The narrative of the Lahore Division brought us to after mid-day of the
20th December, at which hour the 129th Baluchis, on the left of the
Ferozepore Brigade covering Givenchy, were retiring and their trenches
were in occupation of the enemy, and the village was being attacked. In
consequence General Carnegy’s orders were cancelled, and he was directed
to secure this place; and two batteries from the Fifty-eighth Division
were placed at Watkis’s disposal by the French.
By 3.30 P.M. on the 20th the Manchesters under Colonel Strickland, with
a company of the 4th Suffolks in support, started their attack for the
recovery of the lost Givenchy trenches. By 5 P.M. this gallant
battalion, fighting often with the bayonet, had cleared the Huns out of
the village and recaptured the trenches to the north-east; but they
still retained possession of those to the north of the village; whilst
to the east and southwards the company of the 9th Bhopals, the 57th
Rifles, a portion of the 4th Suffolks, and the Connaught Rangers held
their lines intact.
On the Sirhind Brigade front the right section at 3.30 P.M. was holding
its reserve trenches; farther to the left, notwithstanding its
considerable retirement, touch had been more or less established with
the right of the Meerut Division, and the retired line of the Brigade
was intact, though somewhat disorganised. The enemy at this stage did
not appear to be making a further attack on this front.
Meantime General Macbean, with the Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade,
consisting of the 7th Dragoon Guards, 20th Deccan Horse, 34th Poona
Horse, and Jodhpore Lancers, under Brigadier-General Wadeson, and in
addition the 8th Gurkhas and 47th Sikhs, had been ordered to move to a
position near Marais and counter-attack. This movement was delayed from
various causes, and it was not till midnight that the advance was
actually carried out by the 7th Dragoon Guards and 47th Sikhs.
It was a hopeless attempt; the ground was deep in mud and a network of
ditches, and the enemy’s fire very heavy. Nevertheless these gallant
troops actually reached and entered our abandoned trenches, but were
then subjected to a heavy flanking fire and occasionally to that of our
own guns. Under such conditions it was no wonder they were driven back
to their starting-point and suffered severely. Amongst the killed was
Colonel H. Lempriere, commanding 7th Dragoon Guards, a very gallant
gentleman and hard to replace. Captain J. L. Mansel was killed leading a
rush on enemy machine-guns. Lieutenants R. L. Mann and S. Bryce were
missing. The total casualties of the 7th Dragoon Guards during the short
time they served with the Indian Corps amounted to twenty-six killed or
missing and forty wounded. Sergeant R. Snelling and Private J. Crackett
received the D.C.M.
Another counter-attack was carried out about 5 A.M. on the 21st
December, under command of Colonel Grant, 8th Gurkhas. The troops under
his command now consisted of the 8th Gurkhas, 47th Sikhs, 7th Dragoon
Guards, and Jodhpore Lancers. Stumbling under a pitiless rain, over the
ditches and through mire, this attempt, like the first, was unable to
achieve its object, and eventually a retirement had to be carried out.
To return to Givenchy, where the Manchesters had retaken a great part of
the village, General Watkis had sent the 59th Rifles to reinforce
Carnegy, who had already despatched a company of the 4th Suffolks and
one company of the 142nd French Territorials to Givenchy, as a support
to Strickland in the attack he was about to make on our advanced
abandoned trenches to the north of that village.
This attack was launched about half-past six on the morning of the 21st
December, and carried out with the _élan_ which distinguished that fine
corps, the 1st Manchesters. All that men could do was done, but the hail
of fire from machine-guns, etc., made it impossible to advance far. By
11 o’clock the enemy, after a severe bombardment with shell, pushed home
an Infantry attack which forced us back from the village. Still the
Manchesters again and again made vigorous counter-attacks, though
enfiladed and gradually becoming enveloped, until at length after severe
bayonet fighting the battalion was pushed back and Givenchy practically
lost. Their heroic conduct had, however, saved the position in this part
of our line, and held the enemy at bay just long enough to enable the
fresh troops of a Brigade from the now arriving First Army Corps to stem
and turn the tide. As the Manchesters met the Cameron Highlanders coming
up, they must indeed have been thankful that their stubborn fight had
enabled their Army Corps to still maintain its front and an almost lost
local battle to be turned into a glorious episode.
