by Robin Prior
30. 3 Division, ‘Attack on the Longue-val-Bazentin Position’.
31. See ‘Operations of 21st Division’, Fourth Army Papers V1 and 6 Leicesters, ‘Narrative of Action' in their War Diary for 14/7/16, WO 95/2164. This unit lost over 500 casualties on 14 July.
32. 7 Division,'Narrative of Operations from 11th to 20th July, 1916’, in 7 Division War Diary July 1916, WO 95/1655.
33. 3 Division, ‘Attack on the Longue-val-Bazentin Position’.
34. 9 Division War Diary 14/7/16, WO 95/1735.
35. For this phase of the fighting see ‘Operations of the 21st Division'; 7 Division, ‘Narrative’.
36. 6 Leicesters (21 Division), ‘Narrative of Action'; 2 Royal Irish Rifles (7 Division) War Diary 14/7/16, WO 95/1662.
37. 9 Division War Diary 14/7/16, WO 95/1735; John Ewing, The History of the 9th (Scottish) Division 1914–1919 (London: John Murray, 1921), pp. 116–17; Nigel Cave, Delville Wood (Barnsley: Leo Cooper, 1999), p.44.
38. The casualty figures are to be found in the war diaries mentioned above.
39. Fourth Army Telegrams to GHQ, 7.35 p. m., 14 July, GHQ War Diary July 1916, WO 95/5.
40. Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade, ‘Narrative of Events – 14 July 1916’, in their War Diary July 1916, WO 95/921.
41. Ibid.
42. Brigadier-General H. C. Potter to Edmonds 20/3/30, CAB 45/190. Another eyewitness needs to be noted here. Major-General Munshill-Ford was the commander of an infantry brigade trying to occupy High Wood. He was in no doubt that the Germans were occupying a trench within the wood in strength before his troops arrived. See Munshill-Ford to Edmonds n.d., CAB 45/136. Any testimony from aerial observers that the wood was unoccupied had little value, as the wood still had sufficient canopy to conceal trench lines and their garrisons.
43. Somme-Nord V1, p. 29.
44. See 91 Brigade War Diary 14/7/16, WO 95/1666. See 7 Division War Diary for the same date in WO 95/1631 for the difficulties in co-ordinating an attack on the wood.
45. Rawlinson to Lady Rawlinson, Cowans, Archibald Murray, Bagot, and Derby 18/7/16, Rawlinson Papers 5201/33/18, NAM.
14 ‘We Are a Bit Stuck’, 15–31 July
1. Rawlinson Diary 15/7/16, Churchill College, Cambridge.
2. Ibid.
3. Fourth Army Conference 16/7/16, Fourth Army Papers V2, IWM.
4. Ibid.
5. Chris McCarthy, The Somme: The Day by Day Account (London: Arms & Armour, 1993), pp. 51–3.
6. Fourth Army Operation Order 16/7/16, AWM 26/6/41/33.
7. Fourth Army War Diary 17/7/16, Fourth Army Papers V2.
8. Rawlinson-Fayolle Conference 19/7/16, AWM 26/6/41/33.
9. Fourth Army War Diary 22/7/16.
10. 1 South African Brigade Narrative 15/7/16, WO 95/1777. See also the German battery positions marked on the map in WO 153/1623.
11. 9 Division, ‘Narrative of Events’, 9 Division War Diary July 1916, WO 95/1735.
12. See Haig's Diary for 17 and 19 July for these gnomic utterances.
13. ‘Remarks by Brig-General Higginson' 1/8/16, in Maxse Papers 69/53/6, IWM.
14. Higginson to Edmonds 1/1/34, CAB 45/134.
15. Miles, 1916 V2, p. 105.
16. Haig Diary 21/7/16; Rawlinson Diary 22/7/16.
17. See Miles, 1916 V2, pp. 113,136; Rawlinson Diary 22/7/16.
18. H.A. Jones, The War in the Air, vol. 2 (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1969), p.239.
19. 19 Division War Diary 21/7/16, WO 95/2503.
