18th (Service) Battalion (3rd City) the Manchester Regiment
Part 2- Battle of the Somme, Trones Wood, Guillemont and Subsequent actions.
In the Battle of the Somme on the 1st July the 30th Division were given the task of assaulting the village of Montauban.
The 90th Brigade were to play a prominent part in the battle and although the main brunt of the attack fell to the 16th and 17th Battalions of the Manchester’s and the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers the 18th Battalion more than played its part.
The Battalion was to provide half its men (C+B coy’s) as Brigade reserve and two Companies (A + D coy’s) as carrying parties for the assault on the village.
The order given to 90 Brigade was: “To advance at 60 minutes after zero hour, Pass through the 21st Brigade (who, moving off at zero hour were to take the first 2 lines of enemy trenches) Pass through the 21st Brigade and assault Montauban”.
All the men, except the Battalion runners were to wear yellow patches on their backs-selected men would wear metal discs and men carrying wire cutters would wear a white patch on their shoulders. Officers and NCO’s would carry signalling mirrors. This arrangement would allow the Artillery forward observation officers to adjust their bombardment away from the assaulting troops.
2nd Lieutenant Bernard Salmon would act as a guide to A and D companies and would march ahead of A company.
At 07.22 am the Brigades stokes mortars began a ferocious bombardment of the German positions which grew in intensity as zero hour approached.
07.30
Along the entire allied front the whistles blew and the men scrambled out of their front line trenches and began the 3000yd advance towards the enemy positions.
The 55th, 21st and 89th Brigades advanced across no mans land in, by now bright sunshine to attack the first two lines in front of Montauban in preparation for the 90th brigades attack.
The first two lines fell quite easily and the men of the 18th were greatly elated to see bunches of doleful Germans streaming past them to the Prisoner of war cages.
07.45
The men were so well on with their advance that they had to wait for the artillery barrage to lift and moved forward with great purpose towards their objective.
08.26
The 19th Manchester’s had entered Glatz Redoubt and secured their objective.
08.30 (Zero + 1 hour)
The 16th and 17th battalions and the Royal Scots left their trenches and advanced across the now battered and casualty strewn battlefield to catch up with the 19th Battalion at Glatz redoubt.
The 18th battalion’s orders had read:
“After the first bombardment has been completed they will come and go to Montauban by the communication trenches, moving on top and beside the trench. In the event of coming under fire they will get in to the trench and continue to move as fast as possible. As far as possible the loads of casualties will be picked up and taken on.
Carrying parties must not halt on account of hostile fire”.
The 16th and 17th battalions moved in good order across the battlefield and by 9.10am had passed Alt trench where it started to take Casualties from a machine gun. This gun was responsible for causing almost 100 casualties amongst the 18th-mostly men from C company who were caught in enfiladed fire.
09.30
The German machine gun was finally destroyed and the men entered Glatz redoubt.
10.05am
After a trench mortar smoke barrage the men, by now mixed in with the 16th and 17th Battalion’s pressed on towards Montauban.
10.30am
The men finally arrive in the battered village of Montauban.
For the rest of the day the men frantically dug trenches and reversed fire steps ready for the inevitable German counter attack.
All across the battlefield the men from A and D company were engaged in clearing the trenches of pockets of the enemy left behind in the rapid advance. Prisoners and wounded were rounded up and sent to the rear and ammunition, stores and water were taken forward.
Throughout the next day and into the night the German counter attacks came and the rest of the 18th Battalion and the Royal Scots were drafted in to the trenches as the casualties mounted.
3rd July
Some 48 hours after leaving their assembly trenches the 90th Brigade was relieved and the 18th marched to happy valley-about 2 miles from Bray.
Though other Battalion’s won the glory that was achieved in the attack the 18th suffered a considerable mauling in performing its work.
The Battalion’s casualties were: 5 Officers and 170 other ranks killed, missing or wounded.
An officer describing the work of the Brigade said;
“It was truly magnificent. The men advanced like veterans and one could hardly believe they were entering upon a life and death struggle for they had the appearance of carrying out a practice manoeuvre”.
The attack and subsequent taking of Montauban was one of the few successes of the 1st July. The men of the 90th Brigade had achieved their objective and had done all that was asked of them.
