Aristocrats Go to War: Uncovering the Zillebeke Cemetery

by Jerry Murland

  • The 21 Brigade line is overwhelmed and only restored with a costly counter-attack.

  • The IX French Army Corps relieves British forces at Pilckem.

  • Major General Julian Byng’s 3rd Cavalry Division is placed under the command of Allenby’s Cavalry Corps.

  • De Maud’huy sends three infantry battalions and three artillery batteries to take over the defence of Givenchy.

  24 Oct • The British I Corps is relieved by elements of the French IX Corps. I Corps begins its move to the Menin Road area.

  • At 9.30 am German infantry break through 21 Brigade (GOC Brigadier General Herbert Watts) lines at Reutel situated on the eastern edge of Polygon Wood. Three companies of 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment surrender. The position is restored by units of the 2nd Division by noon but another breakthrough on 20 Brigade’s (GOC Brigadier General Harold Ruggles-Brise) frontage takes until evening to restore.

  • Units of the 2nd Division begin to move south to take over 22 Brigade lines, reducing IV Corps frontage to four miles.

  • The German Fourth Army begins a major assault on Dixmude, French marines hold their positions through repeated artillery bombardments and infantry attacks.

  • Shell shortages result in GHQ issuing orders to restrict the expenditure of ammunition to thirty rounds per day for 18-pounders and fifteen rounds per day for 4.5-inch howitzers.

  25 Oct • The German 43rd Reserve Division breaks through the Dixmude defences. Desperate hand-to-hand fighting ensues before they are finally driven out.

  • The German XXVII Corps begins its assault on the 7th Division’s positions north and south of the Menin Road. 20 Brigade positions around Kruiseke suffer from a sustained German artillery bombardment lasting some thirty-six hours; the forward trenches are rushed at 8.30 pm forcing a retirement.

  • North of the Menin Road, sometime after 6.30 am the remaining 2nd Wiltshires are almost totally annihilated during a German counter-attack on the Reutel positions by elements of the German 244 Reserve Regiment. What is not apparent to the German commander on the ground is that his troops have broken through the British line. A potential disaster is averted by the quick response organised by General Capper. The gap is hurriedly filled by a scratch force of reserves and German forces are pushed out of Polygon Wood. The situation remains critical for the remainder of the day.

  26 Oct • The abandoned British trenches at Kruiseke are retaken in a costly counter-attack but by 3.00 pm all the surviving British troops of 20 Brigade have retired from the village in the face of the continuing artillery bombardment.

  • The Royal Horse Guards make a demonstration of force on the Kruiseke Ridge in support of 20 Brigade. General Capper spends the night of 26/27 re-establishing the line between Zandvoorde and Veldhoek.

  • A prolonged and heavy bombardment of the II Corps lines further south is followed at 4.00 pm by a massive infantry assault. On this occasion the German VII Corps breaks through the line held by the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles to capture Neuve Chapelle. Despite several counter-attacks it is not possible to regain the whole village and the line is adjusted around it.

  27 Oct • Von Falkenhayn completes his review of operations in Flanders resulting in the formation of a new army group to be inserted between the Fourth and Sixth Armies, comprising of: II Bavarian Corps, XV Corps, 48th Reserve Division and the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division. There are now twenty-three German divisions facing eleven Allied divisions. Army Group Fabeck will operate independently of the Fourth and Sixth Armies, answerable only to Supreme Headquarters. The front selected for von Fabeck’s assault runs from Ploegsteert Wood to Gheluvelt.

  • The 7th Division is transferred to I Corps. Rawlinson and his staff return to England. The 7th Division now hold the line from Zandvoorde to the Menin Road, the 1st Division from the Menin Road to Reutel and the 2nd Division from Reutel to the Moorslede-Zonnebeke road.

  • Sir John French reports to Kitchener that the enemy are ‘quite incapable of making any strong sustained attack’.

