{"id":11281,"date":"2015-05-20T05:00:55","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T09:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.royalmontrealregiment.com\/?p=11281"},"modified":"2015-05-20T05:00:55","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T09:00:55","slug":"summary-of-operations-battle-of-festubert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/summary-of-operations-battle-of-festubert\/","title":{"rendered":"Summary of Operations: Battle of Festubert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, May 20, 1915<\/i><\/p>\n

Festubert (Indian Village)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: \u201cLts. Godwin, Richardson and Sumption arrived from England on May 20th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Lt. Godwin took over command of the battalion Machine Gun Section.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY:\u00a0Godwin took the place of Lieut W.M. Pearce, who was wounded while temporarily attached to the 13th<\/sup> Battalion.<\/p>\n

\"20<\/a>
Festubert, 20 May 1915<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS – 3rd Brigade Attack – 20 May 1915:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThe attack on the 20th began in broad daylight, the bombardment starting at 4:00 p.m. and the attack launching at 7:45 p.m. The 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) and 15th Battalion (48th Highlanders of Canada) were designated by the 3rd Brigade as the assault battalions. Lieutenant-Colonel Leckie of the 16th protested the order, attacking over open ground, and with only a single company detailed to attack Canadian Orchard. Brigadier-General Turner replied that the British felt, after the experiences at Aubers Ridge, that night operations restricted the ability of commanders to control troop movements and despite the disadvantages of exposure to accurate enemy fire, there was an advantage to be gained by attacking in daylight. The plan was for No. 3 Company to attack the orchard and No. 1 Company to support it; if the orchard was gained, a communication trench leading to the orchard would be used as a covered route to approach M.10.\u00a0\u00a0 [3]<\/a><\/p>\n

No. 3 Company managed to reach the orchard, and despite the enemy being well dug-in, the defenders were surprised and evicted, putting the Canadian Scottish within 100 yards of the main German trenches. The attempts to attack M.10 were turned back by heavy fire and belts of barbed wire.\u00a0 [4]<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0The Canadian Scottish had made the deepest penetration of any unit of the British 1st Army during the Battle of Festubert, and Canadian Orchard remained in Allied hands until the German offensives in the spring of 1918.\u00a0 [5]<\/a><\/p>\n

The 15th Battalion had as fruitless an attack as No. 1 Company of the Canadian Scottish, and the Highlanders suffered heavy casualties attacking over open ground into the teeth of machine-guns and watchful German artillery observers. Despite using short 20-yard dashes, many men were hit, and though they gained the relative safety of the North Breastwork, they were stopped 100 yards beyond it. Supporting companies came up to consolidate the gains after dark.\u201d\u00a0 [6]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"20<\/a>\u201cTorrential Rains and heavy mists in northern France and Flanders have rendered operations impossible since Monday night, and the war torn soldiers upon both sides have secured a breathing spell.\u00a0 It was greatly needed.\u00a0 The Times correspondent in northern France says that between the 8th<\/sup> and 14th<\/sup> of May no less than seven distinct battles were fought on the western front.\u00a0 The week will go down to history as perhaps the most sanguinary in the annals of Western Europe.\u00a0 The losses of the Germans around Ypres alone since the opening of the spring campaign on April 22nd<\/sup> are believed to be almost a hundred and fifty thousand men killed, wounded and taken prisoners.\u00a0 In an engagement on Monday night on the banks of the Yser Canal, an engagement which the French, who were victors, did not regard as a battle, the enemy left over 2,000 dead behind them.\u00a0 That the German spring offensive is no longer dangerous is the general belief expressed by correspondents in close touch with the headquarters of the allied armies.<\/p>\n

Lord Kitchener in the House of Lords yesterday, made a momentous announcement when he stated that the Allies would meet poison with poison.\u00a0 If the Germans insist upon destroying their opponents with poisonous gases the Allies will use like means of warfare.\u00a0 The War Minister states that this must be done to remove \u2018the enormous and unjustifiable disadvantage\u2019 which must exist for the allied armies if no steps are taken to meet on his own ground the enemy who is responsible for the introduction of this pernicious practice.\u00a0 It is now up to the Canadian universities to offer a battalion of students of chemistry who will be able to spread poisonous gases along the lines as effectively as the German chemists.\u00a0 The prospect is a horrible one, but there is some little consolation to be derived from the fact that the prevailing winds in Flanders and northern France during the summer are from the south and west.\u00a0 The Allies, therefore, should have the windward of the enemy most of the time.<\/p>\n

After notifying the Country that he wants 300,000 more recruits to form new armies, Lord Kitchener gave a statement regarding recent operations in the course of which he paid this tribute to the men from the Dominion, who outfaced at Langemarck the most determined effort yet made by the Germans to break the lines of the Allies: \u2018The forced retirement in front of the heavy clouds of gas which preceded the German advance at Ypres resulted in the left flank of the Canadian division being exposed.\u00a0\u00a0 The Canadians suffered severely from the poisonous fumes, but, nevertheless, they held to the position in the most determined manner.\u00a0 This was an ordeal to try the qualities of the finest army in the world, and all the more credit is due to the soldiers of Canada, who were unprepared for such an attack, and were at the same time exposed to a withering fire.\u00a0 Reluctantly, and with perfect steadiness, they withdrew their left flank to conform with the new alignment.\u00a0 The Canadians were soon supported by British brigades, which were pushed up, and the enemy\u2019s advance was thereby checked.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [8]<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0 War Diary, 14th<\/sup> Canadian Battalion, The Royal Montreal Regiment<\/em>, May 20, 1915.\u00a0 Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa,\u00a0http:\/\/data2.collectionscanada.ca\/e\/e044\/e001089733.jpg<\/a><\/pre>\n
[2]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Festubert 1915, Canadiansoldiers.com<\/pre>\n
http:\/\/www.canadiansoldiers.com\/history\/battlehonours\/westernfront\/festubert.htm<\/a><\/pre>\n
[3]\u00a0 Dancocks, Daniel G. Gallant Canadians: The Story of the 10th Canadian Infantry Battalion 1914-1919 <\/em>(The Calgary Highlanders Regimental Funds Foundation, Calgary, AB, 1990) ISBN 0-9694616-0-7, pp. 46-47; as quoted in\u00a0 Festubert 1915, Canadiansoldiers.com \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.canadiansoldiers.com\/history\/battlehonours\/westernfront\/festubert.htm<\/a><\/pre>\n
[4]\u00a0\u00a0 Nicholson, Gerald Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Candian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919<\/em> (Duhamel, Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery, Ottawa, 1964) pg.88; as quoted in\u00a0 Festubert 1915, Canadiansoldiers.com\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.canadiansoldiers.com\/history\/battlehonours\/westernfront\/festubert.htm<\/a><\/pre>\n
[5]\u00a0\u00a0 Zuehlke, Mark. Brave Battalion: The Remarkable Saga of the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) in the First World War<\/em> (John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd., Mississauga, ON, 2008) ISBN 978-0-470-15416-8, pp.75-76;\u00a0 as quoted in\u00a0 Festubert 1915, Canadiansoldiers.com\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.canadiansoldiers.com\/history\/battlehonours\/westernfront\/festubert.htm<\/a><\/pre>\n
[6]\u00a0\u00a0 Nicholson, Ibid. pp. 88<\/pre>\n
[7]\u00a0 \u201cWar Summary,\u201d The Globe (1844-1936),<\/em> Toronto, Ontario, Wednesday, May 19, 1915, pg. 1 col. 6, & pg. 2, col. 2.<\/pre>\n
[8]\u00a0\u00a0 Ibid.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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