THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME
Breaking of the Third Line, September 15
Capture of Martinpuich by Fifteenth Division--Advance of Fiftieth
Division--Capture of High Wood by Forty-seventh Division--Splendid
advance of New Zealanders--Capture of Flers by Forty-first
Division--Advance of the Light Division--Arduous work of the Guards
and Sixth Divisions--Capture of Quadrilateral--Work of Fifty-sixth
Division on flank--Début of the tanks.
The Army had been temporarily exhausted by its extreme efforts and
the consequent losses, but was greatly buoyed up by the certainty
that with their excellent artillery and their predominant air service
they were inflicting more punishment than they were receiving.
Steadily from week to week the tale of prisoners and of captured guns
had been growing, the British and the French keeping curiously level
in the numbers of their trophies. Fresh divisions, ardent for
battle, were streaming down from the Northern line, while old
divisions, already badly hammered, filled up rapidly with eager
drafts, and were battle-worthy once again in a period which would
have been pronounced absolutely impossible by any military critic
before the War. All the rearward {236} villages were choked with the
supports. There was rumour also of some new agency to be used, and
wondrous stories were whispered as to its nature and its powers. The
men were in high heart, therefore, and by the middle of September
Rawlinson's Fourth Army, which now included three corps, was ready to
spring forward once again. The main German line was miles behind
them, and the headquarters of British brigades and divisions now
nested comfortably in those commodious dug-outs which two years of
unremitting German labour had constructed--monuments for many a year
to come of their industry and of their failure. It was realised that
the obstacles in front, however formidable, could not possibly be so
difficult as those which had already been surmounted; and yet our
aeroplanes were able to report that the whole country was still
slashed across and across in a fanciful lacework of intricate
patterns in which fire, support, and communication trenches formed
one great network of defence.
The left flank of the Army was formed by Gough's Fifth Army, which
had pushed forward in the manner already described, the Second Corps
(Jacob) and the Canadians (Byng) being in the line upon September 15.
On their immediate right, and joining them in the trenches which face
Martinpuich, was Pulteney's Third Corps, which covered the whole line
down to High Wood. From the north-west of High Wood to the trenches
opposite Flers, Horne's long-suffering Fifteenth Corps still urged
the attack which it had commenced upon July 1. The units, it is
true, had changed, but it is difficult to exaggerate the long strain
which had been borne by this commander and his staff. An
appreciation of it was shown by his {237} elevation to the command of
the First Army at the conclusion of the operations. From the right
of Horne's Corps to the point of junction with the French the line
was filled by the Fourteenth Corps, under Lord Cavan of Ypres fame.
In the movement, then, which we are immediately considering, it is
the Third, Fifteenth, and Fourteenth Corps which are concerned. We
shall take them as usual from the left, and follow the fortunes of
each until their immediate operations reached some definite term. It
is a gigantic movement upon which we look, for from the Eleventh
Division in the Thiepval sector to the left, along ten miles of
crowded trenches to the Fifty-sixth Division near Combles upon the
right, twelve divisions, or about 120,000 infantry, were straining on
the leash as the minute hand crawled towards zero and the shell
streams swept ever swifter overhead.
The three divisions which formed the Third Corps were, counting from
the left, the Fifteenth, the Fiftieth, and the Forty-seventh. Of
these, the Scots Division was faced by the strong line of defence in
front of Martinpuich and the village of that name. The north of
England territorials were opposite to the various German trenches
which linked Martinpuich to High Wood. The Londoners were faced by
the ghastly charnel-house of High Wood itself, taken and retaken so
often, but still mainly in German hands. At 6.20 A.M. the assault
went forward along the line.
