The Enemy Presses On

The situation this evening - the original front line is shown in black and the enemy gains in red


Saturday 23rd March 1918

This evening the situation must be faced that the enemy gained a good deal more ground today, including the town of Ham. Their advance, as the sketch map above shows, has brought them close to the towns of Bapaume and Peronne. If they reach Bapaume they will be less than twelve miles from Albert, the hub around which the Battle of the Somme revolved in 1916.

The 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment began this battle near Cambrai. They have been falling back steadily, and without fuss, so that this evening they are at the village of Ytres, on the main road from Cambrai to Combles. They are in reserve, nevertheless, the enemy is not far away, as proved by the death of Lieutenant W S Davis from shellfire and the loss of Second Lieutenant M A Kruger. He came up with the rations and then could not be found, it is assumed that an advance party of Germans caught him alone and took him prisoner(1).

The 2nd Battalion spent the night at Verlaines, south-west of Ham. At five o'clock this morning they stood to on hearing rifle and machine gun fire near Ham. 89th Brigade of their division were holding the town, but were driven back. The battalion forms part of 90th Brigade and helped to cover the withdrawal of 89th Brigade. Fortunately the enemy seemed content with taking Ham(2), so 89th Brigade went forward again and took up positions just east of Verlaines, facing Ham. Sadly, some of the 2nd Bedfords were involved in the defence of the town and there have been casualties.

The 7th Battalion, further south, managed to retake the railway bridge at Montagne near Jussy last evening. However, at 7 a.m. the enemy attacked again and managed to cross the Crozat Canal in boats on either side of the bridge. At 10 a.m., their flanks having been thus turned, the Battalion fell back to a ridge in front of the village of Faillouël. By 4 p.m., however, this position had also become untenable because high ground on the battalion's left flank had been taken by the enemy. The order was therefore given to fall back to high ground just west of the village

Having spoken with the officers of our local battalions involved in this attack it is clear that things are still very confused on the ground, no one knowing for sure where the enemy are from one moment to the next. It is also clear, however, that all remain determined to put a stop to this onslaught and reverse it.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/5/3; X550/8/1

(1) Whatever happened, he seems to have survived the war.
(2) This may have been due to looting. There were accounts of German troops gorging themselves on food and guzzling wine when they took a substantial settlement. This meant no further advance that day. Such behaviour was not surprising - the blockade of Germany by the Royal Navy was causing food shortages among the civilian population of Germany and even the soldiers at the front were affected.

The German Onslaught Continues

The situation this evening - the black line is the original front line and German gains are shown in red

Friday 22nd March 1918

This evening the situation at the front is still confused, as the enemy has made further advances during the day, as the hastily prepared sketch map above shows. It seems they have made progress in a continuous line from La Fère in the south nearly to Arras in the north. The ground our men had held south-west of Flesquières, separating the two enemy advances has been taken, though not without a stiff fight. The next targets seem to be the town of Bapaume, Peronne and Ham.

The two Bedfordshire Regiment battalions in the thick of the fighting are both towards the southern end of the battlefield, indeed, the 7th Battalion, part of 18th (Eastern) Division seems to be at the southernmost end. Again, your correspondent has been lucky to snatch a few moments conversation with officers of each battalion.

The 2nd Battalion began the day between the villages of Savy and Étreillers. Early this morning the enemy worked around C Company's position, in the front line, from a sunken road which was just in front of the British wire. Both A and C Companies were heavily shelled all day until they were attacked about two o'clock this afternoon by overwhelming numbers. C Company's position fell and, regrettably, it seems that some men were taken prisoner, so loathe were they to fall back from positions they had been ordered to hold. B Company which had been sent up as reinforcements hung on, with A Company, to their position until surrounded by a sea of Germans. The adjutant simply remarked, in a tired voice: "They fought very well and only a few got back". At five o'clock this afternoon the order was received to withdraw and the operation was undertaken at once. However, this manoeuvre, never an easy one in warfare, was made still more hazardous by the fact that it was made over open country under heavy machine gun and artillery fire. The Battalion is due to fall back to the village of Verlaines south-west of Ham.

The 7th Battalion began the morning south-east of Jussy at Montagne, highlighted on the map above. The 1st Bedfords fought at Jussy in the early Autumn of 1914. Today the 7th Battalion were tasked with defending Royal Engineers as they blew up the railway bridge over the Crozat Canal. However, this bridge resisted all attempts to destroy it as the right amount of explosive was lacking. About 5.45 this evening the enemy attacked this bridge in force. C Company, on the left flank, was forced back by heavy machine gun fire and the enemy crossed the bridge. C Company then helped two companies of 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment to restore the situation and the adjutant breathlessly told me they were in hopes of throwing the enemy back across the bridge(1).

Clearly, then, the enemy's advance is not unstoppable and he is not having things all his own way. Over the next few days all here are in hopes that the usual problems of communications between headquarters and the advancing troops together with the enemy's weariness and our increasingly solid defence will prove this success short-lived(2).

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/8/1

(1) This was achieved by 7.30 pm.
(2) In fact the offensive would go on rapidly before reaching its limit on 5th April.

