CHAPTER XII

GERMANY’S SUPREME EFFORT

21ST TO 29TH MARCH 1918

The 21st March 1918 was big with destiny; on that day began the battle on the issue of which depended the fate of Germany and the world. At first the omens seemed favourable to the enemy, for a thick mist, hovering over ridges and valleys, allowed his grey-clad men to leave their trenches without detection. At 4.45 A.M. the masses of guns concentrated by Ludendorff on the British front spoke with an ear-splitting noise, and our lines were robed in smoke and flame. The bombardment of the Forward Zone, particularly on the front of the 26th Brigade, was not exceptional, but battery areas, Dessart Wood, and the villages of Heudecourt and Sorel were heavily shelled. Nurlu, where General Tudor had his H.Q., was the special target for a high velocity gun, and as such marked attention to a D.H.Q. was a luxury reserved for great occasions, it served to give early warning that the supreme crisis had arrived. Large quantities of gas were sent over, compelling the battalions at Heudecourt and Dessart Wood to wear respirators for two hours. Shortly after 5 A.M. telephonic communication between the two front brigades and D.H.Q. was broken, the line to the 26th being invariably cut immediately after repair. But General Tudor remained in constant touch with Brig.-General Croft at Sorel, and when the bombardment terminated, the lines to the South African and Highland Brigades were quickly mended. At 9.53 A.M. news was received that German infantry had been seen advancing on Gauche Wood and Quentin Ridge behind a smoke-barrage, and this information was reported at once to the VII. Corps and the S.O.S. sent out by wireless.

In the sector of the Highland Brigade there was no infantry attack; small parties of Germans were seen to make a show of advancing from Gonnelieu, but an assault, if it had been intended, was prevented by our tremendous concentration of artillery-fire on the village. But a serious thrust was made against the South Africans and between 8 and 9 A.M., under cover of a smoke-screen, strong hostile parties marched against Gauche Wood, which was garrisoned by a company of the 2nd Regiment holding three strong points with another in the open on the south-west side of the wood. Captain Green, who was in command, was assisted by two machine-guns and a section of the brigade T.M.B. Some Germans attacked the wood fiercely from the east, and others, screened by the fog while threading their way through our outposts in the north, entered it from that direction. A desperate resistance was offered by the posts, and great rents were ruthlessly torn in the ranks of the invaders, but yard by yard the Germans tightened their hold. The garrisons of two of the posts were almost completely blotted out, but Lieut. Beviss and half a platoon hacked their way out and dug in immediately west of the wood. Captain Green with the men of the third post fought his way back to join his troops near the south-west margin. Prodigal of life, the pursuing Germans charged in mass at 50 yards’ range, and whole sections were shot down by the vengeful fire of the South Africans. Brought to a sudden halt, the assailants commenced to dig themselves in on the western edge; still the unerring bullets of Captain Green’s men took heavy toll of them, and they retired within the shelter of the wood, but even there they found no safety, for Brig.-General Dawson, on hearing what had happened, directed all the artillery at his disposal to bombard it. Gauche Wood was all that the Ninth yielded on the first day of the battle.

The first confirmation that General Tudor received of the enemy’s attack was at 11 A.M., when he learned that German infantry were advancing between Vaucellette Farm and Gauche Wood. Half an hour later, he heard from the Twenty-first Division that the farm had been lost, and from the South Africans that the Germans were occupying the wood.

Up to noon the situation seemed to be fairly satisfactory. To the north, the right of the Forty-seventh Division had been unmolested, while on our right the Twenty-first Division, according to its reports, still held Cavalry Trench, east and south-east of Chapel Hill. But at that time sinister tidings arrived, a divisional observer reporting that the infantry of the Twenty-first had withdrawn from the Hill on Revelon Farm at 11 A.M. From noon, gnawing anxiety was the constant companion of the Division. As we have seen, Chapel Hill formed the southern buttress of our defence scheme, and accordingly General Tudor ordered Brig.-General Dawson to ascertain at once if the Hill and Chapel crossing were still in our hands, and, if not, to concert measures with the brigade on his right for the reoccupation of these vital positions.

The South Africans’ commander was fully alive to the seriousness of the situation, for the loss of Chapel Hill might mean the sacrifice of his two forward battalions. He promptly ordered the troops holding Lowland Support (the rear trench of the Yellow System) to turn about and face south, thus forming a defensive flank between Chapel Hill and Revelon Farm, and this flank he strengthened by sending forward a company of the 2nd Regiment; it however met the enemy in the trenches on the north slope of the hill and could make no further progress. The task of recapturing Chapel Hill was entrusted to a company of the South African Scottish; at 5.30 P.M., advancing with great dash, the men chased the Germans from the crest, took the trenches on the southern and south-eastern slopes and linked up the position with Genin Well Copse.

But farther south matters were becoming exceedingly grave. The Germans bored a passage to the vicinity of Genin Well Copse, where they were rudely checked by the fire of a machine-gun section at Railton, while the South African Scottish raked them with flanking-fire, and C/51 Battery under Major Sawder at Revelon Farm engaged them over open sights with deadly effect. Patrols of the 11th Royal Scots entering into the fray, dislodged the enemy’s snipers from the copse and captured an officer and 33 men.

On the afternoon of the 21st March the situation on the front of the Ninth was satisfactory. No serious assault, except on the right, had been made against its entrenchments, but the Germans had in store for it perils more desperate than those that come from a frontal attack. So far, our main source of anxiety was the south, where the chief shock of the onset had been felt, but the possession of Chapel Hill, Lowland Support, Revelon Farm, and Railton, gave reasonable security to our flank and kept us in touch with the Twenty-first Division, which, according to our patrol reports, was holding the Brown Line south of Railton. The ominous news in the Corps Summaries of disaster farther south, and the fact that our line of retreat to the Green Line, which ran south-west, was already jeopardised by the enemy’s penetration to a depth of fully 2000 yards on the Twenty-first Division’s front necessarily kept the attention of General Tudor focussed on our right flank.

