THE ADVANCE OF HORNE'S FIRST ARMY
From September 27 to the end
The Canadians at the Canal du Nord--Hard fighting at Bourlon--Strong
counter attack at Abancourt--Canadian valour--Godley's Twenty-Second
Corps--The Ecaillon valley--Forcing of the Rhonelle--General
Heneker's attack--Capture of Douai.
[Sidenote: Sept. 27-29.]
On September 27 the Canadian Corps, with the Eleventh British
Division, attacked once more, the advance joining the left flank of
that huge movement in which the First, Third, and Fourth Armies were
all engaged. The Twenty-second and Eighth Corps to the north were
not engaged, but made a vigorous demonstration in support. The
Canadian attack, which began at early dawn, was on a 6000-yard front,
from Mœuvres in the south to the Arras-Cambrai Road. In this
advance the First and Fourth Canadian Divisions were, in the first
instance, to cross the Canal du Nord, and to capture Bourlon Wood and
village, with the high ground about Pilgrim's Rest. This attack was
in conjunction with one upon the right made by the Seventeenth Corps,
where the Fifteenth and Sixty-third Divisions stormed the line of the
Canal du Nord east and south-east of Mœuvres, as already recorded.
This movement was entirely successful, though there was {257} very
obstinate resistance at Graincourt, which held up the advance for a
time. The Fifty-seventh Division passed through, however, to the
north of this village and gained Cantaing and Fontaine, so that the
defenders of Graincourt, finding British troops behind them, were
forced to surrender.
[Illustration: General Position of the Allies immediately before the
Armistice of November 11, 1918]
The Canal du Nord had been emptied by the blowing up of sluice-gates,
and was quickly passed by the Canadian troops, who scrambled down one
side and up the other, with or without the aid of scaling-ladders.
At the other side they found much less resistance than had been
expected, which was greatly the result of a barrage which has seldom
been equalled for accuracy and intensity. Captured German officers
declared that nothing could live under it. The German guns were slow
and feeble in their reply, and the whole work of the enemy artillery
at this period showed how nervous it had become through the recent
heavy captures, and how much they appreciated the necessity of
keeping well to the rear. The Canadian line poured on with little
loss and did not halt until it had seized its whole objective,
including the ground about Bourlon, which had been the scene of such
bitter and fruitless fighting ten months before. Guardsmen and
Highlanders, men of Surrey and of Yorkshire, all who had fallen upon
and still lay within the soil of that sinister grove, were finally
justified and avenged that day. The whole manoeuvre, by which a
large part of the German line was taken in the rear, elicited
expressions of surprise and admiration from captured German officers.
[Sidenote: Sept. 29.]
In the second stage of the Canadian attack the First Canadian and the
Eleventh British {258} Divisions--the latter on the extreme
left--took up the running, and carried the line forward in the
direction of Raillencourt and Haynecourt. In the afternoon the 169th
Brigade of the Fifty-sixth Division also came in upon the left, near
the Arras-Cambrai Road, to clear the area between the Eleventh
Division and the Canal du Nord, the latter division having taken
Oisy-le-Verger. There was constant fighting during the day in this
quarter, the 168th Brigade coming into action to the left of the
169th, and next morning the 8th Middlesex took Palluel. They also
crossed the River Sensée and captured Arleux, but a strong barrage,
followed by an infantry attack, drove them out again at 3.30 on the
morning of September 29. All these attacks, both of the Eleventh and
Fifty-sixth Divisions, were made, after crossing the Canal du Nord,
from south to north, so as to extend the left flank of the Canadians.
One of the predominating factors in these operations was the great
flood caused by the blocking of the Trinquis and Sensée rivers by the
Germans, which created wide lakes shown upon no map, across the front
of the Twenty-second Corps. As a matter of fact this development was
regarded with some complacency by General Godley, for there had
always been a chance that the Germans, by driving a really strong
counter-attack along the line of the Scarpe, might checkmate the
whole British advance to the south. The effect of the inundations
was to free the British higher command from any fears of the kind and
to enable them to hold that part very lightly, while they thickened
their line elsewhere.
We have left the Canadian line on September 28. On this date the
Third Canadian Division, which {259} had relieved part of the Fourth
British on the right of the Corps front, attacked with the 7th and
9th Brigades in the van. On its left was the 10th Canadian Brigade,
which in turn had the 2nd Canadian Brigade to the north of it. The
Third Canadian Division made good progress and pushed through as far
as Raillencourt, but the First Canadian Division remained motionless,
as it was already rather in front of the general line. The Eleventh
British Division was doing continuous good work in the north, but on
the morning of September 29 its 32nd Brigade was held up by a strong
field of wire, and the advance was checked in that quarter, but later
in the day the whole line pushed on once more, the order of brigades
from the north being 32 (British), 2, 12, 7, 9 (all four Canadian).
