Richebourg, La Quinque Rue, Festubert, and Ypres
By the Official “Eyewitness” and Sir John French
SAXONS SLAIN BY PRUSSIANS.
Under date of May 21, 1915, an Eyewitness with the British Headquarters in France, continues and supplements his narrative of operations:
The ground our troops were holding on Monday, May 17, projected as two salients into the enemy's territory, one south of Richebourg-L'Avoue and the other to the north of Festubert. The purpose of the operations undertaken on Monday was to connect up the space which lay between them. In this we were successful.
At about 9:30 A.M. on Monday, May 17, our forces attacked the enemy occupying this area, from north and south, and gradually drove him from all his intrenchments within it. The Germans here, pressed on three sides, subjected to a cross-fire from several directions and to continuous bombing, reached the limits of their endurance during the morning, and over 300 surrendered.
After this area had been made good by us fighting continued throughout the day, and our troops, having joined hands, pressed the enemy still further eastward, forcing them out of one post after another. As the afternoon wore on more prisoners fell into our hands, entire groups of men giving themselves up.
The centres of the hostile resistance in this quarter were the clusters of buildings which were very strongly held and surrounded by networks of trenches dotted with numerous machine gun posts, and in front of one of the nests of works near the Ferme Cour de L'Avoue, between La Quinque Rue and Richebourg-L'Avoue, a horrible scene was witnessed by our troops during the day.
Desperate fighting was going on in front of this farm when the remains of a battalion of Saxons, which, it appears, had been hastily brought down from further north and thrown into the fight, having decided to surrender en bloc, advanced toward our line. Not knowing what the movement of this mass of men implied, our infantry poured a hail of bullets into them, whereupon the survivors, some hundreds strong, halted, threw down their rifles, and held up their hands, and one of their number waved a white rag tied to a stick.
Our guns continued to fire from the rear, and whether our infantry, who, by this time, have had some experience of the treachery of the enemy, would have paid any attention to these signals is uncertain, but the matter was taken out of their hands, for as soon as the Prussian infantry on the north of this point realized what their Saxon comrades were trying to do, they opened rapid fire from the flank, enfilading the mass. It appears also that the news of what was happening must have been telephoned back to the German artillery further east—which was also probably Prussian, since its guns suddenly opened on the Saxon infantry, and under this combined fire most of the latter were very soon accounted for.
Among the many scenes of the war there has probably been no more strange spectacle than that of the masses of gray-coated soldiers standing out in the open, hands raised, amidst the dead and dying, being butchered by their own comrades before the eyes of the British infantry. The fact that the victims of this slaughter were Saxons was a source of regret to us, since the Saxons have always proved themselves more chivalrous and less brutal than either the Prussians or the Bavarians—in fact, cleaner fighters in every way.
While we were thus pressing forward gradually on the section of front between our two original points of penetration, our troops on the right in front of Festubert were making good progress southward along the German trenches. Their attack began at 11:30 A.M., and the Germans were soon cleared out of their line in this quarter up to a point a short distance south of Festubert, where they made a strong resistance and checked our further lateral progress.
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Map of the British position. The solid line represents the territory held by the British, the dotted line to the north showing the position of the Franco-Belgian Army, and the dotted line to the south the position of the French Army.
The fighting here was made up of a series of isolated and desperate hand-to-hand combats with bayonet and hand grenades, and, since the Germans were, at many points, outflanked and enfiladed, their losses were very heavy, for in the narrow trenches there was often no room for escape, and the only alternative was death or surrender. In some places the trenches presented a horrible sight, being heaped with German corpses, many of whom had been blown to pieces by our bombardment carried out previous to the original attack. By about noon the total number of prisoners captured since the commencement of the attack on Sunday had increased to 550.
On the extreme right the Germans were pressed back along their communication trenches in such large numbers that they occasionally formed an excellent mark for the machine guns in our own line to the north of Givenchy, which were able to do great execution at certain points.
