The French and British Commanders in the Field—General Joffre and General Sir John French.
(By permission of The Sphere.)
The little map on page [131] will show you the British position against which the Germans were now about to hurl themselves in vast strength. You see that the 1st Division held the village of Gheluvelt, and lay to the right and left of the main road from Ypres to Menin. On the left of the 1st Division lay the 2nd Division, extending the line as far north as Zonnebeke. The South Wales Borderers, who were on the extreme left of the 1st Division, were posted in the sunken part of the road between Gheluvelt and Reutel. The 2nd Worcesters, who belonged to the 2nd Division, were stationed in the wood which you will see to the south-west of Zonnebeke. On the right of the 1st Division, continuing the line up to the canal from Ypres to the Lys, lay the 7th Division.
At daybreak on the 31st, von Beimling, with at least 100,000 Bavarians, attacked the centre of the British line. A heavy fire was directed against Gheluvelt, and when the way was thus prepared, the infantry dashed upon the place, but were repulsed. Again and again the Bavarians advanced, but nowhere could they make headway. The big guns reduced Gheluvelt to a heap of blazing ruins; but the British could not be shifted from them. The trenches of the Welsh were searched from end to end by German shells; but still they stuck to them. Every spot in front, and even the wood in the rear where the Worcesters were posted, was raked by the murderous German fire. But every time the enemy pushed forward they were beaten back.
Having thus failed to pierce the British line at Gheluvelt, the Bavarians were ordered to fling themselves against the British to the south of the Menin-Ypres road—that is, against the 1st Queen's (Surrey) and the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers, the latter unit being the flank regiment of the 7th Division. Advancing in force, they got between the village of Gheluvelt and the Surreys on their left flank, and then, with their great numbers, were able to get round to the right flank of that regiment, which was almost surrounded and cut off. Only some seventy of the Surreys fought their way back into the woods in their rear. The British line was broken at last.
What the Germans had now to do was to enlarge the breach. The retreat of the Surreys had laid open the flank of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and the Bavarians tried to deal with them as they had dealt with the Surreys. Again they were successful, and the Scots were surrounded and cut off from their division. They would neither surrender nor give way, and only a remnant fought their way out, and followed the Surreys towards Ypres. Their brigadier, in describing the fighting, said, "I think it was perfectly splendid. Mind you, it was not a case of 'hands up,' or any nonsense of that sort; it was a fight to a finish. Why, even a German general came up to the colonel afterwards and congratulated him, and said he could not understand how his men had held out so long." The Royal Scots Fusiliers had suffered terribly. They had landed in Flanders over a thousand strong; they now numbered seventy men, commanded by a junior lieutenant.
Thus the British line was successfully broken. The 1st Division could not maintain its ground, and as it retired the 1st Coldstreams were almost wiped out. Against the exposed flank of the 7th Division a strong infantry attack was now launched. It seemed as if nothing could stay the German advance, and that the British were bound to be overwhelmed with disaster. Enemy aeroplanes discovered Sir Douglas Haig's headquarters, and a shell burst in the house. Haig himself was at Hooge, on the Menin-Ypres road, at the time, and so escaped; but the general of the 1st Division was wounded, and six of the staff officers were killed.
A day's march away from Ypres is the ford where, two thousand years ago, Cæsar was in dire peril of being overwhelmed by the Nervii.[79] In that battle he snatched a shield from a soldier, and, plunging into the fray, rallied the Roman army, and turned defeat into victory. It was now Sir John French's part to play the part of Cæsar. He jumped into his motor car and sped towards the 1st Division. He found Sir Douglas Haig riding up and down trying to learn what had happened, and to settle what was to be done. As commander-in-chief and general greeted each other, orderlies, one after the other, rode up with the news that the British line was broken, that regiments were in retreat, that Gheluvelt had at last been taken, and that the Germans were advancing in overwhelming force. It was the most critical moment of the great battle.
The 7th Division was now ordered to retreat, and this exposed the left flank of the French division on their right. It was under the command of General Moussy, who was struggling hard to keep his line intact. He had come to the assistance of the British at the very moment when all seemed lost, just as the French had come to the aid of the British at Inkerman[80] sixty years before. He was now terribly assailed, and again and again it seemed that his line must be staved in. At one point the Germans nearly broke through, and without reinforcements they could not be held back. Immediately the general sent off a corporal of his escort to scour the country, and to bring up every man that he could lay hold of. The corporal dismounted the sixty-five men of the general's escort, and called on lorry drivers, motor men, servants, cooks, anybody and everybody he saw to join him. With this motley array, many of them unarmed, he hurried to the trenches, and in a few minutes his scratch force was making a bayonet charge, practically without bayonets. The Germans thought that reinforcements had arrived, and therefore retired.
