g gas was used, south
of Dixmude. Thus it may be seen that the Germans had met with no
success worth while, when Sunday, April 25, 1915, closed, so far
as the ends of the salient were concerned; but in the center the
British situation was so critical that the Second Canadian Brigade,
reduced to less than 1,000 men, was once more called into action
on the following day. On the same day, April 26, 1915, the Lahore
Division of the Indian army was marched north of Ypres. The point of
the salient was pushed in on that day at Broodseinde, but the German
success there was short-lived. The brigade holding Grafenstafel was
attacked fiercely by the Germans. The Durham Light Infantry was
forced from Fortuin behind the Haanabeek River. The Teutons made
several attacks from the St. Julien district against the section
between the Yperlee Canal and the southern part of the village. By
this time Geddes's Detachment was almost exhausted, they, with the
Canadians, having withstood the heaviest fighting at the beginning
of the battle; and most likely saved the Allies a most disastrous
defeat. The detachment could stand no more, and the various units
of which it was composed were returned to their respective commands.

But the salient was growing smaller as a result of the repeated
hammering of the Germans; and that exposed the allied troops to a
more deadly fire from three sides. It was evident that the Allies
must make a counterattack. General Riddell's Brigade was sent to
Fortuin and with the Lahore Division on its left was told to retake
St. Julien and the woods to the west of the village. Beyond the
Yperlee Canal, on the left, the French made an assault on Lizerne,
supported by the Belgian artillery; while the French colonial soldiers
poured on Pilkem from the sector about Boesinghe. On the right the
allied troops were lined up as follows: the Connaught Rangers,
Fifty-seventh Wilde's Rifles, the Ferozepore Brigade, the 129th
Baluchis, the Jullundur Brigade, and General Riddell's battalions.
The Sirhind Brigade was held in reserve.

The German artillerymen apparently knew the distances and topography
of the entire region and poured a leaden hail upon the allied troops.
The Indians and the British in their immediate neighborhood charged
in short rushes, losing many men in the attempt to reach the German
trenches. Before the Germans were in any danger of a hand-to-hand
struggle, they sent one of their gas clouds from their trenches
an