[Illustration: THE BRITISH FRONT in FRANCE and FLANDERS]
THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN
IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS
JULY TO NOVEMBER
1918
BY
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
AUTHOR OF
'THE GREAT BOER WAR,' ETC.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LIMITED LONDON
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE'S
HISTORY OF THE WAR
Uniform with this Volume.
THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE
AND FLANDERS
VOL. I--1914
THE BREAKING OF THE PEACE.
THE OPENING OF THE WAR.
THE BATTLE OF MONS.
THE BATTLE OF LE GATEAU.
THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE.
THE BATTLE OF THE AISNE.
THE LA BASSÉE-ARMENTIÈRES OPERATIONS.
THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES.
A RETROSPECT AND GENERAL SUMMARY.
THE WINTER LULL OF 1914.
VOL II.--1915
THE OPENING MONTHS OF 1915.
NEUVE CHAPELLE AND HILL 60.
THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES.
THE BATTLE OF RICHEBOURG-FESTUBERT.
THE TRENCHES OF HOOGE.
THE BATTLE OF LOOS.
VOL III.--1916
JANUARY TO JULY 1916.
THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME.
THE BATTLE OF THE ANCRE.
VOL IV--1917
THE BATTLE OF ARRAS.
THE BATTLE OF MESSINES.
THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES.
THE BATTLE OF CAMBRAI.
VOL. V--1918
THE SECOND BATTLE OF THE SOMME.
THE SOMME FRONT FROM APRIL 1 ONWARDS.
THE BATTLE OF THE LYS.
THE BATTLES OF THE CHEMIN DES DAMES AND
OF THE ARDRES.
With Maps, Plans, and Diagrams
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON, NEW YORK, AND TORONTO
{v}
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE OPENING OPERATIONS
From July 1 to August 8, 1918
The general position--German attack of July 16--French counter-attack
of July 18--Turn of the tide--Fifty-first and Sixty-second Divisions
on the Ardres--Desperate fighting--The Fifteenth Scots Division at
Buzancy--Le Glorieux Chardon d'Écosse--Nicholson's Thirty-fourth
Division at Oulchy-le-Château--The campaigns on the periphery
CHAPTER II
ATTACK OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY
The Battle of Amiens, August 8-22
Great British victory--Advance of the Canadians--Of the
Australians--Of the Third Corps--Hard struggle at Chipilly--American
assistance--Continuance of the operations--Great importance of the
battle
CHAPTER III
CONTINUATION OF THE OPERATIONS OF RAWLINSON'S
FOURTH ARMY
From August 22 to the Battle of the Hindenburg Line, September 29
Further advance of the Australians--Of the Third Corps--Capture of
Albert--Advance across the old Somme battlefield--Capture of Mont St.
Quentin--Splendid Australian exploit--Fall of Peronne--Debut of the
Yeomanry (Seventy-fourth) Division--Attack on the outliers of the
Hindenburg Line--Appearance of the Ninth Corps--Eve of the Judgment
{vi}
CHAPTER IV
THE ATTACK OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY
August 21, 1918, to September 29, 1918
Advance of Shute's Fifth Corps--Great feat in crossing the
Ancre--Across the old battlefield--Final position of Fifth Corps
opposite Hindenburg's Main Line--Advance of Haldane's Sixth
Corps--Severe fighting--Arrival of the Fifty-second
Division--Formation of Fergusson's Seventeenth Corps--Recapture of
Havrincourt--Advance of Harper's Fourth Corps---Great tenacity of the
troops--The New Zealanders and the Jaeger--Final position before the
decisive battle
CHAPTER V
THE ADVANCE OF HORNE'S FIRST ARMY
From August 26 to September 27
The indefatigable Fifty-first Division--Capture of Greenland
Hill--Fine advance of the Canadians--Breaking of the Drocourt-Quéant
line--Fine work of the Sixty-third Naval Division--Great day for the
Dominion--Demeanour of German prisoners
CHAPTER VI
THE OPERATIONS OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY
From the Battle of the Hindenburg Line (September 29) to the
Battle of the Selle, October 17
The first American operations--The rupture of the Hindenburg
Line--Predicament of Twenty-seventh American Division--Their gallant
resistance--Great Australian attack--Remarkable feat by the
Forty-sixth North Midland Territorial Division--Exeunt the Third
Corps and the Australians--Entrance of the Thirteenth Corps--Rupture
of the Beaurevoir line--Advance to the Selle River
CHAPTER VII
THE OPERATIONS OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY
From the Battle of the Selle, October 17, to the end
Attack upon the line of the Selle River--Stubborn work by the Second
American Corps--Success of the Ninth Corps--Hard fighting at Le
Cateau--Great feat of the South Africans--Continued
advance--Delay-action mines--Capture of Landrecies--Dramatic exit of
the German machine-gunner--Splendid work of the First Division
{vii}
CHAPTER VIII
OPERATIONS OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY
From the Battle of the Hindenburg Line (September 29) to the
Battle of the Selle (October 17)
Fighting at L'Escaut Canal--Dash of the New Zealanders--The Guards in
a hot corner--Crossing of the Canal--Back on the old ground--Great
work by all four Corps of the Third Army
CHAPTER IX
OPERATIONS OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY
From the Battle of the Selle, October 12, to the end
The battle of the Selle River--Reversion to open warfare--The valour
