Aisne- Chemin des Dames Battle May- June 1918

[stiletto_33853]

On May 29th a composite battalion was formed from details and stragglers and assembled at Champlat, under the command of Brig.-General G.W. St. G. Grogan, C.M.G., D.S.O., 23rd Brigade, and Major A.E. Wass, M.C., Lieutenant C.J. Eyston, five other officers and sixty other ranks went to form part of this unit which marched at 12 noon to Sarcy, arriving there at 3.0 p.m. and coming into divisional reserve.

Meanwhile things had not been going well for the Allies, although reinforcements were coming up in the form of the 19th Division.

By 1.25 p.m. our troops and the French had been compelled to withdraw to the high ground between Courcelles and Faverolles, but the leading battalions of the 19th Division had come up and were digging in between Tramery and Lhery.

At about 4 p.m. the commander of the 154th French Division told G.O.C. 8th Division that the enemy had broken through the line at Lhery with tanks and the composite battalion was at once ordered to proceed thither to counter-attack. The rumour, however, proved to be false and the tanks to be French armoured cars. So the composite battalion returned to Sarcy.

At 5.0 p.m. the enemy attacked very heavily the positions north of Faverolles and Treslon and forced back our line to the spur north of Bouleuse.

General Grogan was put in command of all the troops in this position. The line was held for two hours, but with difficulty, and it was the arrival of the composite battalion which temporarily restored the position. For his conduct on this occasion General Grogan received the Victoria Cross.

That night the Allied line ran from north of Mery Premecy, north of Tramery and thence south-west to Lhery..

Casualties to the Second Battalion on this day were estimated at three officers and forty-seven other ranks.

This line was held until 12 noon on May 30th, when there was another withdrawal to near Sarcy.

In the meanwhile at 9.0 a.m. the 19th Division had taken over the front of the 8th Division and the latter disappeared from the battle. Not so those elements of the division already in the line, for these were taken over by the 19th Division, the Second Battalion party now consisted of some three officers and sixteen other ranks.

During the night the French troops arrived and relieved the composite battalion, which thereupon moved to Chaumuzy and joined a brigade of the 19th Division. There it was so ordered to move to Nanteuil to report to Colonel Fielding, attached 8th Division, and remained in that place during the 31st.

During these days the remnants of the 25th Brigade H.Q. with Transport and such few details as remained to it had moved southwards, crossed the River Marne at Port a Binson, and, by 31st, had reached Grauves, south-east of Epernayt, and were billeted in the village. Here also, officially, was the Second Battalion - less detachments still numbering three officers and sixteen other ranks with Captain Boughton-Leigh's party.

His party, it will be recalled, was sent up on the evening of the 27th to join the scratch force under the 75th Brigade. Unfortunately, the extreme fluidity of the battle front at this time resulted in the party failing to find the 75th Brigade where it was expected to be. There followed several remarkable days. On more than one occasion the party found itself behind German lines but managed to escape; at one time its commander placed himself under the orders of a French battalion commander who, expressing himself as delighted at the small reinforcement, placed it in support behind, and midway between, the two halve of his battalion. In the morning, however, the French had disappeared.

During its wanderings the chief nourishment of the party was champagne found in the cellars of deserted houses; the Germans also had found the same commodity, a fact which once led to the escape of the little band when surrounded, owing to the enemy's gait and eye being unsteady to a degree which precluded marching, or shooting. Eventually the party found the Battalion Transport where it learnt that it was officially regarded as missing.

[stiletto_33853]

2nd RB's

[stiletto_33853]

During the first days of June the IXth Corps formed various composite battalions including a 1/8th and 2/8th Battalions and on June 2nd Captain Broughton-Leigh and his party were sent up to join the latter which was in reserve about Courton Wood, south of Bligny. The party was not actively employed in repelling the last German attack on June 6th but, with all other parties of the 8th Division, was retained for the present by the 19th Division which on June 19th was relieved by the 8th Italian Division. For the British Army the Second Battle of the Aisne was over.

