31 October, 1914
THEY SAVED THE DAY AT GHELUVELT
The Worst half-hour for Field Marshal French
A great gap was made in the British line when, on the morning of 31 October 1914, the Germans captured Gheluvelt. As a forlorn hope the 2nd Battalion the Worcestershire Regiment, almost all the available reserve of the whole British defence, were ordered to counter-attack and recapture the village. How three companies of the Worcesters, charging over open ground through a hail of fire, restored the British line at a time which Sir John French afterwards described as the worst half-hour of his life, is told by Captain H. FitzM. Stacke, MC, the historian of the Regiment.
Field Marshal Sir John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force.
Daybreak of 31 October was calm and clear. The 2nd Worcestershire, in its reserve position west of the Polygon Wood, was roused early by the crash of gunfire. The troops turned out, breakfasts were cooked and eaten, weapons were cleaned and inspected. Then for several hours the companies lay idle about their billets, listening to the ever-increasing bombardment and watching the German shrapnel bursting in black puffs of smoke above the tree-tops.
The 2nd Worcesters were almost the last available reserve of the British defence. Nearly every other unit had been drawn into the battle-line or had been broken beyond recovery; and to an onlooker that last reserve would not have seemed very formidable. The battalion could muster not more than 500 men. Ten days of battle had left all ranks haggard, unshaven and unwashed; their uniforms had been soaked in the mud of the Langemarck trenches and torn by the brambles of Polygon Wood; many had lost their puttees or their caps. But their weapons were clean and in good order, they had plenty of ammunition, and three months of war had given them confidence in their fighting power. The short period in reserve had allowed them sleep and food.
Line of counter-attack by the 2nd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, showing the advance of the battalion from its reserve position west of Polygon Wood via Black Watch Corner to the area of the château at Gheluvelt.
That crowd of ragged soldiers was still a fighting battalion, officers and men bound together by that proud and willing discipline which is the soul of the regiment.
Hour by hour the thunder of the guns grew more intense. Stragglers and wounded from beyond the wood brought news that a great German attack was in progress. The enemy infantry were coming on in overwhelming numbers [thirteen German battalions took part in this attack, of which six were fresh and at full strength] against the remnants of the five British battalions, together mustering barely a thousand men, which were holding the trenches about the Menin road.
Before midday weight of numbers had told. The Queen’s and the Royal Scots Fusiliers had fought to the last, the Welsh and the King’s Royal Rifle Corps had been overwhelmed; the right flank of the South Wales Borderers had been rolled back. Gheluvelt had been lost, and a great gap had been broken in the British line. Unless that gap could be closed, the British army was doomed to disaster. So serious was the situation caused by the loss of Gheluvelt that orders were issued for the British artillery to move back in preparation for a general retreat. At the same time it was decided that a counter-attack against the lost position should be made by the 2nd Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment.
Brigadier-General C. FitzClarence, VC, was in command of the front around the Menin road. Soon after midday he sent for the officers of the 2nd Worcestershire to take orders. Major Hankey sent his Adjutant, Captain B. C. Senhouse Clarke. Twenty minutes later Captain Senhouse Clarke returned, bringing word that the battalion would probably be wanted for a counter-attack, and that meanwhile one company was to be detached to prevent the enemy from advancing up the Menin road.
Brigadier-General Charles FitzClarence, VC. He won his Victoria Cross at Mafeking, South Africa, in 1899.
A Company was detailed for the latter duty. Led by Captain P. S. G. Wainman, the company advanced at 12.45 pm to a position on the embankment of the light railway north-west of Gheluvelt. The company held the embankment during the following two hours, firing rapidly at such of the enemy as attempted to advance beyond the houses.
At about 1 pm Major Hankey was summoned by General FitzClarence, and was given definite orders. The 2nd Worcestershire were to make a counter-attack to regain the lost British positions around Gheluvelt. General FitzClarence pointed out the church in Gheluvelt as a landmark for the advance, explained that the situation was desperate and that speed was essential. At 2 pm the battalion moved off in file, led by Major Hankey and Captain Thorne, along under cover of the trees to the south-west corner of Polygon Wood [less than two miles north of Gheluvelt].
From that corner of the wood the ground to the south-eastward is clear and open, falling to the little valley of the Rentelbeek and rising again to the bare ridge above Polderhoek. That ridge hid from view the château of Gheluvelt, and the exact situation there was unknown; but further to the right could be seen the church tower rising amid the smoke of the burning village.
The open ground was dotted with wounded and stragglers coming back from the front. In every direction German shells were bursting. British batteries could be seen limbering up and moving to the rear. Everywhere there were signs of retreat. The Worcestershire alone were moving towards the enemy. But the three companies tramped grimly forward down into the valley of the Reutelbeek.
