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 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.
[Sidenote: August 21.]
On August 20 General Mangin had pushed forward the Tenth French Army,
which formed the left of his force, and attacked along a sixteen-mile
front from the Oise to the Aisne, thus connecting up the original
operations with those initiated by Marshal Haig. The movement was
very successful, taking some 10,000 prisoners and gaining several
miles of ground. We have now to turn to the left of Rawlinson's
advance, and to consider the new movement which brought Byng's Third
British Army into the fray.
[Illustration: 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]
Upon the left of the Third Corps, which was, as already described,
fighting its way along the north bank of the Somme, there lay the
Fifth Corps (Shute). On its left was the Fourth Corps (Harper), and
north of that the Sixth Corps (Haldane). It was to these {81} three
units that the opening of the attack was entrusted. The frontage was
about ten miles, extending from Moyenneville in the north to the
Ancre in the south, so that it just cleared the impossible country of
the first Somme battlefield--which even now a spectator cannot survey
without a feeling of wondering horror, so churned up is it from end
to end by the constant thresh of shells, burst of mines, and the
spade-work of three great armies. The result of the first day's
fighting was an advance of several miles along the whole front, with
the capture of Beaucourt, Bucquoy, Moyenneville, and other villages,
the farthest advance coming close to the Arras-Albert Railway, and to
the village of Achiet-le-Grand.
There had been some recent retirement of the German line at Serre,
which gave the clue to the British Commanders that a general retreat
might take place on this particular portion of the front. It was
very necessary, therefore, to strike at once while there was
certainly something solid to strike against--and all the more
necessary if there was a chance of catching the enemy in the act of
an uncompleted withdrawal.
It was nearly five o'clock when the battle began, and it was the turn
of the Germans to find how fog may disarrange the most elaborate
preparations for defence. The mist was so thick that it could only
be compared to that which had shrouded the German advance on March
21. Several miles of undulating country lay immediately in front of
the attackers, leading up to a formidable line of defence, the old
Albert-Arras Railway lying with its fortified embankments right
across the path of the British Army. {82} Bucquoy in the centre of
the line, with the Logeast Wood to the east of it, and the muddy,
sluggish Ancre with its marshy banks on the extreme right, were
notable features in the ground to be assaulted.
The Fifth Corps, under General Shute, followed the curve of the River
Ancre on a front of 9000 yards. It was poorly provided with guns as
the Corps to the left required a concentration of artillery, and it
had no tanks since the marshy valley and sluggish stream lay before
it. The Thirty-eighth Welsh Division (Cubitt) lay on the right and
Campbell's Twenty-first on the left, each of them with two brigades
in front and one in reserve. The Seventeenth Division (Robertson)
was in support. The problem in front of General Shute's Corps was a
most difficult one. Before it lay this evil watercourse which had
been flooded by the Germans and was 300 yards wide at one part. All
bridges were gone, and the banks were low and boggy. The main stream
was over six feet deep, and its channel could not be distinguished
from the general flood. The whole morass was covered by a tangle of
fallen trees, reeds, and artificial obstructions. To the east of the
river ran high ground, strongly held and fortified, from Tara Hill
above Albert to the Thiepval Height, south of Grandcourt. The west
bank was so overlooked that no one could move unscathed. And yet it
was clear that until this formidable obstacle was surmounted it was
neither possible for Rawlinson to advance from Albert, nor for the
Fourth Corps on the left to assault Miraumont.
The movements of Shute's Corps on August 21 were preliminary to their
real attack. On that date the Twenty-first Division advanced on the
left {83} flank, in close touch with the Forty-second Division of the
Fourth Corps. Beaucourt was taken in the movement. By this
operation the Twenty-first Division reached a point where the flood
was narrower at St. Pierre Divion, and here some bridges could be
constructed and preparations made for the passage.
In the case of Harper's Fourth Corps on the left the advance on
August 21 was limited, since no serious attack could be made upon
Miraumont while the high ground to the south was untaken. At this
date Harper's Corps consisted of five divisions, the Fifth,
Thirty-seventh, Forty-second, Sixty-third, and the New Zealanders.
Of these the Thirty-seventh Division (Williams) was on the left,
covering the flank of the Sixth Corps, while the Forty-second
(Solly-Flood) was on the right. We shall now follow in the first
instance the work of the Fifth Corps on the extreme right from the
beginning of the battle until the pause preceding the attack of
September 18. There are, it is true, objections to continuous
narrative, since it stands in the way of a bird's-eye view of the
whole operation; but on the other hand the object and scope of any
series of advances become unintelligible unless they are linked up
from day to day. We shall therefore take the Fifth Corps as one
story until it reaches the Hindenburg Line. We shall then follow the
work of the other flank corps of Byng's Third Army, which was
Haldane's Sixth Corps, bringing it up to the same point. It will
finally, after we have established two solid bastions, be easy to
deal with the central unit, Harper's Fourth Corps, which filled up
the space between. We shall {84} then have a narrative which will
cover four strenuous weeks in which the Third Army carried out a
notable advance.
[Sidenote: August 22.]
It has been explained that Shute's Fifth Corps found itself with 9000
yards of river in front of it, and that on August 21 the Twenty-first
Division had seized a favourable point for crossing near St. Pierre
Divion. There was no further advance on the morning of the 22nd, but
to the south Rawlinson's left was fighting its way to the eastern
exits of Albert, and the bridges in the town were being got ready for
use. All day a heavy fire was kept up on the German lines east of
the river, and especially upon the rising ground called Usna Hill.
As the day passed small bodies of troops began to cross the Ancre
from the Fifth Corps front and to make a lodgement at the farther
side. South-west of Thiepval part of the 14th Welsh from the 114th
Brigade, wading over breast deep with their rifles and pouches held
high, got into a trench on the farther bank and held their own. The
Twenty-first Division also got some companies across at St. Pierre,
while it beat off several attacks upon the north side of the river.
During the night the 50th Brigade of the Seventeenth Division was
slipped into the line, between Campbell's North Countrymen on the
left and Cubitt's Welshmen on the right. General Shute was now ready
for his great effort in crossing the river.
The first stage in this difficult operation was carried out early on
August 23, when the 113th Welsh Brigade, which had quickly passed
over the Albert bridges, made a sudden attack about dawn on Usna
Hill, at the same time as the Eighteenth Division to the south
attacked Tara Hill. The position was {85} taken with 200 prisoners,
while the 115th Welsh Brigade got up to the chalk-pit, east of
Aveluy, where they joined hands with their comrades on the Usna line.
Thus, before evening of August 23 the Thirty-eighth Division was east
of the river from Albert to Aveluy, while the Twenty-first still held
its bridgeheads at St. Pierre Divion. The slope of the Thiepval
Ridge with all its fortifications still lay in front, and this was
the next objective of the Fifth Corps. It was carried by a night
attack on August 23-24.
[Sidenote: August 23.]
A large portion of the central line was so flooded that no advance
was possible. It was planned, therefore, that the assault should be
on both wings, the area around Authuille being nipped out and cleared
at a later stage. The operation began on the evening of August 23 by
a movement along the northern bank of the river to the south-east of
Miraumont, so as to partly encircle that village and help forward the
Fourth Corps on the left, who were still held up in front of it. The
main Ancre attack was carried out by the 113th Brigade on the right,
who came away with a fine impetus on the eastern slopes of Usna Hill,
capturing La Boiselle and reaching a point 1100 yards west of
Ovillers. The 114th Brigade on the left had with great difficulty
and corresponding valour crossed the Ancre under machine-gun fire and
had established themselves on the slopes, fighting their way forward
all day until they reached a point north-west of Pozières. All
around Thiepval there was close fighting in which this brigade acted
in close liaison with the 50th Brigade. In this struggle many
gallant deeds were done, and it is recorded, among others, how
Lieutenant Griffiths of the Welsh {86} Regiment advanced using his
Lewis gun as if it were a rifle. He is said to have slain sixteen
Germans in this novel fashion before his own wounds brought him
fainting to the ground. According to the plan the two converging
brigades left a large central section untouched, which was promptly
mopped up by the 115th Brigade, so that every man of the
Thirty-eighth Division was engaged in this fine operation.
[Sidenote: August 24.]
Farther to the left the 6th Dorsets of the 50th Brigade, in spite of
gas clouds and machine-guns had crossed the Ancre in its narrowest
reach, where some sort of bridges had been prepared. With great
energy and initiative they cleared up the front trenches and pockets
so as to give room for a deployment, pushing their patrols out
towards Thiepval, but they were driven in again by an attack from the
Schwaben Redoubt. The rest of the 50th Brigade (Gwyn-Thomas) had
followed, most of the infantry wading across in the dark up to their
waists in mud and water. Pushing on, as part of the general advance,
all three battalions of the 50th Brigade went forward, capturing
several hundred prisoners, but deviating so far from their course
that when they thought and reported that they had captured
Courcelette it was really Pozières which they had got. In the early
afternoon Allason's 52nd Brigade was pushed in on the right of the
50th Brigade, connecting them up with the Welshmen. The mistake in
the direction of the 50th Brigade was not an unmixed evil, for while
it left the Twenty-first Division with its right flank exposed and in
considerable difficulty, it made a pocket of a large number of
Germans in front of the Welshmen, 900 of whom were captured. General
{87} Robertson saved the situation on the left by pushing in his
reserve brigade, the 51st (Dudgeon), and so filling the gap between
his division and that of General Campbell.
The latter division, especially the 64th Brigade, which had pushed on
to Miraumont the night before, had some desperate fighting. The
whole brigade was passed in single file over two foot-bridges. At
11.30 P.M. they were assembled upon the south bank and ready to
start. A barrage had been arranged for their attack, but owing to
changes in plan it was not thick or effective. The advance was made
by the 15th Durhams on the right and the 9th Yorkshire Light Infantry
on the left with the 1st East Yorks in support, the column being
guided by means of compass bearing, and by the presence of the Ancre
on the left flank. This nocturnal march in the face of the enemy was
a very remarkable and daring one, for the ground was pitted with
craters and there were two ravines with sheer sides at right angles
to the advance. Touch was kept by shouting, which seems to have
confused rather than informed the enemy, who only fought in patches.
