ever, it was found advisable to withdraw the Guard
altogether and replace them by the First Infantry Brigade.

Now the German tactical idea became clear. It was to force the British
to concentrate on the exposed line between Festubert and Givenchy, north
of the canal, and then to turn the British right by the German forces in
their new position just south of the canal, thus calling for
simultaneous action on both sides of the canal.

The Germans delivered an equally severe attack upon the allied position
in the village of Givenchy, about a mile north of the canal, which
bounded the scene of the attack just described. As in the other attack,
the Germans opened action by severe artillery fire, using high-explosive
shells, and after due preparation, at about 8.15 in the morning, the
infantry advanced, as is customary with the Germans, in close formation.
The British met this advance by somewhat weak artillery fire, which, it
was afterward explained was due to continued interruption of the
telephonic communications between the observers and the batteries in the
fight. However, as it was, this fire, added to the machine gun and rifle
fire from the trenches, served to turn the German advance from their
original direction, with the result that they crowded together in the
northeast corner of Givenchy after passing over the first-line trenches
of the Allies' front. Their momentum carried the Germans far into the
center of the village, with remarkably few casualties considering the
murderous fire to which they had been subjected throughout their
impetuous advances.

In the village of Givenchy, however, the Second Welsh Regiment and the
First South Wales Borderers, which had been stationed there and held in
reserve, gave the Germans a warm reception, and when the First Royal
Highlanders came up they delivered a fierce counterattack. In this they
were supported by the fire of the French artillery, which assistance,
however, proved costly to the Allies, as the French fire and bursting
shells killed friend and foe alike. Street fighting became savage, amid
the explosions of shells sent to enliven the occasion by the French.
This concluded the action for the day and when the smoke cleared away
both sides found their position comparatively little changed and nothing
but the thinned ranks of the combatants reminded the observer that the
most severe kind of fighting had taken place for the best part of a day.

The following day, Janu