One splendid deed of heroism must not be forgotten. Near Soissons, where the howitzer fire of the Germans was fierce and continuous, 150 men of the West Kents, Black Watch, and Scottish Borderers were told off to guard a bridgehead. Suddenly the Germans in great force opened fire from the surrounding woods, and a dense column advanced at a run towards the bridge. The little British detachment checked them for a time, but at a heavy loss. A ring of dead lay around the machine gun which was holding back the German advance, and the crew being laid low it ceased to fire. At this fateful moment a big Highlander jumped up from cover, ran forward, seized the Maxim, swung it, tripod and all, across his shoulder, and ran with it to the bridgehead, where, all alone, he sat down in full view of the enemy, and poured a hail of bullets on the advancing Germans. Under this withering fire the column wavered and fled for cover to the fields on either side of the road. As the last of the enemy retired the brave Highlander fell forward on to his gun, riddled with thirty bullets. He had, however, like Horatius of old, saved the bridge, for just as he fell British reinforcements doubled up and put the final touches to the rout of the enemy.
By the end of that Sunday evening only the 19th Brigade of the Third Corps, which was operating near Soissons, and some brigades of the Second Corps, lying more to the right, had failed to cross the stream. The bulk of the British had made the passage, and were now entrenched well up the slopes on the farther side. Never before in the history of the British army had so broad a river been so quickly crossed in the face of such a great and strongly-posted enemy. It was a remarkable feat of arms, and the credit was mainly due to the artillery and to the engineers. In the face of almost certain death, our sappers worked as calmly and coolly at their bridges as though engaged in peaceful manoeuvres at home.
Sermoise Spur R. Vesle By permission of the Illustrated London News.
Diagram of the Aisne Valley showing the part of the River attacked by the British.
In his dispatch of October 8, 1914, Sir John French thus describes the Aisne valley:—"The Aisne Valley runs generally east and west, and consists of a flat-bottomed depression of width varying from half a mile to two miles, down which the river follows a winding course to the west, at some points near the southern slopes of the valley, and at others near the northern.
"The high ground both on the north and south of the river is about 400 feet above the bottom of the valley, and is very similar in character, as are both slopes of the valley itself, which are broken into numerous rounded spurs cut into by ravines. The most prominent of the former are the Chivres Spur on the right bank, and Sermoise Spur on the left. Near the latter place the general plateau on the south is divided by a subsidiary valley of much the same character down which the small river Vesle flows to the main stream near Sermoise. The slopes of the plateau overlooking the Aisne on the north and south are of varying steepness, and are covered with numerous patches of wood, which also stretch upwards and backwards over the edge on to the top of the high ground. The Aisne is a sluggish stream of some 170 feet in breadth, but being 15 feet deep in the centre, it is unfordable. Between Soissons on the west and Villers on the east (some 3 miles south-east of Soupir) there are eleven road bridges across it. On the north bank a narrow-gauge railway runs from Soissons to Vailly where it crosses the river, and continues eastward along the south bank. From Soissons to Sermoise a double line of railway runs along the south bank, turning at the latter place up the Vesle Valley.
"The position held by the enemy is a very strong one, either for delaying action or for a defensive battle. One of its chief military characteristics is that from the high ground on neither side can the top of the plateau on the other side be seen, except for small stretches. This is chiefly due to the woods on the edges of the slopes. Another important point is that all the bridges are under direct or high-angle artillery fire.
"The tract of country above described, which lies north of the Aisne, is well adapted to concealment, and was so skilfully turned to account by the enemy as to render it impossible to judge the real nature of his opposition to our passage of the river or accurately to gauge his strength. But I have every reason to conclude that strong rearguards of at least three army corps were holding the passages on the early morning of the 13th. On that morning I ordered the British forces to advance and make good the Aisne."
CHAPTER XXX.
THE BATTLE OF THE AISNE.
When Sir John French came to think over the operations of the day, he was uncertain in his own mind as to the intention of the enemy. Did they mean to make a great stand on the Aisne heights, or were they merely fighting a rearguard action in order to gain time in which to prepare for some new movement? It was most important that the Germans should be made to reveal their plans; so Sir John decided to put the matter to the test on the morrow by making a general advance.
All night long the engineers were hard at work strengthening the new crossings and repairing the old bridges, so that they would bear the weight of heavy guns and lorries. The infantry were no less busy, digging themselves in on the ground which they had won the previous day. The real attack was to be made by the First Army Corps, under Sir Douglas Haig, and we will now follow the fortunes of his command. On September 13 he had fought his way northward for about two miles, and was now holding the hillsides and the woods around the village of Troyon, directly to the north of Bourg. You must not confuse this Troyon with Fort Troyon, which was mentioned in Chapter XXVII. Fort Troyon is an outlying fort of Verdun, on the right bank of the Meuse; the Troyon of which I am now speaking is a tiny village about three miles north of Bourg, on the Aisne. To the north of Troyon are steep wooded slopes, and to the west is an undulating and densely-wooded country, rising towards high hills. Dense woodlands lay between Troyon and the position which the First Corps now held.