embracing an area about three hundred and twenty
square miles, and the Germans claimed the capture of twenty thousand
prisoners and two hundred guns. It was at this point that General Haig
issued his famous order in which he described the British armies as
standing with their "backs to the wall." It reads as follows:

Three weeks ago today the enemy began his terrific attacks against us on
a fifty-mile front. Its objects are to separate us from the French, to
take the Channel ports, and to destroy the British army. In spite of
throwing already one hundred and six divisions into the battle and
enduring the most reckless sacrifice of human life, he has yet made
little progress toward his goals. We owe this to the determined fighting
and self-sacrifice of our troops. Words fail me to express the
admiration which I feel for the splendid resistance offered by all ranks
of our army under the most trying circumstances. Many among us now are
tired. To those I would say that victory will belong to the side which
holds out the longest. The French army is moving rapidly and in great
force to our support. There is no other course open to us but to fight
it out. Every position must be held to the last man. There must be no
retiring. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our
cause each one of us must fight to the end. The safety of our homes, and
the freedom of mankind depend alike upon the conduct of each one of us
at this critical moment.

The British commander's order made the situation clear to the British
people and to the world. The Germans had given up for the moment their
attempt to divide the British and French armies, and were now attempting
to seize the Channel ports, and the British were fighting with true
British pluck with their "backs to the wall."

One can imagine the anxiety in the villages of Flanders where they
watched the German advance and heard the terrible bombardment which was
destroying their beautiful little cities, and threatening to put them
under the dominion of the brutal conquerors of Belgium. Town after town
fell to the enemy until at last the German attack began to weaken.

Counter-attacks on April 17th recaptured the villages of Wytschaete and
Meteren. At other points German attacks were repulsed, and the attack on
the Lys had reached its limits. It had not only failed to reach the
coast but it had not even reached so far as to force the evacuation of
Ypres or to endanger