The Fifteenth Division, which had been strengthened by the 103rd
Brigade, advanced upon the line of trenches which separated them from
Martinpuich, the 46th Brigade being upon the left and the 45th upon
the right. The 10th Highland Light Infantry upon the left of the
46th Brigade were in close touch with {238} the Canadians upon their
left, forming the right-hand unit of Gough's Army. This brigade,
consisting of Highland Light Infantry, Scots Borderers, and Scottish
Rifles, swarmed over the German defences, while their comrades upon
the right, including Royal Scots, Scots Fusiliers, Camerons, and
Argylls, were no less successful. The fact that the whole line was
engaged removed the old bugbears of enfilade fire which had broken up
so many of our advances. The German barrage was heavy, but the
advance was so swift and the close fight of the trenches came so
quickly, that it was less effective than of old. A creeping barrage
from the British guns, going forward at a pace of fifty yards a
minute, kept in front of the infantry, whose eager feet were ever on
the edge of the shrapnel. With the 44th Highland Brigade in close
support the whole division swept roaring over the trenches, and with
hardly a pause flooded into Martinpuich, where they met the fringe of
the Canadians, whose main advance was to the north-west of the
village. It was a magnificent advance, and the more noteworthy as
the men of the 15th Division had already been for six unbroken weeks
in the line, digging, working, fighting, and continually under
shell-fire. Some groups of Germans in the village attempted a short
and hopeless resistance, but the greater number threw their arms down
and their hands up. It is said that a detachment of six Argylls got
into Martinpuich some little time before their comrades, owing to
some gap in the defences, and that they not only held their own
there, but were found when reinforced to be mounting guard over fifty
prisoners. Among many anecdotes of military virtue may be cited that
of a sergeant of this same battalion, which combined within one {240}
episode all the qualities which distinguish the very best type of
British soldier. He first attacked single-handed a number of German
dug-outs. From one of these a German officer was emerging with his
hands up. A soldier dashed forward in act to kill him, upon which
the sergeant threatened his comrade with the bomb which he held in
his hand. The German officer, as a sign of gratitude, presented
Cunningham on the spot with his Iron Cross, which the sergeant at
once despatched home to be sold for the benefit of the wounded. It
was a quaintly beautiful exhibition of a noble nature.
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{239}
[Illustration: Taking of Martinpuich, September 15, 1916.]
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Immediate steps were taken to consolidate the village and to connect
up firmly with the Fiftieth Division on the line of Starfish Trench,
and with the Canadians on the line of Gunpit Trench, the general
final position being as shown in the diagram. The trophies upon this
occasion amounted to 13 machine-guns, 3 field-guns, 3 heavy
howitzers, and about 700 prisoners. There was a counter-attack upon
the morning of September 16, which was easily repulsed: and
afterwards, save for constant heavy shelling, the village was left in
the hands of the victors, until a few days later the Fifteenth was
relieved by the Twenty-third Division.
Whilst this brilliant advance had been conducted upon their left, the
Fiftieth Division, the same north country Territorial Division which
had done such vital service during the gas battle at Ypres, had
carried the trenches opposed to them. They had no village or fixed
point at their front with which their success can be linked; but it
may be said generally that they kept the centre level with the two
victorious wings, and that in the evening of September 15 they {241}
extended from the Starfish trench on the left to the new position of
the Forty-seventh Division upon the right. This position was a
magnificent one, for High Wood had been finally taken, and the
British line had been carried forward by these splendid London
battalions, until in the evening the 140th Brigade upon the right had
been able to join up with the New Zealanders upon the Flers line.
Advancing upon a one-brigade front, with the 6th and 15th London in
the lead, the London territorials, after one slight check, rushed the
wood, and by 11 o'clock not only had it in their complete possession
but had won 150 yards beyond it, where they consolidated. Two tanks
which had been allotted to them were unfortunately unable to make
their way through that terrible chaos of fallen trees, irregular
trenches, deep shell-holes, and putrescent decay, which extended for
a third of a mile from south to north. The wood now passed
permanently into British hands, and the Forty-seventh Division has
the honour of the final capture; but in justice to the Thirty-third
and other brave divisions which had at different times taken and then
lost it, it must be remembered that it was a very much more difficult
proposition to hold it when there was no general attack, and when the
guns of the whole German line could concentrate upon the task of
making it uninhabitable.
So much for the capture of High Wood by the Forty-seventh Division.
Speaking generally, it may be said that each of the three divisions
forming Pulteney's Third Corps was equally successful in reaching and
in retaining the objectives assigned for the attack.
The dividing line between the Third Corps and {242} Horne's Fifteenth
Corps was to the south of High Wood in the neighbourhood of Drop
Trench. The order of the divisions in the latter corps from the left
was the New Zealanders, the Forty-first Division, and the Fourteenth
Light Division. We shall follow each in its turn.
The New Zealand Division had confirmed in France the high reputation
which their predecessors had founded in South Africa, and which they
had themselves renewed on the Gallipoli peninsula. They were troops
with a splendid spirit, and no Londoner who has seen their tall lithe
figures with the crimson hat-bands which distinguish them from other
oversea troops, needs to be told how fine was their physique. They
were fortunate, too, in a divisional commander of great dash and
gallantry. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that in this,
their first serious battle, they carried themselves with great
distinction and made good the objective which had been assigned to
them.
This objective was the famous Switch Trench between High Wood and
Delville Wood, a section which was held by the Fourth Bavarian
Division. Good as the Bavarians are, they had no chance when it came
to close quarters with the stalwart men of Auckland and Otago, who
formed the 2nd Brigade in the front line of the New Zealand battle.
