deliver counter-attacks all along the line, especially against the
advanced position held by the 1st A.C. These, however, failed just as
completely as had our own attempt to advance on the left. Several very
determined attacks were made against the Guards' Brigade at the Soupir
farm, but all were repulsed with heavy loss.
The enemy was all this time steadily outranging our artillery with its
big eleven-inch guns, popularly known as "Black Marias." The difficulty
of properly entrenching against this long-range cannonade was greatly
increased by the scarcity of proper tools, but, by means of a mixed
assortment of implements, borrowed from the farms, a certain amount of
protection was secured, and this was steadily improved upon from day to
day. It began to be realized by now, by all parties concerned, that
these entrenchments were likely to be rather more permanent than the
emergency ditches scooped out with hands and mess-tins at Mons and Le
Cateau, and in point of fact the line held at this time remained
practically unchanged till the removal of the troops to Flanders.
On the right the 1st A.C. held the ground from the Chemin des Dames
through Chivy to La Cour de Soupir. On their left was the 3rd Division
about a mile to the north of Vailly. Then came the gap caused by the
bridge at Conde being in the German hands. Beyond this the 5th
Division--as we have seen--held the ground from the bend in the river
east of Missy to St. Marguerite; and beyond St. Marguerite the 4th
Division joined up with the 6th French Army. The 6th Division arrived
at this time, thus technically completing General Pulteney's 3rd A.C.
As a matter of fact, however, the C. in C., at the first, utilized the
greater part of this division to strengthen the 1st A.C. on the right,
where the greatest German pressure was being felt, the remainder being
held in reserve.
About noon on the 16th, the line held by the Guards' Brigade at the
Soupir farm, always the special object of German attention, was treated
to an exceptionally violent bombardment. So accurate, in fact, was this
fire, that the Brigadier-General ordered a temporary retirement to the
shelter of the road behind and below. Very shortly after this
retirement had taken place, it was seen that a barn at one end of the
farm buildings, which had just been vacated, was on fire. This barn was
being used as a temporary hospital, and in it at the time were some
fifty wounded Germans. It was clearly a case for very prompt action and
very risky action, but there was no hesitation about it. Without the
loss of a moment, Major Matheson, who at the time was commanding the
3rd Coldstream, called for volunteers, and accompanied by Major Steele
and Drs. Huggan and Shields and some men of No. I Company under Lord
Feilding, he rushed forward through the shell-fire to the blazing
building. All concerned worked with such goodwill that every wounded
man was successfully got into safety and with few casualties on our
side, but a few minutes later Dr. Huggan, who had been very active in
the rescue work, was killed by a shell which burst in a quarry into
which some of the wounded had been carried. The same shell killed
twelve others, including three officers of the 52nd Oxford Light
Infantry who were attached at the time to the Guards' Brigade, and
wounded fifty more. Dr. Huggan, who was best known as a Scotch
International football player, had greatly distinguished himself on
former occasions, both at Landrecies and Villers-Cotterets, by his
courage and devotion to the wounded. He was buried in the garden of the
farm.
The 16th was otherwise an uneventful day, but on the 17th there was a
good deal of fighting here and there, enlivened by some fine individual
acts of bravery and devotion.
An incident on the right of our line at this time attracted much
attention on account of the German methods which it disclosed--methods
with which we afterwards became much more familiar. At the village of
Troyon a captain and two subalterns and 160 men of the Northamptons had
entrenched themselves by the roadside some distance ahead of the main
body. Two hundred and fifty yards to their front, and separated from
them by a turnip field, was a German entrenchment containing from 400
to 500 men. For five days the Northants men had to remain in trenches
which were knee deep in water. Rain fell ceaselessly, and on the 17th
seemed to come down harder than ever. Ague appeared among the men, and
considerably reduced their effective strength. On the 15th the captain
in command showed himself for a moment above the trench and was at once
killed. Shortly afterwards the senior lieutenant was also killed. The
command then devolved upon the junior lieutenant, who had less than a
year's service.