By midday the total front of the "bite" taken by us out of the enemy's position was almost exactly two miles long; but, as trenches and isolated posts were taken and retaken several times, the exact situation at any moment, as is usual in such cases, is somewhat obscure. Further progress was made to the south during the afternoon and after dark, and various posts and breastworks east of La Quinque Rue, from which we had withdrawn the previous night, again fell into our hands, although the enemy continued to hold some trenches in rear of them. But they again formed an exposed salient, and were once more temporarily evacuated by us.
At nightfall we held a continuous line embracing the whole of the German original front trenches from the south of Festubert to Richebourg-L'Avoue, and, in many places, were in possession of the whole series of hostile entrenchments, with the exception of a few supporting points and machine-gun posts in rear of the zone.
EAST OF FESTUBERT.
The following dispatch was received on May 26, 1915, from Field Marshal Sir John French, commanding in chief the British Army in the field:
The First Army continues to make progress east of Festubert. A territorial division carried last night a group of German trenches, capturing thirty-five prisoners, and this morning it captured one officer, twenty-one men, and a machine gun.
Since May 16 the First Army has pierced the enemy's line on a total front of over three miles. Of this the entire hostile front line system of trenches has been captured on a front of 3,200 yards, and of the remaining portion the first and second lines of trenches are in our possession.
The total number of prisoners taken is 8 officers and 777 of other ranks. Ten machine guns in all have fallen into our possession, as well as a considerable quantity of material and equipment, particulars of which are not yet available.
GERMAN GAS WARFARE AGAIN.
Under date of May 28, an Eyewitness with the British Headquarters in France continues and supplements his narrative as follows:
Monday, May 24, witnessed a fresh development in the situation in our front. It was a most brilliant May day, the heat of the sun being tempered by a light breeze, which had blown from the northeast during the night, and in the course of the morning had veered round toward the north. This breeze gave the enemy the opportunity they awaited of repeating their gas tactics against our position in front of Ypres, which, though reduced in prominence, was still a salient in the general line.
Between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning a violent bombardment with gas shells was started against a section of our line about two and three-quarters miles long, and divided into four approximately equal parts by the roads from Ypres to St. Julien and Moorslede and the railway from Ypres to Roulers. The supply of gas available must have been great, for it continued to pour southwestward for some hours in great volume, in some places reaching to a height of several feet. Owing to the direction of the wind, also, it swept southward along our line as well as penetrating behind it.
The manner in which such an attack develops with a favoring wind cannot better be described than by the reports of its progress brought in on Monday morning by our aerial reconnaissances. One observer who crossed the opposing front in this quarter shortly after dawn reported when he came back that a thick cloud of what looked like smoke outlined the whole of the German trenches. The next observing officer, who arrived some time afterward, stated that to the west and southwest of the German line he could see a broad band of yellow grass and trees which looked as if they had been bleached. A third, who came in later, stated that the whole area behind our line was covered by a mist so thick as to interfere with observation.
This attempt to asphyxiate was of course preliminary to an assault against the salient, for which infantry had been massing on the east. It was carried out from three directions, being pushed forward under cover of a heavy bombardment against the northern face from the neighborhood of St. Julien, against the northeast face from Zonnebeke along the Roulers Railway, and against the west direct from the Polygon Wood. On the greater part of the front assailed our troops were able to stand their ground, and to maintain their positions in spite of the poisonous fumes, but in certain sections they were forced to evacuate the trenches, and the German infantry succeeded in getting a footing in our front line near the farm to the north of Wieltje, for some distance astride the Roulers Railway, and to the north and south of the Menin Road on the south of the Bellewaarde Lake.
In doing this the enemy lost considerably both from our artillery fire and the rifle fire of the sections of the defense which were able to maintain their position. Counter-attacks were organized during the morning, and by about midday our infantry had succeeded in reoccupying our former line to the north of the railway. By evening there were no Germans west of our original position on the south of the Menin Road, though we had not been able to reoccupy our line in that quarter, nor near Wieltje. The advance of the enemy, however, had been stopped. In the neighborhood of Hill 60 a party of our infantry during the night bombed their way for some forty yards up a trench which the Germans had taken from us, destroyed the enemy's barricade, reconstructed it, and held the trench.
