The action of the 9th April was a very great triumph for British arms. Compared with the gigantic advances made after August 1918, the ground gained may seem insignificant and the number of prisoners meagre, but the true comparison is not with 1918 but with 1916. In 1917, as in the Somme fighting, the moral of the Germans was high and their resistance formidable, and there is substantial reason for regarding, as Professor Pollard[75] does, the capture of the Vimy Ridge and the advance to Fampoux as amongst the finest achievements of the war. But the impetus of our attack came to an end on the same day. It is possible that the magnitude of the first day’s success was so much more extensive than had been expected that the preparations for supporting it lagged in arrear, and that the Germans were able to concentrate more quickly for the defence than we were for the renewal of the onset. Wet weather, which figures so constantly in Sir Douglas Haig’s despatches as the marplot of British projects, was made chiefly responsible for our failure to follow up our victory, but though it greatly increased our difficulties, it is probable that ineffective Staff work rather than weather may have been the chief cause of our disappointment. The possession of the Vimy Ridge, the disengagement of Arras, and the obligation of the enemy to draw on his reserves had largely fulfilled the intentions of the Higher Command, but it is never satisfactory to lose chances of exploiting success. For a time the Germans were badly shaken, and Ludendorff admitted that the opening of the Arras Battle caused him considerable uneasiness. If cavalry had been available to go through on the afternoon of the 9th April they could not have failed to bring in many more prisoners, but they made no advance until the 11th, and by that time it was too late; the enemy had recovered from his fright and had brought up reserves. Nor were there large reserves of our infantry at hand to resume the attack at once. The infantry had become the handmaid of the artillery, and vexatious delays occurred until the latter could move up their guns.
Till late in the evening of the 9th the bulk of the Division remained in the trenches on the Brown Line, but after all danger of a counter-attack had passed, the battalions were withdrawn to the Blue and Black Lines. The weather, which had shown signs of improvement during the afternoon, utterly broke down, and blizzards of snow and sleet swept the ground. The wearied men spent a wretched night, as there was not sufficient shelter for all, and many had to lie in the open, unprotected from the drenching sleet. The next day was spent in cleaning rifles, replacing kit, and salvaging the battlefield. On the 11th, the Fourth Division was instructed to secure the slopes of Greenland Hill, a small ridge lying to the east of the village of Roeux, and the South African Brigade was sent up to support it. The attack was repulsed, and the Ninth was ordered to renew the attempt the following day.
The line, which was held by the Fourth Division, lay some distance east of the original Green Line[76] and included the village of Fampoux on the north bank of the Scarpe. From it a number of roads ran to the north-west and north, while the continuation of the Main Street joined the Roeux-Gavrelle road near the Station, close to which lay the Chemical Works of Roeux. The Railway crossed the Scarpe south-east of Fampoux and ran along a high embankment in a north-easterly direction to Douai. To the south of it the Scarpe broadened out into marshes and lagoons, which made approach to Roeux impracticable except from the north; beyond the Roeux-Gavrelle road the country ascended in a gradual rise to Greenland Hill. The line held by the enemy was the Roeux-Gavrelle road, and he had installed numerous machine-guns in the Chemical Works, the Station, and an Inn about 1500 yards north of it.
The Division received orders to capture this line from the Inn to the village of Roeux inclusive. There were two objectives. The first, to be carried by the South African and 27th Brigades, consisted of the ground north of the Railway embankment, and comprised the Station Buildings, the Chemical Works, and the line of the road as far as the Inn; the second, which fell to the 26th Brigade, entailed the capture of Mount Pleasant Wood, and the village of Roeux. There was to be the usual creeping barrage, which, commencing at 5 P.M., was to move forward at the rate of 100 yards every two minutes. The orders reached the brigades late during the night of the 11th, so that the time for preparation was very limited. It was understood that all the buildings held by the enemy were to be demolished by the fire of the heavy guns.
The enemy’s position was reconnoitred by brigadiers and battalion commanders on the morning of the 12th. A reference to the map suggested that the best place to form up was in the valley at the east end of Fampoux. But this was found to be out of the question, for the road lay under direct observation from the Chemical Works and was thickly sprayed with shells on the appearance of even the small reconnoitring party. The South Africans, being the right brigade, had really no choice except the village as an assembly place, but it was eminently dangerous, since it was a favourite target of the hostile guns. The 27th Brigade was compelled to choose the German trenches immediately north of Fampoux, which were sited on the horizon, and the approach to which from the west had to be carefully reconnoitred to find lines of advance that would reduce the probability of the oncoming troops being seen by the enemy. It was an evil position, for it entailed the advance of the brigade for 1700 yards down the slope into the valley in full view of the foe on the opposite slope, but there was no alternative. Brig.-General Maxwell recognised that to screen the movement, a barrage, with smoke if possible, would be necessary, but he failed to get into communication with General Lukin in time. As the barrage was to fall along the enemy’s line at zero, the 27th Brigade had to commence its advance from its forming-up position half an hour before zero, so as to reach the front held by the Fourth Division just before the barrage opened.
The action that followed was calamitous. The firing of the heavy guns during the day never rose to the intensity of a bombardment, and the large collection of buildings round the Station remained quite intact, only one shell being seen to fall near the Chemical Works. There was absolutely no chance of success from the outset, and the uncomplaining heroism of the men was on that account the finest feature of the battle.
Shortly before the attack was delivered, the Division learned from an air reconnaissance that the enemy had dug in to the west of the Roeux-Gavrelle road, but this news was received too late for action to be taken, and our barrage dropped behind the enemy’s front trench. On the right, the 2nd and 1st South African Regiments were in the van, with the 4th and 3rd in support and reserve. The assembly of the brigade in the shell-swept village of Fampoux was a costly business, but in spite of heavy losses the men were remarkably steady. As soon as the South Africans emerged from the shelter of the houses their ranks were scourged by accurate rifle and machine-gun fire, and it was possible to advance only about 200 yards from the positions held by the Fourth Division.
EAST OF ARRAS. BATTLE-GROUND OF APRIL 1917