THE BATTLE OF MESSINES RIDGE—BRITISH SMASH THE GERMAN SALIENT SOUTH OF YPRES

After an intense bombardment that lasted all day of June 1, 1917, and part of the night the Germans on the 2d, employing large forces, hurled five attacks on the French Craonne position; three against the eastern face of Californie Plateau and two against Vauclerc Plateau. It seemed as if the Germans hoped to win the coveted position on the heights by sheer weight of numbers. Advancing in dense masses shoulder to shoulder they formed an impressive spectacle. But not for long. Soon great gaps were torn in the solid lines by the famous French artillery.

The ranks quickly closed up and again surged onward in dense gray waves, only to be shattered again and again by the splendidly served French guns. The same process was repeated, the Germans advancing, their ranks depleting, and then as the French fire became even more destructive they fell back, leaving the battle ground littered with dead.

The French rightly called this a victory, for they maintained all their positions and the Germans had not succeeded in gaining a foothold at any point. The German headquarters was silent concerning the fight on this date.

While the French continued to hold their position on the eastern extremity of the Chemin-des-Dames they threatened to turn the right flank of the Laon bastion by an advance over the open ground north of Berry-au-Bac. For this reason the Germans were desperately anxious to recover the Craonne position, which was the key to the whole tactical situation in this part of the front.

For about two weeks the British had been bombarding the strong German salient south of Ypres. On June 7, 1917, they delivered against this position or series of fortifications an overwhelming blow. It was one of the most spectacular military operations carried out during the war and marked a brilliant victory for the Allied arms. By this startling coup the Germans were forced out of one of the strongest positions they held on the western front. As far as human ingenuity and military skill could make it so, the position was impregnable. From its commanding situation the Germans were able to observe with ease all the preparations that were in progress in the British lines and arrange to checkmate them. The value of the position to the Germans in this area was therefore of supreme value.

For two and a half years the Allied armies in this little corner of Belgium had held the Germans in check, and during that time they were almost at the mercy of the German guns on the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge. The German front defenses of this position consisted of the most elaborate trench systems and fortifications, forming a belt of about a mile deep. Farms and woods around were garrisoned and machine-gun emplacements were set up in every available corner. Concrete dugouts of the strongest description were provided for the protection of garrisons and machine gunners, and nothing that labor and skill could devise was neglected to make the position indestructible. Yet all this laboriously constructed defense work that had taken many months to complete and the strength and skill of thousands were swept away in a few hours' time.

For nearly two years companies of sappers—British, Australians, and New Zealanders—had been busily engaged in tunneling under the low range of hills upon which the German position stood. In these underground passages engineers had planted nineteen great mines, containing more than a million tons of ammonite, a new and enormously destructive explosive. The secret of the mines was so well kept during the time they were preparing that the Germans seemed to have had no suspicion of the great surprise in store for them.

At exactly 3.10 in the morning of June 7, 1917, all the nineteen mines were discharged by electric contact and the hilltops were blown off amid torrents of spouting flames with a roaring sound like many earthquakes that could be heard distinctly farther away than London. Large sections of the German front, supporting trenches, and dugouts went up in dÉbris amid thick clouds of smoke. To add to the terror of the defenders of the position the British guns after the explosions shelled the salient steadily until preparations were completed for attack. Then the British infantry under Field Marshal Haig and General Sir Herbert Plumer advanced with a rush to the assault and the German front line for ten miles was captured in a few minutes.

Less than three hours after the first attack the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge was stormed. The British pushed their advance along the entire sector south of Ypres, from Observation Ridge to Ploegsteert Wood to the north of ArmentiÈres. Later in the day the German rear defenses, which ran across the base of the salient, were assaulted. Here the Germans had concentrated strong forces and the British encountered stiff opposition, but by nightfall the whole rear German position along a five-mile front to a depth of three miles was secure in British hands. The Canadians, who were in the forefront of all the fighting, had an enjoyable day of it, unsurpassed since they swept the Germans from Vimy Ridge.

In the course of the day's fighting the British captured over 7,000 prisoners and a large number of guns of all calibers. The Germans, it was estimated, had about 30,000 casualties, and the British less than a third of that number.

Eyewitnesses to this spectacular and dramatic operation have described the shattering effect the terrific explosions had on the Germans defending the positions, especially on those protecting the ill-famed Hill 60, where so many brave British soldiers had perished in previous fights.

When this hill burst open and a dense mass of fiery clouds and smoking rocks shot skyward, the British troops assigned to take the position and while still some distance away were thrown down by the violence of the concussion. But no one was injured, and finding their footing they dashed on in the direction of the hill. Below Mount Sorrel and in Armagh Wood they encountered groups of JÄgers and WÜrttembergers, who crawled out of holes in the still quivering earth, and, shaking with terror, weakly raised their hands in token of surrender. There was no desire to fight left in these men, but where the dugouts had not been shattered by British fire and were partly intact hundreds crouched in the dark and could only be persuaded to come into the open when bombs were hurled among them.

