CHAPTER IV

THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE (2ND BATTALION)

The German General Staff at this juncture realised that a retreating army is not necessarily a beaten one. For the last ten days, with their maps spread before them, they had had the satisfaction of moving the pins and flags representing their forces continually and rapidly nearer and nearer Paris. But if the French Army--the British Army, they thought, could be safely ignored--were to succeed in escaping south, it would remain a constant menace. It might even interfere with the Emperor's spectacular entry into Paris, every detail of which had been sketched out beforehand by the officials, whose business it was to stage-manage all the theatrical pageantry of their Imperial master's movements.

So a big _coup_ was wanted--a smashing blow at the French. If the centre of the French line could be pierced by the combined efforts of Von Hausen's, the Duke of Würtemberg's, and the Crown Prince's armies, and if simultaneously Von Kluck's army, which had reached Senlis, and was only twenty-five miles from Paris, could execute a swift movement to the south-east, the Fifth French Army would be caught in a vice. This strategic plan really menaced the whole of the interior of France, and had it succeeded might have resulted in her downfall. In all these calculations of the German Staff it appears to have been assumed that the British Army was practically out of action, and that whatever remained of it had in all probability been sent to reinforce the weak spot at Bar-le-Duc.

To accomplish his decisive stroke, Von Kluck had to execute that most dangerous of all manoeuvres, a flank march with the object of rolling up the left of the French line. The German General Staff assumed that the left of the Fifth French Army was the left of the whole French line, and that nothing beyond a few cavalry patrols had to be reckoned with. Von Kluck was accordingly given orders to march his army to the left and attack the Fifth French Army under General Franchet d'Esperey. They knew nothing of the Sixth Army under General Maunoury, which had arrived with such dramatic suddenness in taxi-cabs from Paris.

The unknown and the despised elements proved Von Kluck's undoing. Before he had gone very far he found the completely ignored British Army on top of him, and the totally unexpected Sixth French Army on his right flank. Quickly realising his peril, he decided to retire. In the meantime, on the French side, General Foch, who was about in the centre of the French line, saw an opportunity, which he promptly seized, of driving a wedge between the armies of Von Hausen and Von Bülow. The situation was now entirely changed. The lately triumphant German forces were no longer even moderately secure, and decided on a general retirement all along the line.

It was on September 5 that Sir John French and General Joffre conferred together and decided to take the offensive. To the British Army was assigned the space between the Fifth and Sixth French Armies. This meant a change of front, and hence that welcome order to the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers to move due east instead of south.

That evening Field-Marshal Sir John French issued the following orders:

(1) The enemy has apparently abandoned the idea of advancing on Paris and is contracting his front and moving south-east.

(2) The Army will advance eastward with a view to attacking. Its left will be covered by the French Sixth Army also marching east, and its right will be linked to the French Fifth Army marching north.

(3) In pursuance of the above the following moves will take place, the Army facing east on completion of the movement.

First Corps: right on La-Chapelle-Iger, left on Lumigny, move to be completed 9 A.M.

Second Corps: right on La Houssaye, left in neighbourhood of Villeneuve, move to be completed 10 A.M.

Third Corps: facing east in the neighbourhood of Bailly, move to be completed 10 A.M.

Cavalry Division (less 3rd and 5th Brigades): to guard front and flanks of First Corps on the line Jouy-le-Chatel (connecting the French Fifth Army)--Coulommiers (connecting the 3rd and 5th Brigades). The 3rd and 5th Cavalry Brigades will cease to be under the orders of the First Corps and will act in concert under instructions issued by Brigadier-General Gough. They will cover the Second Corps connecting with the Cavalry Division on the right and with the Sixth French Army on the left.

[Sidenote: Sept. 6.]

Sunday, the 6th, was the joyful day when there came this turn of the tide, and that morning Sir John French issued an order to his Army in which he said:

After a most trying series of operations, mostly in retirement, which have been rendered necessary by the general strategic plan of the Allied Armies, the British Forces stand to-day formed in line with their French comrades, ready to attack the enemy. Foiled in their attempt to invest Paris, the Germans have been driven to move in an easterly and south-easterly direction, with the apparent intention of falling in strength on Fifth French Army. In this operation they are exposing their right flank and their line of communication to an attack by the Sixth French Army and the British Forces.

I call upon the British Army in France to show now to the enemy its power and to push on vigorously to the attack beside the Sixth French Army. I am sure I shall not call on them in vain, but that on the contrary by another manifestation of the magnificent spirit which they have shown in the past fortnight they will fall on the enemy's flank with all their strength, and in unison with their Allies drive them back.

