THE BATTLE OF THE ANCRE
November 13, 1916
The last effort--Failure in the north--Fine work of the Thirty-ninth,
Fifty-first, and Sixty-third Divisions--Surrounding of German
Fort--Capture of Beaumont Hamel--Commander Freyberg--Last operations
of the season--General survey--"The unwarlike Islanders."
This considerable British victory may well have a name of its own,
though it was merely an extension of the gigantic effort upon the
Somme. The fact, however, that it was fought upon the banks of a
small subsidiary stream, and also that it was separated by a month or
more from any other serious engagement, give it a place of its own in
the narrative of the War. It has already been shown at the
conclusion of the chapter which deals with the flank operations by
the Fifth Army, commanded by Sir Hubert Gough, that the British
position after the capture of the Schwaben and other redoubts which
defended the high ground to the north of Thiepval was such that the
guns were able to take the German front line to the north of the
Ancre in enfilade and almost in rear. Under such circumstances it
might well seem that their trenches {311} were untenable, but their
position, although difficult, was alleviated by the fact that they
had been able partly to find and partly to make a series of
excavations in the chalk and clay soil of the district which gave
them almost complete protection against the heaviest shell-fire.
Whole battalions led a troglodytic life in subterranean caverns from
which they were trained to rush forth upon the alarm of an infantry
advance. It was clear, however, that if the alarm should be too
short their refuges might very easily become traps, as has so often
been the case in the German lines of defence. The safety from shells
is dearly paid for when a squad of furious stormers with Mills bombs
in their hands and death in their faces glare in from the door.
Their minds were kept easy, however, by the knowledge that broad
fields of barbed wire, so rusty and so thick that they resembled
ploughland from a distance, lay between them and the British. A very
large garrison drawn from seven divisions, one of them being the 2nd
Guards Reserve, held this dangerous salient in the German line.
For the attack General Gough had mustered two Army Corps of six
divisions, three of which, forming the Second Corps, were to advance
from the south under General Jacob, having the almost impassable mud
slopes of the Ancre in front of them. Three others of the Fifth
Corps, under General E. A. Fanshawe, were to storm the German line
north of the Ancre. This latter movement was to be directed not only
from the new British positions, but also from the old lines as far
north as Serre. The advance from the west divided the enemy's
gun-power, and distracted his attention from the south, so that its
failure and the loss which that {312} failure involved, were part of
the price paid for the victory.
After a two days' bombardment, which started upon November 11, and
which uprooted the greater part of the German wire, the actual attack
was made at six in the foggy, misty morning of November 13. It is
inconceivable that the Germans were not standing to arms, since dawn
had long been the hour of doom, and the furious drum-fire was
certainly the overture to a battle. The thick weather, however,
shrouded the British movements, and the actual rush of the infantry
seems at the end to have been a surprise. Both in the western and
southern advance, which covered respectively 5000 and 3000 yards,
every refinement of artillery barrage which years of experience could
suggest was used to form such a downpour as would protect the
assailants, and beat the German riflemen and gunners back into their
burrows.
Of the three divisions which attacked the old German line from the
west, the most northern was the Thirty-first, with as objective the
second and third German line, and to form a defensive flank between
Gommecourt and Serre. This division, which contained some splendid
North-country battalions from great Yorkshire towns, advanced with
great intrepidity. So skilful was the barrage arranged that the 12th
East Yorkshires on the left and 13th East Yorkshires on the right
(10th and 11th East Yorkshires in reserve), belonging to the 92nd
Brigade, had little difficulty in reaching the German front line,
which was quickly mopped up. The going between the first and second
line was so heavy, and the German snipers so numerous, that the
barrage got ahead of the advancing waves, but after a sharp rifle
fight the {313} second line was captured, which was the final
objective of the left (12th East Yorkshires) battalion. The 13th
East Yorkshires, whose final objective was the third German line, had
a very severe fight before reaching that position. Owing to the
failure of the division on the right of the 13th East Yorkshires to
get forward, the Germans later on put in several heavy bombing
counter-attacks against their right flank, which eventually drove
them back to the second line, where they took up their position
alongside the 12th, and for the remainder of the day repulsed
numerous counter-attacks. As soon as the 12th East Yorkshires on the
left had reached their objectives they consolidated it, and with the
aid of the 93rd Brigade, to whom was attached the Machine-Gun
Sections of the Lucknow and Sialkote Cavalry Brigades, beat off a
very strong counter-attack which developed about 9.30 A.M.,
practically wiping it out and several minor ones during the day.
At 2.30 P.M. the German bombardment against the 92nd became very
intense, and was kept up till 5.30 P.M., in spite of which the 12th
and 13th East Yorkshires stuck to their gains. It was only at 9 P.M.
when the Divisional General saw that there was no prospect of the
division on the right advancing that the 12th and 13th were ordered
to fall back to their original line.
The experience of the Third Division upon the right or south of the
Thirty-first was a very trying one. There is a strip of Picardy
between those lines from Serre to the Ancre, where more Britons have
given their lives for their country and for the cause of humanity
than in any area in this or any other war. Twice it has been the
scene of tragic {314} losses, on July 1, and yet again on November
13, though, as already said, it is well in each case to regard the
general result rather than the local tragedy. Once again the Third
Division gave itself freely and unselfishly for the common cause. In
this case, also, the cause of the scanty results lay in the heavy
ground and the uncut wire. In the case of the 76th Brigade, which
may be taken as typical of its neighbours, it advanced to the
immediate south of the 93rd, and experienced even more difficult
conditions. The 2nd Suffolks and the 10th Welsh Fusiliers were in
the van, but the 8th Royal Lancasters and 1st Gordons came up in
support, the whole thick line of men clustering in front of the wire
and endeavouring to hack a way. Sergeants and officers were seen in
front of the obstacle endeavouring to find some way through. Here
and there a few pushful men, both from the 76th Brigade and from the
9th upon its right, did succeed in passing, but none of these ever
returned. Finally, a retreat was ordered through a pelting barrage,
and even in their own front-line trenches the troops were exposed to
a furious shell-fall. It was an unfortunate business and the losses
were heavy.
Immediately upon the right of the Third Division was the Second
Division, which attacked with the 5th and 6th Brigades in the van,
the latter being on the immediate flank of the Third Division, and
sharing in the obstacles which faced that division and the check
which resulted from them. The immediate objective was the great
Munich Trench lurking within its far-flung spider-web of wire.