In the centre, near Bois Grenier, a slight success was gained in the evening, our troops seizing some ground between our front line and that of the Germans near the Bois Grenier—Bridoux Road. This ground had been partially intrenched during the previous night, and at 8:50 P.M. the infantry advanced under cover of our artillery and established themselves in the new line.
On our right, in the neighborhood of Festubert, our troops continued their pressure, gaining one or two points in the maze of trenches and defended houses here and there, in spite of the heavy artillery and machine-gun fire to which they were subjected. Before dark the German infantry was observed to be massing opposite Festubert, as if to counter-attack in force; but their two offensive efforts made during the night were not serious, and were easily beaten back.
On Tuesday matters were quieter. On our left the German infantry attacking the Ypres salient did not, in the face of our resistance, attempt to push on further, nor was gas employed, but the bombardment of our positions was maintained. Except where he had retained or regained our original line our position was established behind the portions which the Germans had succeeded in occupying.
A GAIN AT GIVENCHY.
The following dispatch was received on June 4, 1915, from Field Marshal Sir John French, commanding in chief the British Army in the field:
On the night of the 30th of May we seized some outbuildings in the grounds of a ruined château at Hooge. Since then our trenches there have been subjected to a heavy bombardment.
Fighting on a small scale has been continuous. At one time we were forced to evacuate the buildings, taken by us, but last night we recaptured them.
Northeast of Givenchy last night we expelled the enemy from his trenches on a front of 200 yards, taking forty-eight prisoners. Our infantry, however, was unable to remain in occupation of these trenches after daylight, owing to the enemy fire.
Field Marshal Sir John French in a report, dated June 8, on the fighting along the British line, says:
The situation on our front has not changed since the last communication of June 4. There has been less activity on the part of the artillery.
On the 6th, in front of the Plogsteert wood, we successfully exploded a mine under the German trenches, destroying thirty yards of the parapet.
We have brought down two German aeroplanes, one opposite our right by gunfire, and the other in the neighborhood of Ypres, as the result of an engagement in the air with one of our aeroplanes.
AN ADVANCE NEAR YPRES.
Sir John French's report of June 16—the first since that of June 8—said:
Last week there was no change in the situation. The enemy exploded five mines on different parts of our front, but none of these caused any damage to our trenches, and only one caused any casualties.
Yesterday evening we captured the German front-line trenches east of Festubert on a mile front, but failed to hold them during the night against strong counter-attacks.
Early this morning in the neighborhood of Ypres we successfully attacked the enemy's positions north of Hooge, (to the east of Ypres.) We occupied the whole of his first line of trenches on a front of 1,000 yards, and also parts of his second line.
By noon today 157 prisoners had passed to our rear. The German counter-attack has been repulsed with heavy losses.
ALLIES IN CONCERTED ATTACK.
Field Marshal French's report of June 18 indicates that a strong, concerted attack was then being made by British and French troops upon the German front from east of Ypres to south of Arras. This report preceded the French announcement of victory in the battle of the Labyrinth, an account of which appears elsewhere. It says:
The fighting in the northern and southern portions of our front continued throughout June 16 in co-operation with the attack of our ally about Arras.
East of Ypres all the German first-line trenches which we captured remain in our hands, in spite of two counter-attacks, which were repulsed with heavy loss to the enemy. We were, however, unable to retain those of the enemy's second-line trenches which we had occupied in the morning.
East of Festubert, as a result of a further attack on the afternoon of the 16th, we made a slight advance and, judging by the number of dead Germans in the trenches entered by us, our artillery fire was very effective.
The Dardanelles Campaign
Progress of the Allies in June
Slow and Difficult
In his speech at Dundee on June 5, from which the passage concerning the Dardanelles is reproduced below, Winston Spencer Churchill's reference to "losses of ships" constituted the official comment on the sinking by submarine attack on May 26 and 27 of the British battleships Triumph in the Gulf of Saros, and Majestic off Sedd-el-Bahr. That increased to six the sum of battleships lost to the Allies in the Dardanelles operations. The review of the operations from May 15 to June 17, shows a development of slow trench warfare on land, which postpones the attainment of a few miles to a victory confidently predicted by Mr. Churchill.
