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The 36th (Ulster) Division at the Battle of the
Somme
1916
Lecture given on 25th May 1966 by Lieut.-Colonel J. T. Sleator, B.A.,
R.A.E.C.
Chief Education Officer, Northern Ireland Command at Thiepval Barracks,
Lisburn
to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Battle and to illustrate the
significance of the name "Thiepval"
Foreword
On 1 July
this year, it will be 80 years since the battle of Thiepval after which
this barracks was named. A commemorative stone outside the Garrison
Church salutes the bravery of the 36th (Ulster) Division which suffered
5,766 casualties that day.
Thirty years ago, my predecessor, the late Lieutenant
Colonel Jim Sleator BA RAEC, marked the 50th anniversary of Thiepval by
giving a lecture on the role of the 36th (Ulster) Division at the Battle
of the Somme. On the 80th anniversary, I am proud to re-issue the
transcript of that lecture as a tribute to those Ulster volunteers who
gave their lives for their country.
Many more books have been written about the Somme over
the past 30 years and the Command Librarian, Miss Penny Scott has added
a new bibliography to supplement Lieutenant Colonel Sleator's. A visit
to the Somme Heritage Centre at Newtownards is also recommended.
May 1966 Lieutenant Colonel D. W. Pittendreigh, Commander AGC(ETS)
Bibliography
-
The West Point Atlas of
American Wars: the Department of Military Art and Engineering. US
Military Academy (New York Frederick A. Praeger 1959)
-
The History of the 36th
(Ulster) Division: Cyril Falls (Belfast Linenhall Press 1922)
-
The Irish on the Somme:
Michael McDonagh (London Hodder & Stoughton 1917)
-
The Somme: Anthony
Farrar-Hockley (London Batsford 1964)
-
The Western Front: John M.
Terraine (London Hutchison 1964)
-
The Great War: John M.
Terraine (London Hutchison 1965)
Maps
-
The West Point Military Atlas:
Maps1, 2, 3, and 6
-
History of the 36th (Ulster)
Division: Map 4.
Acknowledgement
The late Lieut-Colonel W. A.
Shooter O.B.E.
Updated Bibliography
-
*Barker, R. (1994) Royal Flying
Corps in France: from Mons to the Somme Constable
-
Brown, M. (1996) Imperial War
Museum book of the Somme: Sidgwick and Jackson
-
Chappell, M. (1995) Somme, 1916:
crucible of a British Army: Windrow and Greene
-
*Doherty, R. (1992) The sons of
Ulster: Ulstermen at war from the Somme to Korea Appletree Press
-
Dungan, M. (1995) Irish voices
from the Great War: Irish Academic Press
-
Dyer, G. (1994) Missing of the
Somme: Hamilton
-
Evans, M. (1996) Battles of the
Somme: Weidenfeld and Nicholson
-
*Gliddon, G. (1990) When the
barrage lifts: a topographical history and commentary on the Battle of
the Somme 1916: Leo Cooper
-
*Gliddon, G. (1996) Legacy of the
Somme: the battle in fact, film and fiction: A. Sutton
-
*Hall, M. (1993) Sacrifice on the
Somme: Island Pubs.
-
*Harris, J. (1966) The Somme:
death of a generation: White Lion
-
Holt, T. & V. (1996) Major and
Mrs. Holt's guide to the battlefields of the Somme: Leo Cooper
-
Lewis, G. H. & Bowyer, C. (1994)
Wings over the Somme, 1916-18 2nd rev. ed: Bridge Books
-
*Liddle, P. (1992) 1916 Battle of
the Somme: Leo Cooper
-
*Macdonald, L. (1993) The Somme:
Penguin
-
*McCarthy, C. (1993) The Somme:
the day by day account: Arms and Armour Press
-
*McGuinness, F. (1986) Observe the
sons of Ulster marching towards the Somme: Faber (play)
-
*Middlebrook, M. (1984) First day
on the Somme: 1st July, 1916: Penguin
-
*Orr, P. (1988) Road to the Somme:
men of the Ulster Division tell their story: Blackstaff
-
Powell, A. (1996) Fierce light:
the battle of the Somme, July-November 1916 - a selection of prose and
poetry: Palladour Books
-
Stedman, M. (1995) Thiepval: Leo
Cooper
-
Westlake, R. (1994) British
battalions ob the Somme: Leo Cooper
The titles marked with an asterisk
are available for loan from the Command Library
May 1996
Miss P. K. Scott, Command Librarian
Thiepval
"These barracks are named Thiepval
Barracks in recognition of the splendid action fought by the 36th
(Ulster) Division in that area in France on 1 July 1916 when casualties
were 5,766 all ranks." Those of you who have stopped to read the
inscription on the plaque at the entrance to the Camp will recognise the
words which I have just read and, as this year is the 50th anniversary
of the Battle of the Somme, in which that action took place, it is felt
right and proper that we ought to know a little more about it.
A habit prevalent amongst the
soldiery in Northern Ireland is to refer to people who have crossed the
water to England, Scotland or Wales as being in UK. This, although
unintentional, is an insult to the people amongst whom we live. What has
this to do with Thiepval? I hope this will be obvious.
The whole battle of the Somme
lasted for 4 1/2 months in an area 25 miles long and 5 1/2 miles wide,
or the distance from her (here?) to Ballymena in length and to
Hillsborough in depth, and it is estimated that the approximate total
number of casualties, British, French and German was 1,200,000, about
2/3 of the population of Ulster today, so, you may wonder why it is
necessary to single out this particular action which must appear
relatively small. Militarily, it was a magnificent achievement and had
there been similar gains on that day all along the front, the Battle of
the Somme would have resulted in one of the greatest victories of the
war and the total number of casualties might in the end have been much
less. Four Victoria Crosses and numerous lesser awards were won on the
first day by the Division and there were many unrecorded acts of
gallantry.
What was so special about the 25th
Division? Only this; it consisted entirely of Ulstermen and had been
formed from a particular organisation; they were the first military unit
in Britain composed of men of the same political and religious beliefs
since the seventeenth century, but to understand them fully it is
necessary to go back for a little while into Irish history.
Historical Background - British
Power in Ireland
The English first came to Ireland
in 1170 and various efforts were made by the Irish to dislodge them over
the next four hundred years, without success. There were rebellions and
fighting but the British influence remained and, as was the custom at
the time, Ireland was treated as a Province. Hostility grew after the
Reformation because the Irish were almost exclusively Roman Catholic
while the English were Protestant. Towards the end of the 16th century
the two biggest Irish thorns in Queen Elizabeth's flesh were O'Neill - a
name not unfamiliar in politics here today - and O'Donnell. These two
local leaders occupied almost the whole of the Northern part of Ireland,
O'Neill in the east and O'Donnell in the west, principally Donegal.
