THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME
The Breaking of the Second Line. July 14, 1916
The great night advance--The Leicester Brigade at Bazentin--Assault
by Seventh Division--Success of the Third Division--Desperate fight
of Ninth Division at Longueval--Operations of First Division on
flank--Cavalry advance.
With the fall of Mametz Wood, the impending capture of Trones Wood
upon the right, and the close investment of Ovillers upon the left
flank, the army could now face the second line of German defences.
The ground in front of them sloped gently upwards until it reached
the edge of a rolling plateau. Upon this edge were three villages:
Little Bazentin upon the left, Grand Bazentin upon the centre, and
Longueval upon the right, all nestling among orchards and flanked by
woods. Through these lay the enemy's position, extending to Pozières
upon the one side, and through Guillemont to the French junction on
the other. These two flanks were for the time to be disregarded, and
it was determined to strike a heavy frontal blow which would, as it
was hoped, crush in the whole middle of their line, leaving the sides
to be dealt with at our leisure. It was a most {145} formidable
obstacle, for all three villages were as strong as the German sappers
could make them, and were connected up with great lines of trenches,
the whole front which was to be attacked covering about 6000 yards.
A small wood screened Little Bazentin on the left, while behind
Longueval, facing the right attack, was a larger plantation which,
under the name of Delville Wood, has won for itself a terrible and
glorious name in British military history.
[Illustration: The Second German Line, Bazentins, Delville Wood, etc.]
The heavy guns had been advanced and the destruction of the German
wire and trenches had begun upon July 11. On the evening of the 13th
the troops mustered for the battle. They were all divisions which
had already been heavily engaged, and some of them had endured losses
in the last fortnight which might have seemed to be sufficient to put
them out of action. None the less they were not only eager for the
fight, but they were, as it proved, capable of performing the most
arduous and delicate of all operations, a night march in the face of
the enemy. More than a thousand yards of clear ground lay at many
points between the British outposts and the German trenches. To
cover it in daylight meant, as they had so often learned, a heavy
loss. It was ordered, therefore, that the troops should move up to
within striking distance in the darkness, and dash home with the
first glimmer of morning light. There was no confusion, no loss of
touch as 25,000 stormers took up their stations, and so little sound
that the Germans seem to have been unaware of the great gathering in
their immediate front. It was ticklish work, lying for hours within
point-blank range with no cover, but the men endured it as best they
might. With the first faint dawn the long line {146} sprang to their
feet and with a cheer dashed forward at the German trenches, while
the barrage rose and went roaring to eastward whence help might come
to the hard-pressed German defence.
On the extreme left of the section attacked was the First Regular
Division, which took no part in the actual advance but held the flank
in the neighbourhood of Contalmaison Villa, and at one period of the
day sent forward its right-hand battalion, the 1st North Lancashires,
to aid their neighbours in the fight.
The left of the line of actual attack was formed by the Twenty-first
Division opposite to Bazentin-le-Petit. This attack was carried out
upon a single brigade front, and the Brigade in question was the
110th from the Thirty-seventh Division. This division made no
appearance as a unit in the Battle of the Somme, but was several
times engaged in its separate brigades. On this occasion the 110th,
consisting entirely of men of Leicester, took the place of the 63rd
Brigade, much reduced by previous fighting. Their immediate
objective was the north end of Bazentin-le-Petit village and the
whole of the wood of that name. Led by the 8th and 9th Leicesters
the brigade showed, as has so often been shown before, that the
British soldier never fights better than in his first engagement.
Owing to the co-operation of the First Division and to a very
effective smoke screen upon their left, their advance was not
attended with heavy loss in the earlier stages, and they were able to
flow over the open and into the trenches opposite, capturing some 500
prisoners. They continued to fight their way with splendid
steadiness through the wood {147} and held it for the remainder of
the day. Their greatest trouble came from a single German strong
point which was 200 yards away from the corner of the wood, and,
therefore, beyond their objective. The machine-guns in this redoubt
caused great loss whenever the edge of the wood was approached. This
strong point was destroyed next day, but meanwhile the position was
consolidated and was firmly held for the next four days, after which
the division was withdrawn for a rest.
