Meanwhile there had been developments on our right. At 3.30 p.m. Captain Hamilton reported that the enemy was attacking him there and that he was not in touch with anybody on that flank; that he had a very mixed lot of men and no officers, and was short of ammunition. Now, this particular advance by the enemy failed, notwithstanding very great courage displayed by the German troops. It could be seen from most parts of the field, and so came under fire at all sorts of ranges. Also a counter-attack, by a strong collection of British, got into and occupied the trench into which a few of the enemy had penetrated. There were no further determined attacks, and at dusk the fury of the struggle died away. The Buffs during the day, being in reserve, had suffered far less than the rest of the brigade and had been called upon to resist no frontal attack, though towards noon and afterwards their flanks had always been in danger from the steady hostile advance up both the L’Hirondelle and the Lagnicourt valleys.
At dusk rations, water, ball ammunition and bombs were sent up. The remnants of the York and Lancasters and the K.S.L.I., reinforced from the transport, were reorganized into one unit and were withdrawn and held in reserve, and at 9 p.m. the brigade front was readjusted. The remains of the Border Regiment, which had reinforced the 16th Brigade soon after noon, and a company of the Leicesters held from the right boundary of the Bois de Vaulx to the Lagnicourt-Vaulx road, and the Buffs from there to No. 24 post. The night passed quietly and during it touch was regained with the 71st Brigade on the right, but with no friends on the other flank because of the gap in our line which was held by the enemy. A fresh line of defence some one thousand yards in rear of the Vaulx-Morchies line had been hastily constructed by the engineers and partially manned by men from the Corps Reinforcement Camp, and the 40th Division had been pushed forward on the left of the 16th Brigade, but there was a large gap between it and the Buffs, so that the left flank of the regiment was still unsupported.
The morning of the 22nd was heralded by steady and violent hostile shelling, but no news reached the Buffs till about nine o’clock. It was evident, however, that the enemy were upon both flanks in force and therefore that these were in danger of being turned at any moment.[29] Defensive flanks were therefore arranged down the communication trench and the lower Noreuil road. At 10 a.m. the enemy attacked on the immediate right of the Bois de Vaulx and broke through the front of the brigade on our right, so a defensive flank had to be made by swinging the right round to the road just outside the village of Vaulx to the eastward. A counter-attack made away off to the right gave some hope for a moment, but it was too far away to relieve the pressure on what was left of the 16th Brigade, and the enemy quickly reorganized and pushed forward resolutely and with great vigour to improve his advantage, causing the right of the new defensive flank to close in. At 2 p.m. a determined attack was made on the Vaulx line where it crossed the road to Lagnicourt, and a wedge was driven in between the Borderers and the Buffs. This caused the former regiment to withdraw, and now the Buffs were left with both their flanks exposed and resting on nothing. The old simple order was then given out again: “contest every foot of ground, conform as far as possible with the movement of other troops and only retire fighting.” Hand-to-hand fighting resulted, in which Captain Hamilton greatly distinguished himself as a leader.
During the afternoon the regiment formed fresh defensive flanks, one near the place where the Lagnicourt road leaves Vaulx, and the other facing west across the spur, because the posts hitherto held in the valley had been driven in. These movements, as well as others, were immensely assisted by a machine-gun battalion which showed great pluck and ingenuity in selecting positions. The Buffs held on till 4.15, when the enemy launched a very heavy attack on Vraucourt and the ridge immediately north-east of Vaulx from the L’Hirondelle valley, and this was attended by low-flying aeroplanes which were very audacious. It was in and around Vraucourt that the Buffs concluded their two days’ combat. A very lively battle ensued here; as the Germans advanced up the valley they were met with rapid fire and the fighting was ultimately at point-blank range. The men were heartened by knowing that they inflicted many casualties, but at last the Buffs, together with the rest of the brigade, were forced to commence a withdrawal. Other troops had all gone, and it became obvious to those on the spot that to remain longer merely meant to be surrounded by sheer numbers, so a general retirement to the new army line was ordered. This was successfully carried out, and the battalion was then reorganized and placed in support to the 41st Division, which was now holding the line. The enemy did not attempt any further advance at this time, though he directed a lively machine-gun fire on men of many units who were holding various shell holes which existed between the Vaulx-Morchies and the “Army” lines. At nightfall the 6th Division was withdrawn from the fighting area and, after marching to Favreuil, was embussed there for Achiet le Grand, where it arrived about 3 a.m. on the 23rd.
To sum up the Buffs’ experience during the two momentous days, the 21st and 22nd March, the fighting for them meant a process of being continually outflanked, for that reason forming defensive flanks, and of their straightening out the line again in conformity with the movements of other troops whenever such straightening out became a possibility. These manœuvres were twice carried out at most critical moments, and on each occasion the enemy suffered severely while the battalion experienced but little loss. Great credit is due to the officers and men who rendered this possible by their coolness and quick grasp of each situation as it arose. The net result perhaps was that the battalion delayed the enemy on this front for many hours and withdrew from the fight with less than two hundred casualties, a large percentage of which were lost with Moody’s party. It was the last unit to leave Vaulx, as it had been the last to leave the Morchies line, and it was never disorganized nor out of hand for a moment. “Steady, the Buffs” is an expression often heard in the army and even outside it; it has been used in reference to this old battalion through the ages.
LAGNICOURT AND NOREUIL
Casualty list:—Officers: killed, Lieuts. T. L. V. Moody and P. W. Newington; missing, 2nd Lieuts. Davison and Wotton; wounded, Lieuts. Buss and Spence and 2nd Lieut. Froome.
Other ranks: killed, 24; wounded, 112; wounded but remaining on duty, 2; died of wounds, 5; missing, 65, of whom 40 were with Moody; wounded and missing, 3; missing, believed killed, 1.