1st Battalion at Arras & Monchy-le-Preux (1917) (view source)
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== A New Year brings new Operations ==
[[File:German dead Guillemont September 1916.jpg|thumb|
:{{quote-left}}The 1st Battalion was taking part in fighting to the S. in the neighbourhood of the
This, particularly with any history written about events that took place anywhere throughout the various theatres of war, is all too common whereby only those campaigns deemed more interesting have been committed to
As we saw in the previous chapter, the [[1st Battalion]] of the [[Border Regiment]] saw the old year out at Hangest. By the opening of the new year, 1917, they were still very much engaged in training until the [[12 January]] when they moved onto Bresle via train and then march. Their stay was a short one as they soon packed up and moved again, this time by march again to Meaulte, Carnoy and finally to Guillemont on the [[17 January]]. Here they remained for 10 days before being ordered to take positions alongside the 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers to attack an area just south of Le Transloy, particularly the Landwehr Trench. This attack, which commenced in the early hours of the 27th was seen through to success and as a result of the first stages, 117 German prisoners had been taken and passed back behind British lines. Each of the objectives had been achieved, a further 45 prisoners had been captured shortly after and by mid morning so had another 75 prisoners. The ground that had been taken was however difficult to consolidate owing to a combination of shelling,
Their work was not over and fortifying the area was taking time. Some wire had been laid around a strong point, which at that time was still being dug and several
The 1st Battalion alone (from a total of 6 officers and 355 unwounded other ranks) captured 4 officers and 200 men along with three of the five
Although the Battalion was involved in minor operations and battles throughout the months of February and March, they found themselves in the daily routine of training around the area of Bussy where they received further drafts in smaller numbers to recoup their strength. By the end of March the Battalion was in and around the area of Vignacourt, thus waiting to be called upon to take part in the Arras Offensive in April.
==The Arras Offensive==
<div class="res-img-1000">[[File:18pdrsUnderFireBattleofArras24April1917-Large.jpg|thumb|
The 1st Battalion were glad to be taking decent shelter from the elements that were pretty unpleasant to say the least, according to the war diary there was "hail, snow, rain and wind,"<ref name="wylly121">{{Wylly-short|pageno=121}}</ref> typical weather to be seen in early April. The Arras Offensive officially opened on the [[9 April]] and the following day news was seeping through of the attacks that had already taken place with "captures of 10,000 prisoners and about 10 guns."<ref name="wylly121" /> The Battalion did not leave their comfier accommodation until the 12th when then marched to Maison Rouge via Arras, upon arriving they relieved the 7th Norfolks and made their way towards old German trenches near the location of Orange Hill, roughly 2 miles east of Monchy.
A few days later on the [[17 April]] the 1st Battalion moved up to the firing line; here they stayed holding the line as they had done so many times before. The next day, with a
There were caves situated at Arras and on the [[19 April]] the men of the Battalion found themselves making their way to safer and more secure surroundings. These caves would be their respite but only for a short period. Their last tour on the front had cost nine lives while another 22 had been wounded. Only three days had passed before orders were received for the Battalion to ready themselves in preparation for short walk to take up preparatory positions for an attack the following day. On the evening of the 22nd they moved out to a position on the Arras-Cambrai Road where they were "met by guides, and conducted, at ten minute intervals, to the N.W. entrance of the village of Monchy-le-Preux, whence the platoons were marched off to their ‘Jumping-off’ place, a line about 30 yards west of the front-line fire
The task of trying to get the men through the village of Monchy-le-Preux was a difficult and risky one for the main reason that the village was being heavily shelled at the time. The village was greatly congested with
[[File:Rue des Grands Vieziers, Arras.jpg|thumb|
The Battalion Aid Post had already been established there and soon the Battalion HQ would join them on the safer east slope of the hill, which afforded decent cover from enemy fire. The South Wales Borderers were on the attacking lines and at 4.45am, C and D Companies of the 1st Battalion Border Regiment, made their way to the rear reinforcing the S.W. Borderers, with A and B Companies taking temporary accommodation in the old firing line. All was not well as the barrage from our own guns was falling far too short. Into the mix of deadly enemy barrages from two separate locations, the situation had gotten worse and the smoke by that point was so thick it was virtually impossible to see what was going on. Two hours later, Captain Ewbank, commanding B Company, reported stating that the South Wales Borderers were successful in their attempts to gain their objectives but the combined barrages of both British and German had cost many lives and the 1st Battalion had suffered heavily. While the South Wales Borderers were [[gw:dig in|digging in]] and creating strong points along the ground they had just taken, C and D Companies of the 1st Battalion had established themselves in the enemy front line.
