on Sunday morning, May 9, 1915,
in the region between Bois Grenier and Festubert, and was a part of
the forward movement of the British from Armentieres to La Bassee.
Part of the First Corps and the Indian Corps marched forward on the
right from the Rue du Bois toward the southern part of the Bois du
Biez, where there had been much fighting before. The principal attack
was made by the Eighth Division on Rouges Bancs, not far from
Fromelles and the Aubers ridge, near where the British had been
stopped in the battle of Neuve Chapelle. At approximately the same
time that General Sir Douglas Haig with the British First Army reached
the slightly elevated plateau in front of Lille, General Foch with a
large body of French troops made a desperate attack on the Germans on
their front from La Bassee to Arras. The French and British had joined
their efforts here, not only to relieve the pressure which was being
exerted on Ypres and to take Lille, which dominated a region rich in
coal, but also for the purpose of keeping the Germans so busy on the
western front that none could be sent to the eastern front and
further embarrass Russia. The artillery of both the British and French
attempted to wreck the German trenches before their infantry should be
sent against their foe. In this effort the British, using principally
shrapnel, made little headway; but their ally, using high-explosive
shells, such as they had been hurling at the Germans for weeks at the
rate of a hundred thousand a day, was successful. Soon the Teutons'
front was screened by clouds of yellow, green, black and white smoke.
But this was not to be a one-sided artillery engagement, and the
Germans soon had their artillery in action. They trained it on their
enemies' trenches, believing from the size of the bombardment that an
assault was soon to be made and that the trenches would be filled with
troops. Their surmise was correct, but the Allies had suspected their
opponents would reason thus, so the French and British infantry were
in covered positions. Of course the Germans did not know how well
their opponents were protected, so they sent thousands of shells
against the allied positions. And again the allied artillerists
replied in kind. This time they caught the German reenforcements, with
the result that many of them were slain before they could reach their
own front. In this work the British shrapnel was more effective than
the French high-explosive shells.

The