Although all of the 6th Brigade save the right-hand battalion were
brought to a stand, and wound up in their own trenches, the 5th
Brigade got well forward {315} and might have got farther had it not
meant the exposure of their left flank. In the evening the 99th
Brigade, the victors of Delville Wood, were brought up with orders to
form a defensive flank to the north, while they furnished two
battalions for a farther advance to continue the success gained by
the 5th Brigade. In the early morning of November 14 these two
units, the 1st Rifles and 1st Berkshires, advanced in a proper
November fog, which caused some misdirection, and eventually the
failure of the attack, for two smaller trenches were carried under
the impression that each was the Munich. Some ground and prisoners
were, however, gained, but not the main objective.
Meanwhile, to return to the narrative of the previous day, a very
different tale was to be told of those divisions which were operating
farther to the south, where the ridge between Serre and Beaumont
Hamel sheltered the attack from the formidable German gun-power at
Pusieux and Bucquoy in the north.
Of the three divisions attacking from the south the Thirty-ninth was
to the south of the Ancre, the Sixty-Third Naval Division upon its
left on the north bank of the Ancre, and the Fifty-first Highland
Division still farther to the left opposite Beaumont Hamel. The task
of the Thirty-ninth Division was to clear out the Germans who held on
to the Hansa line, the last German trench system between the British
front and the river. Their chief protection was the almost
incredible condition of the ground, which consisted of tenacious mud
of varying and occasionally of dangerous depth. Munitions could only
be got across it upon pack-horses, on special {316} paths. In spite
of these difficulties, the Thirty-ninth Division carried the lines of
trenches and the village of St. Pierre Divion as well, the resistance
being far from heroic. The attack was made by the 117th Brigade,
which advanced with such speed that the front waves, consisting of
the 16th Rifle Brigade upon the right and the 17th Sherwood Foresters
upon the left, were into the German trenches before the barrage could
fall. It did fall, however, and did great harm to the supports, both
the 17th Rifles and 16th Sherwoods losing heavily, especially the
former. The British line was pushed right up to the river, and the
survivors of the garrison--some 1400 in number--were compelled to lay
down their arms. This attack to the south of the river was an
isolated, self-contained operation, apart from the larger and more
serious movement on the north bank.
The right of the main assault was carried out by the gallant
Sixty-third Royal Naval Division, whose emergency baptism of fire at
Antwerp has been mentioned in this narrative, though its subsequent
splendid services at Gallipoli have not come within its scope. After
the evacuation of Gallipoli and the subsequent redistribution of the
eastern army, at least three fine divisions, the Eleventh, the
Forty-second, and the Naval, besides the splendid Australian and New
Zealand infantry, were transferred to the French front. This action
of the Ancre was the first opportunity which these volunteer sailors
had had of showing upon a large European stage those qualities which
had won them fame elsewhere.
The Naval Division attacked to the immediate north of the Ancre,
having the river upon their right. The lines of assault were formed
under cover of darkness, {317} for the assembly trenches were
inadequate and the ground occupied was under direct observation from
the German lines. The division in this formation was a thick mass of
10,000 infantry on a front of about 1600 yards with a depth of 300.
Fortunately, the screen of the weather covered them completely, and
there was little and random shelling during the night, but the men
were stiff and chilled by their long vigil, during which they might
neither speak nor smoke. At last, just before dawn, the crash of the
barrage told that the hour had come, and the lines moved forward,
keeping well up to the shower of shrapnel which crept on at the rate
of 100 yards in five minutes, searching every hollow and crevice of
the ground.
The first objective was the enemy's front-line system of triple
trenches. The second was a road in the hollow behind called Station
Road, with trenches on either side of it. The third was the trenches
which fringed the village of Beaucourt. The fourth, which was only
to be attempted after the third was consolidated, was the village
itself, which lies among trees upon the north side of the river.
The advance of the 189th Brigade on the right of the Naval Division,
consisting of the Hood, Hawke, Nelson, and Drake battalions, was
comparatively easy, as they were partly protected from flank fire by
the dead ground formed by the low-lying northern slope down to the
river. With great dash and vigour they carried the successive lines
of trenches, and before mid-day they were consolidating the third
objective with the village in their immediate front.
A much more difficult task confronted the centre of the advance,
consisting of the left half of the right brigade, and the right half
of the 188th Brigade, {318} which contained the 1st and 2nd
Battalions of Marines, the Ansons and the Howes. In the very track
of their course lay a formidable German redoubt, bristling with
machine-guns, and so concealed that neither the observers nor the
bombardment had spotted it. This serious obstacle caused heavy
losses to the central attack, and as it completely commanded their
advance it held them to such cover as they could find. The left of
the advance got past the redoubt, however, and reached the sunken
road, where they were in close touch with the Scotsmen upon their
left. Thus at this period of the advance the Naval Division formed a
deep curve with its right wing well forward, its centre held back,
and its left wing nearly as far advanced as its right. The mist was
so thick that it was very difficult to tell from the rear what was
going on in the battle, but the 190th Brigade held in reserve was
aware that some hitch had occurred, and pushing forward in the hope
of retrieving it, found itself involved in the fierce fighting round
the redoubt, where it also was exposed to heavy loss. This brigade,
it may be mentioned, was not naval, but contained the 1st Honourable
Artillery Company, the 4th Bedfords, 7th Royal Fusiliers, and 10th
Dublins. The German fort could not be reduced, nor could progress be
made in the centre in face of its machine-guns; but the infantry,
which had passed it on either side, extended along the Sunken Road
behind it, and joined hands so as to cut it off. The whole German
second line was then in their possession, and the right third of
their third line as well. The enemy still held firm, however, in the
centre of the first-line system, and showed no signs of weakening,
although they must have known that British troops {319} were in their
rear. An attempt was made to rebombard this portion of the line, but
it was difficult for the gunners without aerial observation to locate
the exact portion of the line which still remained with the enemy,
and there was great danger of the shells falling among our own
infantry. About three in the afternoon the conclusion was reached
that it was better for the time to leave this great pocket of Germans
alone, cutting them off from either escape or reinforcement.
The 111th Brigade from the Thirty-seventh Division was therefore sent
up, battalion by battalion, along the river-bank until it passed the
central obstacle and reached the Sunken Road. Thence the 13th Rifles
were sent forward with orders to reach the advanced line, where the
Hoods and Drakes, somewhat reduced in numbers but not in spirit, were
lying in front of Beaucourt. It was dark before these changes could
be made. The Riflemen, when they had attained their position, rested
their right upon the Ancre, and prolonged their left, clearing the
Germans out in that direction. This movement to the left was
strengthened in the early morning when the 13th Rifle Brigade and the
13th Royal Fusiliers of the same brigade came up to join in, whilst
the H.A.C. also advanced and took up a position on the right of the
naval men.