A mist covered the front, and from the heart of this impenetrable
cloud came the constant rattle of the German fire, while their
bullets swept every avenue of approach. The progress was irregular,
but by 9.45 in the morning the 12th Canadian Brigade had taken
Sancourt and had entered Blecourt, where some fierce bludgeon work
was going on. At 10 A.M. the 2nd Brigade had reached Abancourt
station, but the Eleventh Division were again held up in the north,
which exposed the left flank of the Canadians. South of the Bapaume
Road the 9th Brigade was making steady progress, while the 7th had
reached Neuville St. Remy. For a moment the 12th Canadian Brigade
was staggered by a heavy counter which broke upon it, but the ranks
soon rallied and the ground was regained. It was desperately hard
fighting, however, and it was to continue day after day until all the
northern grit of General Currie's Corps was needed to sustain it.
{260} Early in the morning of September 30 they were at it again, the
immediate objects of the operations being the capture of the
bridge-heads on the Canal de l'Escaut by the Third and Fourth
Canadian Divisions, and secondly, that the high ground over the River
Sensée should be secured by the First Canadians and Eleventh British.
[Sidenote: Sept. 30.]
The attack began well, as the Third Canadian Division got Tilloy and
the Fourth got Blecourt. There was some progress also along the
Cambrai Road, when the 3rd Canadians got Petit Fontaine. It was "do
or die" with the Germans, however, who were keenly alive to the fact
that at all costs they must hold the bridge-heads of the Canal. They
had put out a great effort, and had brought up three new fighting
divisions, making seven in all between Cambrai and the Sensée River.
Counter-attacks rolled one after the other from the east, but the
Canadians showed themselves as stiff in defence as they were ardent
in attack. They might well be in high heart, for since September 27,
200 guns and 5500 prisoners were visible signs of their victory.
[Sidenote: Oct. 1.]
On October 1 the Fifty-sixth Division relieved the Eleventh and both
reverted to the Twenty-second Corps. At 5 A.M. on that date the
Canadian attack was renewed, synchronising with that of the
Seventeenth Corps in the south and the Twenty-second in the north.
The order of brigades on the Canadian front was, from the north, 1,
3, 11, and 9. The advance was made under a heavy barrage, but it met
with a most desperate resistance. In this and the following day the
Canadians experienced as heavy fighting as any in their great record.
By 8 o'clock the general line had got as far as Canal {261}
bank-Morenchies Wood-Cuvillers-Bantigny-Abancourt. Shortly
afterwards a very heavy German attack struck the whole Corps front,
rolling chiefly up the Bantigny valley, the hostile infantry emerging
from Paillencourt and thence pouring forward with great determination
in several lines. The 1st Canadian Brigade in the north was bare
upon its left flank and was in sore straits, but the 3rd Brigade held
on fast to the slope which leads down to the Canal. While swarms of
men attacked the British line a number of pockets developed in all
the ground which had been taken that day, so that the troops were
shot at from all sides. The British artillery came to the rescue,
however, and caught the German masses as they advanced with murderous
results--one battery of heavies firing 1600 rounds. None the less
the enemy won back Abancourt, and gained some ground along the whole
front, the battle centring upon Blecourt.
That night the British line, which was already much weakened by
prolonged fighting, and which was clearly opposed by superior forces,
halted for a time for reorganisation and reinforcement. It has since
been proved that no fewer than thirteen German divisions were thrown
in upon this section of the line.
[Sidenote: Oct. 2.]
The work of the Canadian Corps in crossing the Nord Canal, following
upon their splendid work in breaking the Quéant-Drocourt line,
reasserted the fact, so often demonstrated before, that there are no
better soldiers in the world than those of the Dominion. It has been
impossible to specify the innumerable acts of valour performed by
these brave men, but looking at the highest record of all, as
chronicled during these few days of battle, one finds that the
Victoria Cross was awarded to Captain {262} MacGregor and Lieut. Kerr
of the 1st Central Ontario Regiment, the first, after being himself
wounded, having killed four and taken eight of the enemy, while the
latter rushed a strong point single-handed and captured four
machine-guns with thirty-one prisoners. Lieut. Gregg, of the Nova
Scotians, killed or wounded eleven of the enemy and took twenty-five
prisoners on September 28. Lieut. Honey, of the 78th Manitobas,
captured a whole nest of guns single-handed, with ten prisoners,
dying of wounds on the last day of the attack, while Sergeant
Merisfield of the 4th Central Ontarios cleared out two posts by his
own initiative, and fought after being wounded until a second wound
left him senseless upon the ground. Such were the iron men who have
made the name of Canada great in the battlefields of Europe.