Grandcourt was overrun with 100 prisoners, 20 machine-guns, and 4
field-pieces. Early in the morning General M'Culloch, who had
conducted the operation, was badly wounded and the command passed to
Colonel Holroyd Smith of the Durhams. When full daylight came the
brigade was deeply embedded in the German line, and the enemy closed
in upon it but their attacks were repulsed. The soldiers were
compelled to lie flat, however, in order to escape from the heavy
fire. The 110th Brigade of the same division had advanced on the
right, but it was acting in close liaison {88} with the Seventeenth
Division, and independent of the isolated unit, which was now
completely alone on the hill south of Miraumont, their East Yorkshire
supports being at Grandcourt, and so much out of touch with the
advanced line that the Officer Commanding imagined the stragglers to
be all that was left of the brigade. The first intimation of the
true state of affairs was given by the wounded Brigadier as he passed
on his way to the casualty station. About 10.30 Captain Spicer, the
Brigade Major, got back by crawling, and reported that the advanced
line still held, though weak in numbers. Aeroplane reconnaissance
confirmed the report. All day the valiant band held out until in the
evening the advance of the Forty-second Division on their left, and
of their own comrades of the 110th Brigade on their right, rescued
them from a desperate situation. Their work had been exceedingly
useful, as their presence had partially paralysed the whole German
system of defence. Great credit in this remarkable affair was due
not only to General Campbell and his staff, upon whom the initial
responsibility lay, but to the gallant and inspiring leading of
General M'Culloch and of the battalion leaders, Holroyd Smith and
Greenwood. It was indeed a wonderful feat to advance three miles
over such country upon a pitch-dark night and to reach and hold an
objective which was outflanked on both sides by the successful German
defence. The troops had been heartened up by messages with promises
of speedy succour which were dropped by aeroplanes during the day.
The 62nd Brigade had now pushed in between the 64th on the right and
the Forty-second Division {89} on the left, touching the latter in
the neighbourhood of Pys, so that by the late afternoon of August 24
the whole line was solid and the crossing of the Ancre with the
capture of the ridge were accomplished facts. There have been few
more deft pieces of work in the war. The German fixed line had been
driven back and the remaining operations consisted from this date
onwards in a pursuit rather than an attack. It was a pursuit,
however, where the retreat was always covered by an obstinate
rearguard, so that there was many a stiff fight in front of the Fifth
Corps in the days to come.
Divisions had been instructed that the pursuit was to be continued in
a relentless fashion, and Corps cavalry, drawn from the 8th and 20th
Hussars, were told off to throw out patrols and keep in close touch
with the German rearguard. The immediate objectives of the infantry
were Longueval and Flers for the Welshmen, Gueudecourt for the
Seventeenth, and Beaulencourt for the Twenty-first Division. The
general movement was extraordinarily like the advance in the spring
of 1917, but the British were now more aggressive and the Germans
were less measured and sedate in their dispositions. On August 25
the pressure was sustained along the whole line, and the Germans,
fighting hard with their machine-guns which swept the exposed ridges,
were none the less being pushed eastwards the whole day. The Welsh
took Contalmaison and reached the edge of Mametz Wood, where so many
of their comrades had fallen just two years before. The Seventeenth,
fighting hard, captured Courcelette and Martinpuich. The
Twenty-first got Le Sars and the Butte de Warlencourt, that strange
old tumulus which now marked {90} the joining point with the Fourth
Corps still advancing on the left. At no point was there a battle
and at no point was there peace, but a constant ripple of fire rose
and fell along the thin fluctuating line. It is noted in the diaries
of some of the British Generals as being the first day of purely open
warfare in offensive fighting which their troops had ever experienced.
[Sidenote: August 26.]
On the morning of August 26 the Welsh overran Bazentin-le-Grand, but
the 115th Brigade were held up for a time at the old stumbling-block
High Wood. Later in the day it was taken, however, while the 113th
Brigade got as far as the edge of Longueval, meeting a severe
counter-attack which was rolled back in ruin by rifles and
machine-guns. The Seventeenth Division gained some ground, but both
brigades, the 51st and 52nd, were held up by a withering fire before
reaching Flers. The 64th Brigade on their left met with equal
opposition and could not get forward. Everywhere there were signs of
a strong German rally for the evident purpose of covering the removal
of their guns and stores. It was well maintained and well organised,
so that the object was attained. It became clearer with every day
that an artillery barrage was still a necessity for an infantry
advance.
[Sidenote: August 27.]
On August 27 the advance was continued. Outside the Fifth Corps
boundaries the Fourth Corps on the left was encircling Bapaume and
pushing advanced guards on to Maplecourt and Frémicourt, while
Rawlinson's men on the right were facing Trones Wood and the
Guillemont Ridge. In the early morning, with a moon shining
brightly, the whole front of the Fifth Corps was on fire once more
{91} and rolling eastwards. By 9 A.M. the 113th Brigade were through
Longueval and in touch with the Fourth Army near the Sugar Refinery.
The 114th Brigade attempted to pass north of Delville Wood, but after
some confused fighting were held on the line of the Flers-Longueval
Road. Flers, however, had been taken by the 50th Brigade, though the
Germans made a strong fight of it and at one time reoccupied the
village. Whatever the general morale of the enemy may have been
there was no immediate weakening in the actual fighting power of his
line. The Twenty-first Division made only a moderate advance, but
they got ahead of their neighbours. The 6th Dragoon Guards, who were
now furnishing the patrols, were withdrawn, as it was clear that the
Germans meant to stand.
[Sidenote: August 28.]
On the morning of August 28 they were still in position, and the day
was mainly devoted to reorganising the infantry and bombarding the
German lines, together with all the roads which lay eastwards. Early
next morning the Welsh advanced once more, the 113th Brigade on one
side of Delville Wood and the 114th on the other, with the result
that this sinister graveyard was surrounded and the line carried
definitely to the east of it. Morval still held out, but Lesbœufs
was overrun. There was weakening all along the German line, which
meant no doubt that they had completed the withdrawal of their more
essential impedimenta. Flers and Gueudecourt both fell to the
Seventeenth Division, almost without a battle. The Twenty-first
Division was also able to move forward with no great difficulty as
far as Beaulencourt and the line of the road from that village to
Bapaume. This new line was held {92} with great determination by the
enemy, who were still, as must be admitted, masters of the situation
to the extent that though forced to retire they would still retire in
their own fashion. The Welsh attacking Morval that night found the
place was strongly held and no progress possible.
[Sidenote: August 30.]
August 30 was to show that the German rearguards were by no means
demoralised and were not to be unduly hustled. It is impossible not
to admire the constancy in adversity of Hans and Fritz and Michel,
whatever one may think of the mentality of the Vons who had placed
them in this desperate position. Morval still held its own against
the Welsh, and the Seventeenth Division could not reach the clear
line in front of them which is furnished by the Peronne-Bapaume Road.
Beaulencourt was also retained by the enemy, as the patrols
discovered to their cost. The line was still strong and menacing.
There was inaction on August 31, which was spent in bombardment and
preparation.
[Sidenote: Sept. 1, 1-3.]
At 2 A.M. on September 1 the Twenty-first Division attacked
Beaulencourt and carried it with a rush, and a strong attempt to
regain it after dawn cost the enemy heavy losses. During the morning
the Welshmen on the right flank attacked Morval and were at last
successful in taking this strong position. There was very heavy
fighting all day round Sailly-Sallisel, where the 113th and 115th
Welsh Brigades made repeated efforts to envelop and capture the
village. There were several checks, but the gallant Welshmen stuck
to their task, and before evening the place had fallen and the
general British line was well to the east of it. On the other hand,
the Seventeenth and Twenty-first Divisions {93} had a bad day in
front of Le Transloy and the Sugar Factory, having nothing to show
for considerable losses, the 9th West Ridings being especially hard
hit. None the less the Seventeenth was hard at it again next
morning, for it was imperative to keep up the pressure without any
relaxation. On this day, September 2, the plan was that the 50th and
52nd Brigades should work round on each side of the village while the
artillery kept the defenders from interfering. This attack, though
delayed for some time, eventually succeeded, the 6th Dorsets clearing
up the ruins, while the Twenty-first Division, after several brave
attempts, drove the tenacious German garrison out of the Sugar
Factory. The 10th West Yorkshires, under Colonel Thomas, did
particularly good work in linking up the two divisions. Altogether
it was a very satisfactory morning's work, and the 50th Brigade added
to it in the evening by capturing in a fine attack the village of
Rocquigny, and pushing patrols on into Barastre, which was found to
be empty. On this day, as the Corps front had contracted, the
Twenty-first Division was drawn back into reserve. It may be
remarked that in all these operations Robertson's Seventeenth
Division had the supreme satisfaction of hurling the enemy out of a
long series of villages which they had themselves been forced to
relinquish under the pressure of the great March advance.
[Sidenote: Sept. 3-6.]
It was clear now that the Germans, either of their own will or driven
by the constant pressure, were withdrawing their rearguards, so that
in the early morning of September 3 no touch could be gained by
patrols. By 6 A.M. the British advance guards were well on their
way, streaming forward to the {94} Canal du Nord, from the eastern
bank of which the eternal machine-guns were rapping away once more,
stopping the 50th Brigade in an attempt to make a direct advance.
There were no bridges left, so nothing further could be done that
day, which brought the corps front up to the western bank from
Manancourt to the north-east of Etricourt. On September 4, however,
the crossing was effected without any very great difficulty, and
bridge-heads established by both the divisions in the line.
On September 5 the 114th Brigade attacked the trench system round
Equancourt without success. The 51st Brigade had better luck to the
north of the village and gained a good bit of ground. The 7th
Lincolns were held up with considerable loss in the first advance on
account of some misunderstanding about the starting-point and
insufficient touch with the Forty-second Division on their left. The
7th Borders, a battalion made up of Cumberland and Westmoreland
Yeomanry, carried on the attack and found the village deserted. The
day ended with the right flank of the Fifth Corps in touch with the
Third Corps to the north-west of Nurlu, while the left flank joined
the Fourth Corps north of Vallulart Wood. That night the
Twenty-first Division came back into line, taking the place of the
Welshmen who had done such splendid and strenuous service since
August 22.
[Sidenote: Sept. 6-10.]