  28 Oct • With units of the German Fourth Army now across the Yser, the Belgian centre gives way. Belgian engineers succeed in their second attempt to open the weir and sluice gates at Noovdvaart to let in the sea. The Germans renew their attack and manage to breach the Belgian line at Ramscapelle. Fortunately the rising floodwaters, assisted by a very high tide on the 29 October, force their retirement. The crisis on the Yser is averted and the coastal zone from Nieuport to Dixmude remains flooded until after the war.

  • II Corps are unsuccessful in their attempts to regain Neuve Chapelle, the attack on the 28 October results in 65 officers and 1,466 other ranks becoming casualties.

  • A German wireless message is intercepted from the Fourth Army to the XXVII Reserve Corps ordering an attack on the British positions on 30 October. British intelligence suggests that units in the line from Kruiseke to Polygon Wood in the north should expect to be attacked.

  • Joffre authorises Foch to begin construction of a fortified zone to protect the Channel ports.

  29 Oct • With no preliminary bombardment, the first German troops appear punctually at 5.30 am advancing along a front that straddles the Menin Road from Becelaere in the north, to Epines in the south. Initially cloaked by the early morning fog, the massed German infantry units soon overwhelm the forward British positions, reducing a number of the defending battalions to little more than cadre strength. 1/Coldstream Guards is left with 1 officer and less than 100 men and 1/Grenadier Guards with 2 officers and 250 men. At 3.00 pm the line is restored 500 yards east of the crossroads.

  • I Corps Headquarters moves to Hooge Chateâu from the Chateâu Biebuyck (White Chateâu).

  • The French IX Corps continues offensive action in the north and recaptures Zonnebeke and Kortekeer.

  30 Oct • Messines Ridge again comes under pressure with a heavy bombardment and infantry attacks from the 3rd and 4th Bavarian Divisions. Under increasing enemy pressure the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Divisions fall back to the Canal and Hollebeke is abandoned.

  • Northeast of Ypres the German XXIII Reserve Corps attack de Mitry’s 87th Territorials at Bixschoote and Langemarck. Bixschoote is lost but the attack on Langemarck fails.

  • Polygon Wood comes under fire and is attacked in force. French and British units successfully defend their positions. The attack is, in all probability, a feint designed to draw British forces away from Gheluvelt.

  • At Gheluvelt the German 54th Reserve Division together with the 30th Division attack north of the Menin Road. Their advance fails in the face of British rifle fire. A second attack an hour later is equally unsuccessful.

  • Further south the artillery bombardment that fell on Gheluvelt between 6.45 am and 8.00 am is replicated at Zandvoorde where 7 Cavalry Brigade (1/ and 2 /Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards) are dug in on the forward slopes of the village. On their left flank are the 1st Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers. At 8.00 am the German 39th Division attacks in force and two squadrons of Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards (Blues) machine-gun section are killed or captured. The Royal Welch, now being attacked on their right flank as well as their front, fight on until every officer has been killed or wounded, less than 100 men rejoin the brigade. The Germans are now in possession of the entire Zandvoorde Ridge.

  • With Klein Zillebeke now threatened, 6 Cavalry Brigade (Brigadier General Ernest Makins), are reinforced by the Royal Scots Greys, 3/(King’s Own) Hussars and 4 /Hussars. Together with French reserves, under the command of General Moussy, they manage to hold the line until they are relieved that evening by Lord Cavan and 4 Guards Brigade.

  31 Oct • Heavy fighting on the Messines front continues but the arrival of 2nd Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers and 2nd Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry from II Corps, goes some way to strengthening the British line. Later that evening the London Scottish (1/14th Battalion London Regiment) arrive from Wytschaete. The battalion immediately counter-attacks on the nor
thern edge of Messines. The line is temporarily stabilised.

  • Kaiser Wilhelm II arrives at Courtrai to celebrate what is assumed will be a triumphant entry through the gates of Ypres.

  • At 8.00 am Haig orders the 3rd Cavalry Division north to support British positions astride the Menin Road.

  • The attack on Gheluvelt continues at 6.00 am. The 16th Bavarian and 246 Regiments attack along the Menin Road. Met by intense and accurate British rifle fire the assault is brought to a halt. At 8.00 am the bombardment begins as a prelude to the massed assault of von Fabeck’s divisions advancing north and south of the Menin Road. British battalions fight a desperate and very costly action during the morning. By midday, Gheluvelt is taken by the Germans.

