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.

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, the enemy making extensive use of his gas cylinders and of machine guns placed in farms at or other points of vantage.  None the less, the situation at nightfall was more satisfactory than it had been.  We were holding our own well all along the line and had made progress at some points.  On the right the enemy’s attacks on the front of the Grafenstafel Ridge had all been repulsed.

In the meantime the French had achieved some success, having retaken Lizerne and also the trenches round Het Sast, captured some 250 prisoners, and made progress all along the west bank of the canal.  Heavy as our losses were during the day, there is little doubt that the enemy suffered terribly.  Both sides were attacking at different points, the fighting was conducted very largely in the open, and the close formations of the Germans on several occasions presented excellent targets to our artillery, which did not fail to seize its opportunities.

[Illustration:  GENERAL SIR IAN HAMILTON

Commanding the Allied Expeditionary Forces Operating Against the
Dardanelles

(Photo from P.S.  Rogers.)]