On the 17th--to the surprise of all--the Germans were seen advancing
across the turnip field holding up their hands. It was to be assumed
that they too had had enough of their water-logged trenches. The
Northamptons, naturally gratified at this surrender, left the trench to
meet them. When, however, the German officer saw how few men they had
to deal with, he changed his mind and ordered his men to charge. The
young lieutenant promptly shot the German officer and a sergeant with
his revolver, but was himself immediately shot down, though, strange to
say, not killed. The affair, however, would obviously have gone very
badly for the Northamptons, who were outnumbered by three or four to
one, if the 1st Queen's, who had been looking on from the right flank,
suspecting foul play, had not promptly brought their machine-gun to
bear on the situation. The 1st Coldstream were also quickly on the
spot, and the German force was accounted for to a man.
Further west, in the Soupir district, the Guards' Brigade, who seemed
specially singled out at this period for all the enemy's most ferocious
attacks, were given a particularly bad time on this day. All attacks,
however, were beaten off with severe loss to the enemy.
One incident is worth recording. North of Chavonne, where the 2nd
Grenadiers were posted, there was a barn from which some snipers were
keeping up a very irritating fire on the battalion. There was no
artillery available at the moment for its destruction, and yet its
destruction was of all things most desirable for the safety of the
battalion. While the problem was under consideration, Corpl. Thomas, of
the 2nd Grenadiers, decided on a line of action. They were in a
wheat-field in which the sheaves were stacked ready for carting. With a
couple of comrades whom he persuaded to accompany him, he left the
trenches, caught up a sheaf in each hand, and raced full tilt for the
barn. There they piled up the sheaves against the wood-work, set fire
to them and raced back again. Not a man of the party was touched,
though both coming and going they ran through a hail of bullets. It is
satisfactory to record that the barn burnt bravely and that the enemy
retired with some rapidity. Later on, on November 6th, this same
Grenadier, then a sergeant, gained the D.C.M. for another act of
conspicuous gallantry.
The British force had now been five days on the Aisne, and had lost an
average of 2,000 men per day. On the 17th, one of the 2,000 to fall for
his country was Captain Wright, R.E. He was only a unit--one out of a
host that fell; but he stands out, both on account of the manner of his
death and because only a short three weeks before he had gained the
Victoria Cross for great gallantry during the destruction of one of the
bridges over the Mons canal. On this occasion the 5th C.B. had to get
across to the south side of the river. Now that further advance was for
the time being out of the question, the north side of the Aisne was
clearly no place for cavalry. So the 5th C.B. had to get back across
the pontoon bridge at Vailly. The bridge itself and both banks were
under shell-fire, but Captain Wright, who was responsible for the
bridge, considered himself equally responsible for the safety of those
who crossed. The casualties among the cavalry were not many; but there
were some; and it was while helping one of these wounded men into
shelter that Captain Wright was killed.
On the night following, there was another gallant death among the
Sappers. It was highly important to establish telephonic communication
between the 9th Brigade on the north bank and Divisional Head Quarters
on the south bank. There was no bridge and there was no boat. The river
was swollen, sixty yards across and very uninviting. A private in the
R.E. volunteered to try and swim across with a line; but he was a
married man, and Lieut. Hutton, R.E., would not allow it. He himself
took the line, plunged into the river, and very nearly got across, but
was sucked under by the eddies and drowned.
Another act this day which gained no Victoria Cross was that of Captain
Everlegh, of the 52nd Oxford Light Infantry, who left the shelter of
his trench to help a wounded animal, and was killed by a shell in so
doing. It does not detract from the nobility of the act that the animal
in question was only a pig.
The German attack was still mainly confined to the right end of our
line, where the Germans ceaselessly, and always unsuccessfully, tried
to drive the 1st A.C. from the heights on which they had established
themselves in the first day's fighting. The Germans lost very heavily
in these attacks and our own casualties were far from light. On the
20th the Aisne casualty list had mounted up to 561 officers and 13,000
men. In order to make up deficiencies, the C. in C. decided to send up
the 18th Brigade, out of the 6th Division, just arrived, to support the
2nd Brigade on the extreme right of our line.
The 18th Brigade, on its arrival, took up a position between the 2nd
Brigade and the French, with the W. Yorks as its right-hand battalion.
