Attacks from Saint-Quentin to Cambrai

Wednesday 18th September 1918

Today attacks took place against enemy outposts to their defensive fortifications known as the Hindenburg Line. There was no preliminary bombardment and only a few tanks were used as this precious commodity is being saved for the attack on the main position. It was raining heavily this morning as the troops left their trenches. 

The extreme right of the attack, west of Saint-Quentin, was supposed to receive support from French troops on our right but they seemed to make little effort, meaning that 6th Division came under fire from their right flank as well as from in front and could make little headway, momentarily taking the village of Fresnoy but being unable to hold it. 1st Division on their left could also make little progress on the right of its attack but further north took its first and second objectives. The Australians achieved their first three objectives and now overlook the Saint-Quentin Canal. Early reports suggest they have taken around 4,000 prisoners.

III Corps had the most difficult task of the day, attacking the villages of Ronssoy, Lempire, Epehy and Peiziere south-west of Cambrai. 74th (Yeomanry) Division, which came to the Western Front in May from Palestine and took their objectives. 18th (Eastern) Division attacked Ronssoy took Ronssoy, aided by three tanks and with 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment in the action. They were frustrated, however, in taking their second objective. 12th (Eastern) and 58th (2nd/1st London) Divisions attacked Epehy and Peiziere respectively and both have fallen, though it is understood that 12th Division has suffered heavy casualties. Both divisions, having taken the villages, could get no further towards their first objectives due to the strength of the opposition.

So today has been one of reasonable progress though by no means the great success that had been hoped.

Source: X550/3/wd

Bapaume Falls

Thursday 29th August 1918

Another great leap forward has taken place on the Somme today. 18th (Eastern) Division began its advance this morning at Trones Wood at first light, sweeping through the familiar village of Guillemont an hour later and at Leuze Wood about nine this morning. This evening sees them north, west and south of Combles, though the village itself yet holds out. 

2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, then part of 30th Division lost many men at Guillemont in 1916 so it must have been with great pleasure that this morning they advanced through its few remains without a scratch, following 38th (Welsh) Division. The battalion assisted in the capture of Leuze Wood, and the high ground to the north of it, which gave it little trouble due to the speed and momentum of the advance. Then, as the adjutant informed me a few moments ago: "Our advance was held by strong machine gun fire from the enemy in position along the spur running from Morval southwards towards Combles. the battalion then dug-in as shown on the map above. Altogether four other ranks were killed and thirty-four wounded in today's action.

As already related the Welshmen of 38th Division also advanced today, beginning at Longueval captured the shattered remains of the village of Ginchy and this evening have swept on to take the hamlet of Lesboeufs.

Meanwhile, in the north, the enemy must have evacuated Bapaume as today the New Zealand Division was able to enter the deserted ruins with no finger lifted against it. Similarly 42nd Division took the now empty Thilloy and Ligny-Thilloy. Thus it has taken a mere eight days to advance from Albert to take Bapaume, in 1916 a battle of 144 days brought the army no closer to Bapaume than a few miles to the west. Nothing can so starkly underline the greatly increased efficiency of our own armies and the greatly decreased ability of the enemy to resist.

Source: X550/3/wd

Back at Mametz

Sunday 25th August 1916

Today the New Zealand Division planned to begin the task of taking the town of Bapaume, with 63rd (Royal Naval) Division advancing in protection of its right flank to the south and 37th Division doing the same job in the north on the left flank. Nothing less than the envelopment of the town was the aim in the hope that the Germans would see all was lost and give up the prize without street fighting, than which there is no worse battlefield for an attacker because the defender has the benefit of cover from houses, interlocking fields of fire and the ability to lay booby traps in ruins.

The attack began at first light  under cover of a thick fog. Good progress has been made and the town is partially encircled. More might, perhaps, have been achieved but 63rd Division ran into the hamlet of Thilloy which the enemy has turned into a strongpoint from which he can pour a deadly fire into attacking troops.

