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

Day One Hundred and Eleven on the Somme

Thursday 19th October 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

It has rained again all day today, turning the battlefield into a vile soup of mud and filth dotted with bodies and destroyed equipment. German flame-throwers and infantry attacked the South African Brigade this morning near a position called The Nose east of Le Sars. This caused them to retreat but artillery halted any further German advance. Meanwhile a trench north-east of Gueudecourt was found to be empty of enemy and was occupied by 4th Division.

Day One Hundred and Eight on the Somme

Lieutenant Hopkins

Monday 16th October 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, are still in the line east of Gueudecourt. They reported that in the clear skies which we have had for most of the day, aircraft have been very active, resulting in less hostile shelling during daylight. There was intense hostile shelling for half an hour commenced at 5.45 this evening, though, resulting in four dead and four wounded. Good news is that another German sniper has been shot down.

Second Lieutenant Oakley

The 2nd Battalion moved into Flers Trench today, near Le Sars where they are acting as reserve for 21st Brigade. Lieutenant R Hopkins has taken over command of B Company and Second Lieutenant R E Oakley of A Company. The strength of the Battalion in the trenches is that all four companies – A, B, C and D have just two officers and fifty men each. Headquarters comprises four officers and 107 men under the command of Major J W H T Douglas.

Major Douglas.

Today 6th Division took some gun pits near Lesboeufs whilst 39th Division fought off no fewer than three German attempts to retake the Schwaben Redoubt. This was a particularly fine performance by the division as the enemy were employing flame-throwers.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/9/1

Day One Hundred and Five on the Somme

Captain E S M Poyntz

Friday 13th October 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

The 2nd Battalion tell me that the night passed quietly and the enemy did not counterattack. Today I have learned a little more about the Battalion’s attack of yesterday. Captain Poyntz told me that they reckon to have gained about 200 yards of Bite Trench and about 70 yards of Gird Trench. He commented: “The Battalion did magnificently and were the only Battalion to gain any ground on the whole of the Corps Front, all the others having to withdraw to their front trenches”. I am very pleased to say that the message carried by second Lieutenant Pitts reached Captain Beal's party last night and they were able to withdraw to the original front line.

Second Lieutenant Chadwick

The total of dead comes, so far, to 82 dead. Officers killed were: Second Lieutenant Joseph Chadwick; Second Lieutenant Harold Fyson; Second Lieutenant Lawrence Walker and Lieutenant William White. Amongst the wounded were Lieutenant-Colonel Poyntz, Second Lieutenant William Bird, Lieutenant R. Hopkins and Second Lieutenant J P Pitts. The latter two were both slightly wounded but remain at duty.

The 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, are in front line trenches near Gueudecourt. Enemy artillery has been active, as have snipers. There was an intense bombardment this evening which ended about three-quarters of an hour ago, which we hope does not foreshadow an enemy attack. So far today casualties have been four other ranks killed and eleven wounded.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/9/1

Day Eighty Eight on the Somme

Tuesday 26th September 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

Today the attacks of yesterday have continued, albeit at a more local level. But the principal action today has taken place on the great bastion of German defenses on the Somme, Thiepval Ridge. Without this place being captured any meaningful advance towards Bapaume is impossible, as it dominates the whole battlefield. We have heard from the adjutant of the 7th Bedfords, Captain Bridcutt, that they are likely to have a hand in this struggle, but more of that later.

Another major advance took place today on the Somme, a fine, clear day with temperatures in the low seventies. 56th (London) Division took the northern end of Bouleaux Wood and met up with the French at Combles which they then took, adding another village to the trophy list for this long battle. On their left 21st Division took the village of Gueudecourt along with the dismounted 19th Lancers from 1st Indian Cavalry Division. 

The capture of Gueudecourt is another very important event but your correspondent hopes that readers will forgive him if he now concentrates on events around Thiepval. The attacking forces here, from east to west were: the Canadians between Courcelette and Mouquet Farm, 11th Division around Mouquet Farm and 18th (Eastern) Division at Thiepval itself.

The Canadians attacked just after midday and advanced their line by about 1,000 yards north. This evening they are dug-in, expecting a counter–attack. They are just short of a main German defensive position called they have dubbed Regina Trench after the principal city in Saskatchewan.

11th Division have finally completed the capture of Mouquet Farm, begun by the Australians on 14th August, so to that division belongs the glory of achieving something the Antipodeans could not quite manage. Most of the ruins above ground had been taken but it was the cellars and dug-outs beneath that restricted capture and here a subterranean battle has been fought through the day with the 6th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment (Pioneers) completing the capture and taking over fifty prisoners into the bargain. The rest of the division was less successful as they ran into a very strongly fortified German position called Zollern Redoubt north of Mouquet Farm. The division has suffered very large numbers of casualties owing to this redoubt.

