Under this pressure our front was penetrated at some points around Frezenberg, and at 4:30 o’clock in the afternoon we made a counter-attack between the Zonnebeke road and the railway in order to recover the lost ground.  Our offensive was conducted most gallantly, but was checked before long by the fire of machine guns.

Meanwhile, the enemy launched another attack through the woods south of the Menin road, and at the same time threatened our left to the north of Ypres with fresh masses.  Most desperate fighting ensued, the German infantry coming on again and again and gradually forcing our troops back, though only for a short distance, in spite of repeated counter-attacks.

During the night the fighting continued to rage with ever-increasing fury.  It is impossible to say at exactly what hour our line was broken at different points, but it is certain that at one time the enemy’s infantry poured through along the Poelcappelle road, and even got as far as Wieltje at 9 P.M.

There was also a considerable gap in our front about Frezenberg, where hostile detachments had penetrated.  At both points counter-attacks were organized without delay.  To the east of the salient the Germans first were driven back to Frezenberg, but there they made a firm stand, and under pressure of fresh reinforcements we fell back again toward Verlorenhoek.

Northeast of the salient a counter-attack carried out by us about 1 A.M. was more successful.  Our troops swept the enemy out of Wieltje at the bayonet’s point, leaving the village strewn with German dead and, pushing on, regained most of the ground to the north of that point.  And so the fight surged to and fro throughout the night.  All around the scene of the conflict the sky was lit up by the flashes of the guns and the light of blazing villages and farms, while against this background of smoke and flame, looking out in the murky light over the crumbling ruins of the old town, rose the battered wreck of the cathedral town and the spires of Cloth Hall.

When Sunday dawned there came a short respite, and the firing for a time died down.  The comparative lull enabled us to reorganize and consolidate our position on the new line we had taken up and to obtain some rest after the fatigue and strain of the night.  It did not last long, however, and in the afternoon the climax of the battle was reached, for, under the cover of intense artillery fire, the Germans launched no less than five separate assaults against the east of the salient.

To the north and northeast their attacks were not at first pressed so hard as on the south of the Menin road, where the fighting was especially fierce.  In the latter direction masses of infantry were hurled on with absolute desperation and were beaten off with corresponding slaughter.

At one point, north of the town, 500 of the enemy advanced from the wood, and it is affirmed by those present that not a single man of them escaped.