About seven o'clock the assault upon the village was ordered, under
the direction and leadership of Commander Freyberg of the Hoods,
already twice wounded, and wounded once again before his task was
finished. Sailors and Riflemen rushed forward at the signal, and
dashed with fierce impetuosity over the German line and down the
streets of the hamlet. The Honourable Artillery Company upon the
right {320} joined in the charge. It was completely successful, the
houses were rapidly cleared, the dug-outs taken, and many hundreds of
prisoners secured. The Riflemen emerging on the farther side of the
village immediately dug in under the direction of their only
remaining company officer. A footbridge was at the same time thrown
across the Ancre, so as to connect up with the Thirty-ninth Division
on the south.
The German redoubt had held out manfully until its line of retreat
was entirely cut off, and even then showed signs of continued
resistance. The tanks had already won such a position in the army
that they had become one of the last resources of the commander who
was in difficulties. During the night of November 13 three of these
engines were sent for to help in reducing the intractable German
centre. Their performance was typical both of their weakness and of
their value in this early stage of their evolution. One was hit and
disabled before ever it crossed the lines. A second stuck in the mud
and refused to budge. The third won its way over the German front
line and so terrorised the obstinate garrison that they were finally
induced to lay down their arms. Eight hundred prisoners came from
this one pocket, and the whole capture of the Naval Division amounted
to nearly 2000 men.
The advance of the Fifty-first Highland Territorial Division upon the
immediate left of the Naval Division had been equally successful, and
had ended in the capture of the important village of Beaumont Hamel
with all its network of caverns, a great store of machine-guns, and
1500 of the garrison. The objectives of the division may be said to
have been the continuation of those of the Naval Division,
substituting Beaumont Hamel for Beaucourt, but the position {321} was
complicated by a deep ravine, called after its shape the Y Ravine,
which ran down from the village to the German trenches. The ground
over which the advance was made was still littered with the skeletons
clad in rags which represented the men who had fallen in the attack
of July 1. Now, after five months, they were gloriously avenged.
The rush of the division was headed by the 153rd Brigade, with the
4th and 7th Gordons in the lead. These two fine battalions carried
the front German lines, but on reaching the Sunken Road they gave
place to the 6th and 7th Black Watch behind them, who carried the
attack up the Y Ravine and on to Beaumont, while the Seaforths and
Argylls of the other brigades, with their staunch Lowland comrades of
the 9th Royal Scots, thickened the line of attack, and gave it the
weight to carry each successive obstacle. Only in the Y Ravine was
there any momentary check to the fiery advance. There for a short
time the Germans stood stoutly to their task, and there was some of
that man-to-man work which the Scotsman loves. Then the last signs
of resistance died out, and before the late afternoon the whole
position was in the hands of the assailants, who pushed on and
occupied the low ridge to the north which separates it from Serre.
One curious incident connected with the close of the action was, that
a mopping-up party of Gordons in one of the front lines of trenches
were suddenly surprised and captured by a considerable body of
Germans, who emerged suddenly from an underground tunnel. In the
evening, however, the positions were reversed, and the prisoners were
rescued, while the Germans had to surrender to the victors. Fifteen
hundred prisoners and 54 machine-guns were the {322} spoils of the
Fifty-first Division; but these were considerably increased when the
dug-outs were more carefully examined next day. Altogether nearly
7000 officers and men were captured in the course of the action.
Whilst the considerable action of Beaumont Hamel was fought upon the
left, the various divisions upon the south of the river forming the
remainder of Gough's Fifth Army all made a forward movement and
gained ground. Of these divisions, the Thirty-ninth, whose doings
have already been described, was nearest to the main battle, and was
most heavily engaged, winning a complete success. Upon its right in
the order given were the Nineteenth and the Eighteenth, connecting up
with Rawlinson's Fourth Army upon the right. These various divisions
all moved their lines forward in the direction of the river-bank,
with the villages of Grandcourt and Petit Miraumont in their front.
These movements were rather in the nature of a feint and a
demonstration, so that they were not accompanied by any severe
fighting. It had been planned, however, that as these divisions
advanced to the north the space which would be left between Gough's
right and Rawlinson's left should be filled up by the Thirty-second
Division, which should push on in the direction of Pys. This
movement gave rise to some severe fighting in which the historical
14th Brigade sustained some heavy losses. The immediate obstacle in
front of the division was a powerful system of trenches lying amid
morasses caused by the recent heavy rains, and known as the Munich
Line, with the Frankfort line behind it. Upon November 17 the
division took over the advanced trenches, while the {323} Eighteenth
Division side-stepped to the left. The Thirty-second Division had
formed its line for attack, with the 14th Brigade upon the left and
the 97th upon the right, the leading battalions from left to right
being the 15th Highland Light Infantry, the 2nd Manchesters, the 2nd
Yorkshire Light Infantry, and another battalion of H.L.I. The
advance was to have been upon the 17th, but from the beginning a
series of misfortunes occurred, arising largely from the weather, the
condition of the trenches, and the severe German barrage behind the
line, which made all preparations difficult and costly. The attack
was postponed till the 18th, and even then the advancing battalions
were short of bombs, without which trench fighting becomes
impossible. The ground behind the troops was so awful that one mile
in an hour was considered remarkable progress for an unladen
messenger; while the enemy's fire was so severe that of six runners
sent with a despatch only the last arrived unwounded. The Germans in
front appeared to be both numerous and full of fight, and upon the
17th they made a vain attack upon the advanced line of the 14th
Brigade. Two companies of the Manchesters sustained upon this day
the losses of half their number as they lay, an object lesson in
silent patient discipline in the muddy bottom of a shell-swept ditch.
At 6.10 in the morning of the 18th an advance was made, but the bomb
supplies had not yet come up and the disadvantages were great. None
the less, the first line of German trenches was successfully carried
by the Manchesters, but the 15th Highland Light Infantry were held up
by wire and were unable to get forward, while the Yorkshire Light
Infantry {324} upon the right got through at some points and were
held at others. The Manchesters even penetrated to the second line
of trenches and sprang into them, but the fatal want of bombs tied
their hands, and a counter-attack of the Germans retook the position.
The Highland Light Infantry had fallen back upon Serre Trench, and
were pressed by a party of the enemy, but fortunately some of the 1st
Dorsets came up from the rear with some bombs, and the situation was
saved. In the meantime the position of those Manchesters and
Yorkshiremen who had got forward as far as the second trench, and
were exposed without bombs to a bombing attack, was very serious.
They had taken a number of prisoners and some of these they managed
to send back, but the greater part of the British were bombed to
pieces, and all died where they fought or were taken by the enemy. A
single survivor who returned from the final stand made by these
gallant men stated that he was the last man who had crawled out of
the trench, and that his comrades lay dead or dying in a group in
front of a blazing dug-out, the woodwork of which had taken fire. A
patrol next day came upon the bodies of an officer and forty men who
had died fighting to the last in a single group.
