The British Campaign in France and Flanders, 1917Doyle, Arthur Conan
History
The British Campaign in France and Flanders, 1917
Doyle, Arthur Conan
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Western Front
The Twelfth Division formed the flank of Pulteney's Third Corps.
Upon its right was Snow's Seventh Corps, the left-hand unit of which
was the Fifty-fifth Division of Lancashire Territorials, which had
not been involved in the advance, and indeed was nominally resting
after its supreme exertions at Ypres where it had taken a notable
part in battle after battle. It had been planned, however, that some
demonstration should be made upon this front in order to divert the
enemy's forces and to correspond with the attack at Bullecourt upon
the north. This was carried out by the 164th Brigade and may have
had the desired effect although it gave no permanent gain. A point
called the Knoll, with an adjacent farm, was carried by the stormers
and was held for most of the day, but they were forced back to their
own old lines in the evening, after a long day of battle in which
they incurred such heavy losses that the brigade was seriously
crippled at a later date when the full strength of the division was
urgently needed.
This ended the first day of the battle, which represented a
considerable victory, and one which vindicated the enterprise and
brain-power of the British inventor and engineer as much as the
valour of the soldier. The German line was deeply indented over a
front of 6 miles and to a depth of 4½ miles. More than 5000
prisoners with many guns had been taken. The famous Hindenburg Line
had been severed. The villages of Havrincourt, Graincourt, {253}
Ribecourt, Marcoing, Noyelle, and Mesnières were all in British
hands. It was a good beginning, so good that it was determined not
to suspend the operations, but to try the results of a second day and
see what could be attained before the arrival of the full German
supports. Even with their excellent rear organisation and their
great junction at Cambrai, it was hoped that a clear forty-eight
hours must pass from the opening of the battle before they could
build up a really formidable line.
There were no operations of any importance during the night of the
20th, but early upon November 21 the British line began to move
forward once more, the same divisions being engaged in the advance.
In the north the Ulstermen, who had attained the line of the
Cambrai-Bapaume Road, crossed that boundary and pushed onwards up the
slope for about a mile until they reached the outskirts of the
village of Mœuvres which they were unable to retain. It was soon
apparent, both here and at other points along the line, that the
Germans with their usual military efficiency had brought up their
reserves even more rapidly than had been expected, and the resistance
at Mœuvres was so determined that the tired division was unable to
overcome it. The 169th Brigade of the Fifty-sixth Division pushed up
on the left of the Ulstermen and occupied the German outpost line,
from which they were able later to attack the main Hindenburg Line.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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