A FEW MILES FROM VICTORY.
In the course of his speech at Dundee on June 5, 1915, Winston Spencer Churchill said:
The operations which are now proceeding at the Dardanelles will give him (Mr. Balfour) the opportunity of using that quality of cool, calm courage and inflexibility which fifteen years ago prevented Ladysmith from being left to its fate and surrendered to the enemy. I have two things to say to you about the Dardanelles.
First, you must expect losses both by land and sea. But the fleet you are employing there is your surplus fleet, after all other needs have been provided for. Had it not been used in this great enterprise it would have been lying idle in your southern ports. A large number of the old vessels, of which it is composed, have to be laid up in any case before the end of the year, because their crews are wanted for the enormous reinforcements of new ships which the industry of your workships is hurrying into the water. Losses of ships, therefore, as long as the precious lives of the officers and men are saved—which in nearly every case they have been—losses of that kind, I say, may easily be exaggerated in the minds both of friend and foe. Military operations will also be costly, but those who suppose that Lord Kitchener—(loud cheers)—has embarked upon them without narrowly and carefully considering their requirements in relation to all other needs and in relation to the paramount need of our army in France and Flanders—such people are mistaken, and not only mistaken, they are presumptuous.
My second point is this. In looking at your losses squarely and soberly you must not forget at the same time the prize for which you are contending. The army of Sir Ian Hamilton, the fleet of Admiral de Robeck are separated only by a few miles from a victory such as this war has not yet seen. When I speak of victory I am not referring to those victories which crowd the daily placards of any newspapers. I am speaking of victory in the sense of a brilliant and formidable fact shaping the destinies of nations and shortening the duration of the war. Beyond those few miles of ridge and scrub on which our soldiers, our French comrades, our gallant Australian and New Zealand fellow-subjects are now battling, lie the downfall of a hostile empire, the destruction of an enemy's fleet and army, the fall of a world-famous capital, and probably the accession of powerful allies. The struggle will be heavy, the risks numerous, the losses cruel, but victory when it comes will make amend for all. There never was a great subsidiary operation of war in which a more complete harmony of strategic, political, and economic advantages were combined, or which stood in truer relation to the main decision, which is in the central theatre. Through the Narrows of the Dardanelles and across the ridges of the Gallipoli Peninsula lie some of the shortest paths to a triumphant peace.
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Scene of the Dardanelles operations. The black line marks the approximate allied position, the dotted line the approximate Turkish position, on June 18, 1915.
TWO WEEKS’ FIGHTING.
By The Associated Press.
PARIS, June 14.—An official note given out today presents a summary of the operations in the Dardanelles from May 15 to June 1 as follows:
Heavy fighting has taken place during this time. Today our progress is somewhat slower than it was in the beginning, but every inch of ground gained has been organized in such a manner as to permit the repelling of counter-attacks, and each advance has been held. The physical aspects of the country make fighting extremely difficult and dangerous, as the battle front presents the form of a triangle.
During the second half of May there were attacks on the Turkish line of intrenchments in front of Kereves Dere and the redoubt called the 'Bouchet,' which we took May 8. All the Turkish counter-attacks failed completely.
Our position being assured here, we endeavored to capture a small fortress situated on the extreme left of the enemy's line. On account of the strategic position of this fortress it was impossible to take it in the ordinary way by an artillery attack, followed by a bayonet charge; such a method would have resulted in heavy loss of life. The attack had to be a surprise. On the night of May 28 a mixed company composed of thirty-four white and thirty-two negro troops, all volunteers, under the command of a Lieutenant, received orders to slip out of our first trench one by one and crawl on their hands and knees to the opposing trench. Here they were to surprise the occupants and kill them without a shot. Two other companies bringing up the rear were to go at once to the assistance of the first company if the plan failed.
At 11:45 P.M. our men, having gone forward in accordance with instructions, rushed over the embankments of the enemy trenches. The Turks were completely surprised. They discharged their guns into the air and immediately took to flight. Thanks to the rapidity of our attack our only casualties were one Sergeant and two men wounded.
