Near dusk on the morning of May 13th 1915, approximately 433 pieces of artillery opened fire on the German positions around the village of Festubert, this barrage of artillery fire continued for approximately 60 hours, using some 100,000 projectiles.

Little damage had actually been inflicted on the German positions, and during the cover of darkness of May 15th 1915, two divisions of (mainly Indian) infantry attacked, they encountered heavy shell and machine gun fire from the German lines where, the defence's had not been brought down by the previous heavy bombardment.

On the 16th May 1915, further attempts were made to gain the German position, with little or no success, but during the night the Germans withdrew and set up a new line of resistance in front of Festubert.

On the 18th May 1915, a new assault on this line was ordered, but Canadian troops were stopped by the German artillery. In heavy rain the allied troops began to dig trenches to consolidate the small gain of land, by forming a continuous line.

During the night of May 18th 1915, the German position was reinforced with all their available reserves.

Between 20th May - 24th May 1915 the allied troops succeeded in gaining the village of Festubert, the Germans were later to take back this area in their large offensive in 1918.

On the 25th May 1915 the British Command brought the battle of Festubert to an end, the British had suffered some 16,000 casualties during the battle.

Views of Festubert during this period may be viewed by Clicking Here.

Note:- Due to the nature of the subject covered, you are advised to check the information prior to its use.