4th-7th July
The Battalion was engaged on clearing the battlefield and provided burial parties for the brigade.
7th
The Battalion moved to the old British front line trenches at Maricourt.
The first attack on the German positions in Trones wood was to be carried out by the 21st Brigade and the 18th and 19th battalions were to go forward in support. The 2nd Wiltshire’s and a party of the 19th Battalion managed to gain a foothold in the southern end of the wood.
About 3pm the 18th and 19th went forward in support and the 18th were ordered to rush in to the wood.
At about this time the battalion HQ was struck by a shell and the Commanding officer was wounded-dying the next day. Captain Charles Henshall was killed by the same shell and RSM George Murnaghan (popularly know as “Micky”) was knocked out by a shell.
The OC of D company, Major Phillip Godlee assumed command.
During the night enemy bombing attacks were repulsed and the enemy driven off.
8th
At 4pm the rest of the battalion arrived in the wood and set about building a fire step and tried to link up the shattered trenches. Throughout the day and following night the shelling was intense and casualties were heavy. 3 times the enemy attacked and were repulsed by Lewis gun and rifle fire.
9th
The battalion were ordered to follow the 17th Battalion through the shattered wood to the eastern edge. The few survivors, mostly B Company and a few men from A and C company collected ammunition from the dead and wounded, fixed bayonets and followed the men of the 17th. A hurricane bombardment rained down and the men lost touch with each other as they staggered about the smashed remnants of the wood. Less than 30 minutes later the attack was broken up.
About midday, the position became impossible and the Battalion was ordered to withdraw as it was being gradually wiped out to no purpose.
At 10pm, with less than 100 men remaining the battalion moved to Chimney trench where it remained for the next 28 hours. The trenches offered little cover from the constant shelling and was regularly strafed by machine gun fire resulting in many casualties.
11th
At 4am the Battalion was finally relieved and it marched to the old assembly trenches at Maricourt where breakfast was served. The men rested until 3pm when they marched to Bray.
The next day was spent reorganising and on the 13th the battalion was addressed by the Divisional Commander-Major General John Shea who congratulated them on their actions and promised them a fortnight for training and reorganisation.
14th
A draft of 470 men from 27 different regiments was received today. The men were mostly private soldiers and the lack of NCO’s would prove a problem for discipline within the battalion. The whole nature of the battalion had changed with most of the original pals lying on the battlefield where they fell or wounded in various hospitals between the Somme and home. As the news of the loses filtered back to Manchester there wasn’t a street that was left unaffected and the curtains of many houses remained tightly drawn as the family’s and loved ones mourned their losses.
17th
Major H B O Williams of the 3rd Dragoon Guards assumed command.
The battalion marched to Happy valley arriving on the 19th and, as feared discipline on the march was poor and the remaining original pals realised that the old “espirit de corps” had been lost.
22nd The battalion moved to Mansel copse to prepare for the attack on Guillemont.
23rd Move to Maricourt
24th Into the trenches at Brick lane-the old German front line trenches in front of Talus Boise.
26th Back to Mansel copse
Back to Brick lane
At 11pm the Battalion left the assembly trenches at brick lane for the 3 mile march through Trones wood (Captured 2 days before). Orders were given to put on gas helmets and the Battalion marched in great discomfort. Many men were lost in the deep shell holes and some preferred to remove their gas helmets and never took part in the battle. The men emerged from the wood at 4.30am and reached the assembly trenches just in time for the 5am zero hour. The men moved off at the allotted time towards Guillemont.
The attack was carried out despite the heavy mist that made keeping direction difficult. The 18th gained their objective and established themselves in the western suburbs of the village. Some 150 prisoners were taken by the men but the German barrage falling behind them stopped the 17th Battalion moving up and the remnants of the 18th were taken prisoner. The majority of the battalion who fell in the advance lay in no mans land until September 16th-six weeks or so later.
It was during these actions that the Company Sergeant Major of B Company, C.S.M George Evans won his Victoria Cross.
George Evans was an old Scots Guardsman who had served during the Boer war in South Africa. He had joined the 18th in 1914 and was the battalion’s first, and only recipient of the Victoria Cross.
