THE CROSSING OF THE AISNE.
On Saturday, September 12, 1914, the 6th French Army managed to secure
several good artillery positions on the south bank of the river, and all
day long there was a long-range duel with the German guns on the other
side. Our Third Army Corps, working from west to east, gained some high
ground east of Soissons, and their guns now took part in the duel. Until
near midnight the rival guns hurled shot and shell at each other, while
German searchlights flashed their broad beams to and fro searching the
Allied positions. During the night our Third Army Corps and the right of
the 6th French Army managed to capture half of the town of Soissons.
If you look at the picture-diagram on pages 248-9, you will notice that
a little tributary, the Vesle, joins the main stream near Condé. While
the Third Corps was attacking Soissons our cavalry was busy driving the
enemy out of the valley of the lower Vesle.[124] Throughout the previous
day (11th September) Allenby's men had been working through the woods
and along the roads, clearing the ground, and preparing for the advance
of the infantry. At Braisne,[125] which stands on the Vesle, they found
the Germans in force, holding the little town, the bridge, and the
surrounding heights with infantry and machine guns. In the brisk fight
which followed the Queen's Bays greatly distinguished themselves. About
midday our cavalry won the town, and began driving the enemy to the
north. Some hundreds of prisoners were captured, and the Germans
retreated so hastily that they were obliged to throw a large amount of
gun ammunition into the river. It could clearly be seen under two feet
of water. By the evening of the 12th the valley of the Vesle was clear,
and both the Second and First Corps were approaching the main stream.
The Second Corps lay across the Vesle, with the First Corps to the east
of it. The Allies were now ready to undertake the tremendous task of
crossing the river Aisne.
Sunday morning, 13th September, saw the great task begun, and the
evening saw it successfully ended. As the Allies moved out towards the
river the whole line of heights fronting them seemed to flash fire. From
hundreds of German howitzers and field guns a storm of shot and shell
raged along the south bank of the river, and from line after line of
trenches hidden in the trees on the steep slopes sped a hurricane of
bullets from machine guns and rifles. The bombardment was terrific; the
whole valley appeared to throb as the shrapnel burst and the huge shells
flew into fragments with a deafening roar. It seemed as though nothing
could live in that zone of death. Nevertheless the Allies, crouching
amid the bushes, doubling from one spot of shelter to another, moved
swiftly forward in long, thin, skirmishing lines. Meanwhile British and
French guns played upon the German trenches, and to some extent kept
down the rifle and machine-gun fire.
Already the Allied engineers were engaged on the most dangerous and
difficult work known to war. The river was swollen with the recent heavy
rains, and its muddy torrent roared along, bearing on its surface the
wreckage of many broken bridges. Near Soissons the engineers tried to
push pontoons across the stream. Calmly and coolly they constructed
their bridges under a deadly fire, only to see them splintered to
matchwood by the guns of the enemy. As they worked, German rifles and
machine guns blazed at them from short range across the river, and the
enemy, encouraged by his success, attempted to build bridges of his own.
As, however, the first bridge section approached the stream, a British
shell burst above it, and immediately the section and its bearers were
no more. So fierce, however, was the fire of the enemy that our
engineers had to give up trying to bridge the stream at this point. All
attempts to silence the German batteries which were doing the mischief
proved vain.
[Illustration: German Sharpshooters on the Heights of the Aisne.
_Photo, Newspaper Illustrations, Ltd._]
Farther west, however, the French, in the gray of the morning, threw two
bridges across the river, and immediately infantry and guns of the 6th
Army swarmed across them. By the afternoon the French were fighting
their way up the ravines on the other side. A little distance to the
east of Soissons you will notice that the river forks, and in two
channels flows round an island. At this point British engineers were
also successful in throwing pontoons across the river, and the 11th
British Brigade dashed across them, and began to dig themselves in on
the other side.
Smith-Dorrien's men, the Second Corps, were lying astride of the lower
Vesle. As they advanced against the line of the Aisne they suffered
heavy loss, especially on the left, where there was much open ground.
Stubborn attempts were made to bridge the river opposite to the village
of Missy, but they failed again and again. Nevertheless, by the
afternoon rafts had been constructed, and these, laden with troops, were
hauled to and fro across the stream. By this means two brigades gained
the other side, and immediately lined out in the woods, where they
fought for the rest of the day. Meanwhile Smith-Dorrien's 3rd Division
was struggling hard to cross at Condé.[126] On the other side the
Germans were lying in tiers of trenches on the steep slope, and some of
them were sheltered behind the ramparts of an old French fort at Condé.
So fierce and continuous was their fire that our men failed to cross the
river at this point. The Germans held Condé all that day, and for many
weeks after.
Haig's division, on Smith-Dorrien's right, attacked the enemy along a
front of about six miles. You will notice that they had to cross, first
a canal, and then the river. The canal was easily bridged, but the flat
ground between the canal and river was terribly swept by German fire,
and here again it was found impossible at most points to construct
pontoon bridges. The men, however, were got across by means of boats and
rafts.
Still farther east an iron road bridge had been blown up by the Germans;
but they had not made a complete job of it, and one of the broken
girders which remained above the water formed a kind of switchback
across the stream. In the middle it was under water, and the muddy river
swirled fiercely around it. The upstanding girder was discovered by one
of our men, and immediately an attempt was made to get troops across it.
Ropes were stretched from bank to bank, to give the men something to
hold on by, and across this quivering plank of steel they made their
way in single file. At one point they were nearly up to their waists in
water. Despite rifle and machine-gun fire, a small force crossed the
river by this perilous path, and as it pushed forward the engineers were
able to strengthen and enlarge the frail bridge for the passage of the
remainder. The crossing of the river by means of this broken girder was
one of the most stirring incidents yet recorded. (See Frontispiece.)
