so terrific a nature that by nine o'clock the Household Cavalry
trenches had been literally blown to pieces, and the brigade was
forced to retire slowly down the hill, keeping up a covering fire as
it went. The retirement was effected in good order, but Lord Hugh
Grosvenor's squadron of the 1st Life Guards, "C" Squadron of the 2nd
Life Guards, and Lord Worsley's machine-gun section of the Blues did
not succeed in withdrawing with the rest of the brigade, and their
fate is still a matter of uncertainty. It is probable, however, that,
in the pandemonium which was reigning, the order to retire did not
reach them, and that those who survived the bombardment awaited the
infantry attack which followed, and fought it out to an absolute
finish. An officer in the R. Welsh Fusiliers' trenches, on the left of
the Zandvoorde trenches, subsequently described the defence put up
that day by the Household Cavalry as one of the finest feats of the
war. It may well be that untold deeds of heroism remain yet to be
recorded in connection with that morning's work.[10]
[10] Among those missing on that morning was the Hon. Francis
Lambton. He was subsequently reported to have been killed.
The R. Welsh Fusiliers were on the right of the 22nd Brigade and on the
left of the Household Cavalry, in trenches which curved back from the
Zandvoorde trenches and faced in the main north-west, whereas the
Zandvoorde trenches faced south-east. These trenches were at the best
ill-constructed affairs, and were weakened in the middle by a big gap
where the road from Zandvoorde to Becelaere passed through them.
The Zandvoorde trenches passed into the hands of the enemy soon after
nine, and the Germans at once swarmed into them and began making their
way along towards the north, till they reached a position from which
they could get the Welsh Fusiliers in flank. Then began the
annihilation of this very gallant regiment. From the moment that the
Zandvoorde trenches went, its position was hopeless, its right flank
being completely unprotected, and its own trenches disconnected and
ill-adapted for mutual protection. The regiment, however, fought as it
had fought on the 19th and again on the 20th and 21st. It fought, in
the words of the C. in C., "till every officer had been killed or
wounded; only ninety men rejoined the brigade." As a matter of fact,
the exact number of survivors out of a battalion which a fortnight
earlier had numbered 1,100 was 86, and these were shortly afterwards
absorbed into the 2nd Queen's, their only remaining officer being the
Quartermaster.
Among those that fell on that day were Captain Barker, Col. Cadogan and
his Adjutant, Lieut. Dooner. The latter was killed in a very gallant
attempt to cross the interval which divided the trenches, and
investigate the state of affairs on the right; and the Colonel fell in
an equally gallant attempt to rescue his subordinate after he had
fallen.
The position was now--as may be supposed--extremely serious, the enemy
being in complete possession of the Zandvoorde ridge. The 7th C.B.
(Household Cavalry), when it had fallen back in the morning, had
retired through the 6th C.B. and formed up in rear.
Its retreat had been greatly assisted by the magnificent work of the
two Horse Artillery Batteries attached, viz., "C" Battery, under Major
White, and "K" Battery, under Major Lamont. Both displayed the greatest
daring and activity, and the latter succeeded in completely knocking
out a German battery which was just coming into action on the
Zandvoorde ridge.
In the meanwhile, the only force which stood in the way of the enemy
was the 6th C.B., that is to say, three cavalry regiments, all
considerably weakened by fighting. The gravity of the situation lay in
the fact that if the Klein Zillebeke position went, there was nothing
further to prevent the enemy marching straight into Ypres, only three
miles distant, in which case the 1st A.C. and 7th Division would have
been irretrievably cut off from their base and supplies, and the
capture or annihilation of these three divisions would have inevitably
followed.
