THE BATTLE OF RICHEBOURG--FESTUBERT
(May 9-24)
The New Attack--Ordeal of the 25th Brigade--Attack of the 1st
Division--Fateful days--A difficult situation--Attack of the 2nd
Division--Attack of the 7th Division--British success--Good work of
Canadians--Advance of the 47th London Division--Lull before the storm.
Whilst this desperate fighting was going on in the north a very
extensive and costly operation had been begun in the south, a great
attack being made by the First Army, with the main purpose of
engaging the German troops and preventing them from sending help to
their comrades, who were hard pressed by the French near Arras. In
this the movement was entirely successful, but the direct gain of
ground was not commensurate with the great exertions and losses of
the Army. For some days the results were entirely barren, but the
patient determination of Sir John French and of Sir Douglas Haig had
their final reward, and by May 25, when the movement had been brought
to a close, there had been a general advance of 600 yards over a
front of four miles, with a capture of 10 machine guns and some 800
prisoners. These meagre trophies of victory may, however, hardly be
said to compensate us for the {116} severe and unavoidable losses
which must always in the case of the attack be heavier than those of
the defence.
This important attack was made upon May 9, over a front of about ten
miles from the Laventie district in the north to that of Richebourg
in the south. In the case of the northern attack it was carried out
by Rawlinson's Fourth Corps, and was directed upon the sector of the
German lines to the north-west of Fromelles at the point which is
named Rouges Bancs. The southern attack was allotted to the Indian
Corps (Willcocks) and the First Corps acting together. These two
efforts represented the real foci of activity, but a general action
was carried on from one end of the line to the other in order to
confuse the issue, and hold the enemy in his trenches.
Both in the north and in the south the special attack was opened by a
sudden and severe bombardment, which lasted for about forty minutes.
This had been the prelude to the victory of Neuve Chapelle, but in
the case of Neuve Chapelle the British attack had been a complete
surprise, whereas in this action of May 9 there is ample evidence
that the Germans were well informed as to the impending movement, and
were prepared for it. Their trenches were very deep, and more
vulnerable to high explosives, in which we were deficient, than to
shrapnel. None the less, the bombardment was severe and accurate,
though, as it proved, insufficient to break down the exceedingly
effective system of defence, based upon barbed wire, machine guns,
and the mutual support of trenches.
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{117}
[Illustration: Southern Portion of Richebourg-Festubert Operations.]
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The attack in the north was confided to Lowry-Cole's 25th Brigade,
supported by the remainder of {119} the Eighth Division. This
brigade consisted of the 1st Irish Rifles, 2nd Berkshires, 2nd Rifle
Brigade, 2nd Lincoln, and two Territorial battalions--the 1st London
and the 13th London (Kensington). The latter regiment was given a
special task, which was to seize and hold a considerable mine-crater
upon the left of the line. The rest of the brigade were ordered at
5.30 to charge the German trenches, which was done with the greatest
dash and gallantry. Through a terrific fire of rifles and
machine-guns the wave of men rolled forward, and poured into the
trench, the 1st Irish Rifles and the 2nd Rifle Brigade leading the
assault. It was found, however, that further progress could not be
made. As the men sprang over the parapets they were mowed down in an
instant. Long swathes of our dead marked the sweep of the murderous
machine-guns. The Brigadier himself with his Brigade-major at his
heels, sprang forward to lead the troops, but both were shot down in
an instant, Lowry-Cole being killed and Major Dill badly wounded. It
was simply impossible to get forward. No bravery, no perseverance,
no human quality whatever could avail against the relentless sleet of
lead. The 1st Londons coming up in support deployed and advanced
over 400 yards of open with the steadiness of veterans, but lost
nearly half their numbers. The Kensingtons in their crater had a
similar experience, and could only hold on and endure a most pitiless
pelting. For a long day, until the forenoon of the 10th, the ground
which had been won was held. Then at last the bitter moment came
when the enfeebled survivors, weakened by thirty-six hours of
fighting, and fiercely attacked on all sides, were compelled to fall
back {120} upon their original lines. The retirement was conducted
with a steadiness which verged upon bravado. "These God-like fools!"