The battalion in this fighting had two officers (Captain L. Creagh and
Lieut. S. Norman) and sixty-four men killed, and forty-six missing,
whilst three officers and 124 men were wounded. I have known many
splendid Corps in the Army but not one to beat the 1st Manchesters, and
I felt that a brilliant future awaited Strickland. He has since risen to
Major-General and is a K.C.B.
At dawn on this morning I had ridden from Hinges, my Headquarters, to
see one of my Generals, and on my way back I met a brigade of the First
Army Corps now arriving to help us; it was marching towards Givenchy. I
can never forget my feelings as these splendid battalions moved
along—young, vigorous, fresh from a rest in reserve: 1000 strong each,
eager for the battle, they were the very embodiment of certain victory,
and I could not but feel proud of my own brave Corps, many of whom I had
just seen, literally caked in mud and slime, worn out after long weeks
of vigil and toil in the trenches, sadly needing some sleep and rest;
battalions worn to mere skeletons in strength, a few with no more than a
full company in the fight.
But notwithstanding all this they were still holding on, still keeping
the flag flying and doing their duty. I would fain have wished the
addition of some of the newcomers to my own Army Corps; they were my own
flesh and blood, with great traditions and a great cause which all
understood; but I would not have changed places with any living man. It
was enough for me that I was Commander of the Indian Corps, and that
that Corps was so nobly acquitting itself under extraordinary
difficulties.
As stated before, the trenches to the south and east of Givenchy had
during the battle been held by the Connaught Rangers, the 57th Rifles,
and a company of the 9th Bhopal Infantry. During the 20th December the
57th and 9th were subjected to attacks which succeeded in laying the
flank of the 57th open to enfilade fire and obliging the left to retire.
Here my old friend Subadar Arsla Khan of the 57th was again to the fore,
and by a plucky reconnaissance obtained useful information regarding the
German barricades, and surprised and shot several Huns. Later, on the
22nd December, this fine Indian officer, a Malikdin Khel Afridi, led a
charge on a party of the enemy, killing two officers and a number of
men. He has many orders and distinctions for various campaigns.
After the Manchesters were forced back from Givenchy, on the afternoon
of the 21st December, the pressure on this portion of our trenches
increased very considerably and was only relieved by the arrival of a
Brigade of the First Army Corps, and by nightfall the position was
secured. On the 22nd December the whole of the trenches east and south
of Givenchy were taken over by the First Corps, and our troops, at last
relieved from their long vigil, were able to gain some urgently-needed
rest.
My story left the Meerut Division at 2 P.M. on the same date, and just
after it had been relieved by the First Army Corps, and although the
Meerut troops remained at the disposal of that Corps for a few days
longer until a new alignment had been taken up, they were not called on
to make further efforts, and eventually, like the Lahore Division, were
able to get back to billets and enjoy a sorely needed rest and to
re-equip themselves.
By 1 P.M. on the 22nd December one Division of the First Army Corps had
arrived and taken over a great part of our trenches, and the Second
Division was in process of relieving the remainder of my Corps, and the
responsibility was gradually becoming involved, hence I asked the G.O.C.
First Army Corps to assume the command whilst I withdrew all the
relieved battalions and Artillery. This he agreed to, and the Indian
Corps was withdrawn.
During this long-drawn-out battle the losses of some battalions had been
very severe. In the Sirhind Brigade alone, on which fell the main German
onslaught, the H.L.I. had lost ten officers and fifty-four men killed,
276 men missing (mostly killed), and sixty wounded, and the total
casualties numbered 400, about fifty per cent of those in action.
Such monuments shall last when Egypt’s fall.
The 1st Gurkhas suffered well over 200 casualties, including six British
and Indian officers, and the 4th Gurkhas had seventeen British and
Indian officers and a total of 300 of all ranks. In the 4th, Jemadar
Lachman Sing Thapa, the Gurkha Adjutant, was amongst the killed, and
Captain M. Wylie was missing.