20. 1 Royal West Kent War Diary July 1916, WO 95/1554.
21. To further complicate matters, XV Corps, of which 5 Division was a part, thought that the left of the division attacked at 1. 30 a.m. in line with 51 Division on its left. There is no mention in XV Corps War Diary of the 10 p. m. start. See XV Corps War Diary July 1916, WO 95/921.
22. 1 Royal West Kent War Diary July 1916; 13 Royal Warwickshire War Diary July 1916, WO 95/1556. The quotation comes from the Warwicks' diary.
23. 1 Brigade, ‘Narrative of operations 23rd July 1916’, 1 Brigade War Diary, July 1916, WO 95/1261; 2 Brigade, ‘Report on Operations Night 22/23rd July, 1916’, 2 Brigade War Diary July 1916, WO 95/1267.
24. Miles, 1916 V2, p. 138.
25. 51 Division War Diary July 1916, WO 95/2845.
26. 5 Division War Diary July 1916, WO 95/1513. See also a letter from an officer of 9 Brigade (3 Division) to Edmonds 12/1/34 in CAB 45/138.
27. Somme-Nord,V1, p. 188.
28. G.C. Wynne, If Germany Attacks (London: Faber, 1940), p. 123. See also Somme-Nord, V1, p. 188.
29. 21 Brigade (30 Division) War Diary July 1916, WO 95/2327.
30. Haig Diary 23/7/16; Rawlinson Diary 23/7/16.
31. Rawlinson Diary 24–26/7/16.
32. XIII Corps Artillery Operation Order No. 6, 26/7/16; 2 Division War Diary July 1916, WO 95/1291; Miles, 1916 V2, p. 157.
33. Rawlinson Diary 27/7/16.
34. ‘Battle of the Somme Artillery Notes and Statistics’, Rawlinson Papers 5201/33/71, NAM.
35. 2 Division Report in their War Diary July 1916.
36. Horne letters to his wife, 62/54/9, IWM.
37. Haig Diary 23/7/16.
38. Ibid., 24/7/16.
39. 90 Infantry Brigade, ‘Report on Operations, 30th July 1916’, in 30 Division War Diary July 1916, WO 95/2310; 2 Royal Scots Fusiliers War Diary 30/7/16,WO 95/2340.
40. 7 King's Own War Diary 30/7/16, WO 95/2078.
41. GHQ, Instruction (OA 256) 16/7/16, Fourth Army War Diary July 1916, Fourth Army Papers,V2.
42. ‘35th Divisional Artillery: Operations 21st to 30th July inclusive 1916’, in 30 Division War Diary July 1916.
43. Ibid.
15 ‘Something Wanting in the Methods Employed’, 1 August—12 September
1. Haig to Rawlinson and Gough 2/8/16 (OAD 91) in Miles, 1916 V2, Appendices, Appendix 13, p. 34.
2. Ibid.
3. All quotations are ibid.
4. See ‘Battle of the Somme: Artillery Notes and Statistics’.
5. 13 Durham Light Infantry War Diary 4/5 Aug. 1916, WO 95/2182.
6. Rawlinson-Fayolle Conference 5/8/16, Fourth Army Papers V2, IWM.
7. 55 Division, ‘Operations 25/7 to 15/8’, 55 Division War Diary Aug. 1916, WO 95/2900; ‘2 Division Report on Operations 8–9 Aug.’, 2 Division War Diary August 1916, WO 95/1292; 2 Division ‘Notes on Experience Gained During The Recent Operations’, ibid.
8. 55 Division ‘Operations'; ‘Report by Corporal Shaw C Company 1/4 Royal Lancashire Fusiliers 8/8/16’, in ‘Battle Operations Carried Out By 1/4 Btn Royal Lancashire Fusiliers From 8th Aug. 1916’, in their War Diary August 1916,WO 95/2922
9. Haig Diary 8/8/16, National Library of Scotland.
10. 1/5 Loyal North Lancashire (55 Division) War Diary 8–9/8/16,WO 95/2929.