of Lancashire--Haig's incessant blows--Weakening of the German
morale--The battle of Mormal Forest--New Zealanders and the mediaeval
fortress--Capture of the great forest--The Sambre bridged--A grand
Division--Advance of Fergusson's Seventeenth Corps--The last phase
CHAPTER X
THE ADVANCE OF HORNE'S FIRST ARMY
From September 27 to the end
The Canadians at the Canal du Nord--Hard fighting at Bourlon--Strong
counter-attack at Abancourt--Canadian valour--Godley's Twenty-second
Corps--The Ecaillon valley--Forcing of the Rhonelle--General
Heneker's attack--Capture of Douai
CHAPTER XI
OPERATIONS OF THE SECOND AND FIFTH ARMIES
September 28-November 11
King Albert in the field--Great Belgo-Franco-British advance--The
last act on the old stage--The prophet of 1915--Renewed
advance--Germans desert the coast--Relief of Douai and Lille--The
final stage in the subsidiary theatres of war
CHAPTER XII
THE END
APPENDIX
INDEX
{ix}
MAPS AND PLANS
Map to illustrate the British Campaign in France and Flanders
Advance of Fourth Army, August 8, showing Gains up to August 12, and
Final Position after the Fall of Peronne
Position of British Corps, end of September 1918
Advance of First, Third, and Fourth British. Armies from August 21,
1918, to September 2, 1918. Arrows point to the Rupture of the
Quéant-Drocourt Line
General Position of the Allies immediately before the Armistice of
November 11, 1918
Allied Advance in the North
[Transcriber's note: Because of their size and fragility, it was
impractical to scan the above five maps. They have been omitted from
this etext.]
IN TEXT
The Attack on the Selle
[Illustration: Map to illustrate the British Campaign in France and
Flanders]
{1}
CHAPTER I
THE OPENING OPERATIONS
From July 1 to August 8, 1918
The general position--German attack of July 16--French counter-attack
of July 18--Turn of the tide--Fifty-first and Sixty-second Divisions
on the Ardres--Desperate fighting--The Fifteenth Scots Division at
Buzancy--Le Glorieux Chardon d'Écosse--Nicholson's Thirty-fourth
Division at Oulchy-le-Château--The campaigns on the periphery.
When the year 1918 had run half its course the Germans appeared to be
triumphantly in the ascendant. In Flanders they had pushed back the
British to positions which were, on an average, to the rear of those
occupied in 1914. On the Somme they had more than neutralised all
the Allied gains of 1916, and were stretched now from Arras to
Montdidier, covering ground which they had not touched since the
early days of the war. On the Aisne they had reconquered all that
the French had so laboriously won in three campaigns, and were back
along the Marne and within gun-shot of Paris. These results had been
achieved in three great battles which had cost the Allies some
200,000 prisoners and nearly 2000 guns. In July it would have seemed
that the German Empire was victorious, and yet ere the year had ended
the very name had changed its meaning in the map of Europe, and was
known only in the list of {2} evil things which have had their day
and then have passed. How this extraordinary change--the most sudden
and dramatic in all history--came to pass is the theme of this final
volume.
There were certain factors which even at the zenith of Germany's
fortunes may have prepared a cool-headed critic for a swing of the
scales, though the wisest and best informed could not have conceived
how violent the oscillation would be. In the first place, the
ever-pressing strangle-hold of the Navy, combined with an indifferent
harvest and the exhaustion of certain stocks within the Empire,
notably of copper, rubber, wool, and lubricants, produced great
internal difficulties which grew worse with every month. Then again
German successes had been bought in reckless fashion at a very heavy
price, and if they brought a million men across from the Russian
frontier it is probable that they had squandered nearly as many in
the three great battles. Finally, there was the all-important factor
of the American reinforcements which had been speeded up to meet the
pressing emergency. By splendid international co-operation the
Americans put all their proverbial energy into marshalling and
equipping the men, while Great Britain threw every available unit of
her sea power, mercantile or naval, into the task of getting them
across. The long-suffering people of this island gladly cut down
their requirements in every possible direction so as to secure the
tonnage for this marvellous transfer. At a steady rate of a quarter
of a million every month the Americans flowed into
France--magnificent raw material which was soon to show how quickly
it could develop into the most highly finished article. {3} This
constant addition to the Allied forces, with the moral confidence
which they brought with them, was the third contributory cause to the
sudden change of fortune. It would be ungenerous, however, not to
add that a fourth, without which all others might have been vain, lay
in the commanding personality and extraordinary genius of the great
Frenchman who now controlled the whole Allied battle front from the
sea to the Alps, while two great civilians, Lloyd George and
Clemenceau, rallied the home fronts of the two weary nations which
had borne the brunt of the war.
