twenty-four hours, when it was relieved by the French. In fact during
the night of the 23rd and the morning of the 24th the entire line from
Bixschoote to Zonnebeke, which the 1st A.C. had taken over from the 3rd
Cavalry Division three days earlier, was in turn taken over from them
by the French, a Division of the 87th Territorials relieving the 1st
Division between Bixschoote and Langemarck, and the 18th Corps of the
9th French Army taking the place of the 2nd Division from Langemarck to
Zonnebeke.
The 1st Division went into reserve at Ypres, whilst the 2nd Division
moved down to its right across the Zonnebeke road, and took over the
position of the 22nd Brigade, which also went back into reserve with
its numbers sadly thinned by the fighting of the last three days.
On the following night the 1st Division came up on the right of the 2nd
Division and took over the line from west of Reutel to the Menin road,
thus relieving the 7th Division of any further responsibility north of
that road.
This proved to be the final shuffle of the Ypres defence force, and the
positions now taken over proved--broadly speaking--to be permanent. It
will be well, therefore, for a thorough understanding of what followed,
that these positions should be clearly fixed in the reader's mind. They
were as follows: North of the Zonnebeke road the French had now taken
over entire charge. From the Zonnebeke road to a point near the
race-course in the Polygon wood, west of Reutel, was the 2nd Division;
on its right, reaching to the Menin road, was the 1st Division, and
from the Menin road to Zandvoorde the 7th Division, with the 3rd
Cavalry Division in the Zandvoorde trenches. So far, so good. Our line
was everywhere strengthened and consolidated. Between Zonnebeke and
Zandvoorde three divisions now occupied the ground hitherto held by the
three brigades of the 7th Division; but, on the other hand, fresh
German troops were daily arriving in their thousands at Roulers and
Menin, and though the line of our resistance might be stronger, the
pressure of attack was correspondingly increased.
The shortening and thickening of our line was not, as events proved,
accomplished one moment too soon, for on the morning of the 24th the
British position was attacked all along its length with a determination
which could hardly have been withstood by the attenuated line of a week
before.
The 2nd Battalion of the Warwickshire Regiment accomplished a fine
achievement on this morning. At dawn they were marched away from
Zonnebeke to retake the trenches south of Reutel out of which the
Wiltshire Regiment had been shelled. The operation entailed an advance
of a mile over ground which was constantly under fire. The final act
was the rushing of the German position, the nucleus of which was a
small detached farm-house in which were several machine-guns. Col.
Loring, who had already been wounded, himself led this last charge and
fell dead in the act. The house, however, was captured and the whole
German position rushed and occupied, the enemy being driven out with
very considerable loss. The Warwicks lost 105 men and several officers.
Almost at the same moment a very similar act, in many respects, was
performed by Captain Dunlop's company of the 1st S. Staffords, which it
will be remembered had been detached from its battalion on the 21st for
the support of the Northumberland Hussars. Here again a farm-house
bristling with machine-guns had to be rushed, and here again in the
very moment of victory the leader fell dead.
These single company engagements were a special characteristic of the
fighting at this period. Owing to our scarcity of men, it was seldom
that an entire battalion could be spared for purposes of support, and
single companies were consequently sent hither and thither to do the
work of battalions--to fill gaps, strengthen weak spots, and even--as
sometimes happened--to retake lost positions and drive back parties of
the enemy which had broken through. A case in point on this very
morning of October 24th was that of No. 4 Company 1st Grenadier Guards.
The circumstances here were that the Germans had succeeded in breaking
through the right flank of the 21st Brigade, and, as serious
consequences threatened, a counter-attack was ordered to be made by
Major Colby with No. 4 Company of the Grenadiers, who were at the time
on the left of the 20th Brigade. The undertaking in this case was an
extremely difficult and dangerous one, both on account of the numerical
insufficiency of a single company for the task assigned it, and also
because the attack entailed the negotiation of our own barbed wire
entanglement. This entanglement, it need scarcely be said, was under a
very constant fire from the enemy, making the undertaking, on the face
of it, almost a hopeless one. However, it was done. The Grenadiers
crawled through, over or under the wire, reformed on the far side,
charged and drove the enemy back once more to their own lines. The
losses of the Grenadiers were very severe, and, as in the case of the
other two companies, the leader, Major Colby, fell dead at the head of
his men. Lieut. Antrobus was also killed and Captain Leatham was
severely wounded. In the meanwhile the 5th Brigade had been brought up
from reserve and completed the rout of the enemy.
