The longest game of stuck in the mud?

In the last article we touched on the Pals Battalions many of whom say their first major battle on July 1st, 1916, at the Battle of the Somme.

The General Haig had concocted a cunning plan (more Blackadder references to come). For a week the British artillery supported by French would bombard the German positions near the river Somme. Haig claimed that 'not even a rat would be alive at the end of it'. However, the chalk ground allowed the Germans to sit tight in their trench holes and bunkers without a huge impact.

Of course, it was also common place to see massive bombardments ahead of a big push. So, the Germans probably deduced a week long bombardment meant a very big push. They could see the masses of troop build ups coming from the French and British sides. Reportedly an open radio communication also tipped the Germans off the day before.

Meanwhile in the allied trenches a number of Pals battalions, friends, work colleagues etc from the same town/city were waiting to face the bullet with their name on it. One of the most famous battalions the Accrington Pals formed of nearly 750 men at this point were awaiting their chance.

On July 1st at approximately 7:30am the 11th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (Accrington Pals) leapt from their trenches. One of its Platoons would be commanded by a 16-year-old who had not only forged his papers but due to some arm twisting back home, 16 year old Reginald Battersby had been given the post of Second Lieutenant and would be leading his platoon over the top.

Most historical accounts put the number of killed or wounded mere minutes after the 11th Battalion went over the top at close to 600. This was out of a total of 750 of the battalion. The 11th Battalion which would go down in history as the smallest town or borough to field a battalion, but also the one that had a lasting impact on the community. Private Will Marshall the last surviving member of the Battalion provides his account of those first few minutes which can be listened to here (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-lancashire-36671103).

On that fateful first day over 19000 British soldiers lost their lives for one square mile of ground. For context one square mile is roughly the same size as the City of London. By the end of Haig's battle of attrition in November 1916 nearly 1 million soldiers had lost their lives on all sides and the allies had for all this advanced just 7 miles.

The result of course was massive shock across Britain as news slowly made its way home that another father or son was forever lost in the mud and barbed wire. In Accrington a mere few days after the July 1st offensive, the women of the town gathered around the Mayor's office demanding answers. This was a couple of years (1918) before women even had the right to vote in the UK and even then only 2/3 of them in 1918, and so this demonstration should be greatly admired for its impact and bravery in the face of a society that legally saw them as second class citizens.

Many parents had successfully pushed the Government of the time in to ordering those underage boys in the firing line to return home. But only at the start of June 1916 and in many cases either the boys themselves refused to go home or their commanding officer refused to acknowledge it. Leading to a number of debates in the House of Commons on the issue. And so, for many the gradual dissemination of orders would come too slowly to save them from the Somme. Even after this order to return the boys, the army would only do so if the soldier would pay for their trip home. Most could not afford to do so and would have to wait until their wages paid for the ticket home, as even back then any form of travel was prohibitively expensive!

But I hear you ask, what was Adrian Carton de Wiart doing during this time? Surely the Somme dare not face him?

Well, he in fact faced the Somme and came out on top. Of course. During July 3rd, 1916, British troops were instructed to capture the town of La Boiselle. Carton de Wiart was given command of the 8th Battalion, Gloucestershire regiment. During the fierce fighting that followed, several officers were mowed down by machine gun fire. So, Carton de Wiart took command of all the units fighting in the village himself. By the 4th of July La Boiselle was in British hands, with no small part down to Carton de Wiart's leadership style.

He had realised that he must lead by example. Though he never carried a gun, claiming he might use it on his own men if they did not fall in line. Opting instead for a simple stick.

On the evening of the 3rd a machine gun bullet struck the back of his head, somehow missing his brain, he received treatment for 3 weeks in hospital and requested to be sent back to the front lines. This of course was after as a reminder he had already lost a hand, cutting his own fingers off and had lost on eye, donning an eye cap.

