The Story of the Great War, Volume 6: History of the European War from Official Sources
History
The Story of the Great War, Volume 6: History of the European War from Official Sources
World War, 1914-1918
On the night of the 13th the British battalion commander who had been
wounded during the advance gathered together 600 men, all that could
be spared, from established positions, and with these troops he
purposed to attempt a farther advance. It was while he was gathering
these men together that the officer received a second wound, but still
refused to retire from the field.
At early dawn of November 14, 1916, this officer led his 600 men
against the village of Beaucourt. In less than a quarter of an hour's
hand-to-hand fighting the British troops had won the village. When the
sun shone on the scene of the struggle the British troops were digging
themselves in on the farther side of Beaucourt. It was only then that
the brave battalion commander who had successfully led the attack with
four wounds in his body had to be taken to the rear.
It was on November 14, 1916, in the fighting on the Ancre that the
Scots won special distinction. Their line in the fighting was just
above that taken by the Naval Division, and included Beaumont-Hamel
itself and the famous "Y" ravine. This ravine was such a formidable
place that it merits a somewhat detailed description. Imagine a great
gash in the earth some 7,000 or 8,000 yards in total length. In form
like a great "Y" lying on its side, the prongs at the top projected
down to the German front line while the stem ran back connecting with
the road through the dip which goes from Beaumont-Hamel on the north
to the Ancre. At the forked or western end, projecting down to the
front, there is a chasm more than thirty feet deep, with walls so
precipitous that in some parts they overhang. The Germans had burrowed
into the sides of the earth and established lairs far below the thirty
feet level of the ravine, where they were practically out of reach of
shell fire coming from whatever direction. In some instances they had
hollowed out great caves large enough to contain fully a battalion and
a half of men. In addition, the thoroughgoing Germans had made a
tunnel from the forward end of the ravine to their own fourth line in
the rear. Altogether the position was admirably adapted to sustain a
long defense and it was owing to the darkness when the British
attacked, and which took the Germans by surprise, that the stronghold
was captured. The violent artillery bombardment by the British before
the attack had battered all the ordinary trenches and positions to
pieces without effecting any serious damage to the underground
shelters. Following the bombardment, the Scotch troops broke over the
German defenses, meeting their only check in the onward rush at the
ends of the "Y" ravine. On the south of this narrow point, keeping
step with the Naval Division on their right, they swept across the
first and second lines to the third. Here there was stiff fighting for
a time, and when the Scots had struggled forward they left behind a
trench full of German dead. On the north side every foot of ground was
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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