led them to
suppose that we intended to apply pressure on the right of our line, and
that their great attack upon Ypres on the 7th, 8th, and 9th was
undertaken with a view to diverting us from our purpose.

In this the Germans were true to their principles, for they rightly hold
that the best manner of meeting an expected hostile offensive is to
forestall it by attacking in some other quarter. In this instance their
leaders acted with the utmost determination and energy and their
soldiers fought with the greatest courage.

[Sidenote: The enemy held in check.]

The failure of their effort was due to the splendid endurance of our
troops, who held the line around the salient under a fire which again
and again blotted out whole lengths of the defenses and killed the
defenders by scores. Time after time along those parts of the front
selected for assault were parapets destroyed, and time after time did
the thinning band of survivors build them up again and await the next
onset as steadily as before.

Here, in May, in defense of the same historic town, have our
incomparable infantry repeated the great deeds their comrades performed
half a year ago and beaten back most desperate onslaughts of hostile
hordes backed by terrific artillery support.

The services rendered by our troops in this quarter cannot at present
be estimated, for their full significance will only be realized in the
light of future events. But so far their devotion has indirectly
contributed in no small measure to the striking success already achieved
by our allies.

Further south, in the meantime, on Sunday another struggle had been in
progress on that portion of the front covered by the right of our line
and the left of the French, for when the firing around Ypres was
temporarily subsiding during the early hours of the morning another and
even more tremendous cannonade was suddenly started by the artillery of
the Allies some twenty miles to the south.

The morning was calm, bright, and clear, and opposite our right, as the
sun rose, the scene in front of our line was the most peaceful
imaginable. Away to the right were Guinchy, with its brickfields and the
ruins of Givenchy. To the north of them lay low ground, where, hidden by
trees and hedgerows, ran the opposing lines that were about to become
the scene of the conflict, and beyond, in the distance, rose the long
ridge of Aubers, the villages crowning it standing out clear cut against
the sky.