September 6 and 7 were occupied in a slow but steady advance which
absorbed Equancourt, Fins, and Sorel-le-Grand. On September 8
matters were less one-sided, as the Twenty-first Division, acting in
close liaison with Rawlinson at Peizières, attacked Vaucelette Farm
and Chapel Crossing. It {95} must have been with peculiar ardour and
joy that General Campbell and his men flung themselves upon the
positions which they had held so heroically upon March 21. Here
after six months were their complete vindication and revenge. The
fighting was carried on into September 9, the Seventeenth Division
joining in on the left in close touch with the New Zealanders of the
Fourth Corps. It was clear that the Germans meant standing if they
could and the struggle was a very hard one, but before evening much
of the ground had reverted to the two divisions which were both, by a
peculiar coincidence, more or less in their old positions. There
were attack and counter-attack, and a good price paid for all that
was gained. There are days when land is cheap and days when it is
the dearest thing upon earth. At the end of this fight the Germans
were in a continuous trench on one side of the ridge and the British
in a corresponding position on the other. It became more and more
clear that the days of pursuit and rearguard actions were over, and
that the whole British front in this quarter was up against a fixed
battle position of the enemy--or at the least against the strong
outposts in front of a fixed battle position. This important fact
regulates the whole situation up to the great attack of September 29.
[Sidenote: Sept. 10-18.]
September 10 and 11 were spent in local encounters in the Chapel
Crossing and Vaucelette Farm district, the Germans striving hard by
these outpost engagements to prevent the British line from getting
within striking distance of the old Hindenburg position, behind which
they hoped to rally their dishevelled forces. The British were
equally eager to break {96} down this screen and get at the solid
proposition behind it. The weather was terrible, rising at one time
to the height of a cyclone, which disarranged serious British
advance, the Fourth Corps on the left attacking the Trescault Spur,
while the Welsh, who had now relieved the Seventeenth Division, were
to go forward on their flank. The Germans clung desperately to their
ground, however, and after a long day of alternate advance and
retreat the British line was where it had been in the morning. A
position called African Trench lay in front of the Welshmen, and it
was not possible to carry it in face of the very severe machine-gun
fire. From this date until September 18 there was no advance and no
change on the front of the Fifth Corps save that Pinney's
Thirty-third Division came in to patch its worn array.
[Sidenote: Sept. 18.]
On September 18 the Fifth Corps attacked once more in conjunction
with Rawlinson's Army on its right, the final objective being the
trench lines south of Villers-Guislain-Gauche Wood. The advance was
made by the Welsh Division opposite to Gouzeaucourt, the Seventeenth
in front of Gauche Wood, and the Twenty-first to the immediate south.
It was preceded by field barrage, heavy barrage, machine barrage,
trench mortar bombardment, and every refinement of artillery practice
as elaborated in this long war. The results of a hard day's fighting
were rather mixed. The Welsh Division was held near Gouzeaucourt and
finished up in its own original line, leaving the left flank of the
52nd Brigade exposed. The two other divisions were able, after hard
fighting, to reach their objectives, including Gauche Wood. {97} The
Twenty-first Division had a particularly trying and yet successful
day, all three brigades being heavily engaged and enduring
considerable losses in capturing the very ground which they had held
on March 21. Their advance was complicated by a mine-field, laid
down by themselves and so well laid that it was still in a very
sensitive condition, while the dug-outs had been so undisturbed that
the 1st Lincolns actually found their own orderly papers upon the
table. In the fighting the 62nd Brigade led the way with complete
success, and it was not until the 64th and the 110th Brigades passed
through it and began to debouch over the old No Man's Land that the
losses became serious, Epéhy and Peizières being thorns in their
flesh. Colonel Holroyd Smith of the 15th Durhams was killed, but the
64th Brigade made good its full objective, the 1st East Yorks
capturing a German howitzer battery, together with the horses which
had just been hooked in. At one time the Germans got round the left
flank of the Division and the situation was awkward, but Colonel
Walsh of the 9th Yorks Light Infantry, with his H.Q. Staff, made a
dashing little attack on his own, and drove the enemy back, receiving
a wound in the exploit. The Twenty-first Division, save on the
right, had all its objectives. The left of the Third Corps had not
prospered equally well, so that a defensive line had to be built up
by Campbell in the south, while Robertson did the same in the north,
the whole new position forming a marked salient. Two efforts of the
enemy to regain the ground were beaten back. The southern divisions
had been much troubled by flanking fire from Gouzeaucourt, so an
effort was made that night to get possession of this place, the {98}
6th Dorsets and 10th West Yorkshires of the 50th Brigade suffering in
the attempt. This attack was led by General Sanders, who had
succeeded Gwyn, Thomas as Brigadier of the 50th, but he was himself
killed by a shell on September 20. Some 2000 prisoners and 15
field-guns were the trophies taken in this operation by the Fifth
Corps. Gouzeaucourt was shortly afterwards evacuated, but there was
no other change on the front until the great battle which shattered
the Hindenburg Line and really decided the war. All of this
fighting, and especially that on September 18, has to be read in
conjunction with that already narrated in the story of the Fourth
Army on the right.
Having brought Shute's Fifth Corps up to the eve of the big
engagement we shall now ask the reader to cast his mind back to
August 21, the first day of General Byng's advance, and to follow
Haldane's Sixth Corps on the northern flank of the Army during these
same momentous and strenuous weeks. It will then be more easy to
trace the operations of Harper's Fourth Corps, which was intermediate
between Shute and Haldane.
[Sidenote: August 21.]
Haldane's Sixth Corps, like its comrades of the Third Army, had gone
through the arduous days of March and had many a score to pay back to
the Germans. It was a purely British Corps, consisting upon the
first day of battle of five fine divisions, the Second (Pereira),
Third (Deverell), Sixty-second (Braithwaite), Fifty-ninth (Whigham),
and the Guards. With four Regular units out of five, Haldane's Sixth
Corps might have been the wraith of the grand old Mons army come back
to judgment. The First Cavalry Division, also reminiscent of Mons,
{99} was in close support, ready to take advantage of any opening.
The first advance in the early morning was made by the 99th Brigade
of the Second Division on the south, and the 2nd Guards Brigade on
the north, the latter being directed upon the village of
Moyenneville, while the 99th Brigade was to carry Moyblain Trench,
the main German outpost position, 1000 yards in front of the line.
The right of the line was formed by the 1st Berks and the left by the
23rd Royal Fusiliers, the latter having a most unpleasant start, as
they were gas-shelled in their assembly places and had to wear their
masks for several hours before zero time. Any one who has worn one
of these contrivances for five consecutive minutes will have some
idea what is meant by such an ordeal, and how far it prepares a man
for going into battle. Only a very expert man can keep the goggles
clean, and one is simultaneously gagged, blinded, and half smothered,
with a horrible death awaiting any attempt at amelioration.
At five o'clock nine tanks moved forward behind a crashing stationary
barrage, and the infantry followed eagerly through a weak German
fire. In spite of all precautions the Fusiliers had lost 400 men
from gas, but otherwise the casualties were very small. It may be
remarked that many of these serious gas cases occurred from the reek
of the gas out of the long grass when the sun dried the dew, showing
how subtle and dangerous a weapon is this distillation of mustard.
Some small consolation could be gained by the British soldier
suffering from these hellish devices, by the knowledge that our
chemists, driven to retaliate, had in mustard gas, as in every other
{100} poison, produced a stronger brew than the original inventor.
Well might the German garrison of Lens declare that they wished they
could have dropped that original inventor into one of his own retorts.
The advance of the Guards kept pace on the left with that of the
Second Division. The 2nd Brigade went forward with Moyenneville for
its immediate objective. The 1st Coldstream in the north were to
carry the village, while the 1st Scots were to assemble in the low
ground north of Ayette, and to carry the attack to the
Ablainzeville-Moyenneville Ridge. The 3rd Grenadiers were then to
pass through the Scots and to capture the line of the railway. The
opening of the attack was much the same as in the case of the troops
on the right, save that no difficulty was experienced from gas.
There were few losses in the two leading battalions, which took many
prisoners, and it was only the 3rd Grenadiers who, as they neared the
railway, met a good deal of machine-gun fire, but pushed on in spite
of it and made good the line of their objective.
In the meantime the 9th Brigade of the Third Division had moved
through the ranks of the 99th Brigade, and had carried on the advance
in the southern area. They advanced with the 1st Northumberland
Fusiliers on the right and 4th Royal Fusiliers behind them. The
latter had the misfortune to lose Colonel Hartley and 50 men from a
shell-burst while moving into position. The left front of the
brigade was formed by the 13th King's Liverpools. The whole line
advancing in open order passed on without a check, save from mist
which caused loss of direction and constant reference to the compass.
Over a series of trenches the line {101} plodded its way, clearing up
occasional machine-guns and their crews. By 9.15 they were on the
railway embankment.
The 8th Brigade (Fisher) of the Third Division had also advanced on
the left of the 9th, keeping pace with it so far as the fog would
allow. The 7th Shropshires were on the left, in touch with the
Guards. The 1st Scots Fusiliers were on the right and the 2nd Royal
Scots in support. The attack was directed upon Courcelles, which was
carried by the Scots Fusiliers and mopped up by the 8th Royal
Lancasters. From the village a sharp slope leads down to the railway
line and here the opposition was very strong, the ground being
closely swept by rifle and machine-gun fire. Behind two tanks the
leading battalions rushed forward and the railway was rushed, with
200 prisoners. The position was organised, and touch established
with the Guards on the left and with the 9th Brigade on the right.
The 9th Brigade found it difficult, however, to get touch with the
Sixty-third Naval Division on their right, that unit having
experienced considerable difficulties and losses. The 76th Brigade,
the remaining unit of the Third Division, had the 2nd Suffolks and
1st Gordons close up to the line, and all of these battalions were
much mixed up owing to the persistent fog.
A very determined pocket of German infantry and machine-gunners had
remained in front of the left flank of the Sixty-third Division,
formed by the 188th Brigade. These men were now on the right rear of
the 9th Brigade, but the situation was obscure and nothing was
certain save that the British line was not yet continuous and solid.
In spite of a {102} concentration of artillery the Germans were still
holding out next morning, being the only hostile units to the west of
the railway line on the Sixth Corps sector.
