On August 22, three battalions of BEF troops reached the Canal Du Centre. The canal’ position created a salient in the British position. Pomeroy's battalion anchored the left flank, The Middlesex Regiment held the center, and Gordon’s Highlanders anchored the right.
Pomeroy positioned Lieutenant Maurice Dease’s company to defend the Nimy Bridge, while he defended the Ghiln Bridge. At 6 am the German artillery bombardment began, and the frontal attack stepped off at 9 am. During the first assault, the Germans advanced towards the bridges in columns. At 1,000 yards the British machine guns began firing. As the attackers were in columns, the machine gun fire mowed down the attackers, repulsing the assault with heavy casualties.
After regrouping, the next German assault spread out the attack and moved up their machine guns. British casualties began to mount. Lieutenant Dease’s section took heavy casualties, causing him to work the machine gun. After suffering five wounds, Dease died from loss of blood.
Pomeroy ordered his troops to fall back, leaving a rear guard to slow the attack. Those men died where they stood. However, their bravery allowed the rest of the battalion to conduct a fighting retreat. The Fusiliers sustained over 400 killed or wounded. The Middlesex Regiment and the Highlanders sustained similar casualties and began a fighting withdrawal. That withdrawal became a general retreat when the French Fifth Army collapsed and fled the field. At the last moment, the Royal Ulster Regiment launched a counter-attack, allowing the retreating soldiers to escape into France.
The next two weeks became a nightmare of building defenses, then abandoning them in the face of overwhelming German assaults, which became known as The Great Retreat. The battered British 1st Corp and the remnants of the fifth French Army crossed the Marne River on September 2 following a retreat of two-hundred and fifty miles. The previous two weeks of battle resulted in eighty percent casualties. The BEF contemplated retreating to the English Channel ports in preparation for evacuation. The German Army advanced to within ten miles of Paris. Panic reigned in Paris with civilians clogging the roads in a desperate attempt to escape the anticipated carnage.
Unexpectedly, Russia mobilized quickly, and attacked East Prussia, pushing back German defenders. Now fighting a two-front war, Germany moved several divisions by railroads into East Prussia under General Paul Von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. The fresh troops enveloped and virtually annihilated the Russian Army at the Battle of Tannenberg, capturing over 125,000 Russian soldiers. The victorious Germans pursued the retreating remnants of the Russian Army out of East Prussia, deep into the Russian province of Poland. There, the Germans constructed strong fortifications.
Battle of the Marne
September 5 – 12, 1914
On the Western Front, the absence of the German divisions enabled a French observation balloon to detect a gap in the German advance. French General Joffre and the BEF seized the opportunity and attacked through the gap and repulsed the Germans. On the western flank of the gap, the BEF crossed over the Marne, widening the gap between the two German Armies.
To prevent encirclement, the Germans retreated, launching numerous counter-attacks as delaying actions. The counter-attacks allowed the main army to retreat ninety-miles to the Aisne River. There they dug in on the north side of the river on high ground, destroying the bridges after the entire army crossed over. Situated on the northern plateau, the Germans commanded a wide range of fire.
Robert Pomeroy, newly promoted to Lt. Colonel and the new commander of the Middlesex Regiment, attended the BEF senior officer staff meeting to plan the assault on the German position. An optimism filled the room, as following the defeats on the Great Retreat, the allies were now on the offensive.
The bulk of the BEF I Corp would cross the Aisne River on pontoon bridges under cover of an artillery barrage. The Middlesex Regiment’s assignment was to cross over a pontoon bridge at night and work their way under cover of darkness and the expected morning fog. Once across, Pomeroy’s men would work their way up the narrow trails in the escarpments cut in the ridge line through erosion. The Middlesexers would then attack the German trench fortifications from the flank, and disrupt them with enfilading fire.
At 2-am on September 13, Pomeroy led the Middlesex Regiment over the Aisne River on a pontoon bridge, then cut it adrift so the engineers could haul it back to the British side of the river. That would avoid the potential of discovery by any German patrols. The die was cast. The Middlesexers were on the German side of the river with no way back if the frontal attack did not go off as scheduled. Quietly, Pomeroy led his men to the base of the escarpment, located the trails, sent out sentries, and ordered his men to rest. The regiment left any unnecessary or noisy equipment and smoked their last cigarettes before crossing the river. They then deposited their cigarettes and lighters into boxes until they returned.
