Day Seventy on the Somme

Friday 8th September 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

Following theire dogged fighting at Falfemont Farm the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, has been receiving due praise. Their brigadier wrote to each of the four battalions under his command (1):

“The Brigadier General Commanding feels he cannot too warmly express his admiration of the fine soldierly qualities again displayed by all ranks during the recent operations”.

“The taking of Falfemont Farm, a most important and strongly defended post, was a magnificent performance and is one of the greatest successes accomplished during the war”.

“This was made possible entirely by the good handling of their Battalions by Commanding Officers and the devoted conduct of all ranks”.

“Heavy working parties were required when the Brigade was not in the Line and these did excellent work”.

“The Brigadier-General thanks all ranks for their support and co-operation and trusts the Brigade will shortly enjoy a well earned rest”

Colonel Allason has also addressed his men, and your correspondent was privileged to watch his stirring address: “I have come here this morning to read to you a message that we have received from the Commander-in-Chief”(2).

“He says, with reference to the late operations, "The rapid advance on Leuze Wood, following on the capturing of Falfemont Farm, showed great judgement and determination, and has been of considerable assistance to the French Army on our right””.

““I very warmly congratulate you and the Commanders and Staffs and the Troops under you on the results you have already achieved and on the energy and determination with which they were followed up””.

“Well, now, you’re the people who took Falfemont Farm, and I am very glad to be able to tell you that not only the Commander-in-Chief, but the Army Commander and the Corps Commander all realise what a great and glorious fight it was”.

“It makes it all the better that you did it after there had been a failure; that always makes it more difficult”.

“Nothing in the world could have been finer than the show you fellows put up by that Farm and the line up to Wedge Wood on the left of it. It was magnificent”.

“I want to thank you all for what you have done and tell you that everybody thoroughly understands what a good show it was”.

There have been some other good shows today. 1st Division has taken the western half of the vile remains of High Wood and 55th Division defeated a German attack in the early hours of the morning.

Source: X550/2/5

(1)   1st Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, 16th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment .

(2)   General Sir Douglas Haig

Day Sixty Six on the Somme

Monday 4th September 1916: From our Correspondent in the Field

Readers will recall that last night’s despatch was sent as the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, was attacking Falfemont Farm. Their area of attack lay between this farm and Wedge Wood (which lies to the north-west)with 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment on their right flank. The attack actually got under way, the adjutant tells me, at 6.15 pm last evening and their objective lay across one thousand yards of open ground. Unfortunately the artillery barrage, behind which they were supposed to advance, had gone a long way forward by the time they started. 

In fact the attack veered a little to the left and they occupied a position between Wedge Wood, which had been taken, and a sunken lane running along its western edge, thus, by mistake, occupying part of the objective of the neighbouring 95th Brigade. By extending the line the Bedfords linked up with the Cheshires west of Falfemont Farm, each battalion holding a very long frontage of 1,200 yards each. Strong patrols were then pushed forward after dark and one managed to entrench about thirty yards from the enemy front line “in a very creditable manner” as the adjutant remarked to me. Two other patrols captured four prisoners between them. No patrols suffered any casualties.

Sadly this was not true of the bulk of the Battalion. All morning its positions were shelled by our own artillery, despite requests to desist. As the adjutant told me, with some anger “Finally two of the forward trenches had to be evacuated as the men were all being buried. In doing so the enemy opened with machine guns on them and there were several casualties. Quite apart from its morale effect some thirty men were will or wounded by our own guns”.

Misfortune also befell the enemy as the battalion continued its attack of yesterday: “In one instance a bomb set fire to a German bomb store. A whole company was sheltering in a dug-out with three entrances, according to the statements of two survivors: not many escaped”. The Bedfords captured 3 officers, 128 other ranks and 4 machine guns this morning and, in all reckon to have captured around 160. The final line reached and consolidated stretches from the northern corner of Falfemont Farm for 300 yards north-west across a plateau towards Wedge Wood. Thus the Bedfords succeeded in taking north corner of the farm and the west corner was also taken. Unfortunately other attacks failed to capture the bulk of the farm itself. Nevertheless, this is a significant achievement by the battalion, as the Germans only cede ground very unwillingly, as the intense fighting around Mouquet Farm in the last few weeks shows. The Australians have still failed to take it. So, despite severe casualties, satisfaction is felt by the survivors.

