The battle of the Lys was the second of General Ludendorff's offensives of 1918, designed to win the war before the ever-increasing number of American troops in France could enter the fighting. His first effort, the second battle of the Somme (21 March-5 April) had threatened drive a wedge between the British and French lines, but the situation had been restored after the appointment of General Foch as overall Allied commander on the Western Front.
The River Lys formed the boundary between General Horne's First Army (south of the river) and General Plumer's Second Army (north of the river). The German plan was for General Quast's Sixth Army to attack south of the Lys on 9 April, and drive north west to the rail centre at Hazebrouck, while General von Armin's Fourth Army would attack between the Lys and Ypres.
The battle was preceded by a well planned artillery bombardment, lasting from the evening of 7 April until 4 am on 9 April. Once the bombardment was over, Quast's army attacked. The brunt of their attack fell on the 2nd Portuguese Division, close to Nueve Chapelle, which collapsed under the strain, retreating five miles. Horne was forced to pull his entire line back to prevent a gap developing.
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