11. Ibid.
12. Unknown correspondent to Edmonds n.d., CAB 45/132.
13. Rawlinson Diary 8/8/16, Churchill College, Cambridge.
14. Ibid., 9/8/16.
15. ‘Notes of an Interview at Querrieu, at 11.00 a.m., 9th August, 1916, between [Rawlinson, Kiggell, Montgomery, and Davidson]’, Fourth Army Papers V2.
16. Ibid.
17. Haig Diary 10/8/16.
18. After Cavan's sickness was reported to him Haig commented that the corps headquarters ‘was surrounded by French troops, who are most unsanitary in their habits and the houses are full of fleas’. Haig Diary 17/8/16.
19. 6 Battalion Cameron Highlanders, ‘Notes on Operations on Night 12/13 Aug.’, in their War Diary August 1916, WO 95/1945.
20. 9 East Surrey War Diary 16/8/16, WO 95/2215.
21. Miles, 1916 V2, p. 190. Fayolle incurred the wrath of Foch for the action but the intervention of the French commander came too late to affect the decision. See Foch to Fayolle 17/8/16, French Official History, V4/2, Annex 2947, p. 729.
22. Rawlinson, ‘Notes for Conference 18/8/16, Rawlinson Papers 1/6, Churchill College, Cambridge.
23.
‘Operations on the Somme: 1st July to 18th November 1916: Casualties By Division’, AWM 252/A106; ‘Report on Operations of 3rd Division 10th-21 August, 1916 in Vicinity of Guillemont’, 3 Division War Diary August 1916, WO 95/1378.
24. 3 Division, ‘Report on Operations’.
25. 1 Division War Diary 18/8/16, WO 95/1231.
26. 33 Division, untitled account of the action on the 18th in their War Diary Aug. 1916, WO 95/2405.
27. Ibid.
28. 14 (Light) Division, ‘Summary of operations – August 18th, 1916’, 14 Division War Diary Aug. 1916, WO 95/1867.
29. See 8 Buffs War Diary 18/8/16, WO 95/2207 and 3 Rifle Brigade War Diary 18/8/16, WO 95/2206.
30. 3 Division ‘Report on Operations'; 8 East Yorkshire War Diary and untitled account of the action on 18/8/16, WO 95/1424; 1 Gordon Highlanders, ‘Report on Operations in Maltz Horn Ravine 16th to 20th August 1916’ 1 Gordon Highlanders War Diary Aug. 1916, WO 95/1435.
31. Haig Diary 20/8/16.
32. Haig to Rawlinson (OAD 116), 19/8/16, AWM 26/6/4/41.
33. Haig to Rawlinson (OAD 123), 24/8/16, Fourth Army Papers V5, IWM.
34. Ibid.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. Haig Diary 24/8/16.
38. For the weather conditions see Fourth Army War Diary in the Fourth Army Papers, IWM for the relevant days.
39. Haig Diary 29/8/16.
40. Der Weltkrieg V10, p. 56
41. Ibid.
42. See Somme Artillery Notes and Statistics for the comparative figures.
43. Account of Lt A.M. Little quoted in the 2/KOSB War Diary 3/9/16, WO 95/1552.
44. ‘Report on Operations Carried Out By 5th Division from 3rd to 5th September 1916, 5 Division War Diary Sept. 1916, WO 95/1517.
45. Miles, 1916 V2, p. 253, n.3.
46. See 1 Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry War Diary 3/9/16 in WO 95/1557.
47. ‘Report on Operations by the 59th Infantry Brigade on 2nd 3rd and 4th ... in the capture of Guillemont’, 59 Brigade War Diary Sept. 1916, WO 95/2112; Captain J. A. C. Pennyquick to Edmonds 30/10/35, CAB 45/136.
48. Ibid.
49. ‘Operations Carried out by the 20th (Light) Division on 3rd, 4th and 5th September’, 20 Division War Diary Sept. 1916, WO 95/2095.
50. Miles, 1916 V2, p. 257 n.3; ‘Report on Operations carried out by 5th Division'; ‘Operations Carried out by 20th (Light) Division’.