At 5.30 the same morning the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers marched to Le Mée, where trenches were dug. The men, for once, had had a good night's rest, and were in great spirits at the prospect of an advance. A sharp artillery attack was being carried on against Villeneuve, and the 1st Brigade was moved out to attack the place, while the 4th Brigade prolonged the line on the left. Being in reserve, the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers saw little of the day's fighting. In the event the artillery proved sufficient to shift the enemy, and the Battalion marched without further incident to Touquin, where it bivouacked for the night. That night the British Army occupied a line from Dagny on the right to Villeneuve-le-Comte on the left.

[Sidenote: Sept. 7.]

Severe fighting went on all along the line next morning. Maunoury's taxi-cab army had been able to press Von Kluck as he retired, and the British Army had taken Coulommiers and La Ferté-Gaucher. As the German battalions retreated shells were poured on them by our artillery, who were kept well posted with information by the aircraft observers. Marching through Paradis, Mauperthuis, St. Simeon, and Voigny, the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers finally bivouacked at Rebais. Everywhere in the villages were staring evidences of the German occupation and hurried retreat. Shops had been looted, houses despoiled, and the contents--such as could not be carried away--had been wantonly destroyed, evidently under orders, and the fragments scattered to the winds. The advance-guard of the 4th Brigade (the 2nd Battalion Coldstream) was engaged with the German rearguard during this march, and the Grenadiers who were in support came in for a certain amount of firing. The Germans could be plainly seen retiring by Rebais with masses of transport in great confusion.

[Sidenote: Sept. 8.]

It became clear next day that Von Kluck's Army was in retreat, and Sir John French determined to press him and give him no rest--thus completely were the positions reversed. The First Corps advanced, and everything went well at first, but at La Trétoire it was held up by the German rear-guard, which had found a good position, and the 3rd Battalion Coldstream, which formed the advanced guard, was checked for a time by the German machine-guns hidden in the houses round the bridge over the Petit Morin. Meanwhile, a German field battery posted near Boitron shelled the high ground over which the main body of the 4th Brigade had to pass.

The Germans were evidently fighting a delaying action, and were employing their cavalry with great skill to hold the river as long as possible. In front of the British Army, the cavalry covering the retreat of Von Kluck's Army was commanded by General von der Marwitz, who showed no intention of abandoning his position without a struggle.

Thick woods run down to the river for the last half-mile here, but right through them goes one big clearing about eighty yards wide. This was swept by the German machine-guns, and it was a problem how to get the men across. No. 3 Company Grenadiers under Captain Stephen was sent on to support the Coldstream, followed later by No. 4 under Captain Colston. Both companies reached the edge of the wood, but were there stopped by a hail of fire from the machine-guns. Our field-guns could not reach the houses where these had been placed, and the howitzers were unaccountably slow in coming up. It was while he was endeavouring to find some way of advance that Captain Stephen was shot through both legs; he was taken to hospital, and died of his wounds four days later.

Urgent messages to push on kept arriving meanwhile from Sir Douglas Haig. Lieut.-Colonel Feilding, who was temporarily in command of the Brigade, sent the 2nd Battalion Coldstream by a circuitous route to try and effect a crossing at La Forge, farther to the right. No. 1 and No. 2 Companies Grenadiers were then ordered to go round by a covered route to avoid the clearing in the wood, and had actually started when Lieut.-Colonel Feilding gave the order for them to turn about. Major Lord Bernard Gordon Lennox, who had raced off at their head, was so far in front that the order did not reach him. He rushed across the clearing, and just managed to get into a ditch on the other side, the shower of machine-gun bullets churning up the ground almost at his heels.

So deafening was the noise of the firing that it was impossible to pass orders simultaneously to the men scattered about in the woods, who at the same time were all on edge to advance. And soon it became very difficult to keep the troops together.

Lieut.-Colonel Corry had already gone off with these two companies, Nos. 1 and 2, to follow the 2nd Battalion Coldstream, when Lieut.-Colonel Feilding thought he saw the Germans retiring, and shouted to Major Jeffreys to turn the Grenadiers about and take them across the clearing straight down to the river, but No. 2 Company had got a good way ahead through the woods, and Major Jeffreys was only able to get hold of half of No. 1 Company, which followed him across the clearing. Unfortunately, however, the German guns were still there, and opened a heavy fire on them. By this time the 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was hopelessly split up, different parts of the Battalion having gone in three different directions, and the 3rd Battalion Coldstream was also scattered all over the woods. In the meantime the howitzers came up, and soon drove the Germans out of their position. No. 3 Company had done well in the fighting, having succeeded in capturing one of the enemy's machine-guns and many prisoners.

