Advance to Victory, July to September 1918

Andrew Rawson

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781526723406
• eBook ISBN:
  9781526723413
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European History
• Index: History

This is the story of the British Expeditionary Forces part in the opening days of the Advance to Victory. It starts with the contribution to the Battle of Fre-en-Tardenois in July; the counter-offensive which pushed the Germans back to the River Marne.Fourth Armys attack on 8 August was called the Black Day of the German Army, but it was only the beginning of 100 days of campaigning. The narrative follows the advance as it expands across the Somme, the Artois and the Flanders regions. Time and again the British and Empire troops used well-developed combined arms tactics to break through successive lines of defence. By the end of September, all five of the BEFs armies had reached the Hindenburg Line and were poised for the final advance.Each stage of the two month battle is given the same treatment, covering the details of the most talked about side of the campaign; the BEFs side. Over fifty new maps chart the day by day progress of the five armies and together with the narrative, explain the British Armys experience during the opening stages of the Advance to Victory. The men who made a difference are mentioned; those who led the advances, those who stopped the counter-attacks and those who were awarded the Victoria Cross. Discover the beginning of the Advance to Victory and learn how the British Army had mastered the art of attack.

Chapter 1

A Foot by Foot Defence

June and early July 1918

After surviving the huge offensives of March and April, the BEF had time to recuperate while the Germans turned their attentions to the French. The front between Ypres and Amiens remained quiet during the offensive on the Aisne at the end of May but several British divisions were caught up in the fighting. The same applied during the attack against the French along the River Matz at the beginning of June.

Time and again the Germans had used short, sharp bombardments to neutralise the French troops, before their stosstruppen broke into the defences, but each time the momentum of the offensive waned due to logistic problems after only a few days, often in the face of heroic defences and rapid withdrawals. The relative calm along the BEF’s front throughout May and June allowed it to rebuild its weary divisions. The replacements Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig had been asking for since the beginning of the year arrived, and while many were teenagers, there was time to let them settle into their routines. The Tommies were also pleased to see American troops training in their rear areas. Great Britain’s armaments factories were churning out artillery pieces and ammunition but the time was not yet ripe for a counter-offensive on the British front.

Intelligence sources reported plenty of divisions opposite the BEF and Haig believed the German Supreme Army Command (Oberste Heeresleitung or OHL) still wanted to capture the rail centre of Hazebrouck, to destabilise the Flanders front. Crown Prince Rupprecht was preparing such an offensive, codenamed Operation Hagen, but Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff first wanted to drive the French back to the River Marne. That would pull French reserves south and then they could drive the BEF back to the Channel ports.

XI Corps, La Becque in Flanders, 28 June

Even a small advance on First Army’s front could bring the German heavy guns in range of Hazebrouck, so General Sir Henry Horne told Lieutenant General Sir Richard Haking to push his front line away from the Nieppe Forest. Operation Borderland was set for 6 am on 28 June and there would be no bombardment along XI Corp’ front.

On 31st Division’s front, the 18th Durhams advanced a short distance along the Rue du Bois as Lieutenant Colonel Nutt’s 15/17th West Yorkshires captured La Becque Farm, close to Vieux Berquin. Some 93 Brigade men, including veteran Major Traill of the 10th East Yorkshires, were hit by their own creeping barrage as they advanced through waist-high corn. But the 11th East Yorkshires, 11th East Lancashires and the 10th East Yorkshires found the Germans had ‘stood down when daylight came, as was proved by the boots and sets of equipment which were found in every deserted bivouac’.

31st and 5th Divisions both pushed the Germans away from the Nieppe Forest on 28 June.

On 5th Division’s front, Major General Reginald Stephens’ ‘men displayed the greatest eagerness to get to grips with the enemy’ and they were in their trenches the moment the barrage lifted. The 12th Gloucesters captured Le Cornet Perdu while the 1st DCLI got close to the Plate Becque. The 2nd KOSBs suffered casualties clearing the wire around Itchin Farm but 1st Queen’s Own had more luck around Boar Farm; the 15th Warwicks advanced along the east bank of the Bourre stream.

The front around the Nieppe forest had been made safe but, while 450 prisoners had been taken, it had cost over 1,900 casualties. It was, however, the first successful British offensive operation of the year and the ‘congratulations poured in’.

The Australian Corps, Le Hamel on the Somme, 4 July

General Sir Henry Rawlinson wanted to capture a limited area around Le Hamel, between the River Somme and Villers Bretonneux. He chose 4 July, American Independence Day, because four companies of the 33rd American Division were going to be engaged for the first time on the BEF’s front. Australian ‘Peaceful Penetration’ tactics had discovered that Le Hamel village and the nearby woods were fortified but there were few trenches in between.

