Part 6

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 Southwestern Belgium on the other. On the southern face of this watershed, the general trend of which is from east-southeast to west-northwest, 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, ran at first northward for 3,000 yards, then westward for 7,000 yards to near Fricourt, where it turned nearly due north, forming a great salient angle in the enemy's lines.

Some 10,000 yards north of Fricourt the trenches crossed the River Ancre, a tributary of the Somme, and, still running northward, passed over the summit of the watershed, about Hébuterne and Gommecourt, and then down its northern spurs to Arras.

On the 20,000-yard 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.

[Sidenote: German methods of making position impregnable.]

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.

[Sidenote: Veritable fortresses.]

[Sidenote: Machine-gun emplacements.]

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 dugouts, sometimes in two stories, and these were connected up by passages as much as thirty feet below the surface of the ground. The salients in the enemy's lines, 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.

[Sidenote: A composite system of great strength.]

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.

[Sidenote: Many lines prepared in the rear.]

Behind this 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 learned from aeroplane reconnoisance 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.

[Sidenote: The lines of the Allies.]

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.

[Sidenote: Period of active operations.]

The period of active operations dealt with in this dispatch divides itself roughly into three phases. The first phase opened with the attack of July 1, 1916, 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 July 14, 1916, and three following days, which gave us possession of the southern crest of the main plateau between Delville Wood and Bazentin-le-Petit.

[Sidenote: The enemy's efforts to hold the ridge.]

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 of 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.

[Sidenote: The plateau gained.]

[Sidenote: Successes of the French south of the Somme]

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 Thiepval, 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 Péronne.

[Sidenote: Careful artillery preparation.]

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 June 24, 1916 and a large force of artillery was brought into action for the purpose.

[Sidenote: Gas discharges.]

Artillery bombardments were also carried out daily at different points on the rest of our front, and during the period from June 24 to July 1, 1916, 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 seventy 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.

[Sidenote: Attack by the Royal Flying Corps.]

On June 25, 1916, 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.

[Sidenote: British and French co-operate in attack.]

On July 1, 1916, at 7.30 a. m., 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.

[Sidenote: Rawlinson and Allenby.]

I had intrusted the attack on the front from Maricourt to Serre to the Fourth Army, under the command of General Sir Henry S. Rawlinson, Bart., K. C. B., K. C. V. O., with five army corps at his disposal. The subsidiary attack at Gommecourt was carried out by troops from the army commanded by General Sir E. H. H. Allenby, K. C. B.

[Sidenote: Mines exploded under enemy lines.]

[Sidenote: Advance over open ground.]

[Sidenote: Trenches taken near Fricourt.]

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, and shortly afterward the Briqueterie, to the east, and the whole of the ridge to the west of the village were in our hands. Opposite Mametz part of our assembly trenches had been practically leveled by the enemy artillery, making it necessary for our infantry 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 toward Fricourt on their left. At the same time the enemy's trenches were entered north of Fricourt, so that the enemy's garrison in that village was pressed on three sides. Further north, though the village of La Boisselle and Ovillers for the time being resisted our attack, our troops drove deeply into the German lines on the flanks of these strongholds, and so paved the way for their capture later.

[Sidenote: Fight for the Leipsic Salient.]

On the spur running south from Thiepval the work known as the Leipsic Salient was stormed, and severe fighting 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, and also to Pendant Copse and Serre; but the enemy's continued resistance at Thiepval and Beaumont Hamel 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.

[Sidenote: The attack at Gommecourt.]

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.

[Sidenote: Instructions to General Gough.]

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 half way 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, K. C. B., 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 toward the north.

[Sidenote: Fricourt to Contalmaison.]

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 July 2 our troops had captured Fricourt, and in the afternoon and evening stormed Fricourt Wood and the farm to the north. During July 3 and 4 Bernajay 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, while the outskirts of Contalmaison were reached on July 5. North of La Boisselle also the enemy's forces opposite us were kept constantly engaged, and our holding in the Leipsic Salient was gradually increased.

[Sidenote: Result of five days' fighting.]

[Sidenote: Prisoners taken.]

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 at the close of July 5, 1916, had already reached the total of ninety-four officers and 5,724 other ranks.