was the striking phrase of a generous German who observed the thin
ranks sauntering back under a crushing fire, with occasional halts to
gather up their wounded. The casualty figures show how terrific was
the ordeal to which the men had been exposed. The Irish Rifles lost
the very heavy numbers of 9 officers killed, 13 wounded, and 465 men
out of action. The total of the 2nd Rifle Brigade was even more
terrible, working out as 21 officers and 526 men dead or wounded.
The figures of the 2nd Berkshires and of the 2nd Lincolns were heavy,
but less disastrous than those already quoted. The former lost 20
officers and 263 men, the latter 8 officers and 258 men. The 24th
Brigade (Oxley) which had supported the 25th, and had also reached
the first trenches, endured losses which were almost as disastrous.
The 2nd East Lancashires lost 19 officers and 435 men; the 1st
Sherwood Foresters, 17 officers and 342 men; the 2nd Northamptons, 12
officers and 414 men; the 5th Black Watch, 8 officers and 140 men.
The losses of the 23rd Brigade, which remained in support, were by no
means light, for the Scottish Rifles lost 12 officers and 156 men;
while the 2nd Devons lost 7 officers and 234 men. Altogether the
Eighth Division lost 4500 men, a single brigade (the 25th),
accounting for 2232 of these casualties. Deplorable as they are,
these figures must at least show that officers and men had done all
that could be attempted to achieve the victory. When it is
remembered that these were the same battalions which had lost so
terribly at Neuve Chapelle just two months before, one can but marvel
{121} at the iron nerve which enabled them once again to endure so
searching a test.
It has been stated that the Kensingtons were given a separate mission
of their own in the capture and defence of a mine-crater upon the
left of the British line. They actually carried not only the crater,
but a considerable section of the hostile trenches, penetrating at
one time as deep as the third line; but reinforcements could not
reach them, their flanks were bare, and they were at last forced to
retire. "It was bitter and damnable!" cries one of them out of his
full heart. It was with the greatest difficulty that the remains of
the gallant band were able to make their way back again to the
British line of trenches. Nine officers were killed, 4 wounded, and
420 men were hit out of about 700 who went into action.
Such was the attack and bloody repulse which began the Battle of
Richebourg. At the same hour the Indians and the First Corps had
advanced upon the German lines to the north of Givenchy with the same
undaunted courage, the same heavy losses, and the same barren result.
The events of May 9 will always stand in military history as among
the most honourable, but also the most arduous, of the many hard
experiences of the British soldiers in France.
In the case of the Indians, the attack was checked early, and could
make no headway against the terribly arduous conditions. Their
advance was upon the right of that already described of the Fourth
Corps. Farther still to the right or to the south in the region of
Richebourg L'Avoué was the front of the First Division, which was
fated to be even more heavily punished than the Eighth had been in
the north. In this case also there was a prelude of forty minutes'
{122} concentrated fire--a period which, as the result showed, was
entirely inadequate to neutralise the many obstacles with which the
stormers were faced. During the night, the sappers had bridged the
ditches between the front trenches and the supports, and had also
crept out and thrown bridges over the ditches between the two lines.
The 2nd Brigade (Thesiger), consisting of the 1st Northamptons, 2nd
and 5th Sussex, 2nd Rifles, 1st North Lancashires, and 9th
Liverpools, attacked upon the right--indeed, they formed at that
moment the extreme right of the whole British Army, save for the
Forty-seventh London Division to the south. The weather was bright
and clear, but the effect of the bombardment was to raise such a
cloud of dust that two men from each platoon in the front line were
able to carry forward a light bridge with which they gained a line
about eighty yards from the enemy's parapet. The instant that the
guns ceased, the infantry dashed forward, but were met by a withering
fire. The 1st Northamptons and 2nd Sussex were in the lead, and the
ground between the armies was littered with their bodies. In a
second wave came the 2nd Rifles and the 5th Sussex, but human valour
could do nothing against the pelting sleet of lead. The wire had
been very imperfectly cut, and it was impossible to get through. The
survivors fell back into the front trenches, while their comrades lay
in lines and heaps upon the bullet-swept plain. The 5th Sussex
Territorials had their baptism of fire, the first and last for many,
and carried themselves like men. A line of German machine-guns was
posted in a very close position almost at right angles to the
advance, and it was these which inflicted the heaviest losses.