To suffer such losses and be again ready for battle within a few weeks
needs discipline of a high order, and I was lost in admiration of those
gallant corps, which I had inspected only a few days previously in their
full war strength, and saw again after their arrival in billets. The
ranks were sadly thinned, but there was no sign of despondency and only
determination on their faces. “Give us their hand-grenades and trench
mortars,” said a Gurkha havildar to me, “and you will see some fun.”
During the attack by the Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade Captain Alan Ross,
20th Deccan Horse, performed a very gallant action, which in any other
war would have been rewarded with a Victoria Cross; but I was informed
that in France it could not be given to officers for saving life alone.
Ross was one of the hardest men I ever knew: a brilliant polo player and
a strong rider all round. He had been my own A.D.C. years before in
India. Seeing an Indian officer was wounded and lying in the open, he
with two of his N.C.O.’s, Duffadars Shankar Rao and Sardar Singh, ran
under a terrific fire and carried him back. On reaching a ditch they lay
down, and seeing the Indian officer was too badly hit to be moved
further, Ross ran back, still under heavy fire, and fetched up a
stretcher, in which they placed the wounded officer and got him away.
Ross received a D.S.O. and his two companions the Indian Order of Merit.
Captain W. H. Padday, 47th Sikhs, was killed whilst bombing up a trench
with some of his men. The 20th Deccan Horse, a Corps which I had known
in years past when I commanded the Secunderabad Division, suffered over
eighty casualties, including Captain J. S. McEuan and Risaldar Mir
Hidayat Ali killed; Captain C. A. Mackenzie, Risaldar-Major Jharmal
Singh, and one other Indian officer and thirty-five other ranks killed
and missing; besides these, five officers and thirty-seven men were
wounded. The 47th Sikhs, of whom I shall often have to write, had 130;
the 34th Poona Horse fifty, including Major C. Loring, 37th Lancers,
attached. The Jodhpore Lancers in this, their first fight as a unit on
the Western Front, suffered eleven casualties. In the 8th Gurkhas one
Indian officer was killed, and there were twenty-two other losses.
Generals Watkis and Anderson, in admirably written and concise reports,
gave a very clear summary of the events which had been crowded into the
four days’ fighting, and it is interesting to note the chief points
brought out. After giving full credit to all who deserved it and not
concealing faults such as must occur in all battles, in the Lahore
Division Watkis brought specially to notice Major-General Carnegy,
commanding the Jalandar Brigade, for his thorough grasp of the
situation; General Brunker, Sirhind Brigade; and General Egerton,
Ferozepore Brigade. He gave the greatest praise to Colonel Strickland
and his fine battalion the Manchesters. Colonel Cauteau of the 142nd
French Territorial regiment was reported as rendering valuable and
noteworthy service; and Capitaine Salles, also of the 142nd, for
gallantly leading a counter-attack, although twice wounded.
Anderson specially commended the Seaforths and 58th Rifles, whose
“action, sustained over a period of three days and nights under
extremely difficult conditions, was worthy of the highest possible
commendation and reflects the greatest credit on officers, N.C.O.’s, and
men of both regiments.”
The Ambala and Sialkote Cavalry Brigades had been brought up as
reinforcements late during the battle; the former suffered thirty
casualties. I had known both these splendid Brigades when commanding the
Northern Army in India, and only regretted that this trench warfare gave
them no opportunity of riding down the Huns, who assuredly would have
had cause to remember that the Cavalry arm in India has a sword even
sharper than the boasted German weapon.
It is one of my cherished recollections that our gallant French Allies
did not fail to place on record their great regret at the departure of
the Indian Corps from their immediate vicinity. For two months we had
been able to afford each other assistance in men and guns on many
occasions, and our relations had been those of friends and comrades.
General de Maud’huy, commanding the Tenth French Army, and General
Maistre, commanding the XXIst Corps d’Armée, wrote most cordial letters,
wishing us every success as the war progressed and congratulating the
men on their having so long victoriously sustained the “particularly
difficult” conditions, especially of terrain, under which they had
fought.
It would be impossible to serve with finer soldiers and gentlemen than
composed the Army of France.
The battle was over, India had paid her dues, and this is what the
Commander-in-Chief recorded:
The Indian troops have fought with the greatest steadfastness and
gallantry whenever they have been called upon.
