1st Battalion in the Third Battle of Ypres (1917): Difference between revisions

After the battle of [[1st Battalion at Arras & Monchy-le-Preux|Monchy-le-Preux]], the [[1st Border Regiment]] spent the remainder of May and the majority of June at a small village called Candas, located in the Picardy region of the Somme. They spent their time away from the rigors of battle in pleasant surroundings, as the war diary states, a "comfortable, clean little village, beautifully situated."<ref>{{Wylly|pageno=145}}</ref> However, the peace and tranquillity of Candas would not be their home for too long and just when they the men of Battalion had become accustomed to a slightly more relaxed lifestyle, all be it temporarily, they would find themselves on the move again. It was the [[26 June]] and the journey before them would take them back to Belgium on the banks of the Yser Canal. They entrained at Doullens for Proven where they were moved by bus and then route march to their new accommodation in the support trenches of the Canal. Without any delay they were involved in active patrolling on the front line, a duty that more often than not amounted to needless casualties. A few days later, on the [[1 July]], a young second-lieutenant by the name of D. Macleod, M.C., was killed on this duty along with three other men. Macleod’s body could not be reached at the time because of heavy [[sniping]]; however, they knew where his body lay and could only wait for circumstances to change in their favour before making the attempt to go out into the open to retrieve it. This was achieved when Private Williamson, who on the 5th, managed to beat the odds in recovering Macleod’s body.

The weather showed no sign of improving and on the [[2 August]], the diary states it "was another fearfully wet day, fighting practically impossible. St. Julien was lost during the night and retaken this morning." Ten days later the Battalion were under heavy shelling in the front line and in a short space of time, no more than a day, there were over 50 casualties. There didn’t seem to be and end to the number of casualties that were mounting almost on a daily basis. Some days were far better than others but it seemed that not even a single day would pass by without someone from the companies becoming victim of shelling, machine gun fire or [[sniping]], not to mention those that were falling sick due to a multitude of different illnesses rife in the trenches. A few days later on the 15th each of the companies of the Battalion began to leave their position at intervals to a new assembly point east of the Steenbeek.<ref name="ftn3">The Steenbeek is the largest of several stream/rivers that ran across the British front line.</ref> This was done in preparation for the second phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. The route took them from bivouacs at Bluet Farm via Bridge Street, Saules Farm, Captain’s Farm and Signal Farm. It was here that the Battalion Headquarters was established for the time being.

This obstacle, deadly in every sense, was thus engaged when the [[Stokes mortar]] was sent forward to Passerelles Farm. Eventually, after further fighting, news had been received from all companies stating that they had all reached their objectives and further to this, with many captured men and guns along the way, were continuing their advance. As a result the Battalion Headquarters was swiftly moved from its current position at Signal Farm to a new location at Wijdendrift. The new lines were being consolidated and work continued on this task throughout the course of the morning, without incident. However, even though there were few casualties, heavy [[sniping]] became troublesome for the men during this time. German aeroplanes, in low level passes, flew over the British lines including Wijdendrift village itself in an effort to fire at the trenches before them. Meanwhile, German shelling had become heavier, attempting to destroy whatever part of the British lines they could, yet were somehow failing to find their targets successfully enough for the guns to cause any significant disruption or damage. German accuracy was at times very exact but in this instance their observers failed to find the 1st Battalion’s front line.