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
Another had formed farther north. The Seventeenth Division, who were
on the right of the Fifth Corps, held from Mametz to Contalmaison.
Thence to Pozières was held by the Forty-seventh. A gap existed,
however, upon their left, between them and the Sixty-third Division,
who were gradually falling back upon Courcelette. The left of the
Naval Division was also in the air, having lost touch with the right
of the Second Division who were covering Le Sars. North of them the
Nineteenth Division extended from the west of Grevillers to the south
of Bihucourt. The 57th Brigade in the north, under the local command
of Colonel Sole, fought a fine rearguard action as the enemy tried to
debouch from Grevillers. Considering how terribly mauled this
brigade had been a few days before, this was a really splendid
performance of these brave Midlanders, and was repeated by them more
than once during the day. From their left flank to the north
stretched a new division, Braithwaite's Sixty-second, which had
upheld the honour of Yorkshire so gloriously at Cambrai. Their line
ran west of Sapignies and joined the Forty-second Division at the
point where they touched the Sixth Corps, east of Ervillers.
The front of the Sixty-second stretched from Bucquoy to Puisieux.
The enemy kept working round the right flank, and the situation there
was very dangerous, for everything to the immediate south was in a
state of flux, shreds and patches of units endeavouring to cover a
considerable stretch of all-important country. South of Puisieux
there was a gap of four or five miles before one came to {64} British
troops. Into this gap in the very nick of time came first the 4th
Brigade of the Second Australian Division, and later the New Zealand
Division in driblets, which gradually spanned the vacant space. It
was a very close call for a break through without opposition. Being
disappointed in this the Germans upon March 26 spent the whole
afternoon in fierce attacks upon the Sixty-second Division, but got
little but hard knocks from Braithwaite's Yorkshiremen. The 186th
Brigade on the right threw back a flank to Rossignol Wood to cover
the weak side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account