After much fighting they intimately reached agreement with Elizabeth,
signed a treaty with her and, in fact became two of the favourites at
her court. They were given earldoms and everything seemed peaceful when
Elizabeth died. James VI, King of Scotland, became James 1 of England,
which united England and Scotland and he, whose main problem seemed to
be to try and find a middle way between the Calvinistic Presbyterianism
of Scotland and Roman Catholicism, felt that the church of England
offered a solution. The thing to remember here is that religious strife
was going on throughout Europe at this time and was not confined to
Great Britain and Ireland. However, James denied O'Neill and O'Donnell
the religious freedom which Elizabeth had promised them and they fled
from the Court and came back to Ireland where they raised an army and
made one other unsuccessful attempt to throw off British domination.
They were defeated at Kinsale in County Cork in 1607 and fled the
country to France.
Growth of Protestantism in Ulster
James seized their lands, almost
the whole of what is now Ulster, and gave them to his Scottish
Protestant friends who had supported him in the past. He thus brought
about what is generally known as the plantation of Ulster and created in
these parts a Protestant population loyal to the British Crown. To this
population was later added, towards the end of the century, a large
number of Protestant Huguenots from Flanders, who fled after the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. This Edict, almost a century
before, had promised the Huguenots political and religious freedom but
the French King revoked it and so the Huguenots fled, remembering the
persecution of earlier times. Many moved to Northern Ireland because
they found the climate there suitable for their traditional trade, which
was linen, and it was also of course a Protestant community. In fact, a
large number of them settled in this particular area of Lisburn and if
you go into the older part of the town, near the river, you will find
many names on small streets and alleyways which are of French origin. In
can be seen, therefore, how a strong Protestant community grew up in the
north of Ireland. The war of the Protestant succession started in 1689
because the people of England had refused to have James II as their
King, because he was a Roman Catholic, and they therefore offered the
Crown to William, Prince of Orange, who had, in fact married James's
daughter, Mary. After defeat in England, James II ultimately came to
Ireland where he was sure of support from the Roman Catholic population
in the South and there he raised an army. William followed him and
landed at Carrickfergus, where he also found support for his cause
amongst the Protestants of the North, who joined his army which was
previously composed of English and Dutch soldiers. James II was finally
defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and William reigned over
Great Britain and Ireland thereafter, as William III, with Mary his
wife, who was, in any case, her father's legitimate successor. His
followers in Ulster became known as Orangemen, from his own title. It
was as a result of this War of the Protestant Succession that today the
English Kings must be Protestants or they cannot occupy the Throne.
Struggle for Irish Home Rule
Nevertheless, the majority of the
population in Ireland, being Roman Catholic, were still not happy about
being subject to the British, and various small rebellions took place
during the 18th century culminating in the rebellion of 1798 where again
the Irish were defeated. but the feeling in Ireland was so strong that
ultimately an Act of Union between the two countries was brought into
being. This seemed to go well for a while, but the Irish people still
felt that they were merely being used for the convenience of the
British; the land in Ireland was mostly owned by British landlords who
lived in London on the rents they extracted from a poor peasantry and
returned very little of what they took out of the country. Certainly the
welfare of their tenants seemed to cause them little worry. The usual
pattern of events in Ireland continued, with agitation for complete Home
Rule, until ultimately the Irish MPS at Westminster, at the end of the
last century, were in a powerful position, because the Liberal
Government, without their support, could not command a majority in
Parliament. The result was that the Government of 1911 promised Home
Rule to Ireland and the Bill got as far as its second reading when the
First World War broke out in 1914.
The Ulster Volunteer Force
Now Home Rule did not suit
Protestant Ulster. The power of the Roman Catholic priests in the South
was enormous and so the slogan in Ulster became 'Home Rule is Rome
Rule'. As you know, this slogan persists today amongst certain elements
in the community. However, they were not prepared to be governed by a
Roman Catholic majority from Dublin, in the same way as the white
Rhodesians are not prepared to be governed by a black majority in
Rhodesia today. The result of it was that the Ulster Protestants decided
that they would fight to defend their membership of the United Kingdom,
should it be necessary, and also to signify their loyalty to the Crown,
which they had demonstrated at the Boyne so ably, over 200 years before.
To fight for their principles they formed themselves into an
organisation known as the Ulster Volunteer Force and this was set up in
1912 on military lines. Arms were procured, and drilling and training
took place and so, when was broke out in 1914, a ready-made military
organisation existed in Ulster which is said to have contained over
80,000 men between the ages of 17 and 65. Sir Edward Carson, a Dublin
man, whose idea and creation the Ulster Volunteer Force was, invited
General Sir George Richardson, a retired officer, to take command of it.
Believe it or not, there was serious talk before the First World War
came upon the nation that Ulster should be forced to accept Home Rule
with the rest of Ireland and that the Army should be used to enforce it.
This gave rise to what has been called 'the Curragh Mutiny', which was
not really a mutiny at all, but merely an expression of intention on the
part of certain officers stationed at Army HQ in the Curragh in County
Kildare, that they would rather resign than fight against the Ulster
people, who were merely demonstrating their loyalty to the King.
However, the Irish MPs at Westminster, on the outbreak of war, were
content to let the question of Home Rule be set aside until after the
war, in view of the solemn promise given that it would be brought about
afterwards. So on June 28, 1914, the Irish question, which had dominated
British politics for over half a century, was suddenly reduced to the
status of a minor provincial squabble, when the German army swept
through Belgium into Northern France.
The War in Europe
On August 4, 1914, Britain,
angered by the violation of Belgian neutrality, entered the war to
support France and Russia. The official attitude of Mr. John Redmond,
who was the leader of he Irish party at Westminster, was that Ireland
should support England by every means possible in the fight against
Germany. He is quoted as saying:
"This was is a war of
liberation and its battle cried the rights and liberties of
humanity. From the very beginning of the conflict, my colleagues in
the Irish party and I myself have availed of every opportunity in
Parliament, on the platform and in the Press to present this view of
it to the Irish race at home and abroad and despite the tragic
mistakes made in regard to Ireland by the successive Governments
which have held office since the war broke out, we are still
unshaken in our opinion that Ireland's highest interests lie in the
speedy and overwhelming victory of England and the allies.
At the outbreak of the war I asked the Irish people and especially
the young men of Ireland to mark the profound change which has been
brought about in the relation of Ireland and the Empire by
wholeheartedly supporting the allies in the field. I pointed out
that, at long last, after centuries of misunderstanding, the
democracy of Great Britain had finally and irrevocably decided to
trust Ireland with self-government and I called upon Ireland to
prove that this concession of liberty would have the same effect in
our country as it had in every other portion of the Empire and
henceforth Ireland would be a strength instead of a weakness. I
further pointed out that the war was provoked by the intolerable
military despotism if Germany, that it was a war in defence of small
nationalities and Ireland would be false to her own history in
traditions, as well as to honour, good faith and self interest if
she did not respond to my appeal. The answer to that appeal is one
of the most astonishing facts in history".
