FIERCE FIGHTING AT CHELMSFORD
The continuation of the despatch from Brentwood, as follows, was
published on Saturday, 15th September:
“At Little Waltham I found myself close to the scene of action. About a
mile ahead of me the hamlet of Howe Street was in flames and burning
furiously. I could see the shells bursting in and all over it in perfect
coveys. I could not make out where they were coming from, but an officer
I met said he thought the enemy must have several batteries in action on
the high ground about Littley Green, a mile and a half to the north on
the opposite side of the river. I crossed over myself, and got up on the
knoll where the Leicestershires and Dorsets had been stationed, together
with a number of the 4.7-inch guns brought from Colchester.
“This piece of elevated ground is about two miles long, running almost
north and south, and at the top of it I got an extensive view to the
eastward right away to beyond Witham, as the ground fell all the way.
The country was well wooded, and a perfect maze of trees and hedgerows.
If there were any Germans down there in this plain they were lying very
low indeed, for my glasses did not discover the least indication of
their presence. Due east my view was bounded by the high wooded ground
about Wickham Bishops and Tiptree Heath, which lay a long blue hummock
on the horizon, while to the south-east Danbury Hill, with our big
war-balloon floating overhead, was plainly discernible.
“While I gazed on the apparently peaceful landscape I was startled by a
nasty sharp, hissing sound, which came momentarily nearer. It seemed to
pass over my head, and was followed by a loud bang in the air, where now
hung a ring of white smoke. It was a shell from the enemy. Just ahead of
me was a somewhat extensive wood; and, urged by some insane impulse of
seeking shelter, I left the car, which I ordered my chauffeur to take
back for a mile and wait, and made for the close-standing trees. If I
had stopped to think I should have realised that the wood gave me
actually no protection whatever, and I had not gone far when the
crashing of timber and noise of the bursting projectiles overhead and in
the undergrowth around made me understand clearly that the Germans were
making a special target of the wood, which, I imagine, they thought
might conceal some of our troops. I wished heartily that I was seated
beside my chauffeur in his fast-receding car.
“However, my first object was to get clear of the wood again, and after
some little time I emerged on the west side, right in the middle of a
dressing station for the wounded, which had been established in a little
hollow. Two surgeons, with their assistants, were already busily engaged
with a number of wounded men, most of whom were badly hit by shrapnel
bullets about the upper part of the body. I gathered from one or two of
the few most slightly wounded men that our people had been, and were,
very hardly put to it to hold their own. ‘I reckon,’ said one of them, a
bombardier of artillery, ‘that the enemy must have got more than a
hundred guns firing at us, and at Howe Street village. If we could only
make out where the foreign devils were,’ continued my informant, ‘our
chaps could have knocked a good many of them out with our
four-point-sevens, especially if we could have got a go at them before
they got within range themselves. But they must have somehow contrived
to get them into position during the night, for we saw nothing of them
coming up. They are somewhere about Chatley, Fairstead Lodge, and
Little Leighs, but as we can’t locate them exactly and only have ten
guns up here, it don’t give us much chance, does it?’ Later I saw an
officer of the Dorsets, who confirmed the gunner’s story, but added that
our people were well entrenched and the guns well concealed, so that
none of the latter had been put out of action, and he thought we should
be able to hold on to the hill all right. I regained my car without
further adventure, bar several narrow escapes from stray shell, and made
my way back as quickly as possible to Chelmsford.
“The firing went on all day, not only to the northward, but also away to
the southward, where the Saxons, while not making any determined attack,
kept the Vth Corps continually on the alert, and there was an almost
continuous duel between the heavy pieces. As it appeared certain that
the knoll I had visited in the forenoon was the main objective of the
enemy’s attack, reinforcements had been more than once sent up there,
but the German shell fire was so heavy that they found it almost
impossible to construct the additional cover required. Several batteries
of artillery were despatched to Pleshy and Rolphy Green to keep down, if
possible, the fire of the Germans, but it seemed to increase rather than
diminish. They must have had more guns in action than they had at first.
