Battle of the Lys 1918

[Aaron Nelson]

Hi there pals,

Can any of you provide a description of the location and actions of the 36th Division, between the dates of 21st and 26th April 1918. Or are there any books etc material I can refer to for this.

Thanks Aaron.

[carninyj]

Aaron,

You'll get what you want in 'History of the Ulster Division' by C Falls. There follows a scanned summary of the relevant part.

"… On the 9th the troops heard a ... bombardment to the south. The enemy’s offensive on the Lys had opened.

From Givenchy ... to the neighbourhood of Gapaard, ... the Germans had broken through. On the front of the Portuguese Corps the line was shattered, and the German wave flowed up the low valley of the Lys. The battered city of Armentières fell. For two or three days no real resistance could be organized across the gap .... Estaires, ten miles west of Armentières, was occupied by the evening of the 10th. By that time troops of the 36th Division were upon the scene of action.

The 108th Brigade was in II. Corps reserve. At noon on the 10th it received orders to move at once to Kemmel… the Brigade coming under the orders of the G.O.C. 19th Division. ….

... General Griffith received orders to move up to the Messines Ridge, in support of the weak South African Brigade of the 9th Division .... The 1st Irish Fusiliers took up a line on the Messines-Wytschaete Road, from five hundred yards north of the former village to the neighbourhood of the 36th Division’s old acquaintance, Pick House. The 12th Rifles was on the Spanbroek Ridge in support; the 9th Fusiliers about the old British front line on the Wulverghem-Messines Road. The morning passed fairly quietly, but there was ominous news as to the German advance north of Ploegsteert. General Griffith received a secret warning order that, in the event of the enemy capturing Hill 63, the whole line would have to pivot back across the Spanbroek Ridge and its prolongation east of Wulverghem, south of which village touch would be obtained with the 25th Division.

At half-past three, after heavy bombardment, the enemy launched an attack upon the crest-road. The South Africans on the left were pushed off it, and the line of the 1st Irish Fusiliers broken. A very gallant counter-attack by Fusiliers and South Africans, side by side, restored the position, though subsequent pressure on the left of the latter forced them to bend back somewhat from the road toward Hell Farm. At 7 p.m. came another assault, in face of which the Fusiliers lost not a yard of ground. …

At night, however, came orders. ... The ridge must go, though the 9th Division was still to cling to its northern crown, the village of Wytschaete. The retirement was carried out before dawn ....

All day was heavy shelling, but no infantry attack developed till after six o’clock ... the Germans placed great reliance upon a local assault delivered as dusk was falling, which just permitted attackers to consolidate a position won, and gave no time for a counterattack .... Such a night as this, which would be lit scarce at all by the thin sickle of a new moon, was peculiarly favourable to these tactics.

They were, however, unsuccessful. Once again the defence of the 108th Brigade prevailed. The left of the 9th Fusiliers was driven back. Quickly a counter-attack was launched. ... By eight o’clock all was quiet. But casualties had been heavy. The 1st Fusiliers in particular had had very serious losses the previous day on the Messines Ridge. This battalion was reorganized as a company, and attached to the 9th. ...

The 13th was a day of continuous alarms. Parties of the enemy made attempts at dawn to advance by short rushes on the front of the 12th Rifles, east of Wulverghem, but were beaten off with loss by Lewis-gun and rifle fire. A couple of hours later fresh attacks appeared to be brewing. Parties of Germans were dispersed by the fire of machine and Lewis guns. The former were excellently placed by an officer who knew every foot of the ground, Captain Walker, in old positions which he had often held before the Battle of Messines in 1917. Then, all through the afternoon, small parties of the enemy strove to make ground under cover of the old camouflage screens upon the Messines-Wulverghem Road. They were counter-attacked and driven off, suffering considerable casualties from the fire of Lewis guns. The position on the right flank was, however, more desperate than ever. At nine o’clock had come from the 25th Division the evil news that the Germans were in Neuve Eglise.

During the night the 9th Fusiliers was relieved by troops of the 178th Brigade, and withdrawn to the dug-outs on Kemmel Hill. The 12th Rifles remained in line. The relieved battalion was not given long to rest. Before noon it was ordered to man the Kemmel defences, and to send up its company of the 1st Fusiliers to dug-outs behind the old British front line opposite Kruisstraat Cabaret. The 14th may be accounted a quiet day, since it passed without infantry attack. But the volume of artillery fire was immense, and distributed to a great depth in rear of the positions held. “Green Kemmel Hill,” as one officer wrote, “was turning brown before our eyes.” And the enemy was definitely in possession of Neuve Eglise.