On the left of the Thirty-second Division some movement forward had
been necessary upon the part both of the Eighteenth Division and of
the Nineteenth, in order to keep the left flank of Jacob's Second
Corps on the south of the river level with the right flank of
Fanshawe's Fifth Corps upon the northern bank. This operation did
not involve much work upon the part of the Eighteenth, but the
movement of the Nineteenth was difficult and complex, with Grandcourt
as {325} a possible objective. It meant an attack upon a maze of
trenches under the worst possible terrestrial conditions, while the
advance had really to be in three different directions--due north,
north-east, and almost due east. The 57th Brigade, strengthened by
the 7th South Lancashires of the 56th Brigade, was chosen for the
difficult task. At 6 A.M. upon November 18 in a sharp snow-storm the
advance began.
It was the last concerted operation of the year, but it was not
unfortunately destined for success. The garrison of the trenches
appear to have been as numerous as the stormers and far more
advantageously placed. The ground was such that an advance over it
without opposition would have been no easy matter. Upon the left two
battalions, the 7th South Lancs and the 8th Gloucesters, old battle
companions of La Boiselle, pushed vigorously forward and seized the
western outskirt of Grandcourt, where they held on against every
attempt to dislodge them. Stick bombs, egg bombs, rifle-grenades,
and every sort of evil missile crashed and splintered around them,
but they had in command two leaders who might be trusted to hold what
they had taken. Only next evening when the rest of the attack had
definitely failed did these two battalions withdraw to a new line on
the immediate west of the village, taking 150 prisoners with them.
The other three battalions had fared ill owing to numerical weakness,
lack of knowledge of the ground, loss of direction, bad weather, and
deadly machine-guns. Half of the 8th North Staffords won their way
through to the objective, but their comrades could not support them,
and they were so isolated that, after a {326} gallant resistance,
they were nearly all destroyed or captured, under very much the same
circumstances as the 2nd Manchesters upon the preceding day. The
commander of the North Staffords, Colonel Anderson, a gallant South
African, and several other officers were wounded and taken. Colonel
Torrie of the 7th East Lancashires was also killed in this
engagement. An attempt upon the part of the 9th Cheshires later in
the evening to get into touch with their lost comrades only served to
swell the casualty lists, for it was dark before it was initiated,
and all direction was impossible amid the labyrinth of mud-channels
which faced them. Two days later the Nineteenth Division was
relieved by the Eleventh. It is difficult to exaggerate the extreme
hardships which had been endured by the whole of Jacob's corps during
these operations amid the viscid mud slopes of the Ancre. Napoleon
in Poland had never better cause to curse the fourth element. The
front trenches were mere gutters, and every attempt to deepen them
only deepened the stagnant pool within. The communications were
little better. The mud was on the men's bodies, in their food, and
for ever clogging both their feet and their weapons. The hostile
shelling was continuous. It was a nightmare chapter of the campaign.
Winter had now settled down once more cheerless and prolonged. There
was much to be done in those months of gloom--divisions to be
refilled, fresh divisions to be brought out, munitions of every sort
to be stored for the days of wrath to come. But apart from the
preparations for the future, the army was never quiet, for one long
succession of trench raids, exploratory attacks, and bombardments
helped to retain that ascendancy which had been gained in {327} the
long Battle of the Somme. Before the narrative passes to the German
retreat of 1917, and the dramatic battles which followed it, it would
be well to take a brief survey of the other events which had occurred
during the last half of the year, all of which reacted more or less
directly upon the campaign in the west.
The chief of these is undoubtedly the magnificent French recovery at
Verdun. As already stated, the German pressure was very severe in
June, but it was rapidly lessened by the counter-pressure of the
Allied advance upon the Somme. In their attempt to hold back the
Franco-British advance the Germans denuded their Verdun line to an
extent which weakened it so much that, far from advancing, it could
not hold its own. In two splendid assaults upon October 24 and
December 15, the first yielding 5000 prisoners and the second 11,000
with 115 guns, the French drove the Germans back until a considerable
portion of their former hard-won gains had disappeared. Considering
the efforts which France was making upon the Somme it was a splendid
achievement, and it may fairly be added to the credit of the Somme
Battle, since without it, it could hardly have been possible.
The second considerable factor was one of those great Russian
advances which, alternating with equally great Russian retreats, each
of them coming with a constant rhythm, made the war of the Eastern
Front resemble some sort of majestic and terrible tide, with an ebb
and flow which left death and destruction strewn over those unhappy
border countries. On this occasion the advance was in the Brody and
Stanislau direction, and was pushed with such energy and success by
the fiery Brusiloff that nearly 400,000 prisoners--or perhaps
Slavonic refugees would be a {328} more accurate description--were
taken by our Allies. The movement extended from June to September,
and might have been a vital one, had it not been for political
disorganisation and treachery in the rear.
The Italian armies had in the meanwhile given a splendid account of
themselves, as every one who had seen them in the field, predicted
that they would. Though hard pressed by a severe Austrian attack in
the Trentino in May, they rallied and held the enemy before he could
debouch upon the plains. Then with three hard blows delivered upon
August 6 to August 9, where they took the town of Gorizia and 12,000
prisoners, on October 10, and on November 1 they broke the Austrian
lines and inflicted heavy losses upon them. The coming of winter saw
them well upon their way to Trieste.
On August 4 the British forces in Egypt defeated a fresh Turco-German
attack upon that country. The battle was near Romani, east of the
Suez Canal, and it ended in a creditable victory and the capture of
2500 prisoners. This was the end of the serious menace for Egypt,
and the operations in this quarter, which were carried on by General
Murray, were confined from this time forwards to clearing up the
Sinai peninsula, where various Turkish posts were dispersed or taken,
and in advancing our line to the Palestine Frontier.
On August 8 our brave little ally, Portugal, threw her sword into the
scale of freedom, and so gave military continuity to the traditions
of the two nations. It would have rejoiced the austere soul of the
great Duke to see the descendants of his much-valued Caçadores,
fighting once more beside the great-grandsons of the Riflemen and
Guardsmen of the Peninsula. {329} Two divisions appeared in France,
where they soon made a reputation for steadiness and valour.
