The A.D.S. at Villeselve was abandoned shortly before the enemy entered the village. In consequence of the rapid advance of the Germans, all transport and surplus personnel of the 62nd Field Ambulance in Guiscard were sent back. A small party under Lieut.-Colonel Stack, the commanding officer, remained in the village collecting, dressing and evacuating crowds of wounded, British and French. Shells fell into the garden of the house which served as a dressing station, but Lieut.-Colonel Stack refused to go until all cases had been cleared.
The 91st Field Artillery Brigade came in the evening under the G.O.C. 9th French Division, from whom orders were received at 10 P.M. to move to Crisolles. Guiscard was being heavily shelled at this time, and soon afterwards was captured by the enemy. Having lost a certain number of men during the shelling of the town the brigade successfully withdrew at 11 P.M., although the enemy had advanced by then to within a few hundred yards of the guns.
What remained of the 61st Brigade was withdrawn to Neuvilly, where it was reorganised on the morning of the 25th into a composite battalion of four companies, one from each battalion in the brigade, with a headquarters company in addition. The total strength was then nine junior officers and 440 other ranks. At 1.45 P.M. the brigade marched to Avricourt and then moved by ’bus to Gruny to rejoin the 20th Division, under which in the course of two days’ intense fighting the three battalions together were destined to be reduced to under 100 men.
Chapter XII
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE ON THE SOMME
(Continued)
26th March to 28th April 1918
The March to Le Quesnel—Defence of Le Quesnoy—Actions at Arvillers and Mezières—Retirement to the line of the Luce—Relief of the Division—Actions of the 91st Field Artillery Brigade under the French—Divisional Artillery at the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.
We left the 20th Division on the evening of the 25th of March holding the line Cressy—Billancourt—Réthonvillers, with the 60th Brigade on the right, the 59th on the left, and Divisional Headquarters at Roye.
By that time all local reserves on this part of the battle-front had been thrown into the fighting, but French forces were coming up in increasing numbers to reinforce the British line. On the 25th the French took over the whole of the front south of the Somme,[1] the 20th Division coming under the orders of the G.O.C. 133rd French Division. “The situation still remained critical, however, as every mile of the German advance added to the length of the front to be held, and while the exhaustion” of the British divisions “was hourly growing more acute, some days had yet to pass before the French could bring up troops in sufficient strength to arrest the enemy’s progress.”[14][**2nd anchor “1”]
The Division was under orders from XVIIIth Corps to conform with the retirement of the French towards Roye, should such retirement become necessary. On arrival at Roye the Division was to move north-west to Le Quesnel, covered by the 61st Brigade as a left flank guard. The 133rd French Division, which was to have relieved the 20th, had orders to retire during the night, and French and British troops were so mixed that a relief in the ordinary sense of the word would have been impossible. At an interview between Lieut.-Colonel Haskard, G.S.O.I. of the 20th Division, and the G.O.C. 133rd French Division, it was decided that the 20th should withdraw at midnight, at the same time as the French. The French Divisional Commander, however, said that he could give no orders as to the withdrawal of the 20th Division, as his line of retreat was towards the south. He had no objection to the 20th moving on Le Quesnel, although as the enemy was already in Liancourt he doubted if this could be done.
It was obviously a difficult task, for it meant a flank march in the face of an advancing enemy who at the beginning was not more than four miles away, and who before the march was completed penetrated to within half a mile of the road on which the troops were moving. It is due to the exceptionally gallant action of the 61st Brigade that this operation was brought to a successful close.
On arrival at Gruny late in the evening of the 25th, the 61st Brigade moved into its allotted position. The battalion headquarters company was on the eastern outskirts of Gruny, the Somerset L.I. company on the eastern outskirts of Cremery, and the D.C.L.I. and King’s companies at Liancourt. The headquarters and Somerset L.I. companies took up their positions without incident. The D.C.L.I. and King’s, on the other hand, had some difficulty at Liancourt, as although a line was established in touch with the French on the east side of the village, German machine guns and patrols were in occupation of the south-west outskirts. No touch was obtained with the 24th Division on the left, and during the night the position in the village itself was not quite clear, as British, French and German patrols were continually challenging each other in different languages.