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 early morning of May 30 witnessed a very violent attack along all
this portion of the line. By 6 A.M. the enemy had worked round the
left flank of the 10th Worcesters at Lhery, driving before them some
of the troops, French and British, who were exhausted from the long
battle. It is difficult for either writer or reader to imagine the
condition of men who have fought a losing battle for three days
without cessation. If Foch saved up his reserves during these weeks
of agony, it was surely at a precious cost to the men who bore the
weight. The left company of the 10th Worcesters lost all its
officers and 60 per cent of its men, and Lhery had to be left to the
enemy. Meanwhile, the Senegalese, who, like all tropical troops, are
more formidable in attack than in defence, were {331} driven in near
Faverolles, the Germans making a frontal attack in eight lines. They
pushed through the gap, outflanked the 9th Welsh Fusiliers on the
left and the 2nd Wiltshires on the right, cutting off a platoon of
the former battalion. Both these battalions suffered very heavily,
the Welsh Fusiliers especially being cut to pieces. At both ends of
the line the remains of the front battalions had to fall back upon
their supports. The 74th Composite Brigade, already referred to as
being under General Craigie-Hackett, fought on the left of the
Nineteenth Division, and was ordered to hold the Lhery-Rohigny Road.
The pressure, however, upon these tired troops and upon the remains
of the 10th Worcesters continued to be very great, and by 11 A.M. the
situation was critical on the left of the line, the flank having been
driven in, and the 8th Gloucesters enfiladed so that the D'Aulnay
Wood could no longer be held. These changes enabled the Germans to
close in upon the 9th Welsh and the remains of the 9th Welsh
Fusiliers, attacking them in front and flank. The troops on their
right gave way, and the assailants were then able to get round the
other flank of these two devoted battalions, and practically to
surround them, so that very few won their way back. The whole front
line had gone with the exception of the 10th Warwicks on the left.
For a time it seemed as if there was nothing to limit this powerful
thrust of the enemy, but in the usual miraculous fashion a composite
party of odds and ends, drawn from stragglers and details, hastily
swept together by General Jeffreys, were hurried up to the high
ground south of Ville-en-Tardenois. With the aid of four
machine-guns from the Nineteenth Division this force {332} held the
victorious enemy from coming further, covered the left flank of the
10th Warwicks, and formed a bastion from which a new wall could be
built. A second bastion had been made by the 5th South Wales
Borderers, pioneers of the Nineteenth Division, who had dug in south
of Rohigny and absolutely refused to shift. Up to 2 P.M. the 2nd
Wilts also held their ground north of Bouleuse. Between these fixed
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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