Part of the actions of 63rd Division was 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment which began the advance in support to 1st Battalion, Artists Rifles who themselves followed 189th Brigade. The division was given the job of taking Thilloy and Riencourt. The battalion bypassed Loupart Wood to the south and reached the main road from Albert to Bapaume. Ahead of them la Barque had been penetrated but the division was held up my machine gun fire from the right flank. The divisional commander decided to made a defensive flank against this machine gun fire so the Bedfords, forming part of this flank ended the day facing south-west. A few enemy attacks on the division were made this evening but have, so far, been beaten off.

The New Zealanders flowing round the north side of Bapaume also encountered stronger opposition than their comrades to the south. Tonight the town is not completely encircled but  the troops are in good shape and surround a good portion of it and a heavy German counter-attack north of the town has just been defeated by the 37th Division and the New Zealanders there. Four hundred prisoners have been taken along with machine guns and artillery pieces and continued determined action tomorrow and, if necessary, in future days should result in the fall of the town. 

Further south Mametz and Fricourt, famous names from the first day of the great 1916 offensive on the Somme, have been taken by 18th (Eastern) Division, coincidentally one of the divisions in action in this area on that now long ago July day. 12th and 38th Divisions have also advanced further today.

Source: X550/5/3

Advance on Bapaume

Saturday 24th August 1915

The advance continued today with IV Corps busy west of Bapaume. Whilst it was still dark the gallant New Zealand Division attacked the shattered foliage of Loupart Wood and the remains of the village of Grevillers. Meanwhile 37th Division attacked Biefvillers north-east of Grevillers. The intention was then for the men from the Land of the Long White Cloud to go on and take the town of Bapaume - the target, it may be remembered of four months' fighting in 1916. Around two dozen tanks were available to help the Kiwis in their endeavours.

Despite the rather poor weather today the New Zealanders quickly took Grevillers, though at some cost. At this time 37th Division was fruitlessly struggling to get up to Biefvillers under very heavy fire. rather than making a dash for Bapaume the commander of the New Zealand 2nd Brigade decided to add his numbers to those of 37th Division, surely the correct decision, and by ten o'clock this morning the village was taken. By this time the Germans, seeing the danger of this attack rushed reinforcements to the locality and a counter-attack pushed the leading British and New Zealand troops back from Avesnes-le-Comte. Bapaume may not have fallen today but the Kiwis are confident that it will fall tomorrow.

Meanwhile in the early hours of this morning 38th (Welsh) Division recaptured Thiepval and the Schwaben Redoubt. It will be remembered that Thiepval first fell to 7th Bedfords on 26th September 1916 and was held by the 4th Bedfords for a while during March. Seizing this high ground is vital as it overlooks enemy positions. 

La Boiselle and Ovillers, or rather the pathetic little cairns which mark the graves of the houses in these settlements were also taken by 18th Division. We are given to understand that the Welshmen have captured nearly 150 enemy machine guns today. One hundred and fifty! The enemy usually gives up a single one of these weapons up about as willingly as a healthy man would give up a hand, a fact very suggestive as to the state of the enemy's morale. 

In the south 18th Division has taken the hamlet of Becourt and its wood and elements from three divisions (12th 47th and 58th) have retaken Grove Town. During the 1916 battles Grove Town Camp was a huge staging post for men and material moving up to the front line. Finally the Australians have recaptured the remains of the town of Bray on the north bank of the River Somme. Any of these gains would be significant in itself and so many on one day means that the army is really beginning to believe that the dam of German resistance has cracked and it will only take a determined effort to break it completely.

Day Three of Attacks on the Somme

Friday 23rd August 1918

Again today the business of war has been transacted by IV Corps in the north, around Achiet-le-Grand V Corps in the centre around Aveluy and Saint-Pierre-Divion and III Corps in the south near Albert and Meaulte. 42nd Division of IV Corps succeeded in taking a position known as the Dovecot near Achiet-le-Petit which was initially captured on 21st and lost to counterattack yesterday. 5th Division took the village of Irles and then attacked Loupart Wood and Grevillers, which, sadly, they were unable to take, whilst 37th Division seized the village of Bihucourt, moving through the line established by 63rd (Royal Naval) Division and 4th Bedfords who are being withdrawn this evening, their task, for the moment, over.

