ght. It made a four-mile-wide
opening in the front of the Allies. And the Germans were quick to
take advantage of that opening. They followed the gas, and were
aided in their advance by artillery fire. The French were forced
back on the canal from Steenstraate to Boesinghe. The Canadians
had not suffered so much from the gas as the French soldiers, but
their flank was too exposed for them to do much effective work
against the onrushing Teutons. The attempt to rally the Turcos
failed. The Third Brigade could not withstand the attack of four
divisions, and was forced inward from a point south of Poelcappelle
until its left rested on the wood east of St. Julien. There was
a gap beyond it, and the Germans were forcing their way around
its flank. Because the entire First Brigade of Canadians had been
held in reserve it could not be brought up in time to save the
situation. Two of the battalions, the Sixteenth and Tenth, were
in the gap by midnight. They charged and recovered the northern
edge, and the guns of the Second London Division, which had been
supporting the French in the wood east of St. Julien. But the British
could not hold all they retook, and were forced to abandon the guns
because the artillery horses were miles away. So parts of the guns
were made useless before the Germans had them again.

Then another counterattack was made by the First and Fourth Ontarios
of General Mercer's First Brigade. The Fourth Ontario captured the
German shelter trenches and held them for two days, when they were
relieved. The Third Canadian Brigade held its position in spite
of being opposed by many times their numbers and almost overcome
by the gas fumes. The Forty-eighth Highlanders, who had had to
withstand the gas, rallied after their retreat and regained their
former place in the front. The Royal Highlanders kept their original
position. Yet there was every indication of a rout. The roads were
clogged by the night supply trains going forward and the rush of men
trying to escape from the deadly gas. The staff officers found it
impossible to straighten out the tangle, and the various regiments
had to act almost as independent bodies, It was not until early the
following morning, April 23, 1915, that the first reenforcements
of British soldiers appeared to fill the breach. These men, for
the most part, were from the Twenty-eighth Division, and had been
east of Zonnebeke to the southeast corner of Polygon Wood. So great
was the p