It will be remembered from the last volume that in the first half of
1918 the sun of victory had never once in Western Europe rested upon
the standards of the Allies save in Italy, where the Austrians had
been defeated upon the Piave. June 17 was in truth the turning-point
of the war, for from that date everything went well with the forces
of freedom. The change in the West came later, however, than in
Italy, and on July 16 the Germans attempted a new advance upon the
largest scale, which seemed to have some small success at first
though it was in truth the starting-point of all their misfortunes.
Their previous advances had brought them forward on the line from
Montdidier to Rheims, and now they enlarged their front by 25 miles
on the eastern side of Rheims, while their attack also covered about
the same distance to the west of that city, making some progress in
this latter sector, which led them down the valley of the Oise,
towards Villers-Cotterets, Compiègne, and finally Paris. The whole
world held its breath in a hush of horror as it saw Foch's soldiers
desperately struggling and yet losing mile after mile {4} of the
short stretch which separated the Tuetonic barbarians from the centre
of the world's civilisation and culture. They had crossed the Marne
that evening and had pushed the French and American line back for
some miles, but the latter rallied and regained some of the ground.
The most important point of the struggle, however, was to the east of
Rheims, where that splendid soldier, General Gouraud, a one-armed
bearded veteran of Gallipoli, created a false front which the enemy
captured, and then whilst they were still in disorder attacked them
from the real front, pushing them back with great loss. This
development on the east of the line fully compensated for the German
advance on the west, which was brought to a final halt within two
days. Foch had now bled the Germans until they had lost some of
their power of resistance. The moment for his great counter-attack
was at hand, and the carefully husbanded reserves were ready for the
crisis--those reserves which it was his supreme merit to have hoarded
up when the temptation to spend them was more than the firmest will
could have been expected to resist.
[Sidenote: July 18]
On July 18 the blow fell, and the Germans recoiled in a movement
which was destined never to stop until they had crossed the Rhine.
All important as the operations were they are only indicated here
since this chronicle is necessarily confined to the British action,
and no British troops were as yet engaged. Issuing under the cover
of a storm from the great forest of Villers-Cotterets which had
screened his preparations, the French Marshal hurled his line of
tanks upon the enemy, clearing a path for his infantry. At the same
moment the French-American {5} line went forward over a front of 27
miles from the Oise to the Marne, striking the whole flank of the
German advance. The attack extended from Vingre in the north to
Château-Thierry. Everywhere the German flank fell back, their front
had to withdraw across the Marne, Château-Thierry was reoccupied and
20,000 prisoners with 400 guns were left in the hands of the victors.
Gradually, as the attack developed from day to day, a huge pocket was
formed, bulging southwards from the Aisne, with its lower edge upon
the Marne, the whole assuming much the shape which Spain does upon
the map of Europe. This protrusion, instead of being a menacing
point directed towards Paris, was now a much battered salient
attacked simultaneously upon all sides, by Mangin in the west and by
Gouraud in the south and east. Americans and French were on the
Marne, French alone to the west of it, and British with French on the
east of it. All were fighting with the cold fury of men who have
reached a crisis where death is nothing and victory all. Nurses at
the forward hospitals have testified how the French wounded were
brought in mutilated and dying, but delirious with joy because they
knew that the tide had turned. What matter anything else? What
matter life or limb? The grey cloud was slowly, slowly drifting back
whence it came.
But it was very slow, for the German soldier had never fought better,
nor had his leaders ever shown greater skill in drawing him out from
danger and yet selling every rearward position at the highest price
of Allied blood. All three Allies were tried to their utmost, for
the enemy had not yet learned that he was fated to retreat. The
British, who had their {6} own great task already planned, were in
weak force, though that force was of the highest quality, for two
better divisions than Campbell's Fifty-first Highlanders and
Braithwaite's Sixty-second Yorkshiremen did not exist in the Army.
It is their operations which we have now to examine, since the grand
work of their American comrades-in-arms can only be included in the
scope of this work where they actually fought in the British
formations.
[Sidenote: Twenty-Second Corps on the Ardres. July 20-21.]
They occupied a point on the eastern face of the attack, nearly
midway between the Marne and Rheims, and it was their task to force
their way up that valley of the Ardres down which the remains of the
British Ninth Corps had retreated from the disaster of the Aisne, and
across which the Nineteenth Division had been drawn when it stopped
the German advance near Bligny, as described in the last volume.
