Detail from the Indian Memorial at Neuve Chapelle: interior. © 2013, John M. Shea
"Br.-General Pinney hoped to be able to attack at 11.30 P.M. [on March 12, 1915], but the confusion of units was so great that battalion commanders asked for a two-hour postponement. . . . As [zero hour] approached, the men, exhausted after three days and nights continuously under fire, had fallen asleep, and could only be aroused by use of force, a process made very lengthy by the fact that this part of the battlefield was covered with British and German dead, who, in the dark, were indistinguishable from the sleepers."
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle began on March 10, 1915 with a thirty-five minute bombardment by British and Indian artillery. By 10:00 AM British and Indian infantry in the center of the line had reached their day's objective, breaking through the German line to see open country before them. But on either flank the advance had been stymied, and they held their ground the night of the 10th. Overnight, German defenders moved in, dug in, and were in position to halt a renewed offensive on March 11. March 12 began with a German counter-attack, one the British stopped before resuming their own offensive. The Germans stopped this in turn. Based on an overly optimistic understanding of the situation, the British planned a renewed attack for the night of March 12, but this was called off as it became clear the troops were disorganized and in no condition to attack. The British suspended their offensive. In the battle, each side suffered about 12,000 casualties. The Indian Corps Meerut and Lahore Divisions accounted for 4,047 of the British total.
Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915, Vol. I, Winter 1914-15: Battle of Neuve Chappelle : Battle of Ypres [Second] by J. E. Edmonds, page 146, copyright © asserted, publisher: Macmillan and Co., Limited, publication date: 1927
1915-03-12, 1915, March, Battle of Neuve Chapelle, Indian Corps, Indian Memorial at Neuve Chapelle