Indeed it was, for the young men
of Ireland rallied to the colours in great numbers, trusting the British
Government. When the promise would have been kept, or how the Irish
rebellion of 1916 affected the issue, is a matter for conjecture.
Formation of the 36th (Ulster)
Division
With this background, the Ulster
Volunteer Force felt no insecurity at all in going to the defence of the
Empire in the First World War. Lord Kitchener, Secretary of state for
war, who was trying to raise an Army, said he wanted the Ulster
Volunteers and as a result the 36th (Ulster) Division was formed. One
thing to remember is that there was no conscription at this time and the
country relied on volunteers to find troops in sufficient numbers. They
came in their thousands and were, as volunteers, the cream of the
nation. A poster then produced is said to have been the most effective
ever made. (Poster picture opposite). The volunteers and the regiments
they formed were popularly known as "Kitchener's Armies".
There were difficulties in
organising the 36th Division as part of the Army - lack of money, lack
of uniforms, lack of arms - but largely through the energy of Captain
James Craig, who later became the first Prime Minister of Northern
Ireland and later still, Lord Craigavon, after whom the new town now
being created near Lurgan is being named - money and uniforms were
procured, mostly at no cost to the State but through the generosity of
the people of Ulster and large businesses in Belfast. Craig had the
advantage of knowing Lord Kitchener very well from South African days ad
pointed out, when he was in difficulty that he had not the weight behind
him to carry matters through, Kitchener, immediately, personally gave
instructions that he was to get what he required. Craig then returned to
Ireland and set up hutted camps at Clandeboye, Ballykinler (which is
still there) and Newtownards and at Finner on the Donegal coast. The
organisation of the Division proceeded swiftly. A large house at 29
Wellington Place, Belfast was taken over and equipped as Headquarters
and three Infantry Brigades were formed - 107 from the city of Belfast
itself, 108 from the Counties of Down, Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan - 109
from Tyrone, Londonderry, Donegal and Fermanagh, with one Belfast
Battalion. Ancillary services were also recruited, including RAMC,
Signals, RASC and so on. The 36th Division of Artillery was raised six
months after the Division itself. Major-General C. H. Powell was
appointed to command the Division and Craig was promoted
Lieutenant-Colonel and became AA & QMG. Training was in full swing by
the end of September 1914, with 107 Brigade at Ballykinler, 108 at
Clandeboye and Newtownards and 109 ay Finner and it continued right
throughout the next year until ultimately the Division moved to Seaford
in Sussex in July 1915, in preparation for going to France.
Lord Kitchener inspected the
Division on 27th July and regarded it as the finest he had yet seen.
Training continued with the senior officers having been sent to France
to examine the conditions there at first hand. Major-General Nugent
succeeded Major-General Powell as Commander of the Division on the
grounds that he had already seen action in France. On September 30th,
King George V reviewed the Division prior to their departure to France
and the Division moved over to the Battlefield at the beginning of
October. At this time some of the Brigades were taken out of the
Division and replaced by others but on representation back in London,
the Divisional Brigades were brought back together again and it was as
an entity that they moved up to the Somme in the Spring of 1916.
The Progress of the War: Map No.
1
CLICK to enlarge
Now what had been happening in
Europe and into what circumstances were these soldiers sent? As I
mentioned briefly, earlier, the war in Europe had been going on since
August 1914. It had started when Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand of Austria
was assassinated in Serbia, as a result of which the Austrians declared
war on the Serbians. The Russians came in to help the Serbians, the
Germans to help the Austrians and the French to help the Russians. Now
this may seem a logical development of the two sides but in fact what
was behind the war was German aggrandizement and the wish for conquest
and power in Europe. Austria declared war only in the knowledge that
Germany would help her. The Germans had been making threatening noises
for ten years previously and, in fact, in 1905 had evolved a plan for
attacking France which was known as the Schlieffen Plan; so called after
its author, Count Von Schlieffen, who was Chief of the German General
Staff before his retirement and this was his last great work. The
Schlieffen plan was based on the fact that the rough ground and French
fortifications prevented an attack against Eastern France and it was
felt that the weakest part of the French was in the north, ie through
Belgium. The basis of the plan was to deploy the German forces in the
proportion of seven in the north to one in the south, whilst an Army in
the East held the Russians. A war on two fronts was taken for granted by
Schlieffen because of the traditional Franco-Russian alliance. Those in
the south would hold the expected French thrust there, (the French 'Plan
60'), whilst those in the north would sweep round the comparatively
undefended part, through Belgium, and encircle the French armies from
behind and capture Paris en route. However, Von Moltke, the German
Commander in Chief in 1914, because the Saar coalmines and the Rhineland
industrial area were essential to the German war effort, tried to modify
the Schlieffen Plan and the five groups allotted by Schlieffen to the
Southern defence seemed to him inadequate. Because the Germans were
fighting the Russians on the Eastern front, the only place where Von
Moltke could get the necessary troops was in the north and so it meant
that the forces available to him to carry out the northern flanking
movement had to be correspondingly weakened.
The Marne
What happened at the outbreak of
war was that the Germans in fact held the French in the south where the
French had made some thrusts. The German armies in the north swept round
and got almost as far as Paris but were held up at the Battle of the
Marne where Von Kluck Commanding the 1st Army looked like running into a
trap with his flanks unguarded, north east of Paris, when he learned of
the creation of the French 6th Army, which he had not previously known
about. He also thought that the BEF under General Sir John French had
withdrawn to the coast when in fact it was in front of him on the Marne.
The allies counter-attacked and forced a wide gap between the German 1st
and 2nd Armies (Von Bulow). The Germans, seeing the danger, withdrew
northwards, in an attempt to reform the line, and were pursued by the
British and French.
The Aisne
The fortress of Maubeuge, attacked
on August 25th, had resisted until September 8th when its fall released
the German VII Reserve Corps, which was at once started south towards
the Aisne. Meanwhile, the British had begun to move fast northwards
towards the Aisne. On September 13th units of the I and II Corps crossed
the river by bridges which the Germans had failed to destroy and by
other means. A German witness described the scene as follows: "From the
bushes bordering the river sprang up and advanced a second line of
skirmishers, with at least ten paces interval from man to man. Our
artillery flashed and hit - naturally, at most, a single man. And the
second line held on and pushed always nearer and nearer. Two hundred
yards behind it came a third wave, a fourth wave. Our artillery fired
like mad: all in vain, a fifth, a sixth line came on, all with good
distance, and with clear intervals between the men. Splendid! We were
all filled with admiration".