The machine-gun fire which they had to face was heavy and deadly,
especially for the Otagos, who were on the left near High Wood. They
poured on, however, in an unbroken array, springing down into Switch
Trench, bayoneting part of the garrison, sending back the survivors
as prisoners, and rapidly forming up once more for a fresh advance.
The New Zealand Rifle {243} Brigade passed over the captured trench
and lay down under the barrage 300 yards beyond it, whence at 6.40
they went forward upon a new advance with such impetuosity that they
could hardly be kept out of the friendly fire in front of them. The
next obstacle, Fat Trench, was easily surmounted, and by noon the
Flers Trench and Flers Support Trench had both fallen to this fine
advance. The village of Flers was not in the direct line of the
advance, but the fringe of the New Zealanders passed through the edge
of it, and connected up with the Forty-first Division who had
occupied it.
When, as will presently be shown, the left-hand brigade of this
division was temporarily driven back by a sharp German
counter-attack, the New Zealanders were bare upon their right, while
a gap existed also upon their left. In spite of this they held on to
their advanced position to the north-west of the village, the line
being strengthened by battalions from Wellington, Hawke's Bay, and
West Coast, who pushed forward into the fight.
In the morning of the 16th the reserve brigade had come up and the
advance was renewed as far as Grove Alley upon the left, the
Canterbury battalion clearing and holding the new ground, with the
Aucklanders and Otagos in immediate support. With this new advance
the New Zealanders had come forward 3000 yards in two days--a notable
performance--and were within short striking distance of the great
German systems of Gird Trench and Gird Support. Two German counters
that evening, one upon the Rifle Brigade and the other on the 1st
Wellington battalion, had no success.
On the right of the New Zealanders was the Forty-first {244} Division
under one of the heroes of the original Seventh Division. His
objective after surmounting the German trench lines was the fortified
village of Flers. His artillery support was particularly strong, for
his C.R.A. had under him the very efficient guns of the Twenty-first
Division, as well as those of his own unit. The infantry advance was
carried out with the 122nd Brigade on the left, the 124th on the
right, and the 123rd in reserve. All the battalions save one were
South of England, and most of them from the home counties, a district
which has furnished some of the finest infantry of the War. As they
advanced they were in close touch with the 2nd New Zealanders upon
the left and with the 41st Brigade upon the right. The first
objective, Tea Support Trench, was rapidly overrun by the Royal
Riflemen, Hampshire, and Queen's Surrey battalions who formed the
front line. The garrison surrendered. The continuation of Switch
Trench stretched now in front of them, and both front brigades, with
a ten minutes' interval in favour of the left one, made good the
sections in front of them. The division was fortunate in its tanks,
for seven out of ten got over the first line, and some survived for
the whole day, spreading dismay in front of them and amused
appreciation behind. The resistance was by no means desperate save
by a few machine-gunners, who were finally scared or butted out of
their emplacements by the iron monsters. Two tanks did good service,
cutting the wire to the west of Flers Road, and the village was
opened up to the stormers, who rushed into it shortly after eight
o'clock. One tank went up the east side of the village and crushed
in two houses containing machine-guns, while another {245} one passed
down the main street; and yet another cleared up the west side.
Nowhere upon this day of battle did these engines of warfare justify
themselves so well as at Flers.
By ten o'clock the village was cleared and consolidated, but the
German guns were very active, and there was a strong counter-attack
from fresh infantry, which fell heavily upon the already worn troops
who had now passed beyond the village and got as far as the Box and
Cox trenches. There had been a large number of officer casualties.
Shortly after ten o'clock an officer of the 18th King's Royal Rifles
had got far forward with a mixed party of 100 men with some Lewis
guns, and had established a strong point at Box and Cox, which he
held until about one. During those three hours the shell-fall was
very severe. The division had become somewhat scattered, partly
owing to the street fighting in Flers and partly because the 124th
Brigade upon the right, although it had kept touch with the 41st
Brigade, had lost touch with its own comrades upon the left. Finding
that its left flank was open, it fell back and took up the line of
the Sunken Road, a quarter of a mile south of Flers, where it
remained.
Meanwhile the 122nd Brigade was in some trouble. The pressure of
counter-attack in front of it had become so heavy that there was a
general falling back of the more advanced units. This retrograde
movement was stopped by the Brigade-Major, who collected a section of
the 228th Field Company of Royal Engineers, together with little
groups of mixed battalions in Flers Trench, and sent them forward
again, working in conjunction with the New Zealand 3rd (Rifle)
Brigade to the north end of {246} the village. Avoiding the centre
of Flers, which was flaring and flaming with shells like the live
crater of a volcano, these troops skirted the flank of the houses and
by 2 P.M. had arrived once more at the north and north-west of the
hamlet. Five Vickers guns were brought up, and the position made
good by 2 P.M., the Brigadier-General being personally most active in
this reorganisation of his line.
Whilst the 122nd Brigade had met and overcome this momentary
set-back, the 124th upon the right had endured a similar experience
and had come out of it with equal constancy. Shortly after one they
had fallen back to Flers Trench, where they were rallied by their
Brigadier, and moved forward again accompanied by some stray units of
the Fourteenth Division. About 3 P.M. they were reinforced by two
fresh companies of the 23rd Middlesex from the reserve brigade. By
half-past four the whole of the remains of the division were north of
Flers in a ragged but indomitable line, steadily winning ground once
more, and pushing back the German attack. By half-past six they had
got level with Flea Trench and Hogshead, and were close to the great
Gird Trench. Some of the 124th tried hard to establish themselves in
this important work, but lost heavily from a machine-gun established
in a cornfield upon their right. At seven o'clock the advanced line
was consolidated, and the scattered units reorganised so far as the
want of officers would permit. Very many of the latter, including
Colonel Ash of the 23rd Middlesex, had been killed or wounded. The
11th Queen's, from the reserve brigade, was sent up to strengthen the
front posts, while an officer of the same battalion was placed in
charge of the Flers defences. No {247} tank was left intact in the
evening, but they had amply justified themselves and done brilliant
work in this section of the battlefield.
The morning of September 16 saw a forward movement in this quarter
upon the Gird Trench, which was shared in by the divisions upon both
wings. The 64th Brigade of the Twenty-first Division had been placed
under the orders of the General commanding the Forty-first for the
purpose of this attack, so that the subsequent losses fell upon the
North-countrymen. The advance got forward about 200 yards and
established itself close to the great trench, but the losses were
heavy, the machine-guns active, and farther progress was for the
moment impossible. The 9th Yorkshire Light Infantry and 15th Durham
Light Infantry were the chief sufferers in this affair. Upon
September 17 the Fifty-fifth Division relieved the Forty-first, whose
record for the battle was certainly a glorious one, as in one day
they had taken Tea Support, Switch Trench, Flers Trench, Flers
village, Box and Cox and Flea Trench, any one of which might be
considered an achievement. How great their efforts were may be
measured by the fact that nearly 50 per cent had fallen. The losses
of the 124th were almost as heavy, and those of the 123rd were
considerable. Altogether 149 officers out of 251 and 2994 out of
about 7500 were killed or wounded. The opponents both of the
Forty-first and of the Fourteenth Divisions were the Fifth Bavarian
Division, who held the German line from Flers to Ginchy, and must
have been well-nigh annihilated in the action.
The story of the Fourteenth Light Division has been to some extent
told in recounting the experiences {248} of the Forty-first Division,
as the two advanced side by side upon prolongations of the same
trenches, with equal dangers and equal successes. No village fell
within the sphere of their actual operations, though a complete
victory would have brought them to Guedecourt, but it was part of
their task to sweep up the German trenches to the north of Delville
Wood, especially the Tea Support and the Switch Trench. This task
was committed to the 41st Brigade, consisting entirely of Rifle
Brigade or Royal Rifle Battalions. The advance was for 500 yards
downhill, and then up a long slope of 700 yards, which leads to a
plateau about 200 yards across, with the Switch Trench in the centre
of it. The Riflemen swept over this space with a splendid dash which
showed that they had inherited all those qualities of the old 60th
which were cultivated by Sir John Moore and celebrated by Napier,
qualities which were always shared by their comrades of the Rifle
Brigade. Regardless of the enemy's fire, and so eager that they
occasionally were struck on the backs by their own shrapnel, the long
thin lines pushed forward in perfect formation, the 8th Rifles and
8th Rifle Brigade in front, with the 7th Battalions of the same
regiments in close support.
By ten o'clock they had cleared the network of trenches in front of
them and gone forward 2000 yards. The main attack was carried on by
the 42nd Brigade, composed also of Riflemen with the 5th Oxford and
Bucks and 5th Shropshires. This brigade pushed on, keeping in close
touch with the Forty-first Division upon the left, but gradually
losing touch with the Guards upon their right, so that a dangerous
gap was created. It was covered by the {249} 7th Divisional
Artillery as well as by its own guns. In its advance it passed
through the ranks of its fellow-brigade, which had cleared the first
trenches up to and including the line of the Switch Trench. The
front line from the left consisted of the 5th Shropshires and 9th
Rifle Brigade, with the 5th Oxford and Bucks and 9th Rifles behind.
From the beginning the brigade was under heavy fire, and the colonel
of the Oxfords was twice wounded, which did not prevent him from
still leading his battalion. The first obstacle, Gap Trench, was
safely carried, and the line swept onwards to Bulls Road where they
were cheered by the sight of a tank engaging and silencing a German
battery, though it was itself destroyed in the moment of victory.
The losses in the two rifle battalions were especially heavy as the
right flank was exposed owing to the gap which had formed. This
deadly fire held up the flank, with the result that the Shropshires
and Oxfords who were less exposed to it soon found themselves
considerably in advance of their comrades, where they formed a line
which was extended about mid-day by the arrival of the 9th Rifles.
At this period large reinforcements of the enemy were seen flocking
into Gird Trench and Gird Support Trench in front. So strong were
they that they attempted a counter-attack upon the right front of the
42nd Brigade, but this was brought to a stand, and finally broken up
by rifle and Lewis-gun fire. The supporting 43rd Brigade came up in
the evening and took over the ground gained, together with four
German guns which had been captured. The final result, therefore,
was that the division had won its way to the edge of that Gird Trench
which represented the next great task which should be attempted {250}
by the Army--a task which, as already shown, was attempted by three
divisions upon the morning of September 16, but proved to be too
formidable for their depleted and wearied ranks.
This fine advance of the Fourteenth Division brought them over the
low ridge which had faced them. "It was a grand sight," says a
Rifleman, "to see the promised land lying green at one's feet, with
Germans moving across the open, and ammunition waggons going at a
trot to and from their batteries, but the grandest sight of the day
was seeing the battalions advance, the men dancing along only too
anxious to get to close grips with the enemy."
Among many brave deeds recorded of the division there was none finer
than those of a captain and a corporal, both of the Medical Service,
who stayed in the open all day in spite of wounds, tending those who
were hardly worse than themselves.
On the evening of September 16 there was an advance of the 43rd
Brigade, consisting of Somerset, Durham, Cornish, and Yorkshire Light
Infantry, which succeeded in establishing itself in the Gird Trench,
though they found it impossible to get as far as the Gird Support.
This successful advance was supported by the Shropshire and Oxford
battalions of the 42nd Brigade, who established flank protections and
got into touch with the Guards in Gap Trench upon the right. The
Fourteenth Division was withdrawn from the line after this, and their
place taken by the Twenty-first.
We have now briefly considered the operations carried out during this
great battle by Horne's Fifteenth Corps. Upon their right,
stretching from the neighbourhood of Ginchy to the left of the French
{251} Army in the neighbourhood of Combles, was Cavan's Fourteenth
Corps, which contained in its battle line the Guards, the Sixth
Division, and the 56th London Territorial Division. Taking them, as
always, from the left, we will begin by tracing the progress of the
Guards.
The Guards Division had taken over the Ginchy Section some days
previously from the Irish Division, and had at once found themselves
involved in very heavy fighting, which left them a good deal weakened
for the great advance. They were faced by a strong system of
trenches, and especially by one stronghold upon their right front,
called the Quadrilateral, which was a most formidable thorn, not only
in their side but also in that of the Sixth Division upon the right.
On September 13 and 14 these two divisions strove hard, and sustained
heavy losses in the endeavour to clear their front of, and to
outflank, this serious obstacle, and some account of these
preliminary operations may be here introduced, although, as
explained, they were antecedent to the general engagement. The
attack upon the German trenches on the evening of September 13 was
begun by the Sixth Division, which advanced with the 71st Brigade
upon the left, the Sixteenth upon the right, and the Eighteenth in
reserve. For 500 yards the advance was successful until it reached
the sunken road which leads from Ginchy to Leuze Wood. Here the
leading battalions of the 71st Brigade, the 2nd Sherwood Foresters
upon the left and the 9th Suffolk upon the right, were held up by a
furious fire which caused them heavy losses. The 8th Bedford, one of
the leading battalions of the 16th Brigade, was also heavily
punished. Many {252} officers fell, including Major Mack of the
Suffolks, a civilian-bred soldier over sixty years of age, who had
distinguished himself by his fiery courage. The 2nd Brigade of
Guards had advanced upon the left, near Ginchy Telegraph, and had
also forced their way as far as the road, where they were held up
partly by a terrific barrage from the north-east and partly by the
murderous fire from the Quadrangle. The whole line dug in upon the
ground they had won and waited for a farther push in the morning. In
this action No. 2 Company of the 2nd Irish Guards suffered heavy
casualties from close-range fire.
On September 14 a second attempt was made to get forward, the action
being a purely local one, but extending over a considerable space
from Ginchy to near Leuze Wood, with its centre on the line of Ginchy
Telegraph. The 3rd Brigade of Guards came into action this morning
and made some progress in the orchard north of Ginchy. At the same
time, the 2nd Sherwoods got astride of the little railway which
intersected their position. The gains were inconsiderable, however,
which could not be said for the losses, mostly due to machine-gun
fire from the Quadrangle. The fact that this point was still untaken
gave the whole Fourteenth Corps a very difficult start for the
general action upon September 15 to which we now come.
On the signal for the general advance the Guards Division advanced on
the front between Delville Wood and Ginchy. The 1st Guards Brigade
was on the left, the 2nd on the right, and the 3rd in reserve. The
front line of battalions counting from the left were the 3rd, 2nd,
and 1st Coldstreams with the 3rd Grenadiers as right flank. Behind,
in the second line {253} from the left, were the 1st Irish, 2nd
Grenadiers, 2nd Irish, and 1st Scots. Disregarding the Quadrilateral
upon their right, which was holding up the Sixth Division, the Guards
swept magnificently onwards, losing many officers and men, but never
their direction or formation. From 6.20 in the morning until 4 P.M.
they overcame one obstacle after another, and continually advanced,
though the progress was unequal at different points on the line.
There was a short sharp bout of hand-to-hand fighting in the front
line trench, but the rush of the heavy disciplined Guardsmen was
irresistible, and the defenders were soon overwhelmed. In this mêlée
the battalions got badly mixed up, part of the 2nd Irish getting
carried away by the 1st Brigade. The 1st Brigade found a more
formidable obstacle in front of them in Vat Alley, but this also was
cleared after a struggle, the left-hand units getting mixed with the
right-hand units of the Fourteenth Division. About one o'clock the
3rd Coldstreams on the extreme left were held up by a wired strong
point. They were weak in numbers and almost without officers, so
they dug in as best they could and waited. On the right the 2nd
Brigade made good progress, and about mid-day its leading line topped
the low ridge and saw the land of promise beyond, the green slope
leading up to Lesboeufs, and in the middle of the slope, not more
than a thousand yards away, a battery of field-guns raining shrapnel
upon them. They could get no farther, and they consolidated at this
point, digging in under heavy shell-fire. The German infantry was
seen at one time marching down in artillery formation for a
counter-attack, but the movement was soon dispersed. In the evening
the front line, terribly worn and consisting {254} of a jumble of
exhausted men, held on firmly to the last inch that they had won.
Too weak to advance and too proud to retire, they lay under the
torment of the shells and waited for dusk. The colonel of the 3rd
Coldstreams, in temporary command of his brigade, had sent back
during the afternoon for help, and the 2nd Scots were sent up from
the 3rd Brigade, but the German barrage was so terrific that they
sustained very heavy losses, including Colonel Tempest, Wynne-Finch,
the adjutant, and many other officers. The battalion, or what
remained of it, arrived in time to help to crush a dangerous
counter-attack, which was sweeping down from between Guedecourt and
Lesboeufs, a repulse which was entirely inflicted by rifle and
Lewis-gun fire. A lieutenant seems to have been the senior officer
present at this critical moment, and to have met it as our subalterns
have so often met large emergencies during the War. The advanced
line was held until upon the next day the 60th Brigade, and finally
the whole of the Twentieth Division, took over the new positions,
which may be regarded as a protective flank line in continuation of
that of the Fifty-sixth Division. It should be mentioned that the
61st Brigade of the Twentieth Division had been lent to the Guards
during the battle, and had done very sterling and essential work.
For a short time the Guards were rested after this splendid but
costly service.
In the meantime the gallant Sixth Division was left face to face with
the hardest problem of all, the Quadrilateral trenches, which, as the
name would indicate, were as formidable in the flanks or rear as in
front. With a tenacity which was worthy of the traditions of this
great division it settled down to the {255} task of clearing its
front, meeting with check after check, but carrying on day and night
until the thing was done. On the first assault upon September 15,
the 1st Leicesters of the 71st Brigade were able to make some
progress, but the 8th Bedford of the 16th Brigade, who shared the
attack, were completely held up at the starting-point by the terrific
fire, while the 1st Buffs had heavy losses in endeavouring to come up
to their aid. By about mid-day a mixture of battalions, which
numbered about 200 of the York and Lancasters, 50 Buffs and 50
Bedfords, had made their way into the advanced German line, but the
Quadrilateral was still intact. The General, seeing the certain
losses and uncertain results which must follow from a frontal attack,
determined to work round the obstacle, and before evening the 16th
Brigade, which had already lost 1200 men, was ready for the advance.
The 18th Brigade had gone forward past the Quadrilateral upon the
left, working up to the Ginchy-Morval Road, and in close touch with
the 1st Scots Guards on the extreme flank of the Guards Division. It
now worked down towards the north face of the German stronghold, and
in the course of September 16 the 2nd Durham Light Infantry, by a
bold advance laid hold of the northern trench of the Quadrilateral
down to within a hundred yards of the Ginchy-Morval Road. Here they
were relieved by the 1st West Yorks, who took over the task upon the
17th, keeping up constant pressure upon the garrison whose resistance
was admirable. These brave men belonged to the One hundred and
eighty-fifth German Division. By this time they were isolated, as
the British wave had rolled far past them on either side, but their
spirit {256} was as high as ever. A second trench to the north of
the work was rushed upon September 17 by the Leicesters, who
bayoneted fifty Germans in a hand-to-hand conflict. Early in the
morning of September 18 came the end, when the British battalions,
led by the 1st Shropshire Light Infantry, closed suddenly in and
stormed the position. Seven machine-guns (five of which fell to the
Shropshires) and a few hundred exhausted or wounded prisoners
represented the trophies of this very difficult operation. The Sixth
Division now connected up with the Twentieth upon their left, and
with the Fifty-sixth upon their right, after which, upon September
19, they handed over their front for a time to the Fifth Division.
There now only remains the Fifty-sixth Division upon the extreme
right of the Army--the division which contained many of the crack
London Territorial Battalions, re-formed and reinforced since its
terrible losses at the Gommecourt Salient upon July 1. In following
the fortunes of this fine division upon September 15, it is necessary
to go back for some days, as a series of operations had been
undertaken before the great battle, which were as arduous as the
battle itself. On coming into the line on September 9, the division
had at once been given the task of advancing that wing of the Army.
Upon that date the 168th and 169th Brigades were attacking upon the
line of the road which connects Ginchy with Combles, the general
objects of the advance being gradually to outflank Combles on the one
side and the Quadrilateral upon the other. Some ground was
permanently gained by both brigades upon that day, the Victoria
Rifles and the 4th London doing most of the fighting.
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[Illustration: ATTACK on QUADRILATERAL, September 15th, 1916.]
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Upon September 10 the advance was continued, a scattered clump of
trees called Leuze Wood being the immediate obstacle in front of the
right-hand brigade, while the left-hand brigade was trying to get
into touch with the division upon their left, and were confronted by
the continuation of the same system of trenches. The 169th Brigade
upon the right was advancing through Leuze Wood, and suffered heavy
losses before reaching its objective. On the left the London
Scottish and the Rangers were extending east along the Ginchy Road,
endeavouring to link up with the Guards, for there was an awkward gap
at that date between the divisions. This was filled, however, by the
advent of the Fifth and subsequently of the Sixth Division. The
object of all the above operations was to get the right flank of the
Army into its allotted position for the battle to come.
Upon September 15 the London Division went forward with the whole
line at 6.20 in the morning, the 167th Brigade on the left, the 169th
upon the right. The original direction of advance had been north and
south, but it soon became almost from west to east as the division,
pivoting upon Leuze Wood, swung round to attack Bouleaux Wood to the
north of it, and to hold a defensive flank for the whole army. Their
front was a very narrow one to allow for the fact that their
essential work was lateral.
The 167th Brigade fought its way bravely into Bouleaux Wood, where
they endured the usual horrors of this forest fighting, which came
especially upon the 7th Middlesex battalion, who lost 400 men,
chiefly from the fire of unseen machine-guns. There was a very heavy
barrage between Ginchy and Bouleaux Wood, so that all reserves and
supports endured heavy {259} losses before they could get up. By
mid-day the 1st London and the 8th were involved in the wood and some
progress was being made, while the 2nd London of the 169th Brigade
had taken and consolidated a trench near the Sunken Road, but a
further attack upon a second trench to the east of Leuze Wood, two
days later, was a failure. On this same day, September 18, the 168th
Brigade relieved the 167th in Bouleaux Wood, while the whole
division, like one blade of a scissors, edged its way eastwards
towards Combles to meet the French Second Division, who were closing
in from the other side. Already rumours were current that the
Germans were evacuating this important little town, but many very
active German trenches and strong points still lay all round it,
through which the Allies, from either side, were endeavouring to
force their way. On the night of September 18-19, the 5th Cheshires,
pioneer battalion of the division, constructed a long trench parallel
to Bouleaux Wood, which formed a defensive flank for the operations.
