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
that the enemy in their counter-attacks suffered even more heavily.
At nightfall, a portion only of the first objective had been won.
Bavarian and Scot had fought till they were weary round Guémappe, and
never had the dour tenacity of our northern troops been more rudely
tested. It was a fine exhibition of valour on both sides, but the
village stayed with the Scots.
The Seventeenth Corps on the other side of the Scarpe had very
similar experiences upon this day of battle as their neighbours in
the south. The Thirty-seventh Division was on their left and the
Fifty-first upon the right. The Thirty-seventh pushed their line
forward to their final objective, which did not contain any
particular village. This advanced line they were able to hold. The
Fifty-first Division, charging forward with the old Celtic fire,
carried the Chemical Works by assault, and the Corona Trench beyond
them; but after a desperate day of alternate advance and retreat,
their final line was to the west of the Chemical Works. It was a
very hard day's work upon this sector, and the losses upon both sides
were very heavy.
The Thirteenth Corps upon the same day had attacked Oppy and Gavrelle
to the north, with the result that the Sixty-third Division captured
the latter. Oppy had proved to be, for the time, inviolable; but the
assault upon Gavrelle was brilliantly successful, the village being
stormed with a splendid rush, in spite of the most deadly fire, by
the 189th and {70} 190th Brigades of the Sixty-third Naval Division.
The German losses were greatly increased upon this occasion by their
unsuccessful counter-attacks, which spread over several successive
days, and never made an impression. It is on record that one
gathering of 2000 men, collected in a hollow, was observed and
signalled to the guns, with the result that they were simply shot to
pieces by a sudden concentration of fire. An officer who observed
this incident has made a statement as to the complete nature of the
catastrophe. More than 1000 prisoners were taken on this front, and
nearly 3000 in all. To the north of the line the Fifth Division also
advanced on the German position, the chief attack being carried out
by the 95th Brigade, having the Electric Generating Station as its
objective. In this operation the 1st Cornwalls particularly
distinguished themselves. The result of the advance was a mere
readjustment of the line, for the 15th Brigade upon the right was
stopped by uncut wire, though the Germans were actually seen holding
up their hands in the trenches. Seeing the attack at a standstill,
the Germans brought up their machine-guns and drove it back. Upon
the immediate north of the Fifth Division, the Sherwood Forester
Brigade of the Forty-sixth Division was brought to a stand in front
of Hill 65 and Fosse 3, two strong positions bristling with
machine-guns. The 6th and 8th Foresters suffered heavily in this
attack, 9 officers and 200 men being killed, wounded, or taken.
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