Aubers Ridge 9th May 1915

[Mark Hone]

In his very readable book on Aubers Ridge 'A Serious Disappointment', Adrian Bristow refers to a number of German accounts of the battle, including the war diary of the unit facing 2/2nd Gurkhas of the Dehra Dun Brigade (probably 55 Regiment, 26 Brigade, 13th Division) Unfortunately no detailed reference notes are given in the text and the bibliography sheds no further light. I would like to see a copy of the original account if possible. Can anyone lend a hand?

[Jack Sheldon]

Mark

I cannot be of any immedate practical use on this, but I can set you off in the right direction. As far as I can see, Bristow talks about the regimental history and not the war diary. This is much more likely, because the records of the 55th Regiment along with those of every other Prussian regiment and formation throughout their history went up in smoke when the RAF bombed Potsdam on 14th April 1945. There are two histories of 55th Regiment in existence. These are 'Infanterie-Regiment Nr 55 (Graf Buelow von Dennewitz)' Wilhelm Poetter Berlin 1922 (60 pages) and 'Infanterie-Regiment Graf Buelow von Dennewitz Nr 55 im Weltriege' Oberstleutnant Schulz Detmold 1928 (378 pages). It must be the latter to which Bristow is referring. I have a copy of Poetter, but it is very brief. There is only one paragraph concerning the 9th May, so the detail is limited. I could translate it for you or scan it if that would be helpful. I also have a sort of pre-production version of Schulz, which stops at the end of Chapter 1. According to its provisional contents page, you need to see Chapter 4. There is also a book out there called 'Aus dem Tagebuch eines 55ers' L von Collani (61 pages, published in 1916), but I suspect that this is most likely to be about the Somme, which spawned a large number of such publications.

I suggest that you attempt to trace the Schulz book via IWM or the British Library. If you want to buy one, go to www.zvab.com and set up a search for Infanterie Regiment 55. This morning three were for sale, the cheapest being €150. The others were nearer to €250, which seems a bit pricy to me. The €150 represents the going rate for these old limited edition histories.

Jack

[Mark Hone]

Jack-Thank you very much for your help. I would be very grateful for a scan of the 'summary' history. I can have it translated by my friend the Head of German at school. I will try and track down the longer version. I am particularly interested in the mention by Bristow of the few Gurkhas who reach the German breastwork running up and down the wire 'like cats'. In October, we shall be at the site with a boy of Nepalese descent.

[Jack Sheldon]

Mark

To save time, here is a translation of the relevant section. I am afraid that it is not terribly informative

Poetter p 23

9th May The battle at La Bassee

'The British are attacking. As dawns breaks, numerous enemy aircraft are over the position. At 5.30 am [one hour ahead of UK time, of course] enemy artillery of all calibres begins to fire. This quickly increases in weight. The companies are stood to. At 6.30 am the British and Indians attempt an attack in two thin waves, which we break up with small arms fire. At 9.00 am a stronger attack is launched. It, too, collapses in the fire of our companies. The tough men of our 11th Company on the left flank eject the enemy who have broken in by means of grenades and use of the bayonet, taking eight prisoners. The enemy artillery fire temporarily decreases in intensity. It increases once again towards 4.00 pm, reaching renewed intensity as preparation for the third attack. This too is beaten off by a combination of the courageous survivors of the trench garrison and the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 10th Companies, who have been deployed forward in the meantime. Regimental losses: 12 Officers and 590 NCOs and men killed or wounded and 5 missing'

N.B serious losses from an overall strength of around 2,500 for the regiment. The casualty list breaks down the officer casualties as follows: Killed: Leutnants Schuett,Epmeyer, Burgass. Wounded: Leutnants Benzler, Triller, Kamphaus, Schmidt, Meier (Karl), Kuehn, Watermann.

Best of luck with the remainder of the search.

Jack