The History of the 33rd Divisional Artillery, in the War, 1914-1918.

by John Victor Macartney-Filgate

Gradually the day of attack—now definitely fixed for the 9th—drew near. On the 5th the last armoured telephone cable was laid to the batteries through the wonderful sewers of Arras, those sewers which, converted into underground passages and lit with electric light, acted as routes to the front line and afforded underground shelter for all the reserve troops when the attack was launched. On the 8th the wagon-lines were advanced from Duisans to a position just west of Arras; on the 8th also took place the final reconnaissance of the routes forward which were carefully marked out with flags—one colour for infantry, another for guns and a third for cavalry. On the evening of the 8th tanks, lumbering across country, passed the batteries en route for their position of assembly, and early on the morning of Easter Monday, April 9th, the tired detachments, after shelling the enemy battery positions with gas all night long, set dial sight and range drum for the opening rounds of the barrage. Huddled under shelter of the gun shields from the cold drizzle which was falling, they peered out through the gradually thinning darkness, listening for the blast of the whistle which would herald the opening burst. All around hung a strange silence; in every battery position sights were being set and checked, ammunition prepared, the last necessary arrangements made. In every gun pit along the whole of that long front Nos. 1 stood waiting for the signal which would turn the countryside into a roaring volcano.

Sharp to the second at 5.30 A.M. the thin blast of countless whistles cut the air, long sheets of orange flame stabbed the darkness, and with a roar and a crash the hundreds of guns burst out, lighting up the countryside, drowning all other sound and putting down a furious barrage to protect the infantry who, at the same moment, advanced in long lines to the assault. Standing in the eastern outskirts of St. Nicholas, the scene was wonderful. Dark night was of a sudden converted into day by the flashes of countless guns; with a vast eruption the mine prepared under the enemy trenches opposite Blangy flung skywards what once had been solid ground, while to the flashes and tumult were now added countless rockets and Very lights, fired despairingly by the enemy when he realised that the expected attack had indeed been launched. At the same time the ominous rattle and clatter of machine-guns broke out with increasing intensity as the enemy strove to avoid the hand-to-hand fighting which, above all others, he dreaded the most.

The front covered by the 33rd Divisional Artillery ran southwards from the river Scarpe and was assaulted by the 44th and 45th Infantry Brigades of the 15th Division. To the right of this Division the 12th and 3rd were advancing to the assault, while the left of the 15th Division kept in touch with the attacking troops of the 9th to the north of the Scarpe. The 15th Division formed part of the VI. Corps, with the VII. Corps on the right and the XVII. on the left. The attacking troops of the 15th Division were faced by the 10th Grenadier Regiment of the 11th German Division, and it was estimated that six German battalions were in the actual front line between the river Scarpe and the village of Tilloy.

The first objective to be taken was the German forward system, and this was quickly overrun, our troops capturing many prisoners and establishing themselves along the so-called "Black Line" as arranged, which ran from the Scarpe, through Fred's Wood and southwards to Tilloy. Here they halted for a space while our protective barrage roared over their heads, and then at 7.30 A.M., the scheduled time, they advanced once more with their ranks reorganised to assault the German Second Line, known as the "Blue Line," which ran down between the Railway Triangle and Watery Wood, and was continued along Observatory Ridge to the Cambrai Road. This line was known to be more strongly held than the first objective, and here it was feared that our troops would be held up, for there were many formidable obstacles, such as the Railway Triangle, to be overcome before the objectives could be secured.

As events turned out, these expectations were in part realised. When the infantry went over the top at the beginning of the day a subaltern from each of the artillery brigades accompanied the foremost assaulting line, while a Captain from the same brigades was attached to each battalion headquarters. In addition to this, from every battery of the 33rd Divisional Artillery one subaltern was sent with the attacking troops, to advance with them and to act as a duplicate source of information with the other F.O.O.'s; as all these officers were accompanied by telephonists, signallers and linesmen it was expected that at least some of them would be able to keep their telephone lines uncut, and would thereby be able to supply first-hand information of the immediate tactical situation. It was from this source that information now arrived.

The Railway Triangle just south of the river had proved, as was expected, the first serious obstacle to the 15th Division. Here stiff opposition was met, for the enemy machine gunners in their dug-outs in the embankment escaped unscathed from the barrage, and succeeded in bringing heavy fire to bear upon the attacking troops before the latter were able to get to grips with them. What followed was one of the inevitable results of a creeping barrage, but also gave occasion for a very fine feat of arms on the part of the batteries. The barrage automatically crept on towards the German second line, leaving the infantry, held up by machine-gun fire, farther and farther behind it. The forward observing officers, however, seeing the crisis which had arisen, got news back to the batteries; urgent orders were sent to all the guns concerned, and the barrage, moving away towards Feuchy, suddenly halted and returned to the Railway Triangle. Back it came to drop mightily, inexorably upon the embankment itself, pounding and blasting away at the hostile machine gunners who had been the cause of all the trouble, until at a given moment, hastily arranged with the infantry, it lifted and crept forward again, and the programme from there onwards was continued once more. As a result of the operation the capture of this very important strategical position was effected at the second assault with the loss by our infantry of only three men wounded; every living soul on the embankment had been wiped out by the second visit of the barrage, and the advance was resumed unchecked! It was a very fine example of the tactical handling of guns, and fully deserved the long accounts given of it in the newspapers two days later.

Scale 1:40,000.

With the fall of the Railway Triangle the German second line was quickly captured, and here, on the immediate front covered by the 33rd Divisional Artillery, the weary men of the 44th and 45th Infantry Brigades halted. The assault upon the third German line, the "Brown Line," had been entrusted to the 46th Infantry Brigade who, during the attack on the first two systems of defence, had issued forth from the cellars and sewers of Arras into a position of assembly in the German front line, and this brigade now advanced to the attack.

As soon as the German second system had fallen, the batteries began to advance so as to keep touch with the infantry. The delay occasioned by the holding up of the latter at the Railway Triangle had until now rendered any move of the guns impossible, for it was essential that every piece should be brought to bear upon the obstacle which was stopping the progress of the infantry. Now, however, the move forward began; one section at a time, the guns advanced to the positions already prepared for them in Blangy just behind our original front line, battery commanders going forward to register the guns immediately the trails were dropped. As soon as the first sections were registered and in action, the second sections began to advance; directly they were in action and firing, the third sections joined them, and thus every battery maintained four guns in action throughout the move forward, and was able to keep a barrage in front of the infantry who now, in the afternoon, were advancing to the assault on the German third line.