d for about an hour we
continued to make progress. Then the right and centre were checked. A
little later the left was also held up, and the situation remained very
much as it had been on the previous day. The Germans were doubtless much
encouraged by their initial success, and their previous boldness in
attack was now matched by the stubborn manner in which they clung on to
their positions. In the evening the French stormed some trenches east of
the canal, but were again checked by the enemy's gas cylinders.

The night passed quietly, and was spent by us in reorganizing and
consolidating our positions. The enemy did not interfere. This is not
surprising, in view of the fact that by Tuesday evening they had been
fighting for over five days. Their state of exhaustion is confirmed by
the statements of the prisoners captured by the French, who also
reported that the German losses had been very heavy.

On Wednesday, the 28th, there was a complete lull on this sector of our
line, and the shelling was less severe. Some fighting, however, occurred
along the canal, the French taking over 100 prisoners.

Nothing of any importance has occurred on other parts of the front. On
the 27th, at the Railway Triangle opposite Guinchy, the south side of
the embankment held by the Germans was blown up by our miners. On the
28th a hostile aeroplane was forced to descend by our anti-aircraft
guns. On coming down in rear of the German lines, it was at once fired
upon and destroyed by our field artillery. Another hostile machine was
brought down by rifle fire near Zonnebeke.

Splendid work has been done during the past few days by our airmen, who
have kept all the area behind the hostile lines under close observation.
On the 26th they bombed the stations of Staden, Thielt, Courtrai,
Roubaix, and other places, and located an armored train near Langemarck,
which was subsequently shelled and forced to retire. There have been
several successful conflicts in the air, on one occasion a pilot in a
single seater chasing a German machine to Roulers, and forcing it to
land.

The raid on Courtrai unfortunately cost the nation a very gallant life,
but it will live as one of the most heroic episodes of the war. The
airman started on the enterprise alone in a biplane. On arrival at
Courtrai he glided down to a height of 300 feet and dropped a large bomb
on the railway junction. While he did this he was the target of hundreds
of rifles, of machine guns,