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The attacks at Bullecourt
The Australians carried all their ground at great speed, getting through and beyond the second line trenches of the Hindenburg system in less than an hour’s fighting
May 7, 1917
The long spell of fine weather was broken yesterday afternoon by a gale, accompanied over part of the battle area with thunder and rain. Today is bright and clear again, but colder, and the wind is very high. Another day has passed without any important movement, though there has been some sharp fighting in the north just below Lens, in the La Coulotte area, where we gained some ground and made 30 prisoners, and in the south about Bullecourt, where the situation remains very interesting.
As already explained, here we have broken through the Hindenburg line and hold positions below Bullecourt well to the east of the village and on the Riencourt road. In the village itself we are also in the Hindenburg line, and have apparently got some foothold in the village, but the whole place is very obstinately defended. In the original attack the Australians carried all their ground at great speed, getting through and beyond the second line trenches of the Hindenburg system in less than an hour’s fighting. English troops broke into the village, and at one point on the north side well beyond it. The village, however, was full of machine-guns, and these troops were unable to hold all the ground gained.
The Australians on the right thus held a salient into the German lines, with both flanks practically unprotected, and in this position they were subjected to a rapid quadruple counter-attack with heavy forces from Queant, from Riencourt, and from Bullecourt village. They beat off the attacks with the help of the artillery, in praise of whose work they are enthusiastic, and the ground won they still hold, and have even improved their positions somewhat by bombing along the Hindenburg line eastwards. In their attack the Australians got two minenwerfer, which they have been using against the enemy, and a hundred prisoners from the Third Guard Division, which was in Bullecourt village, and the Second Guard Reserve Division, which was on the Queant side. To these the English troops have added 30 prisoners of the 120th Regiment of Grenadiers. The officers among the prisoners captured speak of Bullecourt as untakeable, saying that we shall get it only when the Germans choose to give it up, but the Germans have said the same thing many times of positions which soon became ours without any visible willingness on the enemy’s part.
A curious companion picture to the German Corpse Utilization Factory is the experiment which the Germans are now making with a new artificial fodder for horses, made from animal offal, bones, and undigested food extracted from the stomachs of dead animals. This appetizing forage is known as Fleischfuttermehl, and certain regiments are now experimenting with it, but whether they are also experimenting in eating the flesh of horses fed on it is unknown.
As already explained, here we have broken through the Hindenburg line and hold positions below Bullecourt well to the east of the village and on the Riencourt road. In the village itself we are also in the Hindenburg line, and have apparently got some foothold in the village, but the whole place is very obstinately defended. In the original attack the Australians carried all their ground at great speed, getting through and beyond the second line trenches of the Hindenburg system in less than an hour’s fighting. English troops broke into the village, and at one point on the north side well beyond it. The village, however, was full of machine-guns, and these troops were unable to hold all the ground gained.
The Australians on the right thus held a salient into the German lines, with both flanks practically unprotected, and in this position they were subjected to a rapid quadruple counter-attack with heavy forces from Queant, from Riencourt, and from Bullecourt village. They beat off the attacks with the help of the artillery, in praise of whose work they are enthusiastic, and the ground won they still hold, and have even improved their positions somewhat by bombing along the Hindenburg line eastwards. In their attack the Australians got two minenwerfer, which they have been using against the enemy, and a hundred prisoners from the Third Guard Division, which was in Bullecourt village, and the Second Guard Reserve Division, which was on the Queant side. To these the English troops have added 30 prisoners of the 120th Regiment of Grenadiers. The officers among the prisoners captured speak of Bullecourt as untakeable, saying that we shall get it only when the Germans choose to give it up, but the Germans have said the same thing many times of positions which soon became ours without any visible willingness on the enemy’s part.
A curious companion picture to the German Corpse Utilization Factory is the experiment which the Germans are now making with a new artificial fodder for horses, made from animal offal, bones, and undigested food extracted from the stomachs of dead animals. This appetizing forage is known as Fleischfuttermehl, and certain regiments are now experimenting with it, but whether they are also experimenting in eating the flesh of horses fed on it is unknown.
At grips
Before Gavrelle the dead of Germany lie in heaps. At other points of the battle the toll of men that she has paid has been scarcely less heavy
April 26, 1917
The Armies of Great Britain and Germany are still locked in battle north and south of the Scarpe. Neither has made great headway since Monday morning, though such progress as there has been is to the credit of the British. Sir Douglas Haig said yesterday morning that “further progress has been made by our troops, and the ground gained has been secured”. Last night he added that the British line “has been advanced slightly during the day south of the Scarpe River”.
Let there be no impatience in this country if the British arms do not at the moment scatter the enemy before them. He has come to grips. The word has gone to his men that they must stand now. We showed yesterday why it is imperative for the German High Command to yield nothing to the British troops who are thrusting east along the valley of the Scarpe, which leads to the open plain of Northern France, the frontier of Belgium, and the Ardennes. On that command the German troops have come time after time to the counter-attack. Before Gavrelle, before Guémappe - both in British hands - along the whole seven miles of front that lie between Gavrelle and Fontaine, they have been sent in fruitless column upon column of assault to drive back the British lines. The price that they have paid may be read in the impressive dispatch which we publish today from our Correspondent at British Headquarters. If any comparison can be made between the fury of the fighting at the several points of this deadly battle-line, the palm must be given to Gavrelle. Against its ruined shell the enemy drove eight separate counter strokes within 24 hours.
In the early fighting one of these penetrated the British lines that held the village. The Germans did not stay there long and their other attacks had not even this brief success. Most withered under the fire of the British guns before they could be launched. Others struggled forward some distance before the tempest of metal smote and destroyed them. A few lasted to within rifle range. Before Gavrelle the dead of Germany lie in heaps. At other points of the battle the toll of men that she has paid has been scarcely less heavy.
German generals are not used to pay that toll for nothing. Gavrelle especially is worth a heavy price for its recovery. Its passing to British hands breaches the German line across the Scarpe and opens a gap through which the attack may pass against the Drocourt-Queant line, not yet ready to receive it. There is reason to believe that the enemy may make yet another effort to retake Gavrelle. Our Correspondent mentions new concentrations behind the German front in this region, and suggests that the enemy will try again. There is every reason why he should, but we may be very sure that the time he spends in preparation will not have been wasted on the British side.
It is worth remarking that our Correspondent speaks of the knowledge that the British Staff has of the enemy’s preparations as though it was a mere matter of course. It is very far from that. On the contrary, it is most interesting that he should mention the results of air observation in this almost casual way. It confirms the impression made by the recent remarkable victories of the British airmen in air fights. The Germans in their communique yesterday made much of the Allied losses in the air, but said not a word about their own. They have been in the habit of admitting some at least of them. Their sudden silence about thern is not unpleasant to observe.
Curiously enough, it is from a German that there comes today one of the sanest explanations of the real proportions of the battle. Herr Gadke was once the best known of German military correspondents. He lost the favour of the authorities and was disgraced. Now the Vorwarts gives prominence to an article by him. We print extracts from it in “Through German Eyes.” He insists on the unity of the Allied offensive in the West, and says that “it is impossible to deny that our enemies’ attack with the greatest masses that they have yet led into battle has been appropriately planned.”
Such a comment by a German expert should not be despised here. It is so easy to think only of the events of the passing day, to be depressed if dozens of villages and thousands of prisoners are not constantly passing into British hands. Herr Gadke warns his readers against the converse fallacy. “Although the fighting on this broad front,” he says, “takes many shapes, and although the battles seem to be split up into separate engagements confined to limited areas, it is perfectly clear that the Anglo-French attack is based upon one guiding idea.”
Fas est ab hoste doceri. The measure of the British achievement in this battle is not the amount of ground won day by day. It is to be reckoned by its success in dictating the strategy of the enemy; by the weight of troops that he uses against the British attack; by their failures; by the losses that they suffer.
In numbers the German High Command still has, no doubt, ample reserves. The quality of these reserves is more in question. He is being compelled to use them to repel attacks in force, now by the British Armies, now by the French. By so much is his ability to initiate attacks himself elsewhere diminished.
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Let there be no impatience in this country if the British arms do not at the moment scatter the enemy before them. He has come to grips. The word has gone to his men that they must stand now. We showed yesterday why it is imperative for the German High Command to yield nothing to the British troops who are thrusting east along the valley of the Scarpe, which leads to the open plain of Northern France, the frontier of Belgium, and the Ardennes. On that command the German troops have come time after time to the counter-attack. Before Gavrelle, before Guémappe - both in British hands - along the whole seven miles of front that lie between Gavrelle and Fontaine, they have been sent in fruitless column upon column of assault to drive back the British lines. The price that they have paid may be read in the impressive dispatch which we publish today from our Correspondent at British Headquarters. If any comparison can be made between the fury of the fighting at the several points of this deadly battle-line, the palm must be given to Gavrelle. Against its ruined shell the enemy drove eight separate counter strokes within 24 hours.