The Turks attacked twice without success, and dawn saw us firmly established in our new positions.
A GENERAL ASSAULT.
LONDON, June 6.—Official announcement was made tonight that the British troops at the Dardanelles, as a result of their new offensive movement last week, captured two lines of Turkish trenches along a three-mile front. The statement follows:
On the night of June 3-4 the Turks, having heavily bombarded a small fort in front of the extreme right French position, which previously had been captured, launched an infantry attack against it which was repulsed with heavy loss to the enemy. At the same time the Turks set fire to scrub in front of the left centre of the position occupied by the British division and attacked, but with no success.
On the morning of the 4th of June Sir Ian Hamilton ordered a general attack on the Turkish trenches in the southern area of the Gallipoli Peninsula, preceded by a heavy bombardment by all guns, assisted by battleships, cruisers, and destroyers.
At a given signal the troops rushed forward with the bayonet. They were immediately successful all along the line except in one spot, where the heavy wire entanglement was not destroyed by the bombardment.
Indian troops on our extreme left made a magnificent advance. They captured two lines of trenches, but, owing to the fact that the troops on their right were hung up by this wire entanglement, they were obliged to retire to their original line. The regular division made good progress on the left centre, capturing a strong redoubt and two lines of trenches beyond it, about 500 yards in advance of their original line.
The Territorial Division on our centre did brilliantly, advancing 600 yards and capturing three lines of trenches, but though the advanced captured trench was held all day and half of the ensuing night, they had to be ordered back in the morning to the second captured line, as both their flanks were exposed.
The Naval Division on our right centre captured a redoubt and a formidable line of trenches constructed in three tiers 300 yards to their front, but they, too, had to be ordered back, owing to the heavy enfilading fire.
The French Second Division advanced with great gallantry and élan. They retook for the fourth time that deadly redoubt they call 'Le Haricot,' but unfortunately the Turks developed heavy counter-attacks through prepared communication trenches, and under cover of an accurate shell fire were able to recapture it.
GENERAL GOURAUD
Commander of the French Land Forces Operating Against the Dardanelles
(Photo from Medem)
On the French extreme right the French captured a strong line of trenches which, though heavily counter-attacked twice during the night, they still occupy.
We captured 400 prisoners, including ten officers. Among the prisoners were five Germans, the remains of a volunteer machine gun detachment from the Goeben (the Turkish cruiser Sultan Selim). Their officer was killed and the machine gun was destroyed.
During the night information was received that enemy reinforcements were advancing from the direction of Maidos toward Kithia. Thereupon Lieutenant General Birdwood arranged to attack the trenches in front of Quinn's post at 10 P.M., which was successfully carried out, and the captured trenches held throughout the night. The Turkish casualties were heavy.
At 6:30 A.M. the enemy heavily counter-attacked, and by means of heavy bombs forced our men out of the most forward trench, though we still hold communication trenches made during the night.
The result of these operations is that we have made an advance of 500 yards, which includes two lines of Turkish trenches along a front of nearly three miles. We are now consolidating our new positions and strengthening the lines.
MR. ASQUITH’S PREDICTION.
LONDON, June 15.—There have been so many rumors recently that the Allies had forced the Dardanelles that Sir James H. Dalziel asked Premier Asquith this afternoon in the House of Commons if there was any truth in such reports.
"None whatever," was the reply. The Premier said that it was not in the public interest to say anything now about the Dardanelles. "The operations are of the highest importance," he added, "and they will be pushed to a successful conclusion."
The following announcement concerning the operations was given out officially today:
The situation on the Gallipoli Peninsula has developed into trench warfare. After our success on the 4th instant the Turks have evinced a great respect for our offensive, and by day and by night they have to submit to captures of trenches.
On the night of the 11th-12th of June two regiments of a British regular brigade made a simultaneous attack on the advanced Turkish trenches, and after severe fighting, which included the killing of many snipers, succeeded in maintaining themselves, in spite of bombs, in the captured position.