[Sidenote: Oct. 7.]
For the sake of connected narrative we may carry on the story of the
Canadians from October 2, when their weakened ranks, after their
great and continuous exertions, were held by the strong German array
in front of Abancourt. For the next few days, while gathering for a
fresh spring, the Canadians saw heavy palls of smoke over Cambrai,
while at night the dull red glow from great fires hinted at an
approaching retreat. During the week which followed, the Seventeenth
Corps was, as has been told in their own chronicle, making splendid
progress to the south. On October 7 the Second and Third Canadian
Divisions, rested and strengthened, renewed their advance. On that
date they advanced with the old design of securing the bridge-heads
over the Canal, Pont d'Aire and Ramillies being their objectives, the
latter a name of good omen for any {263} British operation. Rapid
progress was made, and it was soon evident that, be the machine-guns
ever so numerous and spiteful, it was still only a rear screen which
faced the attack. The light of day had hardly come before the 5th
Brigade, after a short, sharp tussle, had possession of Pont d'Aire,
while the 6th Brigade got Ramillies. The 8th Brigade, to its own
amazement, crossed the Canal without opposition, and pushed its
patrols into Cambrai. It seems that at the moment of the attack the
Germans were caught in the confusion of their changes. On October 8
Cambrai was cleared, huge fires were extinguished, and wires, by
which the destruction of the town might be completed, were traced and
cut. An air reconnaissance at dawn on October 9 showed that the
enemy had cleared away from the whole area between the Sensée Canal
and the Canal de l'Escaut, having destroyed all the Sensée bridges.
The Seventeenth Corps sent the Twenty-fourth Division into Cambrai to
take it over, while there was an immediate pursuit of the retreating
enemy, in which General Currie pushed forward a mobile column, called
Brutinel's Brigade, which contained light guns and the Canadian Light
Horse. Villages fell rapidly all along the line both to the
Canadians and to the British Eleventh Division on their left.
On October 10 a fresh line of resistance was reached, and the
Canadian Corps instantly attacked it, in conjunction with the
Eleventh Division. The 4th Canadian Brigade advanced swiftly and got
Naves with little opposition. The 6th Canadian Brigade took Thun St.
Martin. The Eleventh Division got Estrun and reached the edge of Hem
Lenglet.
{264}
On October 11 the Second Canadian Division, together with the
Forty-ninth Yorkshire Territorials, who had relieved the Eleventh,
continued their advance, the Canadians met with heavy opposition from
Iwuy, and in the forenoon there came a heavy counter-attack, led by
seven tanks, six of which paid the penalty. On October 12 the First
Canadian Division in the north found that their front was apparently
clear, so they swiftly advanced and took Arleux and Estrées, while
the Twenty-second Corps attacked on their right and reached Hordain.
On this day was the fine attack, recorded elsewhere, of the
Fifty-sixth British Division, which got across the Canal at Aubigny.
On October 17 the whole line of the Canal was clear, and the First
Canadian Division advanced towards Douai, which was occupied by the
Eighth British Division from the north.
[Sidenote: Oct. 12.]
No further important services were exacted from the Canadian Corps,
which had done its share, and more than its share, of the work, so
that it retired from the line with the warm admiration and respect of
every British soldier who had had experience of it. From its first
dreadful baptism of fire, when it faced without masks the unknown
horrors of the poison gas, down to the campaign in which it broke the
great Quéant switch line, and forced the Canal du Nord, there was
never one single occasion upon which the Canadians did not rise to
the highest point of military virtue in actual battle. Their record
will be fully set out in many a book which will deal fully and in
detail with their great deeds. Such a chronicle as this can only
hope to help the reader to fit that fuller and more worthy record
into the general plan.
