THE OPENING OF THE WEARING-OUT
BATTLE
By Gen. Sir Douglas Haig.
(taken from
"Sir Douglas Haig's Despatches, Dec. 1915 - Apr 1919";
J.H. Boraston, O.B.E., ed. New York : J. M. Dent; 1919.)
General Headquarters,
23rd December,
1916.(1)
MY LORD;
I have the honor to submit the following report
on the operations of the Forces under my Command since the 19th May,
the date of my last Despatch.
1. The principle of an offensive campaign during the summer of 1916
had already been decided on by all the Allies. The various
possible alternatives on the Western front had been studied and
discussed by General Joffre and myself, and we were in complete agreement
as to the front to be attacked by the combined French
and British Armies(2). Preparations for our offensive
had made considerable progress ; but as the date on which the attack
should begin was dependent on many doubtful factors, a final decision
on that point was deferred until the general situation should become
clearer.
Subject to the necessity of commencing operations
before the summer was too far advanced, and with due regard to the general
situation, I desired to postpone my attack as long as possible. The
British Armies were growing in numbers(3) and
the supply of munitions was steadily increasing. Moreover a very large
proportion of the officers and men under my command were still far from
being fully trained, and the longer the attack could be deferred the
more efficient they would become. On the other hand the Germans were
continuing to press their attacks at Verdun, and both there and on the
Italian front, where the Austrian offensive(4)
was gaining ground, it was evident that the strain might become too
great to be borne unless timely action were taken to relieve it. Accordingly,
while maintaining constant touch with General Joffre in regard to all
these considerations, my preparations were pushed on, and I agreed,
with the consent of H.M. Government, that my attack should be launched
whenever the general situation required it with as great a force as
I might then be able to make available.
2. By the end of May the pressure of the enemy
on the Italian front had assumed such serious proportions that the Russian
campaign was opened early in June, and the brilliant
successes(5) gained by our Allies against the
Austrians at once caused a movement of German troops from the Western
to the Eastern front. This, however, did not lessen the pressure on
Verdun. The heroic defense of our French Allies had already gained many
weeks of inestimable value and had caused the enemy very heavy losses
; but the strain continued to increase. In view, therefore, of the situation
in the various theatres of war, it was eventually agreed between General
Joffre and myself that the combined French and British offensive should
not be postponed beyond the end of June.
The object of that offensive was threefold
- To relieve the pressure on Verdun.
- To assist our Allies in the other theatres of war by stopping any
further transfer of German troops from the Western front.
- To wear down the strength of the forces opposed to us.
3. While my final preparations were in progress
the enemy made two unsuccessful attempts to interfere with my arrangements.
The first, directed on the 21st May against our positions on the Vimy
Ridge, south and south-east of Souchez, held by the 47th and 25th Divisions
(Major-Generals Sir C. St. L. Barter and E. G. T. Bainbridge commanding),
resulted in a small enemy gain of no strategic or tactical importance
; and rather than weaken my offensive by involving additional troops
in the task of recovering the lost ground, I decided to consolidate
a position in rear of our original line.
The second enemy attack was delivered on the 2nd
June on a front of over one and a half miles from Mount Sorrell to Hooge,
held by the 3rd Division (Major-General L. J. Lipsett), and succeeded
in penetrating to a maximum depth of 700 yards. As the southern part
of the lost position commanded our trenches I judged it necessary to
recover it, and by an attack launched on the 13th June, carefully prepared
and well executed, this was successfully accomplished by the troops
on the spot (1st Canadian Division, Major-General A. W. Currie).
Neither of these enemy attacks succeeded in delaying
the preparations for the major operations which I had in view.
4. These preparations were necessarily very elaborate
and took considerable time.
Vast stocks of ammunition and stores of all kinds
had to be accumulated beforehand within a convenient distance of our
front. To deal with these many miles of new railways -- both standard
and narrow gauge -- and trench tramways were laid. All available roads
were improved, many others were made, and long causeways were built
over marshy valleys. Many additional dug-outs had to be provided as
shelter for the troops, for use as dressing stations for the wounded,
and as magazines for storing ammunition, food, water, and engineering
material. Scores of miles of deep communication trenches had to be dug,
as well as trenches for telephone wires, assembly and assault trenches,
and numerous gun emplacements and observation posts.
Important mining operations were undertaken, and
charges were laid at various points beneath the enemy's lines.
Except in the river valleys, the existing supplies
of water were hopelessly insufficient to meet the requirements of the
numbers of men and horses to be concentrated in this area as the preparations
for our offensive proceeded. To meet this difficulty many wells and
borings were sunk, and over one hundred pumping plants were installed.
More than one hundred and twenty miles of water mains were laid, and
everything was got ready to ensure an adequate water supply as our troops
advanced.
Much of this preparatory work had to be done under
very trying conditions, and was liable to constant interruption from
the enemy's fire. The weather, on the whole, was bad, and the local
accommodation totally insufficient for housing the troops employed,
who consequently had to content themselves with such rough shelter as
could be provided in the circumstances. All this labour, too, had to
be carried out in addition to fighting and to the everyday work of maintaining
existing defenses. It threw a very heavy strain on the troops, which
was borne by them with a cheerfulness beyond all praise.
5. The enemy's position to be attacked was of a
very formidable character, situated on a high, undulating tract of ground,
which rises to more than 500 feet above sea-level, and forms the watershed
between the Somme on the one side and the rivers of south-western Belgium
on the other. On the southern face of this watershed, the general trend
of which is from east-south-east to west-north-west, the ground falls
in a series of long irregular spurs and deep depressions to the valley
of the Somme. Well down the forward slopes of this face the enemy's
first system of defense, starting from the Somme near Curlu (vide
Map 1.), ran at first northwards for 3,000 yards, then westwards for
7,000 yards to near Fricourt, where it turned nearly due north, forming
a great salient angle in the enemy's line.
Some 10,000 yards north of Fricourt the trenches
crossed the River Ancre, a tributary of the Somme, and still running
northwards passed over the summit of the watershed, about Hébuterne
and Gommecourt, and then down its northern spurs to Arras.
On the 20,000 yards front between the Somme and
the Ancre the enemy had a strong second system of defense, sited generally
on or near the southern crest of the highest part of the watershed,
at an average distance of from 3,000 to 5,000 yards behind his first
system of trenches.
During nearly two years' preparation he had spared
no pains to render these defenses impregnable. The first and second
systems each consisted of several lines of deep trenches, well provided
with bomb-proof shelters and with numerous communication trenches connecting
them. The front of the trenches in each system was protected by wire
entanglements, many of them in two belts forty yards broad, built of
iron stakes interlaced with barbed wire, often almost as thick as a
man's finger.
The numerous woods and villages in and between
these systems of defense had been turned into veritable fortresses.
The deep cellars usually to be found in the villages, and the numerous
pits and quarries common to a chalk country, were used to provide cover
for machine guns and trench mortars. The existing cellars were supplemented
by elaborate dug-outs, sometimes in two storeys, and these were connected
up by passages as much as thirty feet below the surface of the ground.
The salients in the enemy's line, from which he could bring enfilade
fire across his front, were made into self-contained forts, and often
protected by mine fields ; while strong redoubts and concrete machine
gun emplacements had been constructed in positions from which he could
sweep his own trenches should these be taken. The ground lent itself
to good artillery observation on the enemy's part, and he had skillfully
arranged for cross fire by his guns.
These various systems of defense, with the fortified
localities and other supporting points between them, were cunningly
sited to afford each other mutual assistance and to admit of the utmost
possible development of enfilade and flanking fire by machine guns and
artillery. They formed, in short, not merely a series of successive
lines, but one composite system of enormous depth and strength.
Behind his second system of trenches, in addition
to woods, villages and other strong points prepared for defense, the
enemy had several other lines already completed ; and we had learnt
from aeroplane reconnaissance that he was hard at work improving and
strengthening these and digging fresh ones between them, and still further
back.
In the area above described, between the Somme
and the Ancre, our front line trenches ran parallel and close to those
of the enemy, but below them. We had good direct observation on his
front system of trenches and on the various defenses sited on the slopes
above us
between his first and second systems ; but the
second system itself, in many places, could not be observed from the
ground in our possession, while, except from the air, nothing could
be seen of his more distant defenses.
North of the Ancre, where the opposing trenches
ran transversely across the main ridge, the enemy's defenses were equally
elaborate and formidable. So far as command of ground was concerned,
we were here practically on level terms ; but, partly as a result of
this, our direct observation over the ground held by the enemy was not
so good as it was further south. On portions of this front the opposing
first line trenches were more widely separated from each other ; while
in the valleys to the north were many hidden gun positions from which
the enemy could develop flanking fire on our troops as they advanced
across the open.
6. The period of active operations dealt with in
this Despatch divides itself roughly into three phases. The first phase
opened with the attack of the 1st July, the success of which evidently
came as a surprise to the enemy and caused considerable confusion and
disorganization in his ranks. The advantages gained on that date and
developed during the first half of July may be regarded as having been
rounded off by the operations of the 14th July and three following days,
which gave us possession of the southern crest of the main plateau between
Delville Wood and Bazentin-le-Petit.
We then entered upon a contest lasting for many
weeks, during which the enemy, having found his strongest defenses unavailing,
and now fully alive to his danger, put forth his utmost efforts to keep
his hold on the main ridge. This stage of the battle constituted a prolonged
and severe struggle for mastery between the contending armies, in which,
although progress was slow and difficult, the confidence of our troops
in their ability to win was never shaken. Their tenacity and determination
proved more than equal to their task, and by the first week in September
they had established a fighting superiority that has left its mark on
the enemy, of which possession of the ridge was merely the visible proof.
The way was then opened for the third phase, in
which our advance was pushed down the forward slopes of the ridge and
further extended on both flanks, until, from Morval to Thièpval,
the whole plateau and a good deal of ground beyond were in our possession.
Meanwhile our gallant Allies, in addition to great successes south of
the Somme, had pushed their advance, against equally determined opposition
and under most difficult tactical conditions, up the long slopes on
our immediate right, and were now preparing to drive the enemy from
the summit of the narrow and difficult portion of the main ridge which
lies between the Combles Valley and the River Tortille, a stream flowing
from the north into the Somme just below Peronne.
7. Defenses of the nature described could only
be attacked with any prospect of success after careful artillery preparation.
It was accordingly decided that our bombardment should begin on the
24th June, and a large force of artillery was brought into action for
the purpose.
Artillery bombardments were also carried out daily
at different points on the rest of our front, and during the period
from the 24th June to 1st July gas was discharged with good effect at
more than forty places along our line, upon a frontage which in total
amounted to over fifteen miles. Some 70 raids, too, were undertaken
by our infantry between Gommecourt and our extreme left north of Ypres
during the week preceding the attack, and these kept me well informed
as to the enemy's dispositions, besides serving other useful purposes.
