the preparation for the
bombardment at this part of the line had been inadequate for the
purpose which the general in command had sought to achieve. Thus
on the northeast corner of Neuve Chapelle the German trenches and
the wire entanglements in front of them had been damaged but little.
The British forces on this part of the line included the Second
Devons, the Second West Yorks, the Second Scottish Rifles, and the
Second Middlesex, known as the Twenty-third Brigade. The Scottish
Rifles charged against intact wire entanglements which halted them
in the range of a murderous rifle and machine-gun fire. With daring
bravery the Scots sought to tear down the wire with their hands;
but were forced to fall back and lie in the fire-swept zone until
one company forced its way through an opening and destroyed the
barrier. The regiment, as a result of this mishap to the plans
of the commanding general, lost its commander, Colonel Bliss, and
fourteen other officers.

The Middlesex, on the right, met with the same obstruction and lost
many of its men and officers while waiting for the British artillery
to smash a way through for them. This the artillery did when word
had been carried back telling of the plight of the infantry.

The Twenty-fifth Brigade, to the south, had the good fortune to turn
the flank of the Germans north of Neuve Chapelle. Then the entire
Twenty-third Brigade forced its way to the orchard northeast of the
village, where it met the Twenty-fourth Brigade, which included the
First Worcesters, Second East Lancashires, First Sherwood Foresters,
and the Second Northamptons. The Twenty-fourth Brigade had fought its
way through from the Neuve Chapelle-Armentieres road. As soon as
this had been accomplished by the British, their artillery proceeded
to send such a rain of shrapnel fire between the village and the
Germans that a counterattack was quite impossible. This gave the
victors an opportunity to intrench themselves practically at their
leisure. The plans of the British commander had embraced a forward
movement when the troops had reached this point, but they had not
included a means of keeping communication with the various units
intact. The telegraph and telephone wires had been cut by the shot
and shell of both sides; and there was no opportunity to repair
them until it was too late to take advantage of the demoralization
of the Germans. Moreover, the delay of the Twenty-third Brigade had
so disarranged the