Just prior to the battle the ground had thawed, and the soldiers
sank deep into the mud at every step they took.
On December 15, 1914, the Germans attacked a little to the south
of Ypres, but no definite result was obtained. On the following
day the Allies replied by an onslaught at Dixmude with a similar
result. The Germans attempted to turn and strike at Westende the
next day.
Roulers was temporarily occupied by the Allies on December 18,
1914, and in another location, about twenty-five miles farther
southwest, in the neighborhood of Givenchy, the Allies' Indian
troops were put to the test. The attack was launched on the morning
of the 19th.
The Lahore and the Meerut divisions both took part. The Meerut
division succeeded in capturing a trench; but a little later on a
counterattack, launched by the Germans, forced the Indians back.
The Lahore division, including the First Highland Light Infantry
and the Fourth Gurkhas, took two lines of the enemy's trenches
with hardly any casualties. These captured trenches were at once
occupied, and when they were full to capacity, the Germans exploded
the previously prepared mines, and blew up the entire Hindu force.
At daylight on the morning of December 20, 1914, the Germans commenced
a heavy artillery fire along the entire front. This was followed
by an infantry charge along the entire line between Givenchy and
La Quinque Rue to the north.
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