Day One Hundred and Fifteen on the Somme

Monday 23rd October 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

Today we have heard that 7th Bedfords are holding the front line at Regina Trench, recently taken by the Canadians. Further east, 8th Division have attacked German positions east of Gueudecourt. The ground has had no chance to dry and the attack took place through thick, sucking mud. It seems little has been gained. 4th Division, attacking alongside the French north-east of Gueudecourt encountered similar problems and, likewise, were able to achieve little. The weather, it seems, is quickly bringing this campaign to an end. Het us hope that one last hurrah can carry the army to Bapaume.

Source: X550/8/1

2nd Battalion at Aubers Ridge

Monday 10th May 1915: We understand from the adjutant that the 2nd Bedfords, in reserve for the attack on Aubers yesterday are under orders from IV Corps commander, General Rawlinson, to move at short notice. Yesterday’s attacks by 1st and 8th Divisions and the Meerut Division of the Indian Army were not all that had been hoped. We believe that the southern attack has not made progress and has cost many lives because, if scattered reports reaching us are to be believed, the artillery failed to cut the German barbed wire in front of their trenches or do much damage to the machine-gunners who were giving our units casualties even as they climbed out of their trenches.

The attack from the north, which 2nd Bedfords were to exploit if successful, was undertaken by 8th Division. It met with more success as no man’s land at this point was quite narrow though many British guns seemed to drop their shells short, on our own front line and our men going forward. We believe that some of the 8th Division captured parts of the German front line. It is disappointing to learn that those men who had reached the German front line have been ordered to withdraw as they cannot be supported.

It looks as if both attacks have met with less success than was desired. Following the success at Neuve-Chapelle in March this must be disappointing to our men and their commanders. Nevertheless, it is understood that the French have captured Vimy Ridge to the south so perhaps the sacrifice of our boys helped in this effort by diverting German reinforcements(2).

Any hope that more attacks today or tomorrow will snatch victory from the hands of frustration seems unlikely. The adjutant tells us that word in the trenches is that there is little or no artillery ammunition left and without artillery support any attack is doomed to failure. Thus, it seems, must end the Battle of Aubers Ridge(3).

Source: X550/2/wd

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(1)  1st Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment was in the first wave of the 1st Division attack and 2nd Battalion in the first wave of the 8th Division attack. 1st Battalion lost 560 dead and wounded, more than any other unit attacking that day. 2nd Battalion lost 426. Total British casualties were around 11,000.

(2)  The Battle of Aubers Ridge was a complete failure and seems to have had no bearing on French success, itself limited, further south.

(3)  British industry at this point in the war was just not geared up to produce the large number of shells necessary for large scale offensive operations. To make matters worse, Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener had ordered significant stockpiles of shells to be diverted for the forthcoming operations

The Battle of Aubers Ridge

Sunday 9th May 1915: We understand that another British offensive is under way in northern France. Our French allies are attacking the area around Arras, in order to push back a large area where the German lines bulge westward. In particular they want to capture the high ground north of Arras at a place called Vimy. Not only, it is hoped, will there be a breakthrough but the attack will divert German troops away from Ypres in Belgium where heavy fighting is still going on.

Our offensive is designed, naturally, to break through the German lines and send them retreating back towards Berlin. Such a feat, however, as the attack at Neuve-Chapelle in March demonstrated, is no easy matter and a less exulted, but perhaps more realistic expectation is to draw German reinforcements away from the French attack and thus aid its chances of success.

The 1st Bedfords are currently still near Ypres but the 2nd Battalion is near the village of Aubers, a few miles east of Neuve-Chapelle. The British attack is designed to size the ridge at this place. The high ground will allow us to overlook the German lines, get a better understanding of their movements and allow us to shell them more effectively.

The main French attack is to the south. The ground at Aubers, as at Neuve-Chapelle, is very flat, the ridge itself only being twenty feet or so high, and the fields are intersected by drainage ditches which can be as much as ten or fifteen feet across. This, of course, hampers attackers. There are two attacks going on, one to the south by the 1st Division and our gallant Indian troops of the Meerut Division. They are heading due east towards Aubers. The other attack is to the north and will be made by 8th Division attacking due south towards Aubers. It is this attack which, we understand from the adjutant, the 2nd Bedfords are to help exploit if things go well, currently the are being held in reserve. Once Aubers itself is taken both prongs of the attack are to advance on the Haute Deule Canal some five miles away.