On the right of the Twenty-first Division lay the Seventh Division,
to which had been assigned the assault of the Bazentin-le-Petit
village. The leading brigade was the 20th, and the storming
battalions, the 8th Devons and 2nd Borders, crept up to their mark in
the darkness of a very obscure night. At 3.25 the barrage was
lifted, and so instantaneous was the attack that there was hardly an
interval between the last of the shrapnel and the first of the
stormers. The whole front line was captured in an instant, and the
splendid infantry rushed on without a pause to the second line,
springing into the trenches once more at the moment that the gunners
raised their pieces. In ten minutes both of these powerful lines had
fallen. Several dug-outs were found to be crammed with the enemy,
including the colonel of the Lehr Battalion, and with the
machine-guns which they had been unable to hoist into their places
before the wave had broken over them. When these were cleared, the
advance was carried on into Bazentin-le-Grand Wood, which was soon
occupied from end to end. A line in front of the wood was taken up
and consolidated.
In the meanwhile the 22nd Brigade had taken {148} up the work, the
2nd Warwicks pushing forward and occupying, without any opposition
from the disorganised enemy, the Circus Trench, while the 2nd Royal
Irish advanced to the attack of the village of Bazentin-le-Petit.
Their leading company rushed the position with great dash, capturing
the colonel commanding the garrison, and about 100 of his men. By
7.30 the place was in their hands, and the leading company had pushed
into a trench on the far side of it, getting into touch with the
Leicesters on their left.
The Germans were by no means done with, however, and they were
massing thickly to the north and north-east of the houses where some
scattered orchards shrouded their numbers and their dispositions. As
the right of the brigade seemed to be in the air, a brave sergeant of
the 2nd Warwicks set off to establish touch with the 1st
Northumberland Fusiliers, who formed the left unit of the Third
Division upon the right. As he returned he spotted a German
machine-gun in a cellar, entered it, killed the gunner, and captured
four guns. The wings of the two divisions were then able to
co-operate and to clear the ground in front of them.
The Irishmen in the advance were still in the air, however, having
got well ahead of the line, and they were now assailed by a furious
fire from High Wood, followed by a determined infantry assault. This
enfilade fire caused heavy losses, and the few survivors of those who
garrisoned the exposed trench were withdrawn to the shelter afforded
by the outskirts of the village. There and elsewhere the Lewis guns
had proved invaluable, for every man of intelligence in the battalion
had been trained to their use, and in {149} spite of gunners being
knocked out, there was never any lack of men to take their place.
The German counter-attack pushed on, however, and entered the
village, which was desperately defended not only by the scattered
infantrymen who had been driven back to it, but also by the
consolidating party from the 54th Field Company Royal Engineers and
half the 24th Manchester Pioneer Battalion. At this period of the
action a crowd of men from various battalions had been driven down to
the south end of the village in temporary disorganisation due to the
rapidity of the advance and the sudden severity of the
counter-attack. These men were re-formed by the adjutant of the
Irish, and were led by him against the advancing Germans, whom they
drove back with the bayonet, finally establishing themselves on the
northern edge of Bazentin-le-Petit Wood, which they held until
relieved later by the 2nd Gordons of the 20th Brigade. At the same
time the village itself was cleared by the 2nd Warwicks, while the
1st Welsh Fusiliers drove the Germans out of the line between the
windmill and the cemetery. The trench held originally by the Irish
was retaken, and in it was found a British officer, who had been
badly wounded and left for a time in the hands of the enemy. He
reported that they would not dress him, and prodded at him with their
bayonets, but that an officer had stopped them from killing him. No
further attempt was made by the Germans to regain the position of
Bazentin. The losses, especially those of the Royal Irish, had been
very heavy during the latter part of the engagement.