At 7 am the regiment awakened with the start of the artillery barrage. The thick fog obscured vision. The Middlexers ate a cold breakfast then in single file started to walk up the steep escarpment trail. The German artillery responded with counter-battery fire, and the German soldiers huddled in their trenches and fortifications. The pontoon bridges slowly extended across the river.
By 8 am the BEF I Corp marched over a dozen temporary bridges as they crossed over the Aisne River. By 9 am, over 10,000 crossed over. The sun was beginning to be visible through the fog. The artillery barrage let up, then began to walk forward. The soldiers followed the barrage, first at a walk then began to run forward as the German artillery and mortars exploded among them. As they reached the steeply sloping ridgeline, German machine guns began to cut wide swaths through the advancing soldiers.
On the escarpment trail, one-half of Pomeroy's regiment reached the top and began to advance towards the German trenches. Pomeroy was at the top of the trail urging his men to hurry when the German machine guns covering the top of the ridgeline began firing from three sides. Realizing his regiment had climbed into a trap, Pomeroy tried to rally his men to flank the machine gun emplacements. His goal changed from enfilading the trenches to extracting his regiment.
Within 30-minutes over half of the soldiers who crested the ridgeline were casualties. Pomeroy himself sustained wounds in his shoulder and arm. He ordered a retreat in sections, leaving the dead and most of the seriously wounded behind. German snipers harassed the regiment as it conducted a fighting retreat down the trail, picking off stragglers and decimating groups. Less than forty percent reached the bottom of the trail. By this time, Pomeroy sustained a third wound in the thigh and needed assistance to cross the river.
The frontal assault ended in disaster. None of the attackers reached the German trench line. The BEF sustained over forty percent casualties before beginning the retreat, and over fifty percent before re-crossing the river under heavy German artillery fire.
On the eastern flank of the gap, the French Army was unable to assist the BEF, as the Germans conducted a counter-offensive towards Verdun, almost investing the city. That offensive caused the French to move the Fifth Army to assist the Verdun defenders. The German commander, General Von Moltke, with his goal accomplished, broke off the offensive and moved his army west to link up with the defenders at the Aisne River.
Then the Germans, French and British raced to the sea, in an attempt to turn each others flank, erecting trench lines and fortifications along the way. The Western Front settled into trench warfare. Entrenched soldiers, utilizing machine guns and mortars repulsed massed frontal attacks with heavy casualties. One of these campaigns occurred at Ypres in Belgium from October 19 to November 22.
The battle began on October 19. The German intended to capture Dunkirk and Calais. To accomplish this, the Germans simultaneously attacked the Belgian Army defending the Yser River along a three-mile front, breaking through and crossing the river. The Belgian retreat almost became a rout, which was narrowly averted when King Albert I ordered the sluice gates of the dikes opened, which flooded the plain of Flanders. In danger of having a portion o
f their army cut off, the Germans retreated behind the rising river. Opening the sluices saved Calais and Dunkirk, and also ended the campaign near the Yser River, as the ground became a sea of mud.
Two days later, the Germans struck the right flank of the BEF relief force sent to shore up the Belgian Army. The attack fell heavily on IV Corp. After 2-days of heavy fighting, IV Corp sent urgent radio calls for assistance. I Corp, previously withdrawn from the line for rest and replenishment, responded and advanced towards the sound of gunfire.
Lt. Colonel Pomeroy’s Middlesex Regiment joined the Seventh Division of IV Corp in the trenches at Gheluvelt just as the Germans were overwhelming the defenders. Fierce hand to hand fighting erupted using fists, knives, and shovels. Slowly the Germans began to melt away. The counter-attack by the Middlesex stopped the German Advance. Then without forethought, Pomeroy blew his whistle to attack the retreating Germans. With a loud cheer, the Middlesexers continued their counter-attack, moving forward two-hundred yards, then jumped into the vacated German Trench.
