ts, sent
forward to the attack. They were literally mown down by the fire from
the French machine guns and rifles, but the wave of attackers seemed
unending, and by dint of overwhelming numbers it poured into the
French trenches. A terrible hand-to-hand fight then ensued in an
atmosphere so thick that it was difficult to distinguish friend from
foe. These clouds were not poisonous, for the Germans had themselves
to fight in them; they were let loose to cover the infantry charge.

The French were compelled to retire, which they did, contesting every
foot of ground. Meanwhile, reenforcements had arrived and these were
at once thrown into the fighting line. The French, however, were soon
brought to a halt. Asphyxiating and lachrymatory bombs, which emitted
bluish smoke as they exploded, began to fall in their midst. Spurred
on by their leaders the men dashed on, passing through yet another of
these barriers of smoke until they came to grips with the attackers,
who were now coming on like a torrent, in close formation, shouting
wildly. Altogether, the scene was one that vividly brings to the
imagination the truth of Sherman's dictum that "war is hell." A mad
potpourri of dimly visible forms, struggling like demons, shooting,
stabbing, hacking and roaring in an infernal caldron of tar, poison,
sulphur, tears and blood. Truly a worthy theme for another Dante and a
Gustave Dore. For some time it looked as if the French would be
crumpled up, but reserves were steadily streaming in, and eventually
the attackers began to waver and fall back. The French 75-millimeter
Creusots came into play again, and after a battle that lasted in all
twenty-four hours, the Germans were driven back to their own trenches.

In the morning of October 2, 1915, the Germans made a demonstration in
front of the Belgian trenches at Dixmude, consisting of a bombardment
and a violent discharge of bombs. On one small section alone 400 bombs
were dropped. The German infantry broke into the Belgian trenches, but
were dislodged again in a few minutes.

The position which the British had captured was exceptionally strong,
consisting of a double line, including some large redoubts and a
network of trenches and bomb-proof shelters. Dugouts were constructed
at short intervals all along the line, some of them being large caves
thirty feet below the ground. The French capture of Souchez was an
event of considerable importance, for the German High Command had
issue