The First Brigade was detached, and by midnight it had reached
Bethune, about five miles west of Givenchy. Sir Douglas Haig was
ordered to move also, the entire First Division in support of the
exhausted Indian troops.
Action was begun on December 20, 1914, early in the afternoon by
a simultaneous attack, and was continued until nightfall without
important results. The next morning General Haig in person took
the command, but little ground was gained.
While this contest was in progress around Givenchy, the Germans
took possession of the city of Arras, ten miles to the south.
Between December 23 and 30, 1914, the Belgian army, strongly reenforced
by French troops, began a series of violent attacks upon the German
lines; but the Germans replied by a ceaseless bombardment of Nieuport,
which is about a mile inland. No results of importance were obtained
on either side.
The last week of December, 1914, bore a relieving holiday aspect,
for it seemed as though by general consent the carnival of mood was
to be considered not consonant with the solemnity of the season.
But for all that the French succeeded in blowing up some German
trenches with a new howitzer they were anxious to tryout, and the
Belgian-French forces retook St. Georges in northern Flanders.
St. Georges had been held by the Germans for some time; the village
stands on the right hand of the Yser, and it was the only position
they retained on that side of the river.
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