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
To the south of Cavan's Fourteenth Corps lay Maxse's Eighteenth
Corps, extending from the right of the Thirty-eighth Division to a
point opposite to the village of St. Julien. Maxse's Eighteenth
Corps consisted of four divisions, the Fifty-first supported by the
Eleventh being upon the left, and the Thirty-ninth supported by the
Forty-eighth upon the right. South of the St. Julien front they
connected up with Watts' Nineteenth Corps to the south. It should be
mentioned that the whole corps' front was occupied for some weeks
before the battle by the 33rd Brigade, who at great strain and loss
to themselves held this long stretch in the face of constant gassings
and shellings, in order that the attacking divisions might be able to
practise for the day of battle.
Taking the narrative once more from the north, the Fifty-first
Highland Territorial Division (Harper), a unit which has seen an
extraordinary amount of service during the war, advanced with the
usual dash of these magnificent clansmen. Everything went down
before their disciplined rush. There was no particular geographical
point in the area which they conquered, but their whole front was
covered by fortified posts, some of which fell with ease, while
others put up a considerable resistance. Prominent among the latter
was Rudolph Farm, which was on the line between the Thirty-eighth and
Fifty-first Divisions, pouring a flanking fire upon each and holding
{146} up the left of the Fifty-first. This post was eventually
stormed by the Welsh. Finally the Highlanders, clearing the ground
carefully behind them, reached their full day's objective, which was
the line of the Steenbeek. Here they dug themselves in and beat off
an enemy counter-attack.
On the right of the Highland Territorial Division was the
Thirty-ninth Division, consisting of the 116th Sussex Brigade, the
117th Rifle and Sherwood Foresters Brigade, and the 118th mixed
Territorial Brigade. The attack was undertaken by the 117th Brigade
upon the north in touch with the Highlanders, and the 116th upon the
south. Both of these brigades got forward in excellent style, but
the position was strong and the losses were heavy. Canadian Farm was
taken by the 117th Brigade, and the 116th also attained its full
objective. Finally, the spare brigade, the 118th, passed through the
ranks of the others, and fought their way into St. Julien, where no
British foot had been placed since April 24, 1915, when the heroic
remnant of the Canadians had been cut off and overpowered in its
streets.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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