On the 25th June the Royal Flying Corps carried
out a general attack on the enemy's observation balloons, destroying
nine of them, and depriving the enemy for the time being of this form
of observation.
8. On July 1st, at 7.30 am, after a final hour
of exceptionally violent bombardment, our infantry assault was launched.
Simultaneously the French attacked on both sides of the Somme, co-operating
closely with us.
The British main front of attack extended from
Maricourt on our right, round the salient at Fricourt, to the Ancre
in front of St. Pierre Divion. To assist this main attack by holding
the enemy's reserves and occupying his artillery, the enemy's trenches
north of the Ancre, as far as Serre inclusive, were to be assaulted
simultaneously ; while further north a subsidiary attack was to be made
on both sides of the salient at Gommecourt.
I had entrusted the attack on the front from Maricourt
to Serre to the Fourth Army, under the command of General Sir Henry
S. Rawlinson, with five Army Corps at his disposal. The subsidiary attack
at Gommecourt was carried out by troops from the Third Army commanded
by General Sir E. H. H. Allenby.(6)
Just prior to the attack the mines which had been prepared under the
enemy's lines were exploded, and smoke was discharged at many places
along our front. Through this smoke our infantry advanced to the attack
with the utmost steadiness, in spite of the very heavy barrage of the
enemy's guns. On our right our troops met with immediate success, and
rapid progress was made. Before midday Montauban had been carried by
the 30th Division, and shortly afterwards the Briqueterie to the east,
and the whole of the ridge to the west of the village were in our hands
(18th Division). Opposite Mametz part of our assembly trenches had been
practically leveled by the enemy artillery, making it necessary for
our infantry (7th Division) to advance to the attack across 400 yards
of open ground. None the less they forced their way into Mametz, and
reached their objective in the valley beyond, first throwing out a defensive
flank towards Fricourt on their left. At the same time the enemy's trenches
were entered by the 21st Division north of Fricourt, so that the enemy's
garrison in that village was pressed on three sides. Further north,
though the villages of La Boisselle and Ovillers for the time being
resisted our attack, our troops (34th and 8th Divisions) drove deeply
into the German lines on the flanks of these strongholds, and so paved
the way for their capture later. On the spur running south from Thièpval
the work known as the Leipzig Salient was stormed by the 32nd Division,
and severe fighting(7)
took place for the possession of the village and its defenses. Here
and north of the valley of the Ancre as far as Serre on the left flank
of our attack, our initial successes were not sustained. Striking progress
was made at many points and parties of troops penetrated the enemy's
positions to the outer defenses of Grandcourt (36th Division), and also
to Pendant Copse (4th Division) and Serre (31st Division); but the enemy's
continued resistance at Thièpval and Beaumont Hamel (29th Division)
made it impossible to forward reinforcements and ammunition, and, in
spite of their gallant efforts, our troops were forced to withdraw during
the night to their own lines.
The subsidiary attack at Gommecourt also forced
its way into the enemy's positions ; but there met with such vigorous
opposition that as soon as it was considered that the attack had fulfilled
its object our troops were withdrawn.
9. In view of the general situation at the end
of the first day's operations, I decided that the best course was to
press forward on a front extending from our junction with the French
to a point halfway between La Boisselle and Contalmaison, and to limit
the offensive on our left for the present to a slow and methodical advance.
North of the Ancre such preparations were to be made as would hold the
enemy to his positions, and enable the attack to be resumed there later
if desirable. In order that General Sir Henry Rawlinson might be left
free to concentrate his attention on the portion of the front where
the attack was to be pushed home, I also decided to place the operations
against the front, La Boisselle to Serre, under the command of General
Sir Hubert de la P. Gough, to whom I accordingly allotted the two northern
corps of Sir Henry Rawlinson's Army. My instructions to Sir Hubert Gough
were that his Army was to maintain a steady pressure on the front from
La Boisselle to the Serre Road, and to act as a pivot on which our line
could swing as our attacks on his right made progress towards the north.
10. During the succeeding days the attack was continued
on these lines. In spite of strong counter-attacks on the Briqueterie
and Montauban, by midday on the 2nd July our troops (17th Division,
Major-General T. D. Pitcher) had captured Fricourt, and in the afternoon
and evening stormed Fricourt Wood and the farm to the north. During
the 3rd and 4th July Bernafay and Caterpillar Woods were also captured,
and our troops pushed forward to the railway north of Mametz. On these
days the reduction of La Boisselle was completed after hard fighting
(19th Division, Major-General G. T. M. Bridges), while the outskirts
of Contalmaison were reached on the 5th July (the 23rd Division, Major-General
J. M. Babington, taking part in this fighting with the 17th and 7th
Divisions). North of La Boisselle also the enemy's forces opposite us
were kept constantly engaged, and our holding in the Leipzig Salient
was gradually increased.
To sum up the results of the fighting of these
five days, on a front of over six miles, from the Briqueterie to La
Boisselle, our troops had swept over the whole of the enemy's first
and strongest system of defense, which he had done his utmost to render
impregnable. They had driven him back over a distance of more than a
mile, and had carried four elaborately fortified villages.
The number of prisoners passed back to the Corps
cages at the close of the 5th July had already reached the total of
ninety-four officers and 5,724 other ranks.
11. After the five days' heavy and continuous fighting just described
it was essential to carry out certain readjustments and reliefs of the
forces engaged. In normal conditions of enemy resistance the amount
of progress that can be made at any time without a pause in the general
advance is necessarily limited. Apart from the physical exhaustion of
the attacking troops and the considerable distances separating the enemy's
successive main systems of defense, special artillery preparation was
required before a successful assault could be delivered. Meanwhile,
however, local operations were continued in spite of much unfavorable
weather. The attack on Contalmaison and Mametz Wood was undertaken on
the 7th July by the 38th Division (Major-General I. Philipps), and the
17th, 23rd and 19th Divisions. After three days' obstinate fighting,
in the course of which the enemy delivered several powerful counter-attacks,
the village and the whole of the wood, except its northern border, were
finally secured. On the 7th July also a footing was gained in the outer
defenses of Ovillers (25th and 12th Divisions, Major-General A. B. Scott
commanding the 12 Division), while on the 9th July on our extreme right
Maltz Horn Farm -- an important point on the spur north of Hardecourt
-- was secured.
A thousand yards north of this farm our troops
(30th Division) had succeeded at the second attempt in establishing
themselves on the 8th July in the southern end of Trônes Wood.
The enemy's positions in the northern and eastern parts of this wood
were very strong, and no less than eight powerful German counter-attacks
were made here during the next five days. In the course of this struggle
portions of the wood changed hands several times ; but we were left
eventually, on the 13th July, in possession of the southern part of
it.
12. Meanwhile Mametz Wood had been entirely cleared
of the enemy (by the 21st Division), and with Trônes Wood also
practically in our possession we were in a position to undertake an
assault upon the enemy's second system of defenses. Arrangements were
accordingly made for an attack to be delivered at daybreak on the morning
of the 14th July against a front extending from Longueval to Bazentin-le-Petit
Wood, both inclusive. Contalmaison Villa, on a spur 1,000 yards west
of Bazentin-le-Petit Wood, had already been captured to secure the left
flank of the attack, and advantage had been taken of the progress made
by our infantry to move our artillery forward into new positions. The
preliminary bombardment had opened on the 11th July. The opportunities
offered by the ground for enfilading the enemy's lines were fully utilized
and did much to secure the success of our attack.
13. In the early hours of the 14th July the attacking troops moved
out over the open for a distance of from about 1,000 to 1,400 yards,
and lined up in the darkness just below the crest and some 300 to 500
yards from the enemy's trenches. Their advance was covered by strong
patrols, and their correct deployment had been ensured by careful
previous preparations.(8) The whole movement
was carried out unobserved and without touch being lost in any case.
The decision to attempt a night operation of this magnitude with an
Army, the bulk of which has been raised since the beginning of the war,
was perhaps the highest tribute that could be paid to the quality of
our troops. It would not have been possible but for the most careful
preparation and forethought, as well as thorough reconnaissance of the
ground which was in many cases made personally by Divisional, Brigade
and Battalion Commanders and their staffs before framing their detailed
orders for the advance.
The actual assault was delivered at 3.25 a.m. on
the 14th July, when there was just sufficient light to be able to distinguish
friend from foe at short ranges, and along the whole front attacked
our troops, preceded by a very effective artillery barrage, swept over
the enemy's first trenches and on into the defenses beyond.
On our right the enemy was driven by the 18th Division from his last
foothold in Trônes Wood, and by 8.0 a.m. we had cleared the whole
of it, relieving a body of 170 men (Royal West Kents and Queens) who
had maintained themselves all night in the northern corner of the wood,
although completely surrounded by the enemy. Our position in the wood
was finally consolidated, and strong patrols were sent out from it in
the direction of Guillemont and Longueval. The southern half of this
latter village was already in the hands of the troops who had advanced
west of Trônes Wood (9th Division, Major-General W. T. Furze).
The northern half, with the exception of two strong points, was captured
by 4.0 p.m. after a severe struggle.
In the center of our attack Bazentin-le-Grand village
and wood were also gained by the 3rd and 7th Divisions (Major-General
J. A. L. Haldane commanding the 3rd Division), and our troops pushing
northwards captured Bazentin-le-Petit village, and the cemetery to the
east. Here the enemy counter-attacked twice about midday without success,
and again in the afternoon, on the latter occasion momentarily reoccupying
the northern half of the village as far as the church. Our troops immediately
returned to the attack and drove him out again with heavy losses. To
the left of the village Bazentin-le-Petit Wood was cleared by the 21st
Division, in spite of the considerable resistance of the enemy along
its western edge where we successfully repulsed a counter-attack. In
the afternoon further ground was gained to the west of the wood (1st
Division, Major-General E. P. Strickland), and posts were established
immediately south of Pozières by the 34th Division.
The enemy's troops, who had been severely handled
in these attacks and counter-attacks, began to show signs of disorganization,
and it was reported early in the afternoon that it was possible to advance
to High Wood. General Rawlinson, who had held a force of cavalry in
readiness for such an eventuality, decided to employ a part of it. As
the fight progressed small bodies of this force had pushed forward gradually,
keeping in close touch with the development of the action and prepared
to seize quickly any opportunity that might occur. A squadron (7th Dragoon
Guards, Secunderabad Brigade with the Deccan Horse operating with them)
now came up on the flanks of our infantry (7th Division), who entered
High Wood at about 8.0 p.m., and, after some hand-to-hand fighting,
cleared the whole of the wood with the exception of the northern apex.