In the early fighting one of these penetrated the British lines that held the village. The Germans did not stay there long and their other attacks had not even this brief success. Most withered under the fire of the British guns before they could be launched. Others struggled forward some distance before the tempest of metal smote and destroyed them. A few lasted to within rifle range. Before Gavrelle the dead of Germany lie in heaps. At other points of the battle the toll of men that she has paid has been scarcely less heavy.
German generals are not used to pay that toll for nothing. Gavrelle especially is worth a heavy price for its recovery. Its passing to British hands breaches the German line across the Scarpe and opens a gap through which the attack may pass against the Drocourt-Queant line, not yet ready to receive it. There is reason to believe that the enemy may make yet another effort to retake Gavrelle. Our Correspondent mentions new concentrations behind the German front in this region, and suggests that the enemy will try again. There is every reason why he should, but we may be very sure that the time he spends in preparation will not have been wasted on the British side.
It is worth remarking that our Correspondent speaks of the knowledge that the British Staff has of the enemy’s preparations as though it was a mere matter of course. It is very far from that. On the contrary, it is most interesting that he should mention the results of air observation in this almost casual way. It confirms the impression made by the recent remarkable victories of the British airmen in air fights. The Germans in their communique yesterday made much of the Allied losses in the air, but said not a word about their own. They have been in the habit of admitting some at least of them. Their sudden silence about thern is not unpleasant to observe.
Curiously enough, it is from a German that there comes today one of the sanest explanations of the real proportions of the battle. Herr Gadke was once the best known of German military correspondents. He lost the favour of the authorities and was disgraced. Now the Vorwarts gives prominence to an article by him. We print extracts from it in “Through German Eyes.” He insists on the unity of the Allied offensive in the West, and says that “it is impossible to deny that our enemies’ attack with the greatest masses that they have yet led into battle has been appropriately planned.”
Such a comment by a German expert should not be despised here. It is so easy to think only of the events of the passing day, to be depressed if dozens of villages and thousands of prisoners are not constantly passing into British hands. Herr Gadke warns his readers against the converse fallacy. “Although the fighting on this broad front,” he says, “takes many shapes, and although the battles seem to be split up into separate engagements confined to limited areas, it is perfectly clear that the Anglo-French attack is based upon one guiding idea.”
Fas est ab hoste doceri. The measure of the British achievement in this battle is not the amount of ground won day by day. It is to be reckoned by its success in dictating the strategy of the enemy; by the weight of troops that he uses against the British attack; by their failures; by the losses that they suffer.
In numbers the German High Command still has, no doubt, ample reserves. The quality of these reserves is more in question. He is being compelled to use them to repel attacks in force, now by the British Armies, now by the French. By so much is his ability to initiate attacks himself elsewhere diminished.
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Advance at dawn
I have already spoken of the great difficulty of attacking over this country with successive slopes, all swept from machine-gun posts in various directions. This is especially the case about the Scarpe, where the low ground and the opposing slopes are covered from the other side of the river
April 24, 1917
Encouraged by three days of fine weather, we have today again made a general attack with English and Scottish troops on a front of about 12,000 yards in the Arras sector, the front reaching from near Gavrelle, north of the Scarpe, to Fontaine-lez-Croisilles, on the River Sensée. How complete the success has been it is, at the time of writing, impossible to say, but we know that we have succeeded, and that the prisoners will apparently, be not less than 2,000, with some guns.
The attack was not on such a scale, or delivered with such weight, as one of our great blows, like that of April 9, because we had not confronting us any such continuous and definite objective like the old German first line. On the extreme left we had before us the southern end of the strong line which runs northwards through Oppy, of which I have spoken in former dispatches. On the extreme right we were against the end of the Hindenburg line where it projects north-west from Quéant. Between these extremes, however, there is no continuous trench system, but rolling country, dotted everywhere with isolated posts and short bits of trenches.
I have already spoken of the great difficulty of attacking over this country with successive slopes, all swept from machine-gun posts in various directions. This is especially the case about the Scarpe, where the low ground and the opposing slopes are covered from the other side of the river, much as was the case on the Ancre. Such country offers no definite object of attack like the fortified main line, nor has artillery the same clear-cut target. Nonetheless our preliminary bombardment was terrific and most effective. Throughout the night the guns thundered continuously, and in the hour immediately preceding the dawn, when the attack was delivered, it was as heavy as anything I have heard. Prisoners, indeed, declare that our shelling in the Battle of Arras was worse than anything they had to endure on the Somme.
VILLAGES WIPED OUT
As a result of last night’s bombardment, following the heavy shelling of the previous days, the villages on our immediate front have been practically wiped out of existence. The rapidity with which so great a weight of guns has been brought up after the recent German retreat is as remarkable as anything in all our great machine here. The attack, as I have said, was delivered.just before dawn, and at most places our men met with little resistance immediately at the start, the nearest trenches being battered out of existence, or held lightly by men with no fight left in them.
The German barrage, however, was much better than in the opening fight of the battle on April 9, though still feeble compared with our own artillery fire. It caused some casualties, but made no difference to the advance of our men. I have talked today with some men wounded by that barrage, and they regard it only as bitter hard luck that they should have been among the few to be stopped, while all the rest were able to go on. In every fight it is always the same story. The only thing our men really regret is being stopped before they have a chance of getting at the enemy.
In their second lines, and in the trenches and posts beyond, the Germans fought at many places stubbornly, and I have heard men from Eastern and Midland counties talk of bayonet work they had before the unfortunate bullet came along which put them out of the fighting. It is evident that the German higher Command is making every possible effort to delay our advance, in order to gain time to complete their defence lines in the rear.
So prisoners tell us, and the whole ground today was held in great strength, though at some places, as always, the Germans behaved very badly and surrendered shamefully. This was particularly the case on the southern part of the attack, on the ground between the Cojeul and Sensée Rivers, where, from open trenches, over 500 men of two battalions of the 141st Regiment of the 35th Division gave themselves up with eagerness. This has delighted other prisoners of the 18th Reserve Division, because they recently also surrendered in masses, and the 35th since then has been holding them up to ridicule.
Now the 35th itself has had its medicine, and behaved no better than the 18th. On the left of this same area, however, about Guémappe, just north of the Cojeul River the Bavarians of the 3rd Bavarian Division have been fighting well. What is the situation here at the moment is uncertain. We penetrated into Guémappe early in the day, but heavy counter-attacks are being delivered, and I cannot say whether we shall succeed in holding all the ground won, Below here there was also very fierce fighting in progress about Fontaine-lez-Croisilles, where there is an extremely strong series of positions at a point where the Hindenburg line crosses the Sensée River. When I left the Headquarters of the unit engaged there no decision had been arrived at.
Between Guémappe and Fontaine is a commanding position which is ours and will remain ours. It is marked on large-scale maps as a windmill, but it is really a tower crowning high ground which may ouce have been the site of a windmill, More recently there has been only an old tower, which has been a valuable observation post for the enemy. That is in our hands, and in a counter-attack by part of the 141st Regiment the attackers were absolutely wiped out by our artillery fire.
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The attack was not on such a scale, or delivered with such weight, as one of our great blows, like that of April 9, because we had not confronting us any such continuous and definite objective like the old German first line. On the extreme left we had before us the southern end of the strong line which runs northwards through Oppy, of which I have spoken in former dispatches. On the extreme right we were against the end of the Hindenburg line where it projects north-west from Quéant. Between these extremes, however, there is no continuous trench system, but rolling country, dotted everywhere with isolated posts and short bits of trenches.
I have already spoken of the great difficulty of attacking over this country with successive slopes, all swept from machine-gun posts in various directions. This is especially the case about the Scarpe, where the low ground and the opposing slopes are covered from the other side of the river, much as was the case on the Ancre. Such country offers no definite object of attack like the fortified main line, nor has artillery the same clear-cut target. Nonetheless our preliminary bombardment was terrific and most effective. Throughout the night the guns thundered continuously, and in the hour immediately preceding the dawn, when the attack was delivered, it was as heavy as anything I have heard. Prisoners, indeed, declare that our shelling in the Battle of Arras was worse than anything they had to endure on the Somme.
VILLAGES WIPED OUT
As a result of last night’s bombardment, following the heavy shelling of the previous days, the villages on our immediate front have been practically wiped out of existence. The rapidity with which so great a weight of guns has been brought up after the recent German retreat is as remarkable as anything in all our great machine here. The attack, as I have said, was delivered.just before dawn, and at most places our men met with little resistance immediately at the start, the nearest trenches being battered out of existence, or held lightly by men with no fight left in them.
