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Файл:The Great War. Part II
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THE GREAT WAR
German trenches and strong points still lay all round it, through
which the Allies, from either side, were endeavouring to force their
way. On the night of September 18-19, the 5th Cheshires, pioneer
battalion of the division, constructed a long trench parallel to Bouleaux Wood, which formed a defensive fl ank for the operations. The
whole of this wood had now been cleared with the exception of the
extreme northern corner. Here we may leave the Fifty-sixth Division,
for the fall of Combles will fi t in more properly to our next survey,
when we shall have once again to go down the whole line from left
to right and to show one more stage in the advance.
This Battle of Flers may be said to mark an epoch in military history on account of the use of the so-called tank, an instrument which
had no vital effect upon the course of the fi ght, but which was obviously capable of being much enlarged, and of being made in every
way more formidable. It had been a common criticism up to this date
that our military equipment had always been an imitation, very belated, of that of our enemy. Now at last Great Britain, warming to
the War, was giving her inventive and manufacturing as well as her
military talents full scope – and the tank was the fi rst-born of her
fancy. It is a matter of history that Britain has been the inventor of
processes and Germany the adapter of them, so that we had a valuable asset in that direction could we break through our bonds of red
tape and get without hindrance from the thinker in his study to the
fi ghter in the trench. Those who have had the experience of discussing any military problem in the Press, and have found by the next
post fi fty letters from men of all ranks and professions, presenting
solutions for it, can best understand how active is the inventive brain
of the country. In this instance, Mr. Winston Churchill is said, during
his tenure of offi ce, to have fi rst conceived the idea of the tanks, but
the actual details were worked out by a number of men. Especially
they are owing to Colonel Stern, a civilian before the War, who used
221
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
his knowledge of motor manufacture and his great organising ability to put the construction through in the shortest time, to Commander d’Eyncourt of the Navy, and to Colonel Swinton, R.E., who
looked after the crews and equipment. On an average six of these
engines, strange modern resuscitations of the war-chariots of our ancestors, were allotted to each division. The whole affair was frankly
experimental, and many got into trouble through the breakdown of
machinery, the limits of carrying capacity, and the slipping of the caterpillar driving-bands at the sides. Their pace, too, was against them,
as they could only go twenty yards per minute as against the fi fty
of the infantry. Hence they had to be sent ahead down lanes in the
barrage, with the result that the element of surprise was lessened.
Their vision also was very defective, and they were bad neighbours,
as they drew fi re. The result was a very mixed report from various Divisional Commanders, some of whom swore by, and others at them.
The net result, however, was summed up by the words of commendation from General Haig in his despatch, and there were some cases,
as at Flers itself, where the work done was simply invaluable, and the
machine-guns were nosed out and rooted up before they could do
any damage. The adventures of individual tanks could, and no doubt
will, fi ll a volume to themselves, some of them, either in ignorance
or recklessness, wandering deep into the enemy’s lines, and amazing
rearward batteries by their sudden uncouth appearance. Several were
destroyed, but none actually fell into the German hands. Enough was
done to show their possibilities, and also to prove that the Navy and
the Flying Service had not suffi ced to exhaust our amazing supply
of high-spirited youths ready to undertake the most nerve-shaking
tasks so long as a touch of sport gave them a fl avour. The very names
of these land cruisers, Crème de Menthe and the like, showed the joyous, debonair spirit in which their crews faced the unknown dangers
of their new calling.