Just at dusk their infantry made the first openly offensive movement.
“Several lines of skirmishers suddenly appeared in the valley between
Little Leighs and Chatley, and advanced towards Lyonshall Wood, at the
north end of the knoll east of Little Waltham. They were at first
invisible from the British gun positions on the other side of the
Chelmer, and when they cleared the spur on which Hyde Hall stands they
were hardly discernible in the gathering darkness. The Dorsetshire and
the other battalions garrisoning the knoll manned their breastworks as
they got within rifle range, and opened fire, but they were still
subjected to the infernal rafale from the Hanoverian guns on the hills
to the northward, and to make matters worse at this critical moment the
Xth Corps brought a long line of guns into action between Flacks Green
and Great Leighs Wood, in which position none of the British guns except
a few on the knoll itself
[Illustration: BATTLE OF CHELMSFORD.
POSITION ON THE EVENING OF SEPTEMBER 11.]
could reach them. Under this cross hurricane of projectiles the British
fire was quite beaten down, and the Germans followed up their
skirmishers by almost solid masses, which advanced with all but impunity
save for the fire of the few British long-range guns at Pleshy Mount.
There they were firing almost at random, as the gunners could not be
certain of the exact whereabouts of their objectives. There was a
searchlight on the knoll, but at the first sweep of its ray it was
absolutely demolished by a blizzard of shrapnel. Every German gun was
turned upon it. The Hanoverian battalions now swarmed to the assault,
disregarding the gaps made in their ranks by the magazine fire of the
defenders as soon as their close advance masked the fire of their own
cannon.
“The British fought desperately. Three several times they hurled back at
the attackers, but, alas! we were overborne by sheer weight of numbers.
Reinforcements summoned by telephone, as soon as the determined nature
of the attack was apparent, were hurried up from every available source,
but they only arrived in time to be carried down the hill again in the
rush of its defeated defenders, and to share with them the storm of
projectiles from the quick-firers of General Von Kronhelm’s artillery,
which had been pushed forward during the assault. It was with the
greatest difficulty that the shattered and disorganised troops were got
over the river at Little Waltham. As it was, hundreds were drowned in
the little stream, and hundreds of others killed and wounded by the fire
of the Germans. They had won the first trick. This was indisputable, and
as ill news travels apace, a feeling of gloom fell upon our whole force,
for it was realised that the possession of the captured knoll would
enable the enemy to mass troops almost within effective rifle range of
our river line of defence. I believe that it was proposed by some
officers on the staff that we should wheel back our left and take up a
fresh position during the night. This was overruled, as it was
recognised that to do so would enable the enemy to push in between the
Dunmow force and our own, and so cut our general line in half. All that
could be done was to get up every available gun and bombard the hill
during the night, in order to hamper the enemy in his preparations for
further forward movement and in his entrenching operations.
“Had we more men at our disposal I suppose there is little doubt that a
strong counter attack would have been made on the knoll almost
immediately; but in the face of the enormous numbers opposed to us, I
imagine that General Blennerhasset did not feel justified in denuding
any portion of our position of its defenders. So all through the dark
hours the thunder of the great guns went on. In spite of the cannonade
the Germans turned on no less than three searchlights from the southern
end of the knoll about midnight. Two were at once put out by our fire,
but the third managed to exist for over half an hour, and enabled the
Germans to see how hard we were working to improve our defences along
the river bank. I am afraid that they were by this means able to make
themselves acquainted with the positions of a great number of our
trenches. During the night our patrols reported being unable to
penetrate beyond Pratt’s Farm, Mount Maskell, and Porter’s Farm on the
Colchester Road. Everywhere they were forced back by superior numbers.
The enemy were fast closing in upon us. It was a terrible night in
Chelmsford.
