" So soon as the German knew, however, that
the British had arrived, up came his guns very quickly, for he was well
aware that they had not come for a rest, especially in view of other
activity near Ypres.
The 1st division had taken over the Coastal sector with the 32nd
division in front of Nieuport on their right. On the coast the line ran
through the sandhills on the east side of the Yser, while on the right
of this the ground was very low lying and was largely flooded from the
five canals which converge near the town. In July the Huns smashed down
all the bridges over the river with shell fire and then attacked in
overwhelming numbers, with the result that amongst the sand dunes, being
unsupported either by artillery or infantry, the battalions on the east
of the river were completely blotted out. Very little progress, however,
was made against the 32nd division, and their line remained more or less
intact. It was impossible to retake the lost ground, for the wide river
mouth had now to be crossed. This incident altered the whole face of the
situation, for a general advance over the inundated sector alone was out
of the question, and the scheme was given up. A number of guns was
brought up to form an effective background to the infantry and that was
as far as matters developed.
When the 42nd arrived they found, by a curious chance, the 66th division
in charge of the coast sector. This division was composed of the 2nd
line battalions of our own units, so there was a tremendous amount of
interest in each other displayed by both sides.
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