We shall now follow the work of Godley's Twenty-second {265} Corps
from the time that its right flank crossed the Canal du Nord in the
Marquion sector, taking its operations consecutively, and linking
them up with the Canadians on the south, who were now, as already
recorded, advancing upon Cambrai, bursting through every obstacle as
they went. Early in October Hunter-Weston's Eighth Corps extended
down to the Scarpe. There was great preparation for the future, but
no actual fighting, save for some outpost bickerings between the 12th
Brigade of the Fourth Division and the Germans on the north of the
Trinquis brook, in the course of which the British posts were
attacked--one of them as many as eight times--but remained untaken.
On October 7 the guns of the Twenty-second Corps co-operated in the
attack made on that day by the Eighth Corps in the north which
captured Biache St. Vaast, and a portion of the Fresnes-Rouvroy line.
On October 9 there was a reconnaissance of the northern part of the
Drocourt-Quéant line by strong patrols, but it was found that it was
still strongly held. It was at this period that the Canadian Corps
was brought across to the left of the Twenty-second Corps, while the
latter moved south, so that it now lay between the Cambrai-Saulzoir
Road and the Canal de l'Escaut. Whilst this considerable movement
was in progress, on October 11 the Eighth Corps on the north captured
the portion of the Drocourt line which was opposite to it. The
Fifty-sixth Division and First Canadians, who were on the immediate
south, took some part in the fray, the Londoners capturing Fresnes,
and the Canadians the high ground which faced them. After the change
was carried out, the front east of Cambrai was held by {266} the
Forty-ninth Yorkshire Division on the right and by the Fifty-first
Highlanders on the left.
[Sidenote: Oct. 11.]
Immediately before these fresh dispositions were carried out in the
south, there was a sharp action in this sector, in which, under the
direction of General Currie, the Second Canadians and the Forty-ninth
British attacked Iwuy and the ground south-west of it. This was on
October 11. The attack gained ground and some hundreds of prisoners,
but the losses were in excess of the gains, especially in the case of
the Yorkshire Territorials, who suffered considerably in a
counter-attack which was urged with the help of tanks. On the
morning of October 12 the Fifty-first Highlanders had taken over from
the Canadians and carried on the operation. All day there was sharp
fighting in front of the British divisions. The Forty-ninth made
good progress and followed up the retreating enemy, but the
Fifty-first found a stiff opposition on the left, where the Germans
held fast to Lieu St. Amand, powerfully supported by their guns on
the north bank of the Canal de l'Escaut. The right of the Highland
Division captured Avesnes-le-Sec, and so came level with the left of
the Forty-ninth. This latter division had continual fighting at
Haspres and Saulzoir on to the line of the Selle.
On October 13 the action was renewed, both the British divisions
striving hard to push through the German rearguards, which were very
strong and were backed by powerful artillery from north and east.
Progress was slow, for the country was an open plain without a
vestige of cover. The enemy were holding the Canadians to the north
of the Escaut Canal, and so were able to keep their guns well forward
on that side, to enfilade the advance {267} to the south, and to
support their position on the Selle. The British had come into the
region of the civil population, so that they had to be chary and
discriminating in the use of their guns, while gas shells could
hardly be used at all. The Third Army had now got so far ahead that
it was compelled to pause for supplies, and the First Army was forced
to conform.
Cameron's Forty-ninth Division was much exhausted by its exertions,
so the Fourth British Division came up about October 15 to relieve
it. It met with a sad misfortune immediately after it had taken its
place in the line, as its commanding officer, General Lipsett, was
killed while carrying out a reconnaissance in front of the line. He
had recently been transferred from a Canadian division, and had a
great war record, extending back to near the beginning. It is indeed
tragic when one who has played a great part in the drama leaves
before the final curtain falls. General Lucas took over the division.
There was no change in the situation so far as the Twenty-second
Corps was concerned until October 19, when the enemy began to retire
in front of the Highland Division, in conformity with a movement
which had already begun north of L'Escaut, and which spread down to
the front of the Fourth Division. The Germans had prepared a line of
defence upon the Ecaillon River in the rear, and were now letting go
of the Selle in order to reassemble their forces upon this even
stronger front. The withdrawal was irregular, so that some parts of
his array remained hard when others had almost ceased to exist. Thus
at Haspres and the part of the Selle {268} to the north of it, there
was still some stiff fighting. He abandoned Saulzoir, however, and
the Fourth Division promptly established a bridge-head which should
be the base for a future advance. On the Fifty-first Divisional
front the pursuit was so rapid, both by the Highlanders and by the
Corps Cavalry, that there was not much time for reorganisation.
[Sidenote: Oct. 20.]