In these words Field-Marshal Sir John French summed up in his despatch
of the 2nd February 1915 his opinion of the conduct of the Indian
soldiers from the time they joined the Army in France until the close of
the battle of Givenchy.
In his admirable book, “1914,” the great Field-Marshal has written on
page 196:
Much has been said and written about the work of the Indian troops in
France, and various opinions have been expressed. For my part I can
only say that, from first to last, so long as they were under my
command, they maintained and probably surpassed even the magnificent
traditions of the Indian Army. In a country and climate to which they
were totally unaccustomed, the exigencies of the moment required that
they should be thrown into action successively by smaller or greater
units before they could be properly concentrated.
I shall always gratefully remember the invaluable assistance they and
their Commander, Sir James Willcocks, rendered under these difficult
conditions in the most critical hours of the First Battle of Ypres,
especially the Lahore Division, commanded by General Watkis.
This finally disposes of any criticisms of the Indians by lesser
luminaries. No one had better opportunities of realising the
difficulties connected with their employment in Europe during a
very trying winter. No one was more generous in his public
utterances and despatches to the soldiers of India. There was, it
is true, another side to this picture, but I will refrain from the
narration of such incidents, for I realise the enormous
difficulties the Commander-in-Chief had to face and the
unflinching courage and steadfastness with which he faced them;
and I am convinced that no other soldier in our Army would have
succeeded, to the same degree, in those tempestuous times.
The Indians were but a small unit in his complicated command, and that
he has for all time plainly recorded his opinion is sufficient to
disprove the criticisms of any others who are not possessed of his
soldierly instincts.
This story of the Indian Corps is only a personal narrative and the
opinions expressed in it may not be convincing to all who read it;
however, it has one merit, and that is, it is compiled from notes and
diaries kept by me from day to day, and in which I recorded the opinions
and doings of the principal actors as I observed them at the time, and
not from hearsay or memory alone.
We were now billeted in and about Lillers, and the first change in the
reconstruction of the Army came at this time. Sir Douglas Haig had just
received his well-merited promotion to General for his fine work as a
Corps Commander during the retreat from Mons and the First Battle of
Ypres. Two Armies were created, and he was appointed to command the
First Army. I had up to then been senior to him, but now found myself
junior and under his immediate command, as under the reorganisation the
Indian Corps was attached to the First Army.
To the British soldier such supersession is a natural consequence of
promotion for distinguished service in the field. To the Indian soldier
it means something very different, when suddenly thrust on him in the
field, and so it was in this case. To him his commander is everything,
and he looks to him as at any rate his local commander-in-chief, and
when he learns one morning that another, till then his junior, has been
placed over him, he concludes something is wrong. Had the Corps gone to
the Second Army, the Indians would have neither known nor cared what
promotion had taken place, for Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien in command of it
was already senior to me, but as it was I can best describe how they
took it, in the words of an Indian officer who said to me, “Now we know
the Government is displeased with our conduct in the recent battle.”
They have very strong opinions in some matters which cannot easily be
shaken.
Putting aside any personal feeling, in this case it was a pity it
happened, for it wrongly gave them to understand that it had been done
with a purpose. Of course the necessities of the Army as a whole were
far superior to any personal considerations, but I should have been glad
if it could have been otherwise arranged. However, it was now an
accomplished fact, and from that day to the day I left France no man
ever rendered more loyal or wholehearted service and support to his
superior officer.
The first duty, now we were in billets, was to overhaul thoroughly,
refit, and practically reconstitute the entire Corps. Our numbers had
fallen very considerably below war strength, but this was partly
remedied by adding Territorial battalions; these were brought on to the
strength as they became available, until eventually five of our Brigades
consisted of one Regular British, one Territorial, and three Indian
battalions, and the sixth Brigade had a battalion of the Special
Reserve; but even with these additions, owing to the limited
reinforcements from India, the shortage in the Regular British
battalions, and the weakness of the Territorial units, which
occasionally amounted to no more than half war strength, the total of
the Indian Corps, consisting of thirty-two battalions of infantry, was
under 21,000 rifles when we again took over our trenches on the 15th
January.