Hardly {123} a single man got as far as the German parapet. At 6.20
the assault was a definite failure.
On the left, the 3rd Brigade had kept pace with the 2nd, and had
shared its trials and its losses. The van of the charging brigade
was formed by the 2nd Munsters and the 2nd Welsh. The 1st
Gloucesters, 1st South Wales Borderers, and 4th Welsh Fusiliers were
in close support. Their attack was on the German line at the Rue des
Bois, 300 yards away. They reached the trenches, though Colonel
Richard of the Munsters and very many of his men were killed. This
was the third Munster Colonel--Charrier, Bent, Richard--to be killed
or disabled in the war. The men surged over the parapet, Captain
Campbell-Dick standing on the crest of it, and whooping them on with
his cap as if they were a pack of hounds. He fell dead even as they
passed him. The trenches were taken, but could not be held, as there
were no supports and the assault had failed on either side. Under
cover of a renewed artillery fire the survivors came slowly and
sullenly back. Once more, and for the third time, the 2nd Munsters
were reduced to 200 rank and file. Three officers emerged unhurt
from the action.
A second attack was ordered for mid-day, the regiments being shifted
round so as to bring the supports into the front line. It was soon
found, however, that the losses had already been so heavy that it was
impossible, especially in the 2nd Brigade, to muster sufficient force
for a successful advance. The 1st Guards Brigade (Lowther) was
therefore brought to the front, and after a renewed bombardment at 4
o'clock the two leading battalions--the 1st Black Watch and the 1st
Cameron Highlanders--rushed to the assault over the bodies of their
fallen {124} comrades. It is on record that as the Highlanders
dashed forward, a number of the wounded who had been lying in the
open since morning, staggered to their feet and joined in the charge.
It was a desperate effort, and the khaki wave rolled up to the
trenches, and even lapped over them in places; but the losses were
too heavy, and the advance had lost all weight before it reached the
German line. At one point a handful of Black Watch got over the
line, but it was impossible to reinforce them, and they were
compelled to fall back. The 3rd Brigade on their flank had pushed
forward the 1st Gloucesters and 1st South Wales Borderers. They
found the enemy "standing 3 and 4 deep in their breastworks and
fighting like demons." The British threw themselves down, and their
guns showered shrapnel on the crowded German trenches. The enemy
losses were great but the machine-guns were intact and no advance was
possible. At 6 o'clock the survivors of both Brigades were back in
their trenches once more. Late the same night the 5th Brigade of the
Second Division was brought up to take over the line, and the remains
of the First Division were withdrawn to the rear.
The losses of the 2nd Brigade were 70 officers and 1793 men, which
might have been cited as possibly the highest number incurred in the
same length of time up to that time, had it not been for the terrible
figures of the 25th Brigade upon the same fatal day. The other two
brigades of the Division were hard hit, the total losses of the
Division amounting to nearly 5000 men. If the loss of the Indian
Corps be included, the number of casualties in this assault cannot
have been less than from 12,000 to 13,000 {125} men; while the losses
to the enemy inflicted by the artillery could not possibly have
approximated to this figure, nor had any advantage been obtained.
There are few single periods of the War so crowded with incident as
from May 7 to 9, 1915. In the north the second Battle of Ypres was
at its height. In the south the Battle of Richebourg had begun. But
a third incident occurred upon the earlier date which struck the
civilised world with a horror which no combat, however murderous,
could inspire. It was the day when nearly 1200 civilians, with a
considerable proportion of women and little children, were murdered
by being torpedoed and drowned in the unarmed liner the _Lusitania_.
