s on very quickly. One reason for this, given
by a German prisoner, is that many of the enemy's infantry were so
affected by the fumes that they could not advance.

To continue the narrative from the night of Sunday, April 25. At 12:30
A. M., in face of repeated attacks, our infantry fell back from a part
of the Grafenstafel Ridge, northwest of Zonnebeke, and the line then ran
for some distance along the south bank of the little Haanebeek stream.
The situation along the Yperlee Canal remained practically unchanged.

[Sidenote: Line pierced at Broodseinde.]

When the morning of the 26th dawned the Germans, who had been seen
massing in St. Julien, and to the east of the village on the previous
evening, made several assaults, which grew more and more fierce as the
hours passed, but reinforcements were sent up and the position was
secured. Further east, however, our line was pierced near Broodseinde,
and a small body of the enemy established themselves in a portion of our
trenches. In the afternoon a strong, combined counter-attack was
delivered by the French and British along the whole front from
Steenstraate to the east of St. Julien, accompanied by a violent
bombardment. This moment, so far as can be judged at present, marked the
turning point of the battle, for, although it effected no great change
in the situation, it caused a definite check to the enemy's offensive,
relieved the pressure, and gained a certain amount of ground.

[Sidenote: Attack near St. Julien.]

During this counter-attack the guns concentrated by both sides on this
comparatively narrow front poured in a great volume of fire. From the
right came the roar of the British batteries, from the left the rolling
thunder of the _soixante-quinze_, and every now and then above the
turmoil rose a dull boom as a huge howitzer shell burst in the vicinity
of Ypres. On the right our infantry stormed the German trenches close to
St. Julien, and in the evening gained the southern outskirts of the
village. In the centre they captured the trenches a little to the south
of the Bois des Cuisinirs, west of St. Julien, and still further west
more trenches were taken. This represented an advance of some 600 or 700
yards, but the gain in ground could not at all points be maintained.
Opposite St. Julien we fell back from the village to a position just
south of the place, and in front of the Bois des Cuisinirs and on the
left of the line a similar retirement took place, th