cks, in which the troops of the
Fifth Army Corps showed great bravery and determination, restored the
situation by the evening of the 15th.

_The dispatch describes further operations, saying:_

On Feb. 6 a brilliant action by the troops of the First Corps materially
improved our position in the area south of La Bassee Canal. During the
previous night parties of the Irish Guards and the Third Battalion of
the Coldstream Guards had succeeded in gaining ground from which a
converging fire could be directed on the flanks and rear of certain
brick stacks occupied by the Germans, which had been for some time a
source of considerable annoyance. At 2 P.M. the affair commenced with a
severe bombardment of the brick stacks and the enemy's trenches.

A brisk attack by the Third Battalion of the Coldstream Guards and Irish
Guards from our trenches west of the brick stacks followed and was
supported by the fire from the flanking position which had been seized
the previous night by the same regiments.

The attack succeeded, the brick stacks were occupied without difficulty,
and a line was established north and south through a point about forty
yards east of the brick stacks.

The casualties suffered by the Fifth Corps throughout the period under
review, and particularly during the month of February, have been
heavier than those on other parts of the line. I regret this, but do not
think, taking all circumstances into consideration, that they were
unduly numerous. The position then occupied by the Fifth Corps had
always been a very vulnerable part of our line. The ground was marshy,
and trenches were most difficult to construct and maintain. The
Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Divisions of the Fifth Corps had no
previous experience in European warfare, and a number of the units
composing the corps had only recently returned from service in tropical
climates. In consequence, the hardships of a rigorous Winter campaign
fell with greater weight upon these divisions than upon any other in the
command.

Chiefly owing to these causes the Fifth Corps, up to the beginning of
March, was constantly engaged in counter-attacks to retake trenches and
ground which had been lost. In their difficult and arduous task,
however, the troops displayed the utmost gallantry and devotion, and it
is most creditable to the skill and energy of their leaders that I am
able to report how well they have surmounted all their difficulties and
that the groun