The enemy put down a heavy and accurate barrage on our front line, in the morning of the 27th, which lasted about an hour; in the afternoon it died down, and no infantry attack developed. That night the 1st Battalion was relieved by the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, and went into support until the night of the 29th. During the relief Lieutenant J. R. Nicholson and Lieutenant W. U. Timmis were wounded.
Mar. 30.
On returning to the front trenches, it found the enemy’s machine-guns very active. At dawn patrols were sent out 300 yards in front of the line, and no movement on the part of the enemy was reported. Everything was quiet until 8 A.M., when the German artillery put down a heavy barrage on our front trenches. This bombardment was supplemented by Minenwerfer, and was directed more especially against certain points, which the enemy evidently considered of tactical value. The barrage increased in intensity later, and extended to the back area. Shells fell with considerable accuracy on the front trenches, and the whole Battalion had a terrible time. But the Germans, with characteristic thoroughness, were not content with this: they thickened up their barrage with machine-gun fire, and sent fourteen aeroplanes to drop
bombs behind the trenches. They not unnaturally thought that, after three hours of a bombardment of this kind, no one could possibly remain to resist their infantry attack, but in this they were mistaken. The 1st Battalion remained unmoved. Shattered, covered with earth, deafened by the constant explosions, dazed by the spectacle of maimed and mutilated men, the Grenadiers hung grimly on to their line, though in some places the trenches were completely obliterated.
Amongst the casualties at this time were Lieutenant Harvard, who was killed by a Minenwerfer, and Second Lieutenant Mays, who was mortally wounded by machine-gun bullets.
At 10.45 A.M. the enemy’s barrage lifted, and was replaced by an intense machine-gun fire, which swept the parapets. Under cover of this the enemy’s attack developed, and dense masses of men could be seen advancing. Under the impression that the bombardment had accounted for most of the Battalion, and had so demoralised the survivors as to render them incapable of resistance, the Germans determined to turn the flank of Seymour’s Brigade, and marched up the sunken road in close formation. They apparently thought that by sheer weight of numbers they could gain their object, and when they came in sight they were met with a withering fire which completely staggered them. To their dismay they found that not only was the 1st Battalion waiting for them, but that the men were shooting coolly and accurately, in spite of the shelling to which they had been subjected. The
attack was stopped, and although the Germans suffered heavily in their ineffectual attempts to reach our trench, they never succeeded even in reaching the wire, except at one point opposite No. 2 Company. When they approached by the sunken road in dense masses, one of their companies was sent round the south-western edge of the road to carry out a flanking movement, and about fifty men succeeded in entering into the front trench, occupied by No. 2 Company. Captain Stein immediately organised a counter-attack, and in order to cut off any Germans who might escape, sent Lieutenant Corbett with a party to a position on the sunken road, where they could fire on the Germans as they were ejected from the trench. Meanwhile he himself led a bombing attack down the trench towards the sunken road. This manœuvre was completely successful, and was undertaken with so much rapidity and daring that the Germans were not only quickly ejected, but fell an easy prey to Lieutenant Corbett’s party, as they attempted to escape down the sunken road. On returning to the trenches, Lieutenant Corbett was buried by a Minenwerfer, and had his leg smashed. The German attack had been a costly failure, and, in spite of the three hours’ bombardment and the masses of men employed, not even a dent had been made in the line. From a wounded prisoner who was taken the next day it was ascertained that the Germans had employed two regiments (the 452nd and 453rd) in this attack, each having one battalion in the front line, while a third regiment was to exploit the attack if
successful. Although the infantry attack was effectually arrested, the enemy maintained a heavy machine-gun and rifle fire until it was dark, probably with the intention of preventing patrols following them up, and also to enable them to clear their wounded.
Mar. 31.
The casualties in the 1st Battalion were remarkably small, amounting to 80, with two officers killed and one wounded. The men were all dead beat after these strenuous days in the trenches, and they had to remain for another twenty-four hours in the front line. Lieutenant Vernon came up to command No. 4 Company, and Second Lieutenant Webber joined No. 3 Company. The next day passed uneventfully except for a certain amount of shelling. Captain Malcolm was sent up to take command of the King’s Company.