At 10-30 p.m. orders were received from the 19th Division for an immediate withdrawal west of Wulverghem. This was carried out before dawn, the line pivoting back on the left of the 12th Rifles, which joined up with the 178thBrigade west of the village. It was completed only just in time. ... An infantry attack followed, and bodies of Germans broke through at the junction of the 12th Rifles and 178th Brigade. A counter-attack by the 1st Irish Fusiliers and the scanty reserves of the 12th Rifles ... failed to restore the position, but prevented the enemy gaining further ground on the left. ... The left and centre of the 12th Rifles were very wisely withdrawn a few hundred yards to a famous communication trench of old days, known as “Kingsway.” From this there was a fairly good field of fire. The 9th Irish Fusiliers had now been moved up from the Kemmel defences, and was ordered to send up two platoons to connect the right flank in “Kingsway” with the original line west of Wulverghem. These two platoons had an unfortunate fate. At dusk they were almost surrounded by groups of the enemy pressing forward, and were forced to fall back some hundred yards with heavy casualties.

At 2-15 a.m. on the 16th the little remnant of the Brigade began to withdraw on relief, covered by small outposts. It then marched back to a camp near La Clytte, suffering numerous casualties on its route from shell-fire. Four machine-guns remained near Kemmel village. ...

April the 26th, while the men of the 108th Brigade, wearied out and dazed by shell-lire, snatched what rest they could, was the occasion of furious fighting at Wytschaete. ... . The 17th, to many observers, appeared the blackest day they had seen. Almost everywhere the gains of years of desperate fighting had been lost. Passchendaele and Poelcappelle—to which there will be further reference when we return to the fortunes of the 36th Division—were gone. ... And yet ... the day may have marked a turning-point. The French were hurrying north. Their troops were already in line on the right of the 9th Division ... The German infantry was suffering heavy loss. ...

On the evening of that day orders were received for the formation of the Brigade, which could now muster about four hundred rifles, into a composite battalion. This battalion ... was ordered to move down behind Kemmel Hill, in reserve, to be in position by 4 a.m. next morning. It encountered a storm of shelling on its way, having seventy casualties. ... All day the battalion remained here, under very heavy fire, from which Kemmel now afforded but slight protection. At evening it was withdrawn, French troops having taken over the defence of this part of the line. The remnants of the Brigade marched all night, to Siege Camp and Hospital Farm, between Poperinghe and Elverdinghe, rejoining the 36th Division at 5-30 a.m. on the 19th of April.

……

The 36th Division, when the 108th Brigade departed on its lone venture, was left with its front line east of Poelcappelle, and its HQ on the Canal Bank. … [later, after 10th March and withdrawal of II Corps] the right of the 36th Division would now be in front of Wieltje …. An outpost line was … to be maintained upon the Steenebeek. …

The retirement was essential…. On the night of the 11th April the withdrawal of the heavy artillery to cover the ballet zone began … field artillery was also pulled back … It remained only to withdraw the two battalions manning the outpost positions … This was carried out on the night of the 15th. …

The Belgian Army was extending its front .... On the night of April the 28th the 4th Belgian Division relieved the 30th Division, on the left of the 36th, taking over the front of one battalion of the I07th Brigade. The next week passed quietly …. …For a couple of days the Steenebeek became the line of resistance, with outposts on the east bank. But Kemmel, so many miles in rear, had fallen, and the Germans were attacking north of it. General Plumer felt himself compelled to order a further withdrawal. The Ypres Canal was now to be the line of resistance. … An outpost line over two thousand yards east of it was maintained, and, as the German troops on the immediate front remained unaggressive—they had had a heavy defeat from the Belgians further north a few days previously—and the Lys Battle died down, lines in rear were gradually improved and dispositions altered, so that they might be held in greater strength in the event of an attack.

The second withdrawal of the 36th Division was evidently anticipated by the Germans, who followed it closely. …

On the following day a great attack was launched by the Germans from south of Meteren to Voormezeele, upon the French DA.N. (Detachement des Armees du Nord) and the Second British Army. Everywhere it was completely and bloodily repulsed. To the enemy it was a terrible check. April the 29th, 1918, deserves to rank as high as the following 8th of August (opening of the Amiens Offensive) in the history of the war. It marked the failure of the German northward offensive. … The next six weeks passed quietly for the 36th Division. "

Hope that helps.

Regards

Carninyj

[Aaron Nelson]

Hi carnanyj,

As per my email to you, thanks so much for this info.

regards Aaron Nelson.