Acting mounted in cooperation with the infantry, the cavalry came into
action with good effect, killing several of the enemy and capturing
some prisoners.
14. On the 15th July the battle still continued,
though on a reduced scale. Arrow Head Copse, between the southern edge
of Trônes Wood and Guillemont, and Waterlot Farm on the Longueval-Guillemont
Road, were seized, and Delville Wood was captured and held against several
hostile counter-attacks (18th and 9th Divisions). In Longueval fierce
fighting continued until dusk for the possession of the two strong points
and the orchards to the north of the village. The situation in this
area made the position of our troops in High Wood somewhat precarious,
and they now began to suffer numerous casualties from the enemy's heavy
shelling. Accordingly orders were given for their withdrawal, and this
was effected during the night of the 15/16th July without interference
by the enemy. All the wounded were brought in.
In spite of repeated enemy counter-attacks, further
progress was made by the 1st Division on the night of the 16th July
along the enemy's main second line trenches north-west of Bazentin-le-Petit
Wood to within 500 yards of the north-east corner of the village of
Pozières, which our troops were already approaching from the
south.
Meanwhile the operations further north had also
made progress. Since the attack of the 7th July the enemy in and about
Ovillers had been pressed relentlessly, and gradually driven back by
incessant bombing attacks and local assaults (25th and 32nd Divisions),
in accordance with the general instructions I had given to General Sir
Hubert Gough. On the 16th July a large body of the garrison of Ovillers
surrendered, and that night and during the following day, by a direct
advance from the west across No Man's Land, our troops (48th Division,
Major-General R. Fanshawe) carried the remainder of the village and
pushed out along the spur to the north and eastwards towards Pozières.
15. The results of the operations of the 14th July
and subsequent days were of considerable importance. The enemy's second
main system of defense had been captured on a front of over three miles.
We had again forced him back more than a mile,
and had gained possession of the southern crest of the main ridge on
a front of 6,000 yards. Four more of his fortified villages and three
woods had been wrested from him by determined fighting, and our advanced
troops had penetrated as far as his third line of defense. In spite
of a resolute resistance and many counter-attacks, in which the enemy
had suffered severely, our line was definitely established from Maltz
Horn Farm, where we met the French left, northwards along the eastern
edge of Trônes Wood to Longueval, then westwards past
Bazentin-le-Grand to the northern corner of Bazentin-le-Petit and Bazentin-le-Petit
Wood, and then westwards again past the southern face of Pozières,
to the north of Ovillers. Posts were established at Arrow Head Copse
and Waterlot Farm, while we had troops thrown forward in Delville Wood
and towards High Wood, though their position was not yet secure.
I cannot speak too highly of the skill, daring, endurance and determination
by which these results had been achieved. Great credit is due to Sir
Henry Rawlinson for the thoroughness and care with which this difficult
undertaking was planned ; while the advance and deployment made by night
without confusion, and the complete success of the subsequent attack,
constitute a striking tribute to the discipline and spirit of the troops
engaged, as well as to the powers of leadership and organization of
their commanders and staffs.
During these operations and their development on the 15th a number
of enemy guns were taken, making our total captures since the 1st July
8 heavy howitzers, 4 heavy guns, 42 field and light guns and field howitzers,
30 trench mortars and 52 machine guns. Very considerable losses had
been inflicted on the enemy, and the prisoners captured amounted to
over 2,000 bringing the total since the 1st July to over 10,000.
16. There was strong evidence that the enemy forces engaged on the
battle front had been severely shaken by the repeated successes gained
by ourselves and our Allies ; but the great strength and depth of his
defenses had secured for him sufficient time to bring up fresh troops,
and he had still many powerful fortifications, both trenches, villages
and woods, to which he could cling in our front and on our flanks.
We had, indeed, secured a footing on the main ridge, but only on a
front of 6,000 yards ; and desirous though I was to follow up quickly
the successes we had won, it was necessary first to widen this front.
West of Bazentin-le-Petit the villages of Pozières
and Thièpval, together with the whole elaborate system of trenches
round, between and on the main ridge behind them, had still to be carried.
An advance further east would, however, eventually turn these defenses,
and all that was for the present required on the left flank of our attack
was a steady, methodical, step by step advance as already ordered.
On our right flank the situation called for stronger measures. At Delville
Wood and Longueval our lines formed a sharp salient, from which our
front ran on the one side westwards to Pozières, and on the other
southwards to Maltz Horn Farm. At Maltz Horn Farm our lines joined the
French, and the Allied front continued still southwards to the village
of Hem on the Somme.
This pronounced salient invited counter-attacks
by the enemy. He possessed direct observation on it all round from Guillemont
on the south-east to High Wood on the north-west. He could bring a concentric
fire of artillery to bear not only on the wood and village, but also
on the confined space behind, through which ran the French communications
as well as ours, where great numbers of guns, besides ammunition and
impedimenta of all sorts, had necessarily to be crowded together. Having
been in occupation of this ground for nearly two years he knew every
foot of it, and could not fail to appreciate the possibilities of causing
us heavy loss there by indirect artillery fire ; while it was evident
that, if he could drive in the salient in our line and so gain direct
observation on to the ground behind, our position in that area would
become very uncomfortable.
If there had not been good grounds for confidence
that the enemy was not capable of driving from this position troops
who had shown themselves able to wrest it from him, the situation would
have been an anxious one. In any case it was clear that the first requirement
at the moment was that our right flank, and the French troops in extension
of it, should swing up into line with our center. To effect this, however,
strong enemy positions had to be captured both by ourselves and by our
Allies.
From Delville Wood (vide Map I.) the main plateau extends for 4,000
yards east-north-east to Les Boeufs and Morval, and for about the same
distance south-eastwards to Leuze and Bouleaux Woods, which stand above
and about 1,000 yards to the west of Combles. To bring my right up into
line with the rest of my front it was necessary to capture Guillemont,
Falfemont Farm and Leuze Wood, and then Ginchy and Bouleaux Wood. These
localities were naturally very strong, and they had been elaborately
fortified. The enemy's main second line system of defense ran in front
of them from Waterlot Farm, which was already in our hands, south-eastwards
to Falfemont Farm, and thence southwards to the Somme. The importance
of holding us back in this area could not escape the enemy's notice,
and he had dug and wired many new trenches, both in front of and behind
his original lines. He had also brought up fresh
troops(9), and there was no possibility of taking
him by surprise.
The task before us was therefore a very difficult
one and entailed a real trial of strength between the opposing forces.
At this juncture its difficulties were increased by unfavorable weather.
The nature of the ground limited the possibility of direct observation
for our artillery fire, and we were consequently much dependent on observation
from the air. As in that element we had attained almost complete superiority,
all that we required was a clear atmosphere; but with this we were not
favored for several weeks. We had rather more rain than is usual in
July and August, and even when no rain fell there was an almost constant
haze and frequent low clouds.
In swinging up my own right it was very important
that the French line north of the Somme should be advanced at the same
time, in close combination with the movement of the British troops.
The line of demarcation agreed on between the French commander and myself
ran from Maltz Horn Farm due eastwards to the Combles Valley and then
north-eastwards up that valley to a point midway between Sailly-Saillisel
and Morval. These two villages had been fixed upon as the objectives,
respectively, of the French left and of my right. In order to advance
in cooperation with my right, and eventually to reach Sailly-Saillisel,
our Allies had still to fight their way up that portion of the main
ridge which lies between the Combles Valley on the west and the River
Tortille on the east. To do so they had to capture, in the first place,
the strongly fortified villages of Maurepas, Le Forest, Rancourt and
Frégicourt, besides many woods and strong systems of trenches.
As the high ground on each side of the Combles Valley commands the slopes
of the ridge on the opposite side, it was essential that the advance
of the two armies should be simultaneous and made in the closest cooperation.
This was fully recognized by both armies, and our plans were made accordingly.
To carry out the necessary preparations to deal
with the difficult situation outlined above, a short pause was necessary
to enable tired troops to be relieved and guns to be moved forward ;
while at the same time old communications had to be improved and new
ones made. Entrenchments against probable counter-attacks could not
be neglected, and fresh dispositions of troops were required for the
new attacks to be directed eastwards.
It was also necessary to continue such pressure
on the rest of our front, not only on the Ancre but further south, as
would make it impossible for the enemy to devote himself entirely to
resisting the advance between Delville Wood and the Somme. In addition
it was desirable further to secure our hold on the main ridge west of
Delville Wood by gaining more ground to our front in that direction.
Orders were therefore issued in accordance with the general considerations
explained above, and, without relaxing pressure along the enemy's front
from Delville Wood to the west, preparations for an attack on Guillemont
were pushed on.
17. During the afternoon of the 18th July the enemy
developed his expected counter-attack against Delville Wood, after heavy
preliminary shelling. By sheer weight of numbers and at very heavy cost
he forced his way through the northern and north-eastern portions of
the wood and into the northern half of Longueval, which our troops (3rd
Division) had cleared only that morning. In the south-east corner of
the wood he was held up by a gallant defense (9th and 18th Divisions),
and further south three attacks on our positions held by the 35th Division
(Major-General R. J. Pinney) in Waterlot Farm failed.
This enemy attack on Delville Wood marked the commencement
of the long, closely contested struggle which was not finally decided
in our favour till the fall of Guillemont on the 3rd September, a decision
which was confirmed by the capture of Ginchy six days later. Considerable
gains were indeed made during this period
but progress was slow and bought only by hard fighting.
A footing was established in High Wood by the 33rd Division (Major-General
H. J. S. Landon) on the 20th July, and our line linked up thence with
Longueval by the 7th and 5th Divisions (Major-General R. B. Stephens
commanding the 5th Division). A subsequent advance by the Fourth Army
on the 23rd July on a wide front from Guillemont to near Pozières
found the enemy in great strength all along the line, with machine guns
and forward troops in shell holes and newly constructed trenches, well
in front of his main defenses. Although ground was won, the strength
of the resistance experienced showed that the hostile troops had recovered
from their previous confusion sufficiently to necessitate long and careful
preparation before further successes on any great scale could be secured.
An assault delivered simultaneously on this date
by General Gough's Army (1st Australian Division, Major-General H. B.
Walker, and 48th Division) against Pozières gained considerable
results, and by the morning of the 25th July the whole of that village
was carried, including the cemetery, and important progress was made
along the enemy's trenches to the north-east. That evening (24th July),
after heavy artillery preparation, the enemy launched two more powerful
counter-attacks, the one directed against our new position in and around
High Wood (51st Division, Major-General G. M. Harper) and the other
delivered from the northwest of Delville Wood. Both attacks were completely
broken up with very heavy losses to the enemy.