[Sidenote: Readjustments and reliefs.]

[Sidenote: Contalmaison and Mametz Wood.]

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 distance 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 July 7, 1916, and after three days' obstinate fighting, in the course of which the enemy delivered several powerful counterattacks, the village and the whole of the wood, except its northern border, were finally secured. On July 7 also a footing was gained in the other defenses of Ovillers, while on July 9, 1916, on our extreme right, Maltz Horn Farm--an important point on the spur north of Hardecourt--was secured.

[Sidenote: British troops in Trones Wood.]

A thousand yards north of this farm our troops had succeeded at the second attempt in establishing themselves on July 8, 1916, in the southern end of Trones Wood. The enemy's positions in the northern and eastern parts of this wood were very strong, and no less than eight powerful German counterattacks 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 July 13, 1916, in possession of the southern part of it.

[Sidenote: Assault on the German second system of defense.]

Meanwhile Mametz Wood had been entirely cleared of the enemy, and with Trones Wood also practically in our possession we were in a position to undertake an assault upon the enemy's second system of defense. Arrangements were accordingly made for an attack to be delivered at daybreak on the morning of July 14, 1916, 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 July 11, 1916. 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.

[Sidenote: A night operation of magnitude.]

In the early hours of July 4, 1916, 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 insured by careful previous preparations. 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 had 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 reconnoissance 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.

[Sidenote: The assault on July 14.]

The actual assault was delivered at 3.25 a.m. on July 14, 1916, 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.

[Sidenote: Trones Wood cleared of the enemy.]

[Sidenote: Longueval occupied.]

On our right the enemy was driven from his last foothold in Trones Wood, and by 8 a.m. we had cleared the whole of it, relieving a body of 170 men 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 Trones Wood. The northern half, with the exception of two strong points, was captured by 4 p.m. after a severe struggle.

[Sidenote: The enemy counterattacks.]

In the centre of our attack Bazentin-le-Grand village and wood were also gained, and our troops pushing northward captured Bazentin-le-Petit village and the cemetery to the east. Here the enemy counterattacked 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, in spite of the considerable resistance of the enemy along its western edge, where we successfully repulsed a counterattack. In the afternoon further ground was gained to the west of the wood, and posts were established immediately south of Pozières.

[Sidenote: General Rawlinson employs cavalry.]

The enemy's troops, who had been severely handled in these attacks and counterattacks, 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 now came up on the flanks of our infantry, who entered High Wood at about 8 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 co-operation with the infantry, the cavalry came into action with good effect, killing several of the enemy and capturing some prisoners.

[Sidenote: British withdrawn from High Wood.]

On July 15, 1916, the battle still continued, though on a reduced scale. Arrow Head Copse, between the southern edge of Trones Wood and Guillemont, and Waterlot Farm on the Longueval-Guillemont road, were seized, and Delville Wood was captured and held against several hostile counterattacks. 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 July 15-16, 1916, without interference by the enemy. All the wounded were brought in.

[Sidenote: Progress toward Pozières.]

In spite of repeated enemy counterattacks further progress was made on the night of July 16, 1916, along the enemy's main second-line trenches northwest of Bazentin-le-Petit Wood to within 500 yards of the northeast corner of the village of Pozières, which our troops were already approaching from the south.

[Sidenote: Ovillers captured.]

Meanwhile the operations further north had also made progress. Since the attack of July 7, 1916, the enemy in and about Ovillers had been pressed relentlessly and gradually driven back by incessant bombing attacks and local assaults, in accordance with the general instructions I had given to General Sir Hubert Gough. On July 16, 1916, 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 carried the remainder of the village and pushed out along the spur to the north and eastward toward Pozières.

[Sidenote: A new line definitely established.]

The results of the operations of July 4, 1916, 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 counterattacks, in which the enemy had suffered severely, our line was definitely established from Maltz Horn Farm, where we met the French left, northward along the eastern edge of Trones Wood to Longueval, then westward past Bazentin-le-Grand to the northern corner of Bazentin-le-Petit and Bazentin-le-Petit Wood, and then westward 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 toward High Wood, though their position was not yet secure.

[Sidenote: Sir Henry Rawlinson commended.]