Did I forget to mention for his deeds at La Boiselle, he was awarded the Victoria Cross? Which he declines to mention in his own autobiography!

During 1917 the lessons of the Somme did not result in an immediate rethink about protecting ones own troops. Nor did it have any impact at all on Carton de Wiart.

A second cunning plan, an all out attack was thought up by General Haig to capture the high ground of Ypres and an accompanying rail yard which had been supplying German U boats. One of these U boats had a few months prior sunk the Lusitania a British cruise ship which had been ferrying American passengers from New York to Britain. On 7th May 1915 only 35% of the nearly 2000 passengers on board would survive its sinking. One can only imagine that with the Americans now angered and busily sending soldiers to support the allied advances that stopping the supply of U boats would be a key strategic objective.

So on 31st July 1917 a mere year after the start of the Somme, another all-out attack was dreamt up, once more starting with artillery bombardment at a well-entrenched enemy. This time though with a difference, a two-week bombardment, rather than one! "Doing exactly the same thing we've done 18 times before is exactly the last thing they will expect us to do again" (General Melchett).

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results...

By September that year the British troops, after initial success, had been bogged down by rain and mud, slowing their advances, resulting in many soldiers to simply drown in the now shelled fields in front of them.

However, luckily for everyone a sensible person was finally put in charge. General Hubert Plumer was put in charge of the offensive, favouring a less insane dash over the top method in great numbers for what was phrased a "bite and hold strategy". Where they would make limited attacks, with support from artillery which had often been out of range due to the fact paced advances and difficulties in traversing through the mud previously. This more effective strategy of utilising all weapons in your inventory allowed for a gradual, piece by piece advance.

However, this was to all be in vain when General Haig decides in October for a once again all-out attack method to capture Passchendaele. Despite a now exhausted front line.

The 12th October 1917 marked the most tragic day in New Zealand's history when the New Zealand division were instructed to capture the Bellevue offshoot. That day recorded 2,700 loses for the New Zealand division, of which 845 fell in less than four hours of the whistle to advance.

By November 1917 the British army had over 200,000 casualties including around 38,000 Australians, 5,300 New Zealanders, and more than 15,600 Canadians. But they had finally achieved their objective of advancing 5 miles further in Belgium and cutting off the U boat supply.

Meanwhile 1917 was yet again a remarkable year for Carton de Wiert who had been caught in a shell explosion earlier that year, and was also awarded Officer of the Crown of Belgium in April 1917. After being shelled and somehow surviving he was told by medics not to return to the front line. But an appeal to higher ups meant he could once again return to action in 1918.

During this period there were hundreds if not thousands of people who distinguished themselves. One of those was Francis Pegahmagabow a native Canadian who in his own country at the time was not even classed as a citizen. Francis upon volunteering quickly honed his skills as a sniper who would not only snipe but also go close to or behind enemy lines. He carried a talisman which he felt would protect him. It clearly worked as it was said that at night, during battles like the Somme he would sneak in to German trenches and even cut off the patches of the sleeping German soldiers.

The Swedish metal band Sabaton referenced in the last article call him "the ghost in the trenches" and their song on it is very much worth listening too as well as their Sabaton history channel video on it. At Passchendaele he is commended for his ability to run communications between different units and guiding relief units. By the end of the war he racked up a total of 378 sniper kills (more than anyone else in WW1 and captured over 300 prisoners and is the most decorated native Canadian in history.

1916 and 17 were a truly terrible time to be a soldier on any side of the war, being bogged down in almost unending assault after assault , wading through waist high mud to advance a meagre mile. This was truly a break away from the slow-moving trench warfare we found ourselves in from 1914-15. Repeating the same mistake over and over again, expertly satirised in Blackadder Goes Fourth. However, despite these terrible conditions and sometimes tactics some people were able to go beyond any reasonable expectations and make powerful statements about their abilities that transcend the war and made an impact on the right to citizenship, vote etc in their respective countries.