Information from the north had been reassuring, the Forty-seventh Division having reported at 4.40 P.M. that no alarming thrust had been made on its front. It therefore came as a huge surprise to General Tudor when he was ordered to withdraw his men during the night to the Battle Zone, in order to conform with the retreat of the V. Corps to the Red Line (a continuation of our Yellow System). This was due to events on the front of the Third Army, where the Germans had scored a greater measure of success than could have been anticipated. The loss of Doignies and the penetration of hostile infantry as far as Beaumetz and Morchies imperilled the Flesquières salient and compelled General Byng to withdraw his men on the right to Highland Ridge, and thence westwards along the Hindenburg Line to Havrincourt and Hermies. But a more extensive withdrawal involving the abandonment of the whole of the salient would probably have been our wisest policy, since it would have forestalled the enemy’s designs.

Warning orders, immediately sent out to brigades, prevented Brig.-General Dawson from carrying out an attempt, which he had in mind, to recapture Gauche Wood. Instructions were also received for the Ninth to take over the defences of Chapel Hill from the Twenty-first Division; this had actually been done, but parties of the Twenty-first still on Chapel Hill and between it and Revelon Farm were relieved by the South Africans during the night. In order that the extra territory then taken over might be adequately guarded, the 11th Royal Scots were sent up to reinforce the South Africans, who established a continuous line from Chapel Hill in front of Revelon Farm to Railton, a trench being dug on it after dark by the Sappers and 9th Seaforths. With the approach of dusk the withdrawal from the Forward Zone began and was carried out without molestation, the night passing quietly except for slight gas-shelling of Dessart Wood. Cheering news filtered through at midnight; the Twenty-first Division had retaken the Yellow Line from south of Chapel Hill to the Railton-Peizière Railway, and the prospect at the close of the first day’s fighting seemed distinctly good.

With the second day, trials and troubles for the Ninth accumulated and grew in magnitude as the enemy’s attack was pressed, and during the following days only consummate leadership and indomitable gallantry enabled the Division to extricate itself from the dangers that threatened it on all sides.

When dawn came, gelid shadows of mist drifted over the landscape, bringing poor comfort to men who, half-numbed with cold, had passed a long, sleepless night. There was no change in our dispositions, the Battle Zone being held by the South African Brigade on the right and the Highland Brigade on the left, each being deployed in depth between the Yellow and Brown Systems. At 7 A.M. General Tudor was informed by the Corps Commander that as the weight of the enemy’s assault was expected to be in the south, he must be prepared to take over the front of the Twenty-first Division as far as the Railton-Peizière Railway by 10 A.M., and orders for this relief were issued at 8.35 A.M. But before they could be carried out heavy fighting had recommenced.

Enshrouded by fog, the Germans brought up undetected numerous trench mortars, with the fire of which they hammered our positions from Chapel Hill to Railton. Brig.-General Dawson, now established at Sorel, had not the same control of communications as on the previous day, and was less able to assist his infantry effectively with artillery-fire. The persevering and tenacious Germans gradually mastered the Hill, as the garrison became weakened by fatigue and casualties. General Tudor, having realised that there was little prospect of the Twenty-first Division establishing any line in front of the Brown System, which ran south from Railton Station, instructed Brig.-General Dawson to hold the Reserve Switch, which connected the front and rear lines of the Yellow System along the line of the Revelon Farm-Gouzeaucourt road. But our strained right flank was still locked in conflict, and General Tudor contemplated an attack by his reserves to relieve the pressure on the South Africans, but he was instructed by the Corps Commander, in view of the situation farther south, to form a switch from the Yellow System on the left to the Brown System on the right.

Scrupulous care and timely anticipation marked the actions of the G.O.C. In the forenoon he had sent one of his staff officers to acquaint the Forty-seventh Division with the critical state of affairs on our front, and at 12.15 P.M. he warned it by telephone that there was a possibility of our being ordered to retire to the Brown Line, and that as this withdrawal would necessarily be in a south-westerly direction, the length of the front of the Forty-seventh would be greatly extended. The situation on our right flank was precarious enough in itself, and General Tudor was anxious to assure his left.

In the afternoon matters developed rapidly. The policy of the Fifth Army was to fight a rearguard action to delay the enemy, and the Ninth was instructed to withdraw at once to the Brown Line; but before this order was issued another message commanded a retirement to the Green Line. The South African and Highland Brigades were accordingly told to move back to the Brown Line at 4.30 P.M., and from it to the Green Line at 7.30 P.M. The 12th Royal Scots already occupied the Green Line north of Nurlu, and the Black Watch, the reserve battalion of the 26th Brigade, were withdrawn at once, and taking up a position on the left of the Royal Scots held the Green Line as far north as the Fins-Equancourt Railway, with the details of the 26th Brigade on their left. Brig.-General Croft directed the K.O.S.B. to hold the high ground between Sorel and Lieramont, and two companies of the 11th Royal Scots were posted south-west of Heudecourt. The 150th A.F.A. Brigade was withdrawn and came into action south of Sorel. It was hoped by these dispositions to secure the Green Line and cover the southern flank of the South Africans and Highlanders during their retirement, which in the case of the former at least was bound to be of exceptional difficulty, since by 4 P.M. the enemy in the south had entered Guyencourt and threatened to cut across the Division’s line of retreat.