The German barrage, however, was much better than in the opening fight of the battle on April 9, though still feeble compared with our own artillery fire. It caused some casualties, but made no difference to the advance of our men. I have talked today with some men wounded by that barrage, and they regard it only as bitter hard luck that they should have been among the few to be stopped, while all the rest were able to go on. In every fight it is always the same story. The only thing our men really regret is being stopped before they have a chance of getting at the enemy.
In their second lines, and in the trenches and posts beyond, the Germans fought at many places stubbornly, and I have heard men from Eastern and Midland counties talk of bayonet work they had before the unfortunate bullet came along which put them out of the fighting. It is evident that the German higher Command is making every possible effort to delay our advance, in order to gain time to complete their defence lines in the rear.
So prisoners tell us, and the whole ground today was held in great strength, though at some places, as always, the Germans behaved very badly and surrendered shamefully. This was particularly the case on the southern part of the attack, on the ground between the Cojeul and Sensée Rivers, where, from open trenches, over 500 men of two battalions of the 141st Regiment of the 35th Division gave themselves up with eagerness. This has delighted other prisoners of the 18th Reserve Division, because they recently also surrendered in masses, and the 35th since then has been holding them up to ridicule.
Now the 35th itself has had its medicine, and behaved no better than the 18th. On the left of this same area, however, about Guémappe, just north of the Cojeul River the Bavarians of the 3rd Bavarian Division have been fighting well. What is the situation here at the moment is uncertain. We penetrated into Guémappe early in the day, but heavy counter-attacks are being delivered, and I cannot say whether we shall succeed in holding all the ground won, Below here there was also very fierce fighting in progress about Fontaine-lez-Croisilles, where there is an extremely strong series of positions at a point where the Hindenburg line crosses the Sensée River. When I left the Headquarters of the unit engaged there no decision had been arrived at.
Between Guémappe and Fontaine is a commanding position which is ours and will remain ours. It is marked on large-scale maps as a windmill, but it is really a tower crowning high ground which may ouce have been the site of a windmill, More recently there has been only an old tower, which has been a valuable observation post for the enemy. That is in our hands, and in a counter-attack by part of the 141st Regiment the attackers were absolutely wiped out by our artillery fire.
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Frenchmen’s great fight
The Germans now endeavour to blot out the French front-line trenches before attacking. But by so doing they destroy the very shelter they need, if their advance is not to be made at ruinous cost
July 4, 1917
According to prisoners captured in the fighting around the Mort Homme, the German Crown Prince is bent on taking his revenge for last year’s crushing defeats before Verdun. One instance among many will show the hopelessness of the task which he has set himself. It also shows that the grand fighting spirit of the French has been in no wise impaired since last autumn’s brilliant finale.
A certain blockhouse in the Avocourt sector was defended by poilus for 12 hours of uninterrupted attacks, till hardly a machine-gun was intact. They stood their ground against no fewer than 10 attempts of the enemy to overwhelm them, and only retired when they received formal orders to do so. When the section rejoined its company it was found that not a single man was unwounded and all were badly burned, but not a single prisoner was left in the hands of the enemy.
No better fortune seems to await the Crown Prince’s spasmodic attacks on other portions of the front. The German communique crying victory in the attack on the Chemin des Dames east of Cerny was premature. It is true that the violence of the bombardment was such that the French retired from their front-line trenches, but their batteries at once concentrated on the part evacuated, which the enemy, in spite of severe losses, was unable to hold.
Yesterday evening the French, in a splendid counter-attack, swept the enemy back on both sides of the Ailles-Paissy road and recovered all the lost ground, for which the enemy paid so dear for so short a tenure. Incidentally it may be noted that the Germans are slightly modifying their method of attack. They now endeavour to blot out the French front- line trenches before attacking. But by so doing they destroy the very shelter they need, if their advance is not to be made at ruinous cost.
ENEMY FAILURE AT AVOCOURT WOOD
The following French communiques were issued yesterday:
AFTERNOON. Yesterday towards 6.30pm, after a recrudescence of the bombardment, the Germans delivered a series of violent attacks against the trenches which we recaptured on both sides of the Paissy-Ailles road. A very violent struggle which lasted all night concluded with the complete defeat of the enemy. We have maintained all our positions. More to the west two raids against our small posts also failed.
On the left bank of the Meuse the artillery duel increased in intensity towards midnight in the Hill 304-Avocourt Wood sector. Towards 2.30am the Germans delivered an attack on a front of about 500 yards against the south-eastern extremity of the wood. The assaulting waves were smashed by our fire and were unable to reach our lines. The enemy did not renew his attempts.
In Champagne during a raid into the German lines we blew up an enemy blockhouse. There is nothing to report on the remainder of the front.
EVENING. There was considerable artillery activity north of St Quentin, on the left bank of the Meuse, towards Hill 304, as well as in Champagne, in the Mont Cornillet and Mont Teton sectors. East of Coucy-le-Chateau [north of Soissons] there were patrol encounters. We made some prisoners, including an officer. On the rest of the front the day was quiet.
GERMAN VERSION. German official report, July 3: On the front of the German Crown Prince’s Army Group the French again attempted to recapture the lost trenches on the plateau of La Bovelle [north-east of Cerny] and on the left barak of the Meuse. To the south-east of Cerny two attacks broke down with heavy losses under the effect of our defence. In Avocourt Wood and on Hill 304 our destruction fire prevented enemy storming troops, which had been prepared for an attack, from leaving their trenches in a forward direction. On the Poehlberg, in Champagne, one of our own enterprises succeeded in accordance with our plans. Our reconnoitring party brought back prisoners and booty.
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A certain blockhouse in the Avocourt sector was defended by poilus for 12 hours of uninterrupted attacks, till hardly a machine-gun was intact. They stood their ground against no fewer than 10 attempts of the enemy to overwhelm them, and only retired when they received formal orders to do so. When the section rejoined its company it was found that not a single man was unwounded and all were badly burned, but not a single prisoner was left in the hands of the enemy.
No better fortune seems to await the Crown Prince’s spasmodic attacks on other portions of the front. The German communique crying victory in the attack on the Chemin des Dames east of Cerny was premature. It is true that the violence of the bombardment was such that the French retired from their front-line trenches, but their batteries at once concentrated on the part evacuated, which the enemy, in spite of severe losses, was unable to hold.
Yesterday evening the French, in a splendid counter-attack, swept the enemy back on both sides of the Ailles-Paissy road and recovered all the lost ground, for which the enemy paid so dear for so short a tenure. Incidentally it may be noted that the Germans are slightly modifying their method of attack. They now endeavour to blot out the French front- line trenches before attacking. But by so doing they destroy the very shelter they need, if their advance is not to be made at ruinous cost.
ENEMY FAILURE AT AVOCOURT WOOD
The following French communiques were issued yesterday:
AFTERNOON. Yesterday towards 6.30pm, after a recrudescence of the bombardment, the Germans delivered a series of violent attacks against the trenches which we recaptured on both sides of the Paissy-Ailles road. A very violent struggle which lasted all night concluded with the complete defeat of the enemy. We have maintained all our positions. More to the west two raids against our small posts also failed.
On the left bank of the Meuse the artillery duel increased in intensity towards midnight in the Hill 304-Avocourt Wood sector. Towards 2.30am the Germans delivered an attack on a front of about 500 yards against the south-eastern extremity of the wood. The assaulting waves were smashed by our fire and were unable to reach our lines. The enemy did not renew his attempts.
In Champagne during a raid into the German lines we blew up an enemy blockhouse. There is nothing to report on the remainder of the front.
EVENING. There was considerable artillery activity north of St Quentin, on the left bank of the Meuse, towards Hill 304, as well as in Champagne, in the Mont Cornillet and Mont Teton sectors. East of Coucy-le-Chateau [north of Soissons] there were patrol encounters. We made some prisoners, including an officer. On the rest of the front the day was quiet.
GERMAN VERSION. German official report, July 3: On the front of the German Crown Prince’s Army Group the French again attempted to recapture the lost trenches on the plateau of La Bovelle [north-east of Cerny] and on the left barak of the Meuse. To the south-east of Cerny two attacks broke down with heavy losses under the effect of our defence. In Avocourt Wood and on Hill 304 our destruction fire prevented enemy storming troops, which had been prepared for an attack, from leaving their trenches in a forward direction. On the Poehlberg, in Champagne, one of our own enterprises succeeded in accordance with our plans. Our reconnoitring party brought back prisoners and booty.