1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, part of 5th Division, moved up in front of the village of Achiet-le-Petit and went into the attack at eleven o'clock this morning. It secured all its objectives although it suffered quite heavily from machine gun fire. The commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel H Courtenay MC has been badly wounded(1), Lieutenants G Abbott, H J A Watson, E I F Nailer, A R C Eaton and R H Arnholz, Second Lieutanants F H Fox and W T Paine have all been killed and two other officers wounded. Altogether the battalion has lost 129 other ranks killed and wounded, a heavier "butcher's bill" than it has had for some time. This evening the battalion will withdraw into the reserve, its job emphatically done. 

The result of these three days of action by IV Corps is to have established the front line east of the railway line between Albert and Arras and almost all the high ground south and west of Bapaume has been taken. Only a ridge running from Loupart Wood through Grevillers to Biefvillers remains in enemy hands. It is reckoned that over two thousand prisoners have been taken along with twenty five pieces of artillery. Readers will be familiar with names such as Bihucourt and Achiet-le-Grand and Petit from the actions of 18th Division in the Spring of 1917 as it is here that Private Christopher Augustus Cox of the 7th Bedfords won the Victoria Cross. To those of us who have been with the armies since 1915 so many of the names of places where actions are currently being fought are horribly familiar.

Last night some soldiers from 38th (Welsh) Division finally managed to cross the marshy River Ancre north of Thiepval Wood. They managed to establish themselves near Saint-Pierre-Divion and, despite enemy counter-attacks have clung on. This morning the rest of the Welsh Division, deployed between the Albert to Bapaume Road and the Ancre attacked and seized Usna Hill meaning they now look towards the pathetic heaps of ruins that mark the sites of the twin villages of Ovillers and la Boisselle.

18th Division has pushed on another thousand yards, in the face of stiff opposition and 3rd Australian Division, again in the teeth of strong opposition has managed a short advance on the north bank of the River Somme towards the south end of Bray-sur-Somme. 2nd Bedfords remain in their positions, having taken no part in today's attack.

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/3/wd; X550/5/3

(1) He died later on that evening and is buried at Bagneux British Cemetery, Gezaincourt. He was just thirty years old.

Albert Retaken

Thursday 22nd August 1918

Today the attacks have continued and to the immense pride of the army our old base at Albert has fallen once more into our hands. V Corps, bogged down in the quagmire around the Ancre to the north of the Somme has made no attack today but it was felt that conditions were suitable for 18th (Eastern) and 38th Divisions to make their attacks. 18th Division began south-west of Albert and 38th Division north-west. 

Overall III Corps began the day astride a piece of high ground known as the Morlancourt Ridge and was tasked with advancing two miles on a four mile front with 18th (Eastern) Division on the left and 3rd Australian Division on the right and in the centre 47th (London) and 12th (Eastern) Divisions. A good deal of softening up of the enemy was undertaken by bombing from the air by the Royal Air Force. 

The attack by 47th Division was over by eight o'clock this morning and achieved little. 12th Division, however, achieved the capture of the town of Meaulte, in happier times, an industrial suburb just south of Albert. The honour of retaking Albert fell to that splendid formation, 18th Division, 54th Brigade to the south, 55th Brigade to the north and the attack was greatly assisted by patrols last evening pushing across the River Ancre and establishing themselves on the road between Albert and Meaulte. Tonight the division is consolidating a line well to the east of the ruined town.

The 2nd Bedfords were in reserve for the attack by 54th Brigade. Colonel Percival is temporarily in command of 54th Brigade so the battalion was led today by Captain W E Aylwin MC. Altogether the battalion reports that it has lost one officer (Second Lieutenant W Whitbourn) and six other ranks killed, Lieutenant G B Reed and 48 other ranks wounded and two other ranks missing.