“There was a panic on every hand. A man mounted the Tindal statue and
harangued the crowd, urging the people to rise and compel the Government
to stop the war. A few young men endeavoured to load the old Crimean
cannon in front of the Shire Hall, but found it clogged with rust and
useless. People fled from the villa residences in Brentwood Road into
the town for safety, now that the enemy were upon them. The banks in
High Street were being barricaded, and the stores still remaining in the
various grocers’ shops, Luckin Smith’s, Martin’s, Cramphorn’s, and
Pearke’s, were rapidly being concealed from the invaders. All the
ambulance wagons entering the town were filled with wounded, although as
many as possible were sent south by train. By one o’clock in the
morning, however, most of the civilian inhabitants had fled. The streets
were empty, but for the bivouacking troops and the never-ending
procession of wounded men. The General and his Staff were deliberating
to a late hour in the Shire Hall, at which he had established his
headquarters. The booming of the guns waxed and waned till dawn, when a
furious outburst announced that the second act of the tragedy was about
to open.
“I had betaken myself at once to the round tower of the church, next the
Stone-bridge, from which I had an excellent view both east and north.
The first thing that attracted my eye was the myriad flashings of rifle
fire in the dimness of the breaking day. They reached in a continuous
line of coruscations from Boreham Hall, opposite my right hand, to the
knoll by Little Waltham, a distance of three or four miles, I should
say. The enemy were driving in all our outlying and advanced troops by
sheer weight of numbers. Presently the heavy batteries at Danbury began
pitching shell over in the direction of the firing, but as the German
line still advanced, it had not apparently any very great effect. The
next thing that happened was a determined attack on the village of Howe
Street made from the direction of Hyde Hall. This is about two miles
north of Little Waltham. In spite of our incessant fire, the Germans had
contrived to mass a tremendous number of guns and howitzers on and
behind the knoll they captured last night, and there were any quantity
more on the ridge above Hyde Hall. All these terrible weapons
concentrated their fire for a few moments on the blackened ruins of Howe
Street. Not a mouse could have lived there. The little place was simply
pulverised.
“Our guns at Pleshy Mount and Rolphy Green, aided by a number of field
batteries, in vain endeavoured to make head against them. They were
outnumbered by six to one. Under cover of this tornado of iron and fire,
the enemy pushed several battalions over the river, making use of the
ruins of the many bridges about
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [Illustration] |
| |
| =DECREE= |
| |
| =CONCERNING THE POWER OF COUNCILS OF WAR.= |
| |
| |
| WE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF EAST ANGLIA, in virtue of the powers conferred |
| upon us by His Imperial Majesty the German Emperor, Commander-in-Chief |
| of the German Armies, order, for the maintenance of the internal and |
| external security of the counties of the Government-General:-- |
| |
| ARTICLE I.--Any individual guilty of incendiarism or of wilful |
| inundation, of attack, or of resistance with violence against the |
| Government-General or the agents of the civil or military authorities, |
| of sedition, of pillage, of theft with violence, of assisting prisoners |
| to escape, or of exciting soldiers to treasonable acts, shall be |
| PUNISHED BY DEATH. |
| |
| In the case of any extenuating circumstances, the culprit may be sent to |
| penal servitude with hard labour for twenty years. |
| |
| ARTICLE II.--Any person provoking or inciting an individual to commit |
| the crimes mentioned in Article I. will be sent to penal servitude with |
| hard labour for ten years. |
| |
| ARTICLE III.--Any person propagating false reports relative to the |
| operations of war or political events will be imprisoned for one year, |
| and fined up to £100. |
| |
| In any case where the affirmation or propagation may cause prejudice |
| against the German army, or against any authorities or functionaries |
| established by it, the culprit will be sent to hard labour for ten |
| years. |
| |
| ARTICLE IV.--Any person usurping a public office, or who commit |
| any act or issues any order in the name of a public functionary, will be |