Elsewhere 20th (Light) Division occupied most of Leuze Wood and 7th Division attacked Ginchy without success

Source: X550/2/5

Day Sixty Five on the Somme

Sunday 3rd September 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

Today has been one of great activity here on the Somme with attacks across a front of five miles or more. There have been separate attacks in the Ancre Valley and on the Thiepval Ridge, at Mouquet Farm, at High Wood, at Guillemont and at Ginchy. We will begin this left to right progress, so to speak, in the Ancre Valley.

The 49th Division made an attack which began at the road from Hamel to Thiepval (known as Mill Road and Thiepval Road) and headed north towards Saint-Pierre-Divion. However, weather has been poor today, with drizzle reducing visibility and the attackers were caught by machine gun fire from the Schwaben Redoubt on their right flank. Some men did penetrate the enemy front line but were forced to evacuate it for lack of ammunition and reinforcements and by mid-morning it became clear that the attack had failed with no ground gained. This attack has made it clear that the whole Thiepval Ridge will need to be cleared of the enemy if any progress is to be made in the Ancre Valley.

To the south-east of the village of Thiepval the Australians have again attacked the remains of Mouquet Farm. They succeeded in capturing most of the rubble and the nearby trenches but have been driven out again by the Germans. All this fighting, both on the surface, in trenches and underground in bunkers has been of the most bestial hand-to-hand variety. The Germans are well aware that if Mouquet Farm falls the back door to Thiepval will be open.

The fight still goes on amongst the splinters of High Wood. 1st Brigade of 1st Division attacked here, again using flame-throwers and Livens Projectors, despite these weapons’ failure on 18th August. To assist the attack a mine containing 3,000 lb of high explosive was detonated under the eastern corner of the wood less than a minute before the troops moved into the attack, giving the Germans no time to recover. Unfortunately the Livens Projectors caused more harm to our men than to the Germans when a stray trench mortar shell exploded the oil drums they were supposed to use against the enemy prematurely. Thus the whole attack failed. This evening, about an hour ago fresh attacks have pierced the remains of the wood.

5th Division was given the task of finally taking the fortress village of Guillemont. This was carried out in combination with the French 127th Regiment. Unfortunately the French were pinned down in Combles Ravine, leaving our men to attack alone. 13th Brigade attacked Falfemont Farm whilst 95th Brigade attacked the spur of ground between Falfemont Farm and Guillemont. The attacks began just before nine o’clock this morning and succeeded in capturing the German front line. 

The second line, from Wedge Wood to the south-eastern tip of the village, fell just before one o’clock. A 13th Brigade attack on Wedge Wood was stopped short of its objective.

The 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, has been caught up in the fighting. Just before two o’clock this afternoon the battalion moved forward from Silesian Trenches just north of Maricourt. They reached the vicinity of Maltz Horn Farm about half an hour later and at three o’clock was ordered to move to trenches south of Angle Wood. They advanced in company with 16th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment into Angle Wood under heavy shelling which caused ten casualties. An hour ago, about six o’clock they began their attack on Falfemont Farm, as yet I have heard nothing of their progress.

20th (Light) Division attacked Guillemont from trenches to the west and south-west of the village. These were successful and the village was finally taken. This has led to German counter-attacks this afternoon and this evening but, as far as I can determine, British troops still hold the village, or what remains of it. 

7th Division attacked the village of Ginchy, north-east of Guillemont. Unfortunately, Delville Wood, with its German defenders, has a line of sight over the ground over which the division attacked, being able to fire on the left flank of the attack from the north. Men from 7th and 24th Divisions, thus, were given the task of taking Delville Wood and the trenches leading east from it, but did not manage to achieve their task. They succeeded in taking the eastern edge of the wood but plenty of Germans remained in adjacent trenches to fire at the attack on Ginchy.

7th Division attacked Ginchy from the west, from around Waterlot Farm (shown as "Sugar Refinery" on the map above), thus by-passing Guillemont which lies to the south. Their objective is the site of a telegraph tower, on a prominence east of the village. They were duly struck in their left by fire from the Germans in trenches east of Delville Wood, particularly from a trench called Ale Alley (all the trenches in this sector have been given names relating to beer by our men). I understand that the attack got into Ginchy but, due to the drizzle and murky conditions, could not be seen by headquarters. The Germans then counterattacked and drove the men of 7th Division out of Ginchy again. About 5.30 this evening another attack was launched but it seems to have come for nothing. It took over a month to finally capture Guillemont, everyone hopes, most profoundly, that it will not take another month to capture its sister village of Ginchy.