  • North of the Menin Road the remnants of the 1st Battalion South Wales Borderers and the 1st Battalion Scots Guards are still in touch with their right flank until they are thrown back through the grounds of Gheluvelt Château. Realising they will soon be surrounded they decide to make a stand on the south-eastern edge and fight to the last man. The grounds of the château are now in German hands and the British line is effectively wide open at this point.

  • At 1.00 pm the I Corps divisional staffs meet in the annex of Hooge Château to discuss the severity of the situation. At 1.15 pm a shell hits the room in which they are meeting and almost every officer present is either killed or wounded. Major General Samuel Lomax (GOC 1st Division) is severely wounded and incapacitated and Major General Charles Monro (GOC 2nd Division) is concussed.8 Brigadier General Herman Landon (GOC 3rd Brigade) takes temporary command of the 1st Division.

  • Brigadier General Charles FitzClarence (GOC 1st Infantry Brigade), orders the 2nd Worcesters to advance on the château from their positions at Polygon Wood. At 1.45 pm three companies of the Worcesters famously advance into British Army legend and retake the château grounds. The gap is closed.

  • South of the Menin Road the 7th Division battalions are overwhelmed and those units that survive are gradually pushed back by the dense mass of German troops. At 4.15 pm Brigadier General Edward Bulfin (GOC 2 Infantry Brigade), now in danger of being outflanked, realises his only course of action is to attack. He gathers together his limited reserves and counter-attacks through the trees of the Shrewsbury Forest with the remnants of the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders (2/Gordon Highlanders).9 The Gordons’ charge is joined by the 1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment (1/Northants) and 2nd Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (2/Royal Sussex). In the face of this offensive action the mass of the German 39th Division is gradually turned. By 5.30 pm, as other units of the division lend support, they recover much of the ground lost during the day.

  • At around the same time as Bulfin is counter-attacking through Shrewsbury Forest, British troops, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lovett of 1/Gloucesters, are defending the Menin Road at the Veldhoek crossroads. This small force of Gloucesters, together with what remains of the 1st Battalion Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, 2nd Welch and 2nd Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps (60th Rifles) await the arrival of 105th Saxon Regiment. British rifle fire together with artillery support breaks the Saxon advance and forces them to retire.

  • That evening the French XVI Corps arrive on General Bulfin’s right, effectively shortening the I Corps frontage.

  1 Nov • Further reinforcements arrive from the French XX Corps and Conneau’s II Corps to reinforce positions to the north and south of the I Corps line.

  • The French Cavalry Corps take over part of the line held by Allenby’s cavalry. Messines Ridge again attacked in force by the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division drawing to a conclusion a struggle that saw the ground between Messines and Wytschaete captured and recaptured until finally the Germans secure the ridge. Messines is evacuated.

  • The battle continues sporadically along the III Corps front from Hill 63 along the eastern edge of Ploegsteert Wood to Le Touquet and the outskirts of Armentières.

  • Generals Bulfin and Ruggles-Brise are both wounded and evacuated. Lord Cavan assumes command of Bulfin’s 2 Brigade.

  • Lord Kitchener meets with the French including Joffre and Foch at Dunkirk. He offers to replace Sir John French with Sir Ian Hamilton. Joffre declines.

  3 Nov • Second Lieutenant John Lee Steere joins 2/Grenadier Guards at Klein Zillebeke.

  5 Nov • On the II Corps front the Indian Corps take over the Givenchy-Neuve Chapelle line releasing a composite force of two brigades to begin to relieve the exhausted 7th Division.

  6 Nov • A German attack along the 2nd Division front at Zwarteleen pushes back the French and Irish Guards leaving the right flank of 2/Grenadier Guards exposed. The gap is quickly exploited and German troops are only driven back after the timely intervention of 7 Cavalry Brigade which has been held in reserve. The brigade counter-attacks in what must be one of the finest dismounted actions by the cavalry in 1914. A new line is established in front of and parallel to the Brown Road. During the action Lieutenant William Reginald Wyndham, Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Chesney Wilson, Lieutenant Carleton Wyndham Tufnell, Lieutenant William Sinclair Petersen, Captain Norman Neill and Baron Alexis George de Gunzburg are killed.

