The Great War. Part III

THE GREAT WAR

were heavy attacks upon Mesnil St. Nicaise in this region, which fell chiefl y upon the Rifl e battalions of the 59th Brigade, which had been reinforced by the 20th Entrenching Battalion and the 1 1th Durhams, the divisional pioneer battalion. The general result was to force the British line some little distance to the westward. At Bu­verchy in the evening the German infantry also advanced in great numbers, but came under the very effi cient guns of the Thirtieth Division, and lost very heavily. The enemy artillery was also very active so that both the Thirtieth near Buverchy and the Thirty-sixth farther south had many casualties. The French relief was making itself more felt, however, in this southern section, where they were already outnumbering the British. The latter were greatly worn – so much so that the 21st Brigade of the Thirtieth Division could hardly be said to exist, only about 100 of the Yorkshires being left in the line. By evening the centre chapter of the position was near Moyen­court, some little distance to the west.

In spite of the French reinforcements, which were not accom­panied with artillery, the attack was still markedly stronger than the defence, so that March 25 was a most dangerous and critical day in this quarter of the fi eld. To trace the developments from the north the enemy continued to press through the gap between the two corps, the Nineteenth and the Eighteenth, making a series of heavy attacks towards Mesnil-le-Petit and Nesle from the direction of Potte. This movement, powerfully followed up, pushed back the left fl ank from Quiquery to a point on the high ground 1000 yards west of Nesle. The 183rd Brigade, which was now a mere handful of Scottish infantry, superb in quality but reduced to the last stage of exhaustion, together with the thin ranks of the 59th Brigade of Rifl es, could not, even with the aid of the Canadian motor-guns, hold the heavy masses who pressed down upon them. The French One hundred and thirty-third Division moving up in support had

dug a line between Billancourt and Herly, but Nesle was abandoned to the enemy, the Twenty-second French Division retiring from this sector and falling back towards Roye. The 60th Brigade of the Twentieth Division, much helped by the 23rd Entrenching Battal­ion – these valiant diggers made their presence felt all along the line – still held stoutly to their positions from Quiquery to Buver­chy, but their left and left rear were so compromised that it was clear they could not hold out longer. To the south the French, who had relieved the Thirty-sixth Division at Libermont, had been pushed back, and the British position was turned in their direction also. By the afternoon the French had taken over the line as far north as Buverchy, and the Thirtieth Division was ordered to fall back, but the Germans had advanced so rapidly from Libermont and got so far to their Eighteenth right rear that it was no easy matter either for the British or the French to get past them. Many had to swim the canals which striate this part of the country, and the 2nd Bedfords were especially hard-pressed before they were able to get away. The Twenty-second French Division was doing all it could to cover the approaches to Nesle upon the south, and the 184th Brigade cheered them loudly as they passed through their ranks. “They looked very fi ne men and seemed very much for it.” General Wetherall of this brigade was badly wounded by a shell splinter in this period of the battle. And we have a vivid pen-picture drawn by a spectator of Bri­gade-Major Howitt, some of whose adventures have already been re­corded, holding Wetherall’ s wounded artery with one hand, while he wrote brigade orders with the other, for more than two hours on end. The 184th lost fi ve commanders during the retreat.

THE GREAT WAR

THE GREAT WAR

eral Poyntz, fi lled the gap to Bouchoir. The Thirtieth Division had got considerably to the west of this line before they were recalled, and it was only by some splendid marching that they were able at last to throw themselves down upon the coveted ground before the German armies, which were streaming along the Roye-Amiens road, were able to reach it. As they faced the Germans the Twenty-fourth, now the mere shadow of a division, was on their left at Warvillers, while the Sixty-fi rst and Twentieth were in support at Beaufort and Le Quesnel. Near Erches the Thirty-sixth Ulster men, whose relief, like that of the Thirtieth, had proved to be impossible, were still battling bravely, retaking the village of Erches after it had fallen to the enemy. The 109th Brigade also distinguished itself greatly in this area, the Irish Fusiliers Battalions of which it is composed hold­ing on most desperately to the village of Guerbigny, at the extreme south of the corps front, and continuing a heroic defence during March 26, and long after it was isolated upon March 27. The ar­tillery of the Ulster Division was particularly good in its covering fi re during these operations, gaining the very grateful acknowledg­ments of the French troops and generals who were more and more concerned with this southern sector of the line. Speaking generally the troops had now reached the region of the old French trenches, which grid-ironed a considerable area of country, so that it was cer­tain that if men could be found to man them, the pursuit would no longer continue at the Battle pace of the last two days.