In the East another valiant little nation had also ranged herself
with the Allies, and was destined, alas, to meet her ruin through
circumstances which were largely beyond her own control. Upon August
27 Roumania declared war, and with a full reliance upon help which
never reached her, advanced at once into the south of Hungary. Her
initial successes changed to defeat, and her brave soldiers, who were
poorly provided with modern appliances of war, were driven back
before the pressure of Falkenhayn's army in the west and Mackensen's,
which eventually crossed the Danube, from the south. On December 6
Bucharest fell, and by the end of the year the Roumanians had been
driven to the Russian border, where, an army without a country, they
hung on, exactly as the Belgians had done, to the extreme edge of
their ravaged fatherland. To their Western allies, who were
powerless to help them, it was one of the most painful incidents of
the War.
The Salonica expedition had been much hampered by the sinister
attitude of the Greeks, whose position upon the left rear of
Sarrail's forces made an advance dangerous, and a retreat
destructive. King Constantine, following the example of his
brother-in-law of Berlin, had freed himself from all constitutional
ties, refused to summon a parliament, and followed his own private
predilections and interests by helping our enemies, even to the point
of surrendering a considerable portion of his own kingdom, including
a whole army corps and the port of Kavala, to the hereditary enemy,
the Bulgarian. Never in history has a nation been so betrayed by its
king, and never, {330} it may be added, did a nation which had been
free allow itself so tamely to be robbed of its freedom. Venezelos,
however, showed himself to be a great patriot, shook the dust of
Athens from his feet, and departed to Salonica, where he raised the
flag of a fighting national party, to which the whole nation was
eventually rallied. Meanwhile, however, the task of General Sarrail
was rendered more difficult, in spite of which he succeeded in
regaining Monastir and establishing himself firmly within the old
Serbian frontier--a result which was largely due to the splendid
military qualities of the remains of the Serbian army.
On December 12 the German Empire proposed negotiations for peace, but
as these were apparently to be founded upon the war-map as it then
stood, and as they were accompanied by congratulatory messages about
victory from the Kaiser to his troops, they were naturally not
regarded as serious by the Allies. Our only guarantee that a nation
will not make war whenever it likes is its knowledge that it cannot
make peace when it likes, and this was the lesson which Germany was
now to learn. By the unanimous decision of all the Allied nations no
peace was possible which did not include terms which the Germans were
still very far from considering--restitution of invaded countries,
reparation for harm done, and adequate guarantees against similar
unprovoked aggression in the future. Without these three conditions
the War would indeed have been fought in vain.
This same month of December saw two of the great protagonists who had
commenced the War retire from that stage upon which each had played a
worthy part. The one was Mr. Asquith, who, {331} weary from long
labours, gave place to the fresh energy of Mr. Lloyd George. The
other was "Father" Joffre, who bore upon his thick shoulders the
whole weight of the early campaigns. Both names will live honourably
in history.
And now as the year drew to its close, Germany, wounded and weary,
saw as she glared round her at her enemies, a portent which must have
struck a chill to her heart. Russian strength had been discounted
and that of France was no new thing. But whence came this apparition
upon her Western flank--a host raised, as it seemed, from nowhere,
and yet already bidding fair to be equal to her own? Her public were
still ignorant and blind, bemused by the journals which had told them
so long, and with such humorous detail, that the British army was a
paper army, the creature of a dream. Treitschke's foolish phrase,
"The unwarlike Islanders," still lingered pleasantly in their memory.
But the rulers, the men who knew, what must have been their feelings
as they gazed upon that stupendous array, that vision of doom, a
hundred miles from wing to wing, gleaming with two million bayonets,
canopied with aeroplanes, fringed with iron-clad motor monsters, and
backed by an artillery which numbered its guns by the thousand?
Kitchener lay deep in the Orkney waves, but truly his spirit was
thundering at their gates. His brain it was who first planted these
seeds, but how could they have grown had the tolerant, long-suffering
British nation not been made ready for it by all those long years of
Teutonic insult, the ravings of crazy professors, and the insults of
unbalanced publicists? All of these had a part in raising that great
host, but others, too, can claim their share: the baby-killers of
Scarborough, the {332} Zeppelin murderers, the submarine pirates, all
the agents of ruthlessness. Among them they had put life and spirit
into this avenging apparition, where even now it could be said that
every man in the battle line had come there of his own free will.
Years of folly and of crime were crying for a just retribution. The
instrument was here and the hour was drawing on.
{333}
INDEX
Adlam, Lieutenant, V.C., 272
Air Service, 38, 39
Albert, 66
Alderson, General Sir Edwin, 21