On the same morning the 6th Brigade, which had taken over the position
of the 22nd Brigade south of the Zonnebeke road, began pushing forward
with the ambitious view of re-occupying the advance trenches originally
held by the 7th Division along the Paschendael--Becelaere road. The 1st
Berkshire Regiment, under Col. Graham, was on the left of the brigade
next the road, with the King's Regiment on its right, the other two
battalions being in support. In this formation the brigade now advanced
with such dash and vigour as completely to outstrip the troops to right
and left. The woods in front were full of Germans; every yard gained
had to be fought for, and there were considerable casualties, Col.
Bannatyne, of the King's, being amongst those killed. However, the
brigade made its point and got into the old trenches, but as the French
on the north side of the road had not succeeded in making the same
progress, the position was a precarious one, and two companies of the
Berkshire Regiment had to be thrown back almost at right angles, that
is to say, parallel with the road, in order to cover the half mile
which separated them. The performance of this regiment was a distinctly
meritorious one, several guns being captured as well as prisoners, and
it was duly recognized as such in high quarters, Lieut. Nicholson and
Lieut. Hanbury-Sparrow getting the D.S.O. for their conduct on this
occasion, while Sergt.-Major Smith, Sergt. Taylor and Pte. Bossom were
awarded the D.C.M.
The push and enterprise of this regiment on the 24th roused the
activity and emulation of the whole division, which, on the following
morning, was ordered to advance against Reutel. The attack opened with
a furious bombardment of that place by our artillery, and in the
afternoon the 4th Brigade was ordered to clear the Polygon wood, the
object now being to bring up the 4th and 5th Brigades in line with the
6th.
The 4th Brigade advanced with the Irish Guards and 2nd Grenadiers in
the front line, the two Coldstream battalions being in support. Night
fell before any great advance could be made. The night was one of
torrential rain, which the troops passed in the extremity of misery
waiting for the dawn. The attack was then resumed, the 2nd Coldstream
coming up into line between the Irish Guards and the Grenadiers. Later
on the 3rd Coldstream were also brought up into line on the right of
the Grenadiers. The 5th Brigade was on the right of the 4th. Good
progress was made, and the line with the 6th Brigade having been
established, the men dug themselves in at dusk. This wearisome but
highly necessary step had hardly been completed before a furious
counter-attack was made at 10 p.m. It was, however, repulsed with loss,
and the 2nd Division, cold, wet and weary, remained unmolested for the
rest of the night.
This successful advance on the 26th was--as far as this chronicle is
concerned--the last act of the 4th (Guards) Brigade as an integral
unit. From this time on, the 2nd Grenadiers and the Irish Guards will
be found acting quite independently in another part of the field, under
the command of Lord Cavan, while the 2nd and 3rd Coldstream remained in
the Polygon wood trenches under Col. Pereira. Later on these two
Coldstream battalions were joined by the remnant of the 1st Battalion
from the 1st Brigade, so that the regiment was, in fact, consolidated.
It is important in view of subsequent events to keep this clearly in
mind. The Coldstream--with the exception of the 1st Battalion--will not
again appear in these pages as actors in the great Ypres drama. But
though not directly under the limelight, the role allotted to them
henceforth was probably as trying as that to which any regiment could
be subjected. For twenty-two consecutive days from the date of the
advance they occupied the Polygon wood trenches. In the case of the 3rd
Battalion these trenches zig-zagged along the eastern edge of the wood,
while the 2nd Battalion trenches ran through the wood itself and were
straight. In each case the general lie was north and south, in contrast
to the trenches of the 6th Brigade on their left, which faced
north-east, making, in fact, the first bend back in the Ypres salient.
