established themselves in the position
agreed upon, the 3rd Division was unable to advance further, whilst
the 5th Division (right of 2nd Corps) and all the 3rd Corps were
confined the whole day to demonstration and holding the enemy.

I visited the _Poste de Commandement_ of the 3rd Division Commander
(Haldane) on the Scherpenberg--a hill near Bailleul, surmounted by a
windmill--in the afternoon, and witnessed the fighting for some time.
It struck me that the enemy artillery fire was much weaker than ours.

The operations were continued on the 15th, and I again spent some time
on the Scherpenberg watching the progress of the fight, so far as the
weather permitted any view; we were again prevented from advancing
owing to the delay of the French on our left. Our joint plan was that
successive points had to be taken from north to south. It is obvious
that the movement had to commence on the French left, but from the
first our Allies failed to execute their task and we had to wait for
them.

The weather was terrible and the ground simply quagmire, whilst the
rain, cold, and the awful mud of the holding soil paralysed any
energetic attempt to drive the enemy back. A desultory fire was kept
up at all points along the line; but no great activity appeared to be
possible. The _role_ of the 2nd Corps was quite plain and clear: it
had to wait for the 16th French Corps to reach its allotted points.

Later in the day I went round to the 3rd Corps Headquarters and there
met the Corps Commander (Pulteney), Du Cane, his Chief of Staff, and
Allenby, Commanding the Cavalry.

I discussed the general course of the operations with them. I had in
my mind the possibility of giving some impetus to the general advance
by making an attack with troops of the 3rd Corps across the River
Douve, and thus directly supporting an advance by Smith-Dorrien's
right, perhaps supported by the cavalry. The mud and water in the
valley of that river, however, presented insuperable difficulties.

During the night of the 15th-16th, troops of the 5th Division captured
some trenches to the south of Messines.

I was much perturbed at the slow progress we were making, as no better
reports came from anywhere along the whole of the Allied line.

On the 16th I again visited the Scherpenberg, where I was met by
Smith-Dorrien and Haldane. Smith-Dorrien assured me that the
understanding between himself and the Commander of the 16th French
Corps on his left (Gene