Accordingly Sir Douglas Haig, quick to realize that the events of the
next few hours would decide the making or marring of the campaign, sent
out an ultimatum to the effect that the line to which we had now been
driven, _i.e._, from Gheluvelt to the corner of the canal north of
Hollebeke, was to be held at all costs. Concurrently an urgent appeal
was sent to General Allenby to send up with all possible speed any and
all regiments available. Allenby sent the Scots Greys and the 3rd and
4th Hussars--all from different brigades. The Greys and the 3rd
Hussars arrived first on the scene, and passed across to the left flank
of the 6th C.B., filling up, in fact, the gap between that brigade and
General Bulfin's (2nd) Brigade on its left. The 4th Hussars, who had
further to come, arrived in time to take up a position on the right of
the Royals (who were the right-hand regiment of the 6th C.B.), and
carry on the line of defence beyond the railway. The position then was
that the line of the three regiments of the 6th C.B. was extended by
the 3rd Hussars and Greys on the left, and by the 4th Hussars on the
right.
The 7th C.B., who had concentrated at the little village of Zwartelen
in rear of the 6th C.B., now sent off two squadrons of the Blues to
support the Royals, who were holding the chateau at Hollebeke. This
chateau lies on the low ground to the east of the canal, whereas
Hollebeke itself is on the west side. The chateau was considerably in
advance of the line which was ordered to be held, and with Zandvoorde
gone was of no strategic importance. This combined force held off the
enemy for some hours, during which time Sergt. McLellan, of the Royals,
especially distinguished himself by several acts of great gallantry,
but by midday the chateau had to be abandoned and was occupied by
German infantry. Except for this loss, the cavalry line held its ground
throughout the day. There was no further infantry attack, but it had to
stand a severe shelling all through the afternoon, and its casualties
were numerous, among those of the 10th Hussars being Captain Kinkead,
Captain Fielden, Captain Stewart and the Hon. H. Baring.
The R. Sussex, too, in General Bulfin's 2nd Brigade, on the left of the
cavalry, came in for their full share of the bombardment and suffered
very severely, Col. Crispin and Lieuts. Croft, Marillier and Lousada
being killed.
At five o'clock in the afternoon the five cavalry regiments were
relieved by Lord Cavan's Brigade, the 2nd Grenadier Guards under Major
Lord Bernard Lennox[11] taking over the position on the canal--later on
to become famous under the name of Hill 60, while the Irish Guards
continued the line on their left. The line was still further
strengthened on the following morning by the addition of the
Oxfordshire Light Infantry from the 5th Brigade, and the 2nd Gordon
Highlanders from the 20th Brigade, these two battalions being added to
General Bulfin's command, which was on the left of Lord Cavan's.
[11] Killed November, 1914.
GHELUVELT
October 31st may be said to have witnessed the supreme effort of the
enemy to break through to Ypres. The attack on this day was pressed
simultaneously along the whole of our front from Messines to the Menin
road, and lasted not only throughout the day but during the greater
part of the night. This tremendous battle, covering as it did a
frontage of twelve miles, can only be adequately described by cutting
it up into three sections, the first of which deals with the fight
along the Menin road, the second with the struggle at Klein Zillebeke,
and the third with the attack on the cavalry corps at Wytschate and
Messines.
We will deal first with the fight on the Menin road. Here, it will be
remembered, our troops had been forced back on the 29th from a line
just west of Kruiseik cross-roads to the Gheluvelt trenches,
three-quarters of a mile further back, and on the higher ridge on which
that village stands.
On the morning of the 31st the new position was in its turn attacked,
and under conditions which in many ways recalled the fight of two days
before. There was, however, this difference, that, while the attack of
the 29th had been in the nature of a surprise in the fog, and had been
unheralded by any previous cannonade, that of the 31st was preceded by
a bombardment which, in point of violence, threw into the shade
everything which the campaign had yet witnessed. The expenditure of
ammunition must have been colossal. This terrific discharge of missiles
commenced at daybreak, and gradually increased in volume up to eleven
o'clock, when it ceased and the infantry attack commenced.