This incident will remind you of the turning-point in the Battle of Bannockburn,[81] six hundred years before. While the English were struggling to break the Scottish line, they thought they saw a new army approaching. What they really saw was a band of camp followers and servants who had made banners of sheets and blankets tied to sticks and tent poles. They had formed themselves into ranks, and were now marching down a hill towards the battle. At this sight the English broke and fled. When General Moussy's corporal came up with his scratch regiment of 250 men the old incident of Bannockburn was repeated.
The Germans were now not only pressing hard from the north of Gheluvelt to the canal, but were making headway against Allenby's cavalry, who were holding the whole line from Klein Zillebeke to the south of Messines.[82] Allenby's sole reinforcement consisted of exhausted Indians who had been sent up from the Second Corps. You will learn later how at this juncture Sepoy Khudadad,[83] of the 129th Baluchis,[84] won the Victoria Cross for his magnificent steadfastness in working his gun till every man of his detachment had been killed.[85]
So terrible was the pressure round Hollebeke that Kavanagh's cavalry, who had been on the Menin road behind the 1st Division, were now hurried south to hold the line at this point. Even with this assistance Allenby's men were almost at their last gasp. Two nearly fresh German corps were attacking them, and hours must elapse before other reinforcements could arrive.
The Scratch Force that saved de Moussy's Line. Photo, Daily Mirror.
Now came the most critical hour of this most critical battle. Between two and three o'clock on the 31st the whole issue of the campaign in the West trembled in the balance. Just when the outlook seemed darkest, and all hope of saving the day seemed to have vanished, an orderly galloped up to Sir John French with the startling news that the German advance had stopped. Then came another piece of good news: the 1st Division was re-forming its line, and Gheluvelt had been retaken! What had happened? I will compile my account from a narrative issued by the Worcestershire County Council:—
"Although the line of the 1st Division had been broken, the whole of it had not fallen back. The Surreys and the Scots had been practically wiped out, but the dauntless Welsh still stood firm. Posted in the hollow road to the east of Gheluvelt, where they were slightly sheltered from the German fire, the Welsh still held their ground, thus forming a pivot upon which, if reinforcements were forthcoming, the line could be re-formed and the position linked up.
"Holding back by their fire the mass of Germans with whom they were still engaged, the Welsh were covering the flank of the 2nd Division and checking the German advance. If they could hold on and keep the flank covered until help arrived, the 1st Division could re-form and the gap could be filled up. The position was critical, and a very severe trial for the Welsh; but they belonged to a regiment which bore on its colours the word "Talavera,"[86] and where, as here, the British line had been broken, but the steadiness of a single regiment had saved the day. The Welsh had been told to hold the post to the last. They had done so.
"When von Beimling advanced in the morning, hurling on them attack after attack, the Welsh held the road against him. When the Germans surrounded the Surreys and drove off the Scots, still the Welsh held on, firing, steadily firing, keeping back the Bavarians. When the Germans carried Gheluvelt and the British line gave way, the Welsh remained firing and held their ground against all comers, so delaying the German advance. Now at last, when orders had been given to begin the retreat, the Welsh still remained where they had been originally stationed, just as if the line were still intact, and no retreat had been ordered. Could help be sent to them so as to enable them to reap the reward of their heroic constancy?
"Stationed in a corner of a wood about a mile from Gheluvelt, towards Ypres, near the Menin-Ypres road, was a body of some 600 men, four companies of the 2nd battalion of a regiment that the Duke of Wellington once described in a letter as 'the best regiment in his army' (the Worcesters, whose famous and well-deserved motto is 'Firm'). To them now, more than a century later, was given the opportunity for Sir John French to say whether he concurred or not in Wellington's high opinion. They were ordered 'to advance without delay, and to deliver a counter-attack with the utmost vigour.'
"No one who knew the regiment doubted for an instant that they would do it. Every one was doubtful whether they could do it with success. They were only four companies; the Germans were legion. But whether they were to be successful or unsuccessful, their plain duty was to attack the Germans, however many, with their handful of men, however few. The Welsh had to be supported; the Germans had to be repulsed. Everything depended on their advance.
"On receipt of his orders Major Hankey, who was in command of the battalion, sent Lieutenant Haskett Smith with six scouts to reconnoitre the ground, and cut any wire entanglements that would delay the advance. The A company, under Captain Wainman, was sent forward to occupy and hold a trench between the wood and the village. Not the least of the exploits of the Worcesters on that day was the advance of A company to occupy and hold this trench. It was in effect asking an English company to advance, and, as it proved, to advance successfully, against the whole German force at that point. The trench was occupied, and not merely occupied, but held.
