CHAPTER XLIII.

THE BATTLE OF LOOS.--I.

You will remember that, in order to prevent the Germans from massing their forces to resist the great French offensive in Champagne, the Allies had prepared attacks on other parts of the enemy's line. While the French were pushing forward across the miry downs of Champagne, six separate assaults were launched on the German front between Lens and Ypres--four to the north of the La Bassée Canal and two to the south of it. The four attacks which were made to the north of the canal were merely for the purpose of distracting the enemy's attention; the two attacks which were made to the south of the canal were part of the main movement against the enemy's lines of communication. While the French in Champagne strove to capture the railway by which the Germans maintained themselves in this region, the French and British tried to seize the railway junction of Lens and open a road into the plain of the Scheldt. Had these thrusts from the south and the west fully succeeded, the enemy would have been forced to retire, probably into Belgium.

I shall not trouble you with an account of the "holding" attacks which were made to the north of the La Bassée Canal. Three of them served their purpose and resulted in some gains, but the fourth, which was made against the Aubers Ridge, came to grief. The two attacks which I shall describe at length are those which were made by the French and the British south of the canal.

Turn back to the map on page 223 and find the village of Souchez. South and east of this village you observe that there is high ground, which is nowhere more than 400 feet above sea-level. This high ground is known as the Vimy Heights, from the name of the village which you see by the side of the railway line running from Arras to Lens. On 26th September the French began to attack these heights, and by the morning of the 29th had fought their way up them foot by foot, and were in a position to command the railway from Lens to Arras. I wish I had space to describe this fine achievement fully. As, however, this book is specially meant for British boys and girls, I must pass over the splendid work done by the French in capturing the Vimy Heights, and turn to the exploits of our own men. By winning the Vimy Heights the French had cut off Lens from Arras; the British were now to try to cut off Lens from La Bassée.

Look carefully at the map on page 349 and follow the German first line of trenches from north to south. Less than a mile and a half south of the canal, and about half a mile inside the German line, you see a position marked Fosse 8, and south of it the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Fosse 8 was a great slag heap which commanded the country to the south and had been strongly fortified. The Hohenzollern Redoubt was a pear-shaped stronghold situated on a gentle rise about 500 yards in front of the line. Its broad end pointed northwards and it had a clear field of fire before it, every inch of which could be swept by the machine guns inside. The whole position was criss-crossed by trenches and resembled the famous Labyrinth. It was connected with the main line by two trenches. That which ran to the rear from the south end was called "Big Willie," and the corresponding trench at the north end was known as "Little Willie."

South of the Hohenzollern Redoubt the line ran along the western slope of the downs which you see marked on the map. Then the line curved westwards, passing the Loos Redoubt, and after crossing the Béthune-Lens road, curved back eastwards in front of what was known as Double Crassier,[75] another slag heap which had been strongly fortified.

Now look at the German reserve line, which was roughly parallel with the front line, and from less than a mile to two miles behind it. Notice the Quarries, which had been turned into a stronghold, and the mining village of Loos, which lies in a shallow hollow. Behind the village rises Hill 70, on which there was a strong redoubt.

Now follow the third line. Behind it you will see a string of mining villages--Haisnes,[76] Cité St. Elie, and Hulluch. The line crossed the Lens-La Bassée road at Hulluch and then ran a little east and south behind a chalk pit and Pit No. 14. The villages and the pits which I have mentioned were fortresses, and there were numerous other mounds and hillocks that had been turned into strongholds.

From the British front the country seemed a dead-flat plain studded with the head-gear of pits and groups of small houses, and seamed with roads. There was scarcely a tree in sight, and except for the collieries and slag heaps, the plain looked something like the South African veldt. But behind the downs which shut in the view of our men facing the northern half of the line, there were innumerable places where batteries of machine guns lay concealed.

The map shows you that two corps of the First Army, under Sir Douglas Haig, were arrayed for the assault. The 1st Corps, under General Gough,[77] consisted of the 2nd, 9th, and 7th Divisions: the 2nd Division lay north of the canal, the 9th Division opposite to Fosse 8, and the 7th Division facing the Quarries. The 9th Division consisted of Scottish regiments--Highland and Lowland, "kilties" and men wearing the trews. South of the road from Vermelles to Hulluch lay the 4th Army Corps, under General Sir Henry Rawlinson. The 1st Division of his command was posted just south of the road; opposite to the Loos Redoubt was the 15th Division, also a wholly Scottish division, composed of men of the new army. This division had been for three months or more in the trenches facing Loos, and it was well acquainted with the ground over which it was soon to charge. On the extreme right was the 47th Division of Londoners.

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When the guns began to roar in Champagne, the British artillery along the whole five-mile front from Givenchy to Grenay joined in the tumult. Across the plain a tornado of shells swept upon the German positions, and in many places the trenches were pounded into utter ruin. At 6.30 on the morning of 25th September the guns lifted their muzzles, and the high explosive shells rained a deluge of fire behind the first line of German defence. Then the whistles blew, and five miles of British troops with fixed bayonets clambered over their trenches. The great advance had begun.

We will first follow the fortunes of the 9th Division, now making for Fosse 8 and the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Enfilading fire from the village of Auchy streamed down upon the Lowlanders on the left, and took a heavy toll of them as they advanced. Nevertheless they pushed on, crossed the railway, and in a few minutes were thrusting and bombing in the German trenches. So fierce, however, was the fire that they could not cling to them, and slowly during the day they were driven back. Meanwhile the 26th Highland Brigade on the right had rushed the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The bombardment had wrecked it, and saps had been run up to within a short distance of "Little Willie." Our losses were heavy, but the stronghold was won.

Camerons, Seaforths, and Black Watch now advanced over a bare, shell-swept piece of ground towards Fosse 8, from which a hail of machine-gun fire beat down upon them like a thunderstorm in autumn. As the Lowlanders on their left had been held up, and their flank was in the air, the 27th Brigade was hurried up in support, and was soon busy with bomb and bayonet in the maze of trenches and cottages to the east of the Fosse. By midday we had pushed forward a broad salient on this part of the line, and had captured the chief works of the enemy, though the Germans were not entirely cleared out of them. The rear was so studded with little forts, each pouring out a murderous fire, that little further progress could be made. Our men fell fast, and as we had but few reserves, it was clear that we could not long hold on to our gains in this part of the line.

Now let us see how the 7th Division was faring. There were no great strongholds in their front, so they swept forward right across the German first line, and reached the western end of the Quarries, where for a time the Reserve Line held them up. Nevertheless the van pushed on, entered the village of Cité St. Elie, gained the highroad, turned northwards, and by ten o'clock was in the village of Haisnes. Judging from the map, you would say that the Germans still clinging to the eastern edges of Fosse 8 and Hohenzollern Redoubt were now taken between two fires, and that nothing could save them. But the vanguard, which had pushed northwards along the highroad to Haisnes, was not strong enough to hold on to the village, and by midday it had fallen back, and the front of the 7th Division lay from the western side of the Quarries eastwards to Cité St. Elie. In the Quarries was a German howitzer battery which we could not destroy and the enemy could not use.

[Footnote 75: _Krass-e-a._]

[Footnote 76: _Haine._]

[Footnote 77: Killed by a chance bullet on October 24, 1915.]