Battle of the Ancre
Encyclopedia
The Battle of the Ancre was the final act of the 1916 Battle of the Somme
. Launched on 13 November 1916 by the British Fifth Army
(formerly the Reserve Army) of Lieutenant General
Hubert Gough
, the objective of the battle was as much political as military
.
on 15 November and the British
commander-in-chief, General Sir Douglas Haig
, wanted to be able to report favourable progress to his French
counterparts.
Gough planned an attack on either side of the Ancre
River, a small tributary
of the Somme River
which flowed through the northern sector of the battlefield. South of the Ancre was the village of Thiepval
, which had been recently captured by the British during the Battle of Thiepval Ridge
, and St Pierre Divion, which was still in German
hands. North of the Ancre were the villages of Beaumont-Hamel
and Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre
; this sector had not seen major operations since the opening of the Somme offensive on 1 July.
. Supported by artillery
, a machine gun
barrage and by tank
s, the 51st (Highland) Division stormed across the heavily-defended Y Ravine and captured the village of Beaumont Hamel. (The short story writer H.H. Munro, pen-name "Saki
," a lance-sergeant in the 22nd Royal Fusiliers, was killed by a German sniper during this operation.) Meanwhile, on their left, the 2nd Division advanced along Redan Ridge. On the right, attacking across the low ground between Beaumont Hamel and the river, the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division reached the village of Beaucourt on the first day and secured it on the next. During this engagement, Lieutenant Commander
Bernard Freyberg, who would later become Governor-General of New Zealand
, won the Victoria Cross
despite being wounded three times. To their north, efforts were less successful; here the 3rd Division and the 31st Division were expected to form a defensive flank and take the village of Serre but their attack failed. For the 31st Division it was déjà vu
— they tried to advance across the same ground as on the first day on the Somme
, with the same negative result. South of the Ancre, however, II Corps took its objectives with relative ease.
At this point, the Battle of the Ancre could be considered a success for the British, and C-in-C Haig was satisfied with the result. However, V Army commander Gough was keen to continue further. On 18 November, II Corps was ordered to drive north on the Munich and Frankfurt Trenches towards the village of Grandcourt
and the river. North of the river, V Corps
was meant to secure the remainder of Redan Ridge. Neither attack was successful. Ninety men of the 16th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry
(the "Glasgow Boys Brigade" Pals battalion
) were cut off in Frankfurt Trench, where they held out until 21 November when the 45 survivors— thirty of them wounded—surrendered.
On the right (westernmost) flank of the attack of 18 November, the 4th Canadian Division
as an element of the British II Corps were tasked with taking Desire Trench and Desire Support Trench which ran roughly parallel to the river, south of Grandcourt. The thrust of the attack on Desire Support was manned by a company of men from the 46th (Saskatchewan) Battalion and two more from the 50th (Calgary) Battalion who were met with heavy machine gun fire and only took a small section of Desire Support before being repulsed. A second thrust from 11th brigade with two companies each from the 38th (Ottawa), 54th (Kootenay), 75th (Mississauga), and 87th (Canadian Grenadier Guards) battalions attacked, captured, held and consolidated sections of Desire and sent patrols forward to Grandcourt Trench. http://forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/showthread.php?p=220121
had finished operations on 16 November and on the French sector the final action took place on 14–15 November in St Pierre Vaast Wood. Both sides now settled down to endure winter on the Somme in which the weather was a common enemy.
Battle of the Somme (1916)
The Battle of the Somme , also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 14 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of the river of the same name...
. Launched on 13 November 1916 by the British Fifth Army
British Fifth Army
The Fifth Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I and part of the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War.-History:...
(formerly the Reserve Army) of Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Hubert Gough
Hubert Gough
General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough GCB, GCMG, KCVO was a senior officer in the British Army, who commanded the British Fifth Army from 1916 to 1918 during the First World War.-Family background:...
, the objective of the battle was as much political as military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
.
Prelude
The Allied commanders were due to meet at ChantillyChantilly, Oise
Chantilly is a small city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune in the department of Oise.It is in the metropolitan area of Paris 38.4 km...
on 15 November and the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
commander-in-chief, General Sir Douglas Haig
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC, was a British senior officer during World War I. He commanded the British Expeditionary Force from 1915 to the end of the War...
, wanted to be able to report favourable progress to his French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
counterparts.
Gough planned an attack on either side of the Ancre
Ancre
The Ancre is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, it flows into the Somme at Corbie. It crosses no départements other than the Somme.-See also:* Battle of the Ancre Heights...
River, a small tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Somme River
Somme River
The Somme is a river in Picardy, northern France. The name Somme comes from a Celtic word meaning tranquility. The department Somme was named after this river....
which flowed through the northern sector of the battlefield. South of the Ancre was the village of Thiepval
Thiepval
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a major war memorial to 72,191 missing British and South African men who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918 who have no known grave...
, which had been recently captured by the British during the Battle of Thiepval Ridge
Battle of Thiepval Ridge
The Battle of Thiepval Ridge was the first large offensive mounted by the British Reserve Army of Lieutenant General Hubert Gough during the Battle of the Somme and was designed to benefit from British Fourth Army's Battle of Morval by starting 24 hours afterwards...