On the 27th July the remainder of Delville Wood
was recovered by the 2nd Division (Major-General W. G. Walker), and
two days later the northern portion of Longueval and the orchards were
cleared of the enemy by the 5th Division, after severe fighting, in
which our own and the enemy's artillery were very active.
18. On the 30th July the village of Guillemont
and Falfemont Farm to the south-east were attacked, in conjunction with
a French attack north of the Somme. A battalion (2nd Battalion Royal
Scots Fusiliers, 30th Division) entered Guillemont, and part of it passed
through to the far side ; but as the battalions on either flank did
not reach their objectives, it was obliged to fall back, after holding
out for some hours on the western edge of the village. In a subsequent
local attack on the 8th August our troops again entered Guillemont,
but were again compelled to fall back owing to the failure of a simultaneous
effort against the enemy's trenches on the flanks of the village.
The ground to the south of Guillemont was dominated
by the enemy's positions in and about that village. It was therefore
hoped that these positions might be captured first, before an advance
to the south of them in the direction of Falfemont Farm was pushed further
forward. It had now become evident, however, that Guillemont could not
be captured as an isolated enterprise without very heavy loss, and,
accordingly, arrangements were made with the French Army on our immediate
right for a series of combined attacks, to be delivered in progressive
stages, which should embrace Maurepas, Falfemont Farm, Guillemont, Leuze
Wood and Ginchy.
An attempt on the 16th August to carry out the
first stage of the prearranged scheme met with only partial success,
and two days later, after a preliminary bombardment lasting thirty-six
hours, a larger, combined attack was undertaken. In spite of a -number
of enemy counter-attacks-the most violent of which, leveled at the point
of junction of the British with the French, succeeded in forcing our
Allies and ourselves back from a part of the ground won very valuable
progress was made, and our troops (3rd Division) established themselves
in the outskirts of Guillemont Village and occupied Guillemont Station.
A violent counter-attack on Guillemont Station was repulsed on the 23rd
August by the 35th Division, and next day further important progress
was made on a wide front north and east of Delville Wood (33rd and 14th
Divisions).
19. Apart from the operations already described, others of a minor
character, yet involving much fierce and obstinate
fighting(10), continued during this period on
the fronts of both the British Armies. Our lines were pushed forward
wherever possible by means of local attacks and by bombing and sapping,
and the enemy was driven out of various forward positions from which
he might hamper our progress. By these means many gains were made which,
though small in themselves, in the aggregate represented very considerable
advances. In this way our line was brought to the crest of the ridge
above Martinpuich, Pozières Windmill and the high ground north
of the village were secured, and with them observation over Martinpuich
and Courcelette and the enemy's gun positions in their neighborhood
and around Le Sars. At a later date our troops reached the defenses
of Mouquet Farm, north-west of Pozières, and made progress in
the enemy's trenches south of Thièpval. The enemy's counter-attacks
were incessant and frequently of great violence, but they were made
in vain and at heavy cost to him. The fierceness of the fighting can
be gathered from the fact that one regiment of the German Guard Reserve
Corps, which had been in the Thièpval salient opposite Mouquet
Farm, is known to have lost 1,400 men in fifteen days.
Guillemont Taken
20. The first two days of September on both Army
fronts, were spent in preparation for a more general attack, which the
gradual progress made during the preceding month had placed us in a
position to undertake. Our assault was delivered at 12 noon on the 3rd
September on a front extending from our extreme right to the enemy trenches
on the right bank of the Ancre, north of Hamel. Our Allies attacked
simultaneously on our right.
Guillemont was stormed(11)
and at once consolidated, and our troops pushed on unchecked to Ginchy
and the line of the road running south to Wedge Wood. Ginchy was also
seized (7th Division), but here in the afternoon we were very strongly
counter-attacked. For three days the tide of attack and counter-attack
swayed backwards and forwards amongst the ruined houses of the village,
till, in the end, for three days more the greater part of it remained
in the enemy's possession. Three counter-attacks made on the evening
of the 3rd September against our troops in Guillemont (47th Infantry
Brigade, 16th Division) all failed with considerable loss to the enemy.
We also gained ground north of Delville Wood and in High Wood, though
here an enemy counter-attack recovered part of the ground won.
On the front of General Gough's Army, though the
enemy suffered heavy losses in personnel, our gain in ground was slight.
21. In order to keep touch with the French who
were attacking on our right, the assault on Falfemont Farm on the 3rd
September was delivered, by the 5th Division, three hours before the
opening of the main assault. In the impetus of their first rush our
troops reached the farm, but could not hold it. Nevertheless, they pushed
on to the north of it, and on the 4th September delivered a series of
fresh assaults upon it from the west and north.
Ultimately this strongly fortified position was
occupied piece by piece, and by the morning of the 5th September the
whole of it was in our possession. Meanwhile further progress had been
made to the north-east of the farm, where considerable initiative was
shown by the local commanders. By the evening of the same day our troops
were established strongly in Leuze Wood, which on the following day
was finally cleared of the enemy.
22. In spite of the fact that most of Ginchy and
of High Wood remained in the enemy's hands, very noteworthy progress
had been made in the course of these four days' operations, exceeding
anything that had been achieved since the 14th July. Our right was advanced
on a front of nearly two miles to an average depth of nearly one mile,
penetrating the enemy's original second line of defense on this front,
and capturing strongly fortified positions at Falfemont Farm, Leuze
Wood, Guillemont, and south-east of Delville Wood, where we reached
the western outskirts of Ginchy. More important than this gain in territory
was the fact that the barrier which for seven weeks the enemy had maintained
against our further advance had at last been broken. Over 1,000 prisoners
were made and many machine guns taken or destroyed in the course of
the fighting.
23. Preparations for a further attack upon Ginchy
continued without intermission, and at 4.45 p.m. on the 9th September
the attack was reopened on the whole of the Fourth Army front. At Ginchy
and to the north of Leuze Wood it met with almost immediate success.
On the right (56th Division) the enemy's line was seized over a front
of more than 1,000 yards from the south-west corner of Bouleaux Wood
in a north-westerly direction to a point just south of the Guillemont-Morval
tramway. Our troops (49th Infantry Brigade, 16th Division) again forced
their way into Ginchy, and passing beyond it, carried the line of enemy
trenches to the east. Further progress was made east of Delville Wood
and south and east of High Wood.
Over 500 prisoners were taken in the operations
of the 9th September and following days, making the total since the
1st July over 17,000.
24. Meanwhile the French had made great progress
on our right, bringing their line forward to Louage Wood (just south
of Combles) -- Le Forest -- Cléry-sur-Somme, all three inclusive.
The weak salient in the Allied line had therefore disappeared, and we
had gained the front required for further operations.
Still more importance, however, lay in the proof
afforded by the results described of the ability of our new Armies not
only to rush the enemy's strongest defenses, as had been accomplished
on the 1st and 14th July, but also to wear down and break his power
of resistance by a steady, relentless pressure, as they had done during
the weeks of this fierce and protracted struggle. As has already been
recounted, the preparations made for our assault on the 1st July had
been long and elaborate ; but though the enemy knew that an attack was
coming, it would seem that he considered the troops already on the spot,
secure in their apparently impregnable defenses, would suffice to deal
with it. The success of that assault, combined with the vigour and determination
with which our troops pressed their advantage, and followed by the successful
night attack of the 14th July, all served to awaken him to a fuller
realization of his danger. The great depth of his system of fortification,
to which reference has bees made, gave him time to reorganize his defeated
troops, and to hurry up numerous fresh divisions and more guns. Yet
in spite of this, he was still pushed back, steadily and continuously.
Trench after trench, and strong point after strong point were wrested
from him. The great majority of his frequent counter-attacks failed
completely, with heavy loss; while the few that achieved temporary local
success purchased it dearly, and were soon thrown back from the ground
they had for the moment regained.
The enemy had, it is true, delayed our advance
considerably, but the effort had cost him dear ; and the comparative
collapse of his resistance during the last few days of the struggle
justified the belief that in the long run decisive victory would lie
with our troops, who had displayed such fine fighting qualities and
such indomitable endurance and resolution.
25. Practically the whole of the forward crest
of the main ridge, on a front of some 9,000 yards from Delville Wood
to the road above Mouquet Farm, was now in our hands, and with it the
advantage of observation over the slopes beyond. East of Delville Wood,
for a further 3,000 yards to Leuze Wood, we were firmly established
on the main ridge; while further east, across the Combles Valley, the
French were advancing victoriously on our right. But though the center
of our line was well placed, on our flanks there was still difficult
ground to be won.
From Ginchy the crest of the high ground runs northwards
for 2,000 yards, and then eastwards, in a long spur, for nearly 4,000
yards. Near the eastern extremity of this spur stands the village of
Morval, commanding a wide field of view and fire in every direction.
At Leuze Wood my right was still 2,000 yards from its objective at this
village, and between lay a broad and deep branch of the main Combles
Valley, completely commanded by the Morval spur and flanked not only
from its head north-east of Ginchy, but also from the high ground east
of the Combles Valley, which looks directly into it.
Up this high ground beyond the Combles Valley
the French were working their way towards their objective at Sailly-Saillisel,
situated due east of Morval and standing at the same level. Between
these two villages the ground falls away to the head of the Combles
Valley, which runs thence in a south-westerly direction. In the bottom
of this valley lies the small town of Combles, then we fortified and
strongly held, though dominated by my right at Leuze Wood, and by the
French left on the opposite heights. It had been agreed between the
French and myself that an assault on Combles would not be necessary,
as the place could be rendered untenable by pressing forward along the
ridges above it on either side.
The capture of Morval from the south presented
a very difficult problem, while the capture of Sailly-Saillisel, at
that time some 3,000 yards to the north of the French left, was in some
respects even more difficult. The line of the French advance was narrowed
almost to a defile by the extensive and strongly fortified wood of St.
Pierre Vaast on the one side, and on the other by the Combles Valley,
which, with the branches running out from it and the slopes on each
side, is completely commanded, as has been pointed out, by the heights
bounding the valley on the east and west.
On my right flank, therefore, the progress of the
French and British forces was still interdependent, and the closest
cooperation continued to be necessary in order to gain the further ground
required to enable my center to advance on a sufficiently wide front.
To cope with such a situation unity of command is usually essential,
but in this case the cordial good feeling between the Allied Armies,
and the earnest desire of each to assist the other, proved equally effective
and removed all difficulties.
On my left flank the front of General Gough's Army
bent back from the main ridge near Mouquet Farm down a spur descending
south-westwards, and then crossed a broad valley to the Wonderwork,
a strong point situated in the enemy's front-line system near the southern
end of the spur on the higher slopes of which Thièpval stands.