Allenby, General Sir Edmund, 11, 34
Alsace, 3
Ancre, battle of the: work of the Naval Division, 315-321; capture of
Beaumont Hamel, 320-322; attack on Grandcourt, 324-326
Anderson, Colonel, 326
Arbuthnot, Rear-Admiral Sir Robert, 31
Armenia, invasion of, by Russians, 3
Arnim, General von, report on the battle of the Somme, 308
Ash, Colonel, 246
Asquith, Lieutenant Raymond, 169
Asquith, Mr., 330
Atkinson, Major, 211
Babington, General, 117
Bapaume, 66
Bazentin-le-Grand, 144, 151-152
Bazentin-le-Petit, 144, 145, 146-149
Bean, Mr., Australian chronicler, quoted, 201, 202
Beaucourt-sur-Ancre, 59, 60
Beaumont Hamel, 46, 47, 52-56, 58, 86, 200, 280, 315, 320-322
Bécourt, 67, 76
Becquincourt, 100
Bernard, Colonel, 62
Bircham, Colonel, 161
Bird wood, General Sir William, 190
Blake, Captain, 284
British front in France extended, 4, 11
Brocklehurst, Captain, 183
Brooke, Rupert, 169
Brown, Major Hall, 121
Brusiloff, General, 327
Bucharest, fall of, 329
Bukovina, 2, 3
Bulgaria, joins the Central Powers, 2; Greece surrenders the port of
Kavala to, 329
Burgh, Lieutenant de, V.C., 284
Bussu, 100
Byng, General Sir Julian, 21, 236
Campbell, Captain (R.F.A.), 108
Carden, Colonel, 126
Carr, Colonel, 270
Cavan, General Lord, 237, 251
Churchill, Right Hon. W. S., 260
Clark, Major, 140
Coates, Major, 199
Coleridge, Adjutant, 124
Combles, 237, 256, 259, 281, 294, 295
Congreve, General, V.C., 34, 86, 165
Congreve, Brigade-Major, 177
Constantine, King of Greece, 329
Contalmaison, 72, 73, 80, 105, 116-124, 131-133
Cornaby, Lieutenant, 269
Courcelette, 204
Craig, Colonel James, M.P., 62
Curlu, 100
Curtin, Mr., American journalist, quoted, 132
Davidson, Captain, 62
Dawson, Captain, 69
Delvilie Wood, 145, 153, 155, 159, 165, 171-178, 180-183, 187, 207,
211-214, 218-223, 232, 233, 262
Derby, Lord, 5, 95
D'Eyncourt, Commander, R.N., 260
Diggle, Major, 64
Dompierre, 100
Duck's Post, attack on, 11, 12
East Africa, 3
Eaucourt, 282, 283, 286
Edwards, Private, V.C., 270
Ellis, Colonel, 56
Erzeroum captured by Russians, 3
Falfemont, 207, 214, 224
Falkenhayn, General, 329
Fanshawe, General E. A., 311, 324
Fay, 100
Fayolle, General, 100
Finch, Colonel, 110
Flers, 236, 241, 243-247, 259, 261, 262, 282, 283
Flower, Colonel, 128
Foch, General, 11, 33, 84, 98, 99, 160
Forsyth, Colonel, 203
Franklin, Colonel, 53
French, Lord, 5
Freyberg, Commander, 319
Fricourt, 76, 77-84, 85, 86, 99, 101, 104
Frise, 100, 101
Gaffikin, Captain, 62
Galicia, 2
Gallipoli, withdrawal of British troops from, 2
Garvin, Captain Gerard, 169
General survey, of affairs in winter 1915-16, 1-7; of events in 1916,
326-332
Gibbs, Mr. Philip, quoted, 228
Gillson, Colonel, 136
Ginchy, 159, 207, 214, 218, 221, 222-223, 224, 226, 230-231, 250,
251, 252
Glasgow, Brigadier-General, 83
Glatz Redoubt, the, 96
Gommecourt, 39-45, 71, 86, 99
Gordon, Colonel (Gordons), 168
Gordon, Lieutenant (Borders), 64
Gorizia, Italians take, 328
Gough, General Sir Hubert, 106, 156, 161, 189, 194, 198, 202, 205,
207, 236, 238, 263, 264, 281, 310, 311, 322
Grandcourt, 322, 324, 325
Green, Colonel, 53
Grenfell, Julian, 169
Guedecourt, 288, 289
Guillemont, 144, 156, 159, 178, 183-187, 207, 214-218, 223, 224, 226,
227-228, 231
Haig, General Sir Douglas, 33, 36, 122, 160, 179, 261, 280, 289, 303,
308
Hamp, Sergeant, 220
Hankey, Captain Donald, 169
Hardecourt, 100
Hay, Colonel, 25
Heath, Colonel, 108
Hébuterne, 34, 46
High Wood, 148, 150, 159, 163, 166-168, 170, 187, 207-213, 232-234,
236, 237, 240-241, 262
Hohenzollern Redoubt, engagement near, 19
Hole, Lieutenant, 73
Hood, Rear-Admiral Hon. Horace, 31
Hopkinson, Colonel, 53
Horne, General Sir H., 34, 76, 122, 165, 236, 237, 242, 250
Howell, Captain, 182
Hudson, Major, 270
Hunter-Weston, General Sir Aylmer, 34, 46, 55, 68
Innes, Colonel, 53
Ireland, rebellion in, 19
Jacob, General, 236, 264, 279, 311, 324, 326
Joffre, General, 33, 331
Johnson, Colonel (Manchesters), 96
Johnstone, Captain (Rifles), 211
Johnstone, Lieutenant (Shropshires), 17
Jones, Colonel, 137
Jones, Sergeant, V.C. (King's Liverpool), 229
Jones, Private, V.C. (Cheshires), 292
Jutland, battle of, 31
Kavala, Greek surrender of, to Bulgaria, 329
Kiggell, General Sir L., 36
Kitchener, Lord, 5, 331
Kut, British force surrenders to Turks at, 2
La Boiselle, 69-75, 76, 77, 86, 104, 105, 107-109
Laidlaw, Colonel, 65
Lambton, General, 53
Landon, General, 150
Ledwidge, Francis, 169
Leipzig Redoubt, the, 63, 64, 65, 198
Le Sars, 284, 285, 286
Lesboeufs, 281, 291, 292
Lister, Charles, 169
Lloyd George, Mr., 331
Longridge, Colonel, 210
Longueval, 144, 145, 151, 153-155, 171-180, 213, 217
Loos, 4, 17-19, 30
Luard, Colonel, 17
Lynch, Colonel, 78
Lyon, Colonel, 212
Machell, Colonel, 64
Mack, Major, 252
Mackensen, General, 329
McNair, Lieutenant, V.C., 8
Maddison, Colonel, 69
Mametz, 76, 84-86, 88, 93, 96, 104
Mametz Wood, 116, 118, 120, 121, 124-132, 134
Maricourt, 95, 99
Markes, Brigade-Major, 176
Martinpuich, 204, 236, 237-240, 269
Mason, Lieutenant, 267
Maxse, General, 139, 272
Mercer, General, 24
Mesopotamia, British Expedition in, 2, 3
Miall-Smith, Lieutenant (Royal Fusiliers), 269
Military Service Bill, the, 6
Mobbs, Colonel, 216
Monastir reoccupied by the Serbian Army, 330
Monro, General Sir Charles, 11
Montauban, 84, 86-98, 99, 104
Montenegro overrun by Central Powers, 2
Moreaucourt, 100
Morland, General Sir T., 34, 58
Morval, 281, 291, 292, 293, 294
Mumford, Captain, 136
Murray, General Sir A., 328
Murray, Lieutenant, 185
Musker, Lieutenant, 186, 187
Neville, Captain, 92
Ord, Corporal, 220