The British I Corps faced the
thinnest sector of the German defence - the famous "gap" itself. General
Sir Douglas Haig pushed his brigades forward up the spurs leading to the
Chemin des Dames ridge, as one by one they completed their crossings;
IInd corps was well up on the left, the French Fifth Army apparently
advancing successfully on the right. "The prospects of a break-through
were never brighter". At 1.00 pm the British 1st Division was ready to
advance again. But the Germans had arrived. General Von Zwehl had
brought his VII Reserve Corps to the scene by a forced march of forty
miles in twenty four hours. Nearly a quarter of them had fallen out
along the way, but the rest were there. Ay 11.00 am on the 13th they
were on the crest of the Chemin des Dames, facing Haig's Corps. General
von Bulow, worried and alarmed as ever, ordered von Zwehl to continue
his march eastward to assist the right flank of the Second Army but the
tiredness of the VII Reserve Corps came to Germany's rescue. Von Zwehl
ignored the order, and stayed where he was; the British advance was
blocked.
Stalemate - Trench Warfare
This was the turning point not
only of the battle but also of the whole war. On the 14th September
Haig's Corps forced its way onto the crest of the main ridge at Cerny
(where over 12,000 Frenchmen and Germans lie buried in a great double
cemetery today). But von Zwehl's Corps was merely the advance guard of a
new German Seventh Army which was being created between the Second and
the First. The British reached the top, only to be attacked themselves,
and an all-out struggle began. Here, along the Aisne, between the woods
and across the spurs and through the little stone villages, a new
warfare was born as both sides gritted their teeth and clung to their
positions. This was trench warfare. Here was the first sign of the great
stalemate which lasted until 1917. By October 1st, when the battle had
continued for a fortnight with mounting losses and no significant gain
to either side. Haig commented: "In front of this Corps, and for many
miles on either side, affairs have reached a deadlock, and no decision
seems possible in this area". He was right. The Allied and German High
Commands would have to try a different strategy, and neither was slow to
do this. The "Race to the Sea" began.
Failure of German Plan
In the west, Germany's plans were
in ruins. No amount of skilful resistance along the Aisne, no degree of
vigour or ferocity at Nancy or Verdun, could alter this. The Allied
Victory may have ended in a grim slugging match under the chilly autumn
rain; it may have been cheated of spectacular climaxes such as the rout
of the Grand Army after Waterloo, or the laying down of arms at
Appomattox, but it was nonetheless real. It spelled the collapse of the
only plan by which Germany had hoped to win the swift victory "without a
tomorrow" that she needed. Now her prospects were confined to the
dreaded war on two fronts, alongside an ally whose defects had become
only too obvious. The terrible balance was about to be created, the
gigantic stalemate which would last until there was some new advance on
the technological front, which now became, and remained, as decisive as
any battle front. But this would require time; and during that time it
was impossible to forecast how many men would die. As we now know, the
technological advance was the invention of the tank.
In the west, until the Battle of
the Aisne, no matter how stern the struggle on the battlefield, no
matter how arduous the human effort put forth, the decisive point was
inside the minds of generals, and their acts were crucial. For a few
weeks afterwards their role continued to be prominent; but it was at the
Aisne that the outlines of the "soldiers' war" were first seen. Here the
unimaginable price that either side was prepared to pay for the gain of
a few yards of ground was suddenly realised. Generalship seemed
unavailing, either to reduce the price or to increase the gain.
The Race to the Sea
The phrase "Race to the Sea" is
misleading. Neither side was at all concerned with the sea; each was
looking for a way round by which it might uproot the enemy from
forbidden defences. The "race" began as a crawl, an instinctive edging
to the right by the Germans, to the left by the Allies. Von Moltke had
been superseded by now, the first and one of the most palpable failures
at the topmost level of command. He was replaced by fifty-three-year old
General Erich von Falkenhayn, the Prussian Minister of War, a man of
decided ideas who possessed the nerve which von Moltke had obviously
lacked. His authority gave to what might otherwise have been a somewhat
haphazard movement such a degree of control that in the following weeks
the French found themselves always "twenty-four hours and an Army Corps
behind the enemy". On their side, Joffre steadily stripped his right and
centre to feed his left, because of continuing action in the North.
General Ferdinand Foch, who had begun the War only thirty-seven says
earlier as a corps commander under De Castelnau, now took precedence
over him with the task of co-ordinating the action of all the Allies in
the northern sector. This included the British, for Joffre began to
transfer the BEF, on October 1st. at Sir John French's suggestion, to
the area where it would cover the Channel posts on which it depended for
everything, even its life.
The First Battle of Ypres.
As the British arrived, corps by
corps, in Flanders, their advances were successively checked by growing
German Forces, and the last of the British, Haig's I Corps. arrived at
Ypres in time to meet the final great German effort of the year. By the
20th October the battle was in full swing. Characteristically, up to the
date, despite the increasing strength of the German forces, the Allies
themselves, under General Foch's fiery leadership, were trying to take
the offensive, and the fighting took the form of head-on-encounters. The
20th was the day on which the British I Corps arrived in the line
northeast of Ypres: their orders were to press forward, with Bruges and
Ghent, about 40 miles away, as their objectives. But the true state of
affairs quickly became apparent. By the 28th, after a grim sequence of
defensive battles along the whole front from the sea to Armentieres, the
Germans had been had stopped(?) - but only just. In the southern sector,
the shooting of the British infantry and dismounted cavalry had had its
usual effect; from the wet lowland around La Bassee to the excellent
defensive positions along the Messines Ridge, they inflicted prohibitive
losses on the Germans. Farther north, however, the Belgians and French
Marines on the Yser River were severely hammered; the French held
Dixmude by the skin of their teeth: the Belgians saved their line
letting in the sea at Nieuport, to flood the low country. It had been a
near thing.
Once again, it had been touch and
go. Not until the Battle of Verdun in 1916 would the Allied cause in the
west be faced with so may (many) crises. After this desperate struggle
by both sides to break through, the front settled down and remained
static until 1916 when the Battle of Verdun occurred, and there we will
leave it to see how events were taking place elsewhere.
The Situation Elsewhere - Map No.
2
CLICK to enlarge
On the Eastern Front there had
been fluid fighting between the Germans and the Russians and the front
was becoming stabilised on a line from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
Serbia (now more or less Yugo-Slavia) had been eliminated and the allies
had established a front in Salonika. The British had attempted to land
troops on the Gallipoli peninsula to establish control of the
Dardanelles and if possible capture Constantinople or, as it is known
today, Istanbul, so striking at the heart of Turkey and at the same time
keeping open a supply line to Russia. This was a dismal failure and a
humiliating withdrawal had been completed in the previous December.
