The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918, Vol. 3 of 3Ponsonby, Frederick
History
The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918, Vol. 3 of 3
Ponsonby, Frederick
Great Britain. Army. Grenadier Guards; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
On the 22nd orders were issued for a farther advance the next day.
Brigadier-General Sergison-Brooke, in command of the 2nd Guards
Brigade, was instructed to advance. On his left the Third and
Fifty-sixth Divisions would operate, and on his right the Second
Division would capture Gomiecourt. The enemy was to be pressed
continuously in order to conform to the attack by British and French
troops elsewhere. On the 23rd the enemy shelled Boiry with gas and
high-explosive shells, but did not offer any serious resistance.
Sergison-Brooke's 2nd Guards Brigade met with little opposition, and
gained all their objectives along Hamelincourt Trench, capturing Hamel
Mound. Orders were then sent to Brigadier-General Sergison-Brooke to
advance on the line Judas Farm--St. Leger Mill, while Brigadier-General
Follett was told to move up the 3rd Guards Brigade, and be prepared to
relieve the 2nd Guards Brigade in the evening. Meanwhile the Second
Division had captured Ervillers.
The great feature of the day's fighting was the advance of the 1st
Battalion Grenadier Guards, which had been placed at the disposal of
General Sergison-Brooke. After a long approach march, this Battalion,
advancing with both flanks exposed, passed through Sergison-Brooke's
Brigade, and seized the key-position south-west of St. Leger. The
capture of this position enabled the divisions on both flanks to
advance the following day with little loss.
[Sidenote: Aug. 23.]
That night when the 3rd Guards Brigade relieved the 2nd, the Guards
Division had reached the line running through Mory Switch as far as
Judas Trench, thence to Judas Farm, and on to Boyelles Reserve, where
it was in touch with the Fifty-sixth Division.
The next morning--the 24th--the 3rd Guards Brigade continued the
pursuit of the Germans, and was ordered to advance on St. Leger, which
was not to be entered by the battalions engaged in the attack, as the
battalion in reserve would be responsible for the "mopping up" of the
town. This advance was successfully accomplished, but after St. Leger
had been secured, it was found impossible to make any further progress
until Mory Copse was cleared. The Second Division was accordingly
ordered to take and hold Mory Copse, while the 3rd Guards Brigade was
to push forward at once, and conform to the general advance. As soon as
Mory and Mory Copse had been secured, the Second Division advanced on
Behagnies and Sapignies.
[Sidenote: Aug. 25.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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