The British Campaign in France and Flanders, 1915Doyle, Arthur Conan
History
The British Campaign in France and Flanders, 1915
Doyle, Arthur Conan
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Western Front
The German fighter is a tougher fellow than the cutters-down of his
casualty lists will allow. British losses were comparatively small.
Though the Germans had gained no ground upon the 8th, the British
were averse from allowing them to remain in undisputed possession of
that which they had won upon the 3rd. It was especially upon the
Hohenzollern Redoubt that the British fighting line fixed a menacing
gaze, for it had long been a centre of contention, and had now passed
almost completely into the possession of the enemy. It was
determined to make a vigorous attempt to win it back. The
Forty-sixth North Midland Territorial Division (Stuart-Wortley), who
were veterans of nine months' service at trench warfare, but had not
yet been heavily engaged, were brought up from the rear, and upon
October 12 they relieved the Guards Division on the left of the front
line. At the same time it was planned that there should be an attack
of the First Division to the west of Hulluch, and of the Twelfth
Division in the region of the Quarries. Of these we shall first
describe the attack of the Territorials upon the Hohenzollern Redoubt.
[Sidenote: Attack of the Forty-sixth Division.]
On October 13, at noon, a severe bombardment was opened which
concentrated upon the enclosure of the redoubt, and the space between
that and Fosse 8. {235} This bombardment for some reason does not
seem to have been effective, and even while it went on the sniping
and machine-guns were active in the enemy line. An hour later there
was an emission of gas, borne by a brisk breeze towards the German
trenches, and later still a smoke-cloud was sent out to cover the
advance. At two o'clock the troops dashed over the parapet, the
138th Brigade, consisting of men of Lincoln and Leicester, upon the
left, while the 137th, the men of Stafford, were on the right. In
immediate support was the 139th, a Sherwood Forester Brigade. The
line upon the left was headed by the 4th Leicesters and 5th Lincolns,
the men, with that light-hearted courage which is so intolerable to
the heavier German spirit, singing, "Here we are, here we are, here
we are again!" as they vaulted out of their trenches. The attack
upon the right was led by the 5th North and 5th South Staffords. The
advance was splendidly executed, and won the critical admiration of
some of the Guards who were privileged to see it. In the face of a
murderous fire the attacking line swept, in an order which was only
broken by the fall of stricken men, up to the front-line trench, two
hundred yards in front.
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