CHAPTER XIII
ACROSS THE RIVER SELLE
(October 9-23, 1918)

On the 9th of October the Division marched out of the rest area to take over the left sector of the 4th Corps front, held by the New Zealand Division. After the breaking of the Hindenburg Line the pursuit had been carried on by the Third Army with such vigour that the enemy had been unable to make any prolonged stand, and the front was now at least a dozen miles east of the Couillet Valley. Throughout these operations the Divisional Artillery had assisted the New Zealanders. Evidence of the haste with which the enemy had retired was furnished on the second day’s march, when the battalions passed through Lesdain, as most of the houses here had been left standing, though interiors had been looted. While the unending column of troops and transport moved eastward across the ridges and valleys of the Somme country, past battered villages and farmsteads, a stream of old men, women and children poured to the west. These were the liberated civilians, freed at last from the Prussian yoke. Though many of them seemed too stunned by ill-treatment and the loss of all they had possessed to understand or feel interest in what was passing around them, the greater number greeted the British soldiers enthusiastically, and urged them to drive the sales Boches out of their beloved France, whose soil had been defiled. Ruined and bereft though they were, French pride and passionate love of their country still burned brightly, and the chief emotion was joy that the cochons prussiens were being hustled ignominiously out of France. The second night was passed in Pélu Wood and Château Briseux, with D.H.Q. at Esnes. Away to the north Cambrai was burning so fiercely that the spire of one of its churches stood out black against the background of flame. A semicircle of fires in the further distance told of the destruction of villages and homesteads, and the Lancashire men understood something of the loathing and hatred that animated the homeless French and perhaps saved them from the deadening effect of utter despair. The third day’s march brought the Division to Fontaine-au-Pir and Beauvois, where a halt was made while arrangements were completed for the relief of the New Zealanders around Briastre, on the western bank of the River Selle.

The River Selle winds through and about Solesmes, Briastre, Neuvilly, Le Cateau and other villages east and south-east of Cambrai, and here the Germans made one of the last desperate attempts to check the British advance. The line of the Selle was strategically one of the most important positions along the whole front, the key position to Maubeuge, Mons, and above all Valenciennes, the centre of the enemy’s main lines of communications for all the northern area. The German troops were ordered to fight to the death in the very strong defences prepared east of the Selle, and their best troops were put into the line here, including the 25th German Division, which claimed that it had fought through the war with an unbroken record of victory. This famous, hard-fighting division had been held in reserve that it might be thrust in at the vital moment, fresh, fit and confident, to turn the scale, and it was now brought into line against the 42nd Division. To increase their confidence the German Higher Command issued the following statement: “All past experiences, all prisoners’ statements, prove that the British infantry does not push on as it meets with resolute resistance. Only by offering a tough defence shall we achieve an honourable peace.” General Solly-Flood issued this statement to his troops with the comment: “The Division, as it has always done, will overcome the toughest defence the already shaken Hun can offer, and teach him once more what the Divisional Motto means.”

The New Zealanders had already secured a precarious footing at one or two points on the eastern bank of the Selle, opposite Briastre, and on the night of October 12-13 their front was taken over by the 125th Brigade, two companies of the 8th L.F. crossing the river. The enemy made violent attempts to dislodge them, and, by driving them back across the Selle, prevent or delay the bridging of the river. The first attempts were on the night of the relief, but these were repulsed without much trouble. On the afternoon of the 13th the enemy made much more desperate counter-attacks. At 4.15 p.m., after a heavy bombardment, their infantry and machine-gunners counter-attacked in force. Though the troops of the division on the right were forced to withdraw their forward posts, the two companies of the 8th L.F. stood firm, and inflicted very heavy losses, a Lewis-gun section contributing largely to this. Fresh counter-attacks, no less violent, were made, and enfilading machine-gun fire compelled the posts on the extreme right to withdraw a short distance and take up a defensive flank, which checked the enemy. At night-fall patrols again worked forward and established posts close to the original line. In the course of the next few days the brigade succeeded in establishing posts across the river along the whole divisional front, between Briastre and the railway triangle just south of Solesmes.

The enemy now disclosed a greater artillery strength than he had shown during recent weeks, and on the 13th and 14th Briastre was heavily shelled and gassed. Captain H. Neame, R.A.M.C., accompanied by a French officer, Lieutenant Pinto, and some N.C.O.s and men of the 2nd and 3rd Field Ambulances, twice entered the village during the worst of the shelling, and helped to evacuate more than 150 civilians. Among these were at least thirty infirm persons and children, who had to be sought out, and then carried into safety. On the 15th Lance-Corporal W. Armstrong, 5th L.F., being ordered to reconnoitre a suspected machine-gun post in a house on the Solesmes—Belle Vue road, led his section so skilfully that they not only found the post, with a loaded gun in position, but also seized an opportunity to enter quietly and abstract the gun before the garrison realized what was taking place. They were then fired upon, but the withdrawal was managed with equal skill, and the gun carried off without a casualty to the section.

Bridging the Selle, October 17-19

As the banks of the Selle drop rather sharply to the water it is not an easy stream to bridge or cross, especially as the enemy held the higher ground, with direct observation, not more than 400 yards away, and in some places their machine-gun posts were only 100 and 150 yards from the river. On the nights of the 17th and 18th the Divisional Engineers erected four footbridges with handrails, and prepared material for others, and also for two pontoon bridges to take wheeled traffic and field-guns. About the centre of the sector was a weir; north of this the width of the stream was from 15 to 20 feet, and here the bridges were made of German telegraph posts, 30 feet in length, with boards nailed across. South of the weir the width was greater, and the bridges were made of trestles and duckboards. On the night of the 19th—the assembly for attack taking place at midnight—four more footbridges and the pontoon bridges were erected. The pontoon wagons were brought down soon after dusk, their wheels padded with canvas filled with straw to deaden the noise. There was a great deal of rain, the river north of the weir rose nearly four feet, overflowed its banks, and inundated the surrounding country, so that the bridges already constructed had to be raised and extended. By the gallantry and good work of the Engineers all was completed in time, in spite of violent machine-gun fire and shelling with H.E. and gas. Respirators were worn for several hours, but there were only six casualties among the sappers. The route to each bridge was taped out to guide the assembling troops and ensure speed in getting into the “kicking-off” positions east of the Selle; and a lantern was placed at the head of each bridge, which was numbered. Thanks to the efficiency and thoroughness of the sappers, the infantry were able to cross the river and deploy for the attack without confusion or delay.[23]