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The attacks on the French
It was the most marvellous day for seeing. Distance seemed hardly to exist, and the airmen on both sides were making the most of their chance
July 24, 1917
Today, for the eighth or ninth time this month, the Crown Prince’s armies again violently attacked the French positions on the Chemin des Dames. The bombardment, which extended from Cerny to the east of Craonne, over a front of eight miles, went on all night, and at 4 o’clock this morning it reached an extraordinary pitch of intensity, especially on the three plateaux immediately west of Craonne, which, as in the fighting on Saturday and the two previous days, were the real objective of the enemy’s effort.
As I write late on Sunday night the Germans have failed to do more than gain a very narrow and precarious footing on a small part of the extreme edge of the California Plateau, a result so disproportionate to the exertions of which it is the fruit that it is to be considered not only a check but a serious defeat for the enemy. I did not myself see the early part of the bombardment, the most violent, according to some of the officers who were on the spot, that the German batteries have inflicted since Verdun.
But even by 10 o’clock there was not much sign of slackening, and the Casemates and California plateaux were being tremendously shelled. All the German guns within reach in an arc extending from north-west to south-east were trained upon these plateaux - that is to say, on a space of less than a square mile in all - and it seemed impossible that anything Living could be left in that hideous cauldron of smoke. Every minute many fresh clouds, black and grey and white and brown, splashed up from the crumbling soil like raindrops from a pond; all day long the guns thundered, as they had done all night; and yet somehow, by some miracle, at the end of it all - only so far there is no end - there was still on the further edge of the plateaux a thin blue line of heroic men holding the enemy back.
GOOD VISIBILITY
It was the most marvellous day for seeing. Distance seemed hardly to exist, and the airmen on both sides were making the most of their chance. Except low down on the far horizon towards the Belgian frontier, the only clouds in the sky were the little smudges of white or brown, forty or fifty at a time, which flecked the blue roof of the world high up over our heads around some cruising aeroplane, generally invisible unless the sun happened to glint on its polished surface, making it glitter like a globe of electric light. Eastwards on the right, looking down over the woods and far-reaching levels of the Champagne Plain, one could see for many miles behind the German lines, and though one could make out no signs of moving life the Red Cross painted on the roof of a farm hospital about 10 miles off and even the sheds of an aerodrome at a much greater distance were clearly visible.
In front, from the direction of Cerny round to behind Berry-au-Bac, over an angle of 150 deg, 11 German balloons were hanging against the sky, and to the observers in them and in the French balloons in a similar area behind and to our adventurous airmen, who had earlier in the day reported important concentrations of troops moving down towards the Craonne plateau, everything above ground, unless it was hidden by woods, must have stood out in the crystal-clear air like writing on a blackboard.
A FRENCH ADVANTAGE.
As it was the Germans who were attacking, it was the French who chiefly profited by the exceptional degree of visibility. Heavy damage was inflicted by their guns on the enemy reinforcements which their airmen had detected moving across the valley of the Ailette and between Hurtebise and the Casemates. Some of the German waves of assault were shelled back into their trenches before they could reach the French lines. Our airmen also did very valuable work in spotting enemy batteries in the plain, and throughout the day the whole line of these batteries - which extended from north of Berry-au-Bac by Juvincourt (nearly due east of Craonne) round to Berrieux, four miles north-east of the village, along the ravine in the valley of the Ailette - was heavily shelled by the French.
From my position south of Craonne it was far easier than is usually the case to follow the course of the battle and distinguish French and German shells as the enemy were concentrating nearly the whole of their fire on the plateaux in front, while the French were bombarding with finely calculated accuracy battery positions in the plain on the right and behind the breakwater of the plateaux, in the valley of the Ailette to the north and, at shorter range, putting up constant barrages just over the edge of the plateaux on the German front infantry lines. As these lines are on the reverse slope of the ridge this last part of the French artillery work, which was largely carried out with shrapnel, was necessarily an operation of great difficulty, and the consequent strain on the French infantry in resisting the rush of the superior numbers thrown against them was immense.
OUR DEBT TO THE INFANTRY
But they fought hand-to-hand with the finest courage, over and over again drove the enemy back from the slopes of the Casemates Plateau, and, according to the latest news I have had, lost only that narrow strip of ground on the extreme edge of one corner of the California Plateau by the end of the day, after many hours of extremely trying and desperate fighting. Once more they have earned the undying thanks of their country and all the Allies. For this Craonne Plateau fighting, to judge from the persistence and fury of the attack and the number and quality of the troops to which it is entrusted, is a strategical operation on the success of which the Crown Prince and his advisers set immense store.
On their side things are not running too smoothly. For one thing their losses have been very heavy, for another, a certain amount of discontent exists among their men. The ordinary rank and file complain that the Stosstruppen (shook troops), after doing their job, are rewarded by Iron Crosses, extra leave, and prolonged periods of repose, although they escape the most dangerous part of the work - the holding of positions after they have been won.
The Stosstruppen, on the other hand, have been heard grumbling because they think the second and third waves of assault do not follow them up as quickly as they ought. Also the mere fact that so far the Germans have failed to carry the position for which they have worked so tremendously hard is itself a serious defeat. At present, however, they are far from giving up the attempt, and it is even conceivable that they might temporarily succeed in their object, while it is difficult for the French, on account of that reverse slope, to advance- themselves at this particular point. And that is why I say that no praise is too high for the French infantry, who are standing in the breach with such magnificent courage. The Craonne Plateau has become one of the classic place-names of the war.
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As I write late on Sunday night the Germans have failed to do more than gain a very narrow and precarious footing on a small part of the extreme edge of the California Plateau, a result so disproportionate to the exertions of which it is the fruit that it is to be considered not only a check but a serious defeat for the enemy. I did not myself see the early part of the bombardment, the most violent, according to some of the officers who were on the spot, that the German batteries have inflicted since Verdun.
But even by 10 o’clock there was not much sign of slackening, and the Casemates and California plateaux were being tremendously shelled. All the German guns within reach in an arc extending from north-west to south-east were trained upon these plateaux - that is to say, on a space of less than a square mile in all - and it seemed impossible that anything Living could be left in that hideous cauldron of smoke. Every minute many fresh clouds, black and grey and white and brown, splashed up from the crumbling soil like raindrops from a pond; all day long the guns thundered, as they had done all night; and yet somehow, by some miracle, at the end of it all - only so far there is no end - there was still on the further edge of the plateaux a thin blue line of heroic men holding the enemy back.
GOOD VISIBILITY
It was the most marvellous day for seeing. Distance seemed hardly to exist, and the airmen on both sides were making the most of their chance. Except low down on the far horizon towards the Belgian frontier, the only clouds in the sky were the little smudges of white or brown, forty or fifty at a time, which flecked the blue roof of the world high up over our heads around some cruising aeroplane, generally invisible unless the sun happened to glint on its polished surface, making it glitter like a globe of electric light. Eastwards on the right, looking down over the woods and far-reaching levels of the Champagne Plain, one could see for many miles behind the German lines, and though one could make out no signs of moving life the Red Cross painted on the roof of a farm hospital about 10 miles off and even the sheds of an aerodrome at a much greater distance were clearly visible.
In front, from the direction of Cerny round to behind Berry-au-Bac, over an angle of 150 deg, 11 German balloons were hanging against the sky, and to the observers in them and in the French balloons in a similar area behind and to our adventurous airmen, who had earlier in the day reported important concentrations of troops moving down towards the Craonne plateau, everything above ground, unless it was hidden by woods, must have stood out in the crystal-clear air like writing on a blackboard.
A FRENCH ADVANTAGE.
As it was the Germans who were attacking, it was the French who chiefly profited by the exceptional degree of visibility. Heavy damage was inflicted by their guns on the enemy reinforcements which their airmen had detected moving across the valley of the Ailette and between Hurtebise and the Casemates. Some of the German waves of assault were shelled back into their trenches before they could reach the French lines. Our airmen also did very valuable work in spotting enemy batteries in the plain, and throughout the day the whole line of these batteries - which extended from north of Berry-au-Bac by Juvincourt (nearly due east of Craonne) round to Berrieux, four miles north-east of the village, along the ravine in the valley of the Ailette - was heavily shelled by the French.
From my position south of Craonne it was far easier than is usually the case to follow the course of the battle and distinguish French and German shells as the enemy were concentrating nearly the whole of their fire on the plateaux in front, while the French were bombarding with finely calculated accuracy battery positions in the plain on the right and behind the breakwater of the plateaux, in the valley of the Ailette to the north and, at shorter range, putting up constant barrages just over the edge of the plateaux on the German front infantry lines. As these lines are on the reverse slope of the ridge this last part of the French artillery work, which was largely carried out with shrapnel, was necessarily an operation of great difficulty, and the consequent strain on the French infantry in resisting the rush of the superior numbers thrown against them was immense.
