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.