In other places the explosions had not produced such terrifying effects on the Germans, and the British met with stubborn resistance. This was the case in the neighborhood of the ChÂteau Matthieu, to the west of Hollebeke, which was strongly held and where the Londoners who engaged the Germans had a strenuous time of it before they gained the upper hand.

The British had looked for stout resistance from the enemy in a street of fortresslike houses built of huge blocks of concrete six feet thick, but their shell fire had done its work so thoroughly that most of the structures were in ruins, while the occupants of those that remained intact were too cowed and panic-stricken to make any but the feeblest defense.

For the first time on anything like a large scale the British leveled woodlands by spraying them with drums of burning oil, thus laying bare hidden trenches and gun emplacements and clearing the way for their infantry to advance.

In Dead Wood some German troops of the Thirty-fifth Division attempted a counterattack on a body of British South Country troops. It was a fierce, close struggle, when bayonets were the favorite weapon. The Germans, who are not generally fond of cold steel and hand-to-hand fighting, on this occasion did their share in the general thrusting and stabbing, and certainly displayed no lack of courage. But the men of Kent, who were eager to be on their way, fought with such wild fury that the Germans, after they had incurred very heavy losses, were eager to drop their rifles and surrender.

The part the armored tanks played in the battle of Messines Ridge was not very important, but they would have been missed if they had not been present in emergencies to help out the infantry. When there was no particular business for the monsters, pilots and crews sallied forth and joined in the fight.

Military critics award the principal honors in the battle of Messines Ridge to the guns and the gunners who served them. For about a fortnight the gunners had worked incessantly with scarcely any sleep in the midst of nerve-racking noises and with death constantly hovering around them. The number of shells used in this battle by the British was incredible. One division alone fired over 180,000 shells with their field batteries and over 46,000 with their heavies.

It was a joyous hour for the British in the course of the day's fighting when they were able to abandon the old gun positions after two and a half years of stationary warfare. They had no longer to fear that any more shells would be fired by the Germans from the commanding position on the ridge. All danger from that quarter had ceased. The cheering British troops made way for the gunners, as shouting joyously they went up the ridge on a run, the infantry trailing along after them. Arrived near the top, the gunners unlimbered and went into action for the second phase of the fighting.

British aviators, who performed important scout work for the gunners, were deserving of a liberal share in the honors of the day. Some of the Royal Flying Corps seemed to have gone battle-mad in the course of the fighting, for they engaged in such death-defying adventures as no wholly sane person would have attempted.

There was one British aviator in particular whose reckless daring shone conspicuously even above that of his fellows, and who on the occasion showed an utter disregard for life. One of his major operations was to fly over a body of German troops on the march. Hovering at a short distance above them, he sprayed the astonished troops with machine-gun fire until they scattered and fled. Passing joyously on his way, the aviator encountered a convoy and flying low poured volleys into the Germans and was gone before they had time to recover from their astonishment and retaliate. Near Warneton a large force of German troops was massing to attack when down among them dashed the aviator, his machine gun crackling, when they dispersed in all directions, leaving dead and wounded on the field.

Another daring young flyer belonging to the Royal Flying Corps attacked and silenced four machine-gun teams in strong emplacements.

Other British aviators were active in clearing out trenches of their German occupants, and when they ran out of ammunition for their Lewis guns hurled down on the enemy bombs, explosives, and anything that injures or destroys.

By the British capture of Messines Ridge the Germans lost their last natural position that commanded the British lines. The victory came as a fitting climax to the British achievements in France during the preceding three months' campaign. By the capture during that period of Bapaume, Vimy Ridge, Monchy Plateau, and now Messines Ridge, the British had completely changed the military situation on the western front.

The area gained in this vast operation was a front nine miles long to an extreme depth of five miles. Owing to strong German pressure exerted at this point the advance was checked, but the British continued to engage and harass the enemy in minor operations.

During the night of June 8, 1917, the British resumed activities in the neighborhood of the great mining center of Lens. An attack was launched south of the Souchez River on a front of two miles, penetrating to a depth of half a mile.

On the following day the Germans with strong forces delivered a determined assault on British lines on a front of six miles east of Messines. The attack failed. South of Lens the Canadians on the same date pierced the German lines on a front of two miles, destroying defensive works and taking a number of prisoners.

Artillery and heavy guns were busy on both sides during the night of June 10, 1917, east of Epehy. The Germans assembled strong forces of troops in this area to attack, but were scattered by the intense fire of British guns. Southeast of La BassÉe the British carried out a dashing raid on enemy lines, during which they destroyed elaborate trench systems and mine galleries and captured eighteen prisoners. Successful raids were also made on German positions east of Vermelles and south of ArmentiÈres on the same night. The British continued these dashing exploits on the following day on both sides of Neuve Chapelle, east of ArmentiÈres, and north of Ypres. In each operation the German defenses were smashed and a considerable number of prisoners were taken.