It was this battalion's first day's fighting, and its initiation was a
particularly cruel one, for the French troops, who should have
protected its right, coolly went away to their dinner, leaving the
flank of the W. Yorks absolutely unprotected, with the result that they
found themselves mercilessly enfiladed and driven from their trenches
with considerable loss. The Sherwood Foresters, also in the 18th
Brigade, were in reserve down a steep slope in rear of the W. Yorks
trenches. They were lying down in groups, talking over the prospects of
their first day in the fighting line, when the news of the disaster
above reached them. Without waiting to get into any formation, they
jumped to their feet and charged up the slope. The officers were so far
ahead as to be conspicuous, and nearly half of their number fell, but
the survivors charged home, and, supported by some of the 4th Dragoon
Guards, dismounted, led by Major Bridges, they joined up with the W.
Yorks and re-took the lost trenches. The French, returning hurriedly
from their dinner, full of apologies for their absence, and anxious to
make reparation, put in some useful work with the bayonet on our flank.
This little affair cost us six hundred men, the Sherwood Foresters
alone losing fourteen officers.
Between September 20th and 25th the battle of the Aisne seemed on the
high road to die of inanition. It had come in like a lion; it went out
like a very small lamb. When we use the term "battle of the Aisne" we
are, of course, talking parochially. The Aisne battle has now been
raging for an indefinite number of months over a front of a hundred
miles. For us, however, the meaning of the term does not extend beyond
the four weeks during which British and German troops faced one another
between Soissons and Bourg. This is the only battle of the Aisne we are
at present concerned with, and this battle began to get very quiet and
uneventful. The weather, however, took a turn for the better, the wind
shifting round out of the north-west, and sunshine once more took the
place of the bitter rain storms of the past fortnight.
On the 25th, German activity was to some extent revived by the arrival
of 200,000 reinforcements from Brussels and from the neighbourhood of
Verdun. These came up by train by way of Liege and Valenciennes, and
were distributed at various points along the enemy's right. The Verdun
troops were reported very weary. The stimulus afforded by the arrival
of these new troops was, however, merely sporadic, and from the point
of view of public interest the Aisne battle may be said to have shot
its bolt. Its waning days were, however, illuminated by one individual
act of such remarkable courage that the history of the Aisne period
would scarcely be complete without it.
On the morning of the 28th, while the 2nd Coldstream were on the left
of the 4th Brigade at what was known as the Tunnel post, the men of
Captain Follett's company were sent out in a very thick mist to
reconnoitre. It was a risky undertaking, for the German lines were very
close. Suddenly the mist lifted, and two out of the three were
instantly shot, the third getting home with only a graze. As leaving
them where they lay meant fourteen hours' exposure before they could be
got in under cover of darkness, Pte. Dobson volunteered to try and get
them in at once. The undertaking appeared on the face of it an absolute
impossibility, as it involved crossing a good deal of open ground in
full view of the enemy. However, Dobson crawled out and managed to
reach the men, one of whom he found dead, and the other wounded in
three places. He applied first-aid dressings and then crawled back. A
few minutes later he crawled out again, this time in company with
Corpl. Brown, the two men dragging a stretcher between them on which
the wounded man was placed and dragged back into safety, none of the
three being hit. It need scarcely be added that Dobson got the Victoria
Cross for this most remarkable performance, Corpl. Brown being awarded
the D.C.M.
Towards the end of September operations in the Champagne country, as
has been said, were beginning to stagnate. The Aisne had ceased to be a
battlefield on which contending forces strove for position, and met in
open shock on the downs, or in the beet fields. It had degenerated into
a scene of mutual siege, where, in parallel lines of trenches, two
armies were content to sit down and block progress. In view of the
steady decrease in the distance between the hostile trenches, artillery
operations had gradually assumed a more or less complimentary character
and the game of war became restricted to sniping and construction work.
With each succeeding day the position became more and more aggravated
as trenches were made deeper and more secure, and entanglements of all
kinds reduced still further the possibility of surprise or assault. For
the soldier on duty such operations have but little interest; for the
historian or the student of war they have none. We may, therefore, turn
without reluctance to the more general situation, which by now was
rapidly beginning to develop in interest.
