_After describing the main topographical features of the battlefield and
showing how the Germans had established a strong post with numerous
machine guns among the big houses, behind walls and in orchards which
flanked the approaches to the village, Sir John proceeds:_

The battle opened at 7:30 o'clock the morning of the 10th of March by a
powerful bombardment of the enemy's position in Neuve Chapelle. The
artillery bombardment had been well prepared and was most effective,
except on the extreme northern portion of the front of attack.

At 8:05 o'clock the Twenty-third and Twenty-fifth Brigades of the Eighth
Division assaulted the German trenches on the northwest of the village.
At the same hour the Garhwal Brigade of the Meerut (British India)
Division, which occupied a position to the south of Neuve Chapelle,
assaulted the German trenches in its front. The Garhwal Brigade and the
Twenty-fifth Brigade carried the enemy's lines of intrenchment, where
the wire entanglements had been almost entirely swept away by our
shrapnel fire.

The Twenty-third Brigade, however, on the northeast, was held up by wire
entanglements which were not sufficiently cut. At 8:05 o'clock the
artillery was turned on Neuve Chapelle, and at 8:35 o'clock the advance
of the infantry was continued. The Twenty-fifth and the Garhwal Brigades
pushed on eastward and northeastward, respectively, and succeeded in
getting a foothold in the village. The Twenty-third Brigade was still
held up in front of the enemy's wire entanglements, and could not
progress. Heavy losses were suffered, especially in the Middlesex
Regiment and the Scottish Rifles.