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« on: Wednesday 27 August 14 23:19 BST (UK) »
Drobbo,
At the end of the battle for Passchendaele in November '17, the British held a salient in the German line. It was about 3,000 yds deep but only 1,000 yards wide. Moreover, the Germans occupied most of the high ground and could observe everything the British were up to. Field Marshall Haig was preparing a major offensive around Cambrai, but he agreed that an effort should be made to widen the salient and to gain positions on the Passchendaele Ridge which would disrupt enemy observation of the British positions while at the same time affording observation of German positions in the valley on the far side of the ridge.
By this time, the Canadians had been withdrawn to be replaced by UK regiments, 2 Royal Berkshires among them.
In order to try and suprise the Germans, the attack was to be at night, three days after the full moon. This way, our troops would have enough light to form up and stay on the right course as they made their way forward. No-one seemed to realise, at British HQ, that bodies of troops moving in the moonlight could be seen by the Germans. The result was the attack failed miserably with a lot of casualties.
From what you say in your opening post, it would seem possible that your great uncle was involved in the effort to take the Southern Redoubt, a heavily fortified position on the opposite rise to Exert Farm. The Berkshires jumped off at 1.55 on the morning of 2nd December without there being a preliminary artillery bombardment. The artillery were not to open fire until three minutes past two so that our troops would be able to descend upon the enemy forward positions without them being given prior warning of the attack. Unfortunately the Germans had seen what was going on and the element of suprise was lost. In addition, a German pill box, which the British Command thought was in our hands, was still very much in the possession of the Germans and this opened fire on our troops before they had got very far. A number of the Berkshires managed to reach the Southern Redoubt and take it after a bitter fight which incurred a lot of casualties. Because the suprise element was lost, the Lincolnshires who were next to the Berkshires, were unable to make all of their objectives which left the Berkshires somewhat exposed to a German counter attack on the redoubt which, after another hard fight, they re-captured except for a small area in the southern corner, where the remaining Berkshires dug in. There they remained until their commanding officer pulled them out later in the morning. They left a lot of their comrades behind.
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