Much had been done, but the heavy task of the Seventh Division was
not yet at an end. At {150} 3.20 P.M. the reserve Brigade (91st)
were ordered to attack the formidable obstacle of High Wood, the
100th Brigade of the Thirty-third Division (Landon) co-operating from
the left side, while a handful of cavalry from the 7th Dragoon Guards
and 20th Deccan Horse made an exhilarating, if premature, appearance
upon the right flank, to which some allusion is made at the end of
this chapter. The front line of the 91st Brigade, consisting of the
2nd Queen's Surrey and 1st South Staffords, marched forward in the
traditional style of the British line, taking no notice of an
enfilade fire from the Switch Trench, and beating back a sortie from
the wood. At the same time the Brigadier of the 100th Brigade upon
the left pushed forward his two leading battalions, the 1st Queen's
Surrey and the 9th Highland Light Infantry, to seize and hold the
road which led from High Wood to Bazentin-le-Petit. This was done in
the late evening of July 14, while their comrades of the Seventh
Division successfully reached the south end of the wood, taking three
field-guns and 100 prisoners. The Queen's and part of the Highland
Light Infantry were firmly in possession of the connecting road, but
the right flank of the Highlanders was held up owing to the fact that
the north-west of the wood was still in the hands of the enemy and
commanded their advance. We will return to the situation which
developed in this part of the field during the succeeding days after
we have taken a fuller view of the doings upon the rest of the line
during the battle of July 14. It may be said here, however, that the
facility with which a footing was established in High Wood proved to
be as fallacious as the parallel case of Mametz Wood, and that many a
weary week was to pass, and many a {151} brave man give his heart's
blood, before it was finally to be included in the British lines.
For the present, it may be stated that the 91st Brigade could not
hold the wood because it was enfiladed by the uncaptured Switch
Trench, and that they therefore retired after dusk on the 15th.
To return to the story of the main battle. The centre of the attack
was carried out by the Third Division, one of the most famous units
in the Army, though it now only retained three of the veteran
battalions which had held the line at Mons. The task of the Third
Division was to break the centre of the German line from Grand
Bazentin upon the left where it touched the Seventh to Longueval on
the right where it joined with the Ninth Division. The 8th Brigade
was on the right, the 9th upon the left, while the 76th was in
support. The attacking troops advanced in the darkness in fours,
with strong patrols in front, and deployed within 200 yards of the
German wire, capturing a German patrol which blundered into their
ranks. Upon the word being given at the first faint gleam of dawn,
the leading battalions trudged forward in the slow, determined
fashion which had been found to be more effective than the
spectacular charge. From the left the front line consisted of the
12th West Yorkshires, the 13th King's Liverpools, the 7th
Shropshires, and the 8th East Yorks. The wire upon the right was
found to be very partially cut, and the line of stormers was held up
under a murderous fire. There were gaps here and there, however, so
that the colonel at the head of his Shropshires was able to force a
passage at one point, while two gallant platoons of the East
Yorkshires got {152} through at another, and pushed boldly on into
the German line. The main body, however, were forced for a time to
take cover and keep up a fire upon the enemies' heads as they peered
occasionally from over the parapets.
The left brigade had been more fortunate, finding the wire to be well
cut. The front trench was not strongly held, and was easily carried.
Both the King's Liverpools and the West Yorkshires got through, but
as they had separated in the advance the greater part of the 1st
Northumberland Fusiliers were thrust into the gap and restored the
line. These men, supported by Stokes guns, carried the village of
Grand Bazentin by 6.30 A.M. There was a deadly fire from the Grand
Bazentin Wood upon the left, but as the Seventh Division advanced
this died away, and the 12th West Yorkshires were able to get round
to the north edge of the village, but could get no farther on account
of the hold-up of the 8th Brigade upon the right. There was a
considerable delay, but at last by 1 P.M. a renewed bombardment had
cut the wires, and strong bombing parties from the supporting
battalions, the 2nd Royal Scots and 1st Scots Fusiliers, worked down
the front trench from each end. The whole brigade was then able to
advance across the German front line, which was at once consolidated.