The first stage of the retirement was accomplished successfully. When the Germans noticed our movement they advanced in dense formations past Revelon Farm, until they were broken up in confusion by heavy fire from the 2nd South African Regiment. The retreat to the Green Line was one long struggle against frantic odds and deadly perils. Farther south the plodding Germans, still making ground, had pierced before dark the Brown Line south of Railton in the sector of the Twenty-first Division, and, commencing to roll up our line, burst into Heudecourt from the south-east at 6.30 P.M. This manœuvre threatened the right wing of the Ninth with destruction, and all three battalions of the South African Brigade were in imminent danger of envelopment. Safety depended on the successful checking of the enemy until the friendly mantle of night gave the several units an opportunity to retire. General control was impossible, but section and subordinate leaders handled their men in a manner that must have excited the admiration even of their skilful adversaries, and the bulk of the South African forces succeeded in reaching the Green Line.

While the retirement of the artillery was taking place, throngs of hostile aeroplanes flitting above them sprayed the teams with bullets and engaged our infantry. In the dim light, the South Africans could see in Sorel the sad evidences of an army in retreat; streams of wounded, guns, and details of departmental units were hurrying through the streets, while the enemy was pressing on towards the village in large numbers. It was imperative to stop him until our retiring troops and guns had reached safety, and Brig.-General Dawson manned the trenches west of Sorel with the personnel of his staff. The K.O.S.B., already in position, were engaged with the Germans, and with the help of Brig.-General Dawson’s staff brought them to a halt. Before they had time to organise an attack the last guns had left the village, and Brig.-General Dawson with his H.Q. drew off into divisional reserve at Moislains. The remnants of his three battalions withdrew north to Fins, which they left as the advance parties of the enemy entered it, and thence they retired without interference behind the Green Line. A few of the South Africans missed their way in the darkness and did not rejoin the Division until some days later.

The retirement of the Highlanders was attended with many thrills. In the morning they had been undisturbed and patrols had remained till noon in Gouzeaucourt, which was spasmodically shelled by the Germans, who seemed to be unaware that our men had left the Forward Zone. Fortunately there was no frontal pursuit; for the Germans advancing from Gonnelieu walked into our anti-tank minefield and exploding some of the bombs hurriedly retired. The route of the Seaforths and Camerons ran through Fins to Etricourt, but the enemy had already taken possession of the former, and the Highlanders had to make a wide detour to the north in order to reach Etricourt, where they spent the night, part holding the line with the Black Watch and part in brigade reserve.

The flames of burning huts fired by the Sappers, with the dark silhouettes of retiring troops, formed an awesome and romantic spectacle. From Nurlu ascended clouds of brick-dust, like the genie from the brass bottle, and shell dumps belched forth volumes of thick black smoke and glowing flames, while every now and then a heavy shell exploded with a deafening crash, and green, red, white, and blue rockets soared through the air like fairy fountains.

“That night, a child might understand, The Deil had business on his hand.”

Amid such turmoil and desperate haste it was inevitable that several parties should go astray, and material should be lost. The South African company of Captain Green near Gauche Wood and a company of the 11th Royal Scots at Revelon Farm had never a chance of escape and were overwhelmed. A platoon of the Seaforths under Lieut. Cameron had been left in the Yellow System by mistake, but at 10 P.M. with amazing coolness this young officer piloted his men through groups of the foe and brought back 18 prisoners, including an officer. The guns, which had covered the withdrawal up to the last moment, firing over open sights, had caused dreadful havoc among the hostile infantry, and were all brought out except a forward anti-tank gun, one which was bogged, and ten field-guns of the two batteries of the 150th A.F.A. Brigade, the teams of which failed to turn up in time. All the abandoned pieces were rendered useless.

During the night the K.O.S.B., the remaining three companies of the 11th Royal Scots, and the 63rd and 90th Field Companies occupied Nurlu and the Green Line, as far south as Epinette Wood. The 9th Seaforths and the 64th Field Company moved into divisional reserve in Vaux Woods, north of Moislains.

General Tudor, who had transferred his H.Q. to Moislains at 3 P.M., had extricated his force from one danger only to be confronted by another equally critical. He had been most punctilious in his reports to the Forty-seventh Division in order to avoid any misunderstandings about his left flank, and to give that division timely warning of the measures to be adopted to maintain liaison. But in spite of his precautions complications arose. The staff officer he had sent to inform it of our withdrawal to the Green Line returned with the message that the Forty-seventh was going to retire to the Brown Line only, and was not prepared to accept responsibility for connecting up its right on the Brown Line with our left on the Green Line. This was a most awkward _contretemps_, and General Tudor at once informed the Corps Commander, who promised to arrange matters with the V. Corps, to which the Forty-seventh belonged. Shortly before 7 P.M. the point was again referred to, when the Ninth was advised that the Third Army was also to withdraw to the Green Line. Accordingly at 7.30 P.M. the exact position of our troops was reported to the Forty-seventh Division, which informed us that the 99th Brigade was at Manancourt and Equancourt in reserve. This brigade was placed under the orders of the Ninth at 9.10 P.M., and one of its battalions was ordered to extend from the left of the 26th Brigade to a point about 1000 yards north of Fins. The stretch of front held by the Division, with the 99th Brigade attached, on the night of the 22nd/23rd amounted to 7500 yards. No touch was established with the units on either flank, but the V. Corps promised that its troops would link up with the 99th Brigade at 5 A.M. on the 23rd, while the Twenty-first Division stated that it was holding up to the north-eastern end of Epinette Wood.

