The history of the Twentieth (Light) Division

by Valentine Erskine Inglefield

The 60th and 59th Brigades withdrew to Roye at midnight, and before dawn this difficult manœuvre was successfully accomplished and outposts were thrown out east, north and west of the town.

The march from Roye to Le Quesnel was timed to begin at 7 A.M. on the 26th. By that time the 61st Brigade had slowly fallen back to the line Fresnoy—La Chavette, During the day, in order to cover the flank of the Division, detachments of the 61st Brigade occupied in turn the villages of Parvillers, Damery and Le Quesnoy, establishing posts on all roads leading to the enemy and pushing out patrols to the north with the object of keeping touch, which had then been gained with the 24th Division.

The chief action of the day was fought in defence of Le Quesnoy, where the garrison, one officer and 100 men of the 7th D.C.L.I., with two Lewis guns, was commanded by Captain E. C. Combe, M.C., the brigade major of the 61st Brigade. During the morning Capt. Combe was ordered to hold the village until relieved by troops of the 30th Division, some of whom had already taken over the defence of Bouchoir. At noon the enemy moved out from Parvillers towards Le Quesnoy. The Lewis gunners seized their chance and fired four drums into the advancing lines at 500 yards range with great effect. Both guns were put out of action, however, at 1.30 P.M., when the enemy opened heavy machine-gun and trench mortar fire. By two o’clock, after hand-to-hand fighting, the Germans gained the east edge of the village and had machine guns trained on the exits. At this point Capt. Combe was ordered to withdraw to Beaufort, but considering it impossible to do this in daylight and in close contact with the enemy, he decided to hold on till it was sufficiently dark to give his troops a chance of getting back in safety. At 3 P.M. the enemy again attacked and reached the centre of the village, but the few men of the garrison who remained held on to the west edge until 6.40 P.M., when the enemy closed in on both flanks. Then the only survivors—two officers and nine men—withdrew, still firing with good effect on the Germans as they over-ran the position. Sir Douglas Haig refers in his despatch[15] to this “very gallant feat of arms.”

The Division only just completed the march in time, for the troops did not reach Le Quesnel till noon, and at 11.15 A.M. patrols of the enemy had crossed the road south-west of Damery, thus severing all communication with the French in the neighbourhood of Roye.

The fact that the French troops were being forced south-west, while the British retired west, left a gap between the two armies of which the enemy took full advantage. To fill this gap the 36th and 30th Divisions, which had been withdrawn to rest the previous day, were put back into the line, and offering a gallant resistance, played no small part in preventing the enemy from breaking through.[16]

On arrival at Le Quesnel the Division came again under the command of the XVIIIth Corps and was ordered to consolidate a line just east of the village with the 59th and 60th Brigades, while the 61st concentrated at Beaufort. This placed the 20th Division in support of the 30th, which at this time held the line Bouchoir—Rouvroy-En-Santerre. Touch was gained with the 24th Division at Warvillers. The enemy was reported soon after mid-day to be advancing in large numbers along the Roye—Amiens road. Four motor machine-guns, in action near the cross-roads north-west of Rouvroy, did most useful work, delaying the enemy’s advance and causing great loss to his troops.

At 6.30 P.M. XVIIIth Corps ordered the 61st Division to take over the defence of Le Quesnel and the 20th to hold a line in immediate support of the 30th. The 60th Brigade accordingly moved to Arvillers and the 59th to Folies; the 61st was at Beaufort, and the Divisional Reinforcement Battalion in reserve at Le Quesnel. To assist in carrying out reconnaissance duties twelve Corps cyclists, under Lieut. Quartermain, were attached to the Division; they were most ably handled, and proved of the greatest value in the operations of the following day.

Most of the fighting on this line fell to the lot of the 60th Brigade on the south-eastern and eastern outskirts of Arvillers. The front was held from right to left by the 11th D.L.I., the 12th K.R.R.C., and the 6th K.S.L.I. The 12th R.B., to whom the 60th T.M.B. had been permanently attached as riflemen, were in support in the village.

On the morning of the 27th Arvillers was heavily shelled, and the German attack developed towards Erches and Rouvroy about 10 o’clock. Major-General Douglas Smith then ordered the 25th Entrenching Battalion to be transferred from the 59th Brigade to the 61st—a valuable addition to the strength of the left flank, as this battalion numbered 38 officers and 640 men. The 59th Brigade being then very weak, asked urgently for reinforcements in the afternoon, and was given two companies of the Divisional Reinforcement Battalion.

At 10.40 A.M. Erches was captured and at 12.30 troops of the 30th Division were driven out of Bouchoir. Brig.-General Duncan therefore ordered the 12th R.B. to send one company to prolong the line of the 11th D.L.I. to the right. Before mid-day large numbers of troops were streaming back from the direction of Erches towards Le Quesnel. Lieut.-Colonel Welch, commanding the 6th K.S.L.I., rallied many of these men and placed them on his left flank, and other troops retiring along the Erches—Arvillers road were stopped by the 12th K.R.R.C. Beyond elements of other divisions on the right of the D.L.I. there were no troops on the right of the 60th Brigade for 1200 yards. Some of the 30th Division were in Hangest. During the day four German cyclists dressed in British uniform, evidently having lost their way, rode into the lines of the 60th Brigade; three of these were shot by the 12th K.R.R.C. before they could get through, and the fourth was made a prisoner.