Part 5 (1/2)

Under a barrage formed by the French and English artillery the 11th Ess.e.x Regiment attacked with great determination, and by the end of the day had achieved the whole of its share of the task. The two battalions of the Cha.s.seurs were, unfortunately, not so successful, with the result that the right of the 11th Ess.e.x Regiment was exposed, and it was unable to hold on to a small part of the ground recovered on its extreme right. For this action the Division received a letter of thanks for its ”spontaneous” co-operation from General de Mitry, commanding the French Detachement de l'Armee du Nord.

The Division remained in the line as next-door neighbours to the French till the 7th June, when relieved by 33rd Division. Many will retain pleasant memories of our a.s.sociation with our Allies during the three to four weeks that we were alongside them, and of the admirable liaison that existed between us.

During the period of just under three weeks' rest that it enjoyed on this occasion the Division had one brigade always at Dirty Bucket Camp working on rear lines of defence, one training in the St. Jan ter Biezen area, and one at musketry at Cormette, near Tilques. During this period, too, the 71st Trench-mortar Battery and the 18th Trench-mortar Battery were able to be of service to the French, the former being lent to the 46th Division to a.s.sist them in an operation on 8th June, the latter co-operating with the 7th (French) Division in a successful raid on the 19th June.

On the 27th June the Division pa.s.sed to the XIX Corps (Lt.-Gen.

Sir H. E. Watts) and relieved the 46th French Division (Cha.s.seurs) in the d.i.c.kebusch sector. This was in a very unpleasant front, where the dominating position of the enemy on Kemmel Hill made movement, even in the rear lines, impossible by day, and practically all work, of which there was plenty, had to be done by night.

The chief incidents of the tour of the Division in this sector were the successful attack on Ridgewood, the 1st The Buffs daylight raid on the Bra.s.serie, the sixteen-prisoner night-raid of the 2nd D.L.I. on the Zillebeke front, and the co-operation of the 18th Infantry Brigade with the operations of the 41st Division on our right.

The situation created by the enemy's attack on Ridgewood on the 28th May had never been satisfactorily restored, in spite of repeated attempts on the part of the 46th (French) Division. The 6th Division took over with the determination to put this right on the first opportunity, profiting by the lessons learnt in the successive attacks made by the French Cha.s.seurs, which their Division had placed most unreservedly at our disposal. After careful reconnaissance the 18th Infantry Brigade, a.s.sisted by two companies of the 1st Middles.e.x Regiment of the 33rd Division, attacked the enemy at 6 a.m. on the 14th July. The attack delivered by the 1st West Yorks.h.i.+re Regiment and the 2nd D.L.I. and the two above-mentioned companies was a complete success. The enemy, taken entirely by surprise, only offered any resistance in one or two isolated cases, and the dash and prompt initiative of the attacking troops soon dealt with these. All objectives were gained, Ridgewood and Elzenwalle retaken, and 7 officers, 341 other ranks, 25 machine-guns, and 3 trench-mortars captured at small cost to the attackers. Large quant.i.ties of trench-mortar ammunition, found dumped close up to the front line, demonstrated the correctness of the view that the enemy had in contemplation a resumption of his offensive on this front. For this the Division received congratulations from the Commander-in-Chief, the G.O.C., Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer), and G.O.C., XIX Corps.

The raid of the 1st The Buffs was carried out on the 2nd August. The objective was the Bra.s.serie and neighbouring farms. The raid, which was by day and on a fairly extensive scale, was very successful.

On the 8th August the 41st Division carried out a small operation, in co-operation with which the 18th Infantry Brigade undertook two minor operations. That by a company of the 1st West Yorks.h.i.+re Regiment on the Vierstraat Road was unsuccessful, through no fault of the attacking infantry, who were held up by machine-guns sited so far forward that they had escaped our barrage. On the right a company of the 2nd D.L.I., operating in direct touch with the left of the 41st Division, was completely successful in carrying out its task. In connection with operations on this front the Division sustained a severe loss in Major R. W. Barnett, K.R.R., G.S.O.2, who was killed by a sniper while reconnoitring on 12th August.

During July and August the Divisional Artillery was exceptionally busy. An immense amount of effort was put into the preparation of forward positions for a large number of batteries to be employed in a contemplated later offensive. Vast quant.i.ties of gun ammunition were carted nightly, and dumped therein in readiness.

During the month of August the Division had the pleasure of close a.s.sociation with our American Allies, part of the 27th American, a New York Division, doing their attachment and apprentices.h.i.+p to trench warfare with us. On the 21st to the 24th August the Americans relieved the Division in the line, and it was withdrawn for rest and training to the Wizernes area.

On leaving the XIX Corps the Corps Commander sent the Division his ”warmest thanks for and appreciation of the excellent service rendered” while under his command.