Thus the prospects on the night of the 22nd were uncertain and disquieting. The onus of anxiety had hitherto come from the south, but from now onwards the gate[107] between the Fifth and Third Armies began to be pressed open, and offered a glorious chance of sweeping victory to the enemy. And the course of events forced the Ninth to become the guardians of the door, which it held by the gallantry of its men and the skill of its leaders, until reinforcements were available. On the evening of the 22nd the divisions in the Flesquières salient had been violently attacked at Villers-Plouich and Havrincourt, and though the assaults had been beaten off with great slaughter they hindered the retreat of the Third Army in a south-westerly direction. The V. Corps, pushed away from its boundary, failed to link up with the Ninth at 5 A.M. on the 23rd as arranged, so that a co-ordinated retirement by the two armies was impossible.

It must be borne in mind that throughout the retreat the men suffered constantly from want of sleep, and supplies being inevitably irregular, they had to endure frequently the pangs of hunger and thirst.

Unfriendly mist again bathed the battlefield at dawn on the 23rd. Orders were received at 5.26 A.M. to hold the Green Line with rearguards only, and to withdraw the remainder to a line east of Moislains and along the eastern edge of Vaux Woods, the retirement of the rearguards to conform with that of the troops on our right. The movement was necessary owing to a breach in the Green Line farther south, but it added enormously to the territory of the Ninth, which, being obliged to keep in touch with the Forty-seventh Division west of Fins, now had the vast frontage of 11,000 yards.

Before the orders for retreat reached the front line troops, the enemy launched a resolute assault against the Green Line under an artillery and trench-mortar barrage. On the left it was repulsed, but the right of the Division was turned by Germans who swarmed through Epinette Wood, and only a brilliant rearguard action by Captain Cockburn enabled the K.O.S.B. to extricate themselves from a critical position. The South Africans retired undisturbed to divisional reserve on a ridge east of Bouchavesnes, but the Highlanders and Lowlanders passed through a fiery ordeal.

The retreat had to take place in broad daylight under strong pressure and without the support of the guns, which had to be conveyed across the Canal du Nord, but it was slowly and skilfully carried out, and appalling losses were inflicted on the pursuers. The men behaved like veterans, and the Sappers took their place with the infantry. Brig.-General Kennedy never received the orders to retire, and his Highlanders commenced to retreat only when the enemy was in Nurlu and shared the same trenches. Admirably covered by two companies of the Seaforths and two companies of the Camerons, the brigade shook itself free. The covering force counter-attacked the Germans, and the Seaforths meeting them with the bayonet hurled them back into Nurlu. As a result of this fine effort, the Highlanders successfully effected their retirement to the ridge behind Equancourt and Manancourt which extended from the Beet Factory to Hennois Wood. For the 26th Brigade there was only one bridge at Manancourt across the Canal, which here was full of water, and some of the Black Watch had to swim, but by 2 P.M. the whole Division was safely behind the Canal du Nord from Moislains to the Beet Factory north of Etricourt, with the 99th Brigade, about 750 strong, continuing the line to the north of Fins, where it was in touch with the Forty-seventh Division. The position was a strong one and had been reconnoitred the previous evening by General Tudor, but the vast extent of front could not be held as a continuous line, and touch between the various units was at all times precarious.

The whole of the 99th Brigade and most of the 26th, the right of which was just east of Hennois Wood, were in Third Army territory, and this was pointed out to the VII. Corps. An attack on this weak and far-stretched flank was to be dreaded, since it might drive these brigades north and north-west and break the front of the Division. Accordingly, General Tudor, having obtained permission from the V. Corps to order the right brigade of the Forty-seventh Division to take over our front north of Fins to north of Equancourt, delivered these instructions to it at 11.15 A.M. In the afternoon the 99th Brigade was transferred to the V. Corps, which was to extend its right flank down to the boundary between the Third and Fifth Armies, west of Manancourt.

In the afternoon the Germans launched a furious attack against the 26th and 99th Brigades, and succeeded in penetrating some distance between Brig.-General Kennedy’s Highlanders and Brig.-General Croft’s Lowlanders. The Twenty-first Division fell back to the south of Bouchavesnes, and the South Africans took up a position on the ridge east of that village to cover the right rear of the Ninth. Orders were then received from the Corps to take up a line from Bouchavesnes along the eastern edge of St Pierre Vaast Wood to a point south-east of Saillisel on the Third and Fifth Army boundary. This gave the Ninth a span of 6000 yards, and all three brigades were required to hold it because casualties had been numerous and the men were tired out by continual marching and fighting. General Tudor thereupon visited the South Africans, and gave orders to Brig.-General Dawson to retire after dusk from the Epine de Malassise to the ridge just west of Bouchavesnes, requesting him to tell Brig.-General Croft to withdraw his men to the east of St Pierre Vaast Wood. The new line was to be held at all costs. This message was never received by Brig.-General Croft, and when the South Africans commenced their retirement between 7 and 8 P.M. the right of the Lowland Brigade, thus left unprotected, was heavily attacked. At the same time the left wing of the Lowlanders was threatened by the enemy’s advance from Manancourt, and was out of touch with the Highlanders, whose right in the course of fierce fighting had been compelled to give way, and who, with their ammunition practically exhausted, were now occupying a line extending from a mile south of Mesnil-en-Arrouaise to a point 1000 yards west of the Beet Factory.

On leaving the South Africans, General Tudor hastened to see Brig.-General Kennedy, whose brigade he found in a critical position. Envelopment of both flanks appeared imminent, but as a withdrawal by daylight meant destruction, he instructed Brig.-General Kennedy to retire by 4 A.M. to a line in front of Saillisel. Returning to H.Q., he reported his action to Fifth Army H.Q., the VII. Corps then being on the move, and pointed out that, unless the Third Army could take over the front as far as its southern boundary according to arrangement, a gap would exist between the two armies after 4 A.M.