An attempt had been made to get forward to Achiet-le-Grand, in which
part of the Sixty-third Division on the right and two companies of
the Gordons participated. The Ansons and the Gordons both lost
considerably in this attack and were unable to reach the village,
though they advanced the line by 500 yards. Lack of artillery
support, while the enemy guns were numerous and active, was the cause
of the check.
The night of August 21 was quiet on most parts of this new front of
the Third Army, but at early dawn a counter-attack developed before
the Sixty-third Division and before the 8th Brigade. An S.O.S.
barrage was called for and promptly given in each case, which
entirely extinguished the attack upon the Sixty-third. On the 8th
Brigade front some of the German infantry got as far forward as the
railway line but were quickly hurled back again by bombs and the
bayonet. At 7.45 A.M. the enemy again made a rush and occupied one
post of the railway, from which, as well as from the posts on the
right of the 9th Brigade where the railway line was not yet in
British hands, he enfiladed the front defences during the day,
causing many casualties, until in the evening the post was retaken by
the 1st Northumberland Fusiliers. Among the gas cases sent to the
rear this day, though his injuries had been incurred during the
assembly, was General Fisher of the 8th Brigade.
[Sidenote: August 22, 23.]
The Guards in the north had also encountered the attack of the early
morning of August 22, which {103} seems to have been general along
the line, though at no part very vigorous. This particular section
of it was delivered near Hamelincourt by the Fortieth Saxon Division,
who suffered terribly in the venture. The rest of the day was
comparatively quiet and was spent in arranging the attack for the
morrow. This attack was planned with the idea of outflanking the
German position at Achiet-le-Grand, which had shown itself to be
dangerously strong. It was determined to outflank it both upon the
north and the south. With this intention the Third Division was to
capture Gomiecourt during the night of August 22. Farther north two
fresh divisions, the famous Fifty-sixth London Territorials, and the
Fifty-second from Palestine, were ordered to prolong the line of the
Guards, all under General Haldane, and to capture Hamelincourt,
Boyelles, and Boiry Becquerelle, with as much more as they could get,
on the early morning of August 23. On the front of the Fourth Corps
on the right the advance was entrusted to the Thirty-seventh Division
and to the Forty-second Division on the bank of the Ancre.
The attack upon Gomiecourt, which was to be the prelude of the day's
work, since all advance to the south was impossible while that
village was in German hands, was carried out by the well-tried 76th
Brigade, the 8th Royal Lancasters and 2nd Suffolks in the front line,
with the 1st Gordons in close support. Tanks were to lead the van,
but they were unable to get across the railway embankment in time.
The assault, which began at 4 in the morning, was preceded by a short
crashing bombardment of heavy shells upon the doomed village. It had
hardly ceased before the Suffolks and Lancasters were swarming {104}
down the street, and the place was secured with little loss. Whilst
this brisk and successful affair was going on, the 13th King's
Liverpools of the 9th Brigade on the right made an advance to keep
the line level, taking some prisoners and three guns. This was the
more important as the weak point of the situation had always been to
the south and most of the damage sustained was by enfilade fire from
this direction.
The 8th Brigade, now under the command of Colonel Henderson, kept
pace with the 76th Brigade in their advance, occupying the ground
north of Gomiecourt. The 2nd Royal Scots and 7th Shropshires were in
the lead. There was very heavy fire and the losses were
considerable, but the machine-gun nests were rooted out with the
bayonet, and the full objective was attained. Farther north the
attack was carried on by the 3rd Grenadier Guards and the 1st Scots.
These were successful in taking the village of Hamelincourt and the
trench system south of it, while keeping in touch with the
Fifty-sixth Division to the north of them. The 1st Coldstream was
then pushed through and crossed the Arras-Bapaume Road, gaining a
position eventually from which they looked south upon Ervillers.
Farther north still both the Fifty-sixth and the Fifty-second
Divisions had joined in the advance, moving forward to the line of
the great high road which runs from north to south. Bridges had been
thrown over the Cojeul River by the sappers of the Fifty-ninth
Division, who had held this front--the workers having to wear gas
masks during their labours. To the 470th Field Company R.E. belongs
the credit of this most difficult job, under the direction of Colonel
{105} Coussmaker. Over these bridges passed the Fifty-second
Division, while south of them the attack was urged by the 168th
Brigade of the Fifty-sixth Division, with several villages for their
objective. The 13th London (Kensingtons) were on the right, the 4th
London in the centre, and the 14th London (London Scottish) on the
left. The advance went without a hitch, save that touch was lost
with the Guards on the right. This was regained again in the
evening, however, when the Brigade found itself to the north of
Croisilles and close to the old Hindenburg Line. The Fifty-second
Division had also reached the line where it runs across the Sensée
valley.
The main advance in front of Haldane's Corps had been entrusted to
the Second Division, who advanced through the ranks of the Third
Division after the capture of Gomiecourt. This advance was on a
three-brigade front. On the right was the 99th Brigade, in touch
with the 63rd Brigade of the Thirty-seventh Division to the south of
them. This Brigade was told off to keep the flank, but it captured
500 prisoners in the process. On the left was the 6th Brigade, which
had been ordered, with the help of eight whippets, to attack
Ervillers. In the centre the 5th Brigade with ten whippets was to
carry Behagnies and Sapignies. This considerable attack was timed
for 11 o'clock.
Gomiecourt having fallen, the 5th Brigade used it as a screen,
passing round to the north of it and then turning south to Behagnies.
The 2nd Highland Light Infantry headed for that village, while the
24th Royal Fusiliers advanced to the storm of Sapignies. The 2nd
Oxford and Bucks were in reserve. {106} The ten light tanks which
led the attack had a series of adventures. Three were knocked out by
a gun on the railway. The other seven under heavy gun-fire swerved
to the right, got out of the divisional area, and on the principle
that any fight is better than no fight, joined with the
Thirty-seventh Division in their attack upon Achiet-le-Grand, where
they did good service. In the meantime, the tankless 5th Brigade
moved round Gomiecourt, coming under very heavy fire on their left
flank. Colonel Brodie, a most gallant V.C. officer of the Highland
Light Infantry, was killed, and Colonel Cross of the Oxfords wounded,
by this fire. The day was very hot, the men exhausted, and the
losses severe. The new position was organised, therefore, and the
advance suspended for the present.
[Sidenote: August 23.]
The 6th Brigade had advanced on the left of the 5th, heading for
Ervillers, with the 1st King's Liverpools and the 2nd South Staffords
in the lead. The front waves, assisted by light tanks, rapidly broke
down all opposition, and Ervillers was taken about 2 P.M. All
movement beyond the village was checked by very heavy fire from the
high ground to the north-east, so that Mory Copse, the next
objective, was found to be unattainable. The object of the British
Commanders was never to pay more for a position than it was worth, or
buy a machine-gun at the cost of half a battalion. On the other
hand, papers captured during the day showed beyond all doubt that the
object of the Germans was to make an orderly retreat as far as the
Hindenburg Line, so that it was clearly the game to hustle and bustle
them without cessation.
[Sidenote: August 24.]
August the 24th was a heavy day in the Sixth {107} Corps, who were
ordered to push on and gain ground to the utmost extent along the
whole front. In order to strengthen the movement, the Canadian Corps
had been very quietly and deftly removed from the right wing of
Rawlinson's Army and transferred to the left wing of Byng's Army, in
touch with the Fifty-second Division.
It will be remembered that the Second Division, though they had taken
Ervillers, had been pinned down there by German fire, while they had
failed to take Behagnies or Sapignies. Both these movements were now
resumed. In the night of August 23-24 the 1st King's Liverpools
advanced from Ervillers upon Mory, but were held up by very heavy
fire. The 3rd Guards Brigade on the north was advancing successfully
upon St. Leger and this had the effect of outflanking the Mory
position on that side. St. Leger was taken by the 2nd Scots Guards
and the 1st Welsh, who cleared it in the course of the afternoon.
They could get no farther, however, until the Second Division had
completed its task at Mory. This was now in the hands of the 99th
Brigade, who, headed by the 1st Berkshires, with the 1st Royal Rifles
behind them, and a spearhead of tanks in front, broke down all
opposition and captured Mory Copse, a very formidable position full
of emplacements and dug-outs. By this success the threat was removed
from the right of the Guards, and all was clear for their further
advance upon Ecoust.
[Sidenote: August 25.]
The Sixty-second Yorkshire Division had now moved up to relieve the
Second Division, but the latter were determined before their
withdrawal to complete their unfinished tasks. In the early morning
of August 25 the attacks upon the two obdurate villages {108} were
resumed, after a very heavy bombardment. The new venture was
splendidly successful. The 2nd Highland Light Infantry and the 24th
Royal Fusiliers rushed into Behagnies while it was still dark and
cleared out the whole village. This enabled the force to get to the
rear of Sapignies, which was stormed by the 2nd Oxfords--a battalion
with such proud traditions that even now in semi-official documents
it is still the 52nd Light Infantry. 300 prisoners and 150
machine-guns were taken in the village, a proportion which
illustrates how far machines were taking the places of men in the
depleted German Army. Having gloriously tidied up its front the
Second Division now stood out while the Sixty-second took its place.
It will be remembered that the Fifty-second and Fifty-sixth Divisions
had fought their way to the Hindenburg Line on August 23. This was
too formidable an obstacle to be taken in their stride, and the most
that could be hoped was that they should get into a good position for
the eventual attack. The Fifty-second Division had shown the metal
of the Palestine Army by a very fine advance which made them masters
of Henin. On their right was the 167th Brigade, with the 1st London
and the 7th and 8th Middlesex in the line. These troops pushed right
into the outskirts of Croisilles, but it was clear that new German
divisions were in the line, and that the resistance had very much
hardened. The Londoners were unable to hold the village, and the
Fifty-second Division was also held up on Henin Hill by very strong
fire. Matters seemed to have come to a stand in that quarter.
Early on the morning of the 25th the Guards 3rd {109} Brigade and the
186th and the 187th Brigades of the Sixty-second Division made a
resolute advance to clear their front and get nearer to that terrible
paling which was meant to enclose the German domain. It was a day of
very hard fighting for all three brigades, and they had ample
evidence that the German line had indeed been powerfully reinforced,
and had no intention of allowing General Byng to establish himself in
the very shadow of their fortifications if they could hold him off.