"Some 600 yards in front of the battalion was a small wood forming some sort of cover. Here B, C, and D companies deployed for the attack, in two lines. The Worcesters set out on their terrible task. For about half a mile they had to advance under a very heavy fire of shrapnel. Over part of the ground they could rush from one bit of cover to another, but at one place for about 200 yards there was no cover at all. Here they had not only the shrapnel on their front, but on their right flank the Bavarians pouring in a hail of bullets from rifles and machine guns. It looked as if no one could pass through that fire unhurt. The Germans were constantly bringing up reinforcements with fresh ammunition.
"It appeared that the Worcesters were going to certain death. The appearance was not deceptive, for in crossing the 200 yards without cover the three companies had no fewer than 100 casualties. Even this did not cause the Worcesters to flinch. They pressed onward, reached the road, and formed up on the left of the Welsh. In front of them, at a distance of some 300 yards, was a small wood filled with Bavarians. On these the Worcesters opened fire with such success that the enemy gradually retreated.
"But although the Worcesters had gained the road, supported the Welsh, and thus had enabled the 1st Division to re-form its line, their position was far from safe. Their right flank was open to the enemy, who, from the cover of the ruins of the village, was able, without much loss to himself, to pour in a continuous rifle fire. From time to time parties of Germans from the village got round the Worcesters' right flank. They became so troublesome that the Worcesters stormed the house nearest to their trench, and made it into a bastion for their defence, so that the German flank attacks ceased. The effect of this charge was to change the entire position. The Worcesters were now able to threaten the right flank of the Germans, who, on perceiving this, at once desisted from any further advance. Their offensive died away."
The narrative then goes on to tell how those units of the 1st Division, which had retreated were brought back to the original line, how the cavalry cleared the Germans out of the woods, surprising and killing a good many of them, and how as it grew dark the Germans fell back. At last by 10 p.m. the British line as held on the morning of 31st October was re-formed. Thus a terrible disaster was averted by the cool courage and the devotion of the Welsh and the Worcesters. The crisis had passed; the fighting was not yet over, but the battle had been won.
The Worcesters had lost heavily, but they had covered themselves with glory, and the whole army united to do them honour. A month later Sir John French paraded all that was left of the battalion that retook Gheluvelt, and told them that though they bore on their colours the names of many famous victories, they had added lustre to their former reputation by their splendid bravery that day.
Next day (1st November) French reinforcements were hurried up, but before they could arrive the Germans had made two attacks—the one against Klein Zillebeke, the other against Allenby's cavalry around Messines. The first attack was driven back, but the second was successful, and Hollebeke and Messines were both seized by the enemy. The Germans swarmed across the low ridges, and their artillery found gun positions from which Ypres and Messines could be shelled. The village was speedily levelled with the ground, and all attempts to retake the ruins failed. Allenby had in reserve four battalions from the Second Corps to the west of Messines, and he now called them into the firing line. Amongst them were the London Scottish, the first of all infantry Territorial regiments to go to the front. They were now about to undergo their baptism of fire.
The London Scottish in civil life are clerks, young lawyers, doctors, architects, engineers, and literary men. They are a kilted regiment, clad in sober gray with blue facings, and in times of peace are remarkable for their smart uniform and their excellent drill. They were now to prove that citizen soldiers in the hour of their country's need can fight as valiantly and bear themselves as heroically as their comrades of the regular army.
The accounts of the fighting in which the London Scottish were engaged differ widely, but I think you will get a good idea of what actually happened from the following description by a dispatch rider:—
"I was talking to some London Scottish; they had had a terrible time. They were only supposed to be in support, and had no machine guns with them, when news came of a highly critical situation, and they were led up to the trenches under shell and rifle fire over open ground—a thing very seldom undertaken even by Regulars. They made a perfect advance as if they were on parade, and then later on came an awful attack. The Germans came on in masses, with bands playing, and, as I heard later, the Kaiser in person looking on (from a safe distance); and the Scots mowed them down and down till their ammunition gave out, when they leaped out of the trenches and went for the enemy with the bayonet. They were driven back into the trenches by force of numbers, and a desperate fight took place. Their medical officer was actually bayoneted in front of their eyes while bending down attending to two wounded men. It was bright moonlight, and he had a white badge and red cross on his arm, and even a blue tunic on, and was, of course, without arms of any sort. The Germans behaved like inhuman fiends; every wounded man they bayoneted at once, and when the Scots saw this foul work they gave the order, 'No prisoners.' They drove the Germans back eventually, giving no quarter, and getting none."[87]
While the London Scots were proving their mettle, the Germans broke through the line of the 1st Cavalry Division, and captured a village about 1½ miles north of Messines, on the Ypres-Armentières road. Next day, however, this village was retaken, though Messines still remained in German hands. There was also heavy fighting that day at Le Gheir, south of Messines, and in the course of it Drummer Bent of the East Lancashires won the Victoria Cross,[88] as you shall hear later.