Like V Corps to the south of it, IV Corps has undertaken little in the way of offensive action today as it consolidates before once more taking up the advance. 1st Bedfords are still in support behind the new front line, where they stopped yesterday and have suffered a heavy bombardment by gas shells in which Lieutenant W M Stanton was wounded and Second Lieutenant H Maw has been killed. Part of the corps has been attacked by the enemy who made initial progress near Achiet-le-Petit but were then driven off.

About 5.30 this morning sentries of the 4th Bedfords noticed about a hundred of the enemy leave huts and advance in a south-westerly direction to attack one of the posts on the left of the battalion's position. Once observed C Company fired on them and reckoned to have killed nine of them. About thirty minutes later another party of the enemy approached a post in front of the battalion's centre held by A Company. they, too, were driven back, though sadly, Second Lieutenant Flory, who was in charge of the post was killed in the firefight. Later in the day strong attacks were made against 7th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers on the Bedfords' flank but were repulsed.

So ends a satisfactory day, with the remains of Albert once more in our hands. It is also a day in which all three of the regiment's remaining battalions on active service in France have been in action.

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/3/wd; X550/5/3

A Great Attack at Amiens

Thursday 8th August 1918

The army has been sensing it for some time but today the great attack on the enemy took place. Ever since the German offensive petered out just short of Amiens in April there has been the feeling that it will be necessary to push him out of the positions he took. Amiens is a vital rail-head. In addition any successful attack here which took the city would effectively split the British and French armies, giving a flank to attack on each formation. 

Today all thoughts of enemy success have been swept away by the allied forces. The attacking forces were drawn from all over the English-speaking World - the British III Corps, north of the River Somme and the Australian Corps and 33rd US Division (Illinois) south of the river. South of the Australians are the men from the mountains and prairies of Canada. 

The initial attack was undertaken by 2nd and 3rd Australian Divisions, Canadian 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions and 58th (2nd/1st London) and 18th (Eastern) Divisions. The latter formation, of course, includes the 2nd Bedfords, though they are currently in the rear, recovering from the attack by the Germans two nights ago. In retrospect this attack can be seen as a "spoiling operation", perhaps the Hun had got wind that something was in the offing and decided to try to disrupt it. To some extent they may have succeeded.

Mark V Tank at Bovingdon Tank Museum

Success seems to have been near total with a huge hole punched through the enemy's defences. For the first time for months the cavalry has even been in action - three brigades of the British Cavalry Corps assisting the advance in the Australian and Canadian sectors. Nowadays it also seem to go without saying that tanks have played a major part - both the traditional rhomboid-shaped tanks as well as a quicker vehicle armed with four machine guns and known as a Whippet.

Whippet Tank at Bovingdon Tank Museum

It is always to be difficult to be sure and, it may be imagined that reports coming from the thick of the action can be contradictory, but the advance seems in the centre and south, where the Canadians have been attacking, to have reached nearly two and a half miles. The Australians have also managed a good advanced. We understand that the bulk of the tanks have been assisting the colonial formations and that only a few assisted 18th and 58th Divisions who, anyway, were not expected to advance so far since they are the hinge with the rest of the army which has not, as yet, been ordered to attack. It may be that the attack of two nights ago also played its part in hampering the attack. Be that as it may the divisions still took their first objective.

A significant element of today's attack was the use of the new Royal Air Force, which replaced the Royal Flying Corps in April this year. Around five hundred machines have been involved in reconnaissance, bombing and straffing all day. Thus the attack has involved all arms involved in modern land warfare - infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft. 

It seems as though the allied armies have taken in excess of 15,000 prisoners, 3,000 or so by the French, who pushed forward to the south of the Canadians(1). Such a number is stupendous - it means that the equivalent of an entire division, with all supporting arms, has been taken. Informed opinion here at the front thinks that a few more days like today may see the beginning of the end for the enemy, especially considering the millions of Americans arriving daily whereas the Germans can have few, if any, reserves of manpower left(2)

(1) Total German casualties on 8th August are reckoned to have been about 30,000 - dead, wounded, missing and captured. Casualties among the attackers were around 10,000.