In the Champagne the French had to defend themselves against persistent German assaults made to regain lost positions at Mont Blond and Mont Carnillet. The Germans had never renounced the hope of recovering these invaluable observation points, and sacrificed thousands of men in the vain hope of wearing down the French resistance. The region of the Californie Plateau was also subjected to furious attacks and violent artillery engagements, and while the French lost heavily the Germans were unable to gain the slightest advantage.

Early in the morning of June 12, 1917, the British won new and valuable positions astride the Souchez River. In the night the Germans in force delivered a counterattack to regain the lost ground, displaying a disregard for safety and stolid bravery as they pushed on in spite of heavy losses. But the British were in a situation where they could rake the German lines with their artillery and machine-gun fire, and made the most of their advantage. The Germans could not make any headway against this storm of fire, and at last when their ranks were shattered they gave up hope and retired.

Owing to the British advance east of Messines, and to the continued pressure of their troops south of the front of attack, the Germans were forced to abandon large and important sections of their first-line defensive system in the region between the river Lys and St. Yves. Following closely the retreating enemy, the British made important advances east of Ploegsteert Wood and also in the neighborhood of Gaspard.

While their allies were gaining ground and hastening the German retreat on their front, the French in the regions of Braye, north of Craonne, northwest of Rheims, and on the left bank of the Meuse, near CumiÈres, were being hammered continuously by German guns. It seemed that defenses and defenders must be destroyed by this hurricane of fire and shell. But the soldiers of the Republic had learned many lessons concerning German methods of warfare since the fighting began in this region and knew how to conserve their strength, and were prepared to out-fight the enemy whenever the odds were anything like equal. The concentrated fire of the German guns damaged the French defenses, but were ineffective in crushing French spirit, so that the attacks that followed the bombardments failed in every instance to gain any advantage.

Positions the British had captured earlier in the week south of the Ypres-Commines Canal were attacked by the Germans on June 15, 1917, following heavy artillery preparations. In the first dash a few Germans succeeded in approaching the British front trenches, but they were killed or driven out and the attack collapsed at all points.

In the night of the 15th the sorely tried French forces continued to bear the brunt of German fury around Craonne and Mont Carnillet. Raids they made in the region of Hill 304, on the heights of the Meuse, broke down with heavy losses. East of Rheims the French were successful in minor operations in which they captured a good number of prisoners. Artillery duels were almost continuous on the following day north and south of the Ailette River, in the Champagne, and in the region of the heights of Carnillet and Blond. The Germans won a section of trench in neighborhood of Courcy, but later were driven out or destroyed by the French in a counterattack.

East of Monchy-le-Preux the Germans after a heavy bombardment of British positions made an attack in force that was entirely successful in gaining the first-line defenses. The British were driven back with considerable losses to their main new position on Infantry Hill.

After the disastrous experience of the German airmen during the battle of Messines Ridge their flying forces adopted the familiar tactics of mass formation. The British air pilots seldom encountered in these June days squadrons of less than fifteen machines, and occasionally they met aerial armies of as many as sixty planes. In some battles in the second week of June, 1917, between seventy and eighty machines were involved. Most of these air fights took place inside German territory, and despite superior numbers the British Royal Flying Corps continued to prove their superiority in the air over the Teutons. In one of these aerial battles, when a large number of planes were engaged, the British pilots smashed ten German machines, while only two British flyers were compelled to withdraw from the fight, one of them making a successful landing within his own lines.

Of the reckless bravery displayed by some of the younger members of the Royal Flying Corps many authentic stories are told. One intrepid British pilot coolly took up a position over a German aerodrome at a considerable distance within the enemy lines. There were seven machines in the aerodrome when the British flyer took up his position above, and as they issued forth first one and then two at a time he attacked and in every instance was successful in smashing or in driving out of control the German machine.

On the Arras battle front on June 19, 1917, the British gained some ground south of the Cojeul River, capturing during the operation thirty-five prisoners.

French positions between the Ailette River and Laffaux Hill in the Champagne and northwest of Rheims were on this date the special marks for the concentrated fire of German guns. French outposts were attacked at Mont Teton and Mont Carnillet (an almost daily occurrence this summer), but the Germans were unable to gain any advantage and were driven back to their trenches with heavy losses.

The British were successful on June 20, 1917, in regaining the Monchy position which had been lost some days before. It was of utmost value that this point should be wrested from German hands if the advance was to continue, and the British were correspondingly elated that they had possession of it again.

