A warning of
attack on 29 October,
Is gained by
intelligence interception,
From enemy radio
on 28 October.
British
reconnaissance also views
Enemy columns
moving to front,
With their units
prepared for artillery.
The French have
intentions to attack
With their 2nd
division on 30 October;
French corps
prove their success,
To regain
Korrekeer and Zonnebeke.
The expectations
of German assaults,
To advance from
Kruiseecke
Came instead via
Gheluvett cross roads,
Falling on the
Menin Road between
Divisions,
flanked by Guards Division.
South of the
Crossroad then held by
1st Grenadier
Guards of 20th Brigade,
To the right
stood Coldstream Guards.
The Black Watch
and the Gloucesters
Moving to their
positions - the trenches
Found were of support
type - their depth
And narrowness
made for problematic
Enemy
observations – there was no time
To create a
second line - they lacked
Defensive wire -
no initial warning system,
Of pebbles set to
rattle in tin cans.
German Artillery
started 29 October -
5.30 a.m. – the
drift of a foggy morning
Only helped the
opening German attack.
The Black Watch
and Coldstreams,
Stopped the
Bavarian regiment -
Yet British
Machine gunners
Found their guns
were jamming -
The Cartridges
supplied being too large.
By 6.30 a.m. the
Germans gained
Ground, to
capture Black Watch
And the
Coldstreams forces.
British fire
began to falter -
As communications
started
To fail - the
artillery instead
Of aiming on
enemy infantry,
Turned to fire on
their guns.
Bravely reserves
held the line.
The Grenadiers
being sent to rear,
As their officers
believed a strike
Would not happen
- then
Out of the fog,
German
Formations
re-attacked,
At 7.30 a.m. the
fog dispersed,
Still the Germans
came through,
To fight hand to
hand.
The Grenadiers
sped forth
To lose 470 men -
200 and 5
officers were left -
More reserves
were called to plug
Attack, now south
of the Menin road.
The Germans
widened their front
Not realising
they had made gains.
Although having
no military target,
Ypres shuddered
under bombardment,
By artillery and
aircraft.
Before more
reserves reached them,
The Coldstream
and Black Watch
Force was
virtually wiped out -
At 11.30 a.m.
Bavarian
regiments advanced about
Poezelhoek
- so Haig pushed in
Brigade reserves,
To halt further
advances -
With success
Came a gap of 500
yards -
Now they pulled
half a mile from road,
To entrench and
re-establish mixed
Units - to hold
back the Germans.
To dig in and
strengthen the line
Became
problematic -
As they lacked
equipment -
So if any more
breakthroughs came
About Gheluvelt,
divisions would
Then attack the
enemy flank,
At Polygon wood.
German gain of
Gheluvelt crossroads,
Found advantage
from convex ground,
Where infantry
might hide –
While their higher
ground,
Gave good views
For their
artillery observers -
Concealed by
fortunate lines
Of hedges and
ditches,
Hid the weakened
British line.
In their orders
to gain Poelcapelle,
The British were
unable to support
French needs to
advance east.
On 30 October,
Heavy German guns
moved
Forward, ready to
break through
At Gheluvelt -
Fabeck felt this
was the offensive,
That would end
the war,
To strike final
blow on the British.
German 4th and
6th armies
Prepared to make
a diversion,
To occupy allied
reserves
By moving on
Zonnebeke.
Morning mists saw
artillery
Begin the fight
at 6 a.m.
The German
infantry moved
30 minutes later
-
But wire fencing
stopped them.
With mists
clearing
German infantry
was exposed;
To suffer heavy
losses.
6.45 a.m. German
artillery
Now destroyed
forward
Allied trenches -
badly placed
In their exposure
to enemy
Observations -
10.00 a.m.
Zandvoorde
Was in German
hands.
With loss of
cable wagons,
British
communications
Became
problematic -
The loss of their
high ground,
Left isolated
pockets
Of resistance -
as enemy artillery
Focused on
Brigade headquarters.
Royal Welch
Fusiliers and brigades
Became overrun -
86 escaped,
54 captured and
276 killed.
With heavy losses
Counter attacks
failed -
West of Ypres, a
new line formed.
Orders pulled in
gap pluggers
Yet in places the
line stayed thin.
Ordered to dig
in, forced the French
To see how
serious the enemy's
Intentions now
were,
To push through
Ypres. Then -
Suddenly cautious,
the Germans
Believed the
allied reinforcements
Continually
reinforced their front -
Attacks of rapid
rifle fire prompted
A German
commander's requests
For a halt - but
the idea was rejected.
In the south
British Cavalry divisions,
Were not troubled
by Bavarian corps.
But problems were
raised when
Artillery began
to shell Hollebeke -
Spread across 4
miles, Gough
Had only 10 guns
and 1,500 men -
By midday the
cavalry Brigade
Were forced from
their positions.
