Schwaben story

[Desmond7]

Have a gander at the first part of my Schwaben story on July 1. It's pretty much downhill after this ... I've read LOADS of prop. about this attack. Anymore factual assessment from outside? Especially, I'd love to hear comments from men in other divisions/units be it good or bad.

Des

WHILE the main body of men from the Ballymena area fought in the subsidiary action north of the River Ancre, many local men also fought in the battalions engaged in the ‘main attack’ on the infamous Schwaben Redoubt.

This heavily fortified trench system was arguably the hard core of the German defence system. It was well equipped with machine guns and was backed up with close artillery support units.

Its defenders on July 1 had endured an unprecedented barrage for seven long days and nights. In fact, the British High Command sincerely believed that the weight of explosive which had fallen on the German lines would crush any opposition.

One commander had told his men they would walk across no-man’s land, occupy the enemy trenches and boil up some tea. He was not the only high ranking officer to believe that the work of the ‘big guns’ would make the offensive a low-cost operation.

It seems that the officers of the Ulster Division had serious doubts about the effectiveness of the bombardment and half an hour before ‘zero’, the assault battalions crept out into no-man’s land and took cover in a sunken road in front of the German trenches.

When the barrage moved off the German front line at precisely 7.30am, the Ulstermen rose up from their hiding place and charged at breakneck pace towards their objective.

General Sir Henry Rawlinson the architect of the assault feared that ‘Kitchener’s Army’ was not well trained enough to adopt the tactics of the ‘regular’ army and had given strict orders that battalions should move forward at a walking pace because he feared that the men would become disorganised without the strict control of their officers.

Sadly, the units which folowed these instructions were mown down in the first ten minutes of the attack.

But the Ulster Division’s wild charge caught the German defenders still sheltering in their dug-outs. It was literally a perfect assault - fast, powerful and ruthless. For a relatively low human cost, the Division had captured the German forward line, about 800 yards of front, at a single bound.

John Millar, from Paradise Avenue in Harryville, served with the 11th Royal Irish in the 108th Brigade, which attacked on the left front of the Division.

He described the momentum of the charge in a letter home to a friend in Ballymena:

“My cousin Sam was killed and we miss him very much, but God took him away where there is no pain or suffering. Doubtless you have heard of the big battle we were in on 1st July. I will never forget the charge we made that morning into the German trenches. Our fellows fell very rapidly and yet those of us who weren’t hit ran on across and soon put the Germans out of their trench at the point of the bayonet. And again we charged them in their third line and fourth line and succeeded in taking those lines but we had to retire later owing to no reinforcements coming up.

“Lots of Ballymena fellows fell, among them was Harry McIlroy who fell wounded at my side but I have since heard that he got back to hospital. I heard of several others of our battalion from Ballymena.”

Rifleman Millar’s brief account of the attack is typical of the soldier’s view of the battle. They charged, if they were lucky they made it into the German trenches and then fought until forced to pull back. No flowery descriptions for Millar, he seems hugely relieved just to be among the living.

His final paragraph merely hints at his feelings about the attack and the loss of so many friends.

He writes: "If I were to tell you about the awful scenes and sights which I saw you couldn’t read them for the horror of it. If only the people at home knew and realized what the boys out here are doing for them they wouldn’t be in the mood for holiday making." (1)

Another Ballymena soldier’s letter quoted in the Observer of July 21, 1916, provides further evidence of how effective the swift advance of the Ulstermen had been - and also how safe the German troops felt in their deep dug-outs despite the long-running British bombardment.

"When we entered the first line of trenches we took the Bosches by surprise. Many of those we caught had been in the act of shaving and we had them before they knew we were after them!"

If such common sense tactics had been applied by every unit in the offensive during the opening moment of the attack, the first day on the Somme could have been a fantastic success for the British army. Instead, to both the right and left of the Ulster Division, equally brave men climbed out of their trenches, formed up as if on an excercise and walked slowly towards the enemy lines.

German machine-gunners facing such units could barely believe what was happening before their very eyes. Then they opened fire.

It was hardly worth aiming, bullets swept the fields and scythed down thousands of men. In many cases German soldiers climbed up out of their trenches and fired from open positions at the oncoming ‘Englanders’. Incredibly, the waves of attackers kept marhing into this hellish fire, many with their heads bent forward as if walking into a hail storm.

The 29th Division (nicknamed ‘The Incomparables’) and the 32nd Division, each of which contained ‘regular’ battalions of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, fell in their droves. As a result, in the Thiepval sector, the Divisions on e ither side of the Ulstermen could not even reach the German barbed wire ... and their inability to do so was to have a terrible effect on the jubilant Ulstermen who were now sending back the first prisoners and preparing for the next stage of their attack.

With the assault on either side firmly repulsed, the Germans now turned their fire on the second wave of Ulster Division troops as they crossed no-man’s land with the aim of passing through their comrades and taking the Schwaben Redoubt itself.

From the ruins of Thiepval village and various other strongpoints, machine gunners poured fire into the flanks of the exposed Ulstermen. This ‘enfilade’ fire in combination with the stout defence mounted by German soldiers in the Schwaben tore huge gaps in the ranks and slowed the advance for a time.

Author Martin Middlebrook commented in his definitive history of that day: "These Germans (in the redoubt) had not been caught in their dug outs like some of the front-line defenders. The Ulsters had to fight hard for the redoubt but their Irish spirit was roused; they had captured one German trench, they could capture the redoubt."

While this struggle was on-going, the Ulster Division’s ‘follow-through’ brigade, made up of the four Belfast battalions moved up for the attack on the German second line. They faced withering fire from three sides and an increasingly heavy German artillery barrage which plastered the open ground with shrapnel and high explosive.

One soldier compared the no-man’s land of the morning of July 1 with the scene he had become so familiar with in the past.

Writing home, he said: "While on sentry duty, how often had I looked out over that same piece of ground. How calm and peaceful it had looked then, how fresh and green with long grass blowing in the wind..

"Now not a green or level spot remained. Great jagged craters covered the smoking groundcand in the blue sky above white, puffy clouds of shrapnel burst, spatetring the earth with missiles."

It was at this point that one of the battle’s legendary events took place. Major George Gaffikin, a company commander with the 9th Royal Irish Rifles (West Belfast Volunteers) could see that some of his men were shocked by the firestorm through which they would have to charge.

Middlebrook reported: "Gaffikin took off his orange sash, held it high for his men to see and roared ... ‘come on boys, no surrender!’ This action drew a whole crowd of men after him over no-man’s land."

Interestingly, Philip Orr, who performed an in-depth study of the Ulster Division’s actions on that day spoke to a veteran who angrily dismissed the above account as a ‘myth’. The veteran said the btn. colour was orange and that Gaffikin, waved an orange hanky. Anybody know more?

Whether or not Gaffikin waved a sash or not, the Belfast men did hurl themselves into the fray, but, instead of storming the German second line, they found themselves embroiled in the fight for the Schwaben.

This maze of tunnels, trenches and dug-outs was now the scene of some of the fiercest hand-to-hand fighting witnessed on the Western Front. Men from at least six battalions were now bombing, bayonetting and blundering their way through the clouds of chalk dust and black smoke from explosions in this confined space.

Only junior officers had been allowed to take part in the attack and many of these men who could have provided cohesive orders for the men had been killed or wounded.

In fact, two lieutenant colonels had disobeyed direct orders and joined in the assault. One died early in the attack and the other was unable to make it to the Schwaben.

As a result, the fighting was a vicious close quarter melee, aptly described by one survivor as a ‘Belfast riot on Mount Vesuvious’ - a nice allegory which almost disguises the reality of what was going on. Belfast riots inevitably involved two mobs throwing cobblestones at each other - a deadly enough pursuit.

On the Schwaben, the cobblestones were hand grenades and one can only imagine the scene as bombs were hurled back and forth between defending Germans and attacking Ulstermen. As a result, the low ridge must have resembled the early stages of a volcanic eruption as the grenades exploded all around. Whole packs of grenades were tossed into the entrances of German

dug-outs. Others ‘posted’ Mills bombs down the dg-out’s stovepipes.

The Schwaben Redoubt was now being attacked by elements of six battalions, from three different sides. The two companies of German infantry defending the redoubt put up a strong defense and the fighting was vicious. Hand grenades, rifles, bayonets and trench knives were used as the Irishmen moved deeper into the redoubt. By 8.48 A.M. the C Line and the Schwaben Redoubt had been taken.