(2) The Battle of Amiens has come to be seen, in retrospect, as the turning point of the war, the point at which the allies continuously advanced and the enemy continually fell back before them, losing ever more men in the process.

Friday 5th April 1918

As we continue to "mark time" here in France, waiting for the enemy's next move, your correspondent spent a little time this evening with 6th Battalion at Couin. The adjutant tersely described the last few days as "a bad time in the line" at Bucquoy. From five until nine this morning the rear areas were heavily shelled, killing a cook, wounding a mule and wrecking a mobile cooker. One officer and twenty seven other ranks have been badly affected by gas whilst in the line at Bucquoy and one man has died a horrible death from the effects of this vile gas.

The 7th Battalion is now in billets but moved up again during the day to support 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment at Gentelles. Again, they were not needed, returning to their billets this evening, where, we heard a few minutes ago, they have been promptly shelled.

Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert Watts, General Officer Commanding XIX Corps, has sent the following message to 18th Division, of which the 7th Bedfords for a part: "Please accept on your behalf and that of all ranks of the 18th Division my heartiest congratulations on the splendid work done by the Division since joining the Nineteenth Corps. The results achieved by the fine fighting spirit and powers of endurance displayed have been of the greatest importance and I am most grateful to all concerned:

Sources: X550/7/1; X550/8/1

One Hundred and Second Day of the Third Battle of Ypres

Friday 9th November 1917

6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment has taken over trenches in the Hollebeke Sector, where other battalions of the regiment have found themselves at times this year. Their approximate positions are shown on the

map above. The adjutant remarked to us: “The sector is very much quieter than any trenches previously held by the Battalion this year”. Meanwhile 18th Division has taken over the front line in the northern sector of the battlefield on the southern fringes of Houthulst Forest. The 7th Bedfords are expecting to move up to the support line tomorrow.

In Gaza yesterday 1st/5th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment had a very quiet day following the Turkish withdrawal. An enemy plane was brought down by one of our machines over their positions. A large explosion was seen in the direction of the enemy railhead and it was afterwards found out that an enemy dump had been blown up. Six Turks who had tarried behind were captured by the Battalion’s patrols during the day and at 5.30 pm the Battalion moved back to the support line.

Since 31st October the Battalion has lost 31 men killed and died of wounds. By the standards of the Western Front this has been a comparatively light butcher’s bill for so impressive a gain.

Source: X550/6/8

Eighty Fourth Day of the Third Battle of Ypres

Monday 22nd October 1917

Three divisions have made attacks here today in an advance from Poelcapelle in the south to Veldhoek in the north - the northernmost part of the current battlefield. 18th (Eastern) Division took most of Poelcapelle on 12th of this month. Today 53rd Brigade has taken the Brewery on the eastern side of the town, which had held up their advance in 12th. They have also taken Meunier House, another target on 12th, as well as Noble’s Farm and Tracas Farm. This has been a highly satisfactory attack to add to the laurels of this élite division.

On their left flank, 34th Division pushed forward with two brigades, 101st and 102nd. 102nd Brigade took their objectives including Requete Farm. 101st Brigade had much more difficulty, being very badly handled, we understand, by a nest of pillboxes, and then by a counter-attack which seems to have pushed them back a good way.

35th Division has replaced the Guards Division in the line and their attack, with two brigades, was made due north against ground immediately south of Houthulst Forest. 104th Brigade has taken Colombo House and all its objectives, though, rather rashly, they pressed on into Houthulst Forest and were then forced to withdraw to the southern edge. 105th Brigade took Marechal Farm and Panama House and all their objectives. However, late this afternoon we are told, the Germans managed to break through 16th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment in a counter-attack, causing that battalion to retreat all the way back to its start line.

Thus today has been, as so often, a day of mixed fortunes. There has been sufficient success, however, to make the army believe that one more push, at one point or along the whole battlefront and some real success may result. 

Seventy Fourth Day of the Third Battle of Ypres

Friday 12th October 1917

Eight divisions have made concerted attacks today across a broad front stretching from Broodeseinde in the south to Veldhoek in the north. The main aim has been to take the village of Passchendaele and the spur on which it sits. However, it has been wet again and the conditions underfoot have been even worse than during the attack on 9th and this has severely limited the amount of ground which has been taken.