The forward
German Units,
Were now within
three miles
Of Ypres - yet by
end of day,
Made no attempt
to push further.
At Messines
Further southern
German attacks
Were halted by
cavalry division.
French Battalions
and divisions
Moved to help
British at St Eloi -
On that evening of
30 October,
Germans forces
moved forward
In preparations
of more attacks.
4.30 a.m. on 31
October,
A German division
Renewed their
fight -
After five solid
hours,
Breaking into
Messines.
Facing the force
of 6000 Germans
Were 900 British cavalry
men -
In their retreat
from Messines
The British had
to carry out,
House to house
fighting.
Noon, November 1:
A British Brigade
advanced
On Messines road,
To halt a
Bavarian Division -
Intent on
supporting
Their forces at
Messines -
In the fight,
Both sides
suffered badly.
North of that
town,
The sixth Cavalry
Division
Found itself
under attack,
By 16,000 German
Infantry -
Bavarian's and
reserves.
Rushing to
support,
Came one and half
Indian
battalions,
And six French
Artillery.
Gough's anger was
fuelled,
By lack of French
Cuirassiers
And Brigade's
help in the battle.
6 a.m. shelling
begun by Germans -
14.45 p.m.
Infantry assaults began.
In words of C in
C French,
Such a defence of
Messines
Was then crucial
for the B.E.F.
Yet the Battle at
Gheluvelt Plateau,
Proved more
vital.
Having lost
Becelaere,
And Zandvoorde,
Gheluvelt, a
ridge remained vital
In British
observation east of Ypres.
6 a.m. German
observer balloons
Directed the fire
onto the British.
Within two hours
the Gheluvelt
Emplacements of
the 2nd Welch
Regiment were
destroyed -
With a gap
created
And Welch
battalion separated,
The Germans
blasted in,
Depleting the
force.
The Gloucester’s
moved in
To plug the gap -
Facing heavy fire
to the front,
80 men became 13
-
As the enemy
increased
Their numbers
north and south
Of the Menin
road, by 10 a.m.
Still more German
men
Were committed -
Their fire now
lifted its aim,
From the British
trenches,
To meet allied
reinforcements.
Until the
increased velocity
Of British rifle
fire,
Made the enemy
believe,
They faced a
hidden line;
Forming machine
gunnery.
As artillery came
forth,
Other units were
pushed back
The Queens still
held on -
With others taken
prisoner,
Or killed by the
enemy.
12 men 2 officers
were left
Merging with the
Welch,
Into the 3rd
Brigade.
11.30 a.m. now a
retreat
Left behind a
shambolic Gheluvelt,
To form a new
line at Veldhoek.
Borders and Scots
guards fought on,
To prevent any
German attempts
In gaining Gheluvelt
Chateau.
The enemy backed
down,
Away into the
grounds.
Close engagements
Took place about
chateau’s
Steps, firing
from the entrance.
Making a hurried
conference
At Hooge Chateau,
By the Menin
road,
It was agreed
that if further
German breakthroughs
came,
Reserves from
Polygon wood
Would take on
The German right
flank.
Then shells fell
outside
Hooge Chateau -
Lomax was
mortally wounded.
Hurried given
orders,
Sent movements of
troops
To provide
support
For the broken
troops -
But then counter
orders
Stopped them,
On the Menin
Road.
13.30 p.m.
2000 yards east
of Ypres
Was desperately
held
To stop north
flank
Of Ypres’
collapse.
14.30 p.m.
With the dire
situation
At Gheluvelt,
came news -
Against all the
odds.
The Worcestershire’s
retook the town;
As they looted –
The Bavarians
were taken off guard.
With shaken
forces they left the town,
Abandoning any
advantages,
They had gained.
31 October and
Haig decided
To pull from
Gheluvelt -
Securing hard
pressed formations,
600 yards west,
Between the town
and the
Comines canal -
A critical point,
where
Collected
brigades and battalions,
Held the line,
Against
concentrations of Germans.
8 a.m. Enemy
shelling started.
By 12.45 p.m.
infantry advanced -
The division under
pressure,
Received a
rallying call.
At Zillebeke the
7th division
Was giving way -
Capper moved a
retreat
To Frenzenberg
Zillebeke line -
The German
movement slowed,
As their officers
Succumbed to
British rifles.
15:00 p.m.
An adhoc battle
group is formed,
With title of ‘Bulfin
Group’ -
By a Brigader of
that name,
Their purpose,
To make a counter
attack
For all their
lost ground.
Training was to
be put into practice
Of the ‘Mad
minute’ -
One minute rapid
fire,
Then advance with
speed
And bayonet.
With need 200
men, Bulfin got 80.
A sudden
assistance of Dragoon
Made for luck,
with hope
For the woods to
conceal
Their low numbers
-
At a cost -
The attack gained
half a mile.