Before leaving the Second Battalion it may be mentioned here that the "official" battalion remained in billets south of Epernay carrying out training, with what men is not mentioned, until June 13th, when it entrained at Fere Champenoise for Longpre, near Abbeville, and marched to billets at Hocquincourt. 2nd Lieutenant W.H. Brann and thirteen other ranks had meanwhile on the 12th been returned by the 19th Division and, between the 17th and 19th, reinforcements of fourteen officers and six hundred and thirty seven other ranks were received. On the latter date Captain Boughton-Leigh rejoined with his party from the 2/8th Composite Battalion, bringing with him four officers and his firty-nine other ranks.

[stiletto_33853]

David,

Thats the Regimental Account of this period in time, if you need the 2nd Rifle Brigade's War Service Record for this let me know and I will place it here for you. Hope this helps a little.

Andy

[David_Blanchard]

Andy,

Another tremendous contribution, thanks again for all effort. If you have the time available to write the 2nd Rifle Brigade's contribution that would also be greatly appreciated.

Regards

David

[stiletto_33853]

My pleasure David. I do not have the War Diary for the 2nd on these dates but in the 1919 Rifle Brigade Chronicle there is the War Service Record that is taken form the War Diary.

The line was certainly amazingly quiet and we marched back to Guyancourt on the 16th without having suffered a single casualty. In fact the absence of any sort of activity was so marked as to be almost uncanny. On the 20th we took over the line once more and found the same conditions prevailing. "A" and "B" Companies were in the line, "C" in support and "D" in reserve and the two latter were also responsible for protecting the right flank, where 500 yards of meadow seperated our trenches from the river Aisne, on the opposite bank of which the Germans occupied the high ground overlooking the whole of the Battalion area.

We thus held a frontage of over two miles in all and the trenches were, in consequence, very weakly garrisoned. The enemy could be heard every night hard at work in and in front of his lines and we, at the same time, were busy preparing to carry out a raid with "B" Company. Up to and including the 26th we had only one casualty. That evening a prisoner captured by the Brigade on our left stated that an attack was to be carried out the following morning. At 2 a.m. on the 27th the enemy opened an intense bombardment, which included a large percentage of gas and smoke shells. Up till 4 a.m. he made no attack on our front, then quite suddenly he crossed the river at several different points and proceeded to drive a series of wedges into our right flank. Owing to the density of the smoke and the noise of the bombardment, he was on top of us before we had the slightest idea of his approach. Sentries looking out over the parapet were shot down, without warning, from the rear. The Battalion had lost nearly fifty per cent in the preliminary bombardment and of the remainder only a handful survived the final assault.

Casualties - Officers: Killed: Lieutenant J.S. Gribbon, 2nd Lieutenants A.H. Halford, D.C.M., J.L. Rapoport, R.C. Ellis, O. Bruce and A.J. Arch. Wounded: Lieutenant - Colonel H.S.C. Richardson; 2nd Lieutenants A.W. Allen, T.H. Vincent, D.L. McLean, M. Godfrey, D. Lowder, G.D. Denison, G.C. Hoare and D.D. Macrae.

Prisoners: Major A.A.Todd, Captains E.W. Cremer, G.H.G. Anderson, D.S.O., M.C., and A.N. Warren. 2nd Lieutenants W.H. Harris, M.C., W.H. Abercrombie, J. Farrell, R. Beattie, E.P. Horgan, R.T. Caldwell and G. Purvis.

Other ranks, about 680 killed, wounded or missing.

Meanwhile the details, consisting of seven officers and about 100 other ranks were sent up from the Transport lines to hold the village of Gernicourt. These were afterwards amalgamated with other remnants of the Division to form a composite Battalion and remained in action until the 30th when, their numbers having been reduced to three officers and sixteen other ranks, they were withdrawn from the line. Of the Battalion, as it existed at the beginning of March, practically nothing remained by the beginning of June. A nucleus, consisting mainly of the Transport, was formed at Soulieres on the 3rd and to this large drafts were added throughout the month.

