The Advance Continues

Friday 9th August 1918

Today the great advance of yesterday has been continued, wider and deeper. The forward movement has not been so dashing as yesterday but has been solid, across the whole front of the attack. The French to the south have launched a full-scale attack of their own after taking a limited part in yesterday's fighting. Thus the enemy have been hit, in boxing terms, with a left hook followed by a right cross. Let us hope for the sake of humanity that it proves a knockout blow!

In the following days the advance will likely pause because the infantry have now moved forward beyond the range of the supporting artillery and it will be necessary to bring up the guns and register them on the enemy's rear positions before another push can be made. In the offensive at Ypres last year this was a problem because of the sodden state of the ground. In the morass which the battlefield quickly became it was almost impossible to walk, let alone to drag heavy ordnance. Now, however, the ground is dry and firm and it should prove easy enough to bring up the guns and for them to begin their work.

Another issue forcing a brief pause is that most of the tanks are now unusable. Some have been destroyed by enemy gunfire but the majority have broken down and need repair. This is a technology still in its infancy, not yet two years in action, and a battlefield puts huge stresses on engines, bearings, tracks, wheels and every part of these titanic machines. It is also hugely demanding of crews who have to work in temperatures resembling the proximity of a blast furnace and breathing noxious fumes from the exhaust of the engine in a confined space for hours on end. 

We must all be patient. Victory will not come overnight and a lot of hard fighting lays ahead along, inevitably, with necessary pauses which may leave those of us not engaged in this life-and-death struggle champing at the bit. Let us have confidence that a formula has, at last been found to overcome well-made German defences and tenacious German defenders and let us look forward with cautious hope.

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.

Backs to the Wall at Cachy

Wednesday 24th April 1918

Early this morning those of us in Amiens were awakened by a very heavy bombardment which told us that the Germans were attacking again. 7th Bedfords, with the rest of 54th Brigade was called into action and by 7 a.m. was on its way to the front. We understand they initially drew up just over the River l'Avre but shortly after noon they found new positions on the high ground between Gentelles  and the south-west corner of Bois de l'Abbe, blocking the enemy's approach to Amiens. If this city were to fall the British Expeditionary Force would be in severe trouble as it is a major railhead and there is little to the west to prevent the Germans reaching the coast and, if they reach the coast they will have split the British and French armies. Our forces would, then, in effect, be surrounded through the greater part of a semi-circle from there to Ypres in the north.

At this point the enemy held the eastern edge of Bois de l'Abbe and was fighting for possession of the village of Cachy, north-east of Gentelles. Cachy was being held by two companies of 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, companies of the Suffolk and London Regiments and some Royal Engineers. An hour ago the Bedfords were ordered to attack the enemy towards the road from Villers-Bretonneux to Aubercourt north of Hangard. We understand that C Company is on the right, B Company in the centre and A Company on the left with D Company in reserve. The Bois de l'Abbe is on the left and Cachy in the right rear. This attack may play a vital part in the defence of Amiens.

The captured A7V (from Wikipedia)

During the day news has come through of an unusual feature of this German attack. Three of their tanks (they call them A7Vs) encountered three of our tanks near Villers-Bretonneux and a fight developed between them which led to one of the German machines being knocked out and a number of the crew killed. The monster was able to lumber back behind enemy lines(1)

We understand that the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, part of 5th Division is scheduled to take part in a minor operation tomorrow between Merville and Lamotte west of Estaires.

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/8/1

(1) This A7V - Mephisto - was abandoned and captured by Australians in August. It was shipped back to Australia and is now in the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, the only surviving vehicle, only 20 being made.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday 31st March 1918

Once again today, Easter Sunday, the tired men of the Fifth Army have had respite with no major German attacks. The 2nd Battalion did not linger long by the sea, sadly, in the early hours of this morning they marched to Catigny-Arrest, six or seven miles south of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme where they rested. In conversation with the adjutant, who has finally had time to do some administration, I learned that he reckons the battalion has lost 15 officers and 554 other ranks killed, wounded and missing since 21st March - more than half its strength.

The 6th Battalion moved into the front line today, the transport remaining at Couin. Meanwhile, 7th Battalion came closest to seeing action during the day. At 8.30 this morning they marched to Gentelles, immediately east of Boves and ten miles south-east of Amiens, in support to the front line. About four this afternoon they were marshalled to move off and stem an enemy attack. However, this attack did not materialise and the men are now thankfully moving back to their billets.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/7/1; X550/8/1

Catching Breath

Saturday 30th March 1918

Today, once again, the Germans have attacked our Fifth Army and our French allies south of the River Somme. If any did not believe that this great attack was on its last legs, they now will have changed their mind. The attack gained a small amount of ground but it did not have the energy, the force or the cohesion of the attacks of the last ten days.