These Polygon wood trenches proved most abominably wet even for
Flanders, the neighbourhood abounding in springs which kept them half
full of water even in dry weather. Here the Coldstreamers stayed
unrelieved for over three weeks, up to their knees in water, under
ceaseless shell-fire, and sniped at with horrible precision on every
occasion when they raised their heads. To add to the unpleasantness of
the position, the woods in front were thick with unburied Germans, from
which the whole atmosphere was polluted. Luckily during the whole of
their tenure the wind blew from westerly quarters, which while it
brought abominably wet weather, nevertheless blew the tainted air in
the direction of the enemy.
THE FIGHTING AT KRUISEIK
While four of the Guards' battalions were thus pushing their way
through the Polygon wood near Reutel, the two Guards' battalions in the
20th Brigade were enacting a small drama of their own at the village of
Kruiseik, south of the Menin road. Here two companies of the Scots
Guards, and the King's Company, 1st Grenadiers, had been posted in some
advance trenches east of the village in the direction of the country
road running from the village of Vieux Chien to Werwick. About 8.30 at
night these advance trenches were attempted by peculiarly German
methods. Through the intense darkness that reigned that night, and
through the torrential rain, the enemy crept up close to our lines with
the aid of every device known to twentieth century warfare. Some said
they had come to surrender, others said they were the S. Staffords, and
others again called appealingly for Captain Paynter, who was, in actual
fact, in command of the right-hand of the two Scots Guards companies.
That officer's response, however, took the form of a well-directed
fire, and the friendly inquirers departed with some haste. Lord Claud
Hamilton (1st Grenadiers), who was in charge of the machine-gun
section, was also undeceived by the friendliness of the visitors, and
his maxims contributed to the haste of their departure. This officer
had now been seven days and nights, unrelieved, in the machine-gun
trenches, and the coolness and resource which he displayed during that
period gained for him the D.S.O. He was relieved early on the morning
following this night attack by an officer of the Scots Guards, who was
killed the same day.
The inhospitable reception of the enemy above described made the night
attack a distinct failure as far as Captain Paynter's company was
concerned. The left-hand trenches were less fortunate. It may be that
they were more unsuspecting, or perhaps the British accent of the
figures advancing through the darkness was purer on the left than on
the right. In any event a report reached the battalion headquarters in
rear about nine o'clock that these trenches had been rushed and all the
occupants killed. On receipt of this news the two reserve companies of
the Scots Guards were sent up under Major the Hon. H. Fraser to
investigate, and if necessary to retake the lost trenches. These two
companies filed silently through the main street of Kruiseik, keeping
close under the shadow of the houses on either side. Not a light was
burning, and not a sound was to be heard.
At the far end of the village Major Fraser halted the column, and went
forward alone to try and get in touch with Captain Paynter in the
right-hand forward trenches, and find out from him what the truth of
the matter really was. He managed after a time to find that officer,
who assured him that not only were his own trenches still uncaptured,
but that he had every intention of keeping them so. As to the trenches
on his left he knew nothing. With this information Major Fraser made
his way back to the east end of the village, where he had left his men.
He decided to investigate for himself the truth as to the left-hand
trenches, and, accordingly, accompanied by Lieut. Holbeche, in the
capacity of guide, and forty men, he crept down the cinder track which
led from the road to the trenches in question. The trenches were in
absolute silence, and he was beginning to doubt the story of their
occupation, when suddenly a flashlight was turned on to his party, a
word of command rang out, and a volley broke the stillness of the
night. Major Fraser gave the word to charge, and the little party
dashed forward with fixed bayonets, but they were shot down before the
trenches were reached. Major Fraser was killed and Lieut. Holbeche
severely wounded, and of the whole party only four returned.
In the meanwhile the rest of the two companies which had been waiting
at the end of the village street noticed a light in a house standing by
itself in the fields. Lord Dalrymple and Captain Fox held a
consultation and decided to surround it. When this was done, Sergt.
Mitchell, with great courage, went up to the door and knocked. It was
flung open and he was at once shot dead. The house, however, was well
surrounded, and all within it were taken prisoners. They numbered over
two hundred, including seven officers, and they were promptly sent to
the rear under escort. Further back, however, the prisoners were
transferred to the custody of some of the 2nd Queen's, and the Scots
Guards escort rejoined the two companies at the end of the village,
whereupon the lost trenches were attacked and re-captured, and
connection once more established with Captain Paynter.[8] This was not
effected without considerable further loss. In addition to those
already mentioned, Lieuts. Gladwin and Dormer were killed, and Col.