OUR DEBT TO THE INFANTRY
But they fought hand-to-hand with the finest courage, over and over again drove the enemy back from the slopes of the Casemates Plateau, and, according to the latest news I have had, lost only that narrow strip of ground on the extreme edge of one corner of the California Plateau by the end of the day, after many hours of extremely trying and desperate fighting. Once more they have earned the undying thanks of their country and all the Allies. For this Craonne Plateau fighting, to judge from the persistence and fury of the attack and the number and quality of the troops to which it is entrusted, is a strategical operation on the success of which the Crown Prince and his advisers set immense store.
On their side things are not running too smoothly. For one thing their losses have been very heavy, for another, a certain amount of discontent exists among their men. The ordinary rank and file complain that the Stosstruppen (shook troops), after doing their job, are rewarded by Iron Crosses, extra leave, and prolonged periods of repose, although they escape the most dangerous part of the work - the holding of positions after they have been won.
The Stosstruppen, on the other hand, have been heard grumbling because they think the second and third waves of assault do not follow them up as quickly as they ought. Also the mere fact that so far the Germans have failed to carry the position for which they have worked so tremendously hard is itself a serious defeat. At present, however, they are far from giving up the attempt, and it is even conceivable that they might temporarily succeed in their object, while it is difficult for the French, on account of that reverse slope, to advance- themselves at this particular point. And that is why I say that no praise is too high for the French infantry, who are standing in the breach with such magnificent courage. The Craonne Plateau has become one of the classic place-names of the war.
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A great day for French infantry
It takes one’s breath away to think of what they have endured, and what they have done, and their heroism is bound, I should think, to have a far-reaching effect on the moral not only of the troops which are opposed to them, but of every German soldier who gets to know the story of this stupendous fight
July 26, 1917
Tuesday, July 24, will always be a red-letter day in the regimental records of the gallant 152nd Foot - already mentioned in dispatches oftener than any other regiment during the war - and the other splendid infantry corps who have had the honour of defending during the last five days the plateaux at the eastern extremity of the Chemin des Dames. In the message I sent yesterday, after watching the extraordinarily violent bombardment to which the French were subjected on Sunday, I am bound to confess that I had constantly in my mind the idea that, in spite of their heroic resistance, they might after all be unable to maintain their footing on that narrow and exposed hog’s back. But this morning, on the sixth day of the attack, which has gone on night and day without a break, they turned their resistance into a counter-attack of such irresistible dash that they triumphantly drove back the picked German troops which, since the desperate fighting of Sunday, had occupied parts of their front-line trenches.
On the California Plateau our Allies have retaken the whole of the ground which they had lost, except one small fortified position in the north-west corner, which has been totally destroyed and abandoned by both sides. On the Casemates Plateau next door they have driven the enemy from nearly every foot of ground which he held, and every attempt of the Germans to force them out of the disputed, and practically non-existent, trenches has failed.
Considering the nature of the ground and the fury of the withering tempest of shells under which these devoted men have spent every hour of the last six days, to say nothing of what had gone before, their achievement is so fine as to be almost miraculous. It takes one’s breath away to think of what they have endured, and what they have done, and their heroism is bound, I should think, to have a far-reaching effect on the moral not only of the troops which are opposed to them, but of every German soldier who gets to know the story of this stupendous fight.
FRENCH HOLD FIRM AGAINST COUNTER-ATTACK
The following French communiques were issued yesterday.
AFTERNOON. After a violent but brief bombardment the Germans, towards 5am, attempted to make an attack upon the positions recaptured by us yesterday on the California Plateau. This attack was completely repulsed, and our gains of the day before were retained and consolidated. Enemy raids north-west of the Hurtebise Monument, in the region of the Cornillet and in Alsace, north of Aspach le Haut, failed. We took some prisoners. On the left bank of the Meuse the two artilleries were active. There were no infantry operations.
EVENING. The activity of the artillery on both-sides continued to be very lively during the day, especially on the Casemates and California Plateaux. in Champagne, in the region of Moronvilliers, and on the left bank of the Meuse our batteries everywhere countered the enemy artillery. There was no infantry action. Reims received 567 shells.
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On the California Plateau our Allies have retaken the whole of the ground which they had lost, except one small fortified position in the north-west corner, which has been totally destroyed and abandoned by both sides. On the Casemates Plateau next door they have driven the enemy from nearly every foot of ground which he held, and every attempt of the Germans to force them out of the disputed, and practically non-existent, trenches has failed.
Considering the nature of the ground and the fury of the withering tempest of shells under which these devoted men have spent every hour of the last six days, to say nothing of what had gone before, their achievement is so fine as to be almost miraculous. It takes one’s breath away to think of what they have endured, and what they have done, and their heroism is bound, I should think, to have a far-reaching effect on the moral not only of the troops which are opposed to them, but of every German soldier who gets to know the story of this stupendous fight.
FRENCH HOLD FIRM AGAINST COUNTER-ATTACK
The following French communiques were issued yesterday.
AFTERNOON. After a violent but brief bombardment the Germans, towards 5am, attempted to make an attack upon the positions recaptured by us yesterday on the California Plateau. This attack was completely repulsed, and our gains of the day before were retained and consolidated. Enemy raids north-west of the Hurtebise Monument, in the region of the Cornillet and in Alsace, north of Aspach le Haut, failed. We took some prisoners. On the left bank of the Meuse the two artilleries were active. There were no infantry operations.
EVENING. The activity of the artillery on both-sides continued to be very lively during the day, especially on the Casemates and California Plateaux. in Champagne, in the region of Moronvilliers, and on the left bank of the Meuse our batteries everywhere countered the enemy artillery. There was no infantry action. Reims received 567 shells.
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The British attack in Belgium
The enemy were necessarily well aware that they were to be attacked, and the German newspapers have contained many references to the expected onslaught
August 1, 1917
After artillery preparation extending over many days, the long-expected British offensive was begun yesterday in Belgium. On a broad front, extending north and south of Ypres, with French troops cooperating on our left, our armies broke the German line and effected an advance to a depth of between three and four thousand yards. The British attack, which was delivered about dawn, extended from Boesinghe, at the northern end of the old Ypres salient, to a point on the south near Warneton, on the River Lys. Our more distant objectives were to the north and north-east of Ypres, and all of them, and in the case of the French, more than all, were attained.
The new Allied line now includes the villages of Steenstraate and Bixchoote (taken by the French), Pilkem, St Julien Frezenberg, Westhoek, and Hooge - all centres of bitter fighting in the earlier battles of Ypres. South of the Ypres-Menin road British troops achieved their set work quite early in the day, and captured Hollebeke ahd La Basse Ville.
The strongest resistance offered by the enemy was in the wooded broken country north of the Ypres-Menin road. Here, after capturing Westhoek, our forces were subjected to heavy counter-attacks, which, however, they successfully warded off. We are told that yesterday’s fighting “may be no more than a beginning of operations”. There was no element of surprise in the undertaking, except the exact moment chosen by Sir Douglas Haig. The enemy were necessarily well aware that they were to be attacked, and the German newspapers have contained many references to the expected onslaught. The Kaiser himself sent a telegraphic message a day or two ago to his troops in the battle-line, in which he referred to the coming British offensive. The enemy had strengthened their means of resistance, had brought up many additional guns, and had massed supports at all critical points. Their precautions were of no avail, for our Special Correspondent explicitly states that yesterday’s advance reached the precise distance which was planned for the first day’s operations.
As in the battle of Messines, our troops were lucky enough at one point to overcome enemy units which had only just taken their place in the line. The Third Division of the Prussian Guard, which went into the front trenches only on Monday night, shared the fate of the enemy at other points. Not only was the Division shattered, but prisoners were also taken from, the 23rd Reserve Division, which the Prussian Guard had relieved.
Roughly speaking, the offensive in its present phase represents a moving outwards from the Ypres salient and from the lower slopes on the eastward side of the Messines-Wytschaete ridge. It is satisfactory to learn that, although the weather conditions were not very favourable during the 24 hours before the battle, the British airmen were able to secure “complete supremacy” over the area of the conflict. The tanks, too, are said to have done splendid work, and it is also noted that the manner in which the Yser Canal was bridged by both British and French is worthy of special praise.
Our Correspondent speaks with enthusiasm of the uniform gallantry of the troops which participated in the advance. English, Scots, and Welsh all fought magnificently, but the Welsh are specially named for the honour and the glory they won. The Guards took part in the battle, and “went through everything”.
It is too soon yet to estimate in detail either the prospects of this formidable offensive or the present actual results. All that is clear is that a substantial slice of Belgium has already been,wrested from the invader, that the Ypres salient is disappearing, and that many points where there was deadly fighting in 1914 and in the early days of 1915 are once more in British hands.
