Thursday 7th June 1917
When the
history of this war comes to be written it seems likely that the name Messines
Ridge will figure prominently in it. By great good fortune your correspondent
was lucky enough to see some of the fighting yesterday at close quarters,
paying a scheduled visit to the 2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, on
Observatory Ridge.
The attack
was made by three corps of Second Army - from south to north - II ANZAC Corps,
IX Corps and X Corps. Their mission was nothing less than the capture of the
whole Messines Ridge. The land around Ypres is, in general, flat, with a few
low ridges which, in such a flat landscape, stand out with more than usual
prominence. Messines Ridge gives splendid views over our lines to Ypres in one
direction and over the German second and rear lines in the other; its capture
will allow unparalleled observation of German activity and of targets for
artillery.
Lieutenant-Colonel Poyntz [X550/1/81]
The attack
was preceded by the explosion of twenty enormous mines under the German
defenses. This tactic is well-known and was used in the Battle of the Somme
last year, but never on the scale of today. Having caught a lift to the 2nd
Battalion positions on Observatory Ridge before dawn I was privileged, by great
good fortune, to see these mines. I have been sitting at the typewriter for a
good half-hour and have been forced to concede that my powers of description
fail me. An artillery barrage had preceded the firing of the mines, which told
me that something big was up, so it was in a state of great excitement that I
met the commanding officer of the Bedfords, Lieutenant-Colonel, E S M Poyntz,
and his staff. I remember the atmosphere was very tense but also expectant. The
Bedfords, Lieutenant-Colonel Poyntz informed me, were not taking part in the
attack, but had to be on standby for any eventuality.
The guns fell
silent about half an hour before dawn. And then a wonderful thing happened. In
the new-found silence a number of us were sure we could hear a nightingale
singing somewhere in the blasted woodland behind us. Perhaps it was
imagination, but that moment will live with me until the end of my days, as
will what happened next. At 3.10 a.m. a terrific shaking was felt followed, what
seemed a few seconds later by a roar such as I have never heard, the sound of an
passing express train was a lullaby compared to it. It seemed to me at the time
that it went on for ever, but I have learned since that in a half-minute or so
all twenty of the mines were fired (see map above) and, of course, it took a while for the
sound to reach us from those further away(1). We were in a dug-out but even so
for a brief moment the interior was lit up as brightly as if dawn had already
arrived and we were in the open. As can be imagined there was a mad scramble
for the exit, after the colonel, of course, to see what was happening.
It was then
that the scale of this assault was brought home to me, and I will now try to
describe it in more detail. Each of the three attacking corps had three
objectives, the Blue Line, Black Line and Oosttaverne Line. After the
explosions the divisions assigned to the attack went forward behind a creeping
barrage of artillery shells. Each corps easily took the Blue Line, so great was
the destruction caused by the mine, any man not vaporised by the explosions was
too stunned to react to the situation, and large numbers of prisoners were
taken.
By five
o’clock this morning the first part of the German second line was in the hands
of the attacking British, New Zealand and Australian troops. A pause of two
hours then ensued to allow for consolidation and fresh battalions to be brought
up to continue the assault and take the rear portion of the German second line.
This duly happened meaning that both Blue and Black Lines had been taken. Now
to press on to the third objective, the Oostaverne Line! First came a pause to allow any German
counter-attacks to be received in prepared positions rather than on the move.
At 3.10 this afternoon this third phase of the attack began. As I write this
the situation bids fair for this to be achieved. This is unprecedented - a
major attack involving 200,000 men or so taking all its objectives. There is
high excitement tonight that a real breakthrough to the peaceful countryside
beyond the front line has been achieved.
Your
correspondent is ending the day where he began, with 2nd Bedfords, although, by
chance, he met with an acquaintance from 8th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire
Light Infantry a little while ago. This unit was on the right flank of the
Bedfords this morning and took part in the attack. This acquaintance is a local
man, Dan White from Husborne Crawley (his real name is George but is is known
as Dan after his father). He expressed himself satisfied in no uncertain
language that the enemy had taken “a drubbing”. His unit was one of the worst
affected by casualties on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme and saw hard
fighting in October around le Sars in which many of his comrades were killed.
Second Lieutenant Joyce [X550/1/81]
At 9.30 this
morning. 2nd Lieutenant A W Joyce and twenty other ranks got across No Man’s
Land to the enemy trenches, and were just getting into trench, when they saw it
was crowded with Germans. The Patrol got back safely. An hour later a party of
about three hundred Germans came across to front line trenches about three
hundred yards to the right of the Bedfords, which had been vacated by the
attacking KOYLI. Vickers and Lewis guns took advantage of this target and
accounted for a large number, a few however got into the Bedfords’ lines, but
these were soon driven out by a bombing party under 2nd Lieutenant T G Searle.
Some men of the 2nd Canadian Tunnelling Company rendered valuable assistance in
this little operation.
Second Lieutenant Searle [X550/1/81]
The ferocity
of the explosions of the mines and of our barrage may be measured by the fact
that two men of the Bedfords have been sent to the rear with shell shock. One
can only guess at the effect on the enemy.
Source: X550/3/WD
(1) This
explosion of mines, totalling 933,200 pounds (416 tons or 424,181 kilogrammes)
of high explosive over a wide area, is ranked as one of the largest
non-nuclear, man-made explosions in the history of the World and was probably
the loudest in history up to that time. It was apparently heard as far away as
London and even Dublin and in nearby Lille it was thought an earthquake was
taking place. Around ten thousand Germans died instantly. Six mines were not
used, one was detonated by lightning in 1955 and the other five remain lurking
beneath the peaceful landscape.