During October 20 and 21 the Germans were slowly pressed back from
the high ground east of the Selle into the Ecaillon valley, and
artillery was pushed up to prepare for a further attack upon the new
line. The sappers did some great work in throwing, under fire, many
bridges over the Selle. Noyelles and Douchy were occupied on the
morning of October 20. The river was found to be strongly wired, and
there were scattered lines of trenches on the farther side, which
made up a strong, fortified position, called by the Germans the
Hermanstellung. It was clearly a more elaborate position than that
of the Selle. None the less the infantry was not to be denied and
the troops crossed the river by wading, the water in many cases being
up to the armpits of the men. The 10th and 11th Brigades of the
Fourth Division fought their way half-way up the north-eastern slope
of the valley, past the villages of Verchain and Moncheaux. The 1st
Somersets and 1st Hants occupied the latter and pushed through it,
securing the high ground east of the villages, but they found that
their comrades of the 2nd West Riding and 1st Warwicks were held up
by the German main line upon the crest of the hill, and that the
Sixty-first Division, the nearest unit on their right, were
temporarily checked at Vendegies. The 2nd West Riding got forward,
however, and occupied a {269} position on the crest called "The
Pimple," whilst the Fifty-first Division on the north of the 11th
Brigade also got well forward up to the village of Maing. In the
morning of October 25 the 12th Brigade took up the task in this
sector, the 1st King's Own on the right and the 2nd Essex on the left
advancing without any very serious opposition, being in touch with
the left of the Seventeenth Corps. In the late afternoon the Germans
reacted strongly, and there was a counter-attack upon the front of
the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers and upon the Highlanders to their left,
but it had little effect. The 154th Brigade of Highlanders was very
heavily engaged during this strenuous day, and the 6/7th Argyll and
Sutherlands, among others, had serious losses. Among many brave
deeds that of Lieut. Bissett is conspicuous, for he won the V.C. by
repeated acts of gallantry, leading his men in a desperate bayonet
charge, after all their ammunition was expended, and so saving the
line. Before evening the village of Querenaing had been occupied and
the line of the Artres-Famars Road; 1200 more prisoners were in the
Corps cage.
[Sidenote: Oct. 25.]
The attack upon the Ecaillon position was a difficult military
operation, and one which showed very clearly the marked ascendancy
which the British soldier had gained over his German rival. Every
factor was in favour of the defence, and yet the line was rapidly
shattered by the determined advance of the two divisions concerned.
The object of the action was not merely the gain of ground, though
that was considerable, but it was to cover the left of the Third Army
and also to assist in the advance of the Canadian Corps towards
Valenciennes, all of {270} which aims were fully carried out. The
action of the infantry was all the finer because they entirely lost
the time-table barrage, and had to depend upon their own fine courage
and the tactical skill of their leaders. In the actual crossing of
the river all ranks showed great gallantry and determination. The
method in which the advance was pressed and the victory followed up
by very weary soldiers was remarkable, and resulted, among other
things, in the capture of the bridge-head of Artres by the Fourth
Division, which proved of great value both to the Seventeenth and to
the Twenty-second Corps.
[Sidenote: Oct. 26.]
A railway from Valenciennes to Le Quesnoy ran across the front of the
Corps, and this was made the forming-up point for the renewed attack
next morning, when the Fourth and the tireless Fifty-first went
forward again under a heavy barrage. Having lost the successive
lines of the Selle and the Ecaillon, the Germans were now lining up
on the east bank of the Rhonelle, prepared to make a resolute
defence. A party of the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers got across,
however, on the morning of the 26th, and established a bridge-head,
and joined hands with a party from the Sixty-first Division on their
right, who had also forded the stream. This point held firm, but
when the 2nd Essex on the left attempted also to cross, there was a
stubborn resistance. With field-guns in the face of them and a
raking fire from machine-guns at Gaumont Farm on their left flank,
this brave battalion had a bad half-hour. The Germans then
counter-attacked, falling upon both the Highlanders and the Essex
men, but both stood firm, though the gas with which the whole
position was drenched made the defence difficult. {271} In this
action the leading battalion of Highlanders at the point attacked,
the 6th Argyll and Sutherlands, dashed forward with the bayonet at
the advancing Germans and drove them pell-mell back; 212 more
prisoners were secured.
The situation on October 26 was that the Corps front was well up to
the River Rhonelle, that the Fourth Division had taken Artres and
established a post across the river, and that the Fifty-first had got
as far as Famars, which it had occupied. Attempts of the Fourth
Division to enlarge their holding on the east of the stream had no
good result, but the bridge-head was still held against all attacks.