The British started the war by
defending the Suez Canal against possible attack by the Turks. Turkey,
or the Ottoman Empire, in those days included Palestine and more or less
controlled the whole Arab world. By 1916 they had cleared the Sinai
peninsula at the top of the Red Sea and pushed the Turks back as far
Gaza while further East a front had been established by landings in
Mesopotamia at the top of the Persian Gulf and the British had pushed up
to the Tigris river in the South of what is now Iraq after the siege of
Kut where we had been defeated. The Turks were in fortified positions on
the North Bank and the British on the South.
The Italians, at the outset were
allies of the Germans, because they wanted German protection against
Austria, their traditional enemy. They therefore stayed neutral because
they said they wanted certain parts of Austria, such as Trieste and
Istria and Trentino, which they demanded as their price for entering the
war, but the Austrians refused. The Allies were quite happy to promise
them these places if they came in on our side, which they did in 1915.
The front ran in Summer 1916 from the Swiss Border along the Austrian
Italian Border to the Adriatic Northwest of Trieste. The Italians were
later pushed back to the Piave.
It can be seen now that Germany
was like a city or medieval castle being besieged, with her enemies
pushing in on every side. Even the sea was denied to her for her fleet
did not dare emerge after the Battle of Jutland. There was nothing
coming out of Central Europe and nothing going in. It was completely
surrounded.
The Build-Up to the Somme - Map
No. 3
CLICK to enlarge
We left the Western Front when it
had gone static for the Winter of 1914 and have now seen how the War
built up all round Germany in 1915 and early in 1916. On the Western
Front armies were dug in and from time to time attacks were mounted,
particularly by the Allies in the North at Neuve Chapelle, La Bassee,
Loos and Vimy while the second Battle of Ypres took place in April 1915.
The Germans appeared to accept the inevitability of deadlock after the
failure of the Schlieffen Plan, for they spent their time digging in and
building complex defensive systems all along the Northern Sector of the
front. Dugouts were constructed thirty feet deep, which contained
dormitories for soldiers, even single rooms for officers, some
containing carpets, chests of drawers and so on. They were in some
comfort, secure from the shelling and this was how they prepared for the
expected battles of 1916. In the Summer of 1916 on the British side the
position about armaments had improved at last, under the guidance of
Lloyd George who had been made Minister of Munitions.
Since August 1915, the fortress of
Verdun had been under some pressure and this increased early in 1916.
The French made a heroic defence but by June were in dire straits there.
It was here that the famous slogan "Ils ne passeront pas" originated. A
glance at the map will show the importance of Verdun for had the Germans
been able to by-pass it, or eliminate it the road to Paris would have
been clear and the allied line broken. Joffre was therefore pressing
Haig, who had taken over command of the BEF from French in December
1915, to start an offensive on the North to take the pressure off Verdun
and between them they selected the Somme area. This was undoubtedly the
strongest and most perfectly defended part of the whole German line.
Originally, Joffre had planned to
launch his main attack of the Somme with forty French divisions, while
the British made a secondary effort to the north. However, Verdun used
up so many French divisions that the roles were reversed, the French
making only a limited secondary attack.
The Somme - Map No. 5
CLICK to enlarge
According to the final plan, the
French, with one corps north of the Somme, would attack generally east;
the British Third Army would make a divisionary attack on the Gommecourt
salient. The British Fourth Army, making the main effort, would
penetrate the German lines between Maricourt and Fricourt, and seize the
ridge from Montauban (centre) to Serre (upper left). This gap would be
widened by an advance to the high ground Ginchy (centre) - Bapaume
(upper centre), along which a defensive line would be established. Its
right flank thus protected, the British main attack would turn north,
aided by a secondary attack between Fricourt and Thiepval. The final
blow was to be an exploitation by the British Reserve Army - including
all available cavalry - towards Douai (off map, top right_ and Cambrai
(top right).
The British massed 1,500 guns on
an eighteen-mile front; the French had, proportionally, even heavier
artillery support. Activity on this scale could not be hidden, but, by
carrying out elaborate deceptive measures along the entire British
front, Haig led Falkenhayn to believe that the Allied attack would be
farther north. Falkenhayn also assumed that Verdun had so exhausted the
French that they would not be able to attack on the Somme.
Elaborate German Defensive System
The British IV Army, commanded by
General Sir Henry Rawlinson, comprised five Army Corps. the 8th, 10th,
3rd, 15th and 13th, in line, in that order, from the left. The German
intelligence, it is known from records, were fully aware that a large
scale offensive was pending, but they mistakenly misjudged the actual
point of the attack as being between Vimy Ridge just north Arras to the
southern tip of Thiepval Spur near La Boiselle, and it was along this
sector, as we now know, that the enemy had laboured unceasingly for
months to strengthen considerably the many Redoubts and Fortified
Villages and no pains were spared to render these defences impregnable;
it was along this sector that he had deployed his best and most thickly
concentrated forces. The first and second defensive systems each
consisted of several deep trenches, cut into the chalky countryside and
well provided with the most elaborate dug-outs as safe shelter against
bombardment. The front of each system was well protected by elaborate
wire entanglements, many of them in two belts, forty yards wide, built
of iron stakes interlaced with vicious barbed-wire almost as thick as a
man's finger. The labyrinths of deep bomb-proof shelters surrounded each
fortified position and were used to provide safe cover for the hundreds
of heavy-guns and mortars and their crews during bombardment. Some of
these dug-outs were in two storeys and were of the most elaborate
nature. Each strong-point was self contained and its heavy armament of
heavy machine-guns was cunningly concealed and sited to bring mutual
support by enfilade and flanking-fire to their neighbouring garrisons.
Supporting artillery and mortars were similarly arranged to produce the
most effective cross-fire.
Conditions at the Front
The stage has now been set for the
battle, but in order to make it more realistic for you there is a copy
of the official film here. It concerns the action by XIII Corps in the
Mametz sector and will give you some idea of the conditions. You should
particularly look for the different types of uniform, the clumsy
equipment, the large numbers of horses, the large numbers of men, the
amount of artillery and how everything had to be manhandled. Note the
trenches - now well dug-in both sides were and especially the wire -
there are no aeroplanes and no tanks. Above all look at he (the) high
morale of the troops - the smiling faces.
FILM: "The Battle of the Somme" -
property of the Imperial War Museum
The Ulstermen's Battle - Map No.
4.
CLICK to enlarge
The 10th Corps consisted of the
32nd Division, the 36th (Ulster) Division and, in support, the 49th
Division. The 36th Division embraced 3 Batttalions (Battalions) of the
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 9 Battalions of the Royal Irish Rifles and
one battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, each batttalion (battalion)
about 1,000 strong. These battalions were in three Brigades, 107th,
108th, and 109th, each of four battalions, together with One Battalion
of Pioneers (16th R.I.R.), Divisional Artillery, Field Companies of the
Royal Engineers, Army Service Corps and Field Ambulances: all volunteers
and all Ulstermen.
