wo 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 waterlogged 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 trenches were at once occupied, and when they were full to
capacity, the Germans exploded the previously prepared mines, and blew
up the entire Hindu force.

At daylight on the morning of Decemb