Bolton, Lord Dalrymple, Captain Fox, Lord G. Grosvenor, and the Hon. J.
Coke were all wounded, and, in the darkness of the night, fell into the
enemy's hands. The 2nd Scots Guards in all lost nine officers during
this night's fighting. On the following day the battalion was ordered
to abandon the Kruiseik trenches, and was taken back into reserve,
mustering only 450.
[8] Captain Paynter and Captain Fox got the D.S.O. for their
share in the night's work.
The withdrawal of the 2nd Scots Guards from the trenches east of
Kruiseik, which it had cost them so dearly to hold, marks the first
step in our retirement from the advanced position we had taken up,
following the forward movement of October 19th, and consequently the
first step in the straightening out of the salient bulge. They were not
replaced, and this ground passed permanently out of our hands.
The King's Company, 1st Grenadiers, which, it will be remembered, were
also posted in the advance trenches east of Kruiseik, by some means
failed to receive the order to withdraw, with the result that, on the
afternoon of the 26th, they found themselves absolutely isolated, and
cut off from their army by the better part of half a mile. The
position, on the face of it, appeared absolutely hopeless, as the
Germans were by this time in occupation of the village of Kruiseik
itself. However, as the Guards, like the Samurai, do not surrender
while yet unwounded, they faced the situation, and actually fought
their way back through the main street of the village. The Germans had
machine-guns in the windows of the houses, but for once in a way these
weapons were less effective than usual, and in the evening the company
rejoined its battalion, considerably thinned in numbers, but
triumphant. Lieut. Somerset was the only officer killed during this
retirement.
The night of the 25th was a bad one in every way for the 20th Brigade,
and the wastage of life owing to the darkness, and the rain, and the
impossibility of distinguishing friend from foe, is not good to think
upon. Here is another instance.
The 1st S. Staffords were attached for the moment to the 20th Brigade,
to which brigade they were acting reserve. Before the Scots Guards had
recovered the lost trenches, that is to say, while these and the
buildings in rear of them were still in the occupation of the enemy,
Captain Ransford was ordered up with a platoon of the S. Staffords to
reinforce the firing line. In carrying out this order he came under
fire both from the Germans in front and from our own troops in rear,
and the whole detachment was practically wiped out. Captain Ransford
himself, with great courage, went forward alone through the
impenetrable darkness to try and sift the position, and discover who
was who, but he fell in the attempt and was seen no more. There is
consolation in the probability that losses owing to mistaken identity
were not confined to our side.
The 1st S. Staffords during the confused and sanguinary fighting of
these two days, that is to say, the 25th and 26th, lost 13 officers and
440 rank and file. As has so often happened in this war, the battalion
in reserve was called upon for much of the most strenuous work, and in
this particular case the S. Staffords had at one time or another to
support each of the four units of the 20th Brigade. Much of this work
was of a particularly difficult and dangerous nature, and in the
darkness and confusion that prevailed the various units were apt at
times to get very greatly mixed up, and to lapse into the condition of
sheep without any accredited shepherd.
At one very critical moment in the ebb and flow of battle, it happened
that the C.O., Col. Ovens, who was at the time in an advanced position
with two companies of the S. Staffords, noticed a mob of some 300
men of these mixed units retiring on his left. He sent off Captain
White, the Quarter-Master of the regiment, to find out the cause.
The reply was that an order had been received to retire. Captain
White--suspecting German methods, or, at any rate, suspecting that the
order originated with someone who was interested in its fulfilment--by
super-human efforts succeeded in rallying the men and leading them
back into the firing line, an act which beyond any question had a
marked effect on the fortunes of the day, or, rather, of the night.