The crisis of the battle was swiftly approaching. The whole line of the Fifth Army was in flux, for General Gough, with weak and battered forces and no prospect of reserves, dared not risk an engagement, and the Germans seemed confident of victory, their infantry onslaughts being heralded by many “Hochs!” and bugle blasts. But our men showed marvellous control; time after time the enemy was allowed within 50 yards of our line, and then on the word of command a shower of well-aimed bullets abruptly halted him. During the night, in compliance with orders, the Lowland Brigade, with the 9th Seaforths attached since the 23rd, moved back to St Pierre Vaast Wood, where it repulsed with many losses several attacks before midnight. During this conflict the K.O.S.B. lost their commander, Lieut.-Colonel Smyth being wounded for the fifth time in the war. The hazardous and complicated move of the Highlanders was attended with wonderful fortune, and they came into line on a position extending from the northern corner of the wood across the ridge, on which stood the village of Saillisel. The Third and Fifth Armies were now separated, there being a space of fully 3000 yards between them. Nothing had been heard of the 99th Brigade since it had been attacked in the afternoon, but after midnight it was learned that it had been withdrawn to Rocquigny and Le Transloy. No troops arrived to hold the ground between Mesnil and the left of the Ninth, and fruitless efforts were made to establish connection with a brigade of the Seventeenth Division, which had been ordered by the V. Corps to take up a position west of Saillisel.

The great activity of the enemy on the night of the 23rd utterly precluded sleep. About 2 A.M. the troops of the Twenty-first Division on the right of the South Africans reported to Brig.-General Dawson that Cléry was in the hands of the enemy and that they were about to make a further retirement. The South Africans were on the right of the Ninth on the ridge west of Marrières Wood, the Lowlanders at St Pierre Vaast Wood and the Highlanders on the left. There was no reserve except the details of the Divisional R.E., and our front measured 9500 yards.

Before dawn the Highlanders, acting on a false report that the Lowland Brigade had been withdrawn, retired to the line of the Bapaume-Péronne road in order to secure touch with it. The message with this news took five hours to reach D.H.Q., now at Maurepas. Three tanks, which were at Combles, were ordered to proceed to a point between Marrières Wood and Rancourt to prevent the enemy penetrating between the South African and 27th Brigades. But it was too late.

At 8 A.M. vast hordes of Germans assailed the Lowland Brigade in front and on both flanks. The weight of attack was on the right wing, but the K.O.S.B., in brigade reserve south of Rancourt, were able to delay the enemy’s turning movement long enough to allow the other battalions of the brigade to be withdrawn from St Pierre Vaast Wood to a position covering Combles. This position had been rapidly taken up by details of the Divisional R.E. under the orders of Brig.-General Croft, and these troops aided by the three tanks helped to cover the retirement of the Lowlanders, and held their ground for over an hour. From there, greatly harassed by bombs and machine-gun fire from aeroplanes flying low and bearing British colours, the brigade withdrew first to Guillemont Ridge, and then to a position between Maricourt and the Somme, already occupied by the 9th Provisional Battalion.

Meanwhile the enemy delivered a series of blows, growing in fury, upon the South Africans from 9 A.M., and Brig.-General Dawson reported at 11.10 A.M. that he was being heavily attacked from south and west, but that his line was still intact. This was the last message received from the brigade.

When the South Africans were posted near Marrières Wood, they succeeded in gaining touch with the left of the Twenty-first Division, but, except for a company of the K.O.S.B., they failed to find the 27th Brigade. Brig.-General Dawson’s last instructions were to hold the position “at all costs,” and he explained to his battalion commanders the full significance of these words. The position contained one good trench and one or two poor ones, and there was a large number of shell-holes. The ground sloped downwards towards the east, and then rose to another ridge about 1000 yards from the front line. The men had each 200 rounds of ammunition and there was a fair supply of Lewis Gun drums, but the four Vickers Guns had only four belts, and three of these with their teams were accordingly sent back to the Transport. The strength of the brigade was only 500 all told, including the personnel of H.Q. and a detachment of the Machine-gun Battalion, while all ranks had been three nights without sleep, and were in a state of extreme fatigue from their physical exertions and the strain of the previous days.

At 9 A.M., heralded by machine-gun and artillery-fire, the enemy onsets began. At the first essay the hostile infantry kept a respectful distance, and did not venture to assault. But an hour later a dangerous attack developed on the left front and flank from the north-east. Under a smoke-screen, formed by setting fire to the dry grass, the Germans skilfully picked their way up to a point between 200 and 100 yards from our front line, but further advance was baulked by unerring marksmanship, the South Africans husbanding their ammunition and firing carefully. Foiled but persistent, the assailants wheeling a field-gun forward by hand tried to bring it into action, but a Lewis Gunner of the 1st Regiment shot down the team before it could be fired. Some hours later another gun was brought up at the gallop, but, under the accurate fire of the same Lewis Gunner, men and horses went down in a straggling mass, an inspiring sight greeted by the South Africans with jubilant cheers.

About noon the troops on the right and left of the brigade retired, and the movement misled an officer and about 30 men of the South Africans who, thinking a withdrawal had been ordered, began to fall back, but no difficulty was experienced in bringing them in. The exposed left flank was protected by Major Ormiston with 25 men. No wounded, except those who could not handle a rifle, were allowed to quit the brigade area, but none complained or gave the slightest evidence of any desire to leave their comrades; the corporate heroism of the South Africans was beyond all praise. Every round was collected from casualties, and men not in the front line or not having occasion to use their rifles passed their ammunition to those who required it. By 2 P.M. the South Africans were completely surrounded, and were being fired at from the west as well as from the south and east.

