Northeast of the salient a counter-attack carried out by us about 1 A.M.
was more successful. Our troops swept the enemy out of Wieltje at the
bayonet's point, leaving the village strewn with German dead and,
pushing on, regained most of the ground to the north of that point. And
so the fight surged to and fro throughout the night. All around the
scene of the conflict the sky was lit up by the flashes of the guns and
the light of blazing villages and farms, while against this background
of smoke and flame, looking out in the murky light over the crumbling
ruins of the old town, rose the battered wreck of the cathedral town
and the spires of Cloth Hall.
When Sunday dawned there came a short respite, and the firing for a time
died down. The comparative lull enabled us to reorganize and consolidate
our position on the new line we had taken up and to obtain some rest
after the fatigue and strain of the night. It did not last long,
however, and in the afternoon the climax of the battle was reached, for,
under the cover of intense artillery fire, the Germans launched no less
than five separate assaults against the east of the salient.
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