Opposite this part of our line we had still to carry the enemy's original
defenses on the main ridge above Thièpval and in the village
itself, defenses which may fairly be described as being as nearly impregnable
as nature, art and the unstinted labor of nearly two years could make
them.
Our advance on Thièpval and on the defenses
above it had been carried out up to this date in accordance with my
instructions given on the 3rd July, by a slow and methodical progression,
in which great skill and much patience and endurance had been displayed
with entirely satisfactory results. General Gough's Army had, in fact,
acted most successfully in the required manner as a pivot to the remainder
of the attack. The Thièpval defenses were known to be exceptionally
strong, and as immediate possession of them was not necessary to the
development of my plans after the 1st July, there had been no need to
incur the heavy casualties to be expected in an attempt to rush them.
The time was now approaching, although it had not yet arrived, when
their capture would become necessary; but from the positions we had
now reached and those which we expected shortly to obtain, I had no
doubt that they could be rushed when required without undue loss. An
important part of the remaining positions required for my assault on
them was now won by a highly successful enterprise carried out by the
11th Division (Major-General Sir C. L. Woollcombe) on the evening of
the 14th September, by which the Wonderwork was stormed.
26. The general plan of the combined Allied attack which was opened
on the 15th September was to pivot on the high ground south of the Ancre
and north of the Albert-Bapaume road, while the Fourth Army devoted
its whole effort to the rearmost of the enemy's original systems of
defense between Morval and Le Sars. Should our success in this direction
warrant it, I made arrangements to enable me to extend the left of the
attack to embrace the villages of Martinpuich and Courcelette. As soon
as our advance on this front had reached the Morval. line, the time
would have arrived to bring forward my left across the Thièpval
Ridge. Meanwhile on my right our Allies(12)
arranged to continue the line of advance, in close cooperation with
me, from the Somme to the slopes above Combles ; but directing their
main effort northwards against the villages of Rancourt and Frégicourt,
so as to complete the isolation of Combles and open the way for their
attack upon Sailly-Saillisel.
27. A methodical bombardment was commenced at 6.o
a.m. on the 12th September arid was continued steadily and uninterruptedly
till the moment of attack.
At 6.20 a.m. on the 15th September the infantry
assault commenced(13) and at the same moment
the bombardment became intense. Our new heavily armored cars, known
as "Tanks," now brought into action for the first time, successfully
co-operated with the infantry, and coming as a surprise to the enemy
rank and file, gave valuable help in breaking down their resistance.
The advance met with immediate success on almost
the whole of the front attacked. At 8.40 a.m. tanks were seen to be
entering Flers, followed by large numbers of troops. Fighting continued
in Flers for some time, but by 10.0 a.m. our troops had reached the
north side of the village, and by midday had occupied the enemy's trenches
for some distance beyond. On our right our line was advanced to within
assaulting distance of the strong line of defense running before Morval,
Les Boeufs and Gueudecourt, and on our left High Wood was at last carried
after many hours of very severe fighting, reflecting great credit on
the attacking battalions of the 47th Division. Our success made it possible
to carry out during the afternoon that part of the plan which provided
for the capture of Martinpuich and Courcelette, and by the end of the
day both these villages were in our hands (taken respectively by the
15th Division, and 2nd Canadian Division, Maj.- Gen. R. E. W. Turner).
On the 18th September the work of this day was completed by the capture
by the 6th Division of the Quadrilateral, an enemy stronghold which
had hitherto blocked the progress of our right towards Morval. Further
progress was also made between Flers and Martinpuich.
28. The result of the fighting of the 15th September and following
days was a gain more considerable than any which had attended our arms
in the course of a single operation since the commencement of the offensive.
In the course of one day's fighting we had broken through two of the
enemy's main defensive systems and had advanced on a front of over six
miles to an average depth of a mile. In the course of this advance we
had taken three large villages, each powerfully organized for prolonged
resistance. Two of these villages had been carried by assault with short
preparation in the course of a few hours' fighting. All this had been
accomplished with a small number of casualties in comparison with the
troops employed, and in spite of the fact that, as was afterwards discovered,
the attack did not come as a complete surprise
to the enemy.(14)
The total number of prisoners taken by us in these
operations since their commencement on the evening of the 14th September
amounted at this date to over 4,000, including 127 officers.
29. Preparations for our further advance were again
hindered by bad weather, but at 12.35 p.m. on the 25th September, after
a bombardment commenced early in the morning of the 24th, a general
attack by the Allies was launched on the whole front between the Somme
and Martinpuich. The objectives on the British front included the villages
of Morval (5th Division), Les Boeufs (6th and Guards Divisions) and
Gueudecourt (21st Division), and a belt of country about 1,000 yards
deep, curving round the north of Flers, to a point midway between that
village and Martinpuich. (55th Division, Major-General H. S. Jeudwine,
and New Zealand and 1st Divisions). By nightfall the whole of these
objectives were in our hands, with the exception of the village of Gueudecourt,
before which our troops met with very serious resistance from a party
of the enemy in a section of his fourth main system of defense.
On our right our Allies carried the village of
Rancourt, and advanced their line to the outskirts of Frégicourt,
capturing that village also during the night and early morning. Combles
was therefore nearly surrounded by the Allied forces, and in the early
morning of the 26th September the village was occupied simultaneously
by the Allied forces, the British to the north and the French to the
south of the railway. The capture of Combles in this inexpensive fashion
represented a not inconsiderable tactical success. Though lying in a
hollow, the village was very strongly fortified and possessed, in addition
to the works which the enemy had constructed, exceptionally large cellars
and galleries at a great depth underground, sufficient to give effectual
shelter to troops and material under the heaviest bombardment. Great
quantities of stores and ammunition of all sorts were found in these
cellars when the village was taken.
On the same day Gueudecourt was carried by the
21st Division, after the protecting trench to the west had been captured
in a somewhat interesting fashion. In the early morning a tank started
from the north-west down the portion of the trench held by the enemy,
firing its machine guns and followed by bombers. The enemy could not
escape, as we held the trench at the southern end. At the same time
an aeroplane flew down the length of the trench, also firing a machine
gun at the enemy holding it. These then waved white handkerchiefs in
token of surrender, and when this was reported by the aeroplane the
infantry accepted the surrender of the garrison. By 8.30 a.m. the whole
trench had been cleared, great numbers of the enemy had been killed,
and 8 officers and 362 other ranks made prisoners. Our total casualties
amounted to five.
30. The success of the Fourth Army had now brought
our advance to the stage at which I judged it advisable that Thièpval
should be taken, in order to bring our left flank into line and establish
it on the main ridge above that village, the possession of which would
be of considerable tactical value in future operations.
Accordingly at 12.25 p.m. on the 26th September,
before the enemy had been given time to recover from the blow struck
by the Fourth Army, a general attack was launched against Thièpval
and the Thièpval Ridge. The objective consisted of the whole
of the high ground still remaining in enemy hands, extending over a
front of some 3,000 yards north and east of Thièpval, and including,
in addition to that fortress, the Zollern Redoubt, the Stuff Redoubt,
and the Schwaben Redoubt, with the connecting lines of trenches.
The attack was a brilliant success. On the right
our troops (2nd and 1st Canadian Divisions of the Canadian Corps, Lieut.-General
Sir J. H. G. Byng) reached the system of enemy trenches which formed
their objectives without great difficulty. In Thièpval and the
strong works to the north of it the enemy's resistance was more desperate.
Three waves of our attacking troops (11th and 18th Divisions, II. Corps,
Lieut.-General C. W. Jacob) carried the outer defenses of Mouquet Farm,
and, pushing on, entered Zollern Redoubt which they stormed and consolidated.
In the strong point formed by the buildings of the farm itself, the
enemy garrison, securely posted in deep cellars, held out until 6.o
p.m., when their last defenses were forced by a working party of a Pioneer
Battalion acting on its own initiative.
On the left of the attack fierce fighting, in which
tanks again gave valuable assistance to our troops (18th Division),
continued in Thièpval during that day and the following night,
but by 8.30 a.m. on the 27th September the whole of the village of Thièpval
was in our hands.
Some 2,300 prisoners were taken in the course of
the fighting on the Thièpval Ridge on these and the subsequent
days, bringing the total number of prisoners taken in the battle area
in the operations of the 14th-30th September to nearly 10,000. In the
same period we had captured 27 guns, over 200 machine guns, and some
40 trench mortars.
31. On the same date the south and west sides of
Stuff Redoubt were carried by our troops (11th Division), together with
the length of trench connecting that strong point with Schwaben Redoubt
to the west, and also the greater part of the enemy's defensive line
eastwards along the northern slopes of the ridge. Schwaben Redoubt was
assaulted during the afternoon of the 28th September (18th Division),
and in spite of counter-attacks, delivered by strong enemy reinforcements,
we captured the whole of the southern face of the redoubt and pushed
out patrols to the northern face and towards St. Pierre Divion.
Our line was also advanced north of Courcelette,
while on the Fourth Army front on the 27th September a further portion
of the enemy's fourth system of defense north-west of Gueudecourt was
carried on a front of a mile by the 55th and New Zealand Divisions.
Between these two points the enemy fell back upon his defenses running
in front of Eaucourt I'Abbaye and Le Sars, and on the afternoon and
evening of the 27th September our troops were able to make a very considerable
advance in this area without encountering serious opposition until within
a few hundred yards of this line. The ground thus occupied extended
to a depth of from 500 to 600 yards on a front of nearly two miles between
the Bazentin-le-Petit, Lingy Thilloy and Albert-Bapaume roads.
Destremont Farm, south-west of Le Sars, was carried by a single company
(23rd Division) on the 29th September, and on the afternoon of the 1st
October a successful attack was launched(15)
against Eaucourt I'Abbaye and the enemy defenses to the east and west
of it, comprising a total front of about 3,000 yards. Our artillery
barrage was extremely accurate, and contributed greatly to the success
of the attack. Bomb fighting continued among the buildings during the
next two days, but by the evening of the 3rd October the whole of Eaucourt
I'Abbaye was in our hands.
32. At the end of September I had handed over Morval
to the French, in order to facilitate their attacks on Sailly-Saillisel,
and on the 7th October, after a postponement rendered necessary by three
days' continuous rain, our Allies made a considerable advance in the
direction of the latter village. On the same day the Fourth Army attacked
along the whole front from Les Boeufs to Destremont Farm, in support
of the operations of our Allies.
The village of Le Sars was captured by the 23rd
Division, together with the quarry to the north-west, while considerable
progress was made at other points along the front attacked. In particular,
to the east of Gueudecourt, the enemy's trenches were carried by the
20th Division on a breadth of some 2,000 yards, and a footing gained
on the crest of the long spur which screens the defenses of Le Transloy
from the south-west. Nearly 1,000 prisoners were secured by the Fourth
Army in the course of these operations.