Rescue was now impossible, and the South Africans grimly set themselves to sell their lives at the highest price. Between 2 and 3 P.M. German troops in the north were seen to retire, and wild hope surged through the men that the Thirty-fifth Division, which was known to be coming up, was now within reach; but the enemy had come under his own machine-gun fire from the west and was merely withdrawing from the danger zone. About 4 P.M. only 100 worn-out, dust-covered men remained and the ammunition was all but finished, while batteries of field-guns and several trench mortars were now in action against them. The faint chance of effecting an escape under cover of night was extinguished when, half an hour later, the enemy in great strength and dense formation surged down on the survivors. Only a few scattered shots greeted this, the final charge, and then the tiny groups were swallowed up in a sea of Germans and Brig.-General Dawson and his small band of heroes were prisoners.

The glorious stand of the South Africans was the most dramatic and arresting episode of the retreat, and has already achieved a prominent place in the annals of the British Empire. Throughout all lands of the British race it silenced craven panic and roused that strong pride of race which is ever the parent of valorous deeds. The story[108] reported by Captain Peirson, the B.M. of the 48th Brigade of the Sixteenth Division, reveals the effect on the enemy, which was not confined to moral results. As Brig.-General Dawson was taken behind the German lines he saw the roads blocked with a continuous double line of transport and guns from west of Bouchavesnes to Aizecourt le Haut; for over seven hours the South Africans had kept back, in addition to the infantry, all the artillery and transport which were to advance by the Bouchavesnes-Combles road, and the delay was of inestimable value to our troops in rear.

Meantime the 26th Brigade, which remained on Sailly Saillisel Ridge, north-west of St Pierre Vaast Wood until 11.30 A.M., retired through Guillemont and Maricourt. A stand was made on the Morval-Combles Ridge, where the enemy experienced a rough handling, and later the brigade held the ridge behind Leuze Wood to Combles for a considerable period until the Lowlanders had established their position. During the murderous combat that ensued here Brig.-General Kennedy had his horse shot under him, and the stubborn Highlanders were hard pressed to stem the savage onrushes of the Germans. The most heroic assistance was rendered by the Divisional Artillery, whose alternate battery retirement was magnificent, and they killed vast numbers of the enemy at point-blank range; in numerous cases they remained in action until the enemy’s infantry were swarming on them. C/51 and D/51 Batteries catching the Germans coming down the slopes towards Combles, inflicted enormous casualties and kept on firing till the last possible moment. All the guns were safely withdrawn, though the last gun-team of D/51 was slightly delayed by a direct hit from a “dud” 4·2 shell, which went right through the wheel horse. Skilfully, Brig.-General Kennedy withdrew his men, but in the keen and close encounters the brigade became split up into three parties. The bulk of the Highlanders after a brief halt at Maricourt proceeded to Montauban, where a position was taken up in support of the First Cavalry Division, which was then maintaining a line in front of Bernafay Wood.

The second group, consisting of about 150 Camerons on the left flank of their battalion, had been the last to retire. These men drew off in the direction of Les Bœufs and finding it occupied by Germans marched to Flers, where they joined the 52nd Brigade of the Seventeenth Division. They went with the 52nd Brigade as far as Martinpuich, where they attached themselves to the Sixty-third Division on the 26th, but having received permission to go back to the Ninth, succeeded in rejoining it later in the evening. Another party of Camerons, about 100 in all, in attempting to keep touch with the troops on its left became separated from the rest of the brigade and attached itself to the 142nd Brigade, Forty-seventh Division, and on the 25th, after reaching Albert, formed a part of Lieut.-Colonel Hadow’s force.

The third group, consisting of 300 Black Watch under Lieut.-Colonel Hadow, remained on Morval Ridge until its flank was turned, and it was compelled to retreat northwards. This force, growing in numbers as it collected stragglers from all units, was 2000 strong on the 26th; as “Hadow’s Force” it was organised into two battalions and under the orders of the VII. Corps, took up a position from Mericourt L’Abbé to Sailly le Sec. There it remained until relieved by the 43rd and 38th Australian Brigades on the 28th, after which the men of the 26th Brigade rejoined their battalions.

Sunday, the 24th March, was one of the most dismal days of the retreat. In the south General Gough’s men did not fare so badly; for though the Péronne bridgehead had been lost on the 23rd the enemy did not make much progress between the Somme and the Oise. But the terrific fighting along the entire front all but shattered our defences. On the Third Army front the enemy attacking on the right flank of the V. Corps won Combles, Morval, and Les Bœufs, compelled the Third Army to surrender the whole of the old Somme battlefield, and threatened the liaison between the Third and Fifth Armies. Fissures appeared between the units of the V. Corps, which was forced away from its boundary, and when darkness fell, its right flank, which should have been south of Montauban, rested near Bazentin.

The Ninth now under General Blacklock, who had returned from leave in the afternoon, and reinforced by the 12th H.L.I. of the Thirty-fifth Division, remained in ignorance of the misfortunes of the V. Corps until after midnight. In accordance with instructions from the VII. Corps it took up at 8.30 P.M. a position extending from an east and west line through Hardecourt to the Guillemont-Montauban road. The 12th H.L.I. formed the outpost; the main position was held by the 27th Brigade and two composite battalions of the VII. Corps Reinforcement Training Camp under Lieut.-Colonel Hunt, the 18th H.L.I. being in reserve. The 26th Brigade was at Montauban and D.H.Q. were at Billon Wood. The fragments of the South African Brigade, consisting of the men who had been separated from their brigade on the 22nd, were collected during the night near Maricourt and formed into a battalion under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Young, who had been in charge of the South African details. A dismounted cavalry brigade under General Legard, composed of remnants of the First Cavalry Division, occupied a position between Montauban and Bernafay Wood. Persistent efforts were made to establish touch with the left, and at 1.20 A.M. General Blacklock learned that the right of the Forty-seventh Division was at Bazentin. The Forty-seventh was now as far behind as it had been in front of us in the morning, and there was a gap of two and a half miles between the two armies.