| imprisoned for five years, and fined £150. |
| |
| ARTICLE V.--Any person who voluntarily destroys or abstracts any |
| documents, registers, archives, or public documents deposited in public |
| offices, or passing through their hands in virtue of their functions as |
| government or civic officials, will be imprisoned for two years, and |
| fined £150. |
| |
| ARTICLE VI.--Any person obliterating, damaging, or tearing down |
| official notices, orders, or proclamations of any sort issued by the |
| German authorities will be imprisoned for six months, and fined £80. |
| |
| ARTICLE VII.--Any resistance or disobedience of any order given in the |
| interests of public security by military commanders and other |
| authorities, or any provocation or incitement to commit such |
| disobedience, will be punished by one year’s imprisonment, or a fine of |
| not less than £150. |
| |
| ARTICLE VIII.--All offences enumerated in Articles I.-VII. are within |
| the jurisdiction of the Councils of War. |
| |
| ARTICLE IX.--It is within the competence of Councils of War to |
| adjudicate upon all other crimes and offences against the internal and |
| external security of the English provinces occupied by the German Army, |
| and also upon all crimes against the military or civil authorities, or |
| their agents, as well as murder, the fabrication of false money, of |
| blackmail, and all other serious offences. |
| |
| ARTICLE X.--Independent of the above, the military jurisdiction already |
| proclaimed will remain in force regarding all actions tending to imperil |
| the security of the German troops, to damage their interests, or to |
| render assistance to the Army of the British Government. |
| |
| Consequently, there will be PUNISHED BY DEATH, and we expressly repeat |
| this, all persons who are not British soldiers and-- |
| |
| (_a_) Who serve the British Army or the Government as spies, or receive |
| British spies, or give them assistance or asylum. |
| |
| (_b_) Who serve as guides to British troops, or mislead the German |
| troops when charged to act as guides. |
| |
| (_c_) Who shoot, injure, or assault any German soldier or officer. |
| |
| (_d_) Who destroy bridges or canals, interrupt railways or telegraph |
| lines, render roads impassable, burn munitions of war, provisions, or |
| quarters of the troops. |
| |
| (_e_) Who take arms against the German troops. |
| |
| ARTICLE XI.--The organisation of Councils of War mentioned in Articles |
| VIII. and IX. of the Law of May 2, 1870, and their procedure are |
| regulated by special laws which are the same as the summary jurisdiction |
| of military tribunals. In the case of Article X. there remains in force |
| the Law of July 21, 1867, concerning the military jurisdiction |
| applicable to foreigners. |
| |
| ARTICLE XII.--The present order is proclaimed and put into execution on |
| the morrow of the day upon which it is affixed in the public places of |
| each town and village. |
| |
| The Governor-General of East Anglia, |
| |
| =COUNT von SCHONBURG-WALDENBURG,= |
| =Lieutenant-General.= |
| |
| NORWICH, _September 7th, 1910_. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
there which had been hastily destroyed, and which they repaired with
planks and other materials they brought along with them. They lost a
large number of men in the process, but they persevered, and by ten
o’clock were in complete possession of Howe Street, Langley’s Park, and
Great Waltham, and moving in fighting formation against Pleshy Mount and
Rolphy Green, their guns covering their advance with a perfectly awful
discharge of shrapnel. Our cannon on the ridge at Partridge Green took
the attackers in flank, and for a time checked their advance, but,
drawing upon themselves the attention of the German artillery, on the
south end of the knoll, were all but silenced.
“As soon as this was effected another strong column of Germans followed
in the footsteps of the first, and deploying to the left, secured the
bridge at Little Waltham, and advanced against the gun positions on
Partridge Green. This move turned all our river bank entrenchments right
down to Chelmsford. Their defenders were now treated to the enfilade
fire of a number of Hanoverian batteries that galloped down to Little
Waltham. They stuck to their trenches gallantly, but presently when the
enemy obtained a footing on Partridge Green they were taken in reverse,
and compelled to fall back, suffering terrible losses as they did so.