A small body of corps cyclists under Lieutenant Quartermain co­operated splendidly with the motor-guns and did good service at this critical period of the retreat, during which there was very little artillery support behind the thin line of infantry.

THE GREAT WAR

er tangled position, which may well be obscure both to writer and reader, since soldiers upon the spot found the greatest diffi culty in separating the various confused elements. As night fell upon March 27 after much desultory and inconclusive local fi ghting, there was no great change in the British line which ran from Warvillers, still held by the Twenty-fourth Division, to the west of Bouchoir, where the Thirtieth held the line, and down to Arvillers held by the 60th Brigade of the Twentieth Division, which was temporarily out of touch with the Thirty-sixth Division. Hangest was held by the Sixty­fi rst Division, and Le Quesnel by the Sixty-fi rst and the French. That night the Twentieth Division was ordered to join the Nineteenth Corps, and their record under this new command will be found in the preceding chapter. One would have thought that they had reached the limits of human endurance, and their total numbers were not more than a thousand, and yet they were but at the begin­ning of a new chapter in their glorious history.

and then looking south saw a general retreat going on from Arvil­lers, while their left fl ank at Warvillers was also very weak, since the Twenty-fourth Division was hardly strong enough to maintain itself. By 2 P.M. both fl anks were bare, and the enemy were well round them in the north and in the south at Hangest. At one time it seemed impossible for the division to get clear, and even now their extrication seems miraculous to the offi cers who effected it. A rapid retreat was made through Mézières and on to Moreuil, which only just avoided the closing pincers of the German advance. The French, who were in the act of relieving the Thirtieth Division, came away with them and had the same narrow escape. The block upon the road which formed the only egress is described as having been ap­palling, fugitives, refugees, and small disciplined columns of troops being crowded together from one end of it to the other. “The men were excellent,” says an offi cer of the Thirtieth Division. “Their discipline was not a bit shaken.” Such words, could not truthfully be said of every unit, and yet soldiers can have seldom been more highly tried in any operation in history. Even the Imperial Guard may reach its breaking point, as the retreat from Moscow has shown. At Moreuil there is only one bridge, and had the German artillery been able to fi nd it the result would have been a Beresina. As it was, the troops got across and speedily reformed upon the farther side of the river Avre.

THE GREAT WAR

it had been on the brink of absolute disaster, but always by the wise dispositions of General Maxse and his divisional generals, seconded by the splendid tenacity of his men, the worst consequences had been avoided. Rapid readjustments had been needed, but a fatal break was always averted. The troops were handicapped in every possible way, for not only was their artillery far below strength, but for some reason the British Air Service during these days of stress was very weak in this southern area, while the German machines were very numerous and aggressive. The artillery offi cers were splendidly cool and effi cient all through, and in the case of the 92nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery near Esmery-Hallon, it is said that the last gun was just 25 yards from the Germans when it limbered up. For two days the whole corps artillery was with the French, and did fi ne work with them, but to the great detriment of their own infan­try. Some of the batteries remained for a long time with the French, and one French general has left it upon record that the failure of the Germans to capture Moreuil on April 4 was almost entirely due to the splendid shooting of the 306th Brigade Royal Field Artillery. After the fi rst two days of the retreat no guns were abandoned by the Eighteenth Corps. The total losses of guns might be put at about 90 fi eld pieces and 4.5 howitzers, with about 60 heavier pieces.