Such incidents do not come within the direct scope of this narrative,
and yet this particular one had an undoubted military bearing upon
the War, since it hardened our resolve, stimulated our recruiting,
and nerved our soldiers in a very marked degree, while finally
removing any possibility of peace based upon compromise. No such
crime against civilians has been committed in deliberate warfare
since the days of Tamerlane or Timour the Tartar; yet it is dreadful
to have to add that it was hailed as a triumph from one end of
Germany to the other, that medals were struck to commemorate it, and
that no protest appeared in the German Press. To such depths of
demoralisation had this once Christian and civilised nation been
reduced! Touch Germany where one would, on land or air, on the sea
or under it, one came always upon murder.
It is impossible not to admire the tenacity of Sir John French under
the very difficult circumstances in which he was now placed. His
troops at Ypres were still fighting with their backs to the wall.
Their {126} position on May 10 was precarious. The only
reinforcements they could hope for in case of disaster were from the
south. And yet the south had itself received a severe rebuff. Was
it best to abandon the attack there, and reassume the defensive, so
as to have the men available in case there should come an urgent call
from the north? A weaker general would have said so, and accepted
his check at Festubert. Sir John, however, was not so easily to be
deflected from his plans. He steadied himself by a day or two of
rest, during which he not only prepared fresh forces for striking,
but got the measure of the enemy's power at Ypres. Then it was
determined that the action should proceed, but that it should be
directed to the more southerly area of the British position, where it
would be in closer touch with the French, and receive some support
from their admirable artillery.
The centre of the British movement was still at Richebourg l'Avoué,
but the direction of the advance was to the south and west. It had
already been shown that the passage of open spaces under machine-gun
fire was difficult and deadly by daylight, so it was determined that
night should be used for the advance. Several successive nights were
unfavourable, but the days were spent in a deliberate artillery
preparation until the action was recommenced upon May 15. In the
interval, the Second Division had taken the place of the First in the
Givenchy sector, and the Seventh Division of the Fourth Corps had
been brought round from the Laventie district, and was now upon the
right of their comrades of the First Corps. The Canadian Division
was brought up in support, while the Indian Corps still preserved its
position upon the left. The {127} general line of attack was from
Richebourg by the Rue des Bois, and so south in front of Festubert.
The advance was made by the Indians upon the left, and the Second
Division upon the right at 11.30 on the night of May 15. The Indians
were held up, and maintained from that time onwards a defensive
position. When it is remembered that the Meerut Division had
suffered heavily at Neuve Chapelle, that the Lahore Division had been
very hard hit at Ypres, and that there was only a limited facility
for replacing the losses of the native regiments, it is not to be
wondered at that the Corps had weakened. The Second Division,
however, would take no denial. The attack was in the hands of the
5th and 6th Brigades, with the 4th Guards Brigade in support. It was
to sweep over the ground, which had been the scene of the repulse of
the 9th, but it was to be screened by darkness. Soon after ten
o'clock the men passed silently over the front trench, and lay down
in four lines in the open waiting for the signal. At 11.30 the word
was passed, and they advanced at a walk. The front line of the 5th
Brigade was composed of the 2nd Worcesters upon the left, and the
Inniskilling Fusiliers (taken from the 12th Brigade) upon the right.
The leading battalions of the 6th Brigade were the 1st Rifles, the
1st King's Liverpools, 1st Berkshires, and upon the extreme right two
companies (A and B) of the 7th King's Liverpools. Flares were
suddenly discharged from the German trenches, and a ghostly
flickering radiance illuminated the long lines of crouching men.
There were numerous ditches in front, but the sappers had stolen
forward and spanned them with rude bridges. The German fire was
terrific, but the uncertain quivering light made it {128} less deadly
than it had been during the daytime, though very many fell. It was
insufficient to stop the determined rush of the British infantry.
