The Sad Story of the 7th Battalion at Cherisy

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.

Source: X550/8/1

Day Seventy Eight on the Somme

Saturday 16th September 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

This morning I spent time with the somewhat stoical Lord Henry Scott who commands the 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment in the field. The hasty attacks of yesterday on the Quadrilateral were even more costly than I imagined. In all 126 officers and men have been killed out of 850 or so going into action. Many more, of course, have been wounded. This makes yesterday the bloodiest day for any battalion of the Regiment in this war so far.

His Lordship emphasised that the battalion exists to kill Germans and take ground and that that inevitably results in casualties. Nevertheless your correspondent could detect the grief in his eyes. His Lordship, after all, oversaw the training camp at Ampthill where most of the men who now serve under him were trained. What remains of his battalion have moved back to Maltz Horn Farm but have no rest, as they have to carry rations and other material to the front line for their successors in the firing line. Their division has joined with 56th (London) Division in making some small, local attacks.

The 1st Battalion, meanwhile, has moved to nearby Waterlot Farm, south of Delville Wood. They are temporarily part of 20th (Light) Division. The adjutant told me laconically “bad trenches and very little cover”. The Guards Division has moved forward today and attacked the area between Serpentine Trench and the village of Lesboeufs and taken some ground.

14th (Light) Division has also been in action. It advanced from positions east of Delville Wood but was unable to make any progress. I understand it is having another crack as I write these words. 41st Division, fresh from its success at Flers yesterday attacked towards the village of Gueudecourt managed to advance to within one hundred yards of a place called Gird Trench which runs around the south-west side of the village before falling back to Bull’s Road, which runs from the north end of Flers to Lesboeufs(1).

The splendid New Zealanders have managed to hang on to Courcelette, defeating a German counter-attack around nine o’clock this morning and even managed to advance a little way, taking Grove Alley west of Flers.

47th (1st/2nd London) Division attacked towards a point known as the Cough Drop south of Eaucourt-l’Abbaye but only one company managed to reach that place due to intense enemy fire. 50th (Northumbrian) Division’s attacks met with failure. 15th (Scottish) Division was counter-attacked in Martinpuich and, though beating it off, have been subjected to an enemy barrage all day.

The Canadians attacked Zollern Trench east of Thirpval but were unsuccessful. 11th Division on their left made some progress west of Mouquet Farm and 49th Division carried out raids west of Thiepval itself.

So, though not all today’s attacks have met with success a little ground has been gained. Perhaps more importantly the villages of Flers, Martinpuich and Courcelette, or, at least, their ruins, remain firmly in British hands.

Source: X550/9/1

(1) Failure to take it would lead to costly attacks by 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment on 12th October.

Day Seventy Seven on The Somme

A British Mark I Male tank on the Somme - by Ernest Brooks - Imperial War Museum

15th September 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

Today has been one of those spasms which seem to affect life here at the front. It has been a day of determined attacks across a broad front which I will outline below. Today’s attacks, though, have been very different. In the last few days we had heard rumours of a secret weapon. Well, this weapon is secret no longer, the Germans now know all about it and, one imagines, many wish they were still in ignorance of it.

This weapon is, simply, a huge armoured vehicle. It is over thirty feet long and must weigh in excess of twenty five tons, or so educated guesses have it. It is a rhomboid shape, in other words, a lopsided rectangle and has two boxes (called sponsons I am told) on either side of its body. These carry its armament. On some vehicles it has a naval 6 pounder gun in either “sponson” and in other two machine guns. In an element of whimsy usually lacking in the stern affairs of the military, those with machine guns are known as “females” and those with 6 pounders are “males”. Presumably these metal monsters have, to some eyes, a resemblance to living leviathans. We understand the job of the “males” is to destroy buildings and strongpoints whilst the “females” mow down German infantry and machine gunners.

These leviathans, I have heard them called “land-ships”, are propelled by tracks running round the body. One may see tracks of this type on Holt tractors and they are extremely useful in crawling through mud and over brokes ground where wheeled-vehicles or cavalry could not venture. This, together with their length and weight means they can crush barbed wire for infantry to follow them and cross trenches with ease. The name most commonly in use for them seems to be the strange designation of “tank”. I am told that when they were being crated up and sent over to France, the crates were labelled as water tanks to prevent German spies from cottoning on.

