mans think the front was strongly defended there by
using quick-firing methods, but they undoubtedly saved the right
of the Fourth Division. Another especially gallant piece of work on
the part of the British was done by the Second Essex, the reserve
battalion of the Twelfth Brigade. With a bayonet charge they drove
the Germans from Shelltrap Farm, which was between the Langemarck
and Poelcappelle highways, and, though it was held by first one
side and then the other, the British had it at the close of the
day in spite of the bombardment it received.

[Illustration: GAS BATTLE OF YPRES]

The French met with better success on the British left. Under the
command of General Putz they made an attack on Het Sase and
Steenstraate. The sharpshooters of the Zouaves and Algerians took
a trench in front of the latter place and entered the village.
They fought on to the canal by the end of that day, which was May
15, 1915. More than six hundred Teuton dead were counted after
that engagement. At the same time the Zouaves captured Het Sase
with great ease, because the artillery had rendered its defenders
useless for more fighting. The Germans, however, were not inclined
to give up the town so easily. They bombarded Het Sase that night,
using asphyxiating shells. Nothing daunted, the Zouaves put on
their respirators and drove off with hand grenades and rifle fire
the Germans who followed in the wake of the poisonous shells. On the
following day it was said that the only Germans left alive on the
left side of the Yperlee Canal were either wounded or prisoners. The
French had destroyed three German regiments, taken three redoubts, and
captured four fortified lines and three villages. In this connection
it may not be amiss to note that the French reported that, on May
15, 1915, the German Marine Fusiliers who were attempting to hold
the Yperlee Canal concluded it was the better part of valor to
surrender. Before the Germans could relinquish their places they
were shot down by their comrades in the rear.

Fighting along the line of the salient continued with more or less
vigor for nearly ten days, but, until May 24, 1915, there were
no engagements that had much out of the ordinary. On that date,
however, the entire front from Bellewaarde Lake to Shelltrap, a
line three miles in length, was bombarded with asphyxiating shells.
This was followed by a gas cloud that was sent against the same
extent of trenches. The wind sent the cloud in