The opening was inauspicious, for by some mistake there was an error
of half an hour in starting-time between the two divisions. As a
result the Guards found themselves on the line of road between Mory
and St. Leger with an open flank and under heavy enfilade fire, which
made many gaps in the ranks of the 1st Grenadiers. At the same time
the leading tanks were put out of action on that flank. In the
centre the tanks lost their way in the mist, but the 2nd Scots Guards
pushed ahead in spite of it. Banks Trench, however, in front of them
was very strongly held and the assault was not pressed. On the left
the 1st Welsh were in St. Leger Wood, but Croisilles was still
untaken and the advance could not be carried forward as the
machine-guns from this village swept the country. About 9 A.M. the
enemy buzzed out of the Hindenburg Line and fell upon the Scots
Guards, but were shot back again into their cover. During these
operations the Guards captured a battery of field-guns.
The Sixty-second West Yorkshire Territorials on the right of the
Guards had an equally arduous day. They had found the same
difficulties in getting forward, but at 5 P.M. the enemy had the
indiscretion to counter-attack, and when once he masks his own {110}
machine-guns he has ceased to be formidable. His attack was near
Mory Copse and aimed at the junction between the two divisions, but
it was heavily punished and shredded away to nothing. About 7 P.M.
he tried another advance upon the right of the Sixty-second Division
and won his way up to the line, but was thrown out again by the 5th
West Ridings and driven eastward once more. The 186th Brigade,
forming the right of the division, co-operated with the Fourth Corps
in their attack upon Favreuil, which place was captured.
On the evening of August 25 Haldane's Sixth Corps, which had become
somewhat unwieldy in size, was limited to the north on a line just
south of Croisilles, so that the Fifty-second, Fifty-sixth, and
Fifty-seventh Divisions all became Fergusson's Seventeenth Corps,
which was thus thrust between the Sixth Corps and the Canadians, who
had not yet made their presence felt upon this new battle-ground.
The Seventeenth Corps was now the left of the Third Army, and the
Canadians were the right of the First Army. The immediate task of
both the Sixth and Seventeenth Corps was the hemming in and capture
of Croisilles, and the reoccupation of the old army front line.
August 26 was a quiet day on this front, but on August 27 the Guards
and the Sixty-second Division were ordered forward once more, the
former to attack Ecoust and Longatte, the other to storm
Vaulx-Vraucourt. The First German Division encountered was easily
driven in. The second, however, the Thirty-sixth, was made in a
sterner mould and was supported by a strong artillery, large and
small. The 2nd Grenadiers and 2nd Coldstream in the front line of
the Guards {111} 1st Brigade got forward for nearly a mile on each
flank, but were held up by a withering fire in the centre, so that
the flanks had eventually to come back. The Fifty-sixth Division of
the Seventeenth Corps had not yet captured Croisilles, from which a
counter-attack was made upon the left flank of the 2nd Coldstream,
which was handsomely repulsed.
On the whole, however, it had been an unsatisfactory day and the
Sixty-second had been equally unable to get forward, so that none of
the objectives had been gained. The Seventeenth Corps and the
Canadians in the north were both advancing, however, and it was
possible that the position in the south might alter as a consequence.
Such was indeed found to be the case on August 28, for the
Fifty-sixth Division was able this day to get possession of
Croisilles, which eased the situation to the south. The Guards and
the Sixty-second pushed forwards, following always the line of least
resistance, so that by evening they were 1200 yards forward at some
points, though the right of the Sixty-second Division was still
pinned to its ground. That evening the Third Division replaced the
Guards, and the same tactics were pursued on the following day. The
76th Brigade was now in the front line to the south of Croisilles,
with the hard-worked Sixty-second Division still on their right. A
sugar factory was the chief impediment in front of the latter. The
right of the division got forward during the day and occupied the old
army trenches.
[Sidenote: August 30.]
August 30 was once again a day of heavy fighting, the Seventeenth and
Sixth Corps, represented by the Fifty-sixth, Third, and Sixty-second
Divisions, closing in upon the Hindenburg Line and {112} attacking
the last villages which covered its front. The tanks had miscarried,
and the infantry at 5 A.M. had to go forward alone. On the right the
185th and 186th Brigades of the Sixty-second Division both made good
progress, the obnoxious sugar factory was taken, and though Vaulx
could not be cleared it was partly occupied. Next day saw the dour
Yorkshiremen still sticking to their point, and fighting with varying
success in and out of the village. At times they had flooded through
it, and yet again they were beaten back. By the morning of September
1 the 186th Brigade had possession of Vaulx-Vraucourt and were on the
high ground to the east of the village. Next morning they had Vaux
Trench as well, but about ten o'clock in the forenoon of September 2
a strong counter sent them reeling back in some disorder. Gathering
themselves together in grim North Country fashion they went forward
again and cleared Vaulx Wood before evening. That night, after a
very desperate and costly term of service, the Sixty-second was
relieved by the Second Division.
The experiences of the Third Division from the August 30 attack were
as arduous as those already described. On that morning the 76th
Brigade, with the Suffolks and Gordons in the lead, got forward well
at the first, though they lost touch with the Londoners to the north.
The Suffolks were on that side and the gap enabled the Germans to get
round to their left rear with disastrous results, as the losses were
heavy and the battalion had to fall back. The Gordons had to adjust
their line accordingly. This rebuff had lost most of the ground
which had been gained early in the day. General Deverell now {113}
sent up the 9th Brigade, as the 76th was much worn, but the 1st
Gordons remained in the fight.
[Sidenote: August 31.]
On August 31 the 9th Brigade attacked the Vraucourt position, with
the 1st Gordons, battle-weary but still indomitable, on the right,
the 4th Royal Fusiliers in the centre, and the 13th King's Liverpools
on the left. It was known that no less than three new German
divisions had been thrown in, and however the fighting might turn it
was certain that the attrition was going merrily forward. The
assembly was unfortunately much disturbed by the German barrage,
which fell with particular severity upon the Fusiliers in the centre.
At 5.15 A.M. the line moved forward, but again the luck was against
the Fusiliers, who were opposed by a particularly dangerous
machine-gun nest in a sunken road. One company endeavoured to rush
it, but all the officers save one, and most of the men, were mown
down. A tank which endeavoured to help them met with a strange fate,
as a German officer managed, very gallantly, to get upon the top of
it, and firing through the ventilation hole with his revolver, put
the whole crew out of action--a feat for which in the British service
he would certainly have had his V.C.
The Fusiliers were hung up, but the King's on the left had carried
the village of Ecoust, getting in touch with the right of the
Fifty-sixth Division in Bullecourt Avenue. Many hundreds of the
enemy were taken, but some pockets still remained on the southern
edge of the village, and fired into the flank of the unfortunate
Fusiliers. The King's then attempted during the long day to throw
out their right flank and get in touch with the left of the Gordons
so as to obliterate the sunken road, which {114} was the centre of
the mischief. The ground was absolutely open, however, and the fire
commanded it completely. Under these circumstances Colonel Herbert
of the 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, which was in reserve, suggested
that the attack be postponed until dusk. This was done, and at 8
P.M. Herbert's men overran the sunken road, capturing the guns.
Ecoust was also completely cleared of the enemy. So ended this day
of vicissitudes in which the 9th Brigade, with heavy loss, had
struggled through many difficulties and won their victory at the
last. A further advance during the night by both the 9th and the
76th Brigades straightened the whole line from Ecoust to the south.
[Sidenote: Sept. 1.]
On the morning of September 1 the Fifty-second Division had relieved
the Fifty-sixth Division, both of the Seventeenth Corps, in the
Croisilles sector, and was in close touch with the Third Division to
the south. Both divisions went forward with no great difficulty at
the appointed hour, the three battalions of the 9th Brigade being all
in the line once more. The important trench known as Noreuil Switch
was captured in this advance. It may well seem to the reader that
the gains were tardily and heavily bought at this stage of the
operations, but it is to be always borne in mind that Fergusson and
Haldane in particular were up against the old intricate trench
system, and away from that open fighting which can alone give large
results. To others there was always some way round, but here there
was an unbroken obstacle which must be frontally attacked and broken
down by pure persistence. In these operations the new machine-gun
organisation proved to be particularly efficient, and B Company of
the {115} 3rd Battalion Machine-Gun Corps did essential work in
winning the way for the 9th Brigade. The whole battle was a long
steady contest of endurance, in which the Germans were eventually
worn out by the persistence of their opponents.
[Sidenote: Sept. 2.]
The advance was renewed along this area on September 2, the object of
the Fifty-second Division being to encircle Quéant from the south and
west, while that of the Third and Sixty-second Divisions was to gain
the east of Lagnicourt and the high ground east of Morchies. The
fortunes of the Sixty-second Division have already been briefly
described. On the front of the Third Division the 8th Brigade,
strengthened by one battalion from each of the other brigades, took
up the heavy task, the 7th Shropshires, 2nd Royal Scots, and 1st
Scots Fusiliers forming from right to left the actual line of battle.
The last-named battalion by a happy chance joined up on the left with
its own 5th Battalion in the Fifty-second Division. They assembled
under heavy shelling, some of which necessitated the use of
box-respirators. No sooner had the advance begun than the Shropshire
men came under machine-gun fire and lost the three tanks which led
them. They had gained some ground, but were first brought to a halt
and then compelled to retire. In the centre the Royal Scots took
Noreuil, which was found to be lightly held. In attempting to get on
to the east of this village they found the trenches strongly manned
and the fire, both of rifles and machine-guns, so murderous that it
was impossible to get forward. The Scots Fusiliers were also faced
with strong resistance, including a belt of wire. Three company and
eight platoon commanders were down before this obstacle {116} and the
sunken road behind it were crossed. Without the aid of tanks the
depleted battalion moved on under very heavy fire, and eventually
halted in a line with the Royal Scots on their right. To the right
of these, as already shown, the Sixty-second Division had also been
brought to a stand. A formidable trench, called in the old British
days Macaulay Avenue, barred the way and had only been reached by a
few of the assailants. It is a fact, however, that Lieutenant R. R.
MacGregor of the Scots Fusiliers with five men did force their way in
upon this morning, and tenaciously held on to their position until
after dark, forming just that little nucleus of determined men by
whom great battles are so often won.
