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
Allusion has been made to the check caused by the strong point called
"The Pump" and the trenches called the Kleemanstellung just east of
it. Some detail should be added in this matter, for it retarded the
attack of the flanks of two divisions, and the delay caused by it had
the effect that the Canadians on the left and the Ninth upon the
right were further forward in the late afternoon than part of the
Fifty-first and the Thirty-fourth, which might have caused a
dangerous situation. The Thirty-fourth Division had advanced upon a
three-brigade front, which consisted from the south of the 101st, the
102nd, and the 103rd. On the north of the 103rd was the 152nd
Brigade of the Fifty-first Division with the Seaforths as the flank
battalion. This pestilent strong point, armed with well-served and
well-concealed machine-guns, lay between the two brigades and held up
the flanks of both, inflicting considerable losses not only on the
Seaforths, but {39} on the 25th Northumberland Fusiliers, who were on
the left of the Thirty-fourth Division. For a considerable time the
advance was held. The 27th reserve battalion of the Northumberland
Fusiliers were sent up, and one of its companies, led with a fine
mixture of valour and cunning, carried the place by storm. The whole
line then got forward, but the losses had been heavy, including
Colonel Hermon of the 24th Northumberland Fusiliers. In the evening
it was found that the final objective had not yet been fully attained
at this quarter of the field, for it had been marked at a farm called
Maison de la Côte, from which the front line was still a thousand
yards distant. A brilliant little attack, however, by the 103rd
Brigade, in the early morning of April 10, captured the whole
position. Besides the check at The Pump, there had been another on
the Fifty-first divisional front at a post called the "Deutsche
Haus." The consequence of this was a loss of the barrage and a delay
which led to the isolated left of the Fifty-first losing direction
entirely and wandering round in a half-circle. The circumstances
were so complex that it was not until next morning that they could be
cleared up. Had the Germans had the spirit for a counter-attack,
they would certainly have found a considerable gap in the line.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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