51. 7 Division Operation Order 31/8/16, 7 Division War Diary Sept. 1916, WO 95/1631.
52. ‘Report of the Operations Carried Out by the 7th Division Between 26th August and 8 September Including the Attack on Ginchy’, ibid.
53. ‘1st Infantry Brigade Narrative of Operations – 3rd September 1916’, 1st Brigade War Diary Sept. 1916, WO 95/1261.
54. See 16 Division War Diary for Sept. 1916, WO 95/1969; 9 Royal Dublin Fusiliers War Diary 9/9/16, WO 95/1974.
16 ‘A Hell of a Time’
1. Haig to Rawlinson and Gough 18/7/16 (OAD 76), Fourth Army Papers V2, IWM.
2. ‘Report on the Operations of First Australian Division at Pozieres’, AWM 26/6/51/27; ‘Summary of Operations for week ending 6 p.m. Friday July 28th’, AWM 26/6/50/15.
3. ‘Report on Operations of First Australian Division’. Gough disputed this. In a post-war letter to Edmonds he claimed that he ‘gave Walker no choice' in the direction of attack but decided it himself. Gough to Edmonds 16/6/39, CAB 45/134.
4. See the important article by Gary Sheffield,'The Australians at Pozières: Command and Control on the Somme, 1916’, in David French and Brian Holden Reid (eds), The British General Staff: Reform and Innovation c. 1890–1939 (London, Cass, 2002), pp. 112–26.
5. ‘Report on Operations of First Australian Division’.
6. C. E. W. Bean, The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, vol. 4: The Australian Imperial Forces in France in 1916 (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1938) pp. 484–5. [Hereafter, Bean, Australian Official History. [
7. First Australian Division Operation Order No. 31, 20/7/16, AWM 26/6/51/28.
8. 11 Australian Battalion account in 3rd Australian Infantry Brigade War Diary, Part 1, 23–26 July 1916, AWM 26/6/54/12.
9. Bean, Australian Official History, p. 509.
10. Graham Keech, Pozières (Barnsley: Leo Cooper, 1998), p. 55.
11. 10 Australian Battalion account in the 3rd Infantry Brigade War Diary.
12. 144 Brigade, ‘Report on attack 12.30 a.m. 23rd July’, in 1/6 Gloucesters War Diary July 1916, WO 95/2758.
13. Ibid.
14. Miles, 1916 V2, pp. 144–5.
15. Keech,Pozières, p. 57.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid., pp. 58–9.
18. Bean, Australian Official History, p. 549.
19. ‘Report on Operations of First Australian Division’.
20. Account of Sergeant E. J. Rule, quoted in C. E. W. Bean, Anzac to Amiens (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1961), p. 249.
21. The success achieved by this division and most other Australian divisions on the Somme was ascribed by the Official Historian to the leadership qualities of brigade and battalion commanders. The fact is that such undoubted qualities as these men exhibited were useless without proper fire support.
22. ‘Report on Action of 28th/29th July’, 2 Australian Division, AWM 26/6/56/4.
23. Patrol Reports from 5 Australian Brigade 28/7/16, AWM 26/6/63A/1A.
24. Report on Action 28/29 July by 2 Australian Division.
25. Ibid.
26. These points are taken from Section 6, ‘Deductions' in the above document.
27. 2 Australian Division, ‘Report on Action of 4th/5th August’, AWM 26/6/56/4.
28. Neil Malcolm to Birdwood 3/8/16, AWM 26/6/30/15.
29. Birdwood to Reserve Army HQ 4/8/16, ibid.
30. Bean, Australian Official History, p. 724.
31. Reserve Army Operation Order SG 21/8/16, AWM 26/6/42/3.
32. Reserve Army Operation Order 20/8/16, ibid.
33. See Chapter 20 for details of Haig's plan.
34. Bean, Australian Official History, p. 763.
35. Ibid., p. 731.
36. 1 Anzac Corps Royal Artillery War Diary 21/8/16, AWM 26/6/2/52.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.