The rifles could not hold them back, and sweeping jets from
machine-guns could not kill them fast enough: nothing but Death could
hold that furious line. In three minutes they had swarmed across the
open, and poured into the trenches, killing or taking all the Germans
who were in the front line. The 2nd Worcesters on the left were held
up by unbroken barbed wire, and were unable to get forward; but all
the other battalions reached the trench, and cleared it for a
considerable distance on either flank, the bombers rushing along it
and hurling their deadly weapons in front of them. The remainder
rushed down the communication trench, and seized the second line of
defences some hundreds of yards behind the first. On the morning of
Sunday, May 16, the Second Division had gained and firmly held about
half a mile in breadth and a quarter of a mile in depth of the German
trenches. There was still an open plain in the rear between the
advanced troops and their supports, which as the light grew clearer
was so swept by German fire that it was nearly impossible to get
across it. About 8.30 in the morning, the remainder of the 7th
King's Liverpools with some of their comrades of the 5th King's
Liverpools endeavoured to join the others in front, but were shot to
pieces in the venture. During the whole of the morning, however,
single volunteers kept running forward carrying fresh supplies of
bombs and bandoliers of cartridges for the men in front. The names
of most of these brave men are to be found in the casualty lists, and
their memory in the hearts of their comrades.
{129}
Four hours after this successful attack by the Second Division, at
3.30 on the morning of Sunday May 16, another assault was made some
miles to the south, just to the north of Festubert. The attack was
made by the 20th Brigade (Heyworth) upon the left and the 22nd
(Lawford) upon the right. The 2nd Borders and 2nd Scots Guards led
the rush of the 20th, supported later by the 1st Grenadiers and 2nd
Gordons; while the 1st Welsh Fusiliers and 2nd Queen's Surrey were in
the van of the 22nd with the 2nd Warwicks, 8th Royal Scots, and 1st
South Staffords behind them. The famous Seventh Division has never
yet found its master in this campaign, and the Seventh Prussian Corps
in the south could make no more of it than the Fifteenth had done in
the north.
In the case of the 20th Brigade the Borders upon the left were held
up for a time, but the Scots Guards advanced with a fury which took
them far beyond the immediate objective, and was carried to such an
extent that one company outdistanced all their comrades, and being
isolated in the German position, were nearly all cut off. The rest
of the Guards, however, having crossed the trench line, swung across,
so that they were in the rear of the Germans who were holding up the
Borders, so that the defenders were compelled to surrender. The 1st
Grenadiers came up in support and the ground was made good.
Meanwhile the 22nd Brigade upon the right had some desperate
fighting. The 2nd Queen's Surrey had been temporarily stopped by
heavy machine-gun fire, but two companies of the Welsh Fusiliers
rushed the trenches opposite them and were quickly joined by the rest
of the battalion. The Queen's {130} Surrey refused to be rebuffed,
and with the support of the 1st Staffords they again came forward,
and dashing through a sleet of bullets got to the German line.
Colonel Gabbett of the Fusiliers and Major Bottomley of the Queen's,
one of the heroes of Gheluvelt, both met their death in this fine
attack. On reaching the trenches the South Staffords sent their
bombers under Lieutenant Hassell down the alleys of the Germans,
gathering in many prisoners. A surprising feat was performed by
Sergeant-Major Barter of the Welsh Fusiliers, while engaged in
similar work, for he and seven men brought back 94 Germans, including
3 officers. The leading companies of the South Staffords under Major
Lord and Captain Bearman got well forward into the enemy's ground,
and held on there for three days under a terrible shell-fall, until
they handed the position over to the 21st Brigade. Meanwhile, upon
the left a mixed lot of men from the Welsh Fusiliers, Scots Guards,
and Warwicks, all under Captain Stockwell, struggled along, actually
swimming one ditch which was too deep to wade, and got into the
Orchard which had been assigned as their objective. These men were
afterwards withdrawn to the German front line trenches in order to
escape from the very severe bombardment on the Orchard. Great
difficulty was experienced in bringing in the wounded, owing to the
space covered and to the incessant and extreme shelling. It is on
record that the men of the field ambulance, under Lieutenant
Greenlees of the Royal Medical Corps, were at work for thirty-six
hours with three hours' break, always in the open and always under
fire. These are the men who have all the dangers of war without its
thrills, working and dying for the {131} need of their comrades and
the honour of their corps.
