The 7th Bedfords' attack at Cherisy
Friday 4th May 1917
After the
failure of the attack by 18th Division yesterday at Chérisy your correspondent
has been eager to speak with someone from 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment,
which was one of the assaulting battalions, another being 12th Battalion,
Middlesex Regiment from their brigade. This morning the adjutant was able to
speak with me at some length. It seems that the attack was due to begin at 3.45
a.m. but it was not light enough to begin until 4.15. The British barrage
commenced badly, being irregular and so gave the troops very little cover as
they advanced down a gentle slope towards a wood just outside
Fontaine-lès-Croisilles. The Battalion’s job was to seize the front line
between this village and the village of Chérisy.
The left
their trenches before zero and, according to the adjutant they formed up
splendidly. The advance started at zero, they soon slightly lost direction.
This was because the men being extended
at about 12 paces between them and could scarcely see each other. The battalion
on the left, Leicesters of 21st Division, also lost direction and crowded to
the right, thus confusing the Bedfords’ attack and causing a further loss of
direction, pushing them further to the right.
Four tanks
were to be used to attack Fontaine village. One of these was unable to start
and another went but a short distance. Worse, a third tank went down the line
of a trench called Wood Trench and then
turned and came right through the Bedfords’ advancing lines. This added to the
confusion and some groups retired to their starting point someone having been
heard to shout: “Retire”. These men were reformed at once by their officers and
again advanced, but the covering barrage, such as it was, had gone on. Thus the
Battalion was held up at Fontaine Trench, which was strongly defended and the
wire was thick and undamaged. They came under heavy machine-gun fire from
Vis-en-Artois, Chérisy, Fontaine Trench and Fontaine Wood.
Small
detachments pushed forward to an angle formed by Fontaine Trench and Wood
Trench but could get no further. At this
time the majority of the 55th Brigade (commanded incidentally by the Bedfords’
old commanding officer Colonel, now Brigadier George Price) had reached their
first objective on the left of the Bedfords.
The position
of the Battalion about 10 a.m. was in front of Fontaine Trench with their right
flank thrown back facing Wood Trench. At this time the Leicesters on the right
had not made good Wood Trench except a small portion at the Western end. Some
groups of the 55th Brigade reached a portion of their second objective.
About 11.30
the 14th (Light) Division further to the left commenced retiring, followed by
the 55th Brigade, 12th Middlesex and some groups of the Bedfords, but about a
company still remained in shell-holes in front of Fontaine and Wood Trenches
when at midday the troops on their left had all got back to the starting
Trenches.
At 7.15 pm a
new Barrage started and two companies of 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire
Regiment attacked on the Bedfords’ frontage in which elements of the Bedfords
joined and which was covered by rapid fire from the troops in shell holes. This
attack, however, was not successful as the enemy put up an intense barrage and
the wire in front could not be forced. The whole lot then fell back to their
original front line and held that during the night, being relieved early in the
morning by the Northamptons taking over.
The frustration
and, indeed, anger in the adjutant’s voice was palpable as he was telling me
this. The 7th Bedfords have been used to success and it is galling for them to
admit failure. It is notable that in addition to the darkness, the losing of
the true line of attack, the poor barrage, the strength of the German defences
and the uncut wire the adjutant blamed lack of success on lack of knowledge of
the ground. The Battalion had only arrived on Wednesday, two days ago and had
not, of course, been able to practise an attack over similar ground. He
compared this with the full year they were on the Somme near Carnoy before they
made their glorious attack on 1st July last year and the fact that they had had
weeks of practising attacking over very similar ground.
There has
been no action on the main Arras battlefield today, but fighting continues on
the southern edge around the village of Bullecourt. It will be remembered that
62nd (2nd West Riding) Division’s attack yesterday was unsuccessful whilst the
2nd Australian Division had mixed fortune, some failure, some success with a
part of the Hindenburg Line being taken. Today
the men of 1st Brigade of 1st Australian Division have been drawn into the fight, under command of 2nd
Division.
The enemy
made strong attacks on the captured ground early this morning, but were beaten
off. By mid-afternoon today we were hearing that the Australians had not only
held their gains of yesterday, but expanded them so that about one thousand
yards of the German front line was not in their possession. Further enemy
counter-attacks are expected.
The British
7th Division attacked Bullecourt again today, trying to succeed where 62nd
Division had failed. Reports at this point are contradictory, with some saying
Bullecourt has fallen, some saying that it still holds out. We hope to learn of
success over night.
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