Some memory of island valour should linger in that valley, for much
good British blood has been shed there. The two divisions which were
now hurried up to take their place in the French line formed the
Twenty-second Corps under Sir John Godley, and were accompanied by
some New Zealand and Australian Cavalry. They relieved a mauled
Italian Corps, while they had Frenchmen on their left and Algerians
on their right, so that it would be difficult to imagine a more
cosmopolitan line of defence. The country in front was hilly and
very difficult, and the line was bisected by the River Ardres, the
Sixty-second advancing on the right of the stream and the Fifty-first
on the left.
It was a very desperate and difficult business, which lasted for ten
days, during which each division showed the most splendid courage and
endurance, {7} as can be proved by the fact that their united losses
came to 8000 men out of about 16,000 engaged, and that they met and
defeated four German divisions, capturing 1500 prisoners, 140
machine-guns, and 40 cannon. The opening attack, during which the
advancing lines passed through the ranks of the Second Italian Corps,
was greatly stimulated by the news of the splendid Allied advance of
the two previous days, July 18 and 19.
The fighting of both divisions was made very difficult by the
underwood and the standing corn which lay before them, thickly sown
with German machine-guns. On July 20 the 2/4th York and Lancasters,
on the extreme right of the British line, captured Bouilly, but were
driven out again. At the same time the 5th Yorkshire Light Infantry
was held up and lost heavily in front of the Château of Commetreuil.
It was a long, difficult, and expensive day for the 187th Brigade,
and its only remaining battalion, the 2/4th Yorkshire Light Infantry,
lost heavily as well.
The 185th Brigade on July 20 occupied the left of the divisional
line, with the Highlanders on the other side of the Ardres. Marfaux
and Cuitron lay before them, but neither could be quite reached,
though again and again the assailants were on the very edge of the
villages. Once some of the men of the 2/4th Hampshires from the
supporting brigade actually penetrated the village, but they were
seen no more. The 2/4th West Ridings, south of the village, were
also held up. Meanwhile the 5th West Ridings attempted to work
around Marfaux from the north, through the wood of Petit Camp. All
attempts to debouch from the wood were vain, however, and {8} again
the attack was brought to nought. Some ground had been gained during
the day, but both main efforts had failed, and all three brigades of
the Sixty-second Division had been badly mauled. With no British
reserves behind, General Braithwaite must have been sorely exercised
in his mind that night.
On July 21 the attack eased down on the left, but on the right the
187th Brigade deployed and attacked the Bouilly Ridge. The 9th
Durham Pioneers made a very fine advance, as did the 2/4th York and
Lancasters, and some valuable ground was taken, but none of the
villages. The attackers were encouraged, however, by learning from
prisoners that the Germans had endured heavy losses, and had been
compelled to demand reinforcements.
On July 22 the situation began to clear a little as Burnett's 106th
Brigade, represented mainly by the 5th West Ridings, attacked the
wood of Petit Camp, an ominous grove, already littered with British
dead. So deliberate was their advance, in consequence of the
difficult ground to be searched, that the barrage was at the rate of
100 yards in ten minutes. The place was one long succession of gun
posts "en echelon," which were so concealed that they had no field of
fire, and were the more deadly on that account as they fired by sound
out of the bushes, and could not possibly be seen until one walked up
to them. None the less the Yorkshiremen, helped by a wing of the 5th
Devons, fought their way through this dreadful wood, dropping small
posts as they went. Two hundred prisoners and 41 machine-guns
remained in their hands, with 700 yards of new ground. The German
losses were heavy, but so were {9} the British, Captain Cockhill's
company of the West Ridings emerging with two officers and six men
able to report for duty. It was a fine operation, well conceived and
well carried through. The Germans fought with great tenacity all day.
On July 23 the south-western corner of the Petit Camp Wood, which was
still in German hands, was cleared by the 6th West Ridings. The main
attack, however, on Marfaux and Cuitron was carried out by the
Durhams and the New Zealand Cyclist Battalion with magnificent
success. Marfaux fell to the New Zealanders. The stormers broke
through both villages and made their line 400 yards beyond. Two
French tanks did good service in this assault. Two hundred prisoners
and eight French 75's, taken previously by the Germans, were among
the trophies of this fine advance. The Seventy-seventh French
Division had attacked upon the right with equal success.
Up to this period the Highlanders of the Fifty-first Division had
been striving hard on the southern side of the Ardres, with a task
which was not less difficult than that of their English comrades on
the north.
On July 20 they found the enemy opposite to them in great strength,
as was shown by the fact that prisoners from three divisions, the
Twenty-second (Saxe-Meiningen), the Hundred and third (Hessian), and
the Hundred and twenty-third (Saxon) were taken that day. The great
straggling wood of Courton, with a fringe of farms, mills, and other
buildings, formed a strong advanced position. The Fifty-first
Division has gained so splendid a record in the war that advantage
may be taken of {10} this action to give in fuller detail its
glorious units. The attack that morning was carried out by the 154th
Brigade, consisting of the 4th Seaforths, 4th Gordons, and 7th Argyll
and Sutherlands, on the right flank. On the left was the 153rd
Brigade, consisting of the 6th and 7th Black Watch and 7th Gordons.
