Evening star., 1917-09-30
BRITISH AT POINT OF RETAKING
ALL GROUND LOST TO GERMANS
IN THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES

which poison gas appeared. the German
attack was about Langemarck, and,
having broken the French colonial
troops. who held the line about Lange-
marck and to the west, the Germans
came south until they reached the User
canal at Lizerne. They even passed the
canal at the crest of their rush. This
advance necessitated a new adjustment
OF the lines, and the British were COM
PEELED to draw back along their whole
front between Langemarck and the
Menin road. giving up zonnebeke and
All but the barest foothold on the ridge.
10 all practical purposes they were now
on the ridge and the Germans held all
the good gun positions and observa-
tion points from one end OF the ridge
to the other. And this situation en-
year.
At this time the British, having de-
tertnlned to make their main offensive
Tor the year In the Ypres district were
Iaceo with the immediate problem of
'he ridge. Before they could move at
all 1t was necessary to drive the Ger
mans on that portion of the ridge south
OF the Menin road and crowned by the
villages of Messines and Wytschaete.
because from these positions the Ger
mans commanded their rear and all
T tnelr lines OF communication from the
fser canal at Lizerne all the way
round to the foot of the ridge at
Wytschaete
This was done in the battle which
IS Known to the British army as the
battle of White Sheet" ridge. and thi,
oattie marks one of the most success
IuI british operations on the technical
side In the whole war, comparable with
.he several French attacks in the Ver-
dun sector, which alone rival II in bril-
liant correlation of artillery and in
iantry tactics. In this battle the Brit
.sh captured all of the southern end of
.he ridge as far north as Hollebeke,
nectlng the User and the Lys. outs
through It.
Only Preliminary Step.
But this was only a preliminary step.
1t was necessary preparation for the
main attack, but this main attacks
necessarily had to be made north of
the Confines canal and along the
Menin and Roulers roads. From Juno
to August the preparations for this
.. great operation went forward In this
time all the great mass OF munitions
had to be accumulated. roads and rail-
roads built. guns concentrated and
this work was completed by July 81,
which saw the opening of the second
phase In this British offensive.
This time the operation was from the
north side Of the old Ypres salient.
Precisely as the Germans from the
Wytschaete-Messine ridge command
ed the Ypres salient from the south
they swept 1T from the north on the
Pilkem ridge south of LAngemarck. II
was necessary to clear away this side
Of the salient, too. This was done In
that attack of July 81, and the sue
ceeding days. in which the British, with
the aid of a French army on their ex-
treme left, pushed across the User
canal and took Steenstraate. Het Sas,
Pilkem. Bixschoote and st. Julien.
tacks, were finally left in British hands,
and the allies now held line from the
Yser canal, where 1t enters the marsh
district, as far east the northern en-
vfrons of st. Julien. which corresponded
roughly with the line held by the same
allies when the first battle of Ypres
began. They had, in word, abolished
the 1pres salient. and from the flooded
districts south of Dixmude to the Lys
below Armentieres the allied line ran
practically straight, while at the north
ern and southern extremities-that is.
about Pilkem and Wytschaete-the high
ground was wholly in their hands.
Essential Work Remained.
But from the Ypres- Confines canal at
Hollebeke to the foot of the ridge near
Gravenstafel. north of Zonnebeke-that
is. along the whole center of the Ypres
sector-al the high ground. all the
ridge, still remained in German hands.
anu tuls was the poitlOH WHICH Ndo
essential; all the other operations had
merely been preliminary work on the
two fianks to clear the way for an
attack in the center. While the Ger
mans held the Pilkem and White
Sheet" ridges it was not possible to
push forward In the center because
the advance would be enfiladed by Ger
man gunf1re from the tanks and all
British concentrations could be OBJ
served and reported before they had
passed Ypres and while they were still
further than German reserves were
from the actual firing line.
BY the middle of August. then, the
allies had restored the situation on
their tanks which had existed at the
moment the first battle of Ypres had
opened. in October, 1914. In sense
this is what the French achieved in
their first Verdun offensive. in october,
1915, when they retook Douaumont and
Vaux: but when the French retook
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