The losses in this attack had been heavy, the 12th West Yorkshires
alone having 15 officers, including their colonel, and 350 men out of
action. The results, however, were solid, as not only was the whole
front of the German position crushed in, but 36 officers with 650 men
were taken, together with four small howitzers, four field-guns, and
fourteen machine-guns. {153} A counter-attack was inevitable and
consolidation was pushed forward with furious energy. "Every one was
digging like madmen, all mixed up with the dead and the dying." One
counter-attack of some hundreds of brave men did charge towards them
in the afternoon, but were scattered to the winds by a concentration
of fire. The position was permanently held.
The Ninth Division was on the immediate right of the Third, facing
Longueval, a straggling village which lay against the sinister
background of Delville Wood. The Division was, as will be
remembered, the first of the new armies, and had distinguished itself
greatly at Loos. It had been entirely a Highland Division, but it
had undergone a picturesque change by the substitution of the South
African Infantry Brigade in place of the 28th. The attack upon
Longueval was carried out by the 26th Brigade, the 8th Black Watch
and 10th Argyll and Sutherlands in the lead, with the 9th Seaforths
in support and the 5th Camerons in reserve. The advance was so fine
as to rouse the deepest admiration from an experienced French officer
who observed it. "Who would believe," he wrote, "that only a few
months ago not one of these men knew anything of the soldier's
profession? They carried themselves as superbly as the Old Guard.
Once I was near enough to see their faces as they deployed for attack
under the devastating fire rained on them.... Their teeth were set
and their eyes were fixed firmly on the goal towards which they were
advancing. They were determined to achieve their object, and nothing
but death would stop them.... Only those who were seriously hit
thought of dropping out. The others {154} pressed proudly on,
regardless of the pain they suffered, and took part in the final
charge in which the enemy were driven from the position." Such a
tribute from a soldier to soldiers is indeed a glory.
The village and the trenches around it were taken with a splendid
rush, but the fighting among the houses was of a desperate character,
"more so," says the same observer, "than any I had seen before." The
Germans refused to give or take quarter. When the Highlanders broke
the line they cut off those who held the trench. The officer in
command offered quarter. The German commander refused. "I and my
men," he replied, "have orders to defend this ground with our lives.
German soldiers know how to obey orders. We thank you for your
offer, but we die where we stand." When the Highlanders finally took
possession of the trench, all but a mere handful of the defenders
were dead. It is episodes like this which would make us ready to
take a German by the hand if it were not that his country's hand is
red with innocent blood.
The defence was not everywhere equally desperate. As the Highlanders
dashed past the trenches and into the scattered group of houses which
marked the village, grey figures darted round corners, or rushed out
with hands to heaven. Many prisoners were taken. Here and there
groups of brave men sold their lives dearly, especially in some ruins
at the east end of the village. The blast of fire from this place
was so hot that for a moment the advance was staggered; but a brave
piper ran to the front, and the joyous lilt of "The Campbells are
coming" sent the clansmen flooding onwards once more. Neither
bullets, bombs, nor liquid fire could stop {155} them, and the last
German was stabbed or shot amid the broken walls of his shattered
fort.
The main part or west of Longueval was now in the hands of the
Scotsmen, but the place is peculiarly shaped, tailing away in a thin
line to the northwards, the scattered houses in that direction being
commanded by the wood, which runs right up to them on their southern
side. It was clear that no complete conquest could be made until
this wood also was in the hands of our stormers. The operation was a
difficult one, and far too large to be carried out upon that day.
The South African Brigade was therefore ordered up from Montauban,
with instructions that they should attack Delville Wood at dawn of
July 15.
Here we may break off the narrative of the battle of July 14, though
it is difficult to do so, since these operations shade imperceptibly
into each other, and the fighting never really came to an end. The
main results, however, had become clear by that evening, and they
amounted to a very great success, unalloyed by any failure. Every
division had carried its point and added to its glories. Four
villages, three woods, 6000 yards of front, and 2000 of depth had
been added to our lines. Two thousand more prisoners had been taken,
bringing the total for the fortnight to the substantial figure of
10,000; while twelve heavy and forty-two field-guns had also been
taken during that time. Above all, the British had got their grip
firmly upon the edge of the plateau, though many a weary day of
fighting was to follow before the tenacious enemy had been driven
from it, and the whole position was in British hands.