The Ulstermen's Front lay astride
the River Ancre and along the lower slopes of Thiepval Ridge as far as
the southern edge of Thiepval Wood. Facing its centre was the strongly
fortified village of St. Pierre Divion and the notorious Schwaben
Redoubt (the most formidable on the whole front) with the Stuff Redoubt
supporting these two. The whole of this front was well covered by heavy
machine-guns firing from Thiepval Village on the right and the fortified
villages of Beaucourt and Beaumont-Hamel on the left, all supported with
a great concentration of artillery of all calibres.
The Battle Plan
For the purposes of attack, the
front was divided into four sections. The right and right centre
sections were allotted to the 109th and 108th Brigades respectively. The
left centre section, bounded by a line drawn from the north corner of
Thiepval Wood just north of B19, C11, and D11, and the Ancre, was, owing
to the great frontage of the 36th Division, not to be attacked directly.
The left section, on the right bank of the Ancre, was allotted to the
108th Brigade. This Brigade had attached to it one battalion of the
107th. It was to employ three battalions in the right centre section,
and two in the left section. The 107th Brigade (less one battalion) was
in Divisional Reserve.
The task of the 109th Brigade in
the right section was to attack the "A" and "B" lines within its
section, and to advance to a line drawn from C8 through B16 to the
Grandcourt-Thiepval Road at C9: there to halt and consolidate. They were
to attack with two battalions, the 9th Inniskillings on the right, the
10th on the left, in first line: and the two remaining. 14th
Inniskillings on right and 14th Rifles on left, in second. The two first
were to take and consolidate the final objective, the rear battalions to
hold the "A" and "B" lines and to send up liaison patrols to get in
touch with the leading battalions. The most important task of the 11th
Inniskillings was the fortification of the Crucifix on the
Thiepval-Grandcourt Road.
The task of the 108th Brigade in
the right centre section was to clear and "A" and "B" lines within the
section, and advance to the "C" line, halting and consolidating on the
salient C9, C10, C11, the north-east corner of the Schwaben Redoubt. A
special detachment, with one Stokes mortar, one Lewis and one Vickers
gun, was to act as left flank guard, to clear the communication trench
from B19 to C12, holding the latter as a defensive post, and sending a
detachment down to C13, to ensure observation and fire on the
Grandcourt-St. Pierre Divion Road. In addition, two officers' patrols,
each a platoon in strength, with a Lewis gun, were to reconnoitre and
clear the left of the "A" and "B" lines up to St. Pierre Divion. They
were to attack here with the 11th Rifles on the right, the 13th on the
left, and the 15th Rifles of the 107th Brigade, attached, in support.
North of the Ancre, in the left
section, the task allotted to the two remaining battalions of the 108th
Brigade was to assault the German salient on the left of its objective
and clear the trenches down to the railway, to establish strong points
at B26, B24 and B21, and to occupy Beaucourt Station and the trenches
immediately behind it. It was afterwards to occupy the mill on the river
bank and the two houses beyond the station. Here the 9th Irish Fusiliers
were attacking on the right, and the 12th Rifles on the left. Of the
latter battalion one platoon was detailed to attack the railway and one
to patrol the marsh.
The Assault on the "D" line, the
final objective, was to be carried out by the 107th Brigade with its
three remaining battalions. The Brigade was to advance through Thiepval
Wood, following the 109th Brigade, pass through the leading Brigades on
the "C" line and attack the "D" line from D8 to D9; then to extend its
left to D11. The 10th and 9th Rifles were in first line, the former with
its right on D8, the latter with its left on D9. After the capture of
this objective, the 9th Rifles were to extend to D10 and 10th to D9. The
8th Rifles, moving up in rear, were to occupy and hold from D10 to D11.
The assaulting battalions were to advance, each in eight successive
waves, at fifty yards' interval, but the 107th Brigade, passing through
to the attack on the final objective, was to advance in artillery
formation till compelled to extend.
The Attack
Shortly after dawn on the morning
of Saturday 1st July every gun on the front of 25 miles was firing. The
roar was incessant and quite indescribable, when at eight minutes before
zero hundred of Stokes Mortars joined in with a hurricane bombardment of
30 rounds a minute on the German defences. At 7.30 am wave after wave of
British Infantry rose and, with bayonets glistening in the morning sun,
moved forward as the hurricane barrage lifted to the German second line;
the air was filled with smoke and mist in the trail of great barrage.
The Ulstermen (probably because it was on the anniversary of the Battle
of the Boyne), carried all before them and immediately overran the
German first and support line. Within half-an-hour the 9th Inniskillings
of the 109th Brigade were in the enemy Second Line and were sending back
prisoners.
Initial Success
By 8.30 am the 109th Brigade after
very fierce hand-to-hand fighting captured and firmly established
themselves in the supposedly impregnable Schwaben Redoubt. On their
immediate left the 11th and 13th Rifles advanced rapidly and before 9 am
were before the Hansa Line protecting the Thiepval-Grandcourt Road. It
was most unfortunate for them that St. Pierre Divion had not been
captured and was already being by-passed by these two Rifle battalions.
The 12th Rifles and the 9th Irish Fusiliers across the Ancre on their
left, after an initial success, were held up by the vicious machine-gun
fire from Beaucourt and Beaumont-Hamel and the failure of the 29th
Division attack on the fortresses of Beaumont-Hamel and rising ground on
their immediate front. The wire here was not as well cut as on the 109th
Brigade front, and as a result machine-gun posts at St. Pierre Divion
wrought havoc in their ranks, for the 12th Rifles and the 9th Irish
Fusiliers were pinned down when they reached the enemy first line, and
suffered terribly, and latter losing practically all their officers. A
similar fate befell the 11th and 13th Rifles but, in spite of the
terrible casualties, these two battalions, or, what was left of them,
continued their advance to the outskirts of Grandcourt. This village was
not to be entered again until after the fall of Beaumont-Hamel on 15th
November. This produced a dangerous and exposed position for them, as
they were fired on from both flanks and from their rear. The 17th Bde
(Belfast) advancing in support of the two leading Brigades was now
advancing through the positions captured by the two leading Brigades and
were attacking the Stuff Redoubt, a strongly fortified and stubbornly
held enemy strong point in the German 3rd line.
Slaughter from all Sides
Near the Crucifix, the 11th
Inniskillings and the 14th Rifles (YCV) found themselves being
machine-gunned and plastered with mortar fire from their rear and
suffered terribly. German machine-gunners and mortar crews who had
sheltered in the deep cellars during the heavy British bombardment now
came up out of their caverns to fire into the rear of the advancing
infantry. No-Man's-Land became a ghastly spectacle of dead and wounded.