Major General Ewen Sinclair-Maclagan was given sixty fighting tanks and twelve supply tanks and Brigadier General Courage’s machines would carry the same amount of ammunition and engineer stores that 1,250 men could. Some of Lieutenant Colonel Bingham’s Mark IV and Mark V tanks would cut the wire, while the rest cooperated with the infantry. Lieutenant General John Monash’s plan was to send patrols through the woods and the village while tanks and machine-gun teams covered the flanks. The rest of the troops would advance past and fan out on the far side.

Batteries took five nights to move into position while the guns either side drew the enemy’s attention. Over 625 artillery pieces and nearly 150 machine guns were assembled and targets were registered during the daily bombardments, so the Germans did not notice them. The infantry started moving into the battle zone only two nights before zero hour.

Two RAF squadrons would fly overhead looking for enemy positions for the troops on the ground. One squadron would attempt air supply, dropping ammunition boxes at prearranged points or when a machine-gun team requested them.

Artillery fired a creeping barrage mixed with smoke in front of 5th Australian Division, on the north bank of the River Somme, to draw attention away from Le Hamel. Major General Sir Talbot Hobbs’ 15 Brigade was then able to capture the German trenches around Sailly-Laurette.

Opposite Le Hamel, the infantry ‘were lined up with bayonets fixed; we all felt nervous but we took our places, lay down and soon forgot we were to go over the top. We were soon asleep.’ As zero hour approached, the tanks coasted towards 4th Australian Division’s front line as planes flew low overhead, drowning out the engine noise. Then the artillery opened fire at eight minutes before zero so the Germans did not hear the tanks crawling across no man’s land.

The Australians secured the high ground around Le Hamel, overlooking the Somme on 4 July.

Monash was confident everything had been thought out and he believed ‘the only answer the enemy can make to this plan is to discover it and put down a bombardment.’ Every gun fired at zero hour and four waves of infantry advanced as ‘the last tank arrived dead on time, roaring like a hundred aeroplanes.’ A few of the guns fired short, hitting the advancing troops, but the general opinion was that the barrage was ‘glorious’.

Zero had been set for 3.10 am, when it was light enough to identify a uniform at 20 yards, while enough smoke was fired to fool the enemy into putting their gas masks on. However, the dust kicked up by the bombardment meant the infantry and tank crews struggled to keep direction.

Six tanks moved between the enemy machine-gun posts as Lieutenant Colonel Bingham’s 42nd Battalion advanced north of Le Hamel. Another six stopped on the trench covering the village, to fire lengthways along it, ‘crushing all the spirit that the enemy may have had to fight’. The garrison were trapped in their dugouts as 43rd Battalion passed through the ruins, while twelve tanks escorted 44th Battalion onto the high ground to the east.

A dozen tanks climbed the slope south of Le Hamel but machine-gun fire raked 15th Battalion as Lewis gunners returned fire from the hip. Lieutenant Colonel McSharry’s men then cleared the Pear and Vaire Trench. A wounded Private Harry Dalziel shot one team with his pistol and then fired a Lewis gun until he was wounded a second time; he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Captain Wood was mortally wounded leading 16th Battalion’s advance, but Lance Corporal Jack Axford cleared Kidney Trench, throwing the German machine guns over the parapet. The rest of Lieutenant Colonel Drake-Brockman’s men then cleared Vaire Wood as six tanks crawled along the central ride. Axford would be awarded the Victoria Cross.

The 13th Battalion bypassed the south side of Vaire Wood before spreading out on the far side, where they took eighty prisoners around one strongpoint. On the right flank, six tanks helped 23rd and 21st Australian Battalions form a flank south of Vaire Wood for 6 Australian Brigade. All along the line the tanks waited until the Australians had consolidated their objective before withdrawing. Only five had been hit and they were all salvaged and repaired. There had been less than 900 Australian and American casualties while over 1,450 prisoners had been taken. Rawlinson wanted to make another attack but Haig refused because he did not want to lengthen Fourth Army’s front while the BEF was still short of reserves.

XV Corps, Meteren in Flanders, 19 July

Major General Hugh Tudor’s 9th Division had been decimated during the two German spring offensives. He had welcomed many young conscripts but there was little time to train them in before they entered the trenches on 26 May. Lieutenant General Sir Beaurevoir de Lisle wanted Tudor to take the Meteren ridge, to get a good view over the Lys plain. So the artillery targeted Meteren village for two weeks, often using a mixture of smoke and gas shells to trick the Germans into putting their gas masks on every time the guns opened fire.

9th Division capture Meteren ridge on 19 July.