On the morning of the 13th a counter-attack was made by the Turks, who rushed forward with bombs, but coming under the fire of the naval machine gun squadron were annihilated. Of the fifty who attacked, thirty dead bodies were counted in front of that part of our trenches.
The situation is favorable to our forces, but is necessarily slow on account of the difficulties of the ground. The Turkish offensive has sensibly weakened.
FROM THE TURKISH SIDE.
[Staff Correspondence of The Brooklyn Eagle.]
CONSTANTINOPLE, June 5, (by Courier to Berlin and Wireless to Sayville, L.I.)—The forces of the Allies on the Gallipoli Peninsula at Ari Burnu and Sedd-el-Bahr are in the greatest danger, as a result of the withdrawal of the bombarding fleets—made necessary by the activity of German submarines—and the consequent difficulty of maintaining communications oversea from the Aegean Islands.
The English position is at present desperate.
The inability to land heavy artillery was at first compensated for by the protection given by the guns of the fleet, but the withdrawal of the ships from Ari Burnu leaves the shore forces resting almost on the water's edge without means of meeting attacks.
Heavy Turkish batteries are mounted on the surrounding heights.
These statements are made after a week spent in the Turkish field under the first personal pass issued to a newspaper correspondent by Field Marshal Liman von Sanders, the Commander in Chief of the Turkish Army.
The Turks are fighting confidently, aided by a few German machine gun squads.
The farthest advance made by the English at Ari Burnu is 1,000 yards from shore; at Sedd-el-Bahr, about two miles.
Have seen Forts Chanak and Kalid Bahr, and find they are still intact.
The net results of the English attempt to force the Dardanelles are at present almost nil.
The general impression at Constantinople and Berlin is that the attack as at present conducted is a failure.
The bombardment of March 18 was ineffectual, owing to the inadequacy of the landing forces, and the failure of the Entente powers to embroil Bulgaria against Turkey.
[By The Associated Press.]
KRITHIA, Dardanelles, June 17, (via London, June 19.)—The allied troops who landed at Sedd-el-Bahr, on the Gallipoli Peninsula, hold about ten square miles of the extreme southern part of the peninsula, the occupancy of which is maintained with the greatest difficulties.
The ground held by the Allies consists principally of a small plateau to the north of Sedd-el-Bahr and two adjoining ridges to the northwest, between which the Turks are pushing advance trenches.
The Associated Press correspondent, who spent two days in the trenches, found the Turkish troops in excellent condition and spirits, in spite of the fact that the Allies were using every conceivable means to carry on the operations, including bombs thrown from catapults and from aeroplanes.
From the Turkish station of artillery fire control the effect of the Turkish fire upon the allied trenches could be observed today, and the shells were reaching the mark. The sanitary and supply services of the Turks are being carried on efficiently. The number of wounded at the hospital bases at the front was small, although the fighting during the night had been fairly severe.
During the daytime both sides are usually inactive, the Turks preferring night bayonet attacks. Many Turkish batteries are in position, but the nearness of the opposing trenches makes their work difficult, and for the most part they are directing their attention to the reserves of the Allies and to changing shifts which are exposed at certain points. The Turks, in this, have the support of their heavy batteries on the Asiatic side, which, since the retirement of the allied fleet, work without fear of being molested, bombarding chiefly the allied right wing, composed of French, home, and Colonial troops.
Weber Pasha, the German General commanding the south group, gave the correspondent every opportunity to visit the Sedd-el-Bahr district, placing no restrictions whatever upon his movements. The result was a thorough inspection of the ground. Weber Pasha made no comment on the situation himself beyond saying that "the failure of the Allies to consummate their plan of forcing the Dardanelles is too obvious for discussion."
Weber Pasha, who is a member of the German military mission which undertook the improvement of the Ottoman Army organization, is fully confident that the Turks will be able to meet the Gallipoli situation, and that the Allies will never advance against the Dardanelles forts.
It has been ascertained that only a few German officers are active in the south group. German privates are employed in special lines.
Krithia, once a thriving village of about 4,000 inhabitants, is probably the most ruined place in all Europe. The Allies left no house standing during their bombardment.