In reserve was the 152nd Brigade, 5th and 6th Seaforths and 6th
Gordons, with the 8th Royal Scots as pioneer battalion. The attack
was supported by French artillery and also by the guns of the 255th
and 256th Brigades R.F.A.
The advance was a most arduous one, especially after the first
victorious rush when the troops found themselves involved in the
thick brushwood which prevented co-operation to such an extent that
the two brigades were entirely separated, but each struggled on
independently, small knots of determined men fighting their way
forward as best they might. The progress was better upon the left
than on the right, but the casualties were heavy, for the German
machine-guns had survived the barrage and were very deadly. Colonel
Bickmore of the 4th Gordons led a company of his battalion against a
German post but was brought down by a bomb, and his men driven back.
When the ground was recovered the Colonel had been carried off as a
prisoner. The German infantry seem to have taken hardly any part in
the battle, which was fought between the splendid Scottish infantry
on one side, and the determined German machine-gunners on the other.
The Black Watch of the 153rd Brigade found an even blacker watch
fighting on their flank, for the Senegalese infantry of the French
Ninth Division went forward with them and did good work during the
{11} whole arduous day. So sweeping was the machine-gun fire that at
many points it was found to be impossible even to creep forward
through the two-foot corn.
By evening the attack had been definitely held, and the Highlanders
were forced to be content with their initial gains, while the French
on the left, who had been assaulting the hamlet of Paradis all day,
were also stationary. At 6.30 a company of German infantry attacked
the Argylls, but were driven back with heavy loss. So the long day
ended, the troops being much exhausted. The capture of 8 officers
and 360 men, with many machine-guns, was an inadequate return for
such heroic exertions. All day the enemy had been withdrawing upon
the Marne front, and the holding of his flanks was so vitally
essential that he was prepared to make any sacrifice for the purpose.
The attack was continued next morning, the 152nd Brigade pushing
forward into the front line, while the other depleted units supported
it and guarded its flanks. Things went badly at the outset, for the
line had been altered during the night and the barrage was
miscalculated in consequence, so that it was no great help to the 6th
Gordons in their advance. All day mixed fighting went on in the
wood, and it was most difficult to determine the exact position of
the various units, groups of men stalking the machine-guns as hunters
might stalk tigers, the fight ending as often in the death of the
hunter as of the tiger. Once again the evening of a bloody day found
things very much as they had been in the morning. It cannot be
denied that the German resistance was a very stern one.
{12}
After a pause of a day the Highland Division renewed its attack along
a portion of its front, the main advance being carried out by the
152nd Brigade. Once more the deadly woods were penetrated, and once
more there was a limited advance and considerable losses. On this
occasion the barrage was more useful, though some French batteries on
the left fell short and caused heavy casualties to a company of the
6th Gordons in their point of assembly. Such are the unavoidable
chances of modern warfare. The 8th Royal Scots were thrown into the
fight, and made a fine advance. Altogether there were signs this day
of a weakening on the German front, which was confirmed in the patrol
fighting of the next few days. There were many casualties in the
152nd Brigade, including Major Moir, C.O. of the 5th Seaforths, who
was badly wounded.
[Sidenote: Twenty-Second Corps on the Ardres. July 27.]
Major operations were in abeyance until July 27, when severe fighting
broke out once again upon the south side of the Ardres. The 187th
Brigade had been sent across by General Braithwaite, and it now took
its place in General Carter-Campbell's sector, with the 152nd on its
right and the 153rd on its left, with the intention of making a
vigorous attack upon the German line on this front. Tanks had been
allotted, but rain had set in, the ground was marshy, and the
monsters immovable. All immediate objectives were easily taken. The
villages of Espilly and Nappes had both been occupied. So soft did
the front appear that the Australian horsemen were pushed forward,
while the troops north of the river moved on in sympathy. The final
line was north-west of Chaumuzy. Here, on July 28, a very stiff
German resistance was encountered, and Chambrecy {13} on the left
flank represented the No Man's Land between the armies.
[Sidenote: Twenty-Second Corps on the Ardres. July 28-30.]
The Montagne de Bligny position, where the Nineteenth Division had
distinguished itself in June, now lay immediately ahead, and the 8th
West Yorkshires (Leeds Rifles) were ordered to attack it. They went
forward so swiftly and with such spirit that they were into and over
the position before the Germans realised what had happened. It was a
notable performance, for the place was of great strength and
strategic significance. The French Government bestowed a special
mark of honour upon the 8th West Yorks for this deed, and it is
certainly a singular coincidence that, of the few British battalions
thus honoured, two should have won it at the same spot. There was no
artillery support, and the casualties were heavy, but Yorkshire won
home in spite of it. The enemy tried to regain it until the high
corn was full of his dead, but it was all in vain. This day, with
the co-operation of the French, Bligny village was also taken. No
further ground was gained on July 29, as a new German division, the
Two hundred and fortieth, had come into line with orders to hold on
at all costs. The fighting was very severe at the junction between
the French and British, where the liaison was so close between the
two nations that it is on record that, when at a critical moment the
French ran out of cartridges, the rifles and ammunition of the
British casualties were handed over to them and saved the situation.
