6th September
1916: From our Correspondent in the Field
Sadly the
attack on the high ground near Ginchy yesterday failed, due to wire
entanglements in the high corn, which had not been seen. I have spent a good
part of the morning with the 1st Battalion, who have now been relieved from the
front line by 56th (London) Division. This is despite a German counterattack
which has led to delays meaning that some of units of the division are yet to
be relieved.
The adjutant
told me that they went into action with 20 Officers and 610 other ranks, and
came out having lost 17 Officers and 289 other ranks, the majority of them
wounded. He was grimly satisfied that they had fully succeeded in gaining their
objective and had facilitated the advance on either flank.
Part of this
satisfaction was due to adverse circumstances. The Battalion started with full
water bottles on the afternoon of the 3rd and were only able to obtain water again
on the morning of the 5th. During during this time they made an attack across
the open and the following afternoon made another successful attack. Soldiers
to whom I have spoken after going into action rate having drinking water more
highly than anything else, except having sufficient ammunition.
The adjutant
told me: “This lack of water was to a certain extent eked out by soda water, of
which the German dug-outs were found to be well supplied when captured”.
The
commanding officer, Colonel Allason, himself wounded, then took up the story:
Sergeant Bush, the Battalion Signalling Sergeant, kept up communication between
Brigade and Battalion Headquarters by telephone throughout the operations,
except for short intervals(1). There were two intermediate stations for repair
of line if that proved necessary and orderlies were able to follow the line to
carry important messages”. His pride at this efficiency was underlined by the
failure of others, as he told me ruefully: “This was not done by a Brigade
Orderly carrying 15th Brigade operational order of 5th September, ordering an
attack at once by night on Falfemont Farm. It was sent out at 12.30 a.m., and
only received at 8.0 a.m, too late to be acted upon. By night a telephone line
or even string will enable orderlies to find their way however intricate the
country may be”.
He went on to
say that after any battle lessons can always be learned, for example: “The
necessity of giving Battalion Commanders more time to communicate their orders
to subordinates. Not many Battalions could have moved off from a long line of
trenches to assault a strong position 1,000 yards distant within a quarter of
an hour of receipt” as, of course, his men had done.
The colonel
than went on to praise Captain W H L Barnett: “Temporary Captain Barnett led
the leading Company and directed those following in a masterly manner, after
passing through the trenches of our front line, some 500 yards from where we
started, they finished up, each Company, a formed unit on their objective. A
previous attack that morning had failed and the temptation must have been great
for men to drop into the front line trench and start firing”.
“Temporary Captain
Barnett's Company also led the attack on the 4th against German position north-west
of Falfemont Farm, under peculiarly difficult circumstances. His Company had
been under our own barrage fire from daylight till 3.10 p.m., the last portion
of which was intense. Many men had been killed and many buried. It was only by
constant digging in that any survived, yet the assault was carried out with the
utmost vigour. The capture gained the whole ridge and by drawing off German
troops from the nearby quarry enabled the 95th Brigade to reach Leuze Wood
practically unopposed that evening. It also indirectly facilitated the advance
of the French troops”. The colonel told me that he has recommended decorations
for both Captain Barnett and Temporray Captain West.
Though the
1st Bedfords are now behind the front lines, the fighting continues. 7th
Division is still locked in a battle to take possession of Ginchy. After rain
in the last few days the whole battlefield has become very muddy, which hampers
any forward movement. So far, we understand, the village is still in German
hands.
Sources: X550/2/5
(1) Sergeant James Bush from Bishop’s Stortford
[Hertfordshire] was killed on 8th October 1917 and is buried at Hooge Crater Cemetery
near Ypres.