As bombs exploded, bayonet men rushed forward to secure the next few yards, killing stunned defenders as they had been well trained to do. But all the time, the casualties amongst the Ulstermen were mounting steadily - they were also running short of ammunition and especially grenades.

Water was also running out. Men in combat develop tremendous thirst and on this hot summer day the ability to re-hydrate sweat drained bodies was vital. Attacking troops carried their water in one bottle, hung from their belts - they were depending on re-supply for their next drink.

But by now it was virtually impossible for anyone to cross no-man’s land. The Ulstermen were firmly lodged in the German lines ... but they were on their own.

However, fighting spirit remained strong and with the Schwaben Redoubt finally under their control, the mixed units of the Division were drawn onwards towards another vital enemy strongpoint.

In German, this fort was known as Feste Stauben - the British knew it as ‘Stuff Redoubt’ and its capture would have been the crowning glory in an attack which had already surpassed all expectations.

Sadly, Stuff Redoubt was to prove a ‘bridge too far’ for the tiring Ulstermen. As they swept forwards, men were caught up in a whirlwind bombardment which shattered the attack and inflicted dozens more casualties.

For years, historians of the battle assumed that the speed of the 36th Division’s attack had carried the men right into the middle of a British artillery barrage.

The incident was even depicted as a scene in the famous sixties’ musical ‘Oh!What a lovely war’ ... in the movie, a group of Irish soldiers led by a grizzled sergeant are forced to take cover as shells blast around them.

"Those are our guns!" complains one soldier.

"Well get back and tell them they’re shooting at us!" orders the weary sergeant.

As the’runner’ sets off, the sergeant mutters: "And if the Germans shoot him .. I’ll kill him!"

However, it now seems that the British gunners were blamed wrongly for this early case of ‘friendly fire’.

MFL

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

I would recommend you also read the account of the 1/1st Cambridgeshire Regiment TF @ Schwaben[October 1916],in Lt Col;Clayton & Riddell's Regimental History,[1934]If you can access a copy via your library,

[Desmond7]

Harry - that could be difficult - is there an 'Ulster' link , remembering that Im primarily a 'home town' research man? From everything I've read etc. the area of the Schwaben/St Pierre Divion was a nightmare for attacking troops and that 'my boys' were just fast and furious on day one. Not that it did them much good in the long run ..

Thanks for reading it anyway!

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Des, Looks great to me and I am eagerly awaiting part two.

Stll working on the kitchen, deadline Sunday as the counters are measured Monday at the latest.

Keep well,

Ralph

[steve fuller]

Anymore factual assessment from outside? Especially, I'd love to hear comments from men in other divisions/units be it good or bad.

Des

Hello Des

Dont have my notes with me so may be in wrong area completely! (having to work when I could be doing this; not good if you ask me!)

Is this the attack that took the Scwaben redoubt; the one they boasted couldnt be taken? If so, didnt the 54th Brigade (7 bed, 6 Northants, 11RF's) either take or help take the redoubt, or would that have been a different time? If thats the right one, Ive got the 7th diaries that include breif info, and some gallantry / commendation letters from some Generals if memory serves.

If thats the one, would you likeme to see what I can dig up? And if not, I'll shut up ... !

Steve

[Desmond7]

Thanks for the offer Steve but we are definitely on different dates. The account above is from July 1 1916 when the 36th broke into the Schwaben and managed to hold it for some hours before they had to pull out under German counter-attacks.

The supporting unit for the 36th was the 49th West Riding Division who lost a lot of men during their attempts to get across no-man's land to reinforce the Ulstermen.

Some did make it across and played a valiant role in the final fighting in the redoubt. I understand that an NCO of the 49th won a VC for his gallantry that day.

Cheers for thinking of me .. I'd forgotten I put this 'flyer' up!

Des

I should also point out that the account is to form part of a larger study of Ballymena men in the Great War. It's really aimed at non-history types so if there is over simplification, I hope you will understand!

Edited 20 July , 2004 by Desmond7

[markinbelfast]

Great as usual Des...have you read the account of the battle 7th July 1916..The mail newspaper...I'll send you a scan.

also theres an account from the 15th rifles where he states that the Germans threws everything but thir sh*t at them...read it standing in bargain books..

I've a letter hope from a skin writing about the glorius charge of the 1st