Beyond a little wood the battalion deployed, C and D Companies in front line, with B Company in second line behind – about 370 men all told. In front of them rose the bare slope of the Polderhoek Ridge. The ridge was littered with dead and wounded, and along its crest the enemy’s shells were bursting in rapid succession. Major Hankey decided that the only way of crossing that deadly stretch of ground was by one long rush. The companies extended into line and advanced.
The ground underfoot was rank grass of rough stubble. The two leading companies broke into a steady double and swept forward across the open, the officers leading on in front, and behind them their men with fixed bayonets in one long irregular line. As they reached the crest the rushing wave of bayonets was sighted by the hostile infantry beyond.
A storm of shells burst along the ridge, shrapnel bullets rained down and high-explosive shells crashed into the charging line. Men fell at every pace; over a hundred of the battalion were killed or wounded: the rest dashed on. The speed of the rush increased as on the downward slope the troops came in sight of Gheluvelt château close in front. The platoons scrambled across the light railway, through some hedges and wire fences, and then in the grounds of the château they closed with the enemy.
THEY GAVE WAY AT OUR CHARGE
The enemy was ill-prepared to meet the charge. The German infantry were crowded in disorder among the trees of the park, their attention divided between exploring the outhouses and surrounding the remnant of the British defenders; for the musketry of the defence still swept the lawn in front of the chateau. The enemy’s disorder was increased by a sharp and accurate fire of shrapnel from British batteries behind Polygon Wood.
Gheluvelt château, with the lawns in front, where the hand-to-hand fighting took place.
The Germans were young troops of newly formed units. Probably they had lost their best leaders earlier in the day, for they made no attempt to stand their ground and face the counter-attack. They gave way at once before the onslaught of the British battalion and crowded back out of the grounds of the château into the hedgerows behind. Shooting and stabbing, C Company of the Worcesters charged across the lawn and came up into line with the gallant remnant of the South Wales Borderers.
The South Wales Borderers had made a wonderful stand. All day they had held their ground at the château, and they were still stubbornly fighting, although almost surrounded by the enemy. Their resistance had delayed and diverted the German advance, and the success of the counter-attack was largely due to their brave defence.
The meeting of the two battalions was unexpected. The Worcesters had not known that any of the South Wales Borderers were still holding out. Major Hankey went over to their commander, and found him to be Colonel H. E. Burleigh Leach, an old friend.
‘My God, fancy meeting you here’ said Major Hankey, and Colonel Burleigh Leach replied quietly, ‘Thank God, you have come.’
Major E. B. Hankey.
The routed enemy were hunted out of the hedges and across the open fields beyond the château. C and D Companies of the Worcestershire took up positions in the sunken road which runs past the grounds. B Company was brought up and prolonged the line to the right. But the village of Gheluvelt, on the slope above the right flank, was still in the enemy’s hands. Most of the German troops in the village seem to have been drawn northwards by the fighting around the château, but a certain number of Saxons of the 242nd Regiment had remained in the village, where they opened a fire which took the sunken road in enfilade. To silence that fire Major Hankey sent fighting patrols from the front line into the village. Those patrols drove back the German snipers and took some prisoners; but it became clear that the position in the sunken road would be unsafe until the village was secured. Accordingly, Major Hankey sent orders to Captain Wainman that A Company were to advance from their defensive position and occupy the village.
Captain Wainman led forward his company and, after some sharp fighting among burning buildings and bursting shells, occupied a new line with his left flank in touch with the right of the position in the sunken road and his right flank in the village, holding the church and the churchyard. From there he sent forward patrols to clear the village.
It was not possible permanently to occupy the centre of the village, for it was being bombarded by both the German and the British artillery. On all sides houses were burning, roofs falling and walls collapsing. The stubborn Saxons still held some small posts in scattered houses of the south-eastern outskirts. Nevertheless, the enemy’s main force had been driven out, and the peril of a collapse of the British defence about the Menin road had been averted.
About 6 pm came fresh orders from General FitzClarence. The General had decided to withdraw his defensive line from the forward slope of the ridge at Gheluvelt to a new position farther back at Veldhoek, where the trenches would be sheltered from direct observation of the German artillery.
Arrangements were made in conjunction with the South Wales Borderers, and the retirement was begun. One by one, at intervals of ten minutes, the companies withdrew from their positions. In the darkness they assembled under cover and then tramped back along the Menin road to Veldhoek. As the last company of the 2nd Worcesters marched back out of the village, several of the houses were still burning, and the darkness was torn at intervals by the blaze of bursting shells.
The day’s fighting had cost the 2nd Worcesters a third of the Battalion’s remaining strength, for 187 of all ranks had been killed or wounded. Their counter attack had thrown back the enemy at a moment which the British Commander-in Chief afterwards called ‘the worst half-hour of my life’. In all probability that counter attack saved Ypres from capture and the British army from possible defeat.