[Illustration: Lance-Sergeant Belcher and his Men holding a battered Breastwork.
(_From the picture by Philip Dadd. By permission of The Sphere._)
The breastwork was knocked to pieces in places, and Sergeant Belcher determined to transfer his men to the unoccupied right wing of the work. Our picture shows the heroic little party at the moment when they were moving round the traverse. (See page 221.)]
[Footnote 37: Native captain in the Indian army.]
While the Second Battle of Ypres was raging, the French were making a big effort in Artois, more especially in the district between Lens and Arras. On page 223 you will see a map showing the main features of this district. Fix your attention for a moment on the high ground marked "N.D. de Lorette"--that is, Notre Dame de Lorette. You notice by the side of the name a cross; this shows the position of the church of Our Lady of Lorette. It stands on a bare ridge, broken by many gullies, and with a few coppices here and there. To the south of the ridge there is a broad hollow, from which rises Mont St. Eloi. Do not confound this hill with the St. Eloi which lies to the south of Ypres.
In the early days of May the Germans were holding a sharp salient in this district. Their lines extended from the east of the village of Loos,[38] across the broad highway which you see running south to Arras, then across the Lorette ridge, and to the west of the two villages which lie to the south of it. From Carency the German lines curved sharply back, still covering the highroad. Upon this salient the French made a great onslaught, which began on 13th May, and did not end until the close of the month.
[Illustration: The French Offensive between Arras and Lens.]
The salient consists mainly of a chalky plateau full of hollows, each with its village or little town. The fields are hedgeless, and are cut across by many white roads. The ravines of the plateau and the many villages had been made almost impregnable by the Germans, who had set up all along their line numberless little forts, armed with machine guns, and connected by a maze of trenches. There were at least five lines of very strong trenches, one behind the other, in that part of their position which lay between Loos and the village of Ablain. It was a desperate task which the French now set themselves, but should it prove successful it would be well worth the sacrifice entailed. Further, an assault on the German lines in the west was now necessary. The Russians at this time were being driven back by a storm of artillery to which they could make no resistance, and General Joffre saw that something must be done to draw off German forces from the Eastern front if the Russians were not to be overwhelmed and put out of action altogether. His plan was as follows: the French were to try to capture Lens, and the British, further north, were to make a desperate push towards Lille. If these movements succeeded, the line of railway all along the German front from Lille to Soissons would be captured, and the enemy would be forced to retreat into Belgium.