Note 48 — THE ATTEMPT TO BREAK THROUGH SOUTH OF YPRES

It is interesting to notice that this account treats the fighting on the La Bassée-Armentières front as quite distinct from the main battle for Ypres. During the period 20th-29th October the II and III Corps had a hard defensive battle to fight, the only assistance they received being on the arrival on 23rd October of the Jullundur Brigade and the divisional troops of the Lahore Division, which replaced General Conneau’s French Cavalry at the junction between the two Corps. As the net result of this fighting the II and III Corps were forced back to a line running north by east from Givenchy, west of Neuve Chapelle, past Bois Grenier, south-east of Armentières to the Lys at Houplines, part of the 4th Division continuing the line on the left bank of the Lys to the junction with the Cavalry Corps just south of Messines. The German attacks on this front were strongly pressed, and the strain on the II and III Corps was very severe.