39. ‘Operations carried out by the 7th East Surrey Regt on the night of the 12/13th August 1916 near Ovillers’, in their War Diary Aug. 1916, WO 95/1862.
40. 1/8 Royal Warwickshire War Diary 27/8/16, WO 95/2756.
41. Lt Rhodes to Major Herbert 7.30 p.m. 14/6/16. Private collection of 50 battalion records kindly made available by Ashley Ekins.
42. Quoted in Bean, Australian Official History, p. 763.
43. 13 Battalion message in AWM 26/6/60/6.
44. Bean, Australian Official History, p. 763.
45. See the messages in AWM 26/6/60/6.
46. Bean, Australian Official History, p. 769.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid., p. 770.
49. Ibid.
17 Summary: 15 July–12 September
1. The casualty statistics for the Somme are summarised in a useful untitled doument in the Australian War Memorial which divides the actions of each division into periods and gives the casualties for each of them. However, the casualties for some divisions are not given exactly for the period under discussion here and on occasions we have had to make estimates. The figures for the three Australian divisions which fought on the Somme, strangely, are not included but they can easily be obtained from the Australian Official History.
2. The number of attacks made by a division has been calculated from McCarthy, The Somme Day by Day and Bean, supplemented where necessary by the war diaries.
3. These figures come from a table, ‘Statement Showing Number of Days Each Division Has Been in Front Line in Somme Battle from 1st July to 23rd November, 1916’, in AWM 252/A106.
4. These figures have been derived from McCarthy, The Somme, the Official Histo
ry, and the war diaries.
5. We know that it is the case from a series of maps showing the locations of the German guns in WO 153/1218.
6. M. H. Dendry to Edmonds 16/6/34, CAB 45/133.
7. See Field Service Regulations (London: HMSO, 1909) for the paucity of advice offered by official doctrine.
8. These statistics and comments come from a book compiled by the American Expeditionary Force Intelligence Section entitled, Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914–1918) (London: Stamp Exchange, 1989). (Reprint of the 1920 edition.)
9. Figures derived from ‘Fourth Army Ammunition Expenditure’, in ‘Battle of The Somme: Artillery Notes and Statistics’. To these figures (6.25 million) have been added one quarter of this total to include shells fired by the Reserve Army which are not otherwise available.
10. Der Weltkrieg V10, p. 374.
11. The number of German counterattacks has been calculated from those mentioned in the Fourth Army ‘Somme telegrams' and a proportional estimate for those carried out against the Reserve Army. The number should undoubtedly be taken as a minimum as many small counter-attacks would have gone unrecorded. The number for the British has been calculated from McCarthy and the Official History.
18 The Politicians and the Somme Campaign, July–August
1. Hankey Diary 3/7/16, Churchill College, Cambridge.
2. Robertson to Kiggell 5/7/16, Kiggell Papers IV, Liddell Hart Centre, King's College, London.
3. War Committee Minutes 11/7/16, CAB 42/16/6.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. War Committee Minutes 6/7/16, CAB 42/16/1.
7. This and the previous quotations are taken from the War Committee Minutes 18/7/16, CAB 42/16/8.
8. War Committee Minutes 20/7/16, CAB 42/16/10.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. War Committee Minutes 28/7/16, CAB 42/16/11.
13. Quoted in John Grigg, Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1912–1916 (London: Methuen, 1985), p. 378. Readers seeking a more detailed examination of Lloyd George's role in this period should read this fine biography.
14. All quotations from this document are taken from the copy in W. S. Churchill, The World Crisis (London: Thornton Butterworth, 1927), Part 3, pp. 187–92.
15. Robertson to Haig 7/8/16, quoted in The Military Correspondence of Field Marshal Sir William Robertson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, December 1915—February 1918, ed. David R. Woodward (London: Bodley Head, for the Army Records Society, 1989), p. 79 In the same letter, Robertson referred to ‘Winston ... and various degommed [i.e. sacked] people’ as ‘the swines’.