With Cavalry in 1915: The British Trooper in the Trench Line, Through the Second Battle of YpresColeman, Frederic
History
With Cavalry in 1915: The British Trooper in the Trench Line, Through the Second Battle of Ypres
Coleman, Frederic
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
Beale-Browne's headquarters were in the Louave Wood, behind the
Sanctuary Wood, and not far distant from the Menin Road. He and
Captain "Bimbo" Reynolds, the Adjutant of the 9th, who had been twice
wounded that morning, constituted the bulk of the garrison of the
Louave Wood, when they saw three or four hundred Germans advancing
from the north towards the Menin Road, preparatory to attacking the
wood, and thus gaining the rear of the 9th Lancers' trenches.
At that moment some York and Lancaster Territorials, who had
been sent up from reserve in a wood south of the 9th, arrived.
Beale-Browne at once sent to the Infantry Brigade for more of them.
Lining the northern edge of the little wood with the Terriers he
waited until the Huns began to stream across the roadway, then swept
them back with volley after volley at close range.
This move and the gallant stand made by the 9th Lancers in their
front line trenches, ably aided by the York and Lancaster lads, saved
the day. A couple of squadrons of the 15th Hussars also played a
gallant part in saving our important position south of the Menin
Road.
The cost to the 9th Lancers was heavy, Captain Francis Grenfell,
Captain "Algy" Court, and Captain Noel Edwards were killed, the
latter dying from the effects of gas poisoning after he had been
taken to the hospital at Bailleul.
Four other officers of the 9th were wounded, several men were killed
by the gas, and forty-eight hours later the number of casualties,
including those gassed and missing, was still over 100.
While the strenuous struggle was proceeding in the front line
trenches, little was known of the actual results of the German
attack. Every man attached to Beale-Browne's headquarters, except
"Bimbo" Reynolds, was out of commission, save the telegraphists, who
hung on in the poisoned air of the signals dug-out until all the
wires were swept away by the German shells, and all communication
with the rear rendered impossible.
General Meakin took over the field command of the Division, and
Colonel "Tommy" Pitman again took the 1st Cavalry Brigade.
The 4th D.G.'s, 15th Hussars, and 19th Hussars in reserve in the
G.H.Q. line, were as badly gassed as though they had been in the
front trenches.
In spite of this, they pushed their depleted ranks forward in support
over ground where shells were bursting in scores and hundreds, and
formed a new line along a road that ran north from and at right
angles to the Menin Road, about 1,000 yards west of Hooge.
Here they held the enemy from making further inroads into our
territory, fighting fiercely every hour of the long day.
The 15th Hussars and 19th Hussars suffered heavy casualties, and the
9th Cavalry Brigade lost one of its most popular officers in Captain
Griffiths, its Brigade Major, who was killed by a shell.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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