The British Campaign in France and Flanders—January to July, 1918Doyle, Arthur Conan
History
The British Campaign in France and Flanders—January to July, 1918
Doyle, Arthur Conan
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Western Front
The line of the Seventeenth and of the Sixth Corps, upon the morning
of March 23, stretched from the south of Fampoux, west of Heninel and
of St. Leger down to Mory. The Seventeenth Corps had not yet been
seriously attacked. We shall continue with the record of the Sixth
Corps, which now consisted of the Third Division in the north, part
of the Guards Division, which had formed up to their right, the
Thirty-first Division north of Mory, and the Fortieth Division to the
west of Mory, with outposts in the village. We shall again trace the
events from the northern flank. No serious movement occurred during
the day in front of the Third Division or of the Guards, but there
was a report of concentrations of infantry and other signs which
indicated that the storms of the south would soon spread upwards in
that direction. The Thirty-first Division, the well-tried Yorkshire
unit, still retained two of its old brigades, but had an additional
4th Brigade of Guards, cut from the old Guards Division by the new
system of smaller units. General Bridgford had taken over command
just before the battle and would be the first to admit that the
splendid efficiency of his troops was due to General Wanless O'Gowan,
who had been associated with them so long. They carried a high
reputation into this great battle and an even higher one out of it.
On the morning of March 23 the division faced {27} the Germans to the
north of Mory Copse, having the 4th Guards Brigade upon the right and
the 93rd Brigade upon the left. Two German divisions which had
already been engaged, the 111th and the 2nd Guards Reserve, tried to
break this fresh line and were each in turn broken themselves, as
were the German batteries which pushed to the front and found
themselves under the double fire of the Thirty-first and
Thirty-fourth divisional artillery. Prisoners taken in this repulse
gave the information that the Germans were already a full day behind
their scheduled programme in this quarter. All attacks upon the
Thirty-first met with the same fate during the day, but the enemy, as
will be shown, had got a grip of Mory for a time, and pushed back the
Fortieth in the south. Instead of a retirement the 92nd Brigade was
brought from reserve and placed upon the exposed flank, while the
Guards and Yorkshiremen still stood firm. In the evening the general
line extended from north of Ervillers, where the 92nd Brigade was on
watch, to the region of Hamelincourt, where the 93rd had their line.
[Sidenote: Sixth Corps. March 23.]
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