June and July were entirely devoted to training and reorganisation. It was not until 5 August that the Battalion was again put in the line.

Andy

[David_Blanchard]

Thanka again Andy,

I have John Nettleton's account of the 2 Rifle Brigade in the Aisne Battle, contained in his book:

'The Anger of the Guns: An Infantry Officer on the Western Front'

DB

[stiletto_33853]

David,

No problem, Nettleton's book is not a bad account and as he served in both Regular and New Army battalions makes a couple of interesting comparisons.

Andy

[David_Blanchard]

For Philip Terry. British (12th/13th Northumberlands) and French Troops at Jonchery

[philg]

Hi David,

just been reading through this fascinating thread you started. My G. Uncle was in C/250 RFA and was captured on May 27, 1918. I just wondered if you had any info on artillery units of the 50th Division on this day?

cheers

Phil

[David_Blanchard]

Hello Phil,

Fascinating reply from the Red Cross. I sent an e mail perhaps 9 Months ago to find out which POW Camp my Great Uncle was sent to after being captured on the Aisne.

How long ago did you contact the Red Cross?

I think I have an account written by an Officier in the 250 RFA I will have a look over the next few days to see what I can find.

Regards

David

[philg]

Yes, it was very quick, we only sent the details off to them on November 23rd and I really was prepared to get nothing back.

Thanks for looking for me, I really appreciate it.

cheers

Phil

[David_Blanchard]

Hello Phil,

The Officer I mentioned above was in the 251st RFA.

However from my thesis I can give you the following:

The 250th Brigade was also subjected to the concentrated firepower of the German barrage. The commanding officer of the brigade, Colonel Johnston wrote to a colleague, Colonel H S Bell on the 28th May:

‘At 1am the Bosch opened a tremendous fire of high explosive and gas mixed so that we all had to stick in our gas proof dug outs and wear gas masks. Findlay, who was FOO (Forward Observation Officer), says the flashes of the guns were in a continuous line, and I think most of them must have been in the open, and so close up to the front line…Findlay only saw for a minute or so, as the Bosch then put over smoke, and the wind was blowing straight towards the O P. There was also a heavy ground mist at dawn, so visibility was nil from the start. What happened to the infantry I have not yet heard, but I fancy they were pretty well scumfished in the front line.

His barrage fire was wonderful and everybody caught it even Divisional Headquarters, and of course he knew exactly where every battery and HQ and OP was. In the woods the gas soon became pretty bad, and, wearing respirators, it was impossible to find your way in the dark. I was therefore unable to send out any orderlies out till daybreak. The lines were absolutely gone by 1.15am. I got one message through to DA and one to batteries, before they went. Graham and linesmen tried to repair Infantry lines, but it was hopeless in the dark with respirators.’

The howitzers of D Battery struggled to keep up a rate of twenty rounds per hour through the German barrage. This battery was one of the few that had not been accurately targeted by the enemy, and no howitzer was badly hit or ammunition set ablaze, but all lines of communication were cut and the guns continued to fire blind. However, the effects of the lingering gas began to take its toll, with many men collapsing in the gun pits; by 2.30am there were only enough survivors to keep two howitzers in action. Finally at 7am the remaining guns were overwhelmed by the German infantry and the guns turned round and used by enemy gunners:

‘D Battery put up a fine fight, Darling and Earle, with two attached Infantry officers and a Corporal, working the last gun, after all the rest of the battery were unconscious with gas, and Darling was last seen shooting at the Bosch with his revolver, while the other two worked the gun. It was of course impossible to get the guns away, as you could not possibly bring up horses.'

A and B Batteries fought their guns until 6am. Colonel Shiel of A Battery noticed the lifting barrage coming towards him and ordered breech blocks and sights to be removed and retired his men towards the Aisne. B Battery was quickly overwhelmed before appropriate measures could be carried out to render their guns ineffective, as was the case with C Battery, and almost all of the officers and men taken prisoner.