The desperate fighting of this period at and around Kruiseik will
always be associated with the 20th Brigade. The other two brigades in
the 7th Division were shifted about, as occasion required, to various
points between Zonnebeke and Zandvoorde; but from October 19th to the
29th, the 20th Brigade operated at Kruiseik alone. The gradual
annihilation of this splendid brigade--possibly the finest in the whole
army--forms a story which is no less stirring than it is tragic. The
tragedy is obvious, but it is relieved by the thought of the superb
devotion of each of the battalions that formed the command of General
Ruggles-Brise. Each battalion, in its own allotted sphere, fought to a
finish. Each battalion in its turn furnished an example of unflinching
heroism which is an epic in itself. They not only fought till there
were no more left to fight, but they fought up to the very end with
success. It must have been a consolation to their gallant Brigadier,
when in the end he was carried off the field with a shattered thigh, to
feel that he had survived long enough to share in a glory which will
never be excelled.
The worst sufferer in the early days of the Kruiseik fighting was
the 2nd Battalion of the Border Regiment. The experiences of this
regiment are of the highest interest, as being typical of the
hold-on-at-all-costs spirit which animated the British force during
the period of the German advance, and which was responsible for the
miscarriage of all the desperate efforts of the enemy to break
through. On October 22nd the battalion was posted along the road from
Zandvoorde, at the point where it cuts the Kruiseik--Werwick road.
Their trenches formed an ugly salient, which was commanded on three
sides by the enemy's artillery, and at which particularly accurate
practice could be, and was, made by the German batteries posted on the
America ridge, about a mile to the south-east. Their instructions were
to hold on to these trenches _at all costs_ till relieved. They
did hold on, and on the 27th they were relieved--at least, those of
them that were left. Their relaxation during those six days consisted
in counting the shells directed at them, and speculating as to the
accuracy of the next shot. The constant prayer of every officer and
man was for an infantry attack of some sort--German or British. The
prayer was not answered. Their orders were to hold on at all costs
till relieved. They were not relieved, so they held on. On the 24th,
25th and 26th the shells fell in or around their trenches at the rate
of two per minute from dawn till dark. Their casualties from this
shell-fire averaged 150 a day and the enemy's guns fired unchallenged
and unmolested by our own artillery. In those days the numerical
superiority of the German artillery was overwhelming, and, as an
inevitable consequence, our infantry afforded them passive but
diminishing targets. In the case of the Border Regiment the target
diminished rapidly. On the 23rd Captain Gordon and 2nd Lieut. Clancy
were killed; on the 25th Major Allen and Lieut. Warren were killed,
and Lieut. Clegg wounded; on the 26th Captain Lees, Captain
Cholmondeley, Captain Andrews and Lieut. Surtees were killed, and
Major Bosanquet and Lieut. Bevis were wounded. On the 27th the 300 men
that remained were relieved--for the moment.
On the afternoon of the 26th the pressure against this battalion became
so severe, and their casualties were so high, that at two o'clock
General Kavanagh was ordered to make a demonstration with the 7th C.B.
in the direction of Zandvoorde, with a view to diverting some of the
pressure. The 1st Life Guards were already in occupation of the
Zandvoorde trenches, and the demonstration was entrusted to the Blues,
who were, at the time, the reserve regiment to the brigade. The Blues
were at Klein Zillebeke when the order arrived, and they at once got
mounted and galloped along the road that connects that place with
Zandvoorde. Lord Alastair Ker's squadron, which was leading, rode right
through the 1st Life Guards trenches, and, turning to the right at the
top of the ridge, dismounted and opened fire. Their squadron
immediately came under a heavy fire and its casualties were
considerable. In the meanwhile the other two squadrons of the Blues
(Captain Brassey's and Captain Harrison's), dismounted behind the Life
Guards, and advanced to the top of the ridge on foot, supporting the
fire of the leading squadron. The demonstration was kept up till
darkness fell, when the regiment, having carried out its orders with
complete success, retired to a chateau between Klein Zillebeke and
Hollebeke, where it billeted for the night. Lord Alastair Ker and
Trooper Nevin were both decorated for their gallantry on this occasion.
The continuation of the Zandvoorde trenches further south was still in
the occupation of the 10th Hussars. These were heavily shelled all
through the day, and the casualties among their officers continued to
be on a high scale, Sir F. Rose and Lieut. Turnor being killed, and
Major Crichton wounded.