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The new Allied line now includes the villages of Steenstraate and Bixchoote (taken by the French), Pilkem, St Julien Frezenberg, Westhoek, and Hooge - all centres of bitter fighting in the earlier battles of Ypres. South of the Ypres-Menin road British troops achieved their set work quite early in the day, and captured Hollebeke ahd La Basse Ville.
The strongest resistance offered by the enemy was in the wooded broken country north of the Ypres-Menin road. Here, after capturing Westhoek, our forces were subjected to heavy counter-attacks, which, however, they successfully warded off. We are told that yesterday’s fighting “may be no more than a beginning of operations”. There was no element of surprise in the undertaking, except the exact moment chosen by Sir Douglas Haig. The enemy were necessarily well aware that they were to be attacked, and the German newspapers have contained many references to the expected onslaught. The Kaiser himself sent a telegraphic message a day or two ago to his troops in the battle-line, in which he referred to the coming British offensive. The enemy had strengthened their means of resistance, had brought up many additional guns, and had massed supports at all critical points. Their precautions were of no avail, for our Special Correspondent explicitly states that yesterday’s advance reached the precise distance which was planned for the first day’s operations.
As in the battle of Messines, our troops were lucky enough at one point to overcome enemy units which had only just taken their place in the line. The Third Division of the Prussian Guard, which went into the front trenches only on Monday night, shared the fate of the enemy at other points. Not only was the Division shattered, but prisoners were also taken from, the 23rd Reserve Division, which the Prussian Guard had relieved.
Roughly speaking, the offensive in its present phase represents a moving outwards from the Ypres salient and from the lower slopes on the eastward side of the Messines-Wytschaete ridge. It is satisfactory to learn that, although the weather conditions were not very favourable during the 24 hours before the battle, the British airmen were able to secure “complete supremacy” over the area of the conflict. The tanks, too, are said to have done splendid work, and it is also noted that the manner in which the Yser Canal was bridged by both British and French is worthy of special praise.
Our Correspondent speaks with enthusiasm of the uniform gallantry of the troops which participated in the advance. English, Scots, and Welsh all fought magnificently, but the Welsh are specially named for the honour and the glory they won. The Guards took part in the battle, and “went through everything”.
It is too soon yet to estimate in detail either the prospects of this formidable offensive or the present actual results. All that is clear is that a substantial slice of Belgium has already been,wrested from the invader, that the Ypres salient is disappearing, and that many points where there was deadly fighting in 1914 and in the early days of 1915 are once more in British hands.
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Story of the battle
In a recently captured German document there is given, as a warning to German soldiers, a list of British troops graded in order of their “frightfulness”. The Highlanders are given first place, nor as a result of today’s fighting are they likely to be degraded from their proud position
August 1, 1917
A great battle has begun today. The main British attack has been launched on a front of about 14,000 yards [about eight miles] round the circuit of the Ypres salient from near Boesinghe in the north to the neighbourhood of Warneton in the south. On the north of the British, however, the French are also taking part.
So far the omens are of the best. We have broken the German line on the whole front attacked, and captured and overrun successive lines of trenches. Prisoners in considerable numbers are already coming back, and our casualties seem almost universally to have been remarkably light. Two units have both taken prisoners in excess of their total casualties. The destructiveness of our artillery fire, both in the repeated shellings of the last few days and in the bombardment preceding and in the course of, the battle, has been terrific. Though hampered in the last 24 hours by unfavourable weather, our airmen have done splendidly, and at the time of writing we hold the complete supremacy of the air over the battle area. “Tanks “ helped largely in our success.
The great majority of the troops engaged in the attack are English, though both Scots and Welshmen are bearing a noble part in it, and some Australians. It is too early yet to talk of victory, because this one day’s fighting may be no more than a beginning of operations the development of which I do not pretend to be able even to guess at. But the beginning is splendid. Against the British attack alone Crown Prince Rupprecht had 13 divisions in the line, of which four are Bavarians, namely, the Fourth, the Sixth Reserve, the Tenth, and the Sixteenth, and one division of the Guard namely, the Third. Not one division, and not one regiment of any division, held either the first or second line of trenches against us for even a perceptible time. Our prisoners come from every German regiment in the line, and from none in better numbers than from the Third Guard Division, which had only come into the line during last night, They were as fresh as troops could be, so fresh, indeed, that not only did we break them and take prisoners in plenty from them, but we broke through them and took prisoners also from the Twenty-third Reserve Division, which they had barely relieved.
PRAISE OF OUR TROOPS
To attempt to allot praise to one body of our troops above another would be absurd. No man, surely, would dare to do it. But I should like, first of all, to bear testimony, on the strength of all the evidence that reaches me, to the magnificent behaviour of the Welsh. The Welsh troops in any numbers have had no opportunity to show their mettle in a grand attack since the days of Mametz Wood a year and more ago. They had a place of honour today, and they were worthy of the place. They had against them the Kaiser’s own pets, the famous “Berlin Cockchafers”, and never, perhaps, has a famous regiment been more roughly handled, or worse outclassed in fighting power, man for man. The way the Guards, too, went through everything that came in their way was probably as fine a thing as was ever seen on a battlefield.
In a recently captured German document there is given, as a warning to German soldiers, a list of British troops graded in order of their “frightfulness”. The Highlanders are given first place, nor as a result of today’s fighting are they likely to be degraded from their proud position. Just as they went into Beaumont Hamel last winter, so to-day they went over ground which was one entanglement of trenches and redoubts and fortified positions as punctually and unbendingly as if they were on parade. If the Germans could hold a worse opinion of them than they did before, they doubtless hold it now.
Yet none did better today, because none could have done better, than the Englishmen. Again I say that no man would dare to place any one before another, and it is only by the accident of the day that I have heard especially of the doings of certain men of Lancashire. The battle is yet but a few hours old. When I came back the first wounded were beginning to dribble down, happily few and proudly happy all of them, and the prisoners were but just trailing to the cages. When the dust and the swirl clears away it will be possible to speak of the doings of other English troops and of the Australians, but for the moment one can seize but a point or two.
THE FINAL BOMBARDMENT
My last dispatch told of the terrific and growing artillery activity of the last few days, especially in the north, and of the intensity of the strain along the whole front. Yesterday the weather broke, and, after heavy thunderstorms in the morning, rain fell almost continuously all day, making aeroplane observation extremely difficult. Nevertheless the guns roared all day. During the night a light drizzle fell at intervals, and the air was thick with mist.
Under the overcast sky it was still almost dark when the attack was delivered shortly before 4 o’clock. There was just a visible paling of the sky in the east, and against it the bombardment was a weird and terrible spectacle. As usual, there had been a comparative lull before the moment arrived. Then, on the instant, suddenly the air and earth shook, and the whole horizon blazed as all our literally thousands of guns broke out at once.
It would be useless to describe at length again what I have stammered to describe so often, but, regarded merely as a display, none of the former bombardments preceding great attacks has seemed to me more wonderful. From the far-off sand dunes of the sea coast on the left to beyond the Messines Ridge on the right the whole earth was rimmed with flickering flame of every tint of yellow down to the dull red glow of burning oil. Higher the frenzied flares and signals of the enemy were tossed up in fountains of white and red and green against the lightening sky. With the shock and clamour of the guns it was thrilling beyond words. Nor has the tumult ceased for one moment since.
As I write some miles away from the point from which I watched the opening of the battle the thunder goes on continuously, and the table trembles, and now and again jumps and staggers under my hand, and the whole house is jarred. Outside the air is still thick with white mist, and quite motionless, so that not a leaf on the trees is stirred, but one window in my room which is shut bumps and strains at its fastenings, as if buffeted by great gusts from without.
From the distance from which, owing to the nature of the ground, it was necessary to watch the spectacle this morning it would, in any case, have been impossible to see the infantry attack, and in the darkness and mist it was doubly difficult to trace the progress of the fight; but the conviction of the power of the blow we were delivering was overwhelming, and at that particular point of the front the enemy’s guns appeared slow in getting to work. If so it was not altogether to his credit, because the air conditions of the last day made accurate counter-battery work on our side difficult, and the Germans have guns enough here. We have a shrewd idea how many there are on the front which we have to-day attacked, and they number several hundreds.
DEPTH OF THE ADVANCE
The main depth of our advance is between three thousand and four thousand yards. It is precisely what is was meant to be, neither more nor one yard less. It was an extremely difficult attack, for it involved the breaking outwards on all sides the bounds of the famous Ypres salient. Such an operation must be desperately difficult in any case, but here it must be remembered that the salient is like a saucer, with the low ground in the flat centre and the high rim all round. On the north of the attack there was the Canal to cross at starting - one of our famous regiments threw no fewer than 17 bridges across the Canal under fire on the afternoon before the battle - and everywhere there were the fortifications perfected through two years and the enemy in superior positions.