It was on the right of the British line that the greatest success was
achieved. At a place called Bourg (see map on page 240) a branch canal
is carried across the river by means of a low aqueduct with a broad
towing-path. By some happy chance the Germans had not destroyed this
aqueduct, and were holding it with only a small force. When, however,
the British cavalry prepared to cross by means of the towing-path,
shrapnel and bullets were rained upon them. The horsemen, however,
dashed across, and infantry followed hard behind them. Meanwhile the
engineers were busy building a pontoon bridge by the side of the
aqueduct, where they were sheltered from the enemy's fire. The rest of
the 1st Division was got across by means of the pontoon bridge, and in
the evening was partly entrenched two miles north of the river. The 5th
French Army was by this time across the river too, and the Moroccans
were covering the British flank.
* * * * *
A thousand deeds of cool and daring courage were done on that September
morning. If you are to form an idea of what our men had to face, you
must try to imagine them creeping nearer and nearer to the river through
a deadly hail of shot and shell--the engineers working calmly on the
bridges while marksmen hidden in the woods were picking them off, and
the machine guns and artillery of the enemy were making havoc amongst
them; the frail rafts, crowded with men, being hauled to and fro, and
death taking its toll every passage; the infantry crawling forward yard
by yard up the steep slopes, in spite of the fire from above, and all
the while huge shells from the German howitzers hurling up fountains of
water from the river or tearing vast holes in the ground. Sudden and
hideous death faced our men every minute; yet they "stuck it" with
bull-dog courage, and the river was crossed.
[Illustration: "He sat down in full view of the enemy, and poured a hail
of bullets on the advancing Germans."
_From the picture by F. Gardiner._]
One splendid deed of heroism must not be forgotten. Near Soissons, where
the howitzer fire of the Germans was fierce and continuous, 150 men of
the West Kents, Black Watch, and Scottish Borderers were told off to
guard a bridgehead. Suddenly the Germans in great force opened fire from
the surrounding woods, and a dense column advanced at a run towards the
bridge. The little British detachment checked them for a time, but at a
heavy loss. A ring of dead lay around the machine gun which was holding
back the German advance, and the crew being laid low it ceased to fire.
At this fateful moment a big Highlander jumped up from cover, ran
forward, seized the Maxim, swung it, tripod and all, across his
shoulder, and ran with it to the bridgehead, where, all alone, he sat
down in full view of the enemy, and poured a hail of bullets on the
advancing Germans. Under this withering fire the column wavered and fled
for cover to the fields on either side of the road. As the last of the
enemy retired the brave Highlander fell forward on to his gun, riddled
with thirty bullets. He had, however, like Horatius of old, saved the
bridge, for just as he fell British reinforcements doubled up and put
the final touches to the rout of the enemy.
* * * * *
By the end of that Sunday evening only the 19th Brigade of the Third
Corps, which was operating near Soissons, and some brigades of the
Second Corps, lying more to the right, had failed to cross the stream.
The bulk of the British had made the passage, and were now entrenched
well up the slopes on the farther side. Never before in the history of
the British army had so broad a river been so quickly crossed in the
face of such a great and strongly-posted enemy. It was a remarkable feat
of arms, and the credit was mainly due to the artillery and to the
engineers. In the face of almost certain death, our sappers worked as
calmly and coolly at their bridges as though engaged in peaceful
manoeuvres at home.
[Illustration: Sermoise Spur R. Vesle
_By permission of the Illustrated London News._
Diagram of the Aisne Valley showing the part of the River attacked by
the British.
In his dispatch of October 8, 1914, Sir John French thus describes the
Aisne valley:--"The Aisne Valley runs generally east and west, and
consists of a flat-bottomed depression of width varying from half a mile
to two miles, down which the river follows a winding course to the west,
at some points near the southern slopes of the valley, and at others
near the northern.
"The high ground both on the north and south of the river is about 400
feet above the bottom of the valley, and is very similar in character,
as are both slopes of the valley itself, which are broken into numerous
rounded spurs cut into by ravines. The most prominent of the former are
the Chivres Spur on the right bank, and Sermoise Spur on the left. Near
the latter place the general plateau on the south is divided by a
subsidiary valley of much the same character down which the small river
Vesle flows to the main stream near Sermoise. The slopes of the plateau
overlooking the Aisne on the north and south are of varying steepness,
and are covered with numerous patches of wood, which also stretch
upwards and backwards over the edge on to the top of the high ground.
The Aisne is a sluggish stream of some 170 feet in breadth, but being 15
feet deep in the centre, it is unfordable. Between Soissons on the west
and Villers on the east (some 3 miles south-east of Soupir) there are
eleven road bridges across it. On the north bank a narrow-gauge railway
runs from Soissons to Vailly where it crosses the river, and continues
eastward along the south bank. From Soissons to Sermoise a double line
of railway runs along the south bank, turning at the latter place up the
Vesle Valley.
"The position held by the enemy is a very strong one, either for
delaying action or for a defensive battle. One of its chief military
characteristics is that from the high ground on neither side can the top
of the plateau on the other side be seen, except for small stretches.
This is chiefly due to the woods on the edges of the slopes. Another
important point is that all the bridges are under direct or high-angle
artillery fire.
"The tract of country above described, which lies north of the Aisne, is
well adapted to concealment, and was so skilfully turned to account by
the enemy as to render it impossible to judge the real nature of his
opposition to our passage of the river or accurately to gauge his
strength. But I have every reason to conclude that strong rearguards of
at least three army corps were holding the passages on the early morning
of the 13th. On that morning I ordered the British forces to advance and
make good the Aisne."]
[Footnote 124: _Vail._]
[Footnote 125: _Brain._]
[Footnote 126: _Kon-day´_ (_n_ nasal).]