The whole of the infantry of the Xth Corps, supported--as we
understand--by a division which had joined them from Maldon, now moved
down on Chelmsford. In fact, there was a general advance of the three
combined armies stretching from Partridge Green on the west to the
railway line on the east. The defenders of the trenches facing east were
hastily withdrawn, and thrown back on Writtle. The Germans followed
closely with both infantry and guns, though they were for a time checked
near Scot’s Green by a dashing charge of our cavalry brigade, consisting
of the 16th Lancers and the 7th, 14th, and 20th Hussars, and the Essex
and Middlesex Yeomanry. We saw nothing of their cavalry, for a reason
that will be apparent later. By one o’clock fierce fighting was going
on all round the town, the German hordes enveloping it on all sides but
one. We had lost a great number of our guns, or at anyrate had been cut
off from them by the German successes around Pleshy Mount, and in all
their assaults on the town they had been careful to keep out of
effective range of the heavy batteries on Danbury Hill. These, by the
way, had their own work cut out for them, as the Saxon artillery were
heavily bombarding the hill with their howitzers. The British forces
were in a critical situation. Reinforcements--such as could be
spared--were hurried up from the Vth Army Corps, but they were not very
many in numbers, as it was necessary to provide against an attack by the
Saxon Corps. By three o’clock the greater part of the town was in the
hands of the Germans, despite the gallant way in which our men fought
them from street to street, and house to house. A dozen fires were
spreading in every direction, and fierce fighting was going on at
Writtle. The overpowering numbers of the Germans, combined with their
better organisation, and the number of properly trained officers at
their disposal, bore the British mixed Regular and Irregular forces
back, and back again.
“Fearful of being cut off from his line of retreat, General
Blennerhasset, on hearing from Writtle soon after three that the
Hanoverians were pressing his left very hard, and endeavouring to work
round it, reluctantly gave orders for the troops in Chelmsford to fall
back on Widford and Moulsham. There was a lull in the fighting for about
half an hour, though firing was going on both at Writtle and Danbury.
Soon after four a terrible rumour spread consternation on every side.
According to this, an enormous force of cavalry and motor infantry was
about to attack us in the rear. What had actually happened was not quite
so bad as this, but quite bad enough. It seems, according to our latest
information, that almost the whole of the cavalry belonging to the three
German Army Corps with whom we were engaged--something like a dozen
regiments, with a proportion of horse artillery and all available
motorists, having with them several of the new armoured motors carrying
light, quick-firing and machine guns--had been massed during the last
thirty-six hours behind the Saxon lines extending from Maldon to the
River Crouch. During the day they had worked round to the southward, and
at the time the rumour reached us were actually attacking Billericay,
which was held by a portion of the reserves of our Vth Corps. By the
time this news was confirmed the Germans were assaulting Great Baddow,
and moving on Danbury from east, north, and west, at the same time
resuming the offensive all along the line. The troops at Danbury must be
withdrawn, or they would be isolated. This difficult manœuvre was
executed by way of West Hanningfield. The rest of the Vth Corps
conformed to the movement, the Guards Brigade at East Hanningfield
forming the rearguard, and fighting fiercely all night through with the
Saxon troops, who moved out on the left flank of our retreat. The wreck
of the Ist Corps and the Colchester Garrison was now also in full
retirement. Ten miles lay between it and the lines at Brentwood, and had
the Germans been able to employ cavalry in pursuit, this retreat would
have been even more like a rout than it was. Luckily for us the
Billericay troops mauled the German cavalry pretty severely, and they
were beset in the close country in that neighbourhood by Volunteers,
motorists and every one that the officer commanding at Brentwood could
get together in this emergency.
“Some of them actually got upon our line of retreat, but were driven off
by our advance guard; others came across the head of the retiring Vth
Corps, but the terrain was all against cavalry, and after nightfall most
of them had lost their way in the maze of lanes and hedgerows that
covered the countryside. Had it not been for this we should probably
have been absolutely smashed. As it was, rather more than half our
original numbers of men and guns crawled into Brentwood in the early
morning, worn out and dead-beat.”