FESTUBERT, 1915
While the 4th Army Corps were trying to gain a footing on the northern
end of the Aubers Ridge near Fromelles the 1st Army was making an
equally desperate attempt to the south in front of Festubert, a village
already in our hands.
But here, as at Neuve Chapelle, we found that the enemy front line, once
penetrated, brought us in front of a series of strong points bristling
with machine-guns, with dug-outs of almost incredible strength, some of
them twenty and thirty feet under ground and safe against anything but
the heaviest of field-guns, weapons that we were lamentably short of.
We could batter their front line to bits, for, like our own, it was
situated on lower ground, and consisted of breastwork parapets owing to
the water-soaked state of the whole plain; but their infantry would
retire to these deep dug-outs, only emerging when their sentries warned
them of the lifting of our fire to permit the attack.
We could, and did, drive the enemy from his front line, and once there
we held on, but that was as far as we could go, for each of these strong
points presented a new and entirely different problem to attack, and
required a separate bombardment.
Our offensive had started on May 9th and reached its height about the
16th, by which time we had won ground to an average depth of six hundred
yards on a front of four miles.
At daybreak on the 16th the 7th Division attacked in the direction of
the Rue D'Ouvert and Canteleux, and by 7 o'clock had entrenched
themselves in a line running roughly north and south, half-way between
their original trenches and La Quinque Rue. The remainder of the day and
the following night were spent in consolidating this position and trying
to drive the enemy from some short trenches and posts that prevented
this division from linking up with the 2nd Division on its left. This
was accomplished by noon of the 17th, and by nightfall further ground
had been gained to the right. Slight advances were also made on the
18th, but bad weather had greatly hindered the operation of our
artillery.
On the 19th, the 2nd and 7th Divisions, having suffered very severely,
were withdrawn, the latter being relieved by the Canadians.
Part of the 3rd Canadian Brigade had already become involved and had
taken part in an attack on La Quinque Rue, where they succeeded in
advancing the line some five hundred yards and linking up this ground
with the Wiltshires on their right and the Coldstreams on their left.
Further advance was held up by one of the enemy's strong points known as
the "Orchard." This position was naturally strengthened by a deep ditch
full of water on three sides, besides hedges and wire entanglements.
During the afternoon of the 19th the Orchard was heavily bombarded by
our guns, the shelling continuing till 7.45 p.m., when the Canadian
Scottish advanced to the assault, supported by the 13th Royal
Highlanders of Canada. Simultaneously the 48th Toronto Highlanders
attacked some hundred yards to the right of the Orchard.
These attacks were made in broad daylight, and, despite the torrent of
fire with which the enemy opposed them, the objectives were quickly
gained, though the casualties were most severe, and by night the new
line was consolidated.
Meanwhile the 2nd Brigade, which had been occupying trenches to the
right of the Orchard, had attempted to take a position known as the
"Bexhill Redoubt," but with less success, as the preliminary bombardment
had been quite ineffectual.
Another bombardment of the position was made, and, supported by the
Grenade Company of the 1st Brigade, a portion of the enemy's line to the
right of the Bexhill Redoubt was gained and barricades erected and this
portion held, in spite of a shelling that continued without ceasing the
whole of the 22nd. The enemy attempted a counter-attack during the
afternoon, but were repelled by our machine-gun and artillery fire.
During the night the troops holding this line were relieved by
Strathcona's and King Edward's Horse, then, of course, serving as
infantry.
On the night of May 23rd the Bexhill Redoubt was taken by the 5th and
7th Battalions of the 2nd Brigade, reinforced by a squadron of the
Strathcona's Horse. The captured positions were held all day, despite
the enemy's bombardment--the heaviest shelling this brigade had yet
experienced--and when they were relieved that night by the Royal
Canadian Dragoons and the Eastern Ontario Battalion the brigade had lost
55 officers and 980 men.
The 1st Brigade, during these operations, had been occupying a portion
of the line and suffering severely from shell fire. The writer's
battalion, the Eastern Ontario, had relieved a battalion of the Black
Watch on the night of the 19th near Indian Village. The Highlanders
seemed glad to be leaving; one or two expressed their opinion that it
was a "hell of a hole," a statement no one contradicted, as the place
was vile with mud and stank from unburied corpses.
Between our line and the Western Ontario men, who held the old German
trench ahead of us, lay hundreds of bodies that had been there since the
last winter, for this narrow strip--not much more than a hundred yards
in width--had been "No Man's Land." Attempts made by day and night to
bury some of these bodies had to be given up, as the enemy swept the
parapets of both trenches, on the least sign of movement, with
"whizz-bangs." The Western Ontario Battalion suffered horribly, a
constant stream of stretchers coming through our lines, starting with
daybreak. These small shells were fired from light field-guns that had
been brought up to the trenches, and were in consequence so close that
the shell arrived and burst almost simultaneously with the report of the
gun. Shells fired at the ordinary ranges announce their coming by a
prolonged whirr, allowing a certain amount of time to get under cover
before the burst comes.
We held this line till the night of the 24th, when we went forward to
relieve the 3rd Brigade and consolidate the ground won by them. Each man
carried two days' rations, a shovel, an extra bandolier of cartridges,
and twelve sandbags, in addition to his ordinary fighting equipment.
Most of the companies had some kind of trench to start work on, but at
our end there was nothing but a line marked out by the engineers.
Listening posts and covering parties were sent out, and by morning we
were occupying a ditch about three feet deep with a fairly good parapet
in front. No fires were permitted, as we were hidden by grass from the
enemy and the trench was not yet in shape to stand any bombardment.
The next night we were fortunate in obtaining more sandbags and some
timber from a German trench we had passed on the way up. Some mail and
parcels of food came up, and we managed to clear out our wounded. Most
welcome was ammunition for the flare pistols the officers carried. We
had come into the trench with six rounds for each pistol and had been
carefully saving them in case the enemy attacked.
Our parapet was now high enough to be easily visible to the enemy, and
we received considerable attention from his snipers and artillery the
following day. No serious damage was done, however, and we were relieved
the following night by a Territorial battalion of Highlanders.
On the 26th General French, having attained for the moment the immediate
object in view, ordered a curtailment of the bombardment and a
consolidation of all positions won, and the Battle of Festubert came to
an end.
By the 31st of the month the whole Canadian Division had been withdrawn
and lay in reserve billets around the outskirts of Bethune.