On a large part of the main front of the attack was the last of the four great ridges which the German has held for so long, and three of which we have already wrested from him. We rushed and took the face and crest of the ridge wherever we attacked it. We took exactly what we went to take, and neither more nor less. It confirms and emphasizes what has already been driven home on the Somme and the Ancre, at Vimy and Messines, that there is absolutely no position which the Germans choose to hold and fortify as they will, which our men cannot take.
At many points along the whole front the “Tanks “ were used, and wherever our infantry gave them a chance. they did magnificently. More than one trench and fortified redoubt was taken by the “Tanks” alone.
WHITE FLAG TREACHERY
Already one hears scraps of stories of stiff fighting here and there, of concrete machine-gun positions and stoutly defended woods. A typically German and huge tunnel, known as the Menin Tunnel, was expected to give a lot of trouble, but when we rushed it it was found to contain a garrison of only 41 men, or one more than the orthodox number of thieves. At one redoubt there seems no question that the Germans played their old trick of showing a white flag and then firing on our men when they came to accept surrender, but of those who did the dirty trick it is believed not one man survived.
In general, however, our advance was rapid and unchecked, attended with very light losses, and made in alternate rests and pushes of, roughly, 1,000 yards at a time. Counter-attacks of course are expected, but so far none has developed of any seriousness. Of the gallantry of our Allies it is not my province to speak, and only rumours have yet reached me, but I understand that the French were simply irresistible. They, too, had the canal before them, a dreadful barrier to start with, and the dash with which they threw bridges across and brought up their men and their supports was simply beyond all praise. These things I hear from English troops who were the Frenchmen’s neighbours. Of these things I can as yet pretend to know nothing. I can only testify to the behaviour of the British. They were grand, all of them.
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So far the omens are of the best. We have broken the German line on the whole front attacked, and captured and overrun successive lines of trenches. Prisoners in considerable numbers are already coming back, and our casualties seem almost universally to have been remarkably light. Two units have both taken prisoners in excess of their total casualties. The destructiveness of our artillery fire, both in the repeated shellings of the last few days and in the bombardment preceding and in the course of, the battle, has been terrific. Though hampered in the last 24 hours by unfavourable weather, our airmen have done splendidly, and at the time of writing we hold the complete supremacy of the air over the battle area. “Tanks “ helped largely in our success.
The great majority of the troops engaged in the attack are English, though both Scots and Welshmen are bearing a noble part in it, and some Australians. It is too early yet to talk of victory, because this one day’s fighting may be no more than a beginning of operations the development of which I do not pretend to be able even to guess at. But the beginning is splendid. Against the British attack alone Crown Prince Rupprecht had 13 divisions in the line, of which four are Bavarians, namely, the Fourth, the Sixth Reserve, the Tenth, and the Sixteenth, and one division of the Guard namely, the Third. Not one division, and not one regiment of any division, held either the first or second line of trenches against us for even a perceptible time. Our prisoners come from every German regiment in the line, and from none in better numbers than from the Third Guard Division, which had only come into the line during last night, They were as fresh as troops could be, so fresh, indeed, that not only did we break them and take prisoners in plenty from them, but we broke through them and took prisoners also from the Twenty-third Reserve Division, which they had barely relieved.
PRAISE OF OUR TROOPS
To attempt to allot praise to one body of our troops above another would be absurd. No man, surely, would dare to do it. But I should like, first of all, to bear testimony, on the strength of all the evidence that reaches me, to the magnificent behaviour of the Welsh. The Welsh troops in any numbers have had no opportunity to show their mettle in a grand attack since the days of Mametz Wood a year and more ago. They had a place of honour today, and they were worthy of the place. They had against them the Kaiser’s own pets, the famous “Berlin Cockchafers”, and never, perhaps, has a famous regiment been more roughly handled, or worse outclassed in fighting power, man for man. The way the Guards, too, went through everything that came in their way was probably as fine a thing as was ever seen on a battlefield.
In a recently captured German document there is given, as a warning to German soldiers, a list of British troops graded in order of their “frightfulness”. The Highlanders are given first place, nor as a result of today’s fighting are they likely to be degraded from their proud position. Just as they went into Beaumont Hamel last winter, so to-day they went over ground which was one entanglement of trenches and redoubts and fortified positions as punctually and unbendingly as if they were on parade. If the Germans could hold a worse opinion of them than they did before, they doubtless hold it now.
Yet none did better today, because none could have done better, than the Englishmen. Again I say that no man would dare to place any one before another, and it is only by the accident of the day that I have heard especially of the doings of certain men of Lancashire. The battle is yet but a few hours old. When I came back the first wounded were beginning to dribble down, happily few and proudly happy all of them, and the prisoners were but just trailing to the cages. When the dust and the swirl clears away it will be possible to speak of the doings of other English troops and of the Australians, but for the moment one can seize but a point or two.
THE FINAL BOMBARDMENT
My last dispatch told of the terrific and growing artillery activity of the last few days, especially in the north, and of the intensity of the strain along the whole front. Yesterday the weather broke, and, after heavy thunderstorms in the morning, rain fell almost continuously all day, making aeroplane observation extremely difficult. Nevertheless the guns roared all day. During the night a light drizzle fell at intervals, and the air was thick with mist.
Under the overcast sky it was still almost dark when the attack was delivered shortly before 4 o’clock. There was just a visible paling of the sky in the east, and against it the bombardment was a weird and terrible spectacle. As usual, there had been a comparative lull before the moment arrived. Then, on the instant, suddenly the air and earth shook, and the whole horizon blazed as all our literally thousands of guns broke out at once.
It would be useless to describe at length again what I have stammered to describe so often, but, regarded merely as a display, none of the former bombardments preceding great attacks has seemed to me more wonderful. From the far-off sand dunes of the sea coast on the left to beyond the Messines Ridge on the right the whole earth was rimmed with flickering flame of every tint of yellow down to the dull red glow of burning oil. Higher the frenzied flares and signals of the enemy were tossed up in fountains of white and red and green against the lightening sky. With the shock and clamour of the guns it was thrilling beyond words. Nor has the tumult ceased for one moment since.
As I write some miles away from the point from which I watched the opening of the battle the thunder goes on continuously, and the table trembles, and now and again jumps and staggers under my hand, and the whole house is jarred. Outside the air is still thick with white mist, and quite motionless, so that not a leaf on the trees is stirred, but one window in my room which is shut bumps and strains at its fastenings, as if buffeted by great gusts from without.
From the distance from which, owing to the nature of the ground, it was necessary to watch the spectacle this morning it would, in any case, have been impossible to see the infantry attack, and in the darkness and mist it was doubly difficult to trace the progress of the fight; but the conviction of the power of the blow we were delivering was overwhelming, and at that particular point of the front the enemy’s guns appeared slow in getting to work. If so it was not altogether to his credit, because the air conditions of the last day made accurate counter-battery work on our side difficult, and the Germans have guns enough here. We have a shrewd idea how many there are on the front which we have to-day attacked, and they number several hundreds.
DEPTH OF THE ADVANCE
The main depth of our advance is between three thousand and four thousand yards. It is precisely what is was meant to be, neither more nor one yard less. It was an extremely difficult attack, for it involved the breaking outwards on all sides the bounds of the famous Ypres salient. Such an operation must be desperately difficult in any case, but here it must be remembered that the salient is like a saucer, with the low ground in the flat centre and the high rim all round. On the north of the attack there was the Canal to cross at starting - one of our famous regiments threw no fewer than 17 bridges across the Canal under fire on the afternoon before the battle - and everywhere there were the fortifications perfected through two years and the enemy in superior positions.
On a large part of the main front of the attack was the last of the four great ridges which the German has held for so long, and three of which we have already wrested from him. We rushed and took the face and crest of the ridge wherever we attacked it. We took exactly what we went to take, and neither more nor less. It confirms and emphasizes what has already been driven home on the Somme and the Ancre, at Vimy and Messines, that there is absolutely no position which the Germans choose to hold and fortify as they will, which our men cannot take.
At many points along the whole front the “Tanks “ were used, and wherever our infantry gave them a chance. they did magnificently. More than one trench and fortified redoubt was taken by the “Tanks” alone.
WHITE FLAG TREACHERY
Already one hears scraps of stories of stiff fighting here and there, of concrete machine-gun positions and stoutly defended woods. A typically German and huge tunnel, known as the Menin Tunnel, was expected to give a lot of trouble, but when we rushed it it was found to contain a garrison of only 41 men, or one more than the orthodox number of thieves. At one redoubt there seems no question that the Germans played their old trick of showing a white flag and then firing on our men when they came to accept surrender, but of those who did the dirty trick it is believed not one man survived.