The boundary question had obtruded itself in a fashion that could not be neglected. At all costs the breach between the armies had to be filled if Ludendorff’s plans were to be thwarted. The first step of G.H.Q. was to transfer all the troops north of the Somme from the Fifth to the Third Army; in other words, the smaller army holding the longer stretch of front had to provide reinforcements for the stronger force with the shorter front. Nothing can illustrate more clearly than this the absurdity of the story, once widely circulated and even yet largely credited, that the Third Army would have had no need to retire at all had it not been for the retreat of the Fifth. The territory of the latter army was not curtailed in compensation for the loss of these troops. If the Third Army had been able to keep to its southern boundary, General Gough could have assisted the hard-pressed XIX. Corps in the south with units of the VII. Corps.

In accordance with this arrangement the Ninth along with the rest of the VII. Corps now came under the Third Army. The boundary between the V. and VII. Corps was fixed as follows: the Railway south of Montauban, thence along the road Montauban-Mametz-Le Carcaillot, all inclusive to the former.

These measures did not and could not fill the gap, but it was expected that if the V. and VII. Corps were put under the same Army Commander, he would succeed in securing better co-operation.

Early on the 25th the Lowland Brigade was relieved by the 106th Brigade, 35th Division, and assembled at Talus Boise, whence it marched to Etinehem to rest and reorganise. After daybreak the 26th Brigade occupied a position on the south-west of Montauban to protect the left flank of the cavalry. On the withdrawal of the Lowlanders the line was held by the 18th H.L.I. and the 9th Provisional Battalion, along the western edge of Favière Wood to the southern margin of Bernafay Wood, where the 106th Brigade was connected with the cavalry near Montauban. The 12th H.L.I. were on outpost from the north of Hardecourt to the south of Trones Wood. On the right the Thirty-fifth Division, to which the Ninth was now attached, held from Hardecourt to Curlu, its H.Q. being at Bray.

The transference of the VII. Corps to the Third Army maintained liaison between General Gough and General Byng, but there was still an awkward opening between the VII. and V. Corps. In the morning of the 25th the enemy launched repeated attacks against the Ninth’s front, and a resolute effort was made to turn its left flank, Bernafay Wood being lost and recaptured in the course of the fighting. By 10 A.M. the reserve consisted of only two companies, and still no connection had been established on the left with the Seventeenth Division, which was said to be moving in on the right of the V. Corps. A welcome reinforcement, a battalion of the 104th Brigade, arrived and was sent to strengthen the 106th Brigade.

At 1 P.M. the VII. Corps reported that the Seventeenth Division was holding a line from north of Bernafay Wood to a point 700 yards south-east of Bazentin-le-Grand, and that two of its brigades were reorganising east of Fricourt, but attempts to establish touch were still fruitless. Shortly afterwards, however, information was received that the Twelfth Division had been commanded by the VII. Corps to move as rapidly as possible to the line Montauban-Bazentin, and to link up with the Seventeenth Division.

About 2 P.M. the Germans in great strength debouched from Ginchy and moved against Trones Wood, and though our gunners swept their ranks with accurate and withering fire, they drove the 12th and 18th H.L.I. back to the line of the road running from west of Maricourt Wood to the Briqueterie south-west of Bernafay Wood. By a fine counter-attack men of the D.L.I., 106th Brigade, regained Favière Wood. More reinforcements came up, consisting of tired fragments of the Twenty-first Division, and at 4 P.M. one battalion was ordered to join the 104th Brigade at Maricourt and the other two the 106th. Still the enemy continued his onslaughts, but though he gained a footing in the Briqueterie south-west of Bernafay Wood he was summarily ejected.

Until about 6 P.M. there was comparative quietness, but after that hour frequent reports were received that hostile infantry had been seen north of Montauban, and even as far west as Mametz Wood. In the evening a withdrawal to the line of the Bray-Albert road was ordered by the VII. Corps, the retirement to be covered by rearguards, which were to maintain their position until 2 A.M., while the retirement of the artillery was to be accomplished gradually, harassing fire being kept up all night to conceal the retreat, and to prevent as long as possible any noticeable diminution in the volume of fire. The new front of the Ninth extended from east of Meaulte to Albert, and the 27th Brigade was instructed to occupy it at once. This was a most fatiguing day for the 26th Brigade. After fighting continuously all day the men trekked to Etinehem, just in time to receive orders to march by night on a compass-bearing to Dernancourt. The South Africans, now formed into one battalion, moved to Ribemont sur L’Ancre. The last battery did not retire until 3.30 A.M. on the 26th.

After a night march the Lowland Brigade garrisoned the Ninth’s sector with the 11th and 12th Royal Scots in line, the 9th Seaforths in support, and the K.O.S.B. in reserve. The dispositions had scarcely been completed when the vanguards of the Germans approached from Fricourt, but were checked by our outposts. At 1 P.M. an attack in force was delivered against the right of the line, a hostile battery coming into action on a ridge in front of it. The assault withered away before the careful, well-controlled fire of the 12th Royal Scots, and the enemy’s battery was quickly compelled to withdraw. The co-operation between our artillery and infantry was wonderfully good, and the Germans in Becourt Valley, where an attempt to concentrate was crushed by our fire, suffered innumerable losses. This repulse quietened the enemy on our front, but farther south where troops had retired he gained the high ground between our right flank and Bray, and brought up machine-guns, with which he enfiladed our line. To meet this danger Brig.-General Croft formed a defensive flank with the 9th Seaforths, but no sooner was this wing guarded than the left was jeopardised by the retreat of the Twelfth Division across the Ancre during the afternoon. This made it necessary for the 27th Brigade to conform, and the retirement over the river was carried out in perfect manner, although the 12th Royal Scots lost heavily in passing through Meaulte.