The reader is to understand clearly that though the operations of
July 14 crushed in the face of the {156} German line along the whole
central position, the flanks both to the right and to the left were
still inviolate. Upon the German right the whole range of powerful
fortifications which extended through Pozières to Thiepval were
untouched, while upon the German left the equally formidable line
stretching from Longueval through Waterlot Farm and Guillemont to
Falfemont Farm was also intact. It is correct, then, to say that the
German second line had been stormed and penetrated, but it had not
been captured throughout its full extent, and the greater part of the
autumn campaign was to pass before this had been accomplished. The
reduction of the German right wing will be recounted in the chapters
which deal with Gough's army, to whom the task was assigned. That of
the left wing is covered by the narrative, which gives some details
of the numerous, bloody, and protracted attacks which ended in the
capture of Guillemont.
Meanwhile a word may be said as to the operations of the First
Division, who had been upon the left of the attack upon July 14, and
had covered that flank without attempting an advance. Upon the night
of July 15 they moved forward to attack the continuation of the
German second line system between the captured Bazentin and the
uncaptured Pozières. The attack was made by the 3rd Brigade, the 2nd
Munsters being to the left, the 1st South Wales Borderers to the
right, and the 1st Gloucesters in the centre with the 2nd Welsh in
reserve. No less than 1200 yards of No Man's Land had to be crossed,
but this was the more easy since both Pearl Wood and Contalmaison
Villa were occupied. A daring daylight reconnaissance by the colonel
of the {157} Gloucesters greatly helped the advance. The men were
marched silently in platoons along the road, and then re-formed into
line on the far side of the enemy's barrage, a manoeuvre which in the
darkness called for great steadiness and discipline, the line being
dressed on a shaded lamp in the wood. On the word the eager troops
pushed on with such speed that they crossed the German front trenches
and were into the second before their own barrage had properly
lifted. Pushing forward again, they were soon some hundreds of yards
past their objective, where they halted close to the formidable
Switch Line, having occupied all of the second line system in their
front. Their formation was now so dense, and they were so close to
the German machine-guns, that there was a possibility of disaster,
which was increased by the Welsh Borderers losing direction and
charging towards a body of men whom they dimly saw in front of them,
who proved to be the Gloucesters. Fine restraint upon both sides
prevented a catastrophe. Officers and men were now keen to push on
and to attack the Switch Line, from which flares were rising; but
prudence forbade the opening up of an entirely new objective, and the
men were drawn back to the captured German trenches. So ended a
successful and almost bloodless operation.
It has been stated in the account of the action of July 14 that at
one stage of the battle the cavalry advanced, but it was impossible
to stop the description of a large movement to follow the fortunes of
this small tactical stroke. None the less the matter was important,
as being the first blood lost or drawn by cavalry, as cavalry, since
the early months of the War. The idea was, that by a sudden move
forward a small {158} body of horse might establish itself in advance
of the general line, and occupy a position which it could hold until
the slower infantry came forward to take it over. This was actually
done, and the movement may therefore be claimed as a successful
experiment. The two detachments from the Deccan Horse and 7th
Dragoon Guards galloped three miles from the rear, so as to be under
observation as short a time as possible, passed swiftly through the
lines of the astonished and jubilant infantry, and riding right into
the enemy's position upon our right centre, established themselves in
a strong point, and, aided by a friendly monoplane, beat off the
German attacks. The advance was at six in the evening, and it was
able to hold on until nightfall and to hand over in the early morning
to the infantry. Some 40 Germans fell to lance or sabre, and a few
were taken prisoners by the daring cavaliers, who suffered somewhat
heavily, as they might well expect to do in so novel and desperate a
venture.
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