Massive German Attack Gains Ground

The situation this evening - the black line is the original front line and German gains are shown in red

Thursday 21st March 1918

This evening your correspondent is writing his dispatch from the town of Roye, listening to artillery which at times seems far-off at others all too close. The enemy has launched his assault, predicted by many, and, as one of my colleagues observed around noon today: "All H*ll has broken loose".

This morning our little cadre of correspondents was in the village of Jussy, where we had spent the night. I was preparing to go forward to spend some time with the 2nd and 7th Battalions of our local regiment who are, by chance, close to one another in the line. I was awoken by a tremendous noise and, turning on the light and looking at my watch I saw it was 4.35. The enemy had unleashed a terrific bombardment and at that moment seemed to be throwing every shell he had from every gun he had ever made directly at yours truly. In truth the shells were landing some miles in front of the village but it seemed, though the army hastened us out of the village onto buses towards the rear, that we spent an eternity in that unhappy place. For the first time in this war I have some small inkling of what our boys in the front line must feel, but I was safe in the rear and they had to endure this tornado of steel in nothing more than hastily dug ditches.

This evening the situation is very confused but it looks as if the enemy's assault stretched some 40 miles from the town of la Fère in the south to Cambrai in the north. The sketch map above shows that we think they have broken through our defences in a small area between Epéhy and Arras and in a much longer line from the aforementioned la Fère northwards to Epéhy. This means that in some places they have managed to advance for some miles. 

The 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment has, I understand, been in reserve near Cambrai and witnessed the enemy breakthrough there, without taking part in the fighting. By great good fortune I have managed to snatch a few words with the commanders of both the 2nd and 7th Battalions on very crackly lines I feared may break at any time. 

The 2nd Battalion stood about six this morning, between Savy and Étreillers. When the enemy broke through the forward zone this morning, they ran into A and C Companies and managed to outflank A Company on the right, B Company going up to stabilise the position at dusk this evening. The enemy, once ensconced, however, were in too strong a position and in too great numbers to be dislodged, either side of the road from Savy to Étreillers. The battalion expects to have to fall back tonight.

The position of the 7th battalion is more complicated. Various details have been detached for duty at Rouez Camp. It is understood they have been formed into a makeshift company of six platoons. The remainder of the battalion was about half a mile away at Noureuil - directly west of la Fère. About 10.50 orders were received to move in buses to Haute Tombelle Wood which was reached at noon. at 3 pm the bulk of the battalion was ordered to occupy a trench known as Montescourt Switch as brigade reserve and as I spoke with the commanding officer they were in the middle of so doing. 

Why has the enemy broken through our defences so far and so fast? It is a question many are asking here. Many of the answers seem to revolve around the weakened state of the army and the poor defences. Because of the losses in 1916 and 1917 and the fact that new recruits are not being sent fast enough from England the army is a around three-quarters strength. The battles at Ypres and Cambrai last autumn were particularly costly for us. A division should consist of three brigades each of four battalions - twelve battalion in all. However, as readers have seen, some battalions, such as the 8th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, have been disbanded and sent as reinforcements elsewhere. This means that brigades have been reduced from four battalions to three. So a division now consist of nine battalions instead of twelve. In the case of the 2nd Bedfords, their brigade, 90th, lost 17th Battalion, Manchester regiment in February and the 7th Battalion's "home", 54th Brigade, saw the disbandment of the 12th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment at the same time. 

In its weakened state, the army has been forced to take over more of the front line than before from the French, who are in a bad way, their casualties exceeding our own by a good (or bad) margin. Much of this line in the area of the current enemy attack had only sketchy defences and much work was required to bring them up to standard, work which was still a long way from complete this morning.

If our army is stretched and weakened, the enemy is strengthened and emboldened. Having knocked Russia out of the war last year huge numbers of soldiers, flushed with victory have been released to take part in this offensive and it is thought that our men are considerably outnumbered. The enemy have also been using new tactics. They have sent forward lightly equipped men in small units designed to find weaknesses in the line and infiltrate it, drawing the attention of the defenders and disrupting them, making them easier for the main assault to overwhelm(1).These troops have gone in very quickly immediately after tremendous but very brief bombardments, catching our men as they emerge from cover. The enemy has been further aided by the weather this morning, the air being still and the battlefields covered in a dense mist, masking the movements of the approaching troops.

The timing of this attack has, to some extent, been forced upon the Bosches. They have had to wait until the weather is likely to be favourable, and the ground firm, in order to move their artillery up briskly, something which was impossible for our army in the quagmire around Ypres last year. They are also facing something of a ticking time-bomb as estimates suggest that by the end of May there will be a quarter of a million fresh American troops in France, just raring for a crack at the enemy; so the Germans' advantage in numbers will not last long. They evidently hope to knock us out of the war before the Americans arrive. 

So tonight our army is fighting a massive defensive battle, the like of which it has not had to fight since the great German thrust at Ypres in Spring 1915. The enemy may have gained ground but, knowing as your correspondent does, the resilience, patience and tenacity of Tommy Atkins, his friends Jock, taffy and Mick and his cousins from the colonies he has no doubt that this attack will be stopped.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/5/3; X550/8/1

(1) These were the famed storm troops.