Brigade numbers
were reduced
And 4 of 12 CO’s
were dead –
Pre battle forces
stood weakened.
Gheluvelt, 7
miles southwest,
Allied Forces
were sent to break
To make the break
at southern part
Of bulge about
Ypres -
Any enemy success
might trap
The British in
that Salient,
Or force them
East.
The ridge held by
600 Germans
Wytschaete held
by 415 British.
Household Cavalry
-
With odd mounted
to 12 to one.
2.45 p.m.
Wytschaete finally fell –
By 4 p.m. The
regiments fell back.
Then 6 p.m. came
on mass German
Attacks, in a
struggle to keep ridge.
Their success
came at 7.35 p.m. –
British forces
resurged again -
Failing to take
the ridge,
Losing 30 per
cent of their men.
The 12th Lancers
somehow,
Took some hold of
the town.
With Cavalry
falling back
From Messines
The hope to
regain Menin,
Faded fast
- now too far
Into depth of
German hands -
With Messines
value lost as a post,
The town came
under British shells.
A battering of shells
To protect their
retreat -
Above, aircraft
hounded
Advancing enemy
columns,
And German ground
forces.
Opposing German
success
Were enemy
failures elsewhere.
Still an enemy
breakthrough
Could be stopped
in the South;
With Wytschaete
to the north,
And Warneton to
the south -
Both remaining in
British control.
Once again trying
to retake
Messines, the
French 39th
Advanced but
failed -
A Bavarian
division drove
The remainder of
British,
Out from
Wytschaete -
Against the
French casualties
Of the German
proved high -
While some
prophetic
German figures
survived.
From within the
chaotic fighting,
Two enemy men
Gaining the Iron
Cross, 2nd Class.
One rescuer by
the name Gefeiter
The other
soldier, Adolf Hitler.
In the daylight
of 1 November;
Both town and
lines
Were secured by
the Germans.
Yet the ridges
west of
Of Wytschaete –
Messines line
Stayed in French
hands.
The British now
stood,
Exhausted, with
reduced divisions -
Equally, German
troops had needs
For their own
reinforcements.
The opposing
sides fell quiet,
For some
following days -
Now making
intermittent raids -
As the German
Artillery,
Raised their
sights, to fire
Onto the
un-strategic town of Ypres.
By 10 November,
German forces had
gathered.
So by the dawn,
Of 11 November,
Began an assault
on Ypres,
With the Germans
outnumbering
The allied side -
With no attempt
to modernise
Their tactics -
German infantry,
Still marched in
close formation.
Such moves for
easy casualties.
A Bavarian then
Division turned,
To push forces
north of Ypres,
Along the Comines
Canal.
Enemy bombardment
kept
The allied heads
down -
As over 12 German
divisions
Advanced.
But the enemy's
slow speed
Allowed for easy
return fire.
The German trudge
centered
Ahead of
Gheluvelt,
Across the Menin
Road,
To Nun’s Copse
And Polygon Wood,
Now held by
exhausted corps.
Less than 10,000
British,
Faced 17,500
Enemy uniforms,
Pushing allies
back from their points
Taking the
forward allied trench line.
The enemy reached
Nonnebosschen
But were still
held back,
By foot guards
and reserve artillery -
Now forming the
last line of defence -
As nothing lay
beyond Ypres.
Polygon Wood,
Was taken in
parts, by Germans -
Yet Highland
reinforcements
Came to face
them,
About
Nonnebosschen.
Oxford and Bucks
drove out
Germans from the
woods -
Taking surprised
Prussians
At the forward
trenches,
Yet can under
erroneous
French fire -
At the cost of
British casualties -
Ypres remained
secured.
12 November;
Haig's fears felt
the British line
On verging of
collapse -
And the BEF about
to shatter -
As Germans held
the British front,
From the Menin
Road
To Polygon Wood –
The battle was
now all but over.
A week of
fighting came to end
On 17 November -
The German tactic
now changed
To cease-fire and
dig in.
The Germans were
remassing
Elsewhere to the
eastern front -
Their force in
the west,
Exhausted -
Believing their
final victory,
Was not yet
possible.
To the allies
battle's conclusion,
Was not quite
obvious
Only as slow
attacks faded away.
By the 14
November, severe frost
And snowfall,
Worked to
downsize the fighting.
The cold November
air
Gave another
British blow -
A visit of Field
Marshall Roberts,
Ended with his
death,
Gained from a
simple chill.
With opening of
15 November
Came settled
reorganisation:
Belgians now held
15 miles -
As the French
took the line
From Zonnebeke
To Ypres -
Comines Canal -
The British held
line from Wytschaete
To La Bassee
Canal at Givenchy.
Finally on 20
November,
The German
withdrawal became clear,
Ending the first
battle for Ypres.
Mann, J., 2014.
100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 14
November 2014).
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#WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary #worldwarone
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