of the aviators, from March 10 to 12 inclusive, deserves
special mention. Owing to the adverse weather conditions, it was
necessary for them to fly as low as from 100 to 150 feet above the
object of their attack in order to be sure of their aim. Nevertheless
they destroyed one of the piers of the bridge over the Lys at Menin.
This bridge carried the railroad over the river. They also wrecked the
railway stations at Douai, Don, and Courtrai. The daring of the
British aviators even took them over Lille, where they dropped bombs
on one of the German headquarters.

To summarize the fighting about Neuve Chapelle, it may be said that
the British had advanced something more than a mile on a three-mile
front, replacing the sag which had existed in their line by a sag in
that of the Germans. The British had not won the ridges which were the
key to Lille, but they had advanced their trenches close to those
ridges. The entire moral effect was a gain for the British; but even
that and the gain in advancing the front had been obtained at a too
great sacrifice of the life of their men. The words of the Germans in
characterizing the tremendous bombardment of the British were: "That
is not war; it is murder."

The belief in the supposed superiority of the German artillery was so
shaken in the minds of the General Staff as a result of the fighting
on the Neuve Chapelle front that they shortly after issued an order to
try a series of experiments on animals with asphyxiating gases.

CHAPTER XV

OPERATIONS FOLLOWING NEUVE CHAPELLE

There was very little activity on the western front after the fighting
at Neuve Chapelle and St. Eloi until the beginning of a renewal of the
campaign between La Bassee and the sea. The importance of success in
this region was appreciated by both sides. The Germans north of the
Lys planned to cross the Comines-Ypres, Yperlee, and Yser Canals,
capture Ypres, take all of the ridge of the Mont-des-Cats, and then
continue west and take Dunkirk, Calais, and Boulogne. The Allies in
their plan included an advance south of the Lys on two sides of Lille,
the taking of the Aubers Ridge, and the turning from the north the
German salient at La Bassee. This much of the Allies' plan was to be
executed by the British. The work of the French was to drive the
Germans from the vicinity of Lens and threaten La Bassee from the
south and west. The reasons for making these plans are obvious. The
German salient was a so