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Subject:
A bit of history: 22-23 July 1916; The taking of Pozieres
tjkhan
7/22/2006 7:07:21 AM
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| From Wikipedia:
Prelude
The village of Pozières, on the Albert-Bapaume road, lies atop a ridge approximately in the centre of the British sector of the Somme battlefield. Closeby the village is the highest point on the battlefield and, while the Somme terrain is only gently undulating, any slight elevation aided observation for artillery.
Pozières was critical to the German defences; the fortified village formed an outpost to the second defensive trench system which became known to the British as the "Old German Lines" or "O.G. Lines". This German second line extended from beyond Mouquet Farm in the north, ran behind Pozières to the east then south towards the Bazentin ridge and the villages of Bazentin le Petit and Longueval.
On 14 July, during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge, this southern section of the German second line was captured by the British Fourth Army of Lieutenant General Sir Henry Rawlinson. The tantalising prospect of "rolling up" the German second line by turning north now presented itself. However, Pozières stood in the way.
The British Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Douglas Haig, lacked the ammunition to immediately execute another broad-front attack in the wake of 14 July. Believing that Pozières and Thiepval would become untenable for the Germans as the British continued their eastward momentum, Haig ordered Rawlinson to concentrate on the centre between High Wood and Delville Wood as well as the villages of Guillemont and Ginchy.
Meanwhile the plan was to maintain the pressure and take Pozières by a "steady, methodical, step-by-step advance". Between 13 and 17 July, the Fourth Army made four, small-scale attacks against Pozières with no success and high casualties. In this period the village was subjected to a heavy bombardment and reduced to rubble. On two occasions the attacking infantry got into the trench that looped around the south and western edge of the village, known as "Pozières trench", but both times were driven out. Attempts to get east of the village by advancing up the O.G. Lines likewise failed.
Taking Pozières
Rawlinson planned to deliver another attack on a broad front on 18 July involving six divisions between the Albert-Bapaume road in the north and Guillemont in the south. Haig decided to transfer responsibility for Pozières to the Reserve Army of Lieutenant General Hubert Gough which had been holding the line north of the road since shortly after the opening of the offensive on 1 July. The attack was postponed until the night of 22?23 July.
To Gough's army was attached the three Australian divisions of I Anzac Corps, which had begun moving from the Armentières sector. The Australian 1st Division reached Albert on 18 July and, despite the postponement of the offensive, Gough, who had a reputation as a "thruster", told the division's commander, Major General Harold Walker, "I want you to go in and attack Pozières tomorrow night". Walker, an experienced British officer who had led the division since Gallipoli, would have none of it and insisted he would attack only after adequate preparation. Consequently the attack on Pozières once more fell in line with the Fourth Army's attack on the night of 22?23 July.
The plan called for the Australian 1st Division to attack Pozières from the south, advancing in three stages half an hour apart, while north of the Albert-Bapaume road, the British 48th (South Midland) Division (British X Corps) would attack the German trenches west of the village. The village and surrounding area was defended by elements of the German 117th Division. Early on 22 July the Australian 9th Battalion attempted to improve its position by advancing up the O.G. Lines towards the road but was repulsed.
The preparation for the attack involved a thorough bombardment of the village and the O.G. Lines lasting several days. The bombardment included phosgene and tear gas. The infantry were scheduled to go in at 12.30 am on 23 July, the attack being made by the Australian 1st and 3rd Brigades. The infantry had crept into no man's land, close behind the bombardment and when it lifted the German trenches were rushed. The first stage took the Pozières trench that ringed the village to the south. The second stage saw the Australians advance to the edge of the village, amongst what remained of the back gardens of the houses lining the Albert-Bapaume road. The third stage brought the line to the Albert-Bapaume road. The few survivors from the German garrison retreated to the northern edge of the village or into the O.G. Lines to the east.
It was also intended that the O.G. Lines would be captured as far as the road but here the Australians failed, partly due to strong resistance from the German defenders occupying deep dugouts and machine gun nests, and partly due to the confusion of a night attack on featureless terrain ? the weeks of bombardment had reduced the ridge to a field of craters and it was virtually impossible to disting |
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