*VIRTUAL TOUR - The Somme Offensive Continued* The ANZAC Battle Of Flers - Courcelette

THE ANZAC’S BATTLE OF FLERS-COURCELETTE

Heading Into Battle

The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, between the 15th-22nd September 1916, was the third phase of the Somme Offensive. It is best known as the first tank Battle in history, as it featured 49 Mk I tanks; as discussed earlier, not all tanks made it into the Battle. In reality, the Battle was the first full-scale attack since the first day of the Somme Offensive. The plan was for XV Corps to break through the German lines North-East of Flers, allowing the Cavalry to get into the German rear area. Most of the Troops involved were given three or four objectives, all of which needed to be captured on the first day of the Battle, to allow a breakthrough to be achieved. After two and a half months of struggle, Haig believed that he was finally close to breaking through the final line of the prepared German defences. As the tactics suggest, the attack was preceded by a massive Artillery bombardment; on the 1st July, the attack had been supported by one field gun for every 21 yards of front, and one heavy gun for every 57 yards. At Flers-Courcelette those figures increased to one field gun for every ten yards, and one heavy gun for every 29 yards. The biggest problem with the Artillery barrage was that the tanks were so slow that they needed to advance ahead of the Infantry. Meaning that corridors had to be left in the creeping barrage, to allow the tanks to advance. In some places, this meant key German strong points, which naturally had been made the tank’s key objectives, were untouched by the creeping barrage.

Destroyed German Trench

On the right of the line, XIV Corps did not have a successful day; the 56th Division was to form the right flank of the attack, but its attack soon became untenable. To their left, the sixth Division needed to overcome a strong German position, known as the quadrilateral, North of Leuze Wood, before it could attack its first objective for the day; despite bitter fighting, little progress was made. Next in line was the Guards Division; they eventually reached their first objective, but in some chaos, once there, they believed themselves to be at their third objective for the day and halted. To the right, XV Corps was much more successful but failed to achieve the hoped-for breakthrough; their attack was supported by 14 tanks. The 14th Division had to begin their day early, to enable them to clear the Germans out of a pocket East of Delville Wood, where they still held on to a forward position. The attack was carried out by two Companies from the 6th Battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, supported by one tank. The Infantry attack began at 05:30hrs, and despite the loss of every single one of their Officers, they pinched out the salient and then took part in the main Battle. All three Divisions of the XV Corps, the 14th, 41st, and the New Zealand Divisions reached most of their third objectives. In the centre, the Corps 41st Division had the job of capturing Flers and was given the most tanks. The village of Flers was captured early in the day, with one of the tanks playing a big part in the advance, driving up the main street of the village with the Infantry following on behind; however, once beyond the village, the advance stopped. The fourth objective, and with it the breakthrough was just beyond reach.

Next in line, III Corps met with mixed success on the 15th September. On its left, the 15th Division captured the village of Martinpuich, but on the right, the 50th and 15th Divisions cleared High Wood but were unable to make any more progress. Finally, on the extreme left of the British attack, was the Canadian Corps of the Reserve Army; they reached their final objective by 08:25hrs, and were able to take advantage of this early success, by capturing the village of Courcelette. The attack was renewed on the 16th September, without any real success. The Guards Division suffered heavily while making an unsupported attack and had to be relieved that night. In the centre, XV Corps attacked at 09:25hrs. The 14th Division was let down by the Artillery, and after an ineffective bombardment was unable to make any progress. The 21st Division attack, led by the 64th Brigade, began to advance but became bogged down trying to pass around Flers. The Brigade Signal Headquarters in Flers was destroyed by shellfire. The New Zealand Division repulsed an early German counterattack, and then made some limited progress before being ordered to halt when news came through of the failure to their right. III Corps also made little progress.

Advancing Waves

On the 17th September, General Rawlinson issued orders for a general resumption of the offensive on the next day. The planned attack was then postponed until the 21st September, and then cancelled. When the fighting resumed on the Fourth Army’s front, it would be towards Morval, in the East. Over the last seven days of the Battle, the British engaged in a series of small scale operations, designed to consolidate the line, especially in the area around High Wood, where the limited advance on the 15th September had left a bulge in the new line. Heavy rain began on the 18th September, which made further offensive operations even more challenging. The Battle of Flers-Courcelette was much more successful than the general attack on the 1st July had been, but it had failed to achieve its main aim, that of punching a hole in the German lines. Although the British had come close to the rear of the original German lines, the Germans still had enough Reserves to restore the situation after the early successes.

Eight Companies from the New Zealand Division advanced across open land, between shell holes, and behind a ferocious Artillery barrage that crept ahead of them at the rate of around 50 metres per minute. It was a bitter hand-to-hand fight, with rifle and bayonet; but, by 06:50hrs the German trench line was in New Zealand’s hands. The advance continued, and by late afternoon, the Division had achieved all of its Objectives, forcing back the enemy and clearing the village of Flers with assistance from the 41st Division. 18,000 Soldiers from the New Zealand Division went into Battle on that day; around 6000 were wounded, and more than 2100 lost their lives; over half of the New Zealand Soldiers who died in the Somme have no known grave. The Battle was a pivotal event in the Great War; it could be argued, it laid the basis for the Allied victory two years later, though at a huge cost.