Ovillers, 58, 66, 105, 106, 107, 110-116, 197
Palk, Colonel the Hon. C. W., 53
Pears, Colonel, 113
Phillpotts, General, 233
Pierce, Colonel, 56
Piggott, Colonel Royston, 108
Plumer, General Sir Herbert, 11, 14
Poland occupied by Central Powers, 2
Pommiers Redoubt, the, 89, 90
Portugal declares war against the Central Powers, 328
Pozières, 144, 156, 159, 189-204, 231
Price, Brigadier-General, 203
Primrose, Captain Neil, 169
Prowse, Brigadier-General, 52, 53
Pulteney, General Sir W., 34, 58, 66, 74, 76, 236, 241
Rawlinson, General Sir Henry, 11, 34, 106, 142, 189, 207, 214, 232,
236, 263, 322
Regiments:
_Artillery--_
Royal Field Artillery, 93, 108
Trench Mortar Battery, 269
Honourable Artillery Company, 318, 319
_Cavalry--_
7th Dragoon Guards, 150, 158
20th Deccan Horse, 150, 158
Lucknow and Sialkote Cavalry Brigades, 313
_Guards--_
Coldstream, 252, 253, 254, 291, 292
Grenadier, 252, 253, 291, 292
Irish, 252, 253, 291
Scots, 253, 254, 255
Welsh, 291
_Infantry--_
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 153, 164, 175, 209, 238, 293, 321
Bedford, 88, 89, 95, 137, 186, 187, 251, 255, 271, 273, 292, 318
Berkshire, 70, 71, 89, 90, 109, 177, 182, 192, 193, 210, 233, 268,
274, 302, 315
Black Watch, 153, 175, 210, 233, 234, 287, 321
Border, 8, 64, 85, 106, 114, 117, 123, 147, 272, 275, 279
Buffs (East Kent), 91, 92, 140, 216, 255, 273, 274, 291, 298
Cameron Highlanders, 153, 162, 175, 233, 238
Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 70, 134, 164, 166, 167, 170, 238, 302,
303, 304
Cheshire, 106, 107, 110, 115, 259, 276, 278, 292, 326
Connaught Rangers, 227, 228, 229
Devon, 70, 85, 147, 168, 223, 226, 293
Dorset, 64, 83, 113, 115, 132, 272, 324
Dublin Fusiliers, 19, 52, 231, 318
Duke of Cornwall's, 221, 226, 250, 290, 299
Durham Light Infantry, 49, 51, 77, 78, 80, 81, 221, 247, 250, 255,
284, 285, 289, 291, 292, 301
East Lancashire, 49, 50, 51, 53, 74, 121, 302, 326
East Surrey, 11, 12, 91, 92, 180, 215, 226, 273, 274, 293
East Yorkshire, 77, 83, 121, 132, 151, 304, 305, 312, 313
Essex, 52, 54, 89, 90, 109, 177, 196, 267, 268, 273
Gloucester, 28, 108, 116, 156, 157, 162, 180, 192, 193, 197, 198,
211, 226, 233, 293, 325
Gordon Highlanders, 10, 14, 84, 85, 149, 168, 174, 223, 314, 321
Hampshire, 51, 53, 55, 244, 279, 280, 302
Highland Light Infantry, 30, 63, 64, 65, 68, 113, 114, 150, 163, 170,
218, 237, 238, 323, 324
Inniskilling Fusiliers, 18, 53, 56, 61, 64, 114
King's Liverpool, 95, 96, 97, 98, 137, 151, 152, 164, 174, 179, 208,
220, 229, 234, 298, 304
King's Own Royal Lancaster, 52
King's Own Scottish Borderers, 134, 172, 238, 286, 292
King's Royal Rifles, 170, 227, 244, 245, 248, 249, 290, 304
Lancashire Fusiliers, 7, 8, 20, 53, 63, 64, 110, 113, 114, 118, 120,
272, 302
Leicester, 146, 148, 255, 256, 288, 289
Leinster, 215, 227
Lincoln, 8, 10, 42, 70, 72, 77, 81, 82, 116, 117, 122, 275, 288, 302,
303, 304
Liverpool, 136
London Rifle Brigade, 43, 300
London Scottish, 43, 44, 258, 299
1st London, 259
2nd London, 43, 259
3rd London, 44, 300
4th London, 43, 256, 299
6th London, 241
8th London, 259
9th London (Queen Victoria Rifles), 43, 256, 300
12th London (Rangers), 43, 258
13th London (Kensington), 43
15th London (Civil Service), 241
15th London (Queen's Westminsters), 43
Manchester, 65, 84, 85, 95, 96, 97, 113, 114, 120, 136, 137, 149,
178, 185, 186, 222, 323, 324 326
Middlesex, 43, 70, 77, 82, 88, 111, 112, 140, 142, 164, 168, 182,
207, 215, 218, 232, 246, 258, 269, 299, 304
Munster Fusiliers, 156, 212, 230, 234
Norfolk, 89, 90, 176, 180, 196, 267, 273, 292
Northampton, 88, 89, 121, 140, 142, 161, 209, 210, 211, 215, 234,
269, 271
North Lancashire, 20, 110, 146, 200, 210, 234, 278
North Staffordshire, 41, 108, 325, 326
Northumberland Fusiliers, 13, 63, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 113, 117, 118,
120, 148, 152, 179, 272, 285
Oxford and Bucks, 192, 219, 220, 221, 227, 248, 249, 250, 298, 299
Queen's (West Surrey), 84, 91, 93, 109, 139, 142, 150, 163, 170, 196,
218, 219, 221, 223, 233, 244, 246, 273
Rifle Brigade, 8, 51, 52, 53, 213, 216, 227, 228, 248, 249, 290, 298,
302, 316, 319
Rifles, 30, 162, 163, 182, 211, 218, 219, 220, 227, 228, 234, 248,
278, 279, 282, 290, 299, 315, 319, 320
Royal Fusiliers, 13, 53, 54, 88, 89, 111, 164, 167, 170, 177, 182,
186, 196, 207, 209, 269, 270, 298, 304, 318, 319
Royal Irish, 18, 86, 148, 149, 222, 227, 230
Royal Irish Fusiliers, 53, 60, 230
Royal Irish Rifles, 60, 61, 62, 71, 110, 230
Royal Lancaster, 10, 14, 314
Royal Scots, 72, 73, 74, 77, 80, 152, 172, 173, 178, 179, 238, 321
Royal Scots Fusiliers, 13, 97, 136, 152, 172, 185, 186, 238
Royal West Kent, 91, 92, 109, 139, 140, 142, 196
Seaforth Highlanders, 52, 53, 153, 175, 285, 321
Sherwood Foresters, 7, 8, 40, 42, 68, 117, 121, 251, 272, 278, 316
Shropshire, 17, 151, 219, 248, 249, 250, 256, 290, 299
Somerset Light Infantry, 51, 52, 53, 82, 221, 229, 250, 299
South Lancashire, 106, 108, 114, 169, 202, 325
South Staffordshire, 7, 8, 41, 84, 85, 116, 117, 123, 150, 221, 275
South Wales Borderers, 53, 56, 121, 129, 130, 156, 157, 162, 212, 234
Suffolk, 9, 10, 72, 74, 89, 92, 109, 164, 177, 178, 208, 252, 267,
268, 273, 274, 314
Sussex, 8, 28, 30, 93, 111, 112, 162, 192, 194, 195, 209, 211, 215,
216, 232, 234, 266, 279
Tyneside Irish (Northumberland Fusiliers), 72, 75
Tyneside Scottish (Northumberland Fusiliers), 70, 72, 73, 75
Warwick, 46, 49, 51, 52, 53, 85, 108, 115, 148, 149, 170, 192, 193,
197, 222, 302
Welsh, 121, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 156, 162, 234
