YPRES SALIENT - Wijtschate - Mount Kemmel - Lettenberg Bunkers
- by Pierre Grande Guerre
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- 12 Mar, 2019
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Years of visit: 2005, 2006, 2016
It is a tribute to the miner soldiers who tunnelled Beneath the German lines and detonated a series of 19 mines, opening the Battle of Messines.
The Battle of Vierstraat Ridge -
(31 August - 2 September 1918)
Training by the British Army in France
From their arrival in France in May 1918 the US 27th and 30th Infantry Divisions, each consisting of 25,000 men, were trained by the British Army at the Bay of the Somme, at Rue and St. Valery-sur-Somme.
Both divisions were equipped with British equipment and British rifles!
Major General O’Ryan, commanding officer of the 27th, gives the reason in his account, “The Story of the 27th Division”:
“The explanation of this is to be found in the condition already mentioned, that the American troops arrived in France short of much of the materiel requisite not only for combat, but for training. It was necessary, therefore, that upon receipt of machine guns, Lewis guns, Stokes mortars, one pounders, grenades, wireless, sanitary and engineer equipment, the men should be trained in the use of this British type of materiel and armament. (....) In relation to the latter it was determined that the 27th and 30th Divisions should turn in their modified Enfield rifles, because they required the .30 caliber American ammunition, and to substitute for them the British rifles, caliber .303. This step was necessary in order that the two American divisions might use British ammunition and thus avoid complications in ammunition supply which would otherwise occur.”
18 August – 4 September 1918 - The 30th Division
During the period of 18 August – 4 September 1918 the 30th Division attacked the sector, north of the hamlet of Vierstraat, from Dickebusch Lake (Flemish: Dikkebus) at Voormezele and Zillebeke Lake.
The Battle of Vierstraat Ridge covered this period, culminating between 31 August and 2 September 1918. The goal of the 53rd Infantry Brigade of the 27th Division was to re-capture a part of the Lys Salient, formed after the German offensive of April 1918 including the area around Mount Kemmel.
US 27th Division and the Battle of Vierstraat Ridge
The 53rd Brigade of the 27th Division, commanded by Brigadier General Albert H. Blanding, was composed of the 105th and 106th Infantry Regiments and the 105th Machine Gun Battalion.
The Opponents
Its opponent was the 8. Preussische Infanterie-Division from Saxony under Generalleutnant Arthur von Hamann, consisting of units of the 4. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 72, Anhaltisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 93, 8. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 153, 5. Eskadron/Magdeburgisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 10, Torgauer Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 74, I. Bataillon/Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 1, Pioniere-Bataillon Nr. 118.
31 August 1918
In his Chapter XIV, “The Battle of Vierstraat Ridge”, Maj. Gen. John F. O’Ryan provides more details. Contrary to his habit, in this chapter the General uses concise military language. I consider the words of the General himself still highly readable. His own experience from his headquarters at “Douglas Camp” gives us a good impression of the course of the battle. So, I present to you some interesting quotations of O’Ryan, sketching the events from his point of view. To make clear the military names of locations, I posted in between the text fragments images of details of O’Ryan’s battlefield sketch, interchanged by my modern satellite photo reconstructions. My intent is to help you to “navigate” through the battlefield names of O’Ryan’s interesting account of events.
Maj. Gen. O’Ryan writes:
“On the afternoon of August 31st the 105th Infantry advanced successfully, taking Captain's Post and Major's Post, which appear on the accompanying map, and consolidated their position in the trenches running along the easterly side of the York Road, advancing its left beyond Middle Farm."
By 5:00 P. M., both regiments were engaged in consolidating the new line, which included what was left of the village of Vierstraat. Both regiments had taken a number of prisoners and had captured considerable booty in the way of machine guns, anti-tank rifles, grenades, ammunition and other supplies.”
1-2 September 1918
From 1 September until the afternoon of 2 September the 106th I.R. had great difficulty in capturing the “Chinese Trench”, east of the N 331 and at the foot of Wijtschate Ridge.
Maj. Gen. O’Ryan tells us about these problems:
“The following day the 105th Infantry were to hold their position, while the 106th Infantry, with their left as a pivot, connecting with the 105th at the village of Vierstraat, were to advance on the right from Ft. Halifax until their line ran due north and south.