South of La FÈre the French attacked during the night following the 21st, and penetrating German lines in the region of Beauton, destroyed large numbers of the enemy and brought back prisoners. In the Champagne after severe artillery preparation the Germans attacked French trenches on Teton Height and to the east of this position on a front of 400 yards. The Germans employed strong forces in the operation, and in a daring push in which they sacrificed large numbers of men they succeeded in penetrating advanced positions. But they were unable to hold them long, when the French came back in a dashing assault that swept them out and back to their own lines. On the following day the French in a brilliant movement made on a 600-yard front advanced their line 600 yards nearer to Mont Carnillet.

It was in this region that a unit consisting of only sixty-two French Grenadiers and portable machine guns occupied a position that the Germans coveted. The Germans attacked with a strong force, but the stout-hearted defenders, though vastly outnumbered, not only drove them back, but pressed on in pursuit, capturing a considerable length of German trenches and killing more than 200.

In the Chemin-des-Dames on June 22, 1917, the Germans launched a number of attacks, which led to some desperate engagements. In the vicinity of La RoyÈre Farm the ground was covered with the bodies of German dead, according to the statements of correspondents on the field. The Germans at a heavy cost only succeeded in gaining possession of a short section of a French front trench.

Rheims continued to be the mark on which the Germans vented their anger when things went wrong, and on the 22d they threw 1,200 shells into the cathedral city.

The British had made no sensational advances in France for some time, but along the entire 120-mile front occupied they continued to maintain strong pressure on the enemy positions. During the night of the 24th they carried out a number of successful local operations. One of these enterprises was of importance, as it increased the British grip around Lens. Attacking by starlight the British troops stormed and captured 400 yards of front-line trenches east of Riaumont Wood, in the western outskirts of Lens, thus drawing closer the ring of iron with which they were hemming in the French mining center.

In numerous raids carried out in the night on enemy trenches in the vicinity of Bullecourt, Roeux, Loos, and Hooge, much damage was wrought to German defenses and a considerable number of prisoners were captured. One daring body of British troops remained for two hours in German trenches, blowing up dugouts and inflicting serious casualties on the garrison.

In the general advance on Lens the Canadians occupied the strongest outpost in the defense of that place and had pushed forward to La Coulotte. The object of the British command was to exert extreme pressure on the enemy and at the same time keep down the casualties, and this they were successful in doing.

Patrols sent out reached the crown of Reservoir Hill without meeting opposing forces and pressed on down the eastern slope to occupy the strong Lens outpost. South of the Souchez River the Canadians were pressing on the very heels of the retreating Germans. Railway embankments southeast of the Lens electric station were occupied, and the advance was then continued toward La Coulotte.

For several days the Germans had been destroying houses in the western part of the mining center, in order to secure a wider area of fire for their guns. This movement suggested to the British command that they intended to cling as long as possible to the eastern side of the city and to prolong the fight to the bitter end by house-to-house fighting.

In the night of June 25, 1917, the French made a brilliant attack northwest of Hurtebise on a strongly organized German position. They gained all their objectives and the rapidity with which the attack was carried out proved a crushing surprise to the Germans who lost in the fight and in counterattacks ten officers and over 300 of other ranks.

Among the positions captured by the French in the operations in this region was the "Cave of the Dragon," which was more than 100 yards wide and 300 yards deep, and had been converted into a strong fortress. The cavern had numerous exits and openings through which machine guns could be fired. Here the French captured a vast amount of war material, including nine machine guns in good condition, ammunition depots, and a hospital relief outpost.

In the morning of June 27, 1917, the Canadians, encouraged by their recent successes, which had been won at slight cost, decided to attack across the open ground sloping upward to Avion and the village of Leauvette near the Souchez River. The assaulting troops consisted of men from British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, and the British army contained no more daring fighters. The attack was a success, except at one point, where the Germans were strong in machine guns, and were surrounded by barbed-wire entanglements of a peculiarly complicated sort. Here the sturdy men from overseas were unable to gain their objectives, but at other points they gained valuable ground. In the following night, during a heavy rainstorm, the British attacked a number of the southwesterly suburbs of Lens, including the one known as Avion. They won all their first objectives, and captured over 200 prisoners. The fighting was in and out of ruined buildings, collieries, pit derricks, and the usual structures of a mining settlement. It was continued on the following day, advance being made on a total front of about four miles to a depth of over a mile. The result of these attacks was to give the British a series of strongly organized defensive systems on both banks of the river Souchez covering Lens.

On the same night the suburbs of the mining center were attacked, the British captured German forward positions south and west of Oppy in the Arras sector on a front of about 2,000 yards.

On the 28th and 29th of June, 1917, the Germans launched by night powerful attacks in the Verdun sector near Hill 304 and Avocourt Wood. They succeeded in piercing French first lines over the whole front attacked, but were subsequently driven out, except at one point, on the slope of Dead Man Hill, where they clung tenaciously, defying every attempt made by the French to regain the position.[Back to Contents]