by British machine-gun fire from the positions on higher ground to the left, captured from the 52nd Reserve Division. Every attempt to get across the stream failed and later the British artillery bombarded all of the Hanebeek valley. Divisional reserves had begun to move forward when the British attacked and the German artillery continuously bombarded the captured positions in the but the British guns stopped every counter-attack in the valley. At after much longer preparatory fire and a short hurricane bombardment, the counter-attack began again, reinforced by troops from RIR 238 on the right flank of the 52nd Reserve Division; the attack was a costly failure. The muddy ground, lack of cover and the excellent view of the ground gained by the British from their captured positions, made it impossible for the Germans to recapture Westhoek Ridge. A few parties made it across the Hanebeek and a group from the 4th Company, RIR 90, managed to overrun a position in Nonne Bosschen wood. A counter-attack at was another costly failure and the remains of RIR 90 spent the night patrolling to prevent a surprise attack. Aftermath Analysis The Fifth Army needed to maintain a brisk tempo of attack, to deprive the Germans of time to recover and to create the conditions for Operation Hush on the coast. Hush had to begin during the high tides at the end of August or to be postponed for a month. The Fifth Army had captured ground on the Gheluvelt Plateau on 31 July but the unusually wet and murky weather, the tenacious German defence and determined counter-attacks, left the 4th Army in control of the higher ground around the most vital objectives around Inverness Copse and Glencorse Wood. In 1920, Malcolm Kincaid-Smith, the divisional historian, called the attack by the 25th Division a great success, the advance being conducted on schedule, supported by "excellent" artillery-fire. Pack-transport was used promptly to deliver ammunition, supplies and engineer stores; carrying-parties from the support battalions kept the front line supplied. The signal arrangements using daylight lamps worked all day, except on the left flank; runners maintained contact with the rear despite the German artillery and small-arms fire. Medical services had been changed after the Battle of Messines in June and worked well. In 1922, G. H. F. Nichols, the historian of the 18th (Eastern) Division, wrote that it had experienced the new German defensive system for the