, and St Pierre Divion, which was still in German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
hands. North of the Ancre were the villages of Beaumont-Hamel
Beaumont-Hamel
Beaumont-Hamel is a commune in the Somme department in Picardy in northern France.During the First World War, Beaumont-Hamel was very close to the front lines and saw heavy combat, especially during the Battle of the Somme which was the largest Allied offensive of the entire war. By 1918 the...
and Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre
Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre
Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:The commune is situated south of Arras on the D50 and D163 junction. The Ancre river is little more than a trickle through marshy ground at this point....
; this sector had not seen major operations since the opening of the Somme offensive on 1 July.
The battle
By November the British had learned many lessons about planning, preparing and executing an attack in trench warfareTrench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
. Supported by artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, a machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
barrage and by tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s, the 51st (Highland) Division stormed across the heavily-defended Y Ravine and captured the village of Beaumont Hamel. (The short story writer H.H. Munro, pen-name "Saki
Saki
Hector Hugh Munro , better known by the pen name Saki, and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirised Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story and often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy...
," a lance-sergeant in the 22nd Royal Fusiliers, was killed by a German sniper during this operation.) Meanwhile, on their left, the 2nd Division advanced along Redan Ridge. On the right, attacking across the low ground between Beaumont Hamel and the river, the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division reached the village of Beaucourt on the first day and secured it on the next. During this engagement, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Bernard Freyberg, who would later become Governor-General of New Zealand
Governor-General of New Zealand
The Governor-General of New Zealand is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand . The Governor-General acts as the Queen's vice-regal representative in New Zealand and is often viewed as the de facto head of state....
, won the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
despite being wounded three times. To their north, efforts were less successful; here the 3rd Division and the 31st Division were expected to form a defensive flank and take the village of Serre but their attack failed. For the 31st Division it was déjà vu
Déjà vu
Déjà vu is the experience of feeling sure that one has already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the prior encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined...
— they tried to advance across the same ground as on the first day on the Somme
First day on the Somme
The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the opening day of the Battle of Albert, which was the first phase of the British and French offensive that became known as the Battle of the Somme...
, with the same negative result. South of the Ancre, however, II Corps took its objectives with relative ease.
At this point, the Battle of the Ancre could be considered a success for the British, and C-in-C Haig was satisfied with the result. However, V Army commander Gough was keen to continue further. On 18 November, II Corps was ordered to drive north on the Munich and Frankfurt Trenches towards the village of Grandcourt
Grandcourt
Grandcourt is the name of the following communes in France:* Grandcourt, Seine-Maritime, in the Seine-Maritime department* Grandcourt, Somme, in the Somme department...
and the river. North of the river, V Corps
V Corps (United Kingdom)
V Corps was an army corps of the British Army in both the First and Second World War. It was first organised in February 1915 and fought through World War I on the Western front...
was meant to secure the remainder of Redan Ridge. Neither attack was successful. Ninety men of the 16th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry
Highland Light Infantry
The Highland Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959. In 1923 the regimental title was expanded to the Highland Light Infantry ...
(the "Glasgow Boys Brigade" Pals battalion
Pals battalion
The Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted units of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and work colleagues , rather than being arbitrarily...
) were cut off in Frankfurt Trench, where they held out until 21 November when the 45 survivors— thirty of them wounded—surrendered.
On the right (westernmost) flank of the attack of 18 November, the 4th Canadian Division
4th Canadian Division
The Canadian Corps - 4th Canadian Division – World War I:The 4th Canadian Division was formed in the Britain in April 1916 from several existing units and others scheduled to arrive shortly thereafter. Under the command of Major-General David Watson, the Division embarked for France in August of...
as an element of the British II Corps were tasked with taking Desire Trench and Desire Support Trench which ran roughly parallel to the river, south of Grandcourt. The thrust of the attack on Desire Support was manned by a company of men from the 46th (Saskatchewan) Battalion and two more from the 50th (Calgary) Battalion who were met with heavy machine gun fire and only took a small section of Desire Support before being repulsed. A second thrust from 11th brigade with two companies each from the 38th (Ottawa), 54th (Kootenay), 75th (Mississauga), and 87th (Canadian Grenadier Guards) battalions attacked, captured, held and consolidated sections of Desire and sent patrols forward to Grandcourt Trench. http://forum.irishmilitaryonline.com/showthread.php?p=220121
Aftermath
When Gough called off the Battle of the Ancre, the Battle of the Somme had effectively ceased. In the southern sector, the British Fourth ArmyBritish Fourth Army
The Fourth Army was a field army that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War. The Fourth Army was formed on 5 February 1916 under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson to carry out the main British contribution to the Battle of the Somme.-History:The Fourth...
had finished operations on 16 November and on the French sector the final action took place on 14–15 November in St Pierre Vaast Wood. Both sides now settled down to endure winter on the Somme in which the weather was a common enemy.
External links
- La Bataille de l'Ancre, Film archive of the Imperial War MuseumImperial War MuseumImperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, at Dailymotion