In this fine day's work, in which the Seventh Division lived up to
its own reputation, Colonel Wood of the Borders and Colonel Brook of
the 8th Royal Scots were killed, making four losses in one day among
commanding officers of battalions.
On the night of May 16 the Germans made a counter-attack, which
pushed back the extreme apex of the ground gained by the Seventh
Division. All other points were held. The British had now cut two
holes in the German front over a distance of about three miles; but
between the two holes into which the heads of the Second and Seventh
Divisions had buried themselves, there lay one portion of a thousand
yards inviolate, strongly defended by intricate works and
machine-guns. Desperate endeavours had been made upon the 16th to
get round the north of this position by the Second Division, but the
fire was too murderous, and all were repulsed. At half-past nine in
the morning of the 17th the attempt was renewed from both sides with
a strong artillery support. On the north the Highland Light Infantry
and the 2nd Oxford and Bucks made a strong attack, while on the south
the 21st Brigade pushed to the front. The 4th Camerons, a
Gaelic-speaking battalion of shepherds and gillies, kept fair pace
with the veteran regular battalions of the Brigade, but lost their
gallant Colonel, Fraser. The fiery valour of the Camerons is shown
by the fact that afterwards bodies of the fallen were found far ahead
of any point reached that day by the main advance. Gradually the
valiant defenders were driven from post to post, and crushed under
the cross fire. About {132} mid-day the position was in the hands of
the British, 300 survivors having been captured. After this
consolidation of their front, the two attacking divisions drove on
together to the eastward, winning ground all the day, but meeting
everywhere the same stark resistance. Farmhouse after farmhouse was
carried. At one point a considerable body of Germans rushed out from
an untenable position; but on their putting up their hands and
advancing towards the British, they were mowed down to the number of
some hundreds by the rifles and cannon of their comrades in the rear.
South of Festubert the thick spray of bombers and bayonet men thrown
out by the Seventh Division into the German trenches were also making
ground all day, and the enemy's loss in this quarter was exceedingly
heavy. The 57th Prussian Regiment of Infantry, among others, is said
to have lost more than two-thirds of their numbers during these
operations.
By the evening of Monday, May 17, the hostile front had been crushed
in for a space of over two miles, and the British Army had regained
the ascendancy which had been momentarily checked upon May 9. If a
larger tale of prisoners was not forthcoming as a proof of victory,
the explanation lay in the desperate nature of the encounter. The
sinking of the _Lusitania_, and the murders by poison-gas, were in
the thoughts and on the lips of the assaulting infantry, and many a
German made a vicarious atonement. At the same time the little mobs
of men who rushed forward with white flags in one hand, and in many
cases their purses outstretched in the other, were given quarter and
led to the rear, safe from all violence save from their {133} own
artillery. There were many fierce threats of no quarter before the
engagement, but with victory the traditional kindliness of the
British soldier asserted itself once more.
On the evening of the 17th the men in the front line were relieved,
Lord Cavan's 4th Guards Brigade taking over the advanced trenches in
which the 1st King's Liverpools and other battalions of the 5th and
6th Brigades were lying. The Guards had to advance a considerable
distance under very heavy fire to reach their objective, and there is
a touch of other days in the fact that the Bishop of Khartoum stood
by the trenches and blessed them as they passed. They lost many men
from the terrible artillery fire, but in spite of this they at once
advanced in a most gallant attack which won several hundred yards of
ground. The Irish and 2nd Grenadiers were the attacking battalions
with the Herts territorials in close support. The Irish Guards were
especially forward and held the ground gained, but lost 17 officers
and several hundred men. All day of the 18th the Guards held the
advanced front line until relieved at midnight of that date by the
advance of another Division.
