German postcard map of the Western Front in Flanders, looking south and including Lille, Arras, Calais, and Ostend. In the Battle of the Yser in October, 1914, the Belgian Army held the territory south of the Yser Canal, visible between Nieuport, Dixmude, and Ypres (Ypern). Further north is Passchendaele, which British forces took at great cost in 1917.
Der KanalStraße von CalaisThe English Channel and the Strait of CalaisReverse:Panorama des westlichen Kriegsschauplatzes 1914/15 Von Arras bis Ostende.Die Panorama-Postkartenreihe umfaßt mit ihren 9 Abschnitten Nr. 400 bis 408 den gesamten westlichen Kriegsschauplatz von der Schweizer Grenze bis zur Nordseeküste.Panorama of the western theater of operations 1914/15 from Arras to Ostend. The panoramic postcard series includes nine sections, with their No. 400-408 the entire western battlefield from the Swiss border to the North Sea coast.Nr. 408Wenau-Postkarte Patentamtl. gesch.
"On the 4th November [1914] there was a heavy mist all day, turning to rain about 5 P.M. which lasted until nearly 11 P.M. Except for shelling, the day was less eventful than the previous one. . . . The state of the troops was very serious; in a tight place, the British soldier can always be called upon for a final effort, but numbers were now so reduced, that the corps and divisional commanders felt that no plans could be based on the ability of the troops to hold on. . . . the increasing want of gun ammunition could not be supplied by an appeal to morale."
The British had been subjected to repeated German attacks since mid-October, and had needed support from the French in the most violent attack on October 31. Not expecting a long war, no nation had at hand the enormous quantities of ammunition the war demanded.
Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914, Vol. II, October-November by J. E. Edmonds, page 379, copyright © asserted, publisher: MacMillan and Co., Limited, publication date: 1925
J.E. Edmonds, Edmonds, Ypres, 1914, First Battle of Ypres, November, 1914-11-04