33. With the exception of his positions in the neighborhood of Sailly-Saillisel,
and his scanty foothold on the northern crest of the high ground above
Thièpval, the enemy had now been driven from the whole of the
ridge lying between the Tortille and the Ancre.
Possession of the north-western portion of the
ridge north of the latter village carried with it observation over the
valley of the Ancre between Miraumont and Hamel, and the spurs and valleys
held by the enemy on the right bank of the river. The Germans, therefore,
made desperate efforts to cling to their last remaining trenches in
this area, and in the course of the three weeks following our advance
made repeated counter-attacks at heavy cost in the vain hope of recovering
the ground they had lost. During this period our gains in the neighborhood
of Stuff and Schwaben Redoubts were gradually increased and secured
in readiness for future operations ; and I was quite confident of the
ability of our troops, not only to repulse the enemy's attacks, but
to clear him entirely from his last positions on the ridge whenever
it should suit my plans to do so. I was, therefore, well content with
the situation on this flank.
Along the center of our line from Gueudecourt to
the west of Le Sars similar considerations applied. As we were already
well down the forward slopes of the ridge on this front, it was for
the time being inadvisable to make any serious advance. Pending developments
elsewhere, all that was necessary or indeed desirable was to carry on
local operations to improve our positions and to keep the enemy fully
employed.
On our eastern flank, on the other hand, it was
important to gain ground. Here the enemy still possessed a strong system
of trenches covering the villages of Le Transloy and Beaulencourt and
the town of Bapaume ; but, although he was digging with feverish haste,
he had not yet been able to create any very formidable defenses behind
this line. In this direction, in fact, we had at last reached a stage
at which a successful attack might reasonably be expected to yield greater
results than anything we had yet attained. The resistance of the troops
opposed to us had seriously weakened in the course of our recent operations,
and there was no reason to suppose that the effort required would not
be within our powers.
This last completed system of defense, before Le
Transloy, was banked to the south by the enemy's positions at Sailly-Saillisel,
and screened to the west by the spur lying between Le Transloy and Les
Boeufs. A necessary preliminary, therefore, to an assault upon it was
to secure the spur and the Sailly-Saillisel heights. Possession of the
high ground at this latter village would at once give a far better command
over the ground to the north and north-west, secure the flank of our
operations towards Le Transloy, and deprive the enemy of observation
over the Allied communications in the Combles Valley. In view of the
enemy's efforts to construct new systems of defense behind the Le Transloy
line, it was desirable to lose no time in dealing with the situation.
Unfortunately, at this juncture, very unfavorable weather set in and
continued with scarcely a break during the remainder of October and
the army part of November. Poor visibility seriously interfered with
the work of our artillery; and constant rain turned the mass of hastily
dug trenches for which we were fighting into channels of deep mud. The
country roads, broken by countless shell craters, that crossed the deep
stretch of ground we had lately won, rapidly became almost impassable,
making the supply of food, stores and ammunition a serious problem.
These conditions multiplied the difficulties of attack to such an extent
that it was found impossible to exploit the situation with the rapidity
necessary to enable us to reap the full benefits of the advantages
we had gained.(16)
None the less my right flank continued to assist
the operations of our Allies against Saillisel, and attacks were made
to this end whenever a slight improvement in the weather made the cooperation
of artillery and infantry at all possible. The delay in our advance,
however, though unavoidable, had given the enemy time to reorganize
and rally his troops. His resistance again became stubborn and he seized
every favourable opportunity for counter-attacks. Trenches changed hands
with great frequency, the conditions of ground making it difficult to
renew exhausted supplies of bombs and ammunition, or to consolidate
the ground won, and so rendering it an easier matter to take a battered
trench than to hold it.
34. On the 12th and 18th September further gains
were made to the east of the Les Boeufs-Gueudecourt line and east of
Le Sars, and some hundreds of prisoners were taken. On these dates,
despite all the difficulties of ground, the French first reached and
then captured the village of Sailly-Saillisel, but the moment for decisive
action was rapidly passing away, while the weather showed no signs of
improvement. By this time, too, the ground had already become so bad
that nothing less than a prolonged period of drying weather, which at
that season of the year was most unlikely to occur, would suit our purpose.
In these circumstances, while continuing to do
all that was possible to improve my position on my right flank, I determined
to press on with preparations for the exploitation of the favourable
local situation on my left flank. At midday on the 21st October, during
a short spell of fine, cold weather, the line of Regina Trench and Stuff
Trench, from the west Courcelette-Pys road westward to Schwaben Redoubt,
was attacked with complete success by the 4th Canadian, 18th and 15th
Divisions, and the 39th Division (Major-General R. Dawson). Assisted
by an excellent artillery preparation and barrage, our infantry carried
the whole of their objectives very quickly and with remarkably little
loss, and our new line was firmly established in spite of the enemy's
shell fire. Over 1,000 prisoners were taken in the course of the day's
fighting, a figure only slightly exceeded by our casualties.
On the 23rd October, and again on the 5th November,
while awaiting better weather for further operations on the Ancre, our
attacks on the enemy's positions to the east of Les Boeufs and Gueudecourt
were renewed, in conjunction with French operations against the Sailly-Saillisel
heights and St. Pierre Vaast Wood. Considerable further progress was
achieved by the 4th and 8th Divisions (Major-Generals the Hon. W. Lambton
and H. Hudson). Our footing on the crest of the Le Transloy spur was
extended and secured, and the much contested tangle of trenches at our
junction with the French left at last passed definitely into our possession.
Many smaller gains were made in this neighborhood by local assaults
during these days, in spite of the difficult conditions of the ground.
In particular, on the 10th November, after a day of improved weather,
the portion of Regina Trench lying to the east of the Courcelette-Pys
road was carried by the 4th Canadian Division on a front of about 1,000
yards.
Throughout these operations the enemy's counter-attacks
were very numerous and determined, succeeding indeed in the evening
of the 23rd October in regaining a portion of the ground east of Le
Sars taken from him by our attack on that day. On all other occasions
his attacks were broken by our artillery or infantry, and the losses
incurred by him in these attempts, made frequently with considerable
effectives, were undoubtedly very severe.
35. On the 9th November the long-continued bad
weather took a turn for the better, and thereafter remained dry and
cold, with frosty nights and misty mornings, for some days. Final preparations
were therefore pushed on for the attack on the Ancre, though, as the
ground was still very bad in places, it was necessary to limit the operations
to what it would be reasonably possible to consolidate and hold under
the existing conditions.
The enemy's defenses in this area were already
extremely formidable when they resisted our assault on the 1st July,
and the succeeding period of four months had been spent in improving
and adding to them in the light of the experience he had gained in the
course of our attacks further south. The hamlet of St. Pierre Divion
and the villages of Beaucourt-sur-Ancre and Beaumont Hamel, like the
rest of the villages forming part of the enemy's original front in this
district, were evidently intended by him to form a permanent line of
fortifications, while he developed his offensive elsewhere. Realizing
that his position in them had become a dangerous one, the enemy had
multiplied the number of his guns covering this part of his line, and
at the end of October introduced an additional division on his front
between Grandcourt and Hébuterne.
36. At 5 a.m. on the morning of the 11th November
the special bombardment preliminary to the attack was commenced. It
continued with bursts of great intensity until 5.45 a.m. on the morning
of the 13th November, when it developed into a very effective barrage
covering the assaulting infantry.
At that hour our troops advanced on the enemy's
position through dense fog, and rapidly entered his first line trenches
on almost the whole of the front attacked, from east of Schwaben Redoubt
to the north of Serre. South of the Ancre, where our assault (19th and
39th Divisions) was directed northwards against the enemy's trenches
on the northern slopes of the Thièpval Ridge, it met with a success
altogether remarkable for rapidity of execution and lightness of cost.
By 7.20 a.m. our objectives east of St. Pierre Divion had been captured,
and the Germans in and about that hamlet were hemmed in between our
troops and the river. Many of the enemy were driven into their dug-outs
and surrendered, and at 9.0 a.m. the number of prisoners was actually
greater than the attacking force. St. Pierre Divion soon fell, and in
this area nearly 1,400 prisoners were taken by a single division (the
39th Division) at the expense of less than 600 casualties. The rest
of our forces operating south of the Ancre attained their objectives
with equal completeness and success.
North of the river the struggle was more severe,
but very satisfactory results were achieved. Though parties of the enemy
held out for some hours during the day in strong points at various places
along his first line and in Beaumont Hamel, the main attack pushed on.
The troops attacking close to the right bank of the Ancre (the 63rd
Division, Major-General C. D. Shute) reached their second objectives
to the west and north-west of Beaucourt during the morning, and held
on there for the remainder of the day and night, though practically
isolated from the rest of our attacking troops. Their tenacity was of
the utmost value, and contributed very largely to the success of the
operations.
At nightfall our troops were established on the
western outskirts of Beaucourt, in touch with our forces south of the
river, and held a line along the station road from the Ancre towards
Beaumont Hamel (51st Division), where we occupied the village. Further
north the enemy's first line system for a distance of about half a mile
beyond Beaumont Hamel was also in our hands (2nd Division). Still further
north -- opposite Serre -- the ground was so heavy that it became necessary
to abandon the attack at an early stage ; although, despite all difficulties,
our troops (3rd Division, Major-General C. J. Deverell, and 31st Division)
had in places reached the enemy's trenches in the course of their assault.
Next morning, at an early hour, the attack was
renewed between Beaucourt and the top of the spur just north of Beaumont
Hamel. The whole of Beaucourt was carried, and our line extended to
the north-west along the Beaucourt road across the southern end of the
Beaumont Hamel spur. The number of our prisoners steadily rose, and
during this and the succeeding days our front was carried forward eastwards
and northwards up the slopes of the Beaumont Hamel spur.
The results of this attack were very satisfactory,
especially as before its completion bad weather had set in again. We
had secured the command of the Ancre Valley on both banks of the river
at the point where it entered the enemy's lines, and, without great
cost to ourselves, losses had been inflicted on the enemy which he himself
admitted to be considerable. Our final total of prisoners taken in these
operations, and their development during the subsequent days, exceeded
7,200, including 149 officers.
37. Throughout the period dealt with in this Despatch
the role of the other armies holding our defensive line from the northern
limits of the battle front to beyond Ypres was necessarily a secondary
one, but their task was neither light nor unimportant. While required
to give precedence in all respects to the needs of the Somme battle,
they were responsible for the security of the line held by them and
for keeping the enemy on their front constantly on the alert. Their
role was a very trying one, entailing heavy work on the troops and constant
vigilance on the part of Commanders and Staffs. It was carried out to
my entire satisfaction, and in an unfailing spirit of unselfish and
broad-minded devotion to the general good, which is deserving of the
highest commendation.
