The history of the Twentieth (Light) Division

by Valentine Erskine Inglefield

At a conference held on the 4th, the C.R.A. 14th Division, who commanded all the artillery units concentrated in this area, urged brigade commanders to report at the earliest possible moment when their commands were fit to take the field again. The 91st Brigade, although tired out by continuous fighting, volunteered to carry on at once. The next day accordingly found the brigade once more on the move, and by the 7th the batteries were in position north-west of Villers Bretonneux.

The 91st Field Artillery Brigade was now in the IIIrd Corps (Lieut.-General Sir R. H. K. Butler) and under the 58th Divisional Artillery, and from the 9th covered part of the front of the 58th Division, from the main road east of the village to the south. Lieut.-Colonel Erskine took over the Left Artillery Section of the Right Division, IIIrd Corps, and had at first two and later three artillery brigades under his command.

By the 17th of April the 92nd Field Artillery Brigade was in the line north and north-west of Villers Bretonneux, under the 5th Australian Division, covering the front from the main road east of the village to the north. The 5th Australian Division side-stepped to the left to join its own Corps on the 22nd, when the 8th Division took its place. From that time the Southern Group, under Lieut.-Colonel Erskine (91st, 291st and 179th Brigades), and the Northern Group, under Lieut.-Colonel Balston (92nd Brigade), came under the C.R.A. 20th Division, who had moved up into the line two days earlier to take command of the 8th Divisional Artillery Group, covering the front of the 8th Division.

Between the 5th and the 24th of April the only important action on this part of the front was a German attack on Hangard on the 11th. The enemy succeeded in taking the village and a wood to the north of it, but was driven back to his original position the same day. On the 17th, however, the German guns poured so many gas shells into Villers Bretonneux as to make it uninhabitable. The whole detachment of an 18-pdr. gun, which had been placed in the eastern outskirts of Villers Bretonneux as an anti-tank gun, was gassed. Attempts were made to keep this gun in action, but every man sent up to replace the casualties met the same fate, so the gun had to be withdrawn. Up to this time the artillery had had observation posts in the village—an unpleasant place even then, as it was shelled frequently with gas. After the bombardment on the 17th, it was fairly obvious that the Germans intended to make a supreme effort to capture Villers Bretonneux, from where they would have observation over all the country to the west as far as Amiens. Accordingly intense harassing and counter-preparations were carried out nightly, and all gun teams were moved up close to the battery positions. Batteries which had been discovered by the enemy moved to new positions.

About 6.30 A.M. on the 24th, after a heavy bombardment lasting three hours, the Germans launched an attack on both sides of the village with four divisions. Taking advantage of the undulating ground, German tanks—now used for the first time—broke through south-west of Villers Bretonneux and opened a way for the infantry.

The battery positions of the artillery were north of the Bois l’Abbé. Those of the 91st Brigade were on the Cachy—Fouilloy road and with the exception of D/91 were just north of the railway; D/91 was just south of the railway, which at that point ran on a high embankment. The 92nd Brigade was on the left of the 91st, with the exception of C/92, which was just north of the railway, three-quarters of a mile west of the Cachy—Fouilloy road.

By 9 A.M. the enemy had worked round the south of Villers Bretonneux and was in the village, and began dribbling troops down the railway line towards the Bois l’Abbé. The batteries had suffered very severely from the bombardment; Major Poer of A/91 had been killed, and D/91 had lost all officers at the battery positions, including the commanding officer, Major E. G. Earle, D.S.O., severely wounded. As the advance of the Germans on the south side of the railway rendered the position of D/91 a very precarious one, Capt. Gwyn, M.C., was sent up from the wagon lines with orders to move the guns at all costs to the north side of the embankment. The teams came up from the wood under a hail of bursting shells and succeeded in getting the guns through a bridge under the embankment to the north side, where the battery came into action again. Shortly after this the German infantry advanced down the main road from Villers Bretonneux and occupied the east edge of the Bois l’Abbé. Gunners from some of the nearest batteries manned the embankment with rifles and prevented the enemy from breaking through to the north. At about the same time Lieut.-Colonel Balston ordered C/92 (Major A. Currie), to move to a position close to his other battery on the left of the 91st Brigade. Before moving, the battery had lost fifty per cent. of its personnel and had two guns put out of action by enemy shell fire.

The position at this time was curious, for the enemy had advanced south of the railway to the Bois l’Abbé, but north of the railway his line was no further forward than Villers Bretonneux, and British troops were still holding out along the road to Fouilloy.

At 11 A.M., when this situation became definitely known, orders were received to withdraw the artillery from the threatened flank. The 91st Brigade and the other brigades of the group moved back into the valleys east of Blangy Tronville. The 92nd Brigade sent A/92 to a position south-east of Aubigny. B/92 and D/92 remained in their original positions throughout the day, exposed to a galling fire from all natures of artillery, and when the enemy attempted to advance through Villers Bretonneux north of the main road, drove them back by direct fire over open sights.

In the afternoon orders were received that a counter attack would be launched at 10 P.M., by a brigade of the 18th Division and the 13th and 15th Brigades of the 4th and 5th Australian Divisions. The plan was to pinch out Villers Bretonneux by driving the enemy back across the ground he had gained south of the village, and by pressing forward at the same time on the north. To cover the attack those batteries which had been withdrawn were ordered to move forward again after dark.