The G.O.C. Brigade had sent orders with instruction that a company of the Border Regiment was to be at the disposal of the South Wales Borderers in case the enemy turned their {{gw|flank}}. Captain Ewbank was then ordered to clear the German trench from the general area of Arrowhead Copse to the Sunken Road; this he did by sending Second-Lieutenant Layard with a bombing party to complete the task. However, later in the evening, upon his return he reported that the enemy section of trench mentioned prior did not actually exist, yet there was a section of trench further up Sunken Road where he had found some of the enemy, around 80 in number. With this information he made his way back to Arrowhead Copse where he secured a Lewis Gun. On returning to the Sunken Road, it was positioned in such a way as to successfully enfilade the enemy, which he did causing many casualties in the process before his location was pin-pointed. That kind of fire was not going to go by without retaliation and soon the entrenched Germans returned fire, four of Layard’s men were hit. He knew when to retire and swiftly withdrew his gun before there was further loss of life to his party. Upon orders, no further advance was to be taken, at least for the time being.
==Monchy-le-Preux==
Along the edge of the Arrowhead Copse and the village of Monchy-le-Preux the enemy shelling had become a heavy, continuous stream of hostile action. Somewhere in the Pelves Valley there was German [[gw:enfilade|enfilading fire]] cutting into the Battalion Headquarters, which was now no longer in a safe location as had originally thought.
By 1pm the Battalion Headquarters had been moved again back to the Château dugout and later on after dusk, to yet another dugout, larger in size. Two platoons set up a defensive flank that was parallel to the Sunken Road, because the situation was neither clearing nor satisfactory. For the time being, the men had to settle in for another night in the firing line as relief would not be possible for another 24 hours. The evening came quickly and passed by without too much action. The day's fighting had been fierce and had taken its toll on both sides. Full scale bombardments had died down and there was now only intermittent shelling as the hours rolled by. The morning of the 24th saw no change and throughout the day the main cause of losses to the battalion was through
<div class="res-img-1000">[[File:ArrasFrance.February1919.ws.jpg|thumb|center|800px|Arras town square in February 1919. The visible sign of war made its mark on the surrounding buildings. This, or something very similar, is what the 1st Battalion Border Regiment would have seen during their time there in 1917.]]</div>
Almost two weeks passed where the Battalion had been given numerous orders to stand by in readiness to move out only for those orders to be cancelled and to stand down again. Each time the men were prepared to move up to the front line, ready to continue the fight wherever they were instructed to do so. The order was given again but this time, on the [[13 May]], the orders remained and in the afternoon the Battalion marched to Arras in preparation for another forthcoming battle. In the evening of the 14th they moved to the ‘Brown Line’, which was part of a German line captured on the 9th and also part of the Hindenburg Switch. The duties carried out the next day were spent solely on making much needed improvements to the trenches they were occupying. Under the cover of darkness a patrol was sent out with the specific task of reconnoitring the forthcoming objectives, the enemy position known as Devil’s Trench.
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The original front line was re-established as ordered with the strength of all available men and two
The 1st Battalion’s next action would see them in the [[1st Battalion in the Third Battle of Ypres (1917)|Third Battle of Ypres]], but for now the men, who were battered and bruised from the fierce battle of Monchy-le-Preux, spent the remainder of May and most of June at Candas, in the Picardy region of the Somme, making the most of their time away from front line action.{{clear}}
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