Defence of Festubert A reorganisation of the defence of Flanders was carried out by the Franco–British from 15 to 22 November, which left the BEF holding a homogeneous front from Givenchy to Wytschaete, to the north. The
Indian Corps, on the right flank, held a front. During three weeks of bad weather, both sides shelled, sniped and raided, the British making several night raids late in November. On 23 November, the German Infantry Regiment 112 captured of trench east of Festubert, which were then recaptured by a night counter-attack by the
Meerut Division, at a cost of Corps casualties.
Attack on Wytschaete Joffre arranged for a series of attacks on the Western Front after discovering that German divisions were moving to the Russian Front. The Eighth Army was ordered to attack in Flanders and Field Marshal Sir
John French was asked to participate with the BEF on 14 December. Joffre wanted the British to attack all along the BEF front, especially from Warneton to Messines, as the French attacked from Wytschaete north to Hollebeke. French gave orders to attack from the
Lys to Warneton and Hollebeke with
II Corps and
III Corps, as
IV Corps and the Indian Corps conducted local operations to fix the Germans to their front. French emphasised that the British attack would begin on the left flank next to the French and that units must not move ahead of each other. The French and the
3rd Division were to capture Wytschaete and Petit Bois, then Spanbroekmolen was to be taken by II Corps with an attack from the west and by III Corps attacking from the south, only the 3rd Division to make a maximum effort. On the right, the
5th Division was to simulate an attack and III Corps was to make demonstrations, as it was holding a front and could do no more. On the left, the French
XVI Corps failed to reach its objectives and the 3rd Division got to within of the German line and found uncut wire. One battalion captured of the German front trench and took The failure of the attack on Wytschaete led to the attack further south being cancelled but German artillery retaliation was much heavier than the British bombardment. Desultory attacks were made from 15 to 16 December against intact German defences and deep mud, making no impression. On 17 December, the French XVI Corps and the British II Corps did not attack, the French
IX Corps sapped forward a short distance down the Menin road and small gains were made at Klein Zillebeke and Bixschoote. Joffre ended attacks in the north, except at Arras and again requested support from French, who ordered attacks on 18 December along the British front, then restricted the attacks to the support of XVI Corps by II Corps and demonstrations by II Corps and the Indian Corps. Fog impeded the Arras attack and a German counter-attack against XVI Corps, led II Corps to cancel its supporting attack. Six small attacks were made by the
Eighth Division,
7th Division,
4th Division and Indian divisions, which captured little ground, all of which was untenable due to mud and waterlogged ground after which, Franco-British attacks in Flanders were stopped.
Defence of Givenchy At dawn on 20 December, the front of the Indian Corps, held by the
Lahore and Meerut divisions was bombarded by German heavy artillery and mortars. At ten mines, of each, were exploded under the British lines at
Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée (Givenchy) and followed up by infantry attacks from the village northwards to La Quinque Rue. The trenches either side of Givenchy were captured and east of Festubert German troops advanced for . During the afternoon, a brigade of the
1st Division (
I Corps was sent forward as reinforcement, followed by another brigade at Next day, both brigades rested until noon and then attacked towards Givenchy and the break-in near Festubert. The third 1st Division brigade arrived during the afternoon and was sent forward to recapture The Orchard, north-east of Festubert, which had been captured during the morning. Waterlogged ground and German machine-gun fire delayed the advance, which only reached Givenchy after dark, just after the garrison had retired. The 1st Guards Brigade and French Territorial troops retook the village but the disruption of the counter-attack left a small amount of ground near Festubert on the northern flank in German hands. The 1st Division brigades were isolated in the dark and the Indian Corps commander reported that the troops were exhausted and must be relieved. It was arranged through General Headquarters, that I Corps would relieve the Indian Corps on 21 December, which was completed on 22 December.
First Action of Givenchy A German soldier deserted on 25 January and disclosed that a German attack was due against Cuinchy, French positions to the south and against Givenchy to the north. About ninety minutes later, units of the German Infantry Brigade 79 of the
14th Division, attacked on the north bank of the canal. Near Givenchy, German infantry reached strong points behind the support line but could advance no further. A hasty counter-attack by the
3rd Brigade of the 1st Division, which had two companies per battalion in the line, one in local reserve and one in brigade reserve, drove the Germans back and re-captured the British trenches, taking and killing soldiers.
Affairs of Cuinchy In January 1915, rain, snow and floods added to the dangers of sniping and artillery-fire during the day; at night both sides concentrated on repairing trenches. The area from the old La Bassée battlefield to Kemmel, to the north, was mainly flat low-lying meadow, in the basin of the Lys (Leie) river. Clay sub-soil stopped water soaking more than down, which left trenches waterlogged. The Lys rose , spread out by more than and some trenches had to be abandoned. In other places trenches were blocked at both ends and continuously bailed out, the intervening ground being covered by crossfire from the "islands". Many men stood knee-deep in water and were relieved twice a day. In January sickness in the First Army averaged per day. On 1 January, a German attack captured several British posts on a railway embankment at brick stacks near La Bassée Canal, in the vicinity of
Cuinchy, held by the
2nd Brigade of the 1st Division. A battalion counter-attack at failed and a second attempt at on 2 January was eventually repulsed. A bigger British attack on 10 January recaptured the posts and defeated three German counter-attacks but then lost the posts to a German attack on 12 January. A German deserter disclosed that a larger German attack was due against Cuinchy, French positions to the south and against Givenchy to the north. About ninety minutes later, units of the German 84th Brigade (
29th Division) and 79th Brigade attacked on either side of the canal. The German infantry reached the Allied strong-points behind the support line but could not advance further. After a delay, a counter-attack began on the south bank and was repulsed, which left the British line south of the canal in a
re-entrant. On 29 January, there were two more German attacks which were repulsed by two 2nd Brigade battalions. Another attack on 1 February took a post on the railway embankment, which was recovered by a counter-attack and troops were taken prisoner. The
2nd Division relieved the 1st Division on 4 February; on 6 February, the 4th (Guards) Brigade crossed no man's land in the dark and then attacked to push forward the line on the flanks. The attack captured the brick stacks and improved the line at the junction with the French. German counter-attacks including a deception failed when a group of Germans approached the British line, calling out "Don't shoot, we are engineers!".
James Edmonds, the British official historian, called this a
legitimate ruse, since an alert defender could be expected to challenge the party and allow only one man to approach. ==Aftermath==