The British Campaign in France and Flanders, 1916Doyle, Arthur Conan
History
The British Campaign in France and Flanders, 1916
Doyle, Arthur Conan
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Western Front
On November 7 the Eighth Division was at work again, taking 1100
yards of front, 5 machine-guns, and 80 prisoners. The season was now
far advanced and prematurely wet and cold, so that winter lines were
formed by the British in this quarter with the village of Le Transloy
in their immediate front. Over the rest of the line facing north
there had been no serious attempt at advance during this period, and
the only fighting to be recorded was on the part of the Anzac Corps,
who came in at the end of October, and took over the whole front of
the Fifteenth Corps in the centre of the line. These troops joined
the attack already recorded upon November 5, and captured that
portion of Gird Support Trench which was not yet in our possession.
For a time they held Bayonet Trench, but were driven out by a strong
bombing attack by the 5th Regiment of the Fourth Prussian Guards
Division. The Australians and the 50th Brigade worked in close
co-operation during these hard days, and it is pleasing to find the
high opinion which they entertained of each other. "On several
occasions," says an Australian, "we had to rely on Yorkshire grit to
support our division at critical moments, and the Tikes never failed
us once. We owe a big debt to the East Yorkshires in particular. We
found them the most loyal of comrades." This sentiment was heartily
reciprocated by the Imperial troops.
The fighting now died down in this quarter and {306} the winter lull
had set in, leaving the front British trenches some hundreds of yards
from Le Transloy and the Bapaume Road. It would be an ungenerous
Briton who would not admit that in holding us off from it so long,
even if we make every allowance for the weather and its disastrous
consequences to the attack, the Germans performed a fine feat of
arms. It was done by fresh units which had not suffered from the
gruelling which their comrades had received upon the Somme, and which
would no doubt have been worn down in time, as the others had been,
but they fought with great tenacity and certainly prevented our
winter line from being as far forward as we had hoped.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account