Brian Gautier's Family History Data

The 11th (Northern) Division was moved North to take part in the Battle of Messines. An extract from a despatch of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief of the British Armies in France and Flanders describes the successful assault. "At 3.10 a.m. on the 7th June the nineteen mines were exploded simultaneously beneath the enemy's defences. At the same moment our guns opened and our infantry assault was launched. Covered by a concentrated bombardment, which overwhelmed the enemy's trenches and to a great extent neutralised his batteries, our troops swept over the German foremost defences all along the line. The attack proceeded from the commencement in almost exact accordance with the time-table. The enemy's first trench system offered little resistance to our advance, and the attacking brigades - English, Irish, Australian and Zealand - pressed on up the slopes of the ridge to the assault of the crest line. At 5.30 a.m. Ulster regiments (36th Division) had already reached their second objectives, including l'Enfer Hill and the southern defences of Wytschaete, while on their left a South of Ireland division (16th Division) fought their way through Wytschaete Wood. At 7.0 a.m. New Zealand troops had captured Messines. Men from the western counties of England (19th Division) had cleared the Grand Bois. Other English county regiments (4lst Division) had reached the Dam Strasse, and all along the battle front our second objectives had been gained. Only at a few isolated points did the resistance of the enemy's infantry cause any serious delay. North-east of Messines our infantry (New Zealand Division) were held up for a time by machine gun fire from a strong point known as Fanny's Farm, but the arrival of a tank enabled our progress to be resumed. So rapid was the advance of our infantry, however, that only a few tanks could get forward in time to come into action. Heavy fighting took place in Wytschaete, and further north London troops (47th Division) encountered a serious obstacle in another strong point known as the White Chateau. This redoubt was captured while the morning was yet young, and before midday the two Irish divisions had fought their way side by side through the defences of Wytschaete. Our troops then began to move down the eastern slopes of the ridge, and the divisions in the centre of our attack who had farthest to go, gradually drew level with those on either flank. About 2,000 prisoners had already been brought in, and Australian and English troops had reached the first of the enemy's guns. Our own guns had begun to move forward. Further fighting took place in Ravine Wood, where English county regiments and London troops (4lst and 47th Divisions) killed many Germans, and short-lived resistance was encountered at other points among the many woods and farm houses. Bodies of the enemy continued to hold out in the eastern end of Battle Wood and in strong points constructed in the spoil-banks of the Ypres-Comines Canal. Except at these points, our troops gained their final objectives on both flanks early in the afternoon. In the centre we had reached a position running approximately parallel to the Oosttaverne Line and from 400 to 800 yards to the west of it. The guns required for the attack upon this line had been brought forward, and the troops and tanks detailed to take part were moving up steadily. Meanwhile the bridges and roads leading out of the triangle formed by the River Lys and the canal were kept under the fire of our artillery. The final attack began soon afterwards, and by 3.45 p.m. the village of Oosttaverne had been captured. At 4.0 p.m. troops from the northern and western counties of England (11th and 19th Divisions) entered the Oosttaverne Line east of the village and captured two batteries of German field guns. Half an hour later other English battalions (24th Division) broke through the enemy's position further north. Parties of the enemy were surrendering freely, and his casualties were reported to be very heavy. By the evening the Oosttaverne Line had been taken, and our objectives had been gained. The rapidity with which the attack had been carried through, and the destruction caused by our artillery, made it impossible at first to form more than a rough estimate of our captures. When the final reckoning had been completed, it was found that they included 7,200 prisoners, 67 guns, 94 trench mortars and 294 machine guns."

The main British effort of the year was the Third Ypres or Passchendaele. The 11th (Northern) Division took part in the Battle of the Langemarck which is described in an an extract from a despatch of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. ".........at 4.45 a.m. on the 16th August our second attack was launched east and north of Ypres on a front extending from the north-west corner of Inverness Copse to our junction with the French south of St. Janshoek. On our left the French undertook the task of clearing up the remainder of the Bixshoote peninsula. On the left of the British attack the English brigades detailed for the assault (29th and 20th Divisions, Major-General W. D. Smith commanding the 20th Division) captured the hamlet of Wijdendrift and reached the southern outskirts of Langemarck. Here some resistance was encountered, but by 8.0 a.m. the village had been taken, after sharp fighting. Our troops then proceeded to attack the portion of the Langemarck-Gheluvelt Line which formed their final objective, and an hour later had gained this also, with the exception of a short length of trench north-east of Langemarck. Two small counter-attacks were repulsed without difficulty. The attack of the First French Army delivered at the same hour was equally successful. On the right a few fortified farms in the neighbourhood of the Steenbeek again gave trouble, and held out for a time. Elsewhere our Allies gained their objectives rapidly, and once more at exceptionally light cost. The bridge-head of Drie Grachten was secured, and the whole of the peninsula cleared of the enemy. In the centre of the British attack the enemy's resistance was more obstinate. The difficulty of making deep mined dug-outs in soil where water lay within a few feet of the surface of the ground had compelled the enemy to construct in the ruins of farms and in other suitable localities a number of strong points or "pill-boxes" built of reinforced concrete often many feet thick. These field forts, distributed in depth all along the front of our advance, offered a serious obstacle to progress. They were heavily armed with machine guns and manned by men determined to hold on at all costs. Many were reduced as our troops advanced, but others held out throughout the day, and delayed the arrival of our supports. In addition, weather conditions made aeroplane observation practically impossible, with the result that no warning was received of the enemy's counter-attacks and our infantry obtained little artillery help against them. When, therefore, later in the morning a heavy counterattack developed in the neighbourhood of the Wieltje-Passchendaele Road, our troops, who had reached their final objectives at many points in this area also, were gradually compelled to fall back. On the left centre West Lancashire Territorials and troops from other English counties (48th and 11th Divisions, Major-General R. Fanshawe commanding the 48th Division) established themselves on a line running north from St. Julien to the old German third line due east of Langemarck. This line they maintained against the enemy's attacks, and thereby secured the flank of our gains further north. On the right of the British attack the enemy again developed the main strength of his resistance. At the end of a day of very heavy fighting, except for small gains of ground on the western edge of Glencorse Wood and north of Westhoek by the 56th Division (Major-General F. A. Dudgeon) and the 8th Division, the situation south of St. Julien remained unchanged. In spite of this partial check on the southern portion of our attack, the day closed as a decided success for the Allies. A wide gap had been made in the old German third line system, and over 2,100 prisoners and some thirty guns had been captured."

Awarded 7 days Field Punishment No. 2 by Captain A L Cameron, Officer Commanding B/58 Brigade RFA, for making an improper reply to a NCO. Field punishments Field Punishment Number 1 consisted of the convicted man being shackled in irons and secured to a fixed object, often a gun wheel or similar. He could only be thus fixed for up to 2 hours in 24, and not for more than 3 days in 4, or for more than 21 days in his sentence. This punishment was often known as 'crucifixion' and due to its humiliating nature was viewed by many Tommies as unfair. Field Punishment Number 2 was similar except the man was shackled but not fixed to anything. Both forms were carried out by the office of the Provost-Marshal, unless his unit was officially on the move when it would be carried out regimentally i.e. by his own unit.

58 Brigade RFA fought at the Battle of the Sambre including the passage of the Sambre-Oise canal and the capture of Le Quesnoy and the Passage of the Grande Honelle on 5 to 7 November. This Second Battle of the Sambre, which included the Second Battle of Guise and the Battle of Thiérache was part of the final European Allied offensives of World War I leading up to the Armistice on 11 Nov 1918.