The Seventh Division soldiers joined in the charge. Minutes later a heavy German barrage foretold of an impending attack. Pomeroy, realizing his exposed position, ordered a withdrawal back to the original Seventh Division trenches. Combined, the Middlesex Regiment and the remnants of the Seventh Division repulsed the expected German attack. The Germans then re-occupied their original position. Thousands of men from both sides died, and not an inch of ground changed hands.
Reinforcements relieved the Middlesex Regiment and the Seventh Division. The battered troops slogged back to the rear echelon. Morale plummeted. Soldiers with vacant eyes looked at each other with the unasked question – why.
Of the 1,150 officers and Men of the Middlesex Regiment who originally marched into France with the BEF less than 400 remained. As the combat at Ypres wound down in mid-November, the positions at the beginning of the battle were largely unchanged.
By the end of 1914, a stalemate existed from Verdun to the English Chanel. In five-months of warfare, over one million soldiers, from both sides are casualties. During the first week of August, 100,000 soldiers of the BEF marched into France. On December 31, 95,654 casualties reduced the number of effective soldiers by 95 percent. The BEF, the best of the professional soldiers in the British Army ceased to exist. Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State, held back three divisions of veterans in case the Germans decided to invade Great Britain. He began a massive volunteer campaign. Over 2,000,000 men volunteered before the institution of the draft.
Chapter 24
Naval Operations
The Imperial German Navy started the war with fourteen Dreadnought battleships, with an additional five under construction. Additionally, the High Seas Fleet contained twenty-two pre-Dreadnoughts. In contrast, the Royal Navy Grand Fleet had twice as many Dreadnought and pre-Dreadnought battleships. For the High Seas Fleet to be successful, the Grand Fleet needed to be drawn into engagements piecemeal and defeated in detail.
On August 28, a Royal Navy squadron ambushed a German coastal patrol at Heligoland Bliht. The Royal Navy timed their ambush at low tide. The shallow channels, known as The Jade, leading into the major German Naval base at Wilhelmshaven, would not allow passage of Battle Cruisers and Battleships across the bar at low tide. The German Navy sent in light cruisers piecemeal, and Royal Navy Battlecruisers destroyed three of them.
In response, Kaiser Willhelm ordered a stand-down of the German Navy until they rectified the problem. The Royal Navy victory had the unintended consequence of motivating the Germans to solve a long known issue. For the next three months, dredges widened and deepened the channels to allow the High Seas Dreadnoughts to enter and exit the Jade at any time. Belatedly, the Royal Navy tried to interdict these operations. However, the Royal Navy destroyers sent to torpedo the dredges faced shore batteries on Heligoland Island, which drove them off.
On August 26, the light cruiser SMS Madgeberg ran aground in the Gulf of Finland. Facing certain capture, the officers tried to destroy the code books. Substantial fragments remained and were passed on to British Decrypters. Following two months of decryption, the Royal Navy became able to decode most of the German wireless messages.
At the beginning of the war, United States Navy requested the acceptance of delegations of officers as observers in both the Royal Navy and the High Seas fleets. One of the officers, Lt. Commander David Evans, was attached to the staff of Admiral Beatty’s 1st Battlecruiser Squadron consisting of HMS Lion, HMS Inflexible, HMS Indomitable, HMS Invincible, and HMS Indefatigable. The Admiral chose the new HMS Lion as his flagship. Admiral Jellicoe accepted two others on his staff at Scarpa Flow. These observers had bridge access if accompanied by a Royal Navy officer.
The High Seas Fleet accepted three others and assigned them to the staff of Admiral Ingenohl. In late October, Ingerhol became ill with an abdominal infection and taken to Berlin for treatment. Admiral Reinhard Scheer replaced him.
On November 1, Admiral Scheer assigned two of the United States Navy officers to the battlecruiser squadron commanded by Admiral Hipper. He assigned Commander Robert Treat, the son of the famous retired Admiral to Hipper's flagship SMS Seydlitz and Lt. Commander Robert Orr to SMS Moltke.