Some idea of the thoroughness with which their
duties were performed can be gathered from the fact that in the period
of four and a half months from the 1st July some 360 raids were carried
out, in the course of which the enemy suffered many casualties and some
hundreds of prisoners were taken by us. The largest of these operations
was undertaken on the 19th July in the neighborhood of Armentières.
Our troops penetrated deeply into the enemy's defenses, doing much damage
to his works and inflicting severe losses upon him.
38. The three main objects with which we had commenced
our offensive in July had already been achieved at the date when this
account closes ; in spite of the fact that the heavy autumn rains had
prevented full advantage being taken of the favourable situation created
by our advance, at a time when we had good grounds for hoping to achieve
yet more important successes.
Verdun had been relieved; the main German forces
had been held on the Western front; and the enemy's strength had been
very considerably worn down.
Any one of these three results is in itself sufficient
to justify the Somme battle. The attainment of all three of them affords
ample compensation for the splendid efforts of our troops and for the
sacrifices made by ourselves and our Allies. They have brought us a
long step forward towards the final victory of the Allied cause.
The desperate struggle for the possession of Verdun
had invested that place with a moral and political importance out of
all proportion to its military value. Its fall would undoubtedly have
been proclaimed as a great victory for our enemies, and would have shaken
the faith of many in our ultimate success. The failure of the enemy
to capture it, despite great efforts and very heavy losses, was a severe
blow to his prestige, especially in view of the confidence he had openly
expressed as to the results of the struggle.
Information obtained both during the progress of
the Somme battle and since the suspension of active operations has fully
established the effect of our offensive in keeping the enemy's main
forces tied to the Western front. A movement of German troops eastward,
which had commenced in June as a result of the Russian successes, continued
for a short time only after the opening of the Allied attack. Thereafter
the enemy forces that moved East consisted, with one exception, of divisions
that had been exhausted in the Somme battle, and these troops were always
replaced on the Western front by fresh divisions. In November the strength
of the enemy in the Western theater of war was greater than in July,
notwithstanding the abandonment of his offensive at Verdun. It is possible
that if Verdun had fallen large forces might still have been employed
in an endeavour further to exploit that success. It is, however, far
more probable, in view of developments in the Eastern theater, that
a considerable transfer of troops in that direction would have followed.
It is therefore justifiable to conclude that the Somme offensive not
only relieved Verdun, but held large forces which would otherwise have
been employed against our Allies in the East.
The third great object of the Allied operations
on the Somme was the wearing down of the enemy's powers of resistance.
Any statement of the extent to which this has been attained must depend
in some degree on estimates. There is, nevertheless, sufficient evidence
to place it beyond doubt that the enemy's losses in men and material
have been very considerably higher than those of the Allies, while morally
the balance of advantage on our side is still greater.
During the period under review a steady deterioration
took place in the moral of large numbers of the enemy's troops. Many
of them, it is true, fought with the greatest determination, even in
the latest encounters, but the resistance of still larger numbers became
latterly decidedly feebler than it had been in the earlier stages of
the battle. Aided by the great depth of his defenses, and by the frequent
reliefs which his resources in men enabled him to effect, discipline
and training held the machine together sufficiently to enable the enemy
to rally and reorganize his troops after each fresh defeat. As our advance
progressed, four-fifths of the total number of divisions engaged on
the Western front were thrown one after another into the Somme battle,
some of them twice, and some three times ; and towards the end of the
operations, when the weather unfortunately broke, there can be no doubt
that his power of resistance had been very seriously diminished.
The total number of prisoners taken by us in the
Somme battle between the 1st July and the x 8th November is just over
38,000, including over 800 officers. During the same period we captured
29 heavy guns, 96 field guns and field howitzers, 136 trench mortars,
and 54 machine guns.
So far as these results are due to the action of
the British forces, they have been attained by troops the vast majority
of whom had been raised and trained during the war. Many of them, especially
amongst the drafts sent to replace wastage, counted their service by
months, and gained in the Somme battle their first experience of war.
The conditions under which we entered the war had made this unavoidable.
We were compelled either to use hastily trained and inexperienced officers
and men, or else to defer the offensive until we had trained them. In
this latter case we should have failed our Allies. That these troops
should have accomplished so much under such conditions, and against
an Army and a nation whose chief concern for so many years has been
preparation for war, constitutes a feat of which the history of our
nation records no equal. The difficulties and hardships cheerfully overcome,
and the endurance, determination and invincible courage shown in meeting
them, can hardly be imagined by those who have not had personal experience
of the battle, even though they have themselves seen something of war.
The events which I have described in this Despatch form but a bare
outline of the more important occurrences. To deal in any detail even
with these, without touching on the smaller fights and the ceaseless
work in the trenches continuing day and night for five months, is
not possible here.(17) Meanwhile, it must suffice
to say that troops from every part of the British Isles, and from every
Dominion and quarter of the Empire, whether Regulars, Territorials,
or men of the New Armies, have borne a share in the Battle of the Somme.
While some have been more fortunate than others in opportunities for
distinction, all have done their duty nobly.
Among all the long roll of victories borne on the
colors of our regiments, there has never been a higher test of the endurance
and resolution of our infantry. They have shown themselves worthy of
the highest traditions of our race, and of the proud records of former
wars.
Against such defenses as we had to assault -- far
more formidable in many respects than those of the most famous fortresses
in history -- infantry would have been powerless without efficient artillery
preparation and support. The work of our artillery was wholly admirable,
though the strain on the personnel was enormous. The excellence of the
results attained was the more remarkable, in view of the shortness of
the training of most of the junior officers and of the N.C.O.'s and
men. Despite this, they rose to a very high level of technical and tactical
skill, and the combination between artillery and infantry, on which
above everything victory depends, was an outstanding feature of the
battle. Good even in July, it improved with experience, until in the
latter assaults it approached perfection.
In this combination between infantry and artillery
the Royal Flying Corps played a highly important part. The admirable
work of this Corps has been a very satisfactory feature of the battle.
Under the conditions of modern war the duties of the Air Service are
many and varied. They include the regulation and control of artillery
fire by indicating targets and observing and reporting the results of
rounds ; the taking of photographs of enemy trenches, strong points,
battery positions, and of the effect of bombardments ; and the observation
of the movements of the enemy behind his lines.
The greatest skill and daring has been shown in
the performance of all these duties, as well as in bombing expeditions.
Our Air Service has also co-operated with our infantry in their assaults,
signaling the position of our attacking troops and turning machine guns
on to the enemy infantry and even on to his batteries in action.
Not only has the work of the Royal Flying Corps
to be carried out in all weathers and under constant fire from the ground,
but fighting in the air has now become a normal procedure, in order
to maintain the mastery over the enemy's Air Service. In these fights
the greatest skill and determination have been shown, and great success
has attended the efforts of the Royal Flying Corps. I desire to point
out, however, that the maintenance of mastery in the air, which is essential,
entails a constant and liberal supply of the most up-to-date machines,
without which even the most skilful pilots cannot succeed.
The style of warfare in which we have been engaged
offered no scope for cavalry action, with the exception of the one instance
already mentioned in which a small body of cavalry gave useful assistance
in the advance on High Wood.
Intimately associated with the artillery and infantry
in attack and defense, the work of various special services contributed
much towards the successes gained.
Trench mortars, both heavy and light, have become
an important adjunct to artillery in trench warfare, and valuable work
has been done by the personnel in charge of these weapons. Considerable
experience has been gained in their use, and they are likely to be employed
even more frequently in the struggle in future.
Machine guns play a great part -- almost a decisive
part under some conditions -- in modern war, and our Machine Gun Corps
has attained to considerable proficiency in their use, handling them
with great boldness and skill. The highest value of these weapons is
displayed on the defensive rather than in the offensive, and we were
attaching. Nevertheless, in attack also machine guns can exercise very
great influence in the hands of men with a quick eye for opportunity
and capable of a bold initiative. The Machine Gun Corps, though comparatively
recently formed, has done very valuable work and will increase in importance.
The part played by the new armored cars-known as
"tanks" in some of the later fights has been brought to notice by me
already in my daily reports. These cars proved of great value on various
occasions, and the personnel in charge of them performed many deeds
of remarkable valor.
The employment by the enemy of gas and of liquid
flame as weapons of offence compelled us, not only to discover ways
to protect our troops from their effects, but also to devise means to
make use of the same instruments of destruction. Great fertility of
invention has been shown, and very great credit is due to the special
personnel employed for the rapidity and success with which these new
arms have been developed and perfected, and for the very great devotion
to duty they have displayed in a difficult and dangerous service. The
Army owes its thanks to the chemists, physiologists and physicists of
the highest rank who devoted their energies to enabling us to surpass
the enemy in the use of a means of warfare which took the civilized
world by surprise. Our own experience of the numerous experiments and
trials necessary before gas and flame could be used, of the great preparations
which had to be made for their manufacture, and of the special training
required for the personnel employed, shows that the employment of such
methods by the Germans was not the result of a desperate decision, but
had been prepared for deliberately.
Since we have been compelled, in self-defense,
to use similar methods, it is satisfactory to be able to record, on
the evidence of prisoners, of documents captured, and of our own observation,
that the enemy has suffered heavy casualties from our gas attacks, while
the means of protection adopted by us have proved thoroughly effective.
Throughout the operations Engineer troops, both
from home and overseas, have played an important role, and in every
engagement the Field Companies, assisted by Pioneers, have cooperated
with the other arms with the greatest gallantry and devotion to duty.
In addition to the demands made on the services
of the Royal Engineers in the firing line, the duties of the Corps during
the preparation and development of the offensive embraced the execution
of a vast variety of important works, to which attention has already
been drawn in this Despatch. Whether in or behind the firing line, or
on the lines of communication, these skilled troops have continued to
show the power of resource and the devotion to duty by which they have
ever been characterized.
The Tunneling Companies still maintain their superiority
over the enemy underground, thus safeguarding their comrades in the
trenches. Their skill, enterprise and courage have been remarkable,
and, thanks to their efforts, the enemy has nowhere been able to achieve
a success of any importance by mining.
During the Battle of the Somme the work of the
Tunneling Companies contributed in no small degree to the successful
issue of several operations.
The Field Survey Companies have worked throughout
with ability and devotion, and have not only maintained a constant supply
of the various maps required as the battle progressed, but have in various
other ways been of great assistance to the artillery.
The Signal Service, created a short time before
the war began on a very small scale, has expanded in proportion with
the rest of the Army, and is now a very large organization.