There was a momentary check, but it was retrieved by Captain Nagle's
company of the 2nd Suffolks, who charged with two companies of the
Royal Scots and won a section of the trench. The utmost difficulty
was experienced by the Brigadier in keeping in touch with the action,
as the ground was so exposed that nearly every runner sent back from
the front line was killed or wounded. Colonel Henderson came
forward, therefore, about three o'clock and reorganised his
dispositions, with the result that before evening the line had been
straightened and advanced, with the capture of many prisoners and
machine-guns. Meanwhile Quéant to the north had been captured by the
Fifty-second Division, and the whole German system of defence was
weakening and crumbling, the Seventeenth Corps strongly co-operating
with the Canadians upon their left. The enemy's purpose during all
this very hard contest was to sacrifice his rearguards if necessary,
in order to cover {117} the retreat of his main body across the Canal
du Nord. There were few more difficult problems in local fighting
during the whole war than how to carry these successive positions,
bravely held and bristling with machine-guns. That it was finally
done was a great achievement upon the part both of those who
commanded and those who obeyed. Colonel Vickery's guns, covering the
infantry, had much to do with the final success. How great that
success was could only be judged upon the following morning when the
new divisions which had taken over the front, the Guards on the left
and the Second on the right, found that all the kick had been taken
out of the Germans, and that a substantial advance could be made with
little loss.
Neither the Guards nor the Third Division encountered serious
opposition upon September 3, and a steady, if cautious, forward
movement went on all day. The Seventeenth Corps upon the left had
turned south in order to clear Mœuvres and Tadpole Copse. By
midday the Second Division had cleared both Hermies and Demicourt.
Before evening the 2nd Guards Brigade was in the old British front
line, which was held during the night. The Canal du Nord was just
ahead, and it was realised that this would mark what the Germans
intended to make their permanent line. It was all-important to push
the rearguard across it and to get any bridges with their eastern
exits, if it were in any way possible.
[Sidenote: Sept. 4-12.]
The advance on September 4 was resumed in the face of some sporadic
opposition, but by the evening of the 6th the enemy was all across
the Canal, and the Sixth Corps was awaiting developments elsewhere.
On September 11 steps were {118} taken, however, to get into striking
position for the final fracture of the Hindenburg Line, in view of
which it was necessary to gain the Hindenburg front system west of
the Canal. On September 12 the main attack was delivered, though on
September 11 the Second Division had secured the western ends of the
Canal crossings. The centre of the new operation was the attack upon
Havrincourt by Braithwaite's Sixty-second Division. This operation
was carried out by the 186th and 187th Brigades, the pioneer
battalion, 9th Durham Light Infantry, being attached to the former,
while eight brigades of field-guns and three groups of heavies lent
their formidable assistance. The right of the Sixty-second was in
close touch with the Thirty-seventh Division, which was attacking
Trescault. The advance of both brigades was uninterrupted, though
strongly opposed. The 2/4th Hants and 5th West Ridings on the right,
and the 2/4th York and Lancasters with the 5th Yorkshire Light
Infantry on the left, trampled down all opposition. The individual
is almost lost to sight in the scale of such operations, but a
sentence must be devoted to Sergeant Calvert of the last-named
battalion, who attacked two machine-guns, bayoneted four and shot
three of the crews, taking the rest prisoners. At 7.30, the western
edge of the village of Havrincourt had fallen, but the fortified
château on the south, in the area of the 186th Brigade, still held
its own. It was attacked by the 2/4th West Riding Battalion, who had
a most difficult task in the tangled gardens which surrounded the
house. At the same time the 2/4th Hants pushed into the village and
fought their way right through it. They had to sustain a heavy
counter-attack delivered about {119} 7 in the evening by the
Twentieth Hanoverian Division, supported by a flight of low-flying
aeroplanes. This attack was broken up with great loss by the steady
fire of the men of Hampshire and Yorkshire.
[Sidenote: Sept. 13-14.]
In the early morning of September 13 the village was strongly
attacked by the enemy, who effected a lodgment in the cemetery and
pushed back the British line for 200 yards. A fine return was made
by the 5th Devons of the 185th Brigade, who cleared the village once
again. Two of the divisional machine-guns held out close to the
posts occupied by the Germans--so close that the sergeant in charge
shot the battalion leader of the enemy with his revolver. From this
time the Sixty-second were left in possession of Havrincourt, which
they had thus won for the second time, since it was carried by them
in the Cambrai battle of November 20, 1917. General Braithwaite, who
was the victor upon each occasion, remarked that if his men had to
take it a third time they should, on the cup-tie principle, be
allowed to keep it for ever.
[Sidenote: Sept. 14-27.]
Meanwhile the Second Division on the left had made its way slowly but
without any serious check as far as London Trench, which brought them
nearly level with the Sixty-second, while the Thirty-seventh in the
south had captured Trescault and were also well up to the Hindenburg
Line. There was no further serious fighting for several days on this
front save that the 185th Brigade advanced its line to Triangle Wood
on the morning of September 14. This attack was carried out by the
2/20th Londons and was completely successful, as was their subsequent
defence against a brisk counter-attack. On September 16 the
Sixty-second Division was {120} relieved by the Third, and the Second
Division by the Guards. There was no further fighting until
September 18, that general day of battle, when a very severe German
attack was made about 6 o'clock in the evening, which covered the
whole front of the Third Division and involved the left of the
Thirty-seventh Division in the area of the Fourth Corps. After a
heavy bombardment there was a determined advance of infantry, having
the recapture of Havrincourt for its objective. A number of
low-flying aeroplanes helped the German infantry. The attack fell
chiefly upon the 1st Scots Fusiliers and 2nd Royal Scots, and some
gain was effected by a rush of bombers aided by flame-throwers, but
they were finally held and eventually driven back, while 100
prisoners were retained. C Company of the Royal Scots particularly
distinguished itself in this action, forming a solid nucleus of
resistance round which the whole defence was organised. Nothing
further of importance occurred until September 27, the day of the
general advance, in this northern portion of the British line.
[Sidenote: August 21.]
In order to complete this account of the doings of Byng's Third Army
from August 21 onwards, some account must now be given of what was
originally the central unit, Harper's Fourth Corps, though its
general progress has already been roughly defined by the detailed
description of the two Corps on its flanks.
The first task set for this Corps on August 21 was to capture the
general line between Irles in the south and Bihucourt in the north,
while the flank of this main attack was to be guarded by a subsidiary
advance along the valley of the Ancre, and between Puisieux and
Miraumont. The first objective of the {121} main attack was Bucquoy,
Ablainzeville, and the important high ground to the immediate east of
these villages.
The advance commenced in a thick mist, and was undertaken in the case
of the main attack by Williams' Thirty-seventh English Division. It
was completely successful, and aided by the fire of six heavy and
fifteen field brigades of artillery, it swept over its first
objectives, the tanks helping materially to break down the
opposition. The moral effect of a tank in a fog can be pictured by
the least imaginative. Two field-guns and many lighter pieces were
taken. The veteran Fifth Division on the right and the Sixty-third
Naval Division on the left then passed through the ranks of the
Thirty-seventh to enlarge the opening that they had made, carrying
the advance on to the limit of the field artillery barrage, and
halting at last just west of Achiet-le-Petit. The naval men met with
a blaze of machine-gun fire from the edge of Logeast Wood, but they
rooted out the nests and occupied the position, though the passage
through the tangled brushwood and trees disorganised the units, and
progress became slow. The railway line ran right across the front,
and this, as usual, had become a formidable and continuous obstacle,
which could not be turned. The reserve brigade of the Fifth Division
on the right carried Achiet-le-Petit, but could not get over the
railway. The Sixty-third was also unable to reach the railway, and
found a considerable concentration of Germans opposite to them in the
brickworks and cemetery west of Achiet-le-Grand. The tanks had
wandered off in the mist, and for the moment the advance had reached
its limit. Many of the tanks, as the mist lifted, were hit {122} by
the anti-tank guns of the enemy, though some most gallantly crossed
the railway line and penetrated the German positions, doing such harm
as they could, until they were eventually destroyed.
Meanwhile, the subsidiary attack on the right flank had also been
successful up to a point. The New Zealanders on the immediate south
of the Fifth Division had gone forward in their usual workman-like
fashion, and had taken Puisieux. Upon their right, and next to the
Fifth Corps who were beginning their arduous crossing of the Ancre,
was the Forty-second Division (Solly-Flood), an ex-Palestine unit of
Lancashire Territorials which had won laurels in the March fighting.
It had come away with a flying start, and had got as far as the
important point named Beauregard Dovecote. There it remained until
the early morning of August 22, when the enemy regained it by a
spirited attack from a new division. The total effect of the day's
work along the whole front of the Fourth Corps had been the capture
of 1400 prisoners, of a number of guns, and of an extent of ground
which was important, though less than had been hoped for. The main
resistance had always been the railway, and the German guns behind
it, so that to that extent his line was really inviolate. Indeed
from his point of view the whole work of the Third Army on that date
might be represented as an attack upon a false front, the real
position remaining intact.
[Sidenote: August 22.]
The enemy was by no means abashed, and early in the morning of August
22 he showed that he did not propose to surrender the field until he
had fought to regain it. At dawn the Fifty-second German Division
deployed through Miraumont and fell upon the left of the Fifth
Division in one direction, and {123} the Forty-second in the other.
As already stated they succeeded in driving back the latter, and
Beauregard Dovecote remained as a prize of victory. Some three
hundred Germans pushed through between Third the Fifth Division and
the New Zealanders, but were at once attacked by a party of the 1st
Devons, assisted by some of the New Zealanders. Corporal Onions of
the Devons showed great initiative in this affair, which ended in the
capture of the whole of the intruders. He received the V.C. for his
gallantry.
It was a day of reaction, for the Sixty-third Division in the north
was strongly attacked, and was at one time pushed as far as Logeast
Wood. They rallied however and came back, but failed to regain the
railway at Achiet-le-Grand. Early in the morning of August 23 the
Beauregard Dovecote was finally captured by units of the Forty-second
and New Zealanders, the enemy falling back to Miraumont. About the
same hour in the morning the Sixth Corps in the north had taken
Gomiecourt as already described, which strengthened the general
position.
[Sidenote: August 23.]