The 18th saw the general advance renewed, but it was hampered by the
fact that the heavy weather made it difficult to obtain the artillery
support which is so needful where buildings have to be carried. The
Indians upon the left sustained a heavy attack upon this day, the
losses falling chiefly upon the Sirhind Brigade, and especially on
the 1st Highland Light Infantry and the 15th Sikhs. It was in this
action that Lieutenant Smyth and Private Lal Singh of the latter
regiment saved the fight at a critical moment {134} by bringing up a
fresh supply of bombs. Ten men started on the venture, and only the
two won home. The 19th was wet and misty. It was upon this date
that the two hard-working and victorious Divisions, the Second and
the Seventh, were relieved respectively by the Fifty-first Highland
Territorial Division and by the Canadians, the guns of the two
regular Divisions being retained. The operations which had hitherto
been under Monro of the First Corps, were now confided to Alderson of
the Canadians. At this time, the general level of the advance was
the road which extends from La Quinque to Bethune. The change of
troops did not entail any alteration in strategy, and the slow
advance went forward. Upon the night of May 20-21 the Canadians
continued the work of the Seventh Division, and added several fresh
German trenches to the area already secured. From Richebourg to the
south and east there was now a considerable erosion in the German
position. The first objective of the Canadians was an orchard in the
Quinque Rue position, which was assaulted by the 14th Montreal
Regiment (Meighen) and the 16th Canadian Scottish (Leckie), after a
gallant reconnaissance by Major Leckie of the latter regiment. The
Canadians were thrust in between the 3rd Coldstream Guards of the
Second Division upon their left, and the 2nd Wiltshires of the
Seventh Division upon their right. The orchard was cleared in most
gallant fashion, and a trench upon the flank of it was taken, but the
Canadian loss was considerable in the battalions named and in the
13th Royal Canadian Highlanders in support. Another Canadian
battalion, the 10th, had attacked the German line a mile to the south
of the orchard, and had been repulsed. A {135} heavy bombardment was
organised, and the attempt was renewed upon the following day, two
companies of the 10th, preceded by a company of grenade-throwers,
carrying 400 yards of the trench at a very severe cost. It was
partly recaptured by the Germans upon May 22, while part remained in
the hands of the Canadians. Several counter-attacks were made upon
the Canadians during this day, but all withered away before the
deadly fire of the Western infantry.
On May 24 the Canadians were attacking once more at the position
where the 10th Battalion had obtained a partial success upon the
22nd. It was a strongly fortified post, which had been named
"Bexhill" by the British. The assault was carried out at daybreak by
two companies of the 5th Battalion under Major Edgar, with a company
of the 7th British Columbians in support. Before six o'clock the
position had been carried, and was held all day in face of a
concentrated shell-fire from the German guns. It was a terrible
ordeal, for the Brigade lost 50 officers and nearly 1000 men, but
never their grip of the German trench. On the same night, however,
another Canadian attack delivered by the 3rd Battalion (Rennie) with
great fire, was eventually repulsed by the machine-guns.