It is understood that the French have been bombarding German positions for a few days. General Haig however, we understand, is very short of ammunition and so has had to adopt a different approach. As at Neuve-Chapelle there has been a short but heavy bombardment and the troops are attacking as we write this. We wish them the best of British luck. 

The Second Day of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle

Thursday 11th March 1915: As we predicted yesterday the 2^nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment moved up during the afternoon to take up a position near the village of Mauquissart as shown in the plan above. They were, in fact, lining a road. They then advanced across the old no-man’s land and entered the former German front line which had been cleared by men of 8th Division. They have now taken up a position more or less as the map below shows. The map, drawn by our graphic artist Mrs Bates, based on a sketch sent by the adjutant, does not show the maze of German trenches around the Bedfords' positions for reasons of military confidentiality. The Bedfords are under some shell and rifle fire. Private A. Hearne, we understand, has distinguished himself carrying messages backwards and forwards from the battalion to Brigade Headquarters, passing through belts of shrapnel and rifle fire. He has been wounded.

As regards the battle itself we understand that the village of Neuve Chapelle, a little way south of the Bedfords’ position, did indeed fall to our forces yesterday. This morning, however, all further attacks have been repelled. The Germans were busy shoring up their second line defences during the night and have brought in reinforcements including more artillery. A fifteen minute bombardment by our artillery seems to have failed to break any of the defences and none of our troops can advance.

Other units from the 7th Division have tied to make headway without success whilst the 2nd Bedfords have been held in reserve. The adjutant tells us: “The 2nd Northamptons [24th Brigade, 8th Division] attempted to assault the houses to their front in the southern outskirts of Mauquissart but were met with a very heavy rifle and machine gun fire and had to desist”. Who now can say what tomorrow will bring?

Source: X550/3/wd

The First Day of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle

Wednesday 10th March 1915: Our correspondent tells us that today the British army in France has begun a large scale attack designed to break through the German lines around the village of Neuve Chapelle, north-east of Béthune and south-west of Armentières. This will be the first attack our troops have made since last October and the ill-fated advance east from Ypres. The commanding officer, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Rawlinson of IV Corps, has issued the following order of the day: “The attack which we are about to undertake is of the first importance to the Allied Cause. The Army and the Nation are watching the results and Sir John French(1) is confident that every individual in IV Corps will do his duty and inflict a crushing defeat  on the German VII Corps which is opposed to us”.

We understand that a huge amount of artillery has been brought in to bombard the German defences north and south of the village, where their front line forms a bulge like the letter C, known as a salient. The area being attacked is around two miles in length and it is believed that so great is our concentration of artillery that there is around one gun for every six yards of enemy front line. It is to be hoped such a violent destructive force will rupture the German lines and allow our men to flood through.

We understand that none of the units local to this county will be taking part in today’s main attack but that the 7th Division, which includes the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, is in reserve. It is also understood that the French were due to launch simultaneous attacks but have now refused to do so, citing British failure to reinforce the line further north at Ypres and allow them to move more of their own men south. Despite this breach of promise by our gallant ally we are sure British pluck and determination will carry the day.

The ground around Neuve Chapelle is as flat as the Fens and, just like it, intersected by drainage ditches. A mile beyond Neuve Chapelle, however is a slight rise, just twenty feet higher than the plain, called the Aubers Ridge. Twenty feet in such a flat landscape is a lot and will allow our men to see over German lines further east.

The initial bombardment of an hour’s duration has been followed by attacks by two brigades of 8^th Division and Gharwal Brigade of our splendid Indian Corps. We understand the village will surely fall during the course of the day. What awaits the men of the 2nd Bedfords as they take up the cudgels tomorrow? This morning they are gathered just south-west of a hamlet called la Flinque and are expected to move south-east towards the village of Mauquissart this afternoon to bring them close to the front line.

The commanding officer of the East Anglian Royal Engineers tells us that at 7 this morning the division to which his unit is attached, 2nd Division, made an attack on the extreme right of the main attack which was delivered at Neuve Chapelle  but owing to the wire in front of German trenches being left intact no ground was gained. The EARE was working with the South Staffordshire Regiment, two sections furnishing blocking parties and the other two in reserve. A second attack is to be made at 2 pm but the same result is expected. The weather is misty with rain now just beginning to fall.

Source: X550/3/wd; Bedfordshire Standard 26th March 1915

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(1) Commander-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Force which, at this stage of the war, comprised 1st and 2nd Armies which comprised five corps between them.