Early on August 23 the Thirty-seventh Division came up on the left
and relieved the Naval Division. Guns had been pushed into position,
so at 11 o'clock in the forenoon it was possible to deliver a strong
attack under an adequate barrage upon the line of the railway. The
result was a complete success, in spite of the formidable nature of
the defences. The imperturbable English infantry flooded over every
obstacle, took its inevitable losses with its usual good humour, and
established itself upon the farther side of the position, while the
tanks, taking advantage of a level crossing, burst through and did
very great work. Both Achiet-le-Grand and Bihucourt fell to {124}
the Thirty-seventh Division, while the Fifth captured the high ground
overlooking Irles, and subsequently pushed on eastwards as far as
Loupart Wood. Since Miraumont was still German the flank of
Ponsonby's Division was scourged by the machine-guns, and an attempt
by the Forty-second Division to relieve the pressure by taking the
village had no success, but the Fifth maintained all its gains in
spite of the heavy enfilading fire. In this fine operation the
Thirty-seventh Division alone captured 1150 prisoners. There were
signs, however, of German reaction, especially on the southern flank,
where a new division, the Third Naval, had been brought into line.
[Sidenote: August 23, 24.]
August 24 was another day of victory. The New Zealanders passed
through the depleted ranks of the Fifth Division and made good not
only the whole of Loupart Wood, but also Grevillers to the north-east
of it. An even more useful bit of work was the storming of Miraumont
by the Forty-second Division in the south. This village, which had
been nearly surrounded by the advance on the flanks, gave up 500
prisoners and several guns. The Forty-second continued its career of
victory to Pys, which they took, and were only stopped eventually by
the machine-guns at Warlencourt. This advance greatly relieved the
situation on the right flank, which had been a cause for anxiety, and
it also, by winning a way to the Ancre, solved the water problem,
which had been a difficult one. This day of continued victorious
advance was concluded by the occupation of Biefvillers by the united
action of the Thirty-seventh and of the New Zealanders.
[Sidenote: August 25, 26.]
At 5 A.M. upon August 25 the advance was {125} resumed, with the
Sixty-third Division on the right, the New Zealanders in the centre,
and the Thirty-seventh on the left. The naval men found a head wind
from the first, for the Germans were holding Le Barque and Thilloy in
great strength. No great progress could be made. On the left the
New Zealanders and the Thirty-seventh both reached the very definite
line of the Bapaume-Arras Road, where they were held by very heavy
fire from Bapaume on the right and Favreuil on the left. The
splendid Thirty-seventh, with some assistance from the New Zealanders
on their south, rushed the wood and village of Favreuil and helped to
beat off a German counter-attack by the fresh Hundred and eleventh
Division, which was so mauled by aircraft and artillery that it never
looked like reaching its objective. Many dead and some abandoned
guns marked the line of its retirement.
On August 26 these indefatigable troops were still attacking. It was
indeed a most marvellous display of tenacity and will-power. The
general idea was to encircle Bapaume from the north and to reach the
Cambrai Road. In this the Fifth Division and the New Zealanders were
successful, the former reaching Beugnatre, while the latter got as
far as the road, but sustained such losses from machine-gun fire that
they could not remain there. In the south Thilloy still barred the
advance of the Naval Division, which was again repulsed on August 27,
when they attacked after a heavy bombardment. There was a pause at
this period as the troops were weary and the supplies had been
outdistanced. On August 28 the Sixty-third left the Fourth Corps and
the Forty-Second took over their line and repeated their {126}
experience, having a setback before Thilloy. On August 29 there was
a general withdrawal of the German rearguards, the whole opposition
dissolved, Thilloy fell to the Forty-second Division, and the New
Zealanders had the honour of capturing Bapaume. Up to this time the
advance of the Fourth Corps had yielded 100 guns and 6800 prisoners.
[Sidenote: August 28-31.]
On August 30 the whistles were sounding once more and the whole
British line was rolling eastwards. It will mark its broader front
if we say that on this date the Fifth Corps on the right was in front
of Beaulencourt, while the Sixth Corps on the left had taken Vaulx,
Vraucourt. The Forty-second Division on this day was unable to hold
Riencourt, but the rest of the line got well forward, always fighting
but always prevailing, until in the evening they were east of
Bancourt and Frémicourt, and close to Beugny. Always it was the same
programme, the exploring fire, the loose infantry advance, the
rapping machine-guns, the quick concentration and rush--occasionally
the summoning of tanks or trench mortars when the strong point was
obstinate. So the wave passed slowly but surely on.
On August 31 the Germans, assisted by three tanks, made a strong
attack upon the New Zealanders, and a small force pushed in between
them and the Fifth Division. They were surrounded, however, a German
battalion commander was shot and some sixty of his men were taken.
The whole line was restored. On this day the Lancashire men on the
right took Riencourt with some prisoners and a battery of guns.
[Sidenote: Sept. 2-9.]
September 2 was a day of hard battle and of victory, the three Corps
of General Byng's Army {127} attempting to gain the general line
Barastre-Haplincourt-Le Bucquière. The Forty-second Division
captured Villers-au-Flos and advanced east of it, while the New
Zealanders made good the ridge between there and Beugny. Some 600
prisoners were taken. There was some very fierce fighting round
Beugny in which the Fifth Division lost six tanks and many men with
no particular success. The place was afterwards abandoned.
The British line was now drawing close to the Hindenburg position,
and the Fourth Corps like all the others was conscious of the
increased effort which the Germans were making in order to prevent
the attackers from gaining all the outlying posts, and being able to
carry the main line before every preparation had been made for its
defence. For several days there were wrestles for this position or
that, which culminated on September 9 in a very sharp tussle between
the New Zealanders and a German Jaeger Division at African Trench on
the ridge west of Gouzeaucourt. It was a very desperate fight, which
some of the old New Zealanders declared to have been the most intense
and close which they had experienced since they met the Turks at
Gallipoli--a compliment to the Jaeger, but somewhat a reflection upon
other units of the German army. In the end the New Zealanders were
unable to hold African Trench and had to be content with African
Support. The Fifth Division shared in this fighting. This
engagement was part of a local co-operation in an attack made by the
Fifth Corps in the south.
[Sidenote: Sept. 12-18.]
On September 12 there was a combined attack, which has already been
mentioned, by which the Fourth and Sixth Corps should capture
Trescault Spur and {128} Havrincourt. It will be remembered that the
latter was captured by the Sixty-second Yorkshire Division. The New
Zealanders advanced upon the Spur, where they met with very vigorous
opposition from their old enemies, the Jaeger, who fought with great
tenacity. The Thirty-seventh Division turned the Spur from the
south, however, capturing both Trescault and Bilhem. Two guns and
500 prisoners were captured. On September 18 the Fifth Division
together with the Welsh Division of the Fifth Corps undertook a local
operation against African Trench, but the indefatigable German Jaeger
still remained masters of the situation. At 5.20 P.M. on that day
the initiative passed to the enemy, who broke suddenly into a very
heavy bombardment, followed by a furious attack upon the left of the
Thirty-seventh Division. It made some progress at first and the
British losses were heavy, especially in the case of the 1st Herts, a
battalion which has many times shown great steadiness and gallantry.
Lieutenant Young of this unit rallied his men and counter-attacked at
a critical moment, dying single-handed amid the German ranks but
winning a posthumous V.C.
We have now brought the record of the Fourth Corps level with that of
the Fifth to the south and of the Sixth to the north. It is
necessary to give some fuller account of the Seventeenth Corps which
had been formed on the left of the Sixth. This will complete the
account of General Byng's operations with his Third Army from their
inception on August 21 until the eve of the great general battle
which was to break out at the end of September.
[Sidenote: August 25.]
It has already been stated that on August 25 Sir Charles Fergusson's
Seventeenth Corps was {129} formed on the left of General Byng's
Third Army and became the northern unit in that force, having the
Sixth Corps on its right and the Canadian Corps on its left. It
contained at first three divisions, the Fifty-second (Hill),
Fifty-sixth (Hull), and Fifty-seventh (Barnes). Two of these had
already been heavily engaged in the new advance before becoming part
of the Seventeenth Corps. Indeed on the day preceding the entrance
of the Corps into the line, the evening of August 24, the Fifty-sixth
Division had attacked the Hindenburg Line at Summit Trench and Hill
Switch, near Croisilles, without effect. They had now established
themselves near their objective and were waiting orders to try again.
The Fifty-second Division, one of the fine units which had been
released from Palestine owing to the reinforcements of Indian troops
in that country, had also tried for the Hindenburg Line and taken a
bit of it upon August 24, but they had found it too hot to hold.
They were now lying low on the western borders of Henin Hill, hoping
to co-operate with the Canadians of the First Army on their left at
some later date. A line of British divisions was now crouching in
front of Hindenburg's bars all ready for a spring.
In the new attack it was planned that the Fifty-sixth Londoners
should co-operate with the Sixth Corps on their right, and clear the
village of Croisilles by outflanking it, while the Fifty-second
Division should work on the north of the Cojeul stream in close touch
with the big Canadian attack, advancing towards
Fontaine-les-Croisilles. The effect of these movements would be that
the portion of the Hindenburg Line which faced the Seventeenth {130}
Corps would be attacked from the rear instead of the front.
[Sidenote: August 26.]
On August 26 at 3 A.M. the Canadians went forward, as will be told
under the head of their operations. The Fifty-second Division kept
its place on their right flank, working up along the Cojeul River,
and carrying all the objectives allotted to them. By 10.35 A.M.
their task had been completed and they were still in close touch with
the Canadians. In the afternoon the 155th Brigade on the extreme
left, consisting of Scottish Territorials, attacked Henin Hill from
the north-west, capturing a succession of machine-gun positions. The
crews of these guns got--and indeed accepted--little quarter,
fighting staunchly to the last. By 4 o'clock the Fifty-second
Division was well into the Hindenburg Line from the Cojeul
northwards; and by 5 o'clock the 155th Brigade was across Henin Hill,
moving south-east. The whole of this very important position was now
in British possession, though there were pockets of the enemy
scattered here and there who were holding out to the last. The
Fifty-sixth Division on the right was still in front of Croisilles,
sending out occasional patrols which reported that the village was
still strongly held. Its orders were to maintain pressure but not to
advance until the development of the movement in the north should
shake the enemy's resistance.
[Sidenote: August 27, 28.]
