The
battle of Langemarck was part of the first battle of Ypres. It began as an encounter
between troops of the British I Corps and German troops, which were simultaneously
advancing. The encounter ended with the Allies forming defensive positions
around Ypres. The Germans launched a series of fierce attacks which would
become common for the battle of Ypres.
At the
end of October, two divisions of I Corps were separated by Ypres. French
ordered the two corps to reform at Langemarck in order to attack to the north
in hopes of liberating the town of Bruges[i]
Fred’s
journal:
October 19th
Marched to CASSEL
and had days rest, during [the] march my charger had severe choke, [and] came
down with me, but I managed to keep him up.
We were greatly
elated to be in a town, and feasted ourselves on cakes and sweets etc; after
the hardships the previous weeks, this was a grand change indeed. [ii]
I Corps left their billets on the
morning of October 20 at 0:600. The roads were heavily congested, but by
evening they reached their position two-and-a-half miles east of Ypres, to the
left of IV Corps.[iii]
October 20th
Marched to
POPERINGHE once again we were in Belgium. It was awful to see the pitiful sight
of refugees streaming into the town from the outlying towns and villages, when
the enemy were advancing rapidly.
I happened to stop
to pat a pretty little child, and gave it some biscuits I had in my pocket, the
poor little mite was simply starving.
In a minute I was
surrounded by children, I emptied my pockets and haversack.
With a couple of chums we collected all
the biscuits and Bully Beef in the Battery, and gave it to the women and
children. It was pitiful to see them struggling to get at us, and we had a job
to keep the men away – for we had not any to give them, and the women and
kiddies had everything we had in the food line – Bivouacked outside the town.[iv]
Haig’s 1st
and 2nd Divisions were to start their march to the German frontier
on October 21. The French Cavalry Corps covered Haig’s left flank, while 2nd
Division was forward on his right.
By early afternoon, 2nd
Division had almost reached the battered 7th Division; however there
had been 200 casualties from German flanking fire. The leading formations of 2nd
Division were approaching the main German defense line when they came under
heavy rifle and artillery fire. Unable to proceed, they dug shallow trenches to
maintain position.
Meanwhile the 1st Division, made
steady progress until the French cavalry, on their left flank, came under heavy
attack. With additional enemy troops approaching them from the north, the
French cavalry were ordered to withdraw. [v]
Knowing
that his withdrawal would expose the British left flank, the French commander
refused to leave without a formal order. Upon their eventual retirement,
pockets of French soldiers remained in action until dark.
Haig heard of the French withdrawal about the
same time the commander of the British IV Corps reported he was under heavy
attack; his only reserve amounted to a single cavalry brigade.[vi]
By late afternoon
Haig ordered them to dig-in and prepare to defend. Both 1st and 2nd
Divisions were attacked but were able to turn the enemy away.
Sir John believed
that there was only one German corps north of Ypres, when in actuality there
were five positioned between Ypres and the coast.
It took time for the two divisions of the I
Corps to coordinate their march towards Langemarck. While advancing they began
to encounter an increasing number of German troops, which concerned General
Haig. At 3 p.m. he ordered his men to hold their positions and begin excavating
makeshift trenches, intending to form a new front line only 1,000 yards beyond
the city. As it happened, the trenches
did not form a continuous line nor were they protected by barbed wire; at best
they were only three feet deep in some places. Since the trenches were not
connected, they were prone to infiltration.
By October 21st the Allies realized
that the enemy was in greater numbers than expected, greatly altering any plans
for launching an offensive. Joffre decided to send IX corps to Ypres.
The Germans
launched an attack along a large stretch of the British line on October 22nd
which was repulsed, except for 1st Division’s centre, where the 1st
battalion of the Cameron Highlanders held a semi-circular position north of the
Kortekeer Cabaret. It was late in the afternoon when the enemy penetrated the northwest
section of the line – a series of unconnected trenches. Once inside they were
in the position to attack the rear of the remaining British line, forcing the
Camerons to retreat at 6 p.m., leaving a gap in the British line. [vii]
In response Haig created a reserve force designed
to “putty-up” holes in the line. The reserve force was used on October 23rd
to recapture the cabaret; at the same time a major German attack against
Langemarck was defeated.
On the same day, French General Foch launched
a counterattack from the front held by the British 2nd division.
Foch looked to the British to support his attack, however, due to communication
problems, Haig did not receive Foch’s request until it was too late. Despite
the failure of the counterattack, the French division replaced the British 2nd
division. The following day the 1st division was also relieved by
two French territorial brigades.
After October 24th the fighting
at Ypres moved southward, where the British position on the Menin road was
fiercely attacked on October 25-26th. Action then moved to Gheluvelt
on October 29-30th.[viii]
Fred’s Journal:
October 21
Marched before
dawn towards the village of LANGEMARKE, the village was being heavily shelled.
We reconnoitered, but for some time could not find a position, [until] finally
two sections took up position just in rear of the church – I went with
remaining section through the village. As I
passed through there were a lot of wounded French in the open by the
Churchyard. We dropped in action by the railway – as we could not find an
observation station, I stopped by a deserted power-house. Later [I] was ordered to regain the two
sections with remaining Battery Staff. As we went towards the railway crossing,
a shell burst in the centre of the road, 30 or 40 yards ahead, as we galloped
past the Church.
The wall saved us,
for a shrapnel burst against the wall, which but for the wall would have been
right among us. As I galloped past the spot where the wounded Frenchman were 2
hours before, the whole lot were dead and in pieces - it was a horrible sight. [ix]
We rejoined the
guns without mishap, and George and I were ordered to lay our wire to a large
deserted convent, which was by our Infantry.
We were sniped at
pretty hard by Germans in houses to our left; one missed me by inches that
evening. I went the next morning and got his bullet for a souvenir. I was on
guard with 12 men in front of the guns.
The French
Infantry had relieved in the afternoon [and] our Infantry went up to hold what
they lost. They were greatly outnumbered, but held on grandly. We were firing
at very short range, which we knew would be observed by the enemy;
neither were we mistaken, as the next two days showed.
The night passed quickly,
we dug in by side of a stream, which effectively screened us from the continual
presence of rifle bullets - had no food all day, and was not at all pleased
with events.
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