It provides the means of inter-communication between
all the Armies and all parts of them, and in modern war requirements
in this respect are on an immense and elaborate scale. The calls on
this Service have been very heavy, entailing a most severe strain, often
under most trying and dangerous conditions. Those calls have invariably
been met with conspicuous success, and no service has shown a more whole-hearted
and untiring energy in the fulfillment of its duty.
The great strain of the five months' battle was
met with equal success by the Army Service Corps and the Ordnance Corps,
as well as by all the other Administrative Services and Departments,
both on the Lines of Communication and in front of them. The maintenance
of large armies in a great battle under modern conditions is a colossal
task. Though bad weather often added very considerably to the difficulties
of transport, the troops never wanted for food, ammunition, or any of
the other many and varied requirements for the supply of which these
Services and Departments are responsible. This fact in itself is the
highest testimony that can be given to the energy and efficiency with
which the work was conducted.
In connection with the maintenance and supply of
our troops, I desire to express the obligation of the Army to the Navy
for the unfailing success with which, in the face of every difficulty,
the large numbers of men and the vast quantities of material required
by us have been transported across the seas.
I also desire to record the obligation of the Army
in the Field to the various authorities at home, and to the workers
under them
women as well as men by whose efforts and self-sacrifice
all our requirements were met. Without the vast quantities of munitions
and stores of all sorts provided, and without the drafts of men sent
to replace wastage, the efforts of our troops could not have been maintained.
The losses entailed by the constant fighting threw
a specially heavy strain on the Medical Services. This has been met
with the greatest zeal and efficiency. The gallantry and devotion with
which officers and men of the Regimental Medical Service and Field Ambulances
have discharged their duties is shown by the large number of the R.A.M.C.
and Medical Corps of the Dominions who have fallen in the field. The
work of the Medical Services behind the front has been no less arduous.
The untiring professional zeal and marked ability of the surgical specialists
and consulting surgeons, combined with the skill and devotion of the
medical and nursing staffs, both at the Casualty Clearing Stations in
the field and the Stationary and General Hospitals at the Base, have
been beyond praise. In this respect also the Director-General has on
many occasions expressed to me the immense help the British Red Cross
Society have been to him in assisting the R.A.M.C. in their work.
The health of the troops has been most satisfactory,
and, during the period to which this Despatch refers, there has been
an almost complete absence of wastage due to disease of a preventable
nature.
With such large forces as we now have in the field, the control exercised
by a Commander-in-Chief is necessarily restricted to a general guidance,
and great responsibilities devolve on the Army Commanders.
In the Somme Battle these responsibilities were
entrusted to Generals Sir Henry Rawlinson and Sir Hubert Gough, commanding
respectively the Fourth and Fifth Armies, who for five months controlled
the operations of very large forces in one of the greatest, if not absolutely
the greatest struggle that has ever taken place.
It is impossible to speak too highly of the great
qualities displayed by these commanders throughout the battle. Their
thorough knowledge of their profession, and their cool and sound judgment,
tact and determination proved fully equal to every call on them. They
entirely justified their selection for such responsible commands.
The preparations for the battle, with the exception
of those at Gommecourt, were carried out under Sir Henry Rawlinson's
orders. It was not until after the assault of the 1st July that Sir
Hubert Gough was placed in charge of a portion of the front of attack,
in order to enable Sir Henry Rawlinson to devote his whole attention
to the area in which I then decided to concentrate the main effort.
The Army Commanders have brought to my notice the
excellent work done by their Staff Officers and Technical Advisers,
as well as by the various commanders and staffs serving under them,
and I have already submitted the names of the various officers and others
recommended by them.
I desire also to record my obligation to my own
Staff at General Head Quarters and on the Lines of Communication, and
to the various Technical Advisers attached thereto for their loyal and
untiring assistance.
Throughout the operations the whole Army has worked
with a remarkable absence of friction and with a self-sacrifice and
wholehearted devotion to the common cause which is beyond praise. This
has ensured and will continue to ensure the utmost concentration of
effort. It is indeed a privilege to work with such officers and with
such men.
I cannot close this Despatch without alluding to
the happy relations which continue to exist between the Allied Armies
and between our troops and the civil population in France and Belgium.
The unfailing cooperation of our Allies, their splendid fighting qualities
and the kindness and goodwill universally displayed towards us have
won the gratitude, as well as the respect and admiration, of all ranks
of the British Armies.
In conclusion, I desire to add a few words as to
future prospects.
The enemy's power has not yet been broken, nor
is it yet possible to form an estimate of the time the war may last
before the objects for which the Allies are fighting have been attained.
But the Somme battle has placed beyond doubt the ability of the Allies
to gain those objects. The German Army is the mainstay of the Central
Powers, and a full half of that Army, despite all the advantages of
the defensive, supported by the strongest fortifications, suffered defeat
on the Somme this year. Neither the victors nor the vanquished will
forget this; and, though bad weather has given the enemy a respite,
there will undoubtedly be many thousands in his ranks who will begin
the new campaign with little confidence in their ability to resist our
assaults or to overcome our defense.
Our new Armies entered the battle with the determination to win and
with confidence in their power to do so. They have proved to themselves,
to the enemy, and to the world that this confidence was justified, and
in the fierce struggle they have been through they have learned many
valuable lessons which will help them in the future.
I have the honor to be,
Your Lordship's obedient Servant,
D. HAIG, General,
Commanding-in-Chief, British Armies in France.
FOOTNOTES
(1)
This Despatch was published as a Supplement to the London Gazette
of the 29th December, 1916.
(2)
The choice of front for the Allied offensive was governed by the consideration
that neither the French nor ourselves were at the moment deemed strong
enough to undertake unaided an offensive on a really large scale. It
was therefore necessary to deliver a combined attack.
(3)
Between January, 1916, and July, 1916, the strength of the British Armies
on the Western front in bayonets and sabers increased from 450,000 to
660,000.
(4)
On the 14th May, 1916, the Austrians attacked in the Trentino and by
the end of May had advanced to Arsiero and Asiago.
(5)
Brussilov's offensive on the Galician front in which Lutsk and Czernovitz
were taken by the Russians.
(6) The disposition of
our forces from south to north at the moment of attack was as follows
:
Fourth Army |
|
XIII. Corps |
Lt.-Gen. W. N. Congreve. |
30th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. J. S. M. Shea. |
18th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. F. I. Maxse. |
XV. Corps |
Lt.-Gen. H. S. Horne. |
7th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. H. E. Watts. |
21st Div. |
Maj.-Gen. D. G. M. Campbell. |
III. Corps |
Lt.-Gen. Sir W. P. Pulteney. |
34th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. E. C. Ingouville-Williams. |
8th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. H. Hudson. |
X. Corps |
Lt.-Gen. Sir T. L. N. Morland. |
32nd Div. |
Maj.-Gen. W. H. Rycroft. |
36th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. O. S. W. Nugent. |
VIII. Corps |
Lt.-Gen. Sir A. G. Hunter-Weston. |
29th Div. |
Maj. Gen. H. de B. de Lisle. |
4th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. Hon. W. Lambton. |
31st Div. |
Maj.-Gen. R. Wanless O'Gowan. |
Third Army |
|
VII. Corps |
Lt.-Gen. Sir T. D'O. Snow. |
56th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. C. P. A. Hull. |
46th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. E. J. Montagu Stuart-Wortley. |
(7) In the course of this
fighting, a brigade of the 49th Division, Major-General E. M. Percival,
made a gallant attempt to force Thièpval from the north.
(8)
White tapes were laid out on the ground earlier in the night, to assist
the attacking troops to form up in their proper positions.
(9)
On the 18th July the enemy had 138 battalions engaged is and behind
the line north of the Somme, as compared with 62 at the commencement
of the battle. By the end of August, 30 German divisions had been brought
is to reinforce the 6 divisions located on the front of our attack on
the 1st July.
(10)
The 1st, 12th, 15th Divisions (Major-General F. W. N. McCracken commanding
the 15th Division); 19th, 23rd, 25th and 34th Divisions (Major-General
C. L. Nicholson commanding the 34th Division); 48th, 51st, 1st Australian,
2nd Australian and 4th Australian Divisions (Major-General Sir H. V.
Cox commanding the 4th Australian Division), were engaged in this fighting.
(11)
20th Division, Major-General W. D. Smith, and attached brigade of 16th
Division, Major-General W. B. Hickie.
(12)
At this time, the success of our attack had compelled the enemy to relax
his pressure at Verdun. The forces at the disposal of the French were
correspondingly increased. The British Armies south of the Ancre still
constituted, however, the striking force of the offensive.
(13)
The order of battle of the Fourth Army, from south to north, was as
follows :
Fourth Army |
|
XIV. Corps |
Lt.-Gen. the Earl of Cavan. |
56th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. C. P. A. Hull. |
6th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. C. Ross. |
Guards Div. |
Maj.-Gen. G. P. T. Feilding. |
XV. Corps |
Lt.-Gen. H. S. Horne. |
14th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. V. A. Couper. |
41st Div. |
Maj.-Gen. S. T. B. Lawford. |
N.Z. Div. |
Maj.-Gen. A. H. Russell. |
III. Corps |
Lt.-Gen. Sir W. P. Pulteney. |
47th Div. |
Maj.- Gen. Sir C. St. L. Barter. |
50th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. P. S. Williams. |
15th Div. |
Maj.-Gen. F. W. N. McCracken. |
(14)
In spite of the secrecy maintained, the enemy appears to have obtained
some information regarding our intended use of tanks, and had issued
warnings.
(15)
By the New Zealand Division, the 4th Division, Major-General Sir G.
F. Gorringe, and the 50th and 23rd Divisions.
(16)
The scheme of the Allied operations, if events went well, included an
advance to the general line Le Transloy -- south of Bapaume-Bois Loupart.
The British forces would then have developed their successes in a northerly
and north-easterly direction, turning the enemy's defenses south of
the Scarpe, and threatening his troops in that area with capture or
destruction. The unfavorable weather, and consequent delay in the Allied
advance against Sailly-Saillisel and Le Transloy, made it necessary
to abandon this plan at the moment when our September successes seemed
to have brought it almost within our grasp. As the season advanced and
the bad weather continued the scope of our plan had constantly to be
reduced, until finally it was only possible to undertake the much store
limited operation of the 13th November against Beaumont Hamel. The brilliant
success of this attack, carried out as it was under most difficult conditions
of ground, affords some indication of what might have been accomplished
had the weather permitted us to give fuller effect to our original plan.
(17)
In the original Despatch, which does not mention divisions or other
units by name, the following passage occurs here: " Nor have I deemed
it permissible in this Despatch, much as I desired to do so, to particularize
the units, brigades, or divisions especially connected with the different
events described. It would not be possible to do so without giving useful
information to the enemy. Recommendations for individual rewards have
been forwarded separately, and in due course full details will be made
known."