Source: X550/2/5

Day Fifty Nine on the Somme

Monday 28th August 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

Today 1st Division has made a minor attack east of High Wood which has succeeded in gaining a small amount of ground. This evening an attack has begun on trenches east of Delville Wood by “the incomparable” 7th Division.  I can hear the noise as I write these few lines.

Day Forty Nine on the Somme

Friday 18th August 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

Today has seen more activity than any other day this month so far. On the left of the British line as it attacks from south to north, 33rd Division attacked High Wood. This novel attack was intended to use a German tactic, first used against British troops in July last year at Hooge near Ypres and used against 1st Division yesterday – flame-throwers, as well as oil drums hurled by Livens Projectors(1). Unfortunately the flamethrowers failed and the Livens Projectors were damaged and buried by the British barrage which fell short of its target. Given these failures it is not surprising that the infantry were unable to get forward in any numbers. Despite the setbacks, however, the imaginative thinking employed can only be applauded. At least Wood Trench between High Wood and Delville Wood (and north-west of Delville Wood) was captured.

In the centre of the attack Delville Wood has, once more, been attacked, along with the trenches immediately bordering it to the west and east. This time the unit drawing the proverbial short straw was 14th (Light) Division. Some prisoners were taken in the centre of the remains of the wood and gains were made, with a number of trenches falling to the attackers in the wood and either side of it.

An old and hated name resurfaced briefly in conversation today - Trônes Wood. 24th Division began an attack east on Guillemont from there this morning, following the line of the remains of the track leading from the remains of wood to the remains of the village. The attack mostly ground to a halt in front of the German wire, stopped by machine-guns. However, the German line was penetrated near the quarry on the west side of Guillemont and the position has been consolidated. In the area between the north-west of Guillemont and south-east of Delville Wood progress was made and around one hundred prisoners taken.

The right flank of the attack was south of Guillemont. 3rd Division attacked a trench called Lonely Trench east of Maltz Horn Farm near the road south from Hardecourt-au-Bois to Guillemont – a place which has become as infamous to Tommy Atkins as Delville Wood or High Wood and is generally known as the Gillymong Road. Trenches south-east of Arrowhead Copse were also attacked. Most of these attacks were unsuccessful. Meanwhile French troops took some more of the village of Maurepas and joined up with 3rd Division south of Guillemont. We have just heard, however, that the French have, again, been pushed back by a German counter-attack.

Meanwhile the Australians on the Pozières Ridge made further attacks towards Mouquet Farm as wel las south-east of the road from Albert to Bapaume. We understand some progress has been made here, too.

(1) Essentially large buried mortars

Day Forty Eight on the Somme

Thursday 17th August 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

We understand that the attacks carried out in the vicinity of Guillemont yesterday, by our 3rd Division and the French 153rd Division have unraveled overnight. The French were forced to give way by strong German counter-attacks and 3rd Division did not manage to hold the road from Guillemont to Hardecourt due to failures of attacks by other units of the same division on its flanks. The one bright spot is that a particularly troublesome enemy trench called Cochrane Alley, near Maltz Horn Farm, was taken yesterday and has been held.

Early this morning 1st Division was attacked by the enemy in a trench which it had secured to the west of High Wood. The enemy used flame-throwers, ghastly weapons men of the 1st Bedfords will remember from attacks they faced near Ypres in July last year. Unfortunately some of the trench was lost to the enemy.

Day Twenty Four on the Somme

Monday 24th July 1916 From our Correspondent in the Field

Early this morning the Australians again made attacks at Pozières, trying to push up from the village to trenches north and east of the village. The British 1st Division also attacked on the Australians’ right. In both cases some small successes have been achieved, we understand.

We have been told that these battles around Pozières may hold the key to the battle as a whole. The area around the village stretching north-west to the hamlet of Thiepval is the highest in the area and will give a commanding view of German positions to north and east. This will allow our artillery to register more successfully on their targets which should make further attacks easier.

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.