II. The 1/4th Battalion in the Battle of Bapaume, 1918
The extension northward of the battle line, which marked the opening of the Battle of Bapaume on the 21st August 1918, involved Byng's Third Army, comprising from right to left the V, IV and VI Corps. As we have indicated in the preceding chapter, the object of the Third Army was to conduct a vast enveloping movement which should turn the flank of the German defence of the Somme line, and throw open the road to Cambrai and St Quentin.
Already the enemy had shown signs of nervousness in the area of the Somme-Scarpe salient and had withdrawn from his most advanced positions at Serre; and it was clear, therefore, that any attack on this front by the British must be prosecuted rapidly to avoid a repetition of the skilful German retreat of February 1917. For an offensive in this area the British troops were far more favourably placed in August 1918 than they had been on the former occasion. They possessed the Bucquoy Ridge, with the consequent advantages of observation which had formerly been denied to them; and the terrain over which the battle would be fought, though certainly devastated and a mass of trenches, did not present the colossal system of inter-supporting fortresses which it had in 1916. The time for a big attack had come, and G.H.Q. decided to strike. The 23rd August saw the Fourth and Third Armies advancing on a front of 33 miles from Lihons to Mercatel.
The suddenness of the German collapse in these latter days of the War is probably unique in the annals of military history. At the beginning of June their star was still in the ascendant. They were occupying ground which they had never previously held during the whole War; their successes of March and April had shaken the Allied defence to its very foundations; and it seemed still doubtful whether they had reached the limit of their capabilities of offence. Yet by the middle of August the whole face of the War had changed. On a wide front the Germans were in retreat; vast masses of material, thousands of prisoners had fallen into our hands; the British morale had been proved stronger than ever, while that of the enemy was giving indications of a serious break.
Whether the High Command anticipated the completeness of this lightning change we cannot say; that the vast bulk of regimental officers and men scarcely contemplated it, is almost certain. Early in July General Hull, in a conversation with Lieut.-Col. Marchment, expressed the opinion that very little would be done in 1918 by way of retrieving the losses suffered during the spring!
The 8th August found the 1/4th Londons at a strength of 42 officers and 892 other ranks withdrawn in Brigade reserve to billets at Arras. Here a quite pleasant week was spent in which the routine of training was varied by a Battalion sports meeting, and a most successful swimming gala—a new feature of recreation—for which purpose the moat at the Citadel formed a splendid bath.
Between the 16th and 18th August the 56th Division was relieved from the Tilloy trenches and passed into Corps reserve, the 1/4th Londons handing over their Brigade reserve billets to the 1/9th Royal Scots and moving to Berneville on the 17th August. For a few days changes of station followed on each others' heels with startling rapidity, and after having been quartered successively at Houvin-Houvigneuil and Magnicourt-sur-Canche, the Battalion reached Grand Rullecourt at 11.30 p.m. on the 20th August.
On the 19th orders had been issued to the Division to take part in an attack with the XVII Corps in the area of the Scarpe, but these were subsequently replaced on the 21st August by a transfer of the Division to Haldane's VI Corps, and orders to join with it in the Third Army attack.
A day of rest at Grand Rullecourt was occupied by the Battalion, in the absence of attack orders, with speculations as to its chances of soon being called upon to fight. Preliminary arrangements were made to march into battle at short notice, and the same evening, the 21st August, the Battalion marched thirteen miles to Berles-au-Bois, arriving at 2 a.m. on the 22nd.