This long-drawn straggling action, which had commenced with such fury
upon May 9, was now burning itself out. Prolonged operations of this
kind can only be carried on by fresh relays of troops. The
Forty-seventh London Territorial Division was brought up into the
front line, and found itself involved at once in some fierce fighting
at the extreme right of the British line near Givenchy. The
Forty-seventh Division (formerly the Second London {136} Division)
was in reality the only London division, since the battalions which
composed the first, the Artists, Victorias, Rangers, Westminsters,
etc., had already been absorbed by regular brigades. The division
commanded by General Barter consisted of the 140th (Cuthbert), 141st
(Thwaites), and 142nd (Willoughby) Brigades. On the evening of May
25 the latter Brigade, which occupied the front-line trench, was
ordered to make an attack upon the German line opposite, whilst the
18th Battalion of the 141st Brigade made a strong feint to draw their
fire. The first-line battalions were the 23rd and 24th (Queen's), of
which the 23rd upon the left had some 300 yards of open to cross,
while the 24th upon the right had not more than 150. Both battalions
reached their objective in safety, and within three minutes had
established telephonic communications with their supports of the 21st
and 22nd Battalions. The capture of the trenches had not been
difficult, but their retention was exceedingly so, as there was a
ridge from which the German machine-guns commanded the whole line of
trench. Each man had brought a sandbag with him, and these were
rapidly filled, while officers and men worked desperately in building
up a defensive traverse--a labour in which Sergeant Oxman greatly
distinguished himself. Three German counter-attacks got up within
ten yards of the 24th, but all were beaten back. The German bombers,
however, were deadly, and many officers and men were among their
victims. The 21st Battalion had followed up the 23rd, and by 10.30
they were able to work along the line of the German trench and make
good the position. All day upon May 26 they were exposed to a very
heavy and {137} accurate German fire, but that afternoon about 4 P.M.
they were relieved by the 20th London from Thwaites' 141st Brigade.
The line was consolidated and held, in spite of a sharp attack on the
afternoon of May 28, which was beaten off by the 20th Battalion.
Whilst the London Division had been thrust into the right of the
British line, the Canadian infantry had been relieved by bringing
forward into the trenches the dismounted troopers of King Edward's
and Strathcona's Horse, belonging to Seely's Mounted Canadian
Brigade, who fought as well as their fellow-countrymen of the
infantry--a standard not to be surpassed. From this time onwards
there was a long lull in this section of the British line. The time
was spent in rearranging the units of the Army, and in waiting for
those great reinforcements of munitions which were so urgently
needed. It was recognised that it was absolutely impossible to make
a victorious advance, or to do more than to hold one's ground, when
the guns of the enemy could fire six shells to one. In Britain, the
significance of this fact had at last been made apparent, and the
whole will and energy of the country were turned to the production of
ammunition. Not only were the old factories in full swing, but great
new centres were created in towns which had never yet sent forth such
sinister exports. Mr. Lloyd George, a man who has made atonement for
any wrong that he did his country in the days of the Boer War by his
magnificent services in this far greater crisis, threw all his energy
and contagious enthusiasm into this vital work, and performed the
same miracles in the organisation and improvisation of the tools of
warfare that Lord Kitchener {138} had done in the case of the New
Armies. They were services which his country can never forget.
Under his energy and inspiration the huge output of Essen and the
other factories of Germany were equalled, and finally surpassed by
the improvised and largely amateur munition workers of Britain. The
main difficulty in the production of high explosives had lain in the
scarcity of picric acid. Our Free Trade policy, which has much to
recommend it in some aspects, had been pushed to such absurd and
pedantic lengths that this vital product had been allowed to fall
into the hands of our enemy, although it is a derivative of that coal
tar in which we are so rich. Now at last the plants for its
production were laid down. Every little village gasworks was sending
up its quota of toluol to the central receivers. Finally, in
explosives as in shells and guns, the British were able to supply
their own wants fully and to assist their Allies. One of the
strangest, and also most honourable, episodes of the War was this
great economic effort which involved sacrifices to the time, comfort,
and often to the health of individuals so great as to match those of
the soldiers. Grotesque combinations resulted from the eagerness of
all classes to lend a hand. An observer has described how a peer and
a prize-fighter have been seen working on the same bench at Woolwich,
while titled ladies and young girls from cultured homes earned
sixteen shillings a week at Erith, and boasted in the morning of the
number of shell cases which they had turned and finished in their
hours of night shift. Truly it had become a National War. Of all
its strange memories none will be stranger than those of the peaceful
middle-aged civilians who were seen eagerly {139} reading books upon
elementary drill in order to prepare themselves to face the most
famous soldiers in Europe, or of the schoolgirls and matrons who
donned blue blouses and by their united work surpassed the output of
the great death factories of Essen.
{140}