THE BEF AT THE END OF THE YEAR

4. 1917 by Bob Butcher

Commanders and Principal l Staff Officers

CinC FM Sir D Haig

CGS Lt Gen Sir LE Kiggel

AG Lt Gen AG Fowke

QMG Lt Gen Trevers E Clarke(since 23 December)

 

First Army

GOC       General Sir HS Home

MGGS Maj Gen WH Anderson

DA&QMG Maj Gen PG Twining

Second Army

GOC       General Sir HG Rawlinson

MGGS    Maj Gen CH Harington

DA&QMG Maj Gen M Chichester

Note: On 20 December Second Army was designated Fourth Army and Fourth Army renamed Second Army as a result of General Plumer going to Italy. Although ORBAT shows Harington and Chichester in post in Second Army they were actually in Italy.

 

Third Army

GOC       General Sir JHG Byng

MGGS Maj Gen R Vaughan

DA&QMG Maj Gen AF Sillen

 

Fourth Army

GOC       Gen Sir HS Rawlinson

MGGS Maj Gen AA Montgomery

DA&QMG Maj Gen HC Holman

But see note to Second Army

 

Fifth Army

GOC       Gen Sir H Gough

MGGS    Maj Gen JSJ Percy (since 23 December) DA&QMG Maj Gen PG Hambro (since 20 December)

 

Composition at 31 December

GHQ and GHQ Troops

Five armies

Fifteen British corps

One Australian corps

One Canadian corps

One Portuguese corps

One cavalry corps

Forty-seven British infantry divisions

Five Australian infantry divisions

Four Canadian infantry divisions

One New Zealand infantry division

Two Portuguese infantry divisions

Five cavalry divisions (inc two Indian)

L of C and L of C troops

Note: Two corps and five divisions had been sent to Italy.

 

Line held

25 February: Boesinghe - Amiens- Roye Road (105-110 miles)

25 April    Boesinghe -St Quentin (30 miles)

20 June:(a) Sea-south of Nieuport (four miles)

             (b) Boesinghe - Omingnon River (86 miles)

9 December SW corner Houlthulst Forest-Omingnon

 

Strength

Estimated minimum (January) 1,591, 745

Estimated maximum (August) 2,044,627

Average daily ration strength 1,968,627 (inc 62,905 followers or labour)

 

Casualities for the year

Total: 1,792,515 made up as follows :-

Battle 750,249 (K 131,761; DoW 49,832; Missing or PoW 53,769; wounded 514,862) Non-battle 1,042,266 (Died of disease or injury 58422; sick or injured 1,033,844).

 

Battles

The British OPERATIONS ON THE ANCRE (11 January --13 March) which included actions at MIRAUMONT (17--18 February) and the capture of THILLOYS (25 February --2 March) and

IRLES (10 March) resulted in the Germans putting into effect their plan to withdraw to the Hindenburg Line necessitated by their losses at Verdun and on the Somme. During the British ADVANCE TO THE HINDENBURG LINE, BAPAUME was captured (17 March) and PERONNE occupied (16 March).

The ARRAS OFFENSIVE (9 April --15 May) was launched to help the Nivelle Offensive and included the capture of VIMY (9–14 April).

The FIRST BATTLE OF THE SCARPE (9--14 April) was also successful and MONCHY LE PREUX and WANCOURT RIDGE were captured. Further fighting assumed the character of an attritional battle. The SECOND BATTLE OF THE SCARPE (23--24 April) however resulted in the capture of GUEMAPPE and GAVRELLE but included an unsuccessful attack on LA GOULETTE. There was little to show for the Battle of ARLEUX (28--29 April). The THIRD BATTLE OF THE SCARPE (3–4 May) included the capture of FRESNOY and subsequently ROEUX (13--14 May) and OPPY WOOD (28 June).

In operations designed to assist the main Arras offensive an attack on BULLECOURT (11April) failed but an enemy curter attack on LAGINCOURT (15 April) was repulsed and was followed by the successful Battle of BULLECOURT (3--17 May). Actions were fought on the HINDENBURG UNE (20 May–16 June). Also part of the operations to assist the Arras offensive were the acions south of the SOUCHEZ RIVER (3--25 June) and the capture of AVION (26–29 June) and the capture of HILL 70 (15--25 August).