There are three of these redoubts that ring Thiepval from the east (Zollern) to the north. That to the north of Thiepval is called Schwaben Redoubt and that between Schwaben and Zollern is named Stauffen, or Stuff, Redoubt.

The village of Thiepval has held out against attacks ever since 1st July and today it has been attacked again. 18th Division, of course, were one of only two divisions to achieve all their objectives on the opening day of this battle so to them has fallen that enormous task of finally taking Thiepval. 53rd Brigade made an attack from the south and manage to advance as far as Zollern Trench which runs eastwards from Thiepval and this trench they took.

7th Bedfords formed the reserve for the attack by 54th Brigade. This attack was conducted on a very narrow front- just 300 yards, the right flank resting on the road from Thiepval to Authuille, and involved going up the slope south-west of the village. The attack was held up by machine gun fire from the ruins of the château which lay directly in the men’s path, but then a “tank” arrived and managed to keep the machine-gunners heads down long enough for the position to be taken. This evening a large part of the village is in the brigade’s hands with the northern part still holding out. Captain Bridcutt mentioned to me a few minutes ago that this looks as if it will be the Bedfords’ task for tomorrow – the final capture of the village of Thiepval.

Source: X550/8/1

Day Eighty Seven on the Somme

Monday 25th September 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

Today has seen another large attack across a broad front extending in an arc from Martinpuich through Eaucourt-l’Abbaye, Gueudecourt, Lesboeufs and Morval to Combles in the south. Our own 1st and 8th Battalions have been caught up in these attacks.

Moving from left to right: 50th (Northumbrian) Division and 1st Division have advanced a small way north towards the hamlet of Eaucourt-l’Abbaye. The New Zealanders formed the defensive left flank for this whole operation. They moved forward against unexpectedly weak opposition and now face north-west towards Eaucourt-l’Abbaye. 55th (West Lancashire) Division took a short stretch of a main German defensive line called Gird Trench just to the north of its original position

21st Division attacked towards the village of Gueudecourt. We had heard rumours that Gueudecourt had fallen, but it has become clear this evening that it has not. The attack could get no further than Gird Trench, part of which was taken but most of which remains in German hands.

The Guards Division attacked an area south of Gueudecourt as far as a road through the middle of Lesboeufs. The Guards met with little in the way of opposition, stormed through the ruins and have now occupied ground just to the east.

6th Division attacked towards Lesboeufs. The adjutant of 8th Bedfords tells me that they were in reserve for the 16th Infantry Brigade attack on the German lines between Lesboeufs and Morval to the south: “The attack commenced at 12.35 pm and the Battalion moved up to the original front line when the second objective had been taken about 2.35. Casualties from the enemy barrage were very slight. The attack proved successful and many prisoners were taken. Tonight the Battalion will furnish carrying parties to the front line battalions with ammunition and water”.

The division attacked an area north of Morval as far as the road through the centre of Lesboeufs. The division succeeded splendidly in taking all its objectives and is now dug-in east of Lesboeufs with the Guards on its right and 5th Division on its left.

The aforementioned 5th Division includes, of course, 1st Bedfords. They were in their assembly trenches by 9.30 last night. The adjutant takes up the story: "At 1.35 pm the Battalion advanced in four waves at 150 yards distance one from another, passing over the trench taken by the 1st Norfolks. The first line reached their objective, the sunken road, by 1.40. Lewis guns were immediately placed in position on the top of the bank and several drums fired at the retiring enemy. The Battalion dug-in along the line of the road and also on the top of the bank. Touch was gained with the 16th Brigade at 1.50 and with the 95th Brigade about 2 pm”.

So far so good, but there have, it seems, been familiar problems: “Considerable casualties were sustained from our own field guns, both during the advance and while holding the sunken road”. This issue, it will be remembered, hampered the 8th Battalion attack on 15th. However, Morval, along with Lesboeufs, has fallen today. 1st Cheshires succeeded in occupying it by 3 pm. The farthest point reached has been the old windmill east of the village.

The right flank of the British armies in France is currently held by 56th (London) Division. This formation attacked Combles in co-operation wih French 2nd Division around midnight. They advanced round the north end of Bouleaux Wood, which still contains German defenders, and the two nations’ troops succeeded in taking Combles and are now dug-in well to the east of it, the British facing east and the French facing north.

So today, whilst not uniformly successful, has seen another series of hammer blows to the German lines. The capture of three villages is a huge success and in places the German defenses have been much weaker than normal. One wonders if there is some sort of crisis in the German army on the Somme which our forces may be able to exploit in the days ahead(1)

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/9/1

(1) The Germans, worried about a breakthrough on the Somme, had just begun a fortified line some miles behind their own front line. This was the Siegfriedstellung, known the British as the Hindenburg Line. During the Spring of 1917 the Germans withdrew

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.