y, who dashed forward under the protection of
the shells of their artillery. But the Germans made gains in only two
places--at Hooge and to the north of Wieltje. For the most part the
British regained by counterattacks what they lost; but they were
unable to retake the Chateau of Hooge, though the Ninth Lancers and
the Fifteenth Hussars made a heroic attempt to regain it. Thereupon
the Third Dragoons received orders to attempt to retake the Chateau of
Hooge. They went into the second line of the British trenches to the
south of the Menin road on May 29, 1915. The Germans bombarded the
trenches with high-explosive shells while from the German trenches a
torrent of small arms fire poured. In spite of the continued hail of
lead, the Dragoons held to their position though their trenches were
wrecked.
Early in the morning of May 31, the British charged and drove their
enemy from the ruins of the Chateau and its stables. The Germans
turned all of their artillery on that part of the line against Hooge,
and when the bombardment was finished there was only a heap of ruins
left. The British withdrew from the Chateau, but only for a short
distance.
The bombardment was renewed on June 1; on that day the German infantry
tried to dislodge the Dragoons, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
Again, on June 2, the artillery was used, the German shells being
hurled a part of the time at the rate of twenty a minute. Under the
cover of this terrific bombardment a part of the German infantry
charged from the Bellewaarde Lake region. They got to the Chateau
before a British battery opened fire on them. Again they entered the
ruins and made a dash out on the opposite side, where they were met by
more machine-gun fire. Three times they tried to escape, but
practically all of them were slain. Other attempts were made by the
Germans that afternoon, but none of them was successful.
The Dragoons were relieved on June 3, 1915, and their places were
taken by a much larger force. It included the Third Worcesters, the
First Wiltshires, the First Northumberland Fusiliers, the First
Lincolnshires, the Royal Fusiliers, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and the
Liverpool Scottish, a territorial organization.
The British artillery was concentrated in the neighborhood of Hooge
and started a bombardment on June 16. After a fairly adequate
preparation by cannonade, the infantry charged the German line for a
thousand yards near the Chateau, and took a part of th
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