The FLANDERS OFFENSIVE commonly known as Passchendaele or Third Ypres (7 June--10 November) included the successful capture of MESSINES RIDGE (7–14 June) in which British mines played an important part. There was a successful German attack on NIEUPORT (10--11 July) which the British were holding in preparation for a proposed amphibious landing in conjunction with the main offensive (the landing never materialised),

The main part of the offensive –THE BATTLES OF YPRES–lasted from 31 July to 10 November. The opening Battle of PILCKEM (31 July --2 August) was partly successful but failed to gain the vital Gheluvelt Plateau. Although subsequent fighting resulted in the capture of WESTHOEK (10 August), the attack on LANGEMARCK (16--17 August) must be reckoned a failure

Rain delayed further operations but the ground had dried out sufficiently for three successive 'hammer blows' to be delivered by the 'step by step' method-- MENIN ROAD (2–25 September), POLYGON WOOD (26 September--3 October), and BROODSIENDE (4 October), The weather started to break and the attack on POELCAPPE (9 October) was unsuccessful as was the first attack on PASSCHENDAELE (12 October). The Second Battle of PASSCHENDAELE (26 October–10 November) fought in dreadful conditions resulted in the capture of that place and brought the offensive to a close.

The first massed tank attack in history --the Battle of CAMBRAI (20 November -7 December) included the successful TANK ATTACK (20 --21 November), the capture of BOURLON WOOD (23–28 November) and the successful German counter attack (30 November–3 December) which more or less restored the situation. There was a subsequent acton at WELCH RIDGE (30 December).

A FORBIDDEN LOVE

by J.P. Lethbridge

On Wednesday 20 March 1918 a Corporal Smith of the Royal Flying Corps saw some German PoWs being escorted to work at a quarry near Sheffield. A PoW got out a matchbox and a piece of paper, put it in the matchbox and hide it in some water pipes. A Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) girl working at the PoW camp picked up the matchbox, pocketed it and went to her work

Corporal Smith noted the incident and under orders kept watch. The PoW and the girl repeated their transaction on 22 and 23 March. On the 23rd Smith arrested the girl who turned out to be Florence Mayos, aged twenty-three, from Sheffield, and took her to the adjutant. On Monday 25 March the magistrates remanded Mayos on bail for illegally interfering with a PoW camp's discipline and administration.

On Wednesday 3 April 1918 Mayos was tried by Sheffield magistrates. She was defended by a Mr Jackson. Corporal Smith repeated his evidence. Winifred Dean, a WAAC girl, testified that the PoW had been using the matchbox to send love messages for three weeks. All the WRAC girls knew about it for Mayos had been open about it. In cross examination Winifred Dean admitted that the letters were only love letters and that the girls had regarded them as a joke.

Sheffield Police Detective Inspector Fretwell testified that he had visited the camp and found several letters that had been sent to the PoW. Two were in Mayos's handwriting. Another was signed 'L', a fourth came from a Sheffield girl 'Lily' and a fifth and sixth were signed 'Flossie'. Fretwell had questioned Mayos who said that 'I did not know I was doing any harm', and that all her fellow WAACs knew about it. She was wearing an aluminium ring with the PoW's initials 'HR' on it. A letter that the German had written to Mayos referring to the ring was produced in court

Florence Mayos told the court that she had formerly worked for Sheffield Corporation Tram Cars but her health had broken down and she became a WRAC on doctor's advice because the work was easier. She had a English soldier fiancé who was stationed at Ripon. She would never have helped the German escape and was very worried about what had happened.

The magistrates found the accused guilty and fined her £5 about £500 in modern terms. I wonder just who was the idiotwho thought it a good idea to mix WAACs and PoWs?

 

CASUALTIES by frank Gardner

Everyone knows that on 1 July 1916 the British Army suffered its greatest casualties ever on one day -60,000 or 57,470 killed, wounded, missing and prisoners to be exact. This may have been unique so far as the British Army was concerned for it never again suffered anywhere near as many on one day. But heavy casualties within a short period were not unique among the warring armies.

In a week ( 4—10 June 1916), the Austro Hungarians lost approximately 280,000. In a fortnight (16--31 August 1914) French casualties were 210,993. In a marli (18 August -12 September 1917) the Italians suffered 165,000. In six weeks (21 March—30 April 1918) the Germans lost 348,300.

In a year (1915) Russian losses amounted to about 2 million.

The percentages of forces mobilised by the fighting nation which became casualties varied from 90% for Austria Hungary to 342 for Turkey. Britain stood third from bottom at 35.8, only Belgium and Turkey came below them. So, terrible and tragic though the British losses were, it seems that they could have been worse.

(The above is from John Terraine's The Smoke and The Fire.)

The Bulletin of the Birmingham Branch of the WFA

Compiled by Bob Butcher

February 2008