Shortly afterwards the two British divisions were drawn from the line
and returned to their own army. In a generous appreciation of their
services General Berthelot, after enumerating their captures, said:
{14} "Thanks to the heroic courage and proverbial tenacity of the
British, the continued efforts of this brave Army Corps have not been
in vain.... You have added a glorious page to your history.
Marfaux, Chaumuzy, Montagne de Bligny--all those famous names will be
written in letters of gold in the annals of your regiments." The
French official bulletins offered also a very special tribute of
praise to the 6th Black Watch, a Perthshire battalion, which, under
Colonel Tarleton, had done particularly fine work during the long and
arduous service of the Fifty-first Division.
[Sidenote: Twenty-Second Corps on the Ardres. July 30-31.]
Whilst the Twenty-second British Corps had, as described,
distinguished itself greatly in the valley of the Ardres on the east
of the German salient, the Fifteenth Scottish Division under General
H. L. Reed, V.C., had been detailed to aid the French line in its
advance on Buzancy on the western German flank. This veteran
division was thrown into the fight on July 28, and made its mark at
once upon the formidable German position which faced it. It had
relieved the First American Division which was much worn by its long
and splendid service in General Mangin's Tenth Army. The Americans
left their guns in the line to cover the advance, so that, for the
first time in history, British, Americans, and French were all
engaged as allies upon the same battleground. The village was very
strongly held, and the high ground to the east of it was bristling
with machine-guns, but the Scots infantry would take no denial. The
44th Brigade (Thomson) had attacked the village itself, the 5th
Gordons and 8th Seaforths leading the assault. The latter battalion
lost its commander, Colonel Smith, but was the first into the {15}
objective, while the Gordons held and consolidated the ground to the
north of it. Farther north still the 45th Brigade had advanced its
whole line, while at the south flank of the attack the 91st French
Infantry was clearing the woods in front of it. The machine-gun fire
at this point was very heavy, however, and the French, after a
gallant struggle, were forced back to their original line, with the
result that the right of the attack was in the air. The Seaforths
had carried the Château of Buzancy as well as the village, and the
orders were at all costs to hold on to these important points; so
part of the 4/5th Black Watch was pushed forward to strengthen the
defenders, who were hard pressed and heavily gassed. There was
desperate fighting all round the village, which was declared by a
veteran French flammenwerfer section attached to the Highlanders to
be the most bloody work seen by them in the war. With their flank
naked the remains of the brave battalions were exposed about six
o'clock in the evening to an overpowering German counter-attack which
rolled up from the south-east and drove them, still fighting tooth
and claw, through the village, from which six German officers and 200
men were brought as prisoners. Thus by seven in the evening the 44th
Brigade, after their day of most heroic effort, were back on their
original line. It was a sad end to a splendid deed of arms, but
there was no disposition to blame the Eighty-seventh French Division
on the right, who were already worn with much fighting, and who were
faced with very difficult country. Many of the Highlanders wept
bitter tears of rage and mortification when they found that the
deaths of so many of their comrades had not bought the {16} village
for which they gave their blood so willingly.
[Sidenote: Fifteenth Division at Buzancy. July 28-August 1.]
Orders were now received from the French Corps that the Scots
Fifteenth Division should change place with its neighbour, the
Eighty-seventh French Division, a difficult operation which was
successfully accomplished, the artillery in each case being left in
position. The new operation was to consist of an attack upon
Hartennes Forest, the Twelfth French Division working round the south
and the Fifteenth Scots Division round the north end of it, both
meeting to the east, with Droisy as an ultimate objective. The
attacking troops were concealed so far as possible in the cornfields
on July 31, and went forward about eight o'clock in the morning of
August 1, after the completion of a successful French advance further
down the line. The brunt of this new advance was borne by the 6th
Camerons and 13th Royal Scots of the 45th Brigade (Orr-Ewing),
together with the 10th Scots Rifles and 7/8th Scottish Borderers of
the 46th Brigade (Fortune). The left of the line made fine progress
and reached the east side of the Soissons Road, but the 45th Brigade
on the right was held up by terrible machine-gun fire, part of which
came from several derelict French tanks. These were dealt with and
blown to pieces by trench mortars. The advance was then resumed, the
French Twelfth Division coming forward also in the south. About
midday the Camerons had reached their mark, but were out of touch
with the Borderers on their right, so that they were compelled to
form a defensive flank from the cemetery to the road. The Germans
lay in a series of wooded hills upon the right, and though these were
smothered with shells the brave machine-gunners {17} still clung to
their position. So heavy was their fire that the right flank could
get no farther, and it was determined to hold on to the ground
gained. During the night the 44th Brigade, in spite of its heavy
losses three days before, took the place of the 46th.