Meanwhile the 26th Brigade, with the South African composite battalion attached, after a few hours’ rest occupied about 1 P.M. a position behind the Ancre between Dernancourt and Moulin du Vivier, the South Africans holding the former, still apparently a thriving village. The 9th Machine-gun Battalion, which had been withdrawn during the night of the 25th/26th to Mericourt L’Abbé, where it was reorganised into two groups with 10 guns each, covered our line west of the Ancre. After crossing the river, the Lowland Brigade was posted along the line of the Railway between the left of the 26th Brigade and the Albert-Amiens road, where it was in close touch with the Twelfth Division. The enemy on noticing our retirement advanced towards the river in considerable force, but was caught by our barrage when moving down the slopes, and the few who succeeded in crossing were easily dealt with.

At the commencement of the 26th, the fighting strength of the Division was approximately as follows: Highland Brigade 300, Lowland Brigade 800, South African Battalion 320, Sappers 120, two Machine-gun groups with 10 guns each, a total of 1340 rifles and 20 machine-guns. Brig.-General Croft’s men had lost cruelly during the day, and it was doubtful if the line now occupied, over 3000 yards in length, could be defended next day against a strong attack.

During the night of the 26th/27th alarming reports of a break-through on the Albert-Amiens road came in, but nothing serious had actually happened, and the few troops who had given way were quickly rallied. A machine-gun on the left of the Lowland Brigade was a source of much annoyance to the 11th Royal Scots until a smart counter-attack organised by Major A. C. Campbell put it out of action. Unfortunately Major Campbell, who had led the 11th Royal Scots with great skill and sterling courage during the retreat, received wounds which proved fatal.

The 27th was a critical day for General Gough’s army; for the Germans forced the line of the Somme from Chipilly to Cérisy, and took Lamotte on the great Amiens road, about 9000 yards behind the fighting line of the Fifth Army. There was more stability on our front, though some of our troops were reported to be retiring near Albert. This was due to furious shelling, and to bombing by aeroplanes with British colours, but the retrograde movement was stopped and an outpost line established along the Railway with Lewis Gun posts in front. During the day there was a violent artillery and trench-mortar bombardment of our positions, and at 10.30 A.M. German infantry were seen entering the valley north-west of Meaulte. Later, great clusters of the enemy coming down the slopes of the Ancre were hotly engaged by our artillery and machine-guns, and did not venture to assault. Here and there clefts appeared in our thin line, but were promptly closed by swift and skilful local counter-attacks. Undoubtedly the most disturbing factor was the persistent bombing of our positions by large numbers of aeroplanes, British by their marking.

With the close of the day the long travail of the Ninth terminated. The infantry were relieved by the 4th Australian Division, and after moving to the neighbourhood of Baizieux, ultimately concentrated in the Bertangles area on the 29th. For two days more the artillery remained in action with the Australians and were then withdrawn.

The retreat imposed a heavy burden on the R.A.M.C., but Colonel Elsner’s staff met their difficulties with untiring devotion and conspicuous success. Many wounded among the forward troops inevitably fell into the hands of the enemy, but stretcher-bearers and motor parties often ventured up to the fighting line in their search for casualties. The selection of routes for the evacuation of the wounded called for careful consideration, in order to avoid congestion on roads blocked with transport and guns, but Colonel Elsner was eminently successful in making the best working arrangements possible. Gallantry and resource among the R.A.M.C. were too common to be remarked on, and motor-drivers as usual braved all the difficulties of the roads with the air of phlegmatic boredom that seemed to be their natural expression. Every means of conveyance was requisitioned, and the whole of the work during the retreat strikingly revealed the efficiency of the R.A.M.C.

Equally difficult and important was the task of keeping the men supplied with rations and ammunition. The regular transmission of stores was naturally affected by the constant movement, but our organisation withstood the strain, and the A.S.C. performed its duties in a manner worthy of its high traditions.

Never perhaps did the Ninth render such vital services to the Empire as during the Somme retreat. It had covered not merely its own territory, but had extended its line far beyond its northern boundary, and in the arduous and critical fighting till the 24th March, its success in blunting the deadly German thrust between the Third and Fifth Armies did much to save the British forces from what might have been an irretrievable disaster. Adroit leadership and dogged pluck were the qualities that steered it through the labyrinth of dangers that beset it at every turn. Officers of all ranks had shown throughout the conflict surprising resource and initiative; the coolness and foresight of General Tudor during the most critical days led one writer[109] to declare that his name “should be as well known as are Wellington’s best generals, Crauford, Colborne, and Picton.”

Ably led, the men had brilliantly performed the most difficult operation in war—a withdrawal in face of the enemy. Men who after rough buffetings can at the end of a retreat turn round and confront the foe with unshaken nerve and steadfast courage have proved their manhood indeed, and this, the acid test of the true soldier, had been accomplished by the men of the Ninth. In a general sense, it is true that the gain or loss of ground is insignificant in comparison with the destruction of an army, but for the individual the surrender of many miles of territory, painfully won after more than three years of costly strife, cannot fail to rouse the most sombre reflections, and only the best of troops can overcome the leaden despondency caused by a continuous backward movement. Valour alone would not have availed to stem the enemy’s advance; discipline was required to direct and control it, and disciplined valour was, in fact, the characteristic of the Division during the retreat. The six weeks of training in February had helped to make the Division more than a match for the pick of Ludendorff’s storm-troops.

Since the time of the Cambrai operations in 1917, G.H.Q. had renewed the custom, abandoned after Loos, of mentioning by name the divisions that had particularly distinguished themselves. The retreat was the first operation in which the Division had participated since the resumption of this practice, and it earned the proud honour of a special mention[110] by Sir Douglas Haig.