On August 27 Croisilles and the strong trenches around it were kept
under bombardment. The Fifty-sixth Division began to thrust forward
its left flank, and made some progress, but was eventually held by
very heavy fire from the south. At midday the Fifty-second Division
was driving down from the north, {131} getting to the Sensée River
about Fontaine and endeavouring to help the left of the Fifty-sixth
Division by moving along the Hindenburg Line. This was partly
accomplished, but it was impossible for the Fifty-sixth to get ahead
as the troops on their right in the Ledger Trenches had also been
held up. That evening the Fifty-second Division after a fine term of
service was drawn out and the Fifty-seventh took its place.
Early on August 28 it was evident that the scheme for pinching out
Croisilles had been successful. At 8 A.M. a contact aeroplane
reported the village to be empty, and at 8.30 the London patrols were
in the main street. There now lay Bullecourt in front of the
Fifty-sixth, and Hendecourt and Riencourt in front of the
Fifty-seventh Division. At 12.30 the attack was in full swing, lines
of the gallant Territorials of London and Lancashire streaming across
the low dun-coloured curves which are cut by the famous trenches. It
was a long uphill fight, but by 4.30 in the afternoon the 169th
Brigade, containing the London Rifle Brigade, the 2nd Londons, and
the Westminsters, had fought their way into Bullecourt. There they
were held, however, for there were numerous pockets of Germans in
their rear, and the machine-guns pelted them from every side, while
the village was far from clear. The 167th Brigade on the right had
also been held up by machine-guns, all three battalions, the 1st
London and the 7th and 8th Middlesex, having heavy losses and being
forced back for a time. The Fifty-seventh Division on the left of
the line encountered the same desperate resistance, which could only
have been overcome by troops who would take no denial. Hendecourt
was not reached, but all the {132} gains of the morning were held as
a basis for a future advance. The liaison on either flank with the
Sixth Corps and the Canadians was complete. It had been a day of
very hard and expensive fighting and of no very marked success.
[Sidenote: August 29.]
The battle was renewed about midday on August 29, the morning having
been devoted to repulverising the powder-heap of Bullecourt with
heavy artillery, and to clearing up some of the pockets in the
immediate front of the advance. The Fifty-sixth Division advanced
once more, the 168th Brigade having taken the right of the line. The
machine-guns were still very destructive, and the right and centre
were held up, though the left made some progress. The general result
was to get the British line all round Bullecourt, but the village
itself was still defiant. The Fifty-seventh Division on the left had
another day of desperate fighting, in which the Lancashire
Territorials showed their usual valour. At 4.30 some of them had got
through Hendecourt and had penetrated, with great difficulty and
suffering heavily, into Riencourt. It was afterwards found that some
ardent spirits had even forced their way into the Drocourt-Quéant
line, and left their dead there as a proof for those who followed
after. The line in the evening was the western outskirts of
Hendecourt, where they were in touch with the right of the Canadian
Division.
[Sidenote: August 30.]
At 5 A.M. on the morning of August 30 the Germans, who had a
perfectly clear vision of the fact that the loss of the Hindenburg
Line must entail the loss of the war, attacked in great force along
the general line Ecoust-Bullecourt-Hendecourt, and made some
considerable dents in the British front, {133} especially at
Bullecourt, which had to be evacuated. The Fifty-seventh were pushed
back to the line of the Hendecourt-Bullecourt Road, and abandoned the
ruins of an old factory, which is a marked position. This attack
corresponds with the one already detailed when the Third Division
were driven out of Ecoust, and it is heavy weather indeed when the
Third Division begins to make leeway. The Fifty-sixth tried very
gallantly to regain Bullecourt by a bombing attack, but it could not
be done. The Germans got a footing in Hendecourt, but could not
clear it, and the evening saw the Lancashire Territorials and their
enemy at close grips among the ruins.
On the morning of August 31 the indefatigable Londoners attacked once
more, the 4th Londons, London Scottish, and Kensingtons of the 168th
Brigade carrying on the work. The factory was soon retaken and so
was the Station Redoubt, but Bullecourt itself, squirting flames from
every cranny, was still inviolate. On the right the Third Division
had recaptured Ecoust, which relieved the general situation. The
British bombers got into Bullecourt in the afternoon and before
evening they had made good the greater part of the ruins, a handful
of Germans still clinging manfully to the eastern edge. That night
the Fifty-second came to the front and relieved the Fifty-sixth. In
the five days' battle the London division had lost 123 officers and
2600 men. On the other hand they had captured 29 officers and over a
thousand men, while they had inflicted very heavy losses upon the
enemy.
[Sidenote: Sept. 1.]
September 1 saw this long-drawn battle still in full progress. There
is nothing more amazing than the way in which the British divisions
at this stage {134} of the war without reinforcements carried on the
fight from day to day as though they were sustained by some prophetic
vision of the imminent victory which was so largely the result of
their heroic efforts. With the early morning the Fifty-seventh
Division was into Hendecourt, and before seven o'clock the 171st
Brigade had completely cleared the village and joined hands with the
Canadians on the farther side. There was a great deal of actual
bayonet work in this assault, and Lancashire came out triumphant. On
the right the Fifty-second Division had a busy morning in clearing
out the dug-outs and cellars of Bullecourt. In the afternoon they
advanced eastwards and cleared another 500 yards of ground, when they
came under very heavy fire from Noreuil on their right flank. The
155th Brigade was lashed with a pelting rain of bullets, one
battalion, the 4th Scots Borderers, losing 10 officers and 140 men in
a few minutes. The advance was continued, however, until Tank
Avenue, the immediate objective, was reached and cleared. It was a
splendid example of indomitable perseverance.
The 171st Brigade, which was still advancing on the left, had also
undergone the torment of the machine-guns, but some skilful flanking
movements by supporting platoons enabled progress to be made and the
German posts soon surrendered when there was a danger of being
surrounded. Riencourt fell, and by 6.30 the extreme objectives had
been gained and touch established on either flank.
The success of this spirited attack, with the heavy losses inflicted,
seemed to have cowed the enemy before the Fifty-seventh Division, for
the night passed quietly on that front, which was very helpful in
allowing {135} the preparations to go forward for the considerable
operation planned for next morning.
[Sidenote: Sept. 2.]
September 2 was the date for the main attack by the First Army upon
the Drocourt-Quéant line south of the Scarpe, to which all the
fighting which has been detailed was but a preliminary. The rôle
assigned to the Seventeenth Corps was to co-operate with the
Canadians by thrusting forward their left flank so as to gain
position for an attack upon Quéant from the north. The Sixth Corps
on their right was ordered to attack Morchies and Lagnicourt and then
push forward vigorously towards Beaumetz. The First Canadian
Division, with Gagnicourt for its objective, was on the immediate
left of the Seventeenth Corps. The orders to the Seventeenth Corps
were that the Fifty-seventh Division should support the Canadian
attack, that the Fifty-second Division should conform to the
movements of the Fifty-seventh on its left and of the Third on its
right, and finally that the Sixty-third Naval Division, now added to
the Corps, should move up in support and improve whatever advantages
were gained.
At 5 A.M. the barrage fell and the troops moved forward upon one of
the critical battles of the war. The grand part played by the
Canadians in the north is described elsewhere. The 172nd Brigade of
the Fifty-seventh Division advanced splendidly towards the gap which
had been formed, a storm of gas shells bursting among their stolid
ranks. The leading battalion, the 1st Munster Fusiliers, followed
the men of the Dominion through the breach which they had made in the
Drocourt-Quéant switch, and then according to plan swung sharply to
the right, smashing their way with bomb and bayonet down the whole
line of {136} the German position and so clearing the front for their
comrades. It was a fine exploit and worthy of the great battalion
which carried it out. They were strongly counter-attacked at the
moment when, panting and weary, they had reached their full
objective, and yet they retained sufficient vitality to drive back
the German stormers.
Other elements of the 172nd Brigade had worked south on the right of
the Munsters, and got forward as far as Possum Lane, so that they
formed a useful defensive flank on the left of the Fifty-second
Division. Meanwhile the 171st Brigade had advanced directly from
Riencourt Ridge and had cleared up the trenches opposite, which were
enfiladed by their comrades.
The Sixty-third Division was now brought forward to play its part,
with the 188th Brigade, consisting of Ansons, Marines, and Royal
Irish, in the van. At 9 A.M. it passed through the left of the
Fifty-seventh Division about a mile south of Gagnicourt. From this
point it was continually advancing during the day, being in touch
with the First Canadians on the left and with the Fifty-seventh on
the right. By nine in the evening it was seated firmly in the
Hindenburg Line. The switch line of Drocourt-Quéant had been
ruptured as early as 8 in the morning, which was the signal for the
Fifty-second Division on the south to advance upon the main
Hindenburg Line south-west of Quéant. The 156th Brigade was in the
van. Some few parties reached the main objective, but by 10 o'clock
the advance had been suspended, as operations had not yet progressed
sufficiently elsewhere. The Fifty-second continued, however, to
exert pressure at the point of junction between {137} the switch and
the Hindenburg support line. All day progress was being made in
proportion as the attack drove down from the north, so that by 3 P.M.
the front line had been cleared, and before midnight the whole of the
German defences, a perfect maze of trenches and wire, were in the
hands of the British infantry. At this hour patrols had penetrated
into Quéant and found it clear. Such was the close, so far as the
Seventeenth Corps was concerned, of one of the most decisive days'
fighting in the whole of the war. Late that night the tireless
Sixty-third Division had reached Pronville, where they added more
prisoners to their considerable captures. Altogether about a
thousand were taken by the Corps during the day, with a large amount
of material.
September 3 saw the Sixty-third Division still adding to its gains.
In the morning it occupied Tadpole Copse and advanced upon the Canal
du Nord. It then captured Inchy, but was held up in front of
Mœuvres by strong enemy rearguards. This marked a definite line
of equilibrium which was maintained until the general dispositions of
the Army allowed a further advance. For a considerable time the only
fighting upon this Corps front was in connection with Mœuvres, a
village which remained as a sort of No Man's Land until, on September
19, a spirited attack by the 155th Scottish Brigade of the
Fifty-second Division put it finally into British hands. After this
there was quiet on the left flank of the Third Army until the great
operations at the end of the month.
{138}