The 4th Australian Division formed a block on the flank of their compatriots further north. They took their first objective but made no attack on the second as the division on their left flank could make on further advance. This was 3rd Australian Division which attacked in two brigades attacking north-east from the area around Tyne Cot(1). Patrols from 9th Brigade got into the village of Passchendaele where they encountered men wounded in the attack by 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division three days ago. The terrible conditions, however, meant that men could not be got up quickly enough, nor were there enough men available, as the brigade’s flank was not secure, to consolidate and hold the village and the division, to its chagrin, was forced to fall back nearly to its start line. 10th Brigade, attacking on 9th Brigade’s left, could not get very far at all, we understand, though it took Waterfields on the Ravebeek, now a morass of deep, sucking slime. Mounting casualties from machine gun fire from their flank caused the brigade to abandon its attack and pull back to its starting position. We understand that there is great frustration amongst the division’s commanders and, indeed, corps and army headquarters that the village of Passchendaele, which is a major prize, has had to be abandoned but in truth the men seem to have done all they could, fighting not just the Germans but the ground and the elements.

On 3rd Australian Division’s flank is the splendid New Zealand Division, which, again, used two brigades in its attack. The attack of 2nd Brigade was destroyed by the fact that the artillery had not done its job, only one narrow section of the enemy’s barbed wire around the road to s’Gravenstafel. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Otago Regiment have, we are hearing suffered horrific casualties from enemy fire for no ground gained; clearly it was not from want of trying(2). 3rd New Zealand Brigade became intermingled with 9th (Scottish) Division early in the attack. They captured the cemetery at Wallemolen and took Wolf Farm, getting as far as Wolf Copse and then the attack was halted given the misfortune developing with 2nd Brigade. It was planned, we understand to re-commence the attack in mid-afternoon, but this was called off due to the severity of the rate of casualties.

9th (Scottish) Division used the 26th Brigade to make its attack. On the right Adler Farm, part of the first objective, was taken and Wallemolen was entered. However, the Germans had numbers of defenders in the village and managed to turn the Scots out again, so they consolidated just west of the houses, a gain of about two hundred yards. On the left an advance of only about one hundred yards has been possible, we hear.

18th Division are on the left flank of the Scots and their attack was undertaken by 53rd and 55th Brigades. 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment forms part of 54th Brigade and spent the day in attack practice at Tunnelling Camp well behind the line. 55th Brigade attacked Poelcapelle and Meunier House. They managed to take the best part of Poelcapelle, but the brewery on the eastern edge of the village proved too tough a nut to crack, as did Meunier House. There have been a number of counter-attacks to try and retake the village by the enemy through the afternoon but the last we heard the 18th Division is still in possession, adding another village to its impressive list of seizures since the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.

Next in the line is 4th Division which attacked with a composite brigade made up from the battalions in the division with the greatest numbers of men. Again, the advance was limited but some ground has been made and two farms, Besace and Memling have been taken.

17th (Northern) Division is on the left flank of 4th Division and used 51st Brigade in its attack. This attack has been a great success and all objectives have been taken, including the strongpoint at Senegal House. This was bypassed during the attack and, extraordinarily, we have been told that the whole garrison of ninety men surrendered to three unarmed men of the 7th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, who were bringing up supplies!

The final attack was made by 3rd Brigade of the Guards Division. Their attack was due north, towards Houthulst Forest. As twilight closed in this evening the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards took blockhouses at Angle Point and Aden House at the point where the division’s right flank met the left flank of 4th Division. The rest of the line now runs along the southern fringes of the forest.

So the second great attack this month has seen some more useful progress. It is unclear now long General Plumer and his staff plan to continue the offensive, but, clearly, they are not finished yet and, if nothing else, we suspect they will want to seize Passchendaele and its ridge.

(1) Today this is Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the World with 11,965 inhabitants.

(2) The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists 265 men from the Otago Regiment dying on 12th October and the numbers of wounded will probably have been at least twice this number. Overall 847 men from New Zealand units were killed or died of wounds on this day, compared to 866 from Australia (which had two divisions in the attack to New Zealand’s one). 1,854 men from British units died - there were five British divisions in the attack but the figure will include British units from across the World, so it can be seen that Antipodean units suffered far greater casualties than their UK counterparts. 

Seventy Second Day of the Third Battle of Ypres

The attack on 9th October

Wednesday 10th October 1917

Last night we heard considerable explosions towards the north of the current battlefield. This morning we discovered that the enemy had launched a counter-attack against 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division. The men from the north-west defeated it, we have learned, and have been relieved during the day by 3rd Australian Division. Today the 18th (Eastern) Division, of which the 7th Bedfords form part, has re-entered the struggle, reliving 11th Division at Poelcapelle.

Trench Foot

All during this miserably wet summer and now again in Autumn the army has suffered from a condition known as Trench Foot, an old adversary first encountered in the winter of 1914. When feet and lower limbs are wet all day due to immersion in mud and water they go numb as the circulation fails and this leads to them beginning to quite literally rot, a condition not unlike frost-bite. The adjutant of the 6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, informs us that this vile condition is prevalent in the unit at the moment. The only cure is to keep the feet dry and warm - frequent changes of socks and rubbing with whale-oil help but the only real remedy is not to spend too long in waterlogged trenches.

Source: X550/7/1

Day One Hundred and Thirteen on the Somme

Saturday 21st October 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

The enemy, it seems, have not yet given up their dreams of holding the Schwaben Redoubt, taken by 39th Division on 14th October. This morning they launched an attack to re-take it but were defeated. Perhaps now they will “get the message” as one of the soldiers said to me. 

A major attack involving four divisions, 18th (Eastern), 25th, 39th and 4th Canadian got underway today. As is appropriate the Canadians attacked Regina Trench west of Le Sars, which they took. 18th, 25th and 39th Divisions all captured their allotted sections of Stuff Trench and at Stump Road an amazing 731 prisoners, nineteen machine guns and three field guns were captured.

Day Ninety Nine on the Somme

Saturday 7th October 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

Today has seen more activity on the Somme than of late, with attacks in the vicinity of Le Sars, a village which sits astride the main road from Albert to Bapaume, in an arc round to Lesboeufs. 

23rd Division was tasked with the capture of the village of Le Sars. In the face of heavy fire they achieved their objective, so the village joins a growing list of heaps of ruins captured since 1st July. The Division was then ready to advance on an old Romano-Gallic burial mound called the Butte de Warlencourt, which is high enough to dominate the flat ground hereabouts. However, there were insufficient reinforcements for this, so the division dug-in just the other side of Le Sars.

47th Division, whose objective was also the Butte de Warlencourt, attacked Snag Trench but the volume of fire it encountered made any real progress impossible.

41st Division is between Eaucourt-l’Abbaye and Gueudecourt and encountered heavy machine-gun fire as it went forward. Some units managed to pierce Bayonet Trench and, as far as we know, are holding out. Those attacking the east end of Gird Trench were unable to get near it.

12th (Eastern) Division were supposed to attack north-east from Gueudecourt but were late in going forward due to a German barrage on their front lines as they were about to go “over the top”. They struggled forward but were unable to make any headway.

20th (Light) Division are between Gueudecourt and Lesboeufs. They seized a main German defensive line called Rainbow Trench and pressed on to take another trench called Misty Trench. A German counter-attack as the light failed this evening from the direction of Beaulencourt appears to have been defeated.

56th (London) Division, alongside the French on their right flank, attacked north-east from Lesboeufs. Attacks by both the Londoners and the French were able to make little headway and, as evening fell were pushed back to their starting positions.

The last units of 18th (Eastern) Division have been relieved in the unspeakable desolation of mud, bodies and debris known as the Schwaben Redoubt. The dubious honour of continuing the fight here will fall to 39th Division. They were immediately attacked by Germans including two flame-thrower teams but the enemy were repulsed.

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