was to proceed along
the border of the inundated district to Furnes. But the French
balked the plan by shelling the farm, and the Belgians finished
the work by driving the Germans back to Mercken on April 6, 1915.

In the meantime, from March 15 to April 17, 1915, the bombardment
of Ypres was continued, destroying most of the remaining buildings
there. Engagements of importance had not as yet started on the
British front. The British had a supply of shrapnel, and the British
and French cannon, as well as the rifle- and machine-gun fire,
held the Germans in check until they had time to perfect their
plans for a vigorous offensive. Nevertheless the British needed
a much larger supply of ammunition before they could start on a
determined campaign, which was so much desired by the troops. One
of the German headquarters, however, was shelled effectively by
the British on April 1, 1915, and on the following day mortars in
the trenches did considerable damage in the Wood of Ploegsteert.
A mine blew up a hundred yards of the trenches that were opposite
Quinchy, a village to the south of Givenchy, on April 3, 1915. To
offset this the Germans bombarded the British line at that point.
They also shelled Fleurbaix, which is three miles southwest of
Armentieres, on April 5, 1915. The British on the same day wrecked
a new trench mortar south of there. On April 6, 1915, the German
artillery began to be more active both north and south of the Lys,
and the British retaliated by shelling the railway triangle that
was near Quinchy. German soldiers were slain and others wounded
when a mine was exploded at Le Touquet, on the north bank of the
Lys. One of the kaiser's ammunition depots was blown up near Quinchy
on April 9, 1915, and his men were driven from their trenches in
front of Givenchy by mortar fire.

The comparative quiet along the front was broken by the fight for
the possession of Hill 60, which became famous because of the rival
claims as to victory. The mound, for it was little more, getting
its name on account of its height--sixty meters--was of importance
only because it screened the German artillery which was shelling
Ypres from the bridge to the west of Zandvoord. British trenches
had been driven close to this hill by the Bedfords, whose sappers
tunneled under the mound and there prepared three mines. At the same
time the Germans were tunneling to plant mines under the Bedfords'
trench. In this underground race the Bedfor