Shells crashed down at 7.54 am on 18 July and the infantry advanced one minute later. Wind scattered the smoke but 400 barrels of burning oil exploded across the German trench south of Meteren three minutes later. Over 250 of the 8th Black Watch were hit trying to cut through the wire on the left flank, but the 5th Camerons, the 2nd Scots Fusiliers and a composite South African battalion had more luck. The objective was taken in less than an hour and the 350 Germans prisoners were wearing their gas masks when they were taken, making it difficult for them to fight. A company of 9th Australian Battalion had also surprised the garrison of Gerbedoen Farm on the right flank.

Where Would the Next German Attack Fall?

On 1 July Généralissime Ferdinand Foch circulated his ideas on what the Germans might do next. An attack astride the Somme could separate the British and French armies, while an advance beyond the Marne would threaten Paris. Foch wanted Field Marshal Haig and General Philippe Pétain to plan ‘a foot by foot defence’ while they assembled their reserves.

The Supreme War Council met again in Versailles the following day and the prime ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Newfoundland attended for the first time. There were discussions about sending troops to Russia and Siberia and talks about the Balkan situation. The transport of American troops across the Atlantic was looked at while the role of the Military Representatives was agreed. The Council did not speak about the Western Front during their three-day meeting.

The BEF’s army commanders did when they held their monthly meeting on 5 July. Haig wanted Second Army to stay on the defensive in Flanders while Third Army and Fourth Army were to prepare an offensive across the Somme. Intelligence sources highlighted the Marne threat but there was evidence of a possible attack towards Hazebrouck. Both areas concerned Foch but Haig thought the Marne threat was a diversion. He was right. Ludendorff wanted to draw French reserves south, so the main thrust could be made towards the Channel ports.

Foch and Pétain met Haig’s Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Sir Herbert Lawrence, while he was on leave. He agreed to move two divisions south of the Somme while promising to plan an attack north of Béthune, to reduce the threat to the surrounding coalfields. Foch was planning his own attack across the River Aisne and he later increased his request to four divisions. Haig was against the idea and General Jan Smuts found him in a pessimistic mood, saying, ‘the War Cabinet and the Generalissimo would take the credit if things went well; if ill, he himself would be the scapegoat.’ The extra divisions were sent south, leaving the BEF dangerously short of reserves.

The speculation ended early on 15 July, when four German armies attacked either side of Reims; it was the start of Operation Peace Storm. So while Foch faced a fight to defend Paris, Haig still worried about a new offensive in Flanders.

Chapter 2

Countering Operation Peace Storm

15 July to 6 August

General Philippe Pétain wanted to use new defensive tactics for what would turn out to be the last German offensive of the war. Outposts would disrupt the attack through the First Position and Intermediate Position as the German artillery wasted its ammunition on the lightly manned positions. Unfortunately, Fourth Army did not have enough troops to hold the Second Position in strength, so General Henri Gourard had to concentrate his troops in the Intermediate Position. Meanwhile, General Henri Berthelot’s Fifth Army had not completed the required fortifications to the west of Reims.

Pétain’s main advantage was that prisoners and deserters had given the time and date of the attack as well as details of the bombardment. They even gave away the codename: Operation Peace Storm (Friedensturm). Aerial observers had also seen columns of troops and transport heading for the front. The French guns opened fire early on 15 July, hitting the enemy infantry and artillery before zero hour, disrupting First German Army’s and Third German Army’s attack against the Fourth French Army east of Reims. However, Seventh German Army pushed through the Fifth French Army’s weak defences west of Reims and even crossed the River Marne across a 15 mile front around Dormans.

Pétain asked permission to call off the attack planned for 18 July but experience made Foch believe that the Germans would be vulnerable after seventy-two hours on the offensive. His hunch was correct and Operation Peace Storm had run out of steam by the time the Allies attacked the flanks of the Marne salient.

Lieutenant General Sir Alexander Godley was concentrating his four divisions in the French Fourth Army’s area on 16 July while Foch issued orders to counter-attack the Marne salient. General Pétain directed 15th and 34th Divisions to the French Third Army, west of the salient. He also sent 51st and 62nd Divisions to the French Fifth Army, to the east. The following day Lieutenant General He...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Regiments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: A Foot by Foot Defence
• Chapter 2: Countering Operation Peace Storm
• Chapter 3: Phantoms of the Imagination
• Chapter 4: It All Looked a Certain, Confident Success
• Chapter 5: We have Nearly Reached the Limit of our Powers of Resistance
• Chapter 6: The Finest Attack in Open Warfare
• Chapter 7: A Sense we had Reached Success at Last
• Chapter 8: Keep the Same Attitude and Continue Your Pursuit
• Chapter 9: Indeed a Magnificent Performance
• Chapter 10: The Hardest Fighting During the Whole Advance
• Chapter 11: Germany is Defeated and the Sooner We Recognise it the Better
• Chapter 12: They Went Over Like a Pack of Hounds
• Conclusions
• Plate Section