and assisted in the final capture
and clearance of the wood at 8 a.m. the next day. Similar instances
occurred in _Bourlon Village_ (November 25-27, 1917) when parties of
the 13th East Surrey Regiment held out in the south-east corner of the
village, during a German counter-attack, and maintained their position
until touch was re-established with them 48 hours later; and in a group
of fortified farms south of _Polygon Wood_ (September 26, 1917) during
the Third Battle of Ypres, when two companies of the Argyll and
Sutherland Highlanders held out all night, although isolated from the
rest of the 33rd and 39th Divisions, until a renewed attack {43}
cleared the district of hostile forces. On April 9, 1918, during the
Germans' desperate endeavours to break through the investing Allies'
lines, the ruins of _Givenchy_ were held by the 55th West Lancashire
(Territorial) Division, and the right edge of the neck through which
von Arnim and von Quast hoped to extend, in order to widen the wedge
into the Valley of the Lys, was firmly held, while the left edge (the
Messines Ridge) was recaptured by a counter-attack by the 9th Division.
The centre of the line was also stoutly held by the Guards' and other
divisions, many of which had suffered heavy losses in the V. Army
during the German attack in the last week of March. After 21 days of
the most stubborn fighting (March 21-April 11, 1918) of which the
_Attack on the Lys_ had formed part, Marshal Sir D. Haig issued an
order of the day emphasising the value of holding each position at all
costs. "Every position must be held to the last man. There must be no
retirement. . . . The safety of our homes and the freedom of mankind
depend alike upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical
moment. . . . Victory will belong to the side which holds out
longest." Sir D. Haig's after-order, on April 23, 1918 (St. George's
Day), awarded special praise to the troops under his command. The
number of divisions employed by the Germans from March 21 to April 23,
1918, against the British alone was 102 (approximately 1,500,000
troops), and many of them were thrown in twice or three times. "In
resisting the heavy blows which such a concentration of troops has
enabled the enemy to direct against the British Army, all ranks, arms,
and services have behaved with a gallantry, courage, and resolution for
which no praise can be too high" (Haig's Dispatch).

COVERING FIRE.--The energetic and d