Profound confusion reigned over most of 250th Brigade’s sector. The wood, Bois des Beaumarais, had been deluged in gas and the criss-crossing path and trackways to and from the individual battery operating positions added to the general chaos. All lines of communication had been cut. In this situation misunderstandings between units and divisional and Brigade Headquarters were the inevitable result. Orders were sent out from Divisional Headquarters to the gun lines at Glennes for horse limbers to be brought up to pull out the howitzers from D battery. Their wagons were met by machine gun fire at close range, and only one escaped. All the rest were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. A Battery’s gun limbers almost shared a similar fate:

‘Within a mile of the river I picked up the rest of the Battery, retiring in good order, and suddenly, to my horror, discovered coming to meet us, all the wagons and gun limbers. By screaming myself hoarse I got them halted, for they did not recognise their purple-faced, red eyed Battery Commander and, moreover, they had already been told that he was no more by the Sergeant-Major, who had incidentally pinched my horse! It did not take long to get the Captain away at a gallop with the wagons for one bridge, nor for me to recapture my horse, get the limbers turned, and chase back to the other bridge. There was no time to be lost. As we came up to the bridge, two teams were shot down by our own shells; for the Germans had captured the Brigade on our left intact, and had turned their guns round and were firing on the bridge, and very accurately too.’

Brigade Headquarters also had a narrow escape. The French officer who commanded the battery at Evereux had alerted Colonel Johnstone to the oncoming German Infantry. At 7.30am all papers from Brigade Headquarters were burned and the remaining personnel moved towards the Aisne, ‘which we did only just in time, getting well machine gunned when we reached the river, which we crossed at 10am.’ The losses of the 250th Brigade R F A were reported to be in the region of 160, killed, wounded and missing.

I like the use of the word 'Scumfished' in the above account.

I hope this account helps.

Regards

David

PS Keep this under your hat as its part of an unpublished thesis. I am working on the publication!

[philg]

David,

thanks so much for letting us see that, I could never have hoped to find such a direct account of his battery. Mums the word.

Incidentally, do any maps exist of their locations? I wonder where they were in relation to Pontavert.

[David_Blanchard]

I am afraid I don't have any exact maps of the locations. The OH provides a general map of the area and the location of 250 RFA .

David

[philg]

Hi David,

no problem and thanks for your help, and best of luck with the Thesis.

best regards

Phil

[David_Blanchard]

A German Memorial card for a soldier killed on the 27th May 1918. He served in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, the same unit as Adolf Hitler:

[David_Blanchard]

LouisaG

Mentioned her grandfather who was taken prisoner on the 27th May 1918 as part of the 2nd Middlesex Regiment on the Thread :

Langensalza Camp

'My grandfather (2nd Batt, Middlesex) was imprisoned at Langensalza in 1918. We have letters and blank cards sent by him from the camp and I have subsequently acquired a photographic card of the camp canteen.

There were about 12,000 men held there of many nationalities. Conditions were difficult, there was little food, and many men starved to death during the Autumn and Winter of 1918. My grandfather's letters ask for food to be sent, describes the daily ration - some soup, a piece of bread, which would be augmented by some of the week's issue of 24 biscuits, and talks of staying in bed all day to stay warm. The prisoners, he told my father, would eat the grass that they could reach outside the wire. He lost his uniform - somewhere between being captured at the battle of the Aisne and arriving in the camp in September and came home in early 1919 in a paper uniform with newspaper wrapped round his feet.

I think this camp was used as a labour camp during WW2 and may have been part of the Treblinka complex.'

Louisa

[David_Blanchard]

Forum Member David T (David Thompson) has had an article published in this month's Stand To! (January 2007 Number 78) :

First and Last: Durham Light Infantry: Involvement in the Battles of the Aisne

Pages 34-37

[David_Blanchard]

From the website:

<b>"Local History & Heritage with the Marple Website"</b>

<a href="http://www.marple-uk.com/remembered.htm" target="_blank">http://www.marple-uk.com/remembered.htm</a>

Name: <b>NEALE, OSWALD</b>

Initials: O

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Private

Regiment/Service: South Wales borderers

Unit Text: 6th Bn.