The various parties then made their way through the wood to the edge of the stream, but as there was no bridge to be seen they worked along the banks to La Trétoire. Without further opposition, a party of the Irish Guards under Major Herbert Stepney, together with half of No. 1 Company under Major Jeffreys and Lieutenant Mackenzie, crossed the bridge, and advanced up the opposite side towards Boitron. In every direction the ground was strewn with dead and wounded Germans, and after advancing 1000 yards the party of Grenadiers reached the position which had been occupied by the German Battery; the guns had all been got away, but dead horses, overturned limbers, and dead gunners showed how this Battery had suffered at the hands of the 41st Brigade R.F.A.

As the enemy retired our guns and howitzers kept up a heavy fire, and inflicted severe losses.

The whole Brigade had by now debouched from the woods, and gradually collected behind Boitron, while the Divisional Cavalry went on ahead so as to keep in touch with the retreating enemy. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was then ordered to advance in artillery formation over the open country north of Boitron, and met with no resistance.

But there was one incident that might have proved disastrous. In its eagerness to get at the enemy, No. 2 Company got rather ahead of its time, with the result that our own guns planted some shrapnel into it, luckily without doing much damage. On the left the Irish Guards and the 2nd Battalion Coldstream found in a wood a number of Germans with machine-guns, who had apparently got separated from the main body. Our men charged, and immediately up went the white flag; seven machine-guns and a large number of prisoners were taken, mostly men belonging to the Guard Jäger Corps.

Rain had been falling for some time in a steady downpour, and as the light was failing the Battalion assembled to bivouac near Les Peauliers. An extremely wet sainfoin field was chosen for the purpose, and there, in a misty September evening, the men lay down to sleep. Altogether the Grenadiers had lost forty men in the day's fighting, besides Captain Stephen.

[Sidenote: Sept. 9.]

Dismally the raindrops trickled through the trees as the men roused themselves in the early morning. It was very cold, too, and the greatcoats that had been so lightly flung away during the sweltering days of retreat were now bitterly regretted. And it was a particularly chilly task that lay before the Battalion, for it was in reserve, which meant constant standing about--often even more tiring than a march. However, about midday it cleared, and a very hot sun soon got every one dry again.

On this day the passage of the Marne was forced; the Third Corps, under General Pulteney, bore the brunt of the fighting, whilst the First Corps on its right drove the Germans before it with some ease and took numerous prisoners. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers, starting off at 7.30, eventually crossed the Marne at Charly, after innumerable halts and checks. Before it got over it had to wait some hours at Pavant, where it could watch various divisions crossing the river. This bridge at Charly was the only one in the neighbourhood left standing; it had been carefully prepared for demolition, and no one knew why, fortunately for us, it had escaped. Rumour said that the German engineers entrusted with the task got so drunk that, when the appointed moment arrived, they were quite incapable of carrying out their orders.

During the day Lieut.-Colonel Corry received orders to return home. He had been relieved of his command on account of the decision, already recorded, which he took at Mons.

[Sidenote: Sept. 10.]

The Battalion bivouacked that evening--rain was again falling--on the side of a wet hill near Villiers-sur-Marne, and woke up to more rainy, cold weather. The battle of the Marne had been won, and the Germans were retreating in perfectly orderly fashion, though we captured 13 guns, 7 machine-guns, and 2000 men. The prisoners said they had been officially informed that a large German army was investing Paris, and that their division was engaged in "drawing off" the French Army eastwards. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers was again in reserve, and was constantly marched backwards and forwards throughout the day. It passed through Domptin, Coupru, Marigny, and Veuilly to Hautevesnes, where it bivouacked.

[Sidenote: Sept. 11.]

The pursuit continued during the two following days. Through heavy showers, which gave them a thorough soaking, the Grenadiers marched on the 11th by the way of Priez, Sommelans, Latilly, La Croix, and Breny to Oulchy, where they got into billets, and fires were lit to dry their clothes. Such inhabitants as were left eagerly helped to supply all the men's wants, and placed all they possessed at their disposal. The usual signs of recent German occupation were to be seen in every house. Drawers had been turned out, cupboards ransacked, and tables overturned, and the floors were thickly strewn with such things as the Germans had been unable to take away with them--clothes, smashed gramophone records, broken glasses, and other debris. But, in spite of the pitiable surroundings and their own soaked condition, the officers and men were soon put in the best of spirits by the cheerful fires and the appetising smell of bacon and eggs, put on to cook for them.

[Sidenote: Sept. 12.]

Next morning's parade was at 5 o'clock, but the town was so crowded with supply wagons that it was 9 before a move could be made. It rained at intervals during the day, and in the evening another steady downpour set in, which once more soaked the men to the skin before they got to their billets at Courcelles, having marched through Beugneux, Arcy, Cuiry-Housse, Lesges, Limé, and Braine.