The shell-fire had been mainly focussed on the 3rd and 22nd Brigades in
the neighbourhood of Gheluvelt. By the association of these two
Brigades, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Queen's (R. West Surrey
Regiment) for the first time in history found themselves fighting side
by side. The occasion was an historic one, but not without a strong
note of tragedy, both battalions being in the direct track of the
bombardment, and suffering very severely. Each battalion, too, lost its
C.O. during the morning, Col. Pell of the 1st Battalion being killed
and Col. Coles of the 2nd Battalion wounded.
The tactics of the enemy in these Menin road attacks almost always
took the same form. All the batteries within the area would
concentrate on the road and on the trenches immediately to right and
left of the road, making these positions absolutely untenable. Then,
when the troops in the track of the shell-fire had fallen back dazed
into semi-unconsciousness by the inferno, they would drive a dense
mass of infantry into the gap, and so enfilade--and very often
surround--the trenches which were still occupied to right and left of
the gap. By this method, companies, and sometimes whole battalions,
which had stuck out the shell-fire, were overwhelmed and annihilated.
Such a fate on this occasion overtook the right flank company of the
South Wales Borderers just north of Gheluvelt. This company formed the
northern boundary of the gap caused by the bombardment, and the German
wedge, spreading out towards the right, bore down on it from three
sides. Major Lawrence, in command of the company, faced half the men
about and kept up the fight to the bitter end, but it was merely a
question of selling their lives as dearly as possible. The tide swept
over them and they ceased to exist.
The remaining companies of the South Wales Borderers managed to
maintain their ground till the line north of the road was
re-established in the following way.
At 1.30 the 2nd Worcestershire Regiment, who were in reserve at the six
cross-roads at the corner of the Polygon wood, a mile to the rear, were
ordered to retake the lost position. This they did in the following
very gallant manner, led by Major Hankey. They deployed in the woods
just to the rear of Gheluvelt, and, advancing in a series of short
rushes, charged right up to the line of the lost trenches. The last
rush had to be made across 200 yards of open ground in the face of a
terrific shrapnel fire. Over 100 of the Worcesters fell in this last
rush, but the remainder charged home and drove out the Germans with
heavy loss. The old trenches were found to have been filled in, but a
sunken road just in rear provided fair cover, and this the Worcesters
now lined, joining up their left with the right of the South Wales
Borderers. The Germans, however, were still in the village itself and
the position was at best a precarious one. They managed, however, to
hold on till dark.
The Worcesters lost 187 men in this short, brilliant charge. The
achievement was alluded to by the C. in C. as one of the finest in the
whole campaign, and one which saved the army from a very awkward
predicament.
The 1st Scots Guards, on the left of the South Wales Borderers again,
as on the 29th, stood firm throughout the day, and contributed in no
small measure to the ultimate repulse of the enemy. In the afternoon
one company of this battalion was detached to co-operate in the
counter-attack made by the Worcesters, and generally to re-establish
the broken line north of Gheluvelt. This they succeeded in doing, with
very able support from the 42nd Battery R.F.A., but in the doing of it
lost Captain Wickham and Major Vandeweyer, the former of whom was
killed.
Meanwhile another historic resistance was being put up south of the
road by the 2nd R. Scots Fusiliers. This battalion formed the southern
boundary of the gap, just as the South Wales Borderers formed the
northern boundary; and when the German infantry wedge was forced in, it
found its trenches very badly raked from the gardens of the chateau,
where the enemy had installed some machine-guns. General Watt, the
Brigadier, recognizing that the position of this regiment had now
become untenable, telephoned through to them to retire. The wire,
however, had been cut by shrapnel and the message did not arrive. Two
orderlies were thereupon successively dispatched to order their
retirement. Both were knocked over and again the order did not reach.
In the meanwhile, Col. Baird Smith, having received no order to retire,
continued to hold his ground with ever dwindling numbers, till in the
end the German masses swept over them, and another gallant British
battalion ceased to exist. Only seventy men, commanded by a junior
officer, escaped the carnage of that day.