This movement was successfully made by the 106th Infantry, which had completed its task by 11:30 on the morning of September 1st. The enemy's defense from this time on was considerably strengthened."
At the same time the 106th, with its front extending north and south, attacked and took Chinese Trench on both sides of the Vierstraat-Wytschaete road, within its sector.
Captain Harry F. Sullivan's company, M of the 106th Infantry, with other detachments from the same regiment, got into the Chinese Trench but were subjected to a severe enemy artillery bombardment, preliminary to a counter-attack."
The casualties were such that Captain Sullivan withdrew the troops under his immediate command for a short distance and the enemy counter-attacking troops regained Chinese Trench. Orders having been issued for the retaking of Chinese Trench, an attack was made after artillery preparation and the trench was regained and held by parts of the 106th Infantry. By hard fighting the 106th Infantry on the same day advanced to the line of the railway near the foot of Wytschaete Ridge.
On the following day, the divisional line was advanced to Northern Brickstack on the south and thence due north along the ridge from Northern Brickstack to Middle Farm. This line was secured late in the afternoon of September 2d.”
Incident in the Chinese Trench
Maj. Gen. O’Ryan describes an incident in the Chinese Trench, which illustrates the German confidence in their elastic in-depth defence tactics, and also the poor quality of the 1918 German bandages:
“One interesting incident that happened in this battle occurred when two seriously wounded men of Captain Sullivan's company of the 106th Infantry were necessarily left in Chinese Trench when the company withdrew.
When the counter-attacking German forces entered the trench they found the two wounded soldiers of the 106th Infantry lying there. The latter apparently expected to be killed. Promptly their first aid packets were confiscated, but their wounds were dressed with German paper bandages and the men made as comfortable as could be under the circumstances.
A German officer, who spoke English, notified the men that his command were Saxon troops, who always treated their enemies in chivalrous manner. He added that the Americans were apparently preparing to retake the trench; that the Americans did not seem to care whether they were killed or not, and that the trench was not worth holding anyway. He added that his force would anticipate the counter-attack by retiring and that soon they would again be in the hands of their friends. Thereupon he and his men withdrew. Shortly thereafter, supported by artillery fire, through which the two wounded men happened to survive, the detachment of the 106th Infantry, as already narrated, retook the trench and heard from the wounded men the foregoing account of their experience.”
From: Major General John F. O’Ryan: “The Story of the 27th Division” (1921)
End of the Battle
In the afternoon of 2 September 1918 the 27th Division captured a line in front of the Bois Confluent, Bayernwald, and the Grand Bois, at the foot of Wytschaete Ridge. The division was relieved on the night of 2-3 September by the 41st British Division. By rail the Division departed to another front sector near Beauquesne, France.
Casualties
According to Maj. General O’Ryan the casualties of the 53rd Infantry Brigade were:
“Killed and died of wounds 40 - Shell wounds 126 - Gunshot wounds 150 - Gassed 33 - Total 349.
Forty-seven German soldiers were taken prisoner in this battle. During the battle of Vierstraat Ridge the following material was captured: 63 Machine Guns, 11 Minenwerfers, 1 Field piece (artillery)."
Post war reactions of von Hamann and von Kolaczek
After the war, Maj. Gen. O'Ryan corresponded sometimes with his former enemies; with Lieutenant General von Hamann, who commanded the 8th Prussian Division, and with his Chief of Staff, Major von Kolaczek. With pride O'Ryan quotes the testimonials of his former opponents:
"Referring to the period following August 21st, the date when the 27th Division went into the line in that sector, Major Kolaczek writes: "During these days our numerous night patrols always encountered strong and extremely alert garrisons in the opposing trenches. They did not succeed in bringing in any prisoners."
Referring to the battle of Vierstraat Ridge, Lieutenant General von Hamann writes: "Reports reaching me from all sources, particularly from our artillery observation posts, were that your infantry was unusually energetic in their attack."
Source: Major General John F. O’Ryan: “The Story of the 27th Division” (1921)
On the summit of Mount Kemmel: the Memorial for the French Army.
The statue of the Angel of Victory is a tribute to all French troops, who served on Belgian soil.
Sometimes it seems to be forgotten that next to