[Sidenote: Fifteenth Division at Buzancy. July 28-August 2.]
It was evident on the morning of August 2 that the stern combat of
the previous day had not been without its effect. The enemy was
retreating all along the line, and his positions were being rapidly
evacuated. The Twelfth French Division on the right was able to
advance almost without opposition past the Hartennes Wood. There
followed an exhilarating pursuit up to the banks of the Crise River.
The 9th Gordon Pioneer Battalion pushed in with great dash, and was
in Villeblain before evening, while the French Eighty-seventh
Division reached the river east of Buzancy. The Fifteenth Division
was then relieved by the Seventeenth French Division, and was
restored to the First British Army amid a shower of congratulatory
messages from French Generals and comrades. So deep was the feeling
among the French over the magnificent fighting and heavy losses of
the Scots Division that a monument was at once raised in their honour
in front of the old German position with the inscription: "Ici
fleurira toujours le glorieux Chardon d'Écosse parmi les Roses de
France." Many brave Scots will lie for ever round this monument.
Three splendid battalion commanders, Smith of the Gordons, Turner of
the Royal Scots, and Kennedy of the Seaforths, were slain, while Hart
of the Scots Borderers and Macleod of the Camerons were
incapacitated--five Colonels out of ten battalions. The sufferings
from gas were very {18} severe, and all the Brigade Headquarters were
severely affected, General Thomson and his staff holding on for the
duration of the battle, but collapsing on the evening of August 2.
[Sidenote: Thirty-Fourth Division with the French. July 25-August 1.]
Whilst the Fifteenth Division had been performing this notable
service the Thirty-fourth British Division (Nicholson) had also been
incorporated for the moment into Mangin's Fifteenth Army, and was
heavily engaged in the battle line opposite Grand Rozoy, rather south
of the point where the Scots were fighting.
So great had been the losses of this splendid Tyneside division in
the terrible contests of the Somme and of Flanders that it was now
entirely reconstituted with nothing of its previous personnel save
its veteran commander and a handful of war-worn officers. The
infantry were mostly Territorials from the Palestine campaign. On
July 18 the Thirty-fourth became part of the Tenth French Army near
Senlis. On the 22nd it was incorporated into General Penet's
Thirtieth Corps, and relieved the French Thirty-eighth Division in
the battle zone, on a line parallel to the Château-Thierry-Soissons
Road, having its right just west of Coutremain and its left in Parcy
Tigny. Woodcock's 101st Brigade was on the right, Williams' 102nd on
the left, while Chaplin's 103rd Brigade was in support. French
divisions, the Nineteenth and the Fifty-eighth, were on either side,
so that Nicholson's men formed a curious isolated little bit of
fighting England.
At 6 A.M. on the morning of July 25 the whole line in this section
attacked with the intention of carrying the important road already
mentioned from Château-Thierry to Soissons. It was a hard and
disappointing day, for the French divisions on either {19} side were
held by the heavy fire from the Bois de Plessier and Tigny. The
101st Brigade was not more successful, but the 102nd on the left got
forward nearly a mile, and then lay with its left flank thrown back
to connect up with its French neighbours. Considering that it was
the first experience which these men had had of German artillery and
machine-guns, General Nicholson was well satisfied with his new
material.
On July 27 the division was relieved by the extension of the flanks
of its two neighbours, but it was at once fitted into the line again,
filling a battle-front of 1500 yards, with its right east of
Oulchy-le-Château. It was just in time for an attack which opened at
5 A.M. on July 29, and it was only by great exertions that the guns
were registered and the infantry in their places. The objective was
a horse-shoe ridge from Beugneux in the east to Grand Rozoy in the
west. The 103rd Brigade was on the right, the 101st upon the left.
The barrage was not as deadly as usual on account of the pressure of
time which had hampered the preparation and registration. The slopes
were long and open, swept by the deadly machine-guns. It was all
odds against the attack. The 103rd Brigade got to the outskirts of
Beugneux, but was held up by the murderous fire from an adjacent
mill. The 101st surmounted the ridge between Grand Rozoy and
Beugneux, but could get no farther, for it was all open ground to the
north.
In the early afternoon the 102nd Brigade advanced from the wood in
which it lay with the intention of helping the 101st to storm
Beugneux, but as it came forward it met the 101st falling back before
a strong {20} counter-attack. This movement was checked by the
new-comers and the line was sustained upon the ridge.
The net result of an arduous day was that the division was still
short of the coveted road, but that it had won about 2000 yards of
ground, including a good position for future operations. Casualties
were heavy, and included Colonel Jourdain of the 2nd North
Lancashires as well as Captain Weeks, C.O. of the 4th Royal Sussex.