In general, however, our advance was rapid and unchecked, attended with very light losses, and made in alternate rests and pushes of, roughly, 1,000 yards at a time. Counter-attacks of course are expected, but so far none has developed of any seriousness. Of the gallantry of our Allies it is not my province to speak, and only rumours have yet reached me, but I understand that the French were simply irresistible. They, too, had the canal before them, a dreadful barrier to start with, and the dash with which they threw bridges across and brought up their men and their supports was simply beyond all praise. These things I hear from English troops who were the Frenchmen’s neighbours. Of these things I can as yet pretend to know nothing. I can only testify to the behaviour of the British. They were grand, all of them.
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Yser crossed by the Allies
It is small wonder to find the enemy sometimes lacking in stomach for the fight, for our attacks nowadays, when we are putting out the full weight of our resources, are a terrible ordeal to face. The boiling oil drums in themselves are enough to quench the most heroic spirits
August 1, 1917
The tension of the past few days snapped at 3 o’clock this morning. The British Army has taken the field in what I believe will prove to be the biggest battle of this war on the Western front. The front from the River Lys to Boesinghe is blazing and booming as I write. Gas masks were worn by our troops, as rumour had it that they might be needed. The enemy troops bearing the brunt of the renewed British offensive are the Fourth Army of the Group of the Crown Prince Rupprecht, several of the divisions of which are known to have been very much knocked about, so much so that there is reason to believe that some of them have recently been withdrawn to reserve. It is certain that a great proportion of these troops consists of mere boys. As an instance in point, one regiment, the normal establishment of which would be about 2,400, recently received a refit draft of some 600 lads of the 1918 class. This gives a pretty fair indication of the extent to which Germany is now feeling the drain upon her manpower.
La Basse Ville [south-west of Warneton] is again in our hands, and our men are consolidating. The weather is humid and misty, and not favourable to the airmen. The work done by the Royal Flying Corps and the Naval Air Service during the past few days is magnificent, and for the-time being we have established complete supremacy of the air in the region of the offensive.
LATER. We have got on with the war famously within the past 12 hours. The fighting is extending over such a very great width of front that it is impossible to reduce to definite terms the full measure of our success. Everybody - that is to say, everybody who could tell the things that matter - is tremendously busy, but I notice everywhere the same quiet smile of satisfaction which speaks volumes.
We have crossed the Yser in many places. The artillery has been literally pursuing the enemy. I hear that one minute after the appointed moment for beginning the attack our guns were moving forward. Prisoners are said to be streaming in, and I know that this is the case from the stories I have heard told by lightly wounded men as to the readiness with which the Germans surrendered. But when I ask for numbers I get the cheery response, “Oh, we have got something else to do than to count them yet.”
DISPOSITION OF ENEMY TROOPS
As I telegraphed this morning, there are very many of the 1918 class in the enemy ranks, but these seem to be in patches along the line and not evenly distributed, as in some of the sectors all the prisoners taken are mature men. One almost wonders, seeing that the Germans have admittedly been anticipating this attack for weeks past, that they had not done more to stiffen their front. Some of their reliefs have cost the enemy dear, as, for example, when the 38th Division was relieving the 17th Division, which had already suffered heavily, opposite Zonnebeke, our gunners got on to the troops when they were moving and punished them severely. The 235th Division has taken the place of the 233rd Division in the line, and the 25th Hessians have been brought from St Quentin, where they had received a pretty good gruelling. Two Saxon divisions are in the front opposed to our attack.
For the conduct of our men I can hear nothing but lavish praise. They went in, not only with the will to win, but with the conviction that they would win. In many places the infantry had crept up close to the German front line in the wake of the barrage, ready to leap up and rush the trenches the instant the guns lengthened their range sufficiently. I hear of one case in which our troops saw a large number of Huns beginning to run on the other side of our barrage, and actually dashed through the fire to prevent them escaping, being rewarded with a considerable bag of prisoners at a very small cost to their own ranks.
It is small wonder to find the enemy sometimes lacking in stomach for the fight, for our attacks nowadays, when we are putting out the full weight of our resources, are a terrible ordeal to face. The boiling oil drums in themselves are enough to quench the most heroic spirits, realizing which our people do not economize expenditure in these projectiles. ln places, however, the Huns have been fighting as sturdily as ever. For instance, one redoubt, a well-concreted fortification in front of Zonnebeke, bristling with machine-guns, held out to the last, and when our men finally rushed it, there was not a single unwounded member of the garrison left. The front line had been almost flattened out by our bombardments, but a large number of Germans lay in the shell holes, many of them armed with machine-guns. Two officers, who were captured, are profoundly pessimistic. In the course of conversation with them, their interrogator said: “We shall go on fighting until you are beaten,” to which they replied that they were beaten already, that there were no more men left in Germany, and that the present was the last battle of the war.
The success of the French has evoked admiration in our Army. They threw 29 bridges across the Yser, pushed on, and made a very deep advance. A captured artillery officer says that they were ordered to withdraw all the heavy guns to the rear on the first signs of our attack, but this is not always easy to accomplish at short notice, and, in any case, it means the abandoning of much ammunition. The day has gone well.
La Basse Ville [south-west of Warneton] is again in our hands, and our men are consolidating. The weather is humid and misty, and not favourable to the airmen. The work done by the Royal Flying Corps and the Naval Air Service during the past few days is magnificent, and for the-time being we have established complete supremacy of the air in the region of the offensive.
LATER. We have got on with the war famously within the past 12 hours. The fighting is extending over such a very great width of front that it is impossible to reduce to definite terms the full measure of our success. Everybody - that is to say, everybody who could tell the things that matter - is tremendously busy, but I notice everywhere the same quiet smile of satisfaction which speaks volumes.
We have crossed the Yser in many places. The artillery has been literally pursuing the enemy. I hear that one minute after the appointed moment for beginning the attack our guns were moving forward. Prisoners are said to be streaming in, and I know that this is the case from the stories I have heard told by lightly wounded men as to the readiness with which the Germans surrendered. But when I ask for numbers I get the cheery response, “Oh, we have got something else to do than to count them yet.”
DISPOSITION OF ENEMY TROOPS
As I telegraphed this morning, there are very many of the 1918 class in the enemy ranks, but these seem to be in patches along the line and not evenly distributed, as in some of the sectors all the prisoners taken are mature men. One almost wonders, seeing that the Germans have admittedly been anticipating this attack for weeks past, that they had not done more to stiffen their front. Some of their reliefs have cost the enemy dear, as, for example, when the 38th Division was relieving the 17th Division, which had already suffered heavily, opposite Zonnebeke, our gunners got on to the troops when they were moving and punished them severely. The 235th Division has taken the place of the 233rd Division in the line, and the 25th Hessians have been brought from St Quentin, where they had received a pretty good gruelling. Two Saxon divisions are in the front opposed to our attack.
For the conduct of our men I can hear nothing but lavish praise. They went in, not only with the will to win, but with the conviction that they would win. In many places the infantry had crept up close to the German front line in the wake of the barrage, ready to leap up and rush the trenches the instant the guns lengthened their range sufficiently. I hear of one case in which our troops saw a large number of Huns beginning to run on the other side of our barrage, and actually dashed through the fire to prevent them escaping, being rewarded with a considerable bag of prisoners at a very small cost to their own ranks.
It is small wonder to find the enemy sometimes lacking in stomach for the fight, for our attacks nowadays, when we are putting out the full weight of our resources, are a terrible ordeal to face. The boiling oil drums in themselves are enough to quench the most heroic spirits, realizing which our people do not economize expenditure in these projectiles. ln places, however, the Huns have been fighting as sturdily as ever. For instance, one redoubt, a well-concreted fortification in front of Zonnebeke, bristling with machine-guns, held out to the last, and when our men finally rushed it, there was not a single unwounded member of the garrison left. The front line had been almost flattened out by our bombardments, but a large number of Germans lay in the shell holes, many of them armed with machine-guns. Two officers, who were captured, are profoundly pessimistic. In the course of conversation with them, their interrogator said: “We shall go on fighting until you are beaten,” to which they replied that they were beaten already, that there were no more men left in Germany, and that the present was the last battle of the war.
The success of the French has evoked admiration in our Army. They threw 29 bridges across the Yser, pushed on, and made a very deep advance. A captured artillery officer says that they were ordered to withdraw all the heavy guns to the rear on the first signs of our attack, but this is not always easy to accomplish at short notice, and, in any case, it means the abandoning of much ammunition. The day has gone well.
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