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THE GREAT WAR
Summing up the events of September 15, it was without any
doubt the greatest British victory, though not the most important,
which had been gained up to date in the War. July 1 was the most
important, and all subsequent ones arose from it, since it was then
that the Chinese Wall of Germany was breached. July 14 was also
a considerable victory, but it was only a portion of the line which
was attacked, and that portion was partly regained for a time by the
German counter-attacks. The battle of September 15, however, was
on as huge a scale as that of July 1, but was devoid of those long
stretches of untaken trench which made us pay so heavy a price
for our victory. From the Pozières Ridge upon the left to Bouleaux
Wood upon the right twelve divisions moved forward to victory,
and, save in the small section of the Quadrilateral, everything gave
way at once to that majestic advance. The ultimate objectives had
been carefully defi ned, for the Battle of Loos had taught us that the
infantry must not outrun the guns, but this pre-ordained limit was
attained at almost every spot. Martinpuich, High Wood, Flers, Delville, and Leuze Wood, all passed permanently within the British
lines, and the trophies of victory amounted to 5000 prisoners and
a dozen guns. At this stage no less than 21,000 prisoners had been
taken by the British and 34,000 by the French since the great series
of battles was commenced upon July 1.
XI.
THE GAINING
OF THE THIEPVAL RIDGE
Assault on Thiepval by Eighteenth Division – Heavy fi ghting – Cooperation of Eleventh Division – Fall of Thiepval – Fall
of Schwaben Redoubt – Taking of Stuff Redoubt – Important gains
on the Ridge
HAVING treated the successful advance made by Rawlinson’s
Fourth Army upon September 15, it would be well before continuing the narrative of their further efforts to return to Gough’s Army
upon the north, the right Canadian wing of which had captured
Courcelette, but which was occupied in the main with the advance
upon the Thiepval Ridge.
The actual capture of Thiepval was an operation of such importance that it must be treated in some detail. The village, or rather the
position, was a thorn in the side of the British, as it lay with its veteran garrison of Würtembergers, girdled round and fl anked by formidable systems of trenches upon the extreme left of their line. Just
above Thiepval was a long slope ending in a marked ridge, which
was topped by the Schwaben Redoubt. Both armies recognised the
extreme importance of this position, since its capture would mean
a fi re-command over all the German positions to the north of the
Ancre, while without it the British could never reap the full result
of their success in breaking the line upon July 1. For this reason, in-
224
THE GREAT WAR
structions had been given to the picked German troops who held it
to resist at all costs, even to the death. They had massed at least four
hundred guns in order to beat down every assault. Yet the attempt
must be made, and it was assigned to Jacob’s Second Corps, the actual Divisions engaged being the Eighteenth and the Eleventh, both
of them units recruited in the South of England. The latter was distinguished as the fi rst English Division of the New Armies, while
the former had already gained great distinction in the early days
of the Somme battle when they captured Trones Wood. They were
supported in their diffi cult venture by a considerable concentration of artillery, which included the guns of the Twenty-fi fth and
Forty-ninth Divisions as well as their own. Jacob, their Corps leader,
was an offi cer who had risen from the command of an Anglo Indian
Brigade to that of a Corps within two years. The whole operation,
like all others in this region, was under the direction of Sir Hubert
Gough.
Every possible preparation was made for the assault, and all
the requirements of prolonged warfare were used to minimise the
losses and ensure the success of the storm-troops. Four tanks were
brought up to co-operate, and one of them, as will be shown, was
of vital use at a critical moment. Instructions were given to the advancing battalions to let their own shrapnel strike within a few
yards of their toes as they advanced, huddling in a thick line behind
the screen of falling bullets which beat down the machine-guns in
front. With fi ne judgment in some cases the supports were taken
out of the advanced trenches and concealed here or there so that
the answering barrage of the enemy fell upon emptiness. So warwise were the British, and so cool their dispositions, that certain of
the enemy trenches were actually exempted from bombardment, so
that they might form an intact nucleus of defence when the place
was taken.
225
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
The Canadian Corps were to attack from Courcelette upon the
right, but their advance was only indirectly concerned with Thiepval Village, being directed towards the ridge which runs northwest of Courcelette to the Schwaben Redoubt. Next to the Canadians on the left was the Eleventh Division, and on their left the
Thirteenth, which had been strengthened by the addition of the
146th Brigade of the Forty-ninth Division. The latter brigade held
the original British front line during the action so as to release the
whole of the Eighteenth Division for the advance. The immediate
objective of this division was Thiepval Village, to be followed by the
Schwaben Redoubt. Those of the Eleventh Division on its right were
Zollern and Stuff Redoubts.
The Eighteenth Division assaulted with two brigades, the 53rd
on the right, the 54th on the left, each being confronted by a network of trenches backed by portions of the shattered village. The
advance was from south to north, and at right angles to the original
British trench line. The hour of fate was 12.35 in the afternoon of
September 26.
The average breadth of No Man’s Land was 250 yards, which
was crossed by these steady troops at a slow, plodding walk, the pace
being regulated by the searching barrage, which lingered over every
shell hole in front of them. Through the hard work of the sappers
and Sussex pioneers, the assembly trenches had been pushed well
out, otherwise the task would have been more formidable.
Following the fortunes of the 53rd Brigade upon the right, its
movements were supposed to synchronise with those of the 33rd
Brigade upon the left fl ank of the Eleventh Division. The right advanced battalion was the 8th Suffolk, with the 10th Essex upon
the left, each of them in six waves. Close at their heels came the
8th Norfolk, whose task was to search dug-outs and generally to
consolidate the ground won. The front line of stormers rolled over
226
THE GREAT WAR
Joseph Trench, which was the German advanced position, but before they had reached it there was a strange eruption of half-dressed
unarmed Germans yelling with terror and bolting through the barrage. Many of them dashed through the stolid Suffolks, who took no
notice of them, but let them pass. Others lost their nerve like rabbits
at a battle, and darted here and there between the lines until the
shrapnel found them. It was an omen of victory that such clear signs
of shaken moral should be evident so early in the day. There was
sterner stuff behind, however, as our men were speedily to learn.
The advance went steadily forward, cleaning up the trenches as
it went, and crossing Schwaben Trench, Zollern Trench, and Bulgar
Trench, in each of which there was sharp resistance, only quelled
by the immediate presence of our Lewis guns, or occasionally by
the rush of a few determined men with bayonets. It was 2:30 before
the advance was brought to a temporary stand by machine-gun fi re
from the right. After that hour a small party of Suffolks under Lieutenant Mason got forward some distance ahead, and made a strong
point which they held till evening, this gallant young offi cer falling
under the enemy’s fi re.
The The success of the Suffolks upon the right was equalled by
that of the Essex on the left, passing through the eastern portion of
Thiepval without great loss, for the usual machine-gun fi re seemed
to have been stamped out by the British guns. The whole of this
fi ne advance of the 53rd Brigade covered about 1000 yards in depth
and accounted for a great number of the enemy in killed, wounded,
and prisoners. The advance made and the cost paid both showed
that our offi cers and soldiers were learning the lessons of modern
warfare with that swift adaptability which Britain has shown in every phase of this terrifi c and prolonged test. This old, old nation’s
blood has fl owed into so many younger ones that her own vitality
might well be exhausted; but she has, on the contrary, above all the
227
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
combatants, given evidence of the supple elasticity of youth, moulding herself in an instant to every movement of the grim giant with
whom she fought.
Great as had been the success of the 53rd Brigade, it was not possible for them to get on to the Schwaben Redoubt, their ultimate objective, because, as will be shown, matters were more diffi cult upon
the left, and one corner of the village was still in German possession. They ended the day, therefore, with two battalions consolidating the Zollern Line, a third in support in the Schwaben Trench,
and a fourth, the 6th Berks, bringing up munitions and food to their
exhausted but victorious comrades. The front line was much mixed,
but the men were in good heart, and a visit from their Brigadier in
the early morning of the 27th did much to reassure them. To carry
on the story of this brigade to the conclusion of the attack it may be
added that the whole of the 27th was spent on consolidation and
on a daring reconnaissance by a captain of the 53rd Trench Mortar
Battery, who crawled forward alone, and made it clear by his report
that a new concerted effort was necessary before the Brigade could
advance.
We shall now return to 12.35 P.M. on September 26, and follow the 54th Brigade upon the left. The advance was carried out
by the 12th Middlesex, with instructions to attack the village, and
by the 11th Royal Fusiliers, whose task was to clear the maze of
trenches and dug-outs upon the west of the village, while the 6th
Northamptons were to be in close support. So diffi cult was the task,
that a frontage of only 300 yards was allotted to the Brigade, so as
to ensure weight of attack – the Fusiliers having a front line of one
platoon.
The advance ran constantly into a network of trenches with
nodal strong points which were held with resolution and could
only be carried by fi erce hand-to-hand fi ghting. Captain Thompson,
228
THE GREAT WAR
Lieutenants Miall-Smith and Cornaby, and many of their Fusiliers
in the leading company, were killed or wounded in this desperate
business. So stern was the fi ght that the Fusiliers on the left got far
behind their own barrage, and also behind their Middlesex comrades on the right, who swept up as far as the château before they
were brought to a temporary halt. Here, at the very vital moment,
one of the tanks, the only one still available, came gliding forward
and put out of action the machine-guns of the château, breaking down in the effort, and remaining on the scene of its success.
Across the whole front of the advance there were now a series of
small confl icts at close quarters, so stubborn that the left wing of
the Fusiliers was held stationary in constant combat for the rest of
the day. Extraordinary initiative was shown by privates of both leading battalions when left without offi cers in this scattered fi ghting,
and here, no doubt, we have a result depending upon the formed
educated stuff which went to the making of such troops as these
London units of the new armies. Private Edwards and Private Ryder
each gained their V.C. at this stage of the action by single-handed
advances which carried forward the line. Corporal Tovey lost his
life in a similar gallant venture, bayoneting single-handed the crew
of a machine-gun and silencing it. Fierce battles raged round garrisoned dug-outs, where no quarter was given or taken on either
side. One considerable garrison refused to surrender and perished
horribly in the fl ames of their wood-lined refuge. Those who fl ed
from their refuges were cut down by Lewis guns, a lieutenant of the
Fusiliers getting 50 in this manner. This offi cer also distinguished
himself by his use of a captured map, which enabled him to lead his
men to the central telephone installation, where 20 operators were
seized by a corporal and two fi les of Fusiliers, who afterwards put
the wires out of gear.
229
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
These great results had not been obtained without heavy losses. Colonel Carr of the Fusiliers, Major Hudson, and the Adjutant
had all fallen. About three in the afternoon the village had all been
cleared save the north-west corner, but the battalions were very
mixed, the barrage deadly, the order of the attack out of gear, and
the position still insecure. The 54th Brigade was well up with the
53rd upon the right, but upon the left it was held up as already
described. The German egg bombs were falling in this area as thick
as snowballs in a schoolboy battle, while the more formidable stick
bombs were often to be seen, twenty at a time, in the air.
A great deal now depended upon the supports, as the front line
was evidently spent and held. The immediate support was the 6th
Northamptons. In moving forward it lost both Colonel Ripley and
the Adjutant, and many offi cers fell, two companies being left entirely to the charge of the sergeants, who rose fi nely to their responsibilities. When by four o’clock the battalion had got up through
the barrage, there were only two unwounded company offi cers left
standing, both second lieutenants. It was one more demonstration
of the fact that a modern barrage can create a zone through which it
is practically impossible for unarmoured troops to move. The result
was that the battalion was so weak by the time it got up, that it was
less a support to others than a unit which was in need of support.
The three depleted battalions simply held their line, therefore, until
night, and under the cover of darkness they were all drawn off, and
the remaining battalion, the 7th Bedfords, took their place. That this
could be done at night in strange trenches within a few yards of the
German line is a feat which soldiers will best appreciate. The result
was that as day broke on the 27th the Germans were faced not by
a fringe of exhausted men, but by a perfectly fresh battalion which
was ready and eager for immediate attack.
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