His citation read;
“ For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty during the attack at Guillemont on the 30th July 1916, when under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire he volunteered to take back an important message after 5 runners had been killed in attempting to do so. He had to cover about 700 yards, the whole of which was under observation from the enemy. Company Sergeant Major Evans, however, succeeded in delivering the message and although wounded rejoined his company, although advised to go to the dressing station. The return journey to the company again meant a journey of 700 yards under severe rifle and machine-gun fire, but by dodging from shell-hole to shell-hole he was able to do so, and was taken prisoner some hours later. On previous occasions at Montauban and Trones wood this gallant warrant officer displayed great bravery and devotion to duty and has always been a splendid example to his men.”
The operations carried on until 3.30pm on the 31st July when the remnants of the Battalion marched back to the citadel.
The casualties for the attack on Guillemont were:
470 men Killed, wounded or missing and of 16 officers’ who took part in the battle only 1 returned.
The battalion’s total casualties for the month of July were:
32 Officers and 1,300 men Killed, wounded or missing.
1st August.
The battalion was resting at Mansel copse and the following day marched to Dernacourt. They remained there for 2 days until moving by train to Busnes. Here a draft of 507 men joined from the base. By this time the Battalion was unrecognisable from the original as only a handful of the “Pals” remained. On the 10th the Battalion marched to new billets at Le Hamel and Essars where they spent the rest of the month providing work parties.
3rd September
The Battalion relieved the 11th West York’s in the trenches of the Festubert sector. The tour lasted until the night of the 8th when they were relieved and went in to Brigade reserve billets at Le Touret.
The 14th saw the men back in the line at Festubert. The rest of the month was spent in Fleselles training.
October
The 4th saw the Battalion move by bus to Buire-sur-Ancre and on the 6th they marched to Fricourt camp. Here a serious accident occurred as the last of D company was entering the camp. In the darkness, one of the men trod on a bomb which was lying on the ground, which exploded. One man,
No 10682 Pte Thomas Morrison-an original “Pal” from Harpurhey in Manchester was killed outright and
2nd Lt Herbert Clowe Crichton was so badly injured he died the next day.
Both men are buried in Dartmoor Cemetery, Becordel.
On the 10th the men marched to Marlborough wood and into the support trenches in front of Ligny-Thilloy.
The villages of Ligny-Thilloy, Thilloy and Le Sars stood on the hills west of the important town of Bapaume and it was strategically important that the villages were taken. The 30th Division were amongst the first to be given the task of achieving this.
On the 12th October, along with the 2nd Royal Scots and the 89th Brigade the position was attacked.
The villages were defended by German Marines who’s morale had not been affected by the inferno of the Somme and as the Artillery barrage fell prior to the attack the German’s were seen to leave their trenches and lie in the open ground a couple of hundred yards to the rear. As the barrage stopped they rushed back to their positions, manned their machine guns and were ready as the men watched and waited for the 2pm zero hour.
The men had about 300 yards to go to the German trenches. It was an impossible task and the men were mowed down by machine gun and artillery fire. Only a small number of the men, led by 2lt Trimmer found their way into the German front line but it was impossible to press home the attack and the survivors sat the rest of the night in shell holes in no mans land. Just after dawn the men made their way back to the trenches.
Out of a strength of 350 men who went over the top the previous afternoon 250 were Killed, wounded or missing.
After the attack the battalion withdrew and on the night of the 16th was relieved and marched to Marlborough wood.
During the rest of the month drafts of 7 Officers and 184 Men were received to fill the depleted ranks. The Battalion remained in support at Bellacourt until the 6th November when it relieved the 16th Manchester’s in the line east of Bretencourt. The tour lasted until the 12th when the men marched to Divisional reserve billets at Bailleulval. The rest of the month was spent alternating between the reserve camp and the front line trenches.
December 1916
The winter lull in the fighting had now set in and the Battalion spent the whole of the month either in the trenches opposite Blairville or in Divisional reserve billets at Bailleulval and Basseux.
The Commanding officer, Lt Col Williams whose health had suffered during the cold weather was compelled to accept a less arduous post on the Army staff and Major Charles Lembcke of the Northumberland Fusiliers assumed command.
Thus the year 1916 came to an end, a year which opened with the Battalion untried in war, taking its place for the first time in the line, and closed with it tested and proved but sadly changed.
Of the old 18th that left England in 1915 very few remained.
|
