The official eye-witness tells of the blows delivered by the Germans at Nieuport, Dixmude, and Ypres, where “at first the Allies were greatly outnumbered.”  For a whole month the British army around Ypres succeeded in holding its ground against repeated onslaughts made by vastly superior forces.  The writer goes into details of the German attacks and describes how they were frustrated by the Allies.

The British force, says Col.  Swinton, which consisted all along of the same units, had “to withstand an almost continuous bombardment and to meet one desperate assault after another, each carried out by fresh units from the large numbers which the Germans were devoting to the operation.”  Finally the French came to their assistance, and “never was help more welcome; for by then our small local reserves had again and again been thrown into the fight in the execution of counter-attacks, and our men were exhausted by the incessant fighting.”

The British front now has been considerably shortened and in addition has been reinforced, while a lull in the activity has enabled the British to readjust their forces, strengthen their positions, and bring up reserves.  There has, therefore, “been a great general improvement in the conditions under which we are carrying on the fight”.  Of the fighting which preceded this reorganization the writer says it is due solely to the resource, initiative, and endurance of the regimental officers and men that success has lain with the British.  He continues: 

“As the struggle swayed backward and forward through wood and hamlet, the fighting assumed a most confused and desperate character.  The units became inextricably mixed, and in many cases, in order to strengthen some threatened point or to fill a gap in the line, the officers had to collect and throw into the fight what men they could, regardless of the units to which they belonged.  Our casualties have been severe; but we have been fighting a battle, and a battle implies casualties, and, heavy as they have been, it must be remembered that they have not been suffered in vain.

“The duty of the French, Belgians, and British in the western theatre of operations has been to act as a containing force; in other words, to hold on to and to keep occupied as many of the enemy as possible while the Russians were attacking in the east.  In this we have succeeded in playing our part, and by our resistance have contributed materially toward the success of the campaign.  Moreover, our losses have not impaired our fighting efficiency.  The troops have required only a slight respite in order to be able to continue the action with as much determination as ever.  They are physically fit and well fed and have suffered merely from the fatigue which is inseparable from a protracted struggle such as they have been through.  The severest handling by the enemy has never had more than a temporary effect on their spirits, which they have soon recovered, owing to the years of discipline and training to which the officers and men have been accustomed.