  • At 10.00 pm 22 Brigade arrives at Zillebeke and 3 Brigade relieves 7 Cavalry Brigade in the trenches, consolidating the eastern end of Zwarteleen and the woods further to the north.

  7 Nov • At 5.00 am 22 Brigade counter-attack in an attempt to regain some of the lost ground. The attack, led personally by General Lawford, is only partially successful leaving the brigade with only 4 officers and 700 men on roll.

  • Advancing after the attack, 3 Brigade units, including 1/Gloucesters, come under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire from the eastern end of Zwarteleen. By nightfall the line is consolidated but amongst those killed is Captain Robert Rising. Included in 2/Grenadier Guards casualty list (19 killed, 46 wounded and 3 missing) is Private Walter Siewertsen.

  • German attacks on le Touquet, Ploegsteert, Herenthage Woods and Broodseinde are all repulsed.

  8 Nov • Von Falkenhayn creates a new army group to press home an attack along the line of the Menin Road with three divisions to the south and one to the north. Army Group Linsingen is comprised of: XV Corps, 4th Pomeranian Division and Winkler’s Guard Division.

  10 Nov • A heavy bombardment on both sides of the Menin Road for much of the day reduces many of the established trenches. There is no subsequent infantry attack but casualties are reported to be high. 2/Grenadier Guards, holding the line near Zwarteleen, suffer very badly. Amongst the dead are Lieutenant Michael Stocks, Lieutenant Henry Parnell (Lord Congleton) and Major Lord Bernard Gordon Lennox.

  11 Nov • At dawn the German Fourth and Sixth Armies open fire again on the Allied line to deliver the heaviest bombardment of the war to date. Twelve German battalions attack along a nine mile front between Messines and Reutel. German infantry rapidly close on British and French positions. The attackers meet with little success except astride the Menin Road where British and French troops are driven back 500 yards. Fighting alongside the 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers and the 2nd Royal Welch at Zillebeke, Private William Gibson of the London Scottish is killed.

  • A more critical situation soon develops to the north of the road where lightly held British defences are quickly overrun by elements of the German 2nd Guard Grenadiers who break through the weakened British 1 Brigade southwest of Polygon Wood, forcing a near 1,000 yard gap in the line. By 10.00 am German infantry are exploiting the breach. Despite being hampered by broken ground and intense rifle fire from isolated strong points, attacking groups pass into and through the undefended Nonne Boschen Wood. A potentially disastrous situation is only averted by yet another hastily assembled counter-attack, this time by the 2nd Battalion Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, which successfully expels German forces from Nonne Boschen, and with it, all hopes the German high command have of a breakthrough.

  • General FitzClarence, known affectionately as ‘GOC Menin Road’ by th
e troops, is killed late in the afternoon near Polygon Wood while attempting to organize another counter-attack.

  • Further to the north Dubois’ IX Corps together with Bidon’s Territorials and Mitry’s 1st Cavalry Corps are holding the line from Zonnebeke to Bixschoote. Large scale German attacks fail to advance beyond the ruins of Bixschoote and Langemarck remains in Allied hands.

  15 Nov • Second Lieutenant Howard Avenel Bligh St George is killed while serving with 1/Life Guards at Zwarteleen.

  17 Nov • The last serious attempt to break through the Allied lines is made south of the Menin Road by the German XV Corps on 17 November. 4 (Guards) Brigade come under heavy shellfire but are able to drive the enemy infantry back inflicting heavy losses. The positions are held until the Guards are relieved by the French on the 20 November. Losses amongst the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards include: Lance Corporal James Whitfield, Captain Cholmeley Symes-Thompson and Second Lieutenant John Lee Steere on 17 November and Captain Richard Dawson on 20 November. Lieutenant Alfred Schuster is killed on the same day, serving with 4/Hussars at Hooge.