The 2nd Battalion have left Rouvrel today, marching to Saleux, just south-west of Amiens and then taking the train to the pretty fishing village of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. They have more than earned a spell by the seaside! The 4th Battalion is at Forceville, just two or three miles north-west of Bouzincourt. It is refitting and reorganising.

The 6th Battalion is now at Couin, only about seven miles north of the 4th Battalion at Forceville. The 7th Battalion has been a Nampcel for a few days but today took buses to Compiegne and then to Amiens. Their final destination was Boves, south-east of Amiens. They are battered and much reduced, but the indomitable 18th Division now stands ready to defend the city of Amiens from any enemy attack.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/5/3; X550/7/1; X550/8/1

Is the Enemy Advance Slowing Down?

Thursday 28th March 1918

At 3.30 this morning the 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment was relieved after its heroic attack yesterday. Grieving for its commanding officer, killed at the moment of triumph and for three officers and twenty seven other ranks also killed, the battalion marched back to Senlis where it went into billets for a shorty sleep, before moving again to Mailly-Maillet, just behind the front line, late this morning. The men are exhausted and the battalion much reduced as, in addition to the glorious dead, 88 men have been wounded and 124 are missing, probably captured.

The 2nd Battalion is still some way to the south. This morning it was still near Arvillers, astride the main road to Amiens, enduring German shelling. The enemy then attacked and got into Arvillers on the right flank and the hamlet of Folies on the left. The enemy was just 100 yards away when the battalion was ordered to withdraw, which it did about 2.30, moving through Moreuil where a halt was called to eat a hasty meal. Then this battered battalion moved a couple of miles further west to Rouvrel, where it has billeted, rejoined by its commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel H S Poyntz who had been serving on 90th Brigade staff. The battalion is now only about a dozen miles south of the vital rail-head of Amiens. It is widely speculated by the press corps that if this city falls the enemy will have succeeded in driving a fatal wedge between our armies and those of our French allies, and there will then be nothing to prevent the Bosches driving north for the vital channel ports of Boulogne and Calais.

However, there is curiously little worry here in Amiens. There is concern, certainly, but we have felt that the enemy advance finally seems to be slowing down, like a railway engine running out of steam. The enemy supply lines from Saint-Quentin and other cities must now be stretched to breaking point. An advance of nearly fifty miles means that their motorised supply will have much further to travel from their dumps of ammunition, food and water and they will, as yet be unable to use the railway, as damage has been deliberately caused to that during the retreat.

There seems to doubt that the German fingers are striving to reach Amiens. As their strength fails and our defences around the city harden, however, there is every hope of slamming those groping fingers in the door. Plenty of fresh units are available, most of which have not seen action since the autumn and as the Americans arrive in numbers every day the Kaiser is delayed before Amiens is another nail in his coffin.

One of the fresh units arriving to help stem the German advance is 6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. Today, their adjutant has just informed me, they boarded a train at Caestre, close to Ypres and the Belgian border, leaving it at Mondicourt, just east of Doullens.

The final confirmation that things are beginning to stabilise is that the enemy launched a huge attack against Arras today. It is reckoned that up to a quarter of a million men took part in this attack. The front line here, however, is in a much better state of readiness and its defences much stronger than they were to the south, part of the defence, of course, is the formidable natural obstacle of Vimy Ridge, so gallantly taken by the Canadians in Spring 1917. This attack has been decisively defeated with only minor advances to the south of Arras.

Sources: X550/3/wd; X550/5/3; X550/7/1

Train Journeys

Wednesday 7th October 1914: Today the 2nd Battalion finally, to their great relief we are sure, landed on the Continent not, as we had expected, in France but in Belgium. They landed at Zeebrugge and travelled by train (not in passenger carriages but things more akin to goods wagons designed for forty men or twelve horses each) to the beautiful old city of Bruges. Sadly, they had no time to see the sights but marched out to Sint-Kruis a few miles east of the city and into billets.

The 1st Battalion seems to be heading to meet them as it is on board a train heading north, passing through Amiens and Abbeville. Our contact tells us they fixed an officer’s mess in a field near the station “in a house owned by an 1870 veteran[1] who was most enthusiastic and kind”.

“He gave us jam, vegetables etc. and made us very comfortable and in return we gave him as a present one of our German helmets. He was simply overjoyed with this and began to make a nuisance of himself by telling yarns of the ‘70’ war!” When the battalion got on the train they were in for a shock: “The train is a perfectly beastly one, very dirty, no lamps and only 2nd and 3rd Class carriages for officers and cattle trucks for the men!” We hope they soon arrive at journey’s end.

Sources: X550/2/5; X550/2/7; X550/3/wd

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[1] The Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 in which the French were defeated and lost their provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany.