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Файл:The Great War. Part II
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THE GREAT WAR
were the cause of heavy losses, but the troops were in excellent fettle,
and the 104th Brigade actually executed a little raid on its own during the night, bringing back a machine-gun and fi ve more prisoners.
On October 26, the rain still pouring down as heavily as ever, and
the earth about as liquid as the heavens, the advance was once again
renewed upon a narrow front which was mostly on the slope of the
hill and therefore offered some foothold for the struggling infantry. Paschendaale was but a few hundreds of yards away, and it was
imperative that it should be held before the season ended. Haig’s
troops were weary, and several fresh divisions which I he could have
called upon were already earmarked for the surprise attack which
he was planning in the south. It was imperative, however, to have
some fresh thrusting force which could be trusted to break down
the remaining obstacles and not only seize the dominant village,
but hold it after seizure. For this object the close Canadian beleaguerment of Lens, which was to have ended in an assault, was abandoned. and the Canadian Corps was brought round to the front,
taking the place of the Anzac Corps. In the new advance it occupied,
therefore, the central position of the line.
There had been several divisional changes in the north. The
front of General Cavan’s line consisted now of the Fiftieth Division
next the French, the Thirty-fi fth Division, and the Fifty-seventh Division. Maxse’s battle line was the Fifty-eighth London Division and
the Sixty-third Naval. In spite of every possible disadvantage, fresh
ground was gained by these units, and Varlet Farm, Bray Farm, and
Banff House were added to the British area.
The conditions of these low-lying valleys to the north, which
had long been diffi cult, had now become really impossible, and this
was the last attempt to advance in the Houlthulst Forest area. It
takes personal and detailed narrative to enable the reader to realise
the situation which the troops had to face. An offi cer of the 170th
471
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Brigade, a Lancashire unit which displayed great valour and lost half
its numbers upon this date, writes: “I have never seen such a sight as
that country was in the valley of the Broombeek and Watervlietbeek
just south of Houthulst Forest. Nothing on earth but the wonderful
courage of the Lancashire lads enabled them to get so far as they did.
We went over with our rifl es and Lewis guns bound up with fl annel so as to keep the mud out, and with special cleaning apparatus
in our pockets, but you can’t clean a rifl e when your own hands are
covered an inch thick! We killed a great number – one of the Sergeants in the ‘Loyals’ laid out 13 with his bayonet; altogether we actually killed over 600 with the bayonet; but, as I say, the ground was
too heavy to allow us to out-manoeuvre the pill-boxes, and though
we took three or four, the rest did us in. In one box we got 38 Boche,
killed them all with a Lewis gun through the porthole.” After that
day no more advance was tried in the low-lying valleys named. The
impossibility was seen.
The Canadian Corps went forward with one brigade of the
Fourth Division upon the right and two brigades of the Third
Division upon the left. A brigade of the First Australian Division
supported their left upon the Ypres-Roulers railway, and the Sixty-third Naval Division continued the attack. Each of these units
gained ground under the most desperate conditions. The Australians captured Decline Wood, so securing the fl ank of the attack.
The Canadians pushed forward on each side of the Revebeek, one
of the innumerable streams which meander through this country.
The Third Canadian Division advanced fi nely, but their right-hand
brigade was held up by the machine-gun fi re from Bellevue Spur,
which had wrought such damage in the former attack, and was compelled to fall back upon its original line. The Canadians rallied for
a second spring, and in the afternoon by a splendid effort, when
all their Northern grit and energy were needed, they fl ooded over
472
THE GREAT WAR
the obstacle and lined up with their comrades. They were now right
astride of the main ridge and close up to the edge of the village.
To the north, the Sixty-third Naval Division, which formed the right
unit of Maxse’s Corps, pushed forward to the line of the Paddebeek,
while the Londoners of the Fifty-eighth Division kept their place
upon the left. The German third artillery had greatly increased in
strength, thanks to Ypres. the Russian collapse, and every fresh idiocy of Petrograd was transmuted into showers of steel and iron in
the plains of Flanders. Their infantry also became more aggressive
with this stronger support, and two heavy counters broke upon the
Canadians in the afternoon of October 26. In spite of every obstacle,
it was an important day in this section of the line for Paschendaale
was almost reached, and the Germans must have viewed with despair the ever-advancing line, which neither they nor Nature had
been able to stop.
In the south the operations during the day were not so successful, and the subsidiary aims were not attained. In the morning, the
Fifth Division attacked and once again captured the Wood and Château of Polderhoek. The 1st West Kents and 13th Warwicks of the
13th Brigade carried out this dashing and arduous operation, and
took some 200 men, who formed the garrison. The Seventh Division
meanwhile had advanced upon Gheluvelt, the 2nd West Surrey, 1st
South Staffords and Manchesters of the 91st Brigade advancing to
the south of the Menin road in order to guard the fl ank of their comrades who followed the line of the road which would lead them to
this famous village. The fl anking brigade was held up, however, at the
old stumbling-block near Lewis House and Berry Cotts, where the
German fi re was very deadly. This failure enabled the enemy to bring
a very heavy cross-fi re upon the 2nd Borderers and 2nd Gordons of
the 20th Brigade, forming the column of attack. In spite of this fi re,
the stormers forced their way into Gheluvelt, but found themselves
473
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
involved in very hard fi ghting, while their guns were choked with
mud, and useless save as pikes or clubs. Under these circumstances
they were forced back to their own line. Encouraged by this success,
the Germans then advanced in very heavy masses and attacked the
new positions of the Fifth Division with such fury that they also had
to loose their grip of the precious twice-conquered Château and fall
back on the line whence they started. It cannot be denied, therefore,
that though the British gained ground in the north upon October
26, they sustained nothing but losses after their great exertions in
the south upon that date. The two outstanding features of the fi ghting seem to have been the extreme diffi culty of keeping the weapons
in a serviceable condition, a factor which naturally told in favour
of the stationary defence, and also the innocuousness of percussion
shells, since in such a swamp they bury themselves so deeply that
their explosion does little harm. Some 500 prisoners were made in
the southern area, but many more in the north.
Upon October 30, in cold and windy weather, the attack was renewed upon a comparatively narrow front, with the First Australian
Division upon the extreme right, then the Fourth Canadians, then
the Third Canadians, and fi nally the Sixty-third Division upon the
left. The Canadians advancing along the ridge towards the doomed
village were faced by a terrifi c concentration of German guns upon
that limited space and by strong infantry attacks, none of which
turned them from their purpose. The direction of the attack was
from west and south-west. The Fourth Canadians soon had all their
objectives and held them fi rmly, taking Crest Farm on the edge of the
village. The Third Canadians had heavy resistance to overcome, but
captured the spur in O front of them and joined up with their comrades at Graf. The Sixty-third Division found it very diffi cult to get
forward, however, and this held back the left wing of the Canadians.
Five severe attacks were made upon the Canadians, but were all beat-
474
THE GREAT WAR
en off by their steady fi re. In some cases, notably at Crest Farm, the
machine-guns captured from the Germans were turned upon their
late owners as they debouched from the village. There was considerable evidence of demoralisation among the German’ infantry upon
this occasion whenever the British could get to grips with it, and
some sections actually ran away at the outbreak of the fi ght, which is
a very unusual occurrence in so disciplined and brave an army. The
latter part of the action was fought in driving rain, which hardly allowed vision of more than a couple of hundred yards.
All these heroic exertions were consummated at six on the
morning of November 6, when the Canadian infantry, advancing
with heroic dash, fl ung themselves upon the village and carried the
British line right through it, emerging upon the naked ridge beyond. The advance on the left was made by the 1st Brigade, while
the 5th Brigade took the village. Many strong points lay just north
of the hamlet, but each of them was rushed in turn. It was a splendid
success, and wrought by splendid men. The chronicler cannot easily
forget how by a wayside Kentish station he saw the wounded from
this attack lying silent and patient after their weary journey, and
how their motionless, clay-spattered fi gures, their set, fi rm faces and
their undaunted eyes, gave him an impression of military effi ciency
and virtue such as none of the glitter and pride and pomp of war
have ever conveyed. So fell Paschendaale, and so, save for some minor readjustments upon the Ridge, ended the great battle which can
only be all included in the title “The Third Battle of Ypres.”
Several attempts were made to clear the whole of the ridge but
the rain was still continuous, the ground a nightmare, and the fi re of
the German guns was concentrated upon so limited a space that the
advance was hardly possible. Jacob’s Second Corps had come back
into the line, and one of its units, the First Division, came up upon
November 9 on the left of the Canadians, and endeavoured in coop-
475
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
eration with them to extend the position. The Germans had cleverly
removed their heavy guns to such a position that they could reach
the ridge, while the British guns, immobile in the mud, could not
attempt any counter-battery work. In this way a very intense fi re,
against which no reply could be made, was kept up on the ridge. On
November 10 the 2nd Canadian Brigade upon the right and the 3rd
British Brigade upon the left endeavoured to work forward; but the
losses were heavy and the gains slight. The two leading British battalions, the 1st South Wales Borderers and the 2nd Munsters, were
the chief sufferers. It was clear that the season was too far advanced
to attempt any useful work. On November 12 the Thirty-second Division relieved the First, and the line was again slightly advanced;
but no more could be done and the troops settled down into the
quagmire to spend the winter as best they might. The Eighth Corps
took over the lines of the Canadians, who returned, after their
splendid and arduous work, to their old sector at Lens.
On the other sectors of the northern front there had been a lull
while this last stage of the Paschendaale fi ghting was in progress.
It was broken only by a sharp, sudden attack by the Fifth Division
upon its old enemy, the Poldershoek Château, upon November 6.
After some severe fi ghting the attack failed and the British line remained as before.
Thus, after a continuance of three months, the long struggle
came to an end. Only the titanic Battle of the Somme had exceeded it
in length and severity. The three great Battles of Ypres are destined
to become classical in British history, and it will be a nice question
for the judgment of posterity which of the three was the most remarkable military performance. Though the scene was the same, the
drama was of a very different quality in each act, but always equally
intense. In the fi rst, inferior numbers of British troops with a vastly
inferior artillery held up the German Army in its fi rst rush for the
476
THE GREAT WAR
coast, and, by virtue of the high training and close cohesion of the
old regulars, barred their path even at the cost of their own practical annihilation. In the second, a less homogeneous and less trained
British force, still with a very inferior artillery, held back a German
line which was formidable, less for its numbers than for the sudden use of new methods of warfare against which their opponents
could neither guard nor reply. The line receded under the pressure,
but the way was still barred. In the third, the British advanced and
steadily pushed back a German Army which was probably inferior
in numbers – and certainly was so in gun power – but which held
a series of predominating positions stiffened by every method which
experience could suggest or ingenuity devise. Their resistance was
helped by the most adverse weather conditions which could be conceived. The net result of the fi ghting was not only the capture of the
crest of the fi nal ridge, but the taking of 24,000 prisoners and 72
guns. When one remembers that the Germans in the days of their
ascendancy could not in the two battles of Ypres put together have
taken more than 5000 men, one can measure the comparative success of each army in this confl ict of giants. It would be vain to pretend that we did not hope for a greater gain of ground in this great
autumn movement, but the reach of a General must often exceed
his grasp, and here it was no small prize which still remained with
the victor.
One can only sum up the matter by quoting the measured words
of the Field-Marshal in Command: “This offensive, maintained for
three-and-a-half months under the most adverse conditions of
weather, had entailed almost superhuman exertions on the part of
the troops of all arms and services. The enemy had done his utmost
to hold his ground, and in his endeavours to do so had used up no
less than seventy-eight divisions, of which eighteen had been engaged a second or third time in the battle, after being withdrawn
477
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
to rest and refi t. Despite the magnitude of his efforts, it was the immense natural diffi culties, accentuated manifold by the abnormally
wet weather, rather than the enemy’s resistance, which limited our
progress and prevented the complete capture of the ridge.”
Whilst this long and arduous struggle had been raging the chief
events upon the other seats of war had been a fi ne French victory
on the Aisne which yielded nearly 10,000 prisoners. This was upon
September 23, but the rejoicings of the Allies were turned to sorrow
by the news next day of the set-back of the second Italian army at
Caporetto, where the soldiers, demoralised by insidious propaganda,
offered at the most critical sector hardly any resistance to the enemy
who had been reinforced by some German divisions. The result was
that the other Italian armies upon right and left were compelled to
fall back and could fi nd no standing ground until they had crossed
the Piave. Udine and the whole Friulian Plain were lost and all the
results of so many heroic months were undone. It was one of the
saddest tragedies of the war, though destined in the future to be
most gloriously avenged.
X.
THE BATTLE OF CAMBRAI
First Phase of Battle, November 20
Tanks en masse – Attack on the Tunnel Trench – Byng’s great
advance – Fine work of the Sixty-second Division – Hard fi ghting
of Pulteney’s Third Corps – Exploit of Fort Garry Horse – Second
day of battle – Rally of Germans – Capture of Bourlon Wood by
Fortieth Division – Attack by the Guards on La Fontaine.
THE year 1917 had begun with high hopes for the Allies since
. they had planned a common offensive which could hardly have
failed to break the German resistance. Both France and England had
honourably carried out their share in the common contract. It was
the sudden and absolute break down of Russia which caused the
year to set in gloom rather than in glory. The phenomenon of that
great fermenting putrefying country was more like some huge cataclysm of nature, some monstrous convulsion of the elements, than
any ordinary political movement, so that anger and contempt were
softened into pure amazement as the gradual dissolution of the vast
organism took place from week to week before a wondering world.
It was as though a robust man had suddenly softened into liquid
putrescence before one’s eyes. But from a military standpoint it was
a disaster of the fi rst order for the Allies and checked their victorious career in the West, where the failing German line could always
be buttressed up by fresh guns and fresh divisions from the East.
Now on the top of this misfortune another unforeseen and almost
479
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
incredible occurrence placed them at a further disadvantage. The
Italian army had done so splendidly well and had won such unfailing ascendancy over the Austrians that their stability seemed as
fi rm as the mountains amid which they fought. It seems, however,
that insidious and treasonable propaganda of the familiar type had
spread disaffection in the ranks, and the Second Army, which held
the very centre of the Gorizian line, collapsed suddenly. The result
was a very great success for the Austrian and German forces, who
pushed through the breach, and with little loss to themselves captured more than 200,000 prisoners and nearly 2000 guns. It was
a very severe blow for the Allies, and never was their fi ne spirit better shown than by the instant steps which they took to hold Italy up
in the moment of her extreme need.
By road and by rail reinforcements poured through the passes of the Alps and along the shores of the Mediterranean. Whilst
the fl anking armies of the Italians fell back upon new lines French
and British divisions were hastening forward to share their pressing danger. The Isonzo and the Tagliamento had been in succession
abandoned, for a severe fl anking attack from the north threatened
to break through the passes and debouch upon the Friulian Plain.
Finally the line of the Piave was reached which still covered Venice.
Here the steadier troops were halted. In the First Army upon the
right there had been little disorganisation, and their retreat along
the coast under constant pressure was a fi ne bit of work. Ten batteries of British heavies were among the artillery of this army, and
every one of them was man-handled to the new positions. By midwinter two French and two British Corps, veterans of many battles,
were lined up on or near the Piave, waiting eagerly to try conclusions with these new adversaries. This detached British army was
commanded by General Plumer, with Generals Lord Cavan and
Haking as his Corps commanders. The two Corps, the Thirteenth
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