past days.

With the fall of Antwerp the Germans had made every effort to push
forward strong forces toward the west and had hastened to bring up new
army corps which had been hurriedly organized, their object being to
drive the Allies out of Belgium and break through to Dunkirk and Calais.
Altogether they collected 250,000 fresh men. Eventually the Germans had
north of La Bassee about fourteen corps and eight cavalry divisions, a
force of 750,000 men, with which to attempt to drive the Allies into the
sea. In addition there was immensely powerful armament and heavy siege
artillery, which also had been brought up from around Antwerp. But in
spite of these strong forces it became clearly evident by the middle of
November that the attempt to break through to Calais had failed for the
time being. The flooding of the Yser marks the end of the main struggle
for Calais. The battle fronts had shifted. Between them there was a mile
or two of mud and water. The Belgians had lost a quarter of their
effectives. The Germans had evacuated the west bank of the Yser and were
obliged to return to the point from which they had started.

CHAPTER XXVIII

ATTACKS ON LA BASSEE AND ARRAS

While the engagement on the Yser was in progress in October, 1914,
fierce fighting was kept up in the second section of the battle front,
pivoting on Givenchy to the south and running east to the north of the
La Bassee-Lille road. In this section the forces of the Crown Prince of
Bavaria opposed the troops under the command of General Smith-Dorrien.

From October 1 to 3, 1914, considerable fighting went on in the flats
east of Arras between Lens and the River Scarpe. This resulted in the
retirement of the Allies on the 4th. The Germans began to bombard Arras,
keeping it up until the 6th, when their attempt to