lle spent all of March 13, 1915, in digging trenches
in the wet meadows that border the Des Layes. On the following
day the two corps that had fought so valiantly were sent back to
the reserve.

The German commanders, in the meantime, had been preparing for a
vigorous counterattack. They planned to make their greatest effort
fifteen miles north of Neuve Chapelle, at the village of St. Eloi,
and trained a large section of their artillery against a part of
the British front, which was held by the Twenty-seventh Division.
The preparation of the Germans was well concealed on March 14 by
the heavy mist that covered the low country. The bombardment started
at 5 p. m., the beginning of which was immediately followed by the
explosion of two mines which were under a hillock that was a part
of the British front at the southeast of St. Eloi. The artillery
attack was followed by such an avalanche of German infantry that
the British were driven from their trenches. This German success
was followed up by the enfilading of the British lines to the right
and left, with the result that that entire section of the British
front was forced back.

That night a counterattack was prepared. It was made at 2 a. m.,
on March 15, by the Eighty-second Brigade, which had the Eightieth
Brigade as its support. The Eighty-second Brigade drove the Germans
from the village and the trenches on the east. The Eightieth Brigade
finished the task of regaining all of the ground that had been
lost except the crater caused by the explosion of the mines. Among
the regiments that made a most enviable record for themselves in
this action were Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the
Fourth Rifle Brigade, the First Leinsters, the Second Cornwalls,
and the Second Royal Irish Fusiliers. The "Princess Pat's," as
the Canadian troops were known in the home land, were the first
colonial soldiers to take part in a battle of such magnitude in
this war. Their valor and their ability as fighting men were causes
of great pride to the British.

Before leaving the Neuve Chapelle engagement and what immediately
followed it, it is well to give a brief survey of the actions along
the line that supported it. To prevent the Germans from taking
troops from various points and massing them against the main British
attack, the British soldiers all along that part of the front found
plenty of work to do in their immediate vicinity. Thus, on March
10, 1915, the First Corps at