On November 2, the battlecruisers SMS Seydlitz, SMS Moltke, SMS Von der Tann, the armored cruisers SMS Blucher, SMS Yorck, and the light cruiser SMS Stralsund, left the Jade Estuary and steamed towards the English coast. The mission involved the bombardment of Yarmouth. The attack was a prelude to a larger plan of drawing out a portion of the Grand Fleet into a future battle.
At 6 am, the following morning the flotilla arrived off Yarmouth and bombarded the port. The SVS Stralsund laid a minefield. The Royal Navy submarine D5 sortied out of Yarmouth, struck one of the mines laid by SMS Stralsund and sank. At 11 am, Hipper ordered his ships to turn back to German waters.
Upon Hipper's return to German waters, his flotilla encountered heavy fog covering the Heligoland Bliht. Hipper ordered the warships to halt until visibility improved so the flotilla could safely navigate the defensive minefields. The armored cruiser SMS Yorck made a navigational error struck two mines and quickly sank. A patrol boat the SMS Hagen rescued 127 crew members.
Admiral Scheer decided that another raid on the English coast should be carried out. Scheer’s plan involved a bombardment of Greater Scarborough, in hopes of drawing out and destroying a portion of the Grand Fleet.
Shortly after 3 am on December 15, SMS Seydlitz, SMS Moltke, SMS Von der Tann, SMS Derfflinger, SMS Blucher, the light cruisers SMS Kolberg, SMS Strassburg, SMS Stralsund, SMS Graudenz, and two squadrons of torpedo boats (Destroyers) left the Jade. The ships sailed north past the island of Heligoland; then the warships turned west towards Scarborough. Admiral Hipper, uncomfortable with the new wireless communication which he considered to be inconsistent preferred the old-fashioned signal flags unless the wireless was required.
Twelve hours after Admiral Hipper left the Jade, Admiral Scheer flew his flag on SMS Frederich der Grosse and welcomed aboard the third United States officer Commander Thomas Quelley. The High Seas Fleet, consisting of fourteen Dreadnought battleships, eight pre-Dreadnought battleships, and a screening force of two armored cruisers, seven light cruisers, and fifty-four torpedo boats, departed to set the ambush of the Grand Fleet. The orders for the day included strict radio silence. Admiral Scheer also preferred signal flags for all but long-distance communications.
Admiral Scheer’s Dreadnought Battleships Leaving Jade
Just after 8 am on December 16, as the morning mist began to lift the Admiral Hipper ordered the squadron to lay mines, and fire on the resort town of Scarborough, hitting the grand hotel, private homes, churches and the railway station. The targets were three radio towers situated near the buildings.
The battlecruisers moved onward to Whitby where they destroyed the Coast Guard station and accidentally hit the ruins of Whitby Abby. The German squadron then targeted Hartlepool, which contained a small naval base. T
he three, six-inch guns defending the base opened fire, striking SMS Seydlitz without damage and SMS Blucher twice before the German Navy gunfire caused the shore battery crews to take shelter.
Four patrolling Royal Navy Destroyers HMS Doon, HMS Test, HMS Waverly, and HMS Moy closed to 5,000 yards, fired their torpedoes then withdrew. All the torpedoes missed. The light cruiser HMS Patrol tried to engage, but following three, high caliber hits the Captain ordered her run aground.
During the raid, the German warships' laid over 100 mines. The warships shelling of Hartlepool, Scarborough, and Whitby included more than one thousand shells, killing 112, and wounding 443. Damage included about 300 houses, seven churches, and five hotels. At 9:30 am, Admiral Hipper ordered his warships to close formation, placed the torpedo boats and light cruisers as a forward screen, and set course back to Germany.
Chapter 25
The Battle of Dogger Bank
The Royal Navy decryption experts deciphered much of the German wireless messages but did not know the exact destination. Learning about the High Seas Fleet’s bombardment of Scarborough, Admiral Beatty’s 1st Battlecruiser Squadron and a squadron of seven destroyers left Cromarty at 06:00 setting course to Dogger Bank. Beatty correctly estimated that the Germans would take the most direct route back to the Jade.
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