Five months later, General Watt, addressing the officers and men at
Sailly, after another great performance by the same battalion, said
with reference to this occasion: "Col. Baird Smith, gallant soldier
that he was, decided and rightly to hold his ground, and the R. Scots
Fusiliers fought and fought till the Germans absolutely surrounded them
and swarmed into the trenches. I think it was perfectly splendid. Mind
you, it was no case of 'hands up' or any nonsense of that sort; it was
a fight to a finish. You may well be proud to belong to such a regiment
and I am proud to have you in my brigade."
To the south of the R. Scots Fusiliers, and in the same brigade, were
the 2nd Bedfords. This regiment, too, had suffered very severely during
the day, both its senior officers, Major Traill and Major Stares, being
killed, but the brigade order to retire had not failed to reach it, as
in the case of the Scotchmen, and it had been able to effect its
withdrawal in good order.
The Germans did not carry their advance beyond Gheluvelt. The ground
they had gained had only been won by a prodigious expenditure of
ammunition, followed by a reckless sacrifice of men, and their losses
had been enormous. Their further progress, too, was barred by the
troops which had been shelled out of the village in the morning. These
were now formed up half facing the road between Gheluvelt and Veldhoek,
and offered a successful bar to any further advance on the part of the
enemy. The Germans, however, did not relinquish their attempts to push
on to Veldhoek without further serious fighting, in the course of which
the 2nd Queen's sustained still further losses, their three senior
officers, Col. Coles, Major Croft and Major Bottomley falling wounded,
as well as Captain Weeding and Lieut. Philpot. Night fell without any
further advance on the part of the enemy. Gheluvelt itself, however, in
spite of the gallant counter-attack north of the road, during the
afternoon, may be considered as having been lost from this day on.
MESSINES AND WYTSCHATE
In order to avoid the confusion inseparable from a constant change of
scene, it will be best to deal briefly now with the doings at Messines
and Wytschate, after which the Klein Zillebeke section can monopolize
our attention up to the close of this little chronicle. In order to
pick up the thread where it was dropped, it will be necessary to go
back to the 30th. On that day General Allenby wired to Head Quarters
that his numbers were too weak to hold his position from the canal at
Hollebeke to the La Doune stream, south of Messines, for long unaided,
and the C. in C. at once responded by sending up four battalions from
the 2nd A.C. under General Shaw to his assistance. These, as will
presently be seen, arrived in the very nick of time to save the
situation. Pending their arrival, the cavalry had a truly colossal task
before them. They were absurdly outnumbered; they had opposed to them,
in the XXIV. and II. Bavarian Corps, some of the finest fighters in the
German Army, stimulated by the presence of the Kaiser himself, and they
were engaged in a form of warfare to which they had never been trained.
French reinforcements were being hurried up, it is true, but it was
reckoned that, at the earliest, they could not arrive in less than
forty-eight hours. During these forty-eight hours, could the cavalry,
with the assistance which had been sent up from the 2nd A.C.,
successfully oppose the pressure of two army corps? This was the
problem of the moment. We know now that it did succeed in doing so, but
even with this fact behind us as a matter of history, we may still--in
view of the extraordinary disparity in numbers--wonder as to how it was
done.
First let us deal with Messines, which was almost on the southern
boundary of the Cavalry Corps position. Here we find posted the 1st and
2nd C.B., or, to be more exact, these two brigades were in the trenches
to the east of that town, the Bays being on the north side, then the
9th Lancers and 4th Dragoon Guards, with the 5th Dragoon Guards to the
south. In reserve, in the second line, were the 18th and 11th Hussars.
The latter regiment had suffered severely from the bombardment on the
previous day, their trenches being completely blown in and many men
buried and killed. Amongst the officers, Lieuts. Chaytor and
Lawson-Smith had been killed, and Lieut.-Col. Pitman, Major Anderson
and the Hon. C. Mulholland wounded. Again, on the following day, the
regiment lost a very fine athlete, and a champion boxer, in Captain
Halliday, who was killed by a shell near the Convent.