I have already told of the arrival of some of these Territorial
battalions, but I would again repeat that they were to us all the
surprise of the war—splendid officers and men suddenly transferred from
civilians into veteran soldiers. They will enter frequently into this
story.
Great changes took place in the commands of the Brigades, which will be
seen by reference to the lists farther on, and I was indeed sorry to bid
farewell to gallant comrades with most of whom I had served in India and
for whom I had the greatest respect as soldiers. I have already
explained the reasons for this, and so will not repeat myself.
Lieut.-General Watkis, who had commanded the Lahore Division throughout
the past trying months and had borne the chief responsibility during the
battle of Givenchy, was given the K.C.B., a well-merited honour.
The weather during January 1915 was very trying, being a succession of
rain, storm, and snow, but this did not prevent us from carrying on
systematic training of every kind—attack, defence, trench work, practice
with grenades and mortars, then still in their infancy, and night
operations. Route marching was done daily, gradually increasing until
the men’s feet had recovered somewhat from the results of immersion in
mud and snow. It was a real pleasure to watch the transformation taking
place; limbs long dormant in the trenches were restored to their natural
functions, and the knowledge that the worst was over and a warmer season
would come at its own proper time, cheered all ranks. It was a very busy
time for us all, but there is nothing like hard work to keep men fit and
happy, and the absence of it kills all joy.
Personally I have seldom been more busy in my life; rain or storm I
invariably rode from ten to fifteen miles a day, and often a lot more;
and although this may not appear much it was a great deal through those
bogs and along those cobbled and slippery roads. By the middle of
January two Brigades had returned to the trenches, and before the 24th
of the month the whole Corps was finally re-established once more about
our old haunt, Neuve Chapelle. The arms, clothing, and necessaries had
been thoroughly overhauled, boots refitted and extras issued, and when
we again entered the trenches I do not think there were many individuals
either in units, departments, or even among the followers, whom I had
not seen. It gave us a fresh start, and the many new officers who had
joined got to know something of their men.
On the last day of 1914 I gathered together nearly all the British and
Indian officers in the Army Corps; it was a damp, misty day, but they
came to my headquarters at Lillers by motor, lorry, or on horseback. It
was a pleasant gathering, full of interest to us all. Amongst those
present were a large percentage who had served with me in the field, a
few in the Soudan and West Africa, and a great many on the Indian
frontiers, and practically all had been under my command at one time or
another as Brigadier, Divisional and Army Commander. Many a time also
had I had the pleasure of entertaining them as my guests in other
climes, and now they were assembled under one roof and under such
different circumstances. It was for me a solemn occasion, for since we
had last met at Orleans many had gone for ever, and I knew before we
could meet again their ranks would be still further thinned. But no such
passing thoughts prevented us from being a cheery party, and all Corps
were enabled to exchange greetings, and fight their battles over again.
I also took the opportunity of explaining to many of the Indians, who
asked me about the recent changes, that the Indian Corps now formed part
of a larger Army, and was under the command of a very distinguished
soldier, who would assuredly lead us to victory. I am sure they felt
relieved, for the notion had got abroad that they had fallen in the
estimation of the Commander-in-Chief.
Any exotic when first transplanted must in its new soil be watched if it
is to be a success; this was our task with the Indians, and it was
succeeding by degrees, and at this gathering this was evident. They had
been plunged into Europe, but Asia was assimilating itself with its new
surroundings. It was a far more difficult task, however, than was
realised by some of our superiors, who merely issued orders and expected
them to be carried out. They did not realise that the pawns in the game
had peculiarities and characteristics which must be respected, if they
were to continue as a tangible entity. These matters were left to those
of us who understood the material we had to deal with, and it is
fortunate in some ways that it was so; for as time went on nothing was
more evident than the fact that in the First Army the Indians were
merely looked on as so many thousand men, who must just take their place
in a certain portion of the line and carry on irrespective of their
constitution or the changes which time was working in their ranks. But
it was absolutely necessary for us in the Corps not to forget these
things, and to so arrange that the machine would work smoothly and prove
efficient on the day of battle.
It was a fine test of the value of the British officer and he came well
out of it, and proved that the officers of the Indian Army are second to
none in positions of responsibility and trust.