The end of September and the beginning of October found both the
Germans and the Allied Armies extending their flanks westward. As
growing familiarity with the trench system of warfare began to make it
clear to both sides that no further progress was possible by means of
direct pressure, the German and Allied leaders began to scent a more
favourable outlet for their energies on the western flank of
operations, where--and where only--a roadway still lay open. The
gradual shifting of German troops westward, or, to be more accurate,
north-westward, could have no meaning but that of an attempt to force
their way into France along the flat plains of Western Flanders; and
no sooner was such an intention made plain than a corresponding
movement was made by the Allies in an endeavour to forestall the enemy
and envelop his flank before he could extend it. It was clear that the
German move postulated the speedy capture of Antwerp, as the fall of
that fortress was a necessary preliminary to any extended movement
along the Belgian seaboard. A considerable British force was in
process of being sent to Antwerp, and in addition to this force, the
7th Division and 3rd Cavalry Division were landed at Zeebrugge on
October 7th, with a view to co-operating either with the Antwerp
troops or with the main Allied Army as circumstances dictated.
A consideration of these several important factors in the situation
suggested to the C. in C. the desirability of entrusting the western
extension movement, in the first instance, to the British Army at the
moment occupying the Aisne trenches. Not only would such an exchange of
positions greatly increase the facilities for bringing up supplies and
for communications generally with England, but, in the event of the
co-operation of the 7th and 3rd Cavalry Divisions, it would have the
advantage of putting that detached body of troops in touch with the
left of the main British Army and so of consolidating the command.
General Joffre at first demurred, on account of the obvious objections
attending the transfer from one set of troops to another of trenches
situated so very close to those of the enemy as were ours on the Aisne,
such transfer only being possible at night and under the strictest
precautions. The C. in C, however, was insistent, and in the end the
French General was persuaded that the advantages of the plan outweighed
the drawbacks. There can be no question now but that the judgment of
the C. in C. was fully endorsed by the event.
The transfer of troops was begun on October 3rd, on which day the
cavalry set out by road for Flanders, and two days later the 2nd A.C.
started entraining for St. Omer at Pont Ste. Maxence and Soissons.
Nothing could have been more auspicious than the start of the cavalry
as they turned their backs on the Aisne valley. The heavy rains of
mid-September had been succeeded by a spell of magnificent weather, and
on the morning of the 3rd it was at its best. The sun shone out of a
clear sky, and, slanting over the backs of the men as they rode, fell
full on the wooded slopes above Le Moncel and Chivres, where the tints
of autumn were already beginning to show among the green. Below, down
the valley, the winding Aisne showed up here and there, reflecting back
the blue of the sky. The spirits of all ranks were in tune with the
weather and the scene. Trench warfare offers no opportunities to
cavalry--as cavalry--and the change westward at any rate carried with
it the promise of increased action.
MANOEUVRING WESTWARD
General Foch, with his Head Quarters at Doulens, at this time commanded
all the French troops north of Noyon, and the Flanders plan of campaign
was arranged between him and the C. in C. as follows: The 2nd A.C. was
to occupy the canal line from Aire to Bethune, and the 3rd A.C. on
arrival was to extend that line northward. The road running from
Bethune to Lille was to be the dividing line between French and
British, and the aim of the British force was to be to wheel to the
right and so menace the flank of the Germans facing the 21st French
Army Corps under General Maistre. The 7th Division and the 3rd Cavalry
Division from Belgium were to co-operate in this general wheeling
movement as circumstances permitted.
This scheme, as things turned out, was destined to be entirely upset by
the fall of Antwerp on October 9th. For the first week it worked
admirably, and the cavalry patrols and infantry outposts opposed to us
fell back--as had been anticipated--before our advance. Then German
reinforcements began to come up. Four Army Corps were railed up from
the eastern frontier, to which were presently added some 90,000 troops
released by the fall of Antwerp.