Welsh Fusiliers, 10, 30, 86, 108, 118, 125, 126, 128, 129, 149, 167,
177, 221, 222, 292, 314
West Riding, 10, 120, 203, 302
West Yorkshire, 10, 13, 49, 50, 51, 70, 77, 83, 96, 151, 152, 179,
203, 255, 273, 274, 275, 292, 301
Wiltshire, 108, 112, 136, 198
Worcester, 55, 108, 112, 114, 120, 121, 163, 166, 169, 192, 218, 302
York and Lancaster, 49, 50, 51, 68, 82, 255, 284, 293, 301
Yorkshire, 81, 83, 117, 135, 178, 203, 275, 284, 285, 304
Yorkshire Light Infantry, 68, 77, 78, 81, 82, 219, 221, 247, 250,
298, 323
Royal Engineers, 92, 117, 149, 168, 183, 218, 220, 231, 245, 293
Royal Naval Division, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320
_Overseas Forces--_
Australians, 116, 161, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195,
196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 231, 305
New Zealanders, 202, 234, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 287, 288, 289
1st Canadians (Ontario), 278
2nd Canadians, 14
3rd Canadians (Toronto), 27
7th Canadians (British Columbia), 26, 27, 278
10th Canadians, 26
13th Canadians (Royal Highlanders), 16, 27, 202
14th Canadians (Montreal), 25
15th Canadians (48th Highlanders), 25, 202
16th Canadian Scottish, 16, 27
22nd Canadians, 15, 204
27th Canadians (Winnipeg), 15, 278
29th Canadians (Vancouver), 15
31st Canadians (Alberta), 15, 278
49th Canadians, 22
52nd Canadians (New Ontario), 25, 205
60th Canadians (Montreal), 205
60th Canadians (New Brunswick), 16
60th Canadians (Nova Scotia), 16
Princess Patricia's, 22, 24
Royal Canadian Regiment, 22
Canadian Mounted Rifles, 23
Newfoundland Regiment, 46, 54, 55, 301
South Africans, 137, 153, 155, 171, 172, 173, 175, 176, 286
Richebourg, 28-30
Rickets, Colonel, 128
Ripley, Colonel, 271
Robertson, General Sir William, 5, 308
Rolls, Major, 186
Romani, battle near, 328
Roumania declares war against the Central Powers, 329
Rushton, Lieutenant, 90
Ryder, Private, V.C., 270
St. Eloi, 12-16
St. Pierre Divion, 316
Salonica, 3; operations round, 329
Sarrail, General, 329, 330
Sawyer, Major, V.C., 284
Saye, Lieutenant, 90
Schwaben Redoubt, the, 61, 263, 266, 268, 272-275, 276
Serbia overrun by Central Powers, 2
Serre, 46, 49-53, 86, 311, 313
Shute, Major, 64
Sinai peninsula, operations in, 328
Smith, General Douglas, 227
Smith, Colonel, 134
Smuts, General Right Hon. Jan, 3
Snow, General Sir T., 34, 39, 45
Somerset, Lieutenant, 110
Somme, battle of the: disposition of the British Armies, 34-36;
preparations preceding the battle, 36, 37; German anticipation of
Allied attack, 37; work of the Royal Flying Corps, 38, 39; attack of
the Seventh and Eighth Corps at Gommecourt, Serre, and Beaumont
Hamel, 39-56; general failure of attack, 56; attack of the Tenth and
Third Corps at Beaucourt, Thiepval, Ovillers, and La Boiselle, fails,
58-75; attack of the Fifteenth and Thirteenth Corps at Fricourt,
Mametz, and Montauban, 76-101; capture of Fricourt, 77-84; of Mametz
village, 84-86; of Montauban, 86-98; operations of the French Army,
98-100; review of the first day's fighting, 100, 101; its decisive
importance, 101; capture of La Boiselle, 107-109; siege and reduction
of Ovillers, 109-116; operations at Contalmaison, 116-124, 131-133;
capture of Mametz Wood, 124-131; capture of Trones Wood, 134-143;
assault on and capture of villages of Bazentin-le-Petit, 145-149; and
Bazentin-le-Grand, 151-153; operations at Longueval, 153-155; cavalry
advance, 150, 157; fighting at High Wood, 166-168; South Africans in
Delville Wood, 171-176; capture of Delville Wood, 180-183; capture of
Longueval, 171-180; operations before Guillemont, 183-187; capture of
Pozières village and ridge, 189-202; advance towards Thiepval,
197-201; capture of Courcelette, 204; further fighting at High Wood,
207-213, 231-234; operations on fringe of Delville Wood, 212-213,
218-223, 231-234; attack on and capture of Guillemont, 214, 217,
227-231; attack on Ginchy, 222-223; storming of Ginchy by Irish
Division, 230-231; assault on and capture of Martinpuich village,
237-240; capture of High Wood, 240-241; advance of the New
Zealanders, 242-243; capture of the village of Flers, 243-247; debut
of the Tanks, 241, 244, 245, 247, 249, 259-261; assault on and
capture of Thiepval, 264-272; fall of Schwaben Redoubt, 272-275;
taking of Stuff Redoubt, 275-279; Germans driven finally from
Thiepval Ridge, 279; capture of the villages of Eaucourt and Le Sars,
282-285; capture of Guedecourt, 288, 289; capture of Morval and
Lesboeufs, 291-294; fall of Combles, 295; general observations on the
fighting in the Somme valley, 306-309
Stern, Colonel, 260
Stokes, Lieutenant, 211
Stuff Redoubt, the fighting for, 275-279
Swinton, Colonel, 260
Tanks, the, first appearance of, 241, 244, 245, 247, 249;
commendation by Sir Douglas Haig, 261; 264, 269, 272, 283, 285, 288,
293, 320
Tempest, Colonel, 254
Thicknesse, Colonel, 53
Thiepval, 58-68, 86, 156, 197-201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 237, 263,
264-272, 276
Thompson, Captain, 269
Torrie, Colonel, 326
Tovey, Corporal, 270
Townshend, General Sir Charles, 2
Trenchard, General, 38
Trentino, Austrian attack in, 328
Trones Wood, 135-143
Trotter, Colonel, 134
Usher, Colonel, 24
Venezelos, 330
Verdun, 1, 3, 11, 23, 33, 37, 99, 327
Vimy Ridge, 19
Webber, Lieutenant, 169
Wedgwood, Colonel, 108
White, Captain, V.C., 275
Williams, Brigadier-General Victor, 24
Wood, Colonel, 53
Wulverghem, 20
Wynne-Finch, Adjutant, 254
Ypres, 4, 7-11, 16-17, 21-28
THE END
_Printed in Great Britain_ by R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh._