The first German attack fell upon the French portion of
the line. Very naturally our gallant allies, taken by surprise owing to the use of these infamous devices, were forded to fall back. By these means the Germans gained a considerable piece of ground, some four or five miles wide and two or three miles deep. to the north-west of Ypres. As has so often happened, however, in the present war, the Germans had not enough élan to make use of their temporary victory, for such no doubt it was. They made a deep hole in our line, but never managed to push their troops through it—probably because they were haunted by the dread of encirclement which always looms so largely in the German mind. If you break a long line and advance through it, what in the flash of victory is called " piercing " places the piercers in the position of having both flanks open to the attack of the enemy. In any case, the Germans made a hole but did not use it when made.