Age: 29

Date of Death: 28/05/1918

Service No: 48852

Additional information: Son of John Thomas Neale and Mary Neale, of 22, Church St., Marple, Cheshire.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Memorial: <b>SOISSONS MEMORIAL</b>

<div align="center"><img src="http://greatwar1914-1918.freeservers.com/Chemin%20des%20Dames/Oswald%20Neale%206%20Bn%20South%20Wales%20Bord%20KIA%2028%20May%201918.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></div>

[Susan Tall]

Hi everyone

I'm new to the Forum and was so pleased to find this thread as I've been researching my uncle's Great War history. He was a Sergeant with the 8th Leicesters was wounded and captured on the 27th May 1918. He was imprisoned at Bazancourt and on the 27th August he and a chum from the 7th Leicesters managed to escape and spent 4 days and nights getting back through the enemy line to their headquarters.

I have a newspaper account of his escape and the 8th Leicesters war diary for the 27th May. However I was thrilled a few weeks ago to find on the National Archives website a copy of my uncle's testimony taken when he and his friend arrived back in England. This gives an account of the conditions when he was captured and life in the prison camp. Some of the things he mentioned were quite an eye-opener, as although he told his family the story of his escape there were obviously a lot of things he didn't tell them, although he always said it was the brutality of the German prison guards that made him decide to escape.

I'm quite willing to post any of this if you would like it. I've also got various photos, including one of the brutal German prison guards. on the back of which my uncle and his chum had signed an oath threatening to kill them if they ever met them after the war. My uncle received the MM and Bar.

Sue

[David_Blanchard]

Hello Susan,

Welcome to the forum. I am intrigued in respect of the information that you found out about your uncle through the National Archives website, do you have a reference, as I would like to chase up my two relatives who were also taken POW on the Aisne.

It would be brilliant if you could post anything about your uncles adventures, especially the photographs.

BTW have you got a copy of the book 'The Tigers' By Matthew Richardson which has a good section on the 110th Brigade's involvement on the Aisne?

Regards

David

[Susan Tall]

David

The Prisoner of War interviews and reports are at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/pow.asp They have 3,000 on-line at present. You have to pay to get the full report, but I think I only paid about £3.50 for 4 pages which I was able to print off. Certainly cheaper than going all the way to Kew. Hope you find your prisoners.

I'll post some pictures once I've worked out how to do it on here. Yes I have a copy of "The Tigers" and have been in touch with Matthew. Unfortunately when I was doing the majority of my research I didn't realise he was writing his book! Always happens - I published a book Kenilworth & The Great War 3 years ago and I'm still acquiring extra information and photos, but now have a website so am putting all these extras on there.

Sue

[David_Blanchard]

Susan,

Just had a look at your website. I was particularly drawn to the information you have regarding Captain Trevor Tweedy of the 6th Bn NF.

I wonder if he is related to Major Tweedy CO of the 5th NF on the Aisne?

If you have any trouble posting the information here you can send them to me and I will post them on:

blanchie@btinternet.com

Do you have any references to your uncle on your website, or is exclusively about Kenilworth and the Great War?

Regards

David

[Susan Tall]

David

My website is just concerning those on the Kenilworth War Memorial. As regards Captain Trevor Tweedy I would imagine he could have been related to Major Tweedy CO of the 5th NF although I have no evidence. Trevor's father was Major Reginald Tweedy, RAMC, who served with the French Red Cross in France in 1915 and 1916 and took charge of the 2nd Birmingham War Hospital in July 1916. He died aged 48 in 1917 from pneumonia and is also on Kenilworth War Memorial as he was the town's general practitioner. The previous generations of Tweedys came from Cornwall and were bankers.

Thanks for offering help with putting the photos on here. I think I'll be ok - my husband will probably do it as he's the real computer expert in our household.

Sue