The Story of the Munsters at Etreux, Festubert, Rue du Bois and HullochRickard, Jessie Louisa Moore
History
The Story of the Munsters at Etreux, Festubert, Rue du Bois and Hulloch
Rickard, Jessie Louisa Moore
Great Britain. Army. Royal Munster Fusiliers; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
The leading Brigade deployed at 2 o'clock for an attack in relief of
the Indian Division. The Third Brigade followed, and were put in first
after 2 p.m., the Welsh Regiment and the Gloucesters, supported by
the Munsters and the South Wales Borderers. By dusk the Munsters were
taken from support, and put out to the right to fill a gap between the
Gloucesters and the next Brigade of the Division.
No food or rest came to the men with nightfall, and all that night was
spent in endeavouring to recover trenches originally held by Indians
from which they had been forced to retire. Before dawn came the order
that all trenches not retaken, originally in British possession, must
be captured, the general attack to continue at 7 a.m.
Still no food or rest for men continually under arms since Sunday
night. By gallant advances, often in the open, under heavy fire, in
swampy, boggy country and drenching rain, the advance continued.
The line was straightened out, but the enemy contested every foot,
and only retired when he saw the attack was serious, to his original
trenches. From that a continuous heavy fire was brought to bear on
exhausted and heavily tried troops, but when night came on Tuesday,
23rd, the Division was firmly established in its lines, and not one
foot of trench has been given up since, nor was a single British
prisoner taken. The Third Brigade had a nasty bit, and the Munsters
worst of all, an open bit, with dykes full of water, old trenches and
bog. The attack began at 7, and by 9 they came under a wicked fire. The
men went gamely on, most splendidly led by their officers, but it was
no good. Officer after officer was killed, and the companies, pinned
to the ground by fire, split up and extended. There they lay all day.
Night came, no orders--not a man back, except some wounded who trickled
back. By midnight came the order to get word out to the Munsters to get
their companies to a place of safety and retire. I only got the Colonel
in at 4 a.m., after two search parties had failed to find him. He had
been lying there badly wounded since 10 a.m. the previous day, and so
the companies got back one by one. I will now tell you how it came
about I was not touched myself.
I had been out the whole of the night before with Major Thomson.
He and I insisted we would not go on into nothingness to be cut up
piecemeal. We went out in the dusk towards the enemy's trenches,
made a good line about a thousand yards out, sent back for spades,
dug in, made good, left one company out, and were back about 4 a.m.
and reported to the Colonel, who was in Reserve with the other two
companies; lay down to rest for an hour or so, and the Colonel woke us
saying: "Orders just come; the attack must be continued at 7 a.m., and
all trenches formerly occupied by the Indians must be retaken."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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