The 15th Rifles of the 107th Brigade were now in the Stuff Redoubt and
set about dealing with numerous machine-gun nests which had emerged from
their hiding places. The scene can only be described as bloody, and in
the fierce hand-to-hand fighting which ensued there were many acts of
extreme gallantry, most of which passed unrecorded. The hurricane of
machine-gun fire from Thiepval Cemetery, which had unfortunately not
been captured by the 23rd Division on the right, played havoc among the
ranks of the 8th, 9th, and 10th Rifles as they moved forward in support
of the advanced positions gained by the leading battalions, but, in
spite of the awful carnage, they continued unfaltering, as if on parade.
The 10th Rifles suffered terribly and lost their commanding Officer who
was killed leading his battalion to the assault. Colonel Bernard was the
only battalion commander killed on this day, as Commanding Officers were
expressly forbidden to accompany their battalions in the assault and
were ordered to control the advance of their respective units from their
battle headquarters, but he had gone forward.
Final Objective Reached
The 107 Brigade battalions, sadly
depleted, reached the final objective together with the remnants of the
leading Brigades. Along this, the "D" or Fifth Line, they proceeded to
consolidate and establish themselves. This was less than a mile and a
half from where they started, about as far as you'd stroll in half an
hour.
Before they advanced the
Divisional Commander was considering whether to send them up or not. He
had asked the Corps Commander whether he should halt his advancing
Division where they stood, in view of the fact that neither of the
Divisions on his flanks had gained a yard. The reply was that a new and
more forceful attack would be made on Thiepval Village and also on his
left towards Beaumont-Hamel. He was assured that a Brigade of the 49th
Division was being sent to his support and that he should continue his
advance as was the original plan. This order from Crops HQ, however, was
cancelled threequarters-of-an-hours later. The advance forward had
already begun and every effort was made to halt the advancing troops,
but as communication was extremely difficult the message arrived too
late. The job of communication had to be done by runner and the
process was a very long affair. There were no "walkie talkie" sets
or signals as we know them today. Of those who went forward in the
advance, few returned to tell the story, as they ran into masses of
enemy reinforcements moving forward to heal the breach made in their
line and into heavy German Artillery fire as well as their own, because
they had arrived too early.
The Fifth Line was held, however,
against all onslaughts in handfuls of determined men in the hope that
the promised reinforcements would arrive, but unfortunately this did not
occur. The Ulster Division, in spite of the fact that more than half its
strength were now casualties, held in their grasp the promise of a great
and far-reaching victory if the breach which they had made in this part
of the enemy defence system could have been put to use. Some 5,000
Ulstermen, though closely wedged in all round by enemy, but thrust well
into the enemy line, constituted what could have been the pivot for both
wings of the British Line to move forward in the attack. The Thiepval
Spur was undoubtedly the German key position and when in the month of
October and early November it was finally captured the whole German Line
was ultimately compelled to retire.
Withdrawal
However, as the day went on the
situation grew considerably worse for the already sorely tried Ulstermen
in the forward zone of the deep salient which they had created. After
beating off continuous hostile counter-attacks through-out the remainder
of the day of July 1st, by German bomb-throwers coming up from Thiepval
in their right-rear and from Grandcourt on their left, and with
ammunition and supplies practically run out, the situation became
desperate. Officers in the advanced positions had observed through their
field-glasses trainloads of German Reserves arriving at Grandcourt
Station during the evening. A large scale counter-attack was launched by
these enemy reinforcements at dusk, which drove our exhausted men back
into the 3rd Line which they had overrun earlier that morning. The
northern end of the Schwaben Redoubt was again in German hands. During
the night the 1st/2nd July three battalions from the 49th Division were
at last put at the disposal of the 36th Division with the object or
re-taking the Schwaben Redoubt and attacking Thiepval Village from the
rear with the assistance of the Remnants of the 107th and 109th
Brigades. But by 1 am two of these battalions had not arrived and the
venture had to be called off. The near exhausted troops, holding on
grimly to the 3rd Line, had to beat off more enemy attacks throughout
the night, but the Line held, and a number of prisoners was taken. The
sadly depleted units in the line now held had to fight off vicious enemy
attacks through the second day and no further relief came. Casualties
mounted and many who had survived the previous day's onslaught lost
their lives due to the terrible artillery and mortar fire brought to
bear upon them. The problem of reinforcing and supplying the units in
the forward positions became even more dangerous, due to the ever
narrowing width of the salient held.
Relief by 49th Division
That night, Monday 2nd July, the
Ulster Division was relieved by the 49th Division. The relief was
complete by 10 am on the morning of the 3rd July when the battle-scarred
and weary remnants of the Division, less than half the numbers who went
"over-the-top" on the morning of 1st July, came back behind the line and
immediately flung themselves down to sleep.
Reasons for High Casualty Rate
Now why was there such slaughter?
Let's look at the country. There was high ground immediately to the
front in both sectors. On the North Bank of the River there was a
re-entrant which the two battalions there had to cross and then climb
the hill beneath the German lines. On the East bank, similarly, 109 Bde.
and the remainder of 108 had to climb up almost from the River Valley.
The Germans were in the superior positions, the machine guns and strong
points were well concealed.
The next point to consider is wire
- you saw the wire in the film. Now if one tries to go through uncut
wire one is a sitting target; if the wire is cut one goes through the
gaps - the defenders fire at the gaps, where men crowded together to get
through are easily shot. If the gaps are few as they were here and also
further North and South there are more targets in fewer places. Remember
again that the Germans had ground advantage and were firing down on the
attackers. They could see all the British were doing.
The next point to consider is the
number of men and the size of their front. This is most significant. In
the North 2,000 men were advancing into a narrowing salient, across a
re-entrant onto and up the hill to German trenches about 1,200 yards
across. Now 1,000 yards is about the distance from the Camp Gate to
Lisburn station. Their task was almost impossible. They ran into
defilading fire from St. Pierre Divion and fire from the defenders in
front of and above them. 109 Brigade and the other three battalions of
108 Brigade were similarly caught in defilading fire from Thiepval
Cemetery, St. Pierre Divion and Beaucourt when they passed through the
two front lines, 107 Bde following them. 4,000 of them were in the
leading battalions on a narrow front of about 1,000 yards. No wonder the
Germans had plenty of targets - and it was the same all along the front,
north of Fricourt, not merely in front of 36 Div.
Then too there was the narrow
salient, packed with men, under defilading fire from all sides for a day
and a half, because the Divisions on either side had not gained a yard.
It is surprising that any came back at all.
The Somme: The End of the Battle:
Map No. 5 (I think this should be 6)
CLICK to enlarge
After the initial assaults of the
first days of July had been held in the North, Haig reinforced his
successful right flank because he lacked forces to renew the attack on
the whole front. The Germans abandoned the Verdun offensive and poured
in reinforcements. The battle raged on and on and after twelve days of
fighting victory seemed at hand. Cavalry got through, High Wood was
cleared, but reinforcements came forward too slowly and a German
counter-attack restores the line.
