The history of the Twentieth (Light) DivisionInglefield, Valentine Erskine
History
The history of the Twentieth (Light) Division
Inglefield, Valentine Erskine
Great Britain. Army. Division, 20th (Light); World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
The 10th K.R.R.C. moved forward along the La Vacquerie valley, with two
companies on each side of the road. All went well on the right, but
the left companies were troubled by machine-gun fire from the north.
A patrol sent out in this direction discovered the enemy holding a
strong point, which was vigorously attacked and captured with some
200 prisoners. The battalion then took up a position in a sunken road
1500 yards south-west of Les Rues Vertes, sending one company in the
afternoon to relieve the yeomanry on the right of the 10th R.B.
The 11th K.R.R.C. in reserve moved forward to a position close in rear
of the 10th K.R.R.C.
The 61st and 60th Brigades were consolidating their objective across
the north-eastern end of Welsh Ridge, and the 59th Brigade occupied
the line running south from Les Rues Vertes. The 12th Division held
the second objective from the right of the 61st Brigade to Lateau Wood
inclusive, with a line running forward from there to the right of the
59th Brigade. The 6th Division, on the left of the 60th Brigade, had
pushed through Ribécourt and thrown out a defensive flank along the
high ground north and north-west of Marcoing, where it was in touch
with the left of the 29th Division. The right flank of the 29th was
then working through Masnières. The 51st Division was on the outskirts
of Flesquières and the 62nd and 36th Divisions were advancing further
to the north and north-west. Divisional Headquarters moved forward at
this time to Villers Plouich.
By 9 P.M. the 10th R.B. on the right and the 11th R.B. on the
left had pushed forward along the spur and were established between Les
Rues des Vignes and the canal south of Mon Plaisir Farm. One company,
under Capt. Ashwell, occupied part of the village of Les Rues des
Vignes after severe opposition.
During the afternoon considerable advance was made on the left, where
the 52nd Division penetrated as far as Anneux, over two miles north of
Flesquières, although the latter still remained in the hands of the
enemy. The British line, therefore, formed a salient between Lateau
Wood and Marcoing, divided from the very sharp salient at Anneux by
the re-entrant at Flesquières. It had been impossible to get the guns
forward along the sunken roads quickly enough to support the infantry
fighting at Masnières and Marcoing, but the two factors which most
limited the results of the battle as a whole on this day were the
check at Flesquières and the absence of a large force of cavalry on
the far side of the canal. These factors, and the consequent inability
of the 29th Division to push forward north and east of Masnières,
allowed the Germans to occupy the Beaurevoir-Masnières line which ran
in front of Rumilly and Crèvecœur. From this position the Germans were
able to command the line of the 59th Brigade. On the 21st Flesquières
was captured and the line straightened, and further advance was made
towards the north.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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