On the 27th the Germans attacked the Highlanders and forced their way
into Famars, but were again met with the cold steel, this time by the
4th Gordons, and thrown out of the village. Next morning, October
28, the Fifty-first advanced its line, making a lodgment upon Mont
Houy on its left flank, and capturing Poirier station. Here they
were stopped by a strong German attack. It must be admitted that,
considering the incessant retreats and the heavy punishments which
they had received, the German troops showed a fine constancy in these
numerous but useless efforts to throw back the advance. On October
30 the Fifty-first Division was drawn into reserve and the
Forty-ninth took their place in the line. Although there had been no
eastward movement during the last few days, the Highlanders had spent
them in an incessant pressure to the north-east, to aid the advance
upon Valenciennes. By this means a good jumping-off place was
secured, from which a Canadian brigade was to attack Valenciennes
from the south, in conjunction {272} with the main attack upon the
Rhonelle line. The Highlanders withdrew from the line in great heart
but very exhausted by a long spell of ceaseless work.
[Sidenote: Nov. 1.]
On November 1, under a tremendous artillery barrage, the
Twenty-second Corps advanced to the forcing of the Rhonelle, the
third river front within a fortnight. If the operation were
successful it would be decisive of the fate of Valenciennes. The men
were very weary, and their ranks had been thinned by the influenza
microbe as much as by bullets, but they were cheered by victory and
the visible signs of progress in the virgin country all around them.
The Fourth Division were still on the right, and the Forty-ninth
Yorkshire Territorials on the left. The 11th Brigade held the
all-important bridge-head, and across it went the 1st Rifle Brigade,
while the 1st Hants forded the river on their left. The crossing was
accomplished with no great difficulty, and once across the advance
was rapidly pushed. Preseau village was the first objective on this
wing of the attack. The resistance was unequal and was soon disposed
of, and the village was taken, together with the line of the
Preseau-Marly Road. About ten o'clock there came a strong German
counter-attack, which got round both flanks of the Rifle Brigade and
practically surrounded them, so that the leading companies were hard
put to it to fight their way back into the village and out to the
west of it. The machine-gun fire was very severe. This attack was
purely local, and did not affect the Hampshires or the Forty-ninth
Division. Low-flying aeroplanes aided the German infantry, but were
more alarming than dangerous. Eventually the Rifle Brigade dug in
about 400 yards {273} west of the village; 1700 prisoners were taken
during the day.
[Sidenote: Nov. 2.]
Following the policy of giving the Germans no rest, both divisions
attacked again next morning. The 2nd Seaforths of the 10th Brigade
were on the right and the 1st King's Own of the 12th Brigade on the
left of the Fourth Division's front. The German resistance, which
was expected to be strong after the counter-attacks of the day
before, suddenly collapsed, and Preseau was taken once more. So was
the dangerous high ground 700 yards to the east, which was bristling
with machine-guns. The Yorkshiremen on the left had advanced with
equal bravery, and had taken the steel works south of Marly.
Altogether about 1000 more prisoners were taken. That night the
Eleventh Division relieved the Fourth, while the Fifty-sixth took the
place of the Forty-ninth. The latter division was very weak in
numbers, so Blacklock's Sixty-third Naval Division was transferred to
the Twenty-second Corps in order to help cover the widening front.
It is worth recording that in all this recent fighting, with its
approximation to open warfare, the youths who now made up the bulk of
the fighting divisions were found to acquit themselves manfully.
Their only deterioration from the older type was in their power of
endurance and of resistance to weather, so that after two rough days
there was a distinct weakening of their powers. They were trained to
use their individual minds in the assault, advancing in small
independent sections in single file. "In open country the employment
of waves in the attack is criminal"--such was one of the last
military notes of the war.
{274}
[Sidenote: Nov. 4.]
Early on the morning of November 3 the enemy showed clear signs of
having had enough, and was withdrawing along the whole front, closely
pursued by mounted troops and by infantry. Curgies and Saultain were
taken, and the line rapidly extended. On November 4 the pace
accelerated, and the crossings of the River Aunelle were forced, the
Eleventh Division having a sharp fight at Sebourg. On November 5 the
Belgian frontier was crossed and the villages of Mesaurain, Boisin,
and Angre were occupied. There was some fighting on this day, the
168th Brigade having a sharp skirmish at Angre. Three tanks of
British pattern were captured during the day. On November 6 the
Grande Aunelle River had to be crossed, and the Germans made a
resistance which at one time was both strenuous and successful.