On 15 September, after two months
of costly small actions, Haig delivered his third major attack -
employing tanks for the first time - against the German position between
Morval and Le Sars at a place called Flers. The tanks were effective,
but mechanically unreliable: considerable gains were made, but no
breakthrough. The attack was renewed on the 25th, and by the end of
October, the Germans had been driven off the main ridge and were
fighting from a last, improvised line. A short period of better weather
on 13 November allowed a successful surprise attack at Beaumont-Hamel
(upper left) and Beaucourt in the north before Haig halted the fighting.
The French had lost 195,000 men killed and wounded: the British 420,000:
the Germans, approximately 650,000, including most of their prewar
Officers and non-commissioned Officers.
Effects of the Battle
So ended the Battle of the Somme -
the greatest battle the world had seen up till then. What had it
achieved? First of all it achieved Joffre's main objective, it took the
pressure off the French Army at Verdun. They were near to
breaking-point, as was later proved when some first-line French trooped
mutinied in May 1917 at the second battle of the Aisne.
Secondly, and most important
probably, it took the heart out of the German Army. As was said, they
had lost in the Battle 650,000 men. Their best troops and most of their
regulars faced the British and these losses therefore got into the hard
core of their Army. They never fought as well afterwards and their final
efforts in 1918 before they ultimately capitulated were like a gambler's
last throws. Another important point is that the Somme marks the time in
the War when the British took over the main fighting role.
After the Battle, the Germans were
in an unfavourable position and withdrew in March 1917 to the Hindenburg
line, about 25 miles back, or as far as from here to Ballymena, as the
crow flies. It was a deep complex, defensive system and gave them a
stronger front and also, because it was shorter, they were able to hold
it with fewer divisions.
The End of the War
I will not go into detail on the
final two years of the War. The allies grew stronger numerically, in
munitions and armaments and above all in morale. The Germans grew
weaker, especially because of the blockade. The siege tactics began to
pay off. The front remained more or less static in 1917 but there were
further fierce battles at Arras and the Aisne in April; at Messines,
where the Ulster Division again gave a great account of itself, in June;
the third battle of Ypres (Passchendale) in Aug-Sep-Oct and Cambrai in
Nov/Dec where the British tanks really made themselves felt. Meanwhile
the Russians had had their revolution, Lenin was in the Kremlin, and
they sought a separate Armistice in Dec. 1917. Bagdad was captured in
March, which crippled the Turks in Mesopotamia and after three battles
in Gaza, Allenby's Army had reached Jerusalem.
In March 1918 the Germans made a
drive through the Somme, in April a second through Lys, in May a third
at the Aisne. In June a fourth extended the ground gained in the first
and third and in July a fifth took place increasing the April gains.
They were contained, but not without difficulty, but at least without
the desperation which marked our defence at Mons, the Marne, the Aisne
and Ypres in the first year of war. Nevertheless the French were very
unsettled at the threat to Paris by the Aisne offensive and Ludendorff,
who was now the German Commander, having taken over from Falkenhayn
after the Somme, had scored tactical victories which raised German
morale. The net result however was that they extended his front. The
Allies attacked his salient in the Marne-Aisne and forced him back in
early August. Immediately afterwards the British forced him back in the
North and the Americans, who had entered the war in April 1917, attacked
the salient at Saint Mihiel which the Germans evacuated. At the end of
September the British and Americans attacked. The Germans retreated and
when they had reached the position shown at 11 Nov they asked for an
Armistice. So ended the War, but this talk has been about Thiepval and
the action of the 36th (Ulster) Division there, in which they shewed in
Arms their overwhelming wish to remain part of the United Kingdom. Their
valour excited the admiration of all and is best described in the
following extract from a report in "The Times" after the Battle:
"I am not an Ulsterman, but as I
followed the amazing attack of the Ulster Division on July 1, I felt
that I would rather be an Ulsterman that anything else in the world.
"My position enabled me to watch
the commencement of their attack from the wood in which they had formed
up, but which, long before the hour of the assault, was being
overwhelmed with shell fire, so that the trees were stripped and the top
half of the wood ceased to be anything but a slope of bare stumps, with
innumerable shell-holes peppered in the chalk.
"It looks as if nothing could live
in the wood, and, indeed, the losses were heavy before they started, two
companies of one battalion being sadly reduced in the assembly trenches.
When I saw the men emerge through the smoke, and form up as if on
parade, I could hardly believe my eyes.
"Then I saw them attack, beginning
at a slow walk over no man's land, and then suddenly let loose as they
charged over the two front line of the enemy's trenches, shouting, 'No
surrender, boys!'
"The enemy's gun fire raked them
from left, and machine guns in a village enfiladed them on the right,
but battalion after battalion came out of the awful wood as steadily as
I have seen them at Ballykinler, Clandeboye, or Shane's Castle. The
enemy's third line was soon taken, and still the waves went on, getting
thinner and thinner, but without hesitation.
"The enemy's fourth line fell
before these men, who would not be stopped. There remained the fifth
line. Representatives of the neighbouring Corps and Divisions, who could
not withhold their praise at what they had seen, said no human beings
could get to it until the flanks of the Ulster Division were cleared.
"This was recognised, and the
attack on the last German line countermanded. The order arrived too
late; or, perhaps the Ulstermen, mindful that it was the anniversary of
the Boyne, would not be denied, but pressed on.
"I could see only a small portion
of this advance, but I could watch out men work forward - seeming to
escape the shell-fire by a miracle 0 and I saw parties of them, not mush
reduced, indeed, enter the fifth line of the enemy's trenches - our
final objective. It could not be held, as the Division had advanced into
a narrow salient. The Corps on our right and left had been unable to
advance, so that the Ulstermen were the target of the concentrated
hostile guns and machine guns behind and on both flanks, though the
enemy in front were vanquished and retreating.
"The order to retire was given,
but some preferred to die on the ground they had won so hardly. As I
write they still hold the German two first lines, and occasionally
batches of German prisoners are passed back over the deadly zone; over
500 have arrived, but the Ulstermen took many more who did not survive
the fire of their own German guns.
"My pen cannot describe adequately
the hundreds of heroic acts that I witnessed, nor how yesterday a
relieving force was organised of men who had already been fighting for
36 hours, to carry ammunition and water to the gallant garrison still
holding on.
"The Ulster Division has lost very
heavily and in doing so has sacrificed itself for the Empire. The Ulster
Volunteer Force, from whom the Division was made, has won a name which
equals any in history. Their devotion, which no doubt has helped the
advance elsewhere, deserves the gratitude of the British Empire".
Note: The Battle of the Boyne was
fought on 1st July 1690. The introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in
Britain in 1752 caused the alteration of the anniversary to 12th July.
the end
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