The French had got Grand Rozoy upon the left flank, and though they
were driven out of it again they won their way back in the early
morning of July 30. All this day and the next the troops prepared
for a new effort, lying under heavy shell-fire which, among other
casualties, killed Colonel Dooner, the chief staff officer of the
division.
On August 1 the attack was renewed under a very heavy and efficient
barrage, which helped the infantry so much that within two hours all
objectives had been won. Beugneux fell after the hill which
commanded it had been stormed by the 8th Argyll and Sutherland
Highlanders in a very gallant advance. Colonel Barbow fell while
leading his men to victory. On the left the French Twenty-fifth
Division had been held up by the deadly fire from a knoll, but Major
Atkinson of the 2nd North Lancashires realised the situation and
diverted his reserve company to storm the obstacle, enabling the
French right to get forward. It was planned that two British
battalions should push on beyond their objectives in order to cover
the flanks of a further French advance. One of these, the 4th
Cheshires, carried out its part to perfection in spite of heavy
losses, which included Colonel Swindells, its commander. The 1st
Herefords, {21} however, whose rôle was to cover the left of the
Sixty-eighth French Division, was unable to do so, as that division
was itself held up. That night the enemy was in full retreat all
along this line, and falling back upon the River Vesle. On August 3
the Thirty-fourth Division was returned to the area of the Second
British Army, having done a fine spell of service which brought the
warmest compliments from the French commanders, not only to the
infantry, but to General Walthall's guns (152nd and 160th Brigades)
as well as Colonel Dobson's 207th, 208th, and 209th Field Companies.
The northward advance of the French, Americans, and British was slow
up to the end of July, but became accelerated in the first week of
August, Soissons falling to the French on August 2, and the Germans
being driven to the line of the Vesle, when they held on very
tenaciously for a time, their rearguards showing their usual high
soldierly qualities. The Americans had a particularly hard struggle,
being faced by some of the élite of the German Army, including the
4th Prussian Guards, but winning their way steadily forward in spite
of many strong counter-attacks. The situation upon the Vesle and the
Aisne seemed for the moment to have reached an equilibrium, when
Marshal Foch called Marshal Haig to his assistance and a new attack
was launched in which British troops were once more employed on the
grand scale. Their great march had started which was to end only at
the bank of the Rhine.
[Sidenote: General Survey.]
Before embarking upon this narrative, it would be well to prevent the
necessity of interrupting it by casting a glance at those general
events connected with the world war which occurred during this
period, {22} which reacted upon the Western front. It has already
been shortly stated that the Austrian Army had been held in their
attempt to cross the Piave in mid June, and by the end of the month
had been driven over the river by the Italians, aided by a strong
British and French contingent. The final losses of the Austrians in
this heavy defeat were not less than 20,000 prisoners with many guns.
From this time until the final Austrian debacle there was no severe
fighting upon this front. In the Salonican campaign the Greek Army
was becoming more and more a factor to be reckoned with, and the
deposition of the treacherous Constantine, with the return to power
of Venizelos, consolidated the position of the Allies. There was no
decided movement, however, upon this front until later in the year.
In Palestine and in Mesopotamia the British forces were also
quiescent, Allenby covering the northern approaches of Jerusalem, and
preparing for his last splendid and annihilating advance, while
Marshall remained in a similar position to the north of Bagdad. A
small and very spirited expedition sent out by the latter will no
doubt have a history of its own, for it was adventurous to a degree
which was almost quixotic, and yet justified itself by its results.
This was the advance of a handful of men over 700 miles of desert
separating the Bagdad front from the Caspian. Arriving at the town
of Baku they kept the German-Turks out of that town for six weeks at
a time when oil supplies were a most pressing problem for them, and
so influenced the course of the war. Finally they withdrew in safety
after a most remarkable exploit, hardly realised amid the clash of
greater forces. Russia still remained in its distracted {23}
condition, hag-ridden by forces which at their worst surpassed all
the classical excesses of the French Revolution. Regeneration began
to appear out of chaos, however, though the end was still afar.
Allied forces in Siberia and on the Murman Coast formed nuclei upon
which the supporters of civilisation could rally. On the water the
atrocities of the German submarines and their sinking of hospital
ships, accompanied in several cases by the drowning of the sick and
wounded men, were the outstanding feature. In the main, therefore,
it can be said that there was a hush upon the periphery, while in the
centre the Allies with concentrated energy hurled themselves upon
their enemy with the fixed determination to have done with the thing
for ever, fighting without a break until either they could fight no
more or the German menace had passed from the world which it had
overshadowed so long. Nowhere was there a thought of compromise.
There could be no justice unless it were thorough justice. The
criminal methods by which the war had been waged forbade every
thought of an incomplete settlement. With stern and deliberate
determination the French and British turned to their task,
strengthened by the knowledge that the vanguard of America was
already in the field, weak as yet in numbers, but the head of that
long column which extended across the Atlantic and was based upon the
virile nation of a hundred million souls beyond.
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