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Irish Voices from the First World War A blog based on PRONI sources Once technical flaws were ironed out, the British tank proved a crucial military breakthrough in trench warfare, D1981/1 April to June 1918 The German Spring offensive initiated on 21st March 1918 was made up of four separate campaigns co-ordinated according to the changing awareness of the German High Command as to where Allied vulnerability became evident week by week. The focus of the first phase of the attack (Operation Michael) was at Saint Quentin, a point in the line held by weakened neighbouring contingents of the British and French. This advance proved too successful for its own good. The leading German divisions outran their own supply lines and were forced to slow down sufficiently to give the British Fifth and Third Armies a chance to regroup. Had General Erich von Ludendorff prepared adequately for the event of a breach of the lines there was a slender chance, at least for about a month, that the gamble would have worked and that the British might have been driven against the English Channel. It is unlikely, however, that the offensive would have ended the war on German terms. Chateau Schomberg, Saint-Omer, occasional headquarters of Field-Marshal John French, 1915-1916. Such residences served frequently as army headquarters during the war, D1977/11. Document 1: Robert Perceval-Maxwell reports in correspondence on Allied retreat in late March 1918, D/1556/27/1/12. Lt-Colonel Robert (Bob) Perceval-Maxwell conveys in a detailed letter to his wife the prevailing atmosphere of hazard and uncertainty as the front-line broke under the stress of the German offensive of late March 1918. Heavy fog at dawn on the 21st March gave surprise and initiative to the attacking troops although the Germans had been expected for months. Villagers fled or stubbornly stayed put under shellfire. Fields of crops were lost to the enemy. Maxwell and others suffered hairsbreadth escapes, shifting head-quarters from house to chateau, merrily snatching provisions as they could. 1st April 1918 Now that we are quite settled & back on lines of communication I’ll send you a description of all that has happened these last ten days. Position previous to attack. My old Brigade was on right & the Belfast lot were in the centre & the other Brigade in which Arthur Farnham’s battalion was, were on the left. Each brigade had one battalion in the trenches. Another in billets just behind in close support & a third battalion in billets a mile or so behind. The DW was almost opposite the big town we have tried to take 20 times in which was the Bosche HQ. A short distance behind the battalion in the trenches a series of redoubts has been made and almost finished & the battalions in support were ordered to move up with those immediately on the Bosche attack beginning. They were simply circular trenches with wire in front of them at intervals so that they could bring a cross fire on any Bosche trying to get through & they were supplied with Lewis guns & some machine guns. The leading battalion in the trenches were told to hold on at all costs & the others to hold on as long as possible & fall back fighting. The divisional HQ was about 4 to 5 miles away behind the front line of trenches. The trenches I am told were not good but were well- sighted and the dug-outs were good. We took them over from the French some little time ago. As you now I have only just arrived & had only been round some of them. The attack had been threatened for various dates so a good many people were doubtful of it coming off but our General expected it. Anyway at 5 am on the 21st we were waked up by the bombardment & then there was no doubt about it. The bombardment was very intense but chiefly on the front line trenches. That morning there was a thick fog - I don’t remember ever seeing a thicker one except London & it remained till late in the day. All communications were quickly broken. Wireless of course could not be used because of fog & brigade could give us no information. But the shelling could not have been very heavy on Brigade HQ in the line as our A.D.M.A. actually was able to make breakfast about 9.30 & came back in a car though he got slightly scratched on his way back. On the right it was worse and I believe the right brigade never got any communication from their forward battalion. The village which we were in of course got quickly congested with traffic of all sorts especially with refugees. Poor devils, they refused to go when we told them to clear out and we had to carry some actually in lorries. About the first sign of evacuation was the steam ploughs which came lumbering down the road. We had laboured the land right up to the trenches and the oats had a nice braid I fear the Bosche will reap it unless they can be got back which seems doubtful before harvest. In the evening the divisional HQ moved back to a villa near Hare. The caretaker told us that Eikel Fritz had used it as his HQ before & had refrained from destroying it as he said he intended to occupy it again. The following morning I went with the General to a small village where the brigade HQ were. The roads were much congested with guns refugees & transports. The refugees were pitiable old women sitting in wheel barrows & wheeled by children & carrying baskets of clothing & food a goat & a cow following. Of course many had carts & horses with bedding etc. In the afternoon the general decided to send the car to the other side of the river & we kept our horses till later. When we eventually rode to form in progress the Bosche had begun to shell the railway & bridges over the river, to do pretty big stuff. We had to wait for an interval between the shells & then rode over. There was one hole in the road big enough to put a motor car in & not see it. After joining the motor we went to another village where we slept. Of course by this time it had become open warfare & we were in fairly good touch with what each Brigade was doing & also what was happening in our immediate flanks. The next day Saturday we remained all day at the same spot. We were told the French were coming up but it was late in the day before they appeared. All the available men about Divisional HQ had been rounded up & we were to hold the village & had Lewis guns posted & some trenches dug. However, when the French arrived we were ordered off & went back to another village. Of course by this time our men who had been fighting continuously from the morning of the 21st were very much done up & we were supposed to be holding a line of at the time 22,000 yards. On Sunday we remained at the same village & on Monday moved to another where met a French corps cavalry partly dismounted. We only stayed here a few hours when we moved on to another village & had our HQ in a Chateau there. The following morning I rode with the General to see two of the Brigades. At the moment there was not much going on & very little shelling. I suppose the Bosche had gone a bit quicker than their guns but our men of course were beat to the world. Five days continuous fighting & marching without sleep & very little return. How they stood it I don’t know, they were perfectly cheery but could hardly stand for want of sleep. Our HQ as I told you was in a chateau in the outskirts of a village with a river & woods just behind us. All day we were pushing the inhabitants out of the village but they were extraordinarily loath to go & held on to their belongings like fun. I went to forage for food unfortunately I had not much money with me, but had to pay a franc for two eggs & the lady turned up her nose at 10 francs for a fowl. However, I found some others which had been left behind by their owners so helped myself for nothing. I also got big loads of freshly made bread (hot) at the boulangerie which had been evacuated and some quite decent claret, belonging to an old fellow who was just departing & took me down to his cellar & said we might have as much as we liked. I had to pick the bottles as the corks were gone in a great many. Anyhow I brought away six bottles & put them to air in ‘Down Hunt’ style in the chateau before a good fire. We also got some beef onions – spuds etc & were prepared for quite a good meal but luck was against us. In the afternoon the Bosche shelled the village considerably but chiefly the opposite end to our chateau. About 5 pm our GSOI said he would run out in the motor to see one of the Brigades as he wanted to arrange something with the Brigadier. He had not turned up at seven so the General said he would begin dinner without him. We had had about two mouthfuls & the general had just cracked the shell in my egg, as we found the meat rather tough when an officer ran in said, the Bosche are in the village.
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