The German artillery had the advantage of the commanding positions. Their observation posts on the ridges enabled them to fight effectively over the entire country of the attack. Again, in the centre of the sector assigned to the Belgian offensive stands the forest of Houthulst, a renowned strong-point, and a bastion for artillery which dominated with its fire a great part of the Belgian and British fronts. As Marlborough had said: " Whoever is Master of the Forest of Houthulst is Master of Flanders."
Plan of Attack. About Sept. 15 the Belgian army, 12 divs. of infantry and one of cavalry, held a front of 35 km. from the sea at Nieuport-Bains to the northern outskirts of Ypres.
The British II. Army, 10 divs. of infantry (General Plu- mer), occupied the sector Ypres-Armentieres, about 20 km. in length.
The moral of the two armies was excellent: the British troops aspiring to seize from the enemy the fruits of their successes in the spring; the Belgians seeing the day at length dawn, which they had so anxiously awaited, when they should leave the lines on the Yser and hasten to the deliverance of their country.
King Albert, commander-in-chief of the group, decided that the first operation should have as its object the conquest of the following objectives. For the Belgian army: Dixmude, Clercken, Stadenberg, Passchendaele, Broodseinde. For the Brit- ish army: Molenaershoek, Polygon wood, Hill 60. From these points the armies would advance eventually to the attack on subsequent objectives. The Belgian army placed n divisions in the line, of which one was a French division; the British army employed six divisions. On the extreme left, two Belgian divi- sions remained in their sector on the front Nieuport-Dixmude. They were to hold themselves in readiness to push forward on the first order and clean up the left bank of the Yser in the inundated area, and to take the opportunity to release the flood- water. On the extreme right, the British divisions which were furthest S. were to watch for any indication of weakness in the enemy in order to follow up and hasten his retreat. Two divi- sions of French infantry which were now arriving, and the divi- sion of Belgian cavalry, constituted the general reserve.
The Belgian 4th Div. crossing the Yser immediately to the S. of Dixmude was to secure the ruins of the village and seize the former line N. of Dixmude and Zarren and the length of the canal of Houdzaeme. The British i4th Div. formed the flank- guard at St. Eloi. The frontage of the principal attack was Clercken-Gheluvelt a little over 20 km. in length, so that the frontage of attack of each division of the first line was about 2 kilometres. The British gth and 2Qth Divs. placed two brigades in the first line and one brigade in the second line; the 35th Div. had all three brigades in the first line. All the Belgian divi- sions uniformly adopted the carrie formation: all of their three regiments were together; in each regiment the battalion in the first line pushed straight ahead, the battalion in the second line advanced taking special care to reduce any strong points of re- sistance and clearing up any such positions overrun by the first line: the battalion in the third line, held as long as possible in reserve, was employed to pass eventually the first line and thus to undertake the continuation of the advance. In this forma- tion the Belgian army had 24 regiments in the front line placed side by side in three lines of battalions. This offensive dispo- sition is noteworthy. Taking everything into consideration, there is no other example in the whole war of the deployment of an army which shows more audacity, more determination, which promised a greater promptitude in employing all units, and greater rapidity in opening up the battle.
The Belgian army, united to a strong contingent of French and British artillery, formed a mass of artillery of 1,550 guns, of which 280 were trench guns and 500 heavy artillery. The British II. Army had about 1,000 pieces, of which half were heavy. Therefore on the actual frontage of the attack Dixmude- St. Eloi (about 25 km.) the Allies possessed some 1,800 guns both heavy and field, independently of trench artillery. The greater part of the Belgian batteries had been placed E. of the Yser canal at Ypres; a certain number held a position to the E.
of Martjevaart and also in the peninsula of Luyghem, only those batteries of very long range and insufficiently mobile remained on the W. bank of the canal.
The attack was to be preceded by a violent preparatory bom- bardment of one duration of three hours. The movement of the artillery during the advance was made the subject of special orders, and it was arranged that in each division of the first line a group of 7-5 would be allotted to acc npany it and distributed at the strength of one battery for each regiment of infantry.
Action of Sept. 28. All the preparations for the attack had been carried out with the greatest secrecy. Artillery action had been very feeble for many days. Batteries and ammunition had been pushed forward and installed in the first lines under cover of careful camouflage; divisions had been concentrated in the sec- tors of attack and had been deployed for the battle entirely by night marches. On Sept. 28 at 02:00 (morning) the 17 divisions were in their battle positions; a vast body of men ready to march against the enemy with enthusiasm and in perfect order. At 02 : 30 hours there commenced on the whole front of the two armies a powerful bombardment of preparation which was to last for three hours. At 05:30 hours the infantry left their advance positions preceded by a creeping barrage.
The rain almost at once commenced to fall heavily, making every movement yet more laborious. Overcoming every obstacle they encountered, the Belgians secured in one magnificent sweep the Francken, Preussen and Bayern Stellung.
At 07:30 the last obstacle was passed, except for the northern group, and the field artillery proceeded on their way to accom- pany immediately the subsequent attacks. The enemy only feebly counter-attacked. The northern group had at the outset encountered a stubborn resistance at the Chateau Blanckaert which the defenders held to the death, as well as an adjoining farm. These strong-points were not secured until about midday. Beyond the Bayern Stellung the Germans counter-attacked and put up a vigorous defence.
In the northern group the centre of the attack was the con- quest of the forest of Houthulst, filled with obstacles and ambushes, and in addition the burnt trunks of trees and torn branches the result of four years of bombardment proved an impenetrable entanglement where advance was only possible along the straight drives set at right angles, and these were barred by wire and enfiladed by machine-guns.
On the left, while the Belgian 4th Div. seized Rille and St. Pieters, the Belgian ist Div. secured the Chateau Blanckaert, Hoog Kwartier, while with a gallant rush the 22nd Regt., having conquered at the point of the bayonet many batteries which the gunners fired until the last moment, arrived at the crossroads of Houthulst at 11:00 hours and occupied it.
On the right, the Belgian 7th Div. drove right through the forest and arrived at the end of the day on the eastern bound- ary, having conquered it entirely with many dozen of cannon and important material.
In the centre group the Belgian 3rd Div. reached without difficulty the heights by the station of Poclkapelle, where they held up some violent counter-attacks which debouched from the S.E. corner of the forest; these attacks were strongly thrown back as far as Schaap-Ballie, which the division occupied at the same time as the gth Div. arrived at the outskirts of Westroosebeke.
In the southern group the 6th and I2th Divs., held up by the terrible condition of the ground, reached halfway to the crest- line Westroosebeke-Passchendaele and found the enemy occupy- ing in force this strong position. Further bombardments by the artillery and many assaults left the situation unchanged. Toward the end of the afternoon a strong German counter- attack forced itself into line after line of the 6th Div. However, the 8th Div., which had seized Broodseinde, advanced on Moor- slede and at 20:00 hours the 4th Carabineers took Passchendaele by assault. To summarize, the nine Belgian divisions of infantry which had been engaged, accomplished under heavy rain an advance of about 8 km. across the most appalling country, bristling with every defensive accessory and abundantly fur-