In spite of an appalling bombardment, the regiments in the front line
held on all through the night of the 30th, and up to midday on the
31st. Then they began to be gradually driven back, and by 2 p.m. they
were all in the town. The retirement was effected in perfect order.
Corpl. Seaton, 9th Lancers, behaved with extraordinary courage during
this movement and was recommended for the Victoria Cross. With the idea
of helping the withdrawal of his regiment, he remained absolutely alone
in his trench working his machine-gun till the enemy were within twenty
yards. Incredible as it may appear, he then managed, thanks to great
coolness and presence of mind, to rejoin his regiment unwounded.
Once in the town, the cavalry lined the houses of the main street from
end to end, and there awaited developments. These took the form of a
cessation of the shelling and a very determined attempt on the part of
the Bavarians to take the town. They failed, however, to get across the
square, being shot down in numbers from the windows of the houses
opposite. A second and more carefully thought-out attack followed
later, and it is doubtful how this might have ended but for the
opportune arrival of the K.O.S.B. and the K.O.Y.L.I., one at each end
of the town. This reinforcement once more turned the scale against the
Bavarians, and for the second time they were driven back. Both the
infantry battalions engaged, in the words of General Allenby to Sir
Horace, "fought magnificently," but the K.O.Y.L.I. lost its CO., Col.
King, who was killed while leading that regiment to the attack. The
respite of the cavalry was short. The enemy was in over-powering force
and they were not to be denied. They now proceeded for five solid hours
to shell the place with every conceivable species of projectile known
to warfare. At 2 a.m. on the 31st the infantry attacked for the third
time.
In the meanwhile the only available reserve was being hurried up from
Neuve Eglise, as fast as motor-buses could bring it. This was the
London Scottish, which had arrived at the front the day previous, after
having been employed for some weeks at the base. They reached Messines
during the preliminary bombardment on the night of the 30th, and,
before going into action, were split up, half of the battalion joining
up with the K.O.S.B. at one end of the town, and the rest with the
K.O.Y.L.I. at the other. There was a full moon and a clear sky, and it
was as light as day, and it has been said that for picturesque effect
no incident in the war has equalled that night attack on Messines. An
additional interest was lent to the scene by the fact that the London
Scottish were the first Territorial battalion to be in action, and
there was some speculation as to how their conduct would compare with
that of the Regulars. It is now a matter of history that they acquitted
themselves as well as the most tried troops, and that under
exceptionally trying circumstances. If it be true that casualties in
killed and wounded are the barometer of a regiment's intrepidity, then
they indeed register high in the scale, for they lost 9 officers and
400 men in that first night's fighting. In any event they rendered very
valuable service in an acute emergency, and it is on record that in a
hand to hand bayonet encounter with the Bavarians, they actually drove
those noted warriors back. The odds, however, were altogether too great
against the little British force, and on the morning of November 1st
Messines passed into the hands of the enemy.
A feat so remarkable as to rival the deeds of Shaw, the Lifeguardsman,
was performed by Sergt.-Major Wright, of the Carabineers, during this
defence of Messines. This N.C.O., while carrying a message to Head
Quarters, found his path blocked by a part of the enemy. Without a
moment's hesitation he charged them and cut his way through, killing
five. Another Carabineer who behaved with repeated gallantry during
these operations was Pte. Meston, and both he and Sergt.-Major Wright
were given the D.C.M.
On the same night, _i.e._, the night of October 31st, Wytschate
shared the fate of Messines.
The 4th C.B. had succeeded in holding this place throughout the day,
but during the course of the night they found themselves very hard
pressed, and were gradually forced back. In this emergency the
Northumberland Fusiliers and Lincolns were ordered up to the support of
the cavalry.