However, before these things happened, we had made some progress from
our original line in an attempt to carry out the formulated scheme. On
October 11th the detrainment of the 2nd A.C. was completed and Sir
Horace moved his two divisions into position between Aire and Bethune.
On October 12th the 3rd A.C, under General Pulteney, arrived at St.
Omer and moved forward to Hazebrouck. The moment this Army Corps was in
position Sir Horace made the first move in the contemplated sweep by
pushing forward the 3rd Division, which was on the left of the 2nd A.C,
with orders to cross the Lawe Canal, which the enemy was reported to be
holding in force. The advance was carried out with but little serious
opposition, except in the neighbourhood of the locks at Etroa, where
the 2nd R. Scots in the 8th Brigade met with a stubborn resistance, in
the course of which Lieut. Trotter was killed and Captain Croker (in
command of the battalion) and Captain Heathcote badly wounded. The
battalion, however, in spite of losses, continued to advance with great
gallantry to the line of the canal, which Captain Tanner and Lieut.
Cazenove, with the leading company, eventually succeeded in crossing by
the lock-gates, an exploit for which the former received the D.S.O. and
the latter the Military Cross. The defenders thereupon at once gave
way, suffering heavily in their retirement from the rifle fire of the
4th Middlesex on the right.
On the following morning the 3rd Division advance was renewed, the
brigade chiefly concerned being once again the 8th, in the centre. This
brigade set out at 6.30, the Middlesex being on the right, the R. Scots
in the centre, and the 1st Gordon Highlanders on the left.
The country was dead flat, and the advance very slow owing to the
innumerable water-dykes with which the country is intersected and which
could only be crossed by means of planks or ladders borrowed from the
farms.
About midday the Middlesex captured the village of Croix Barbee and the
R. Scots performed the same office by Pont de Hem, but shortly
afterwards further advance was checked, the enemy being found in
considerable force and strongly entrenched, and the country offering no
sort of cover. The brigade, however, though unable to advance, refused
to retire, and very fierce fighting ensued, in the course of which the
enemy made two most determined counter-attacks, one on Lieut.
Henderson's Company on the left of the R. Scots, and one on Captain
Passy's Company on the left of the Middlesex line. Both these attacks
were repulsed with heavy loss to the enemy, but the casualties on our
side were also severe, Lieut. Henderson--who was awarded the Cross of
the Legion of Honour for the great gallantry which he displayed
throughout these operations--being badly wounded, and Captain Passy's
Company being reduced to the dimensions of a platoon. By nightfall the
R. Scots had lost, during the day, 9 officers and close on 400 men.
Second-Lieuts. Hewitt, Kerr and Snead-Cox had been killed, and of
Captain Morrison's Company all the officers and 175 rank and file had
been either killed or wounded.
The losses in the Middlesex were almost as severe, Lieut. Coles, among
others, being killed and Major Finch and Captain Passy severely
wounded. Both battalions, however, maintained their ground with the
utmost determination.
On the 14th some more of the actors in the approaching drama began to
fall into their allotted places. The immortal 7th Division reached
Ypres from Dixmude at midday and went into billets. The 3rd Cavalry
Division arrived at the same time and from the same quarter, and split
up, the 6th C.B. going to Wytschate and the 7th C.B. to Kemmel. The
original Cavalry Brigades had now been re-organized, de Lisle taking
over the 1st Division from Allenby, Gough retaining the second, and
both divisions forming a "Cavalry Corps" under General Allenby. The 3rd
Cavalry Division, on the other hand, had no part or parcel in this
Cavalry Corps, being a separate and independent organization, under
General the Hon. J. Byng.
During the day the Cavalry Corps captured the high ground above Bethune
after some stiff fighting, while the 3rd A.C. advanced and occupied
Bailleul, which was found to be full of German wounded. The 9th Brigade
on the left of the 3rd Division was still pushing ahead, but the 8th
Brigade was found to have got too far in advance of the troops further
north, who had the bigger sweep to make, and General Doran, the
Brigadier, ordered the brigade to entrench where it was, the R. Irish
Regiment under Major Daniell being brought up from reserve to fill the
gaps made the previous day in the ranks of the 4th Middlesex and 2nd R.
Scots.