The whole of this wood had now been cleared with the exception of the
extreme northern corner. Here we may leave the Fifty-sixth Division,
for the fall of Combles will fit in more properly to our next survey,
when we shall have once again to go down the whole line from left to
right and to show one more stage in the advance.
This Battle of Flers may be said to mark an epoch in military history
on account of the use of the so-called tank, an instrument which had
no vital effect upon the course of the fight, but which was obviously
capable of being much enlarged, and of being made in every way more
formidable. It had been a common criticism up to this date that our
military equipment {260} had always been an imitation, very belated,
of that of our enemy. Now at last Great Britain, warming to the War,
was giving her inventive and manufacturing as well as her military
talents full scope--and the tank was the first-born of her fancy. It
is a matter of history that Britain has been the inventor of
processes and Germany the adapter of them, so that we had a valuable
asset in that direction could we break through our bonds of red tape
and get without hindrance from the thinker in his study to the
fighter in the trench. Those who have had the experience of
discussing any military problem in the Press, and have found by the
next post fifty letters from men of all ranks and professions,
presenting solutions for it, can best understand how active is the
inventive brain of the country. In this instance, Mr. Winston
Churchill is said, during his tenure of office, to have first
conceived the idea of the tanks, but the actual details were worked
out by a number of men. Especially they are owing to Colonel Stern,
a civilian before the War, who used his knowledge of motor
manufacture and his great organising ability to put the construction
through in the shortest time, to Commander d'Eyncourt of the Navy,
and to Colonel Swinton, R.E., who looked after the crews and
equipment. On an average six of these engines, strange modern
resuscitations of the war-chariots of our ancestors, were allotted to
each division. The whole affair was frankly experimental, and many
got into trouble through the breakdown of machinery, the limits of
carrying capacity, and the slipping of the caterpillar driving-bands
at the sides. Their pace, too, was against them, as they could only
go twenty yards per minute as against the fifty of the infantry.
Hence {261} they had to be sent ahead down lanes in the barrage, with
the result that the element of surprise was lessened. Their vision
also was very defective, and they were bad neighbours, as they drew
fire. The result was a very mixed report from various Divisional
Commanders, some of whom swore by, and others at them. The net
result, however, was summed up by the words of commendation from
General Haig in his despatch, and there were some cases, as at Flers
itself, where the work done was simply invaluable, and the
machine-guns were nosed out and rooted up before they could do any
damage. The adventures of individual tanks could, and no doubt will,
fill a volume to themselves, some of them, either in ignorance or
recklessness, wandering deep into the enemy's lines, and amazing
rearward batteries by their sudden uncouth appearance. Several were
destroyed, but none actually fell into the German hands. Enough was
done to show their possibilities, and also to prove that the Navy and
the Flying Service had not sufficed to exhaust our amazing supply of
high-spirited youths ready to undertake the most nerve-shaking tasks
so long as a touch of sport gave them a flavour. The very names of
these land cruisers, Crême de Menthe and the like, showed the joyous,
debonair spirit in which their crews faced the unknown dangers of
their new calling.
Summing up the events of September 15, it was without any doubt the
greatest British victory, though not the most important, which had
been gained up to date in the War. July 1 was the most important,
and all subsequent ones arose from it, since it was then that the
Chinese Wall of Germany was breached. July 14 was also a
considerable victory, but it was only a {262} portion of the line
which was attacked, and that portion was partly regained for a time
by the German counter-attacks. The battle of September 15, however,
was on as huge a scale as that of July 1, but was devoid of those
long stretches of untaken trench which made us pay so heavy a price
for our victory. From the Pozières Ridge upon the left to Bouleaux
Wood upon the right twelve divisions moved forward to victory, and,
save in the small section of the Quadrilateral, everything gave way
at once to that majestic advance. The ultimate objectives had been
carefully defined, for the Battle of Loos had taught us that the
infantry must not outrun the guns, but this pre-ordained limit was
attained at almost every spot. Martinpuich, High Wood, Flers,
Delville, and Leuze Wood, all passed permanently within the British
lines, and the trophies of victory amounted to 5000 prisoners and a
dozen guns. At this stage no less than 21,000 prisoners had been
taken by the British and 34,000 by the French since the great series
of battles was commenced upon July 1.
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