Be that as it may, several dozen of these “tanks” have been employed in today’s attacks. It seems they are prone to breaking down (a facet of their design many owners of automobiles will readily understand), are difficult to steer and can go in the wrong direction because the drivers have only a tiny gap in the armour plate to look through. When they lurch into the enemy, however, they seem to sow panic and despondency wherever they go. At last a method may be at hand which may break the stalemate of this war and finally lead to a break-through.

The left flank of the attack was the action begun last night by 11th Division on Thiepval Ridge which, we understand, succeed in capturing a German stronghold known as the Wonderwork (bottom left in the map above) and a portion of a trench called Hohenzollern Trench.

Another first for today’s attack, besides the “tanks” was the introduction of the Canadian Corps into the battle. The Canadians were given the task of seizing the village of Courcelette. This, with the help of “tanks”, they took in very determined fashion. They seized the ground to the south and had to fight off German counter-attacks from the village itself before seizing that too in the last half hour or so. There will undoubtedly be counter-attacks but if the Canadians can hold the village they have taken they will have begun their campaign in a highly creditable manner.

15th (Scottish) Division attacked the village of Martinpuich. They have seized the village and are now dug-in just to the nort, facing the village of Courcelette.

50th (Northumbrian) Division captured parts of the Starfish Line which runs east from Martinpuich. Unfortunately this line could not be held and the Northumbrians were forced to retire by German artillery.

47th (1st/2nd) London Division had the difficult task of attacking High Wood today, the place which has defied capture for so long. And they achieved their task handsomely! Several hundred prisoners were taken in High Wood and around lunchtime the place was in British hands at last. The troops then moved on. Tonight they are well to the north, dug-in east of Martinpuich and just south of the strongly held Starfish Line which, in this sector, resisted attempts to capture it.

The New Zealand Division attacked with great élan from positions between High Wood and Longueval. They captured their objectives and now occupy ground west and north-west of the village of Flers. 41st Division was to attack the village of Flers itself from the south, beginning from positions north of Delville Wood. This attack included ten “tanks”, the most allotted to any attack today. The village, we understand, has fallen, materially assisted by the “tanks”. 14th Division advanced some way north of Delville Wood.

The Guards Division was given the task of attacking north-west from the north of Ginchy towards Lesboeufs. They were able to make some ground and took a number of prisoners but were unable to take their third objective which lay just south-west of Lesboeufs.

6th Division were given the task of taking the Quadrilateral. In this attack the 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment was to the fore. At 4.30 this morning the Battalion was in position and went into the attack at 6.20, the attackers being A, C and D Companies whilst B Company bombed down a trench parallel to the attack to prevent flanking fire. It is a matter of extreme regret that the barrage by our guns intended to help the Battalion forward fell so short that it landed on top of them in shell holes south-west of the objective, from which they were preparing to attack. This error on the part of the barrage commander(1) resulted in many of our men being killed. Nevertheless, the survivors gamely went forward, supported by 1st Battalion, The Buffs and later reinforced by 2nd Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment. The Quadrilateral is a well-defended strongpoint, however, and proved impossible to take. The artillery had, once again, failed in its task as all the barbed wire in front of the strongpoint was uncut. “Tanks” were allotted to this attack but failed to turn up. Thus a catalogue of errors over which the Battalion had no influence led to the failure of their attack and the loss, it is feared, of a great number of lives. We understand that thirteen officers have become casualties, six of them dead. We do not yet know the death toll amongst the other ranks.

We understand that one of the “tanks” allotted to the parts of the Division attacking elsewhere fired on our own troops as it went forward. The failure of the 8th Bedfords was part of a greater failure by the division, which failed to get any where near its overall objective, the village of Morval.

On the far right of the attack, near the village of Combles, 56th (London) Division made some progress towards that village and towards Morval but were stopped by uncut barbed wire south of Middle Copse.

Today has seen three villages – Flers, Courcelette and Martinpuich taken by an attack on a wide front. This has been the biggest co-ordinated attack since 1st July and has achieved great things. With the help of the “tanks” the army is hoping for more great things in the days to come.

Source: X550/9/1

(1) XIV Corps Commander, Royal Artillery was Brigadier-General Alexander Ernest Wardrop