There was a great deal of gas, and all troops had to wear their
masks. The Eleventh Division was unable to reach the river on
account of the long open slope down which any advance must be made.
The Fifty-sixth Division got across south of Angre, and reached the
high ground to the east, the 2nd London and London Rifle Brigade in
the lead. The former battalion was heavily counter-attacked in the
Bois de Beaufort and was driven back to the river, while the London
Rifle Brigade also suffered heavy casualties from machine-gun fire
from Angre. Forty men of the 2nd Londons were entirely cut off but
held on in a deep ditch in the wood, and were surrounded by the
enemy. None the less they managed to cut their way out and rejoin
their battalion.
On the left of the attack the Kensingtons and London Scottish crossed
the river and got possession {275} of Angre. They found themselves
involved in a very fierce fight, which swayed backwards and forwards
all day, each side attacking and counter-attacking with the utmost
determination. Twice the Londoners were driven back and twice they
regained their objectives, ending up with their grip still firm upon
the village, though they could not retain the high ground beyond.
Late at night, however, the 168th Brigade established itself almost
without opposition upon the ridge.
[Sidenote: Nov. 7.]
On November 7 the opposition had wilted away and the Twenty-second
Corps advanced with elements of three divisions in front, for the
naval men were now in line on the left, "on the starboard bow of the
Second Canadians," to quote their own words. The river was crossed
on the whole front and a string of villages were occupied on this and
the following days. The rain was pouring down, all bridges had been
destroyed, the roads had been blown up, and everything was against
rapidity of movement. None the less the front flowed ever forward,
though the food problem had become so difficult that advanced troops
were supplied by aeroplane. The 16th Lancers had joined the
Australian Light Horse, and the cavalry patrols pushed far ahead.
Bavay was taken on November 10, and the Corps front had reached one
mile east of Villers St. Ghislain when, on November 11, the
"cease-fire" was sounded and the white flag appeared.
The general experience of the Twenty-second Corps during these last
weeks of the war was that the German rearguards consisted mainly of
machine-guns, some of which were fought as bravely as ever. The
infantry, on the other hand, were of low {276} morale and much
disorganised. Need for mounted troops who could swiftly brush aside
a thin line and expose a bluff was much felt. The roads were too
muddy and broken for the cyclists, and there was no main road
parallel with the advance. Owing to his machine-guns and artillery
the enemy was able always to withdraw at his own time. 3200
prisoners had been taken by the Twenty-second Corps in the final ten
days.
[Sidenote: Sept. 21.]
In dealing with the advance of Horne's First Army we have examined
the splendid work of the Canadian Corps and of the Twenty-second
Corps. We must now turn to the operations of Hunter-Weston's Eighth
Corps on the extreme north of this Army, linking up on the left with
the right of Birdwood's Fifth Army in the neighbourhood of Lens. Up
to the end of September, save for local enterprises, neither the
Eighth Division on the right nor the Twentieth on the left had made
any serious movement. The time was not yet ripe. At the close of
September, however, when the line was all aflame both to the south
and in Flanders, it was clear that the movement of the British Armies
must be a general one. At that date the Eighth Division extended its
flank down to the Scarpe, where it was in touch with the Forty-ninth
Division, forming the left of Godley's Twenty-second Corps. Before
effecting this change Heneker, on September 21, carried out a
spirited local attack with his own division, by which he gained
important ground in the Oppy and Gavrelle sectors. It was a hard
fight, in which the 2nd Berks had specially severe losses, but a
considerable area of important ground was permanently gained.
{277}
[Sidenote: Oct. 7.]
Early in October General Heneker proceeded to carry out an ambitious
scheme which he had meditated for some time, and which had now
received the approbation of his Corps Commander. This was an attack
by his own division upon the strong Fresnes-Rouvroy line, to the
north-east of Arras. His plan was to make a sudden concentrated
assault upon the south end of this formidable deeply-wired line, and
then to work upwards to the north, avoiding the perils and losses of
a frontal advance. This enterprise was begun at 5 A.M. on October 7,
and was carried through with that mixture of dash and skill which
marks the ideal operation. The 23rd and 25th Brigades supplied the
storm-troops, who were drawn from the 2nd Middlesex, 2nd West Yorks,
and 2nd Devons, and attacked on a front of 3500 yards. The gain of
ground was nearly two miles; the line was broken and Biache was
taken. On the next day, October 8, the northward turning movement
was carried through, the 1st Worcesters, 1st Sherwood Foresters, and
2nd Berkshires pushing into the front line, the work being mainly
carried out by bombing. Altogether 37 machine-guns and 250 prisoners
were taken, together with the villages of Fresnes and Neuvireuil, so
that the divisional front was now brought opposite the
Drocourt-Quéant line.
