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
The prisoners, numbering six officers and 352 men of the Hundred and
Nineteenth and Hundred and Twenty-first Regiments, the Wuerttembergers
of Koenigen Olga, who had hardly recovered from the surprise occasioned
by their capture, were packed into old London busses and were hurried
to their camp on the British side of the battle field.
The prisoners confessed that they had been caught napping. The British
gunfire they had believed was simply the usual morning salutation, and
remained in their dugouts until it was over. They said they would have
put up a fight if they had had any kind of chance, but taken by
surprise they could only surrender.
German gunners at other points had by this time observed the red
lights that went up, the signals of distress, and thus learned that
the position had been captured. But they were too late in getting
their guns into action, and the white haze that hung over the scene at
that early morning hour hindered their observation, so that the feeble
fire they could concentrate on the captured position did no harm.
The British had pressed on farther than the objective given to them to
a point 500 yards beyond the German first line, where they established
themselves, finding the deep warm dugouts much more comfortable than
the temporary shelters of their own which they had left. Later in the
day the British troops occupying the most advanced position were
withdrawn to the ground which had been assigned as the objective in
the attack. The Germans made different attempts to force them out of
this position, but all attacks broke down under fire, for the British
had perfect observation of their movements from the higher ground they
had won in recent battles in this sector.
On the French front there was active fighting all day long on January
27, 1917. On the left bank of the Meuse French troops engaged the
Germans with hand grenades on the eastern slopes of Hill 304. On the
right bank of the river they made a successful attack against German
positions between Les Eparges and the Calonne trench. The German
position was found to be strewn with dead, and a great quantity of
booty was taken. In Lorraine there were numerous artillery duels in
the sector of the forest of Bezange. Near Moulainville a German
aeroplane was brought down in flames by the fire of French guns.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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