CHAPTER XI

THE ALLIED OFFENSIVE IN THE SOUTH

1918

Originally destined to take part in a projected attack for the recapture of Kemmel Hill and Village, the Division suddenly received orders at the end of August, to the delight of all, to move southwards at very short notice. During the 1st, 2nd and 3rd September the move southwards was carried out by rail, the Division, less artillery, detraining at Corbie, Heilly and Mericourt. On the 4th the Divisional Artillery followed, and the whole Division was concentrated in the area Heilly-Ribemont-Franvillers on the River Ancre, in G.H.Q.

Reserve. The next few days were devoted to a continuation of the training in open warfare commenced in the Wizernes area.

The Germans, forced back in July and August from the high-water mark of their advance in March and April, had stood on the line of the Somme and the Peronne--Arras road. In the southern sector of the British front the Somme defences had been turned by the brilliant capture of Mont St. Quentin (to the north of and guarding Peronne) by the Australian Corps. The retreating enemy had been pursued across the Somme by the 32nd Division, which had been attached temporarily to the Australians. This Division now became part of the newly-const.i.tuted IX Corps (Lt.-Gen. Sir W. Braithwaite), which was to bear such a glorious part in the concluding chapter of the War, and which consisted of 1st, 6th, 32nd and 46th Divisions.

The 32nd Division had followed the enemy without much incident up to the large Holnon Wood, three and a half miles west of St. Quentin, and it was there that the Division relieved it on night 13/14th September, with the 1st Division on the left and the 34th (French) Division on the right.

It was expected that the enemy would stand on the heights which command St. Quentin to the west and south, but it was not known whether their resistance would be strong or not, as they were much disorganized.

The 1st and 6th Divisions, hand in hand with the French, were ordered to capture this tactical line on 18th September, as a starting-point for the attack on the Hindenburg Line, which ran just outside St.

Quentin to the ca.n.a.l at Bellenglise.

To the 18th Infantry Brigade was entrusted the task of securing a line well clear of Holnon Wood for the forming-up line on the 18th, and in doing so it first had to clear the wood and establish posts at the edge, then push forward. The selected forming-up line included to us Holnon Village on the right and next to the French.

On the morning of the 16th September the 11th Ess.e.x, after an unsuccessful attempt to push forward during the night, attacked under a barrage and advanced from the line of posts taken over a little way inside the wood to a line of trenches just clear of the wood, capturing in this small operation forty-six prisoners. It was now arranged for the 1st, 6th and 34th (French) Divisions to advance simultaneously to secure the above-mentioned starting line. On the left the 1st Division was successful, and so were the 11th Ess.e.x, who, held up at first by heavy sh.e.l.ling and machine-gun fire, persevered throughout the day and were rewarded by finis.h.i.+ng up in possession of the whole of their objectives, a very creditable performance.

On the right the West Yorks had to secure Holnon Village, which lay in a hollow commanded by Round and Manchester Hills in the area allotted to the French, and which was itself strongly held. The French failed in their attack, and though the West Yorks obtained part of the village they could not clear it and establish the starting line beyond it. The situation at the end of the 17th was therefore unsatisfactory on the right, but it was impossible to put off the general attack, and arrangements had to be improvised. Another unsatisfactory feature was that Holnon Wood covered practically the whole 2,500 yards frontage of the Division, and was so drenched with gas sh.e.l.ls and the tracks so bad, that both 16th and 71st Infantry Brigades had to make a detour north and south of the wood respectively to reach their a.s.sembly positions, and this naturally fatigued the troops and hindered communication and supply.

Standing on the east edge of the wood, a bare glacis-like slope devoid of cover, except for two or three sh.e.l.l-trap copses, stretched away for 3,000 yards to the high ground overlooking St. Quentin. There was no sign of life and very few trenches could be seen, though it was known that they were there as the Fifth Army had held the position in March 1918. It was found afterwards that the Germans had camouflaged their trenches with thistles, which here covered the ground to a height in many places of eighteen inches.

At the highest point about the centre of the Divisional area of attack was a network of trenches known later as the Quadrilateral--a name of bad omen to the 6th Division--and which, like its namesake on the Somme, could be reinforced under cover from the back slopes of the hill. An examination of the battlefield after the 24th September also revealed several narrow sunken roads filled with wire. The position was one of great natural strength, and in addition the whole of the right was dominated by heights in the area to be attacked by the French. Lastly, adequate time could not be given to Brigades for reconnaissance owing to the imperative necessity of pus.h.i.+ng on to guard the flank of Corps farther north. Troops had not seen the ground they had to attack over, and rain and smoke obscured the few landmarks existing on 18th September.

On that morning the Division attacked at 5.20 a.m. with the 71st Infantry Brigade on the right, its left directed on the Quadrilateral and its right on Holnon and Selency.