[Sidenote: Oct. 7.]
This strong triple system of the Hindenburg type was attacked in the
early morning of October 11 in this sector by Grogan's 23rd Brigade,
and by 7 A.M. both the 2nd Middlesex and 2nd Devons were through it,
holding the whole front before them, with the exception of the town
of Vitry on the Scarpe. The Twelfth Division had taken the place of
the Twentieth on the left of the Eighth, and it had also fought its
{278} way forward, but it was still short of striking distance and
could not take part in the attack. The chief danger was from the
south, as the floods in the Trinquis River were holding up the First
Canadian Division in that quarter, so that the German guns could all
swing their muzzles to the north. This was obviated by a free use of
smoke and gas, so that the British infantry were shrouded on their
right flank. The barrage, by a very ingenious device, was not put
down in such a fashion as to pin the Germans to their positions and
make it more dangerous to fly than to stand, but it was poured upon
one spot, and then moved slowly up the line at the rate of 100 yards
in eight minutes, giving the garrison plenty of time to see and to
avoid it by a timely flight, which most of them preferred to do.
When the new position, which soon included Vitry, had been occupied,
some of the 2nd Middlesex scrambled across the Scarpe by a broken
bridge and took Mont Metier, the strong point on the left front of
the Canadians, in the rear, so as to help their future advance. The
total gain was not less than an average of three miles, with Cuincy
in the centre as the most advanced point. The German line was now
shattered, and though there were sporadic bickerings and resistance,
with a constant resource to the ignoble warfare of land mines and
booby traps, there was no serious battle. In a single day the
Tunnelling Companies, which were always ready for any desperate
service, removed 300 mines. On October 14 the Twelfth Division,
after a spirited attack, captured Auby on the left, while the
Canadians on the right had got up to the Douai Canal. On the 17th
the German line was clearly recoiling, and a personal reconnaisance
by Colonel {279} Roberts of the 1st Worcesters showed that there was
hope for an advance over the canal. At 2 P.M. accordingly the 2nd
Rifle Brigade went forward, and their patrols, with those of the 2nd
Middlesex, entered the historic old city of Douai, taking down the
German flag which was still flying from the town hall. "The town was
found to be fairly intact," says a general officer on the spot, "but
the inside of every house had been stripped of everything of value,
and what had not been removed had been smashed to atoms.... The
inside and reeds of the beautiful organ in the Cathedral had been
torn out, and lay in a heap on the floor." There is no doubt that
President Wilson's note on this subject had an effect in preventing
the destruction of towns from this time onwards, and that it was the
salvation of Douai. No inhabitants had been left in the town.
[Sidenote: Oct. 17.]
From this period the advance on this front was a slow but steady
triumphant progress. By the end of October the Eighth Division had
gone forward more than thirty miles since it started, and had
captured thirty-five towns and villages, including Douai,
Marchiennes, and St. Amand. Beyond being greatly plagued by
murderous explosive traps, 1400 of which were discovered, and being
much incommoded by the destruction of roads and bridges and by the
constant canals across its path, there was no very serious
resistance. Great floods early in November made the situation even
more difficult. On November 5 the Eighth Division was relieved by
the Fifty-second, and quitted the line for the last time.
This splendid division has had some injustice done to it, since it
was the one Regular division in France {280} in 1914 which was
somewhat invidiously excluded from the very special and deserved
honours which were showered upon "the first seven divisions." But
even in 1914 it had done splendid work, and as to its performance in
the following years, and especially in 1918, when it was annihilated
twice over, it will live for ever, not only in the records of the
British Army, but in that of the French, by whose side it fought in
the direst crisis and darkest moment of the whole campaign. There
were no further movements of importance on the front of the Eighth
Corps, and the completion of their history covers the whole operation
of Horne's First Army in this final phase of the war. It was indeed
a strange freak of fate that this general, who commanded the guns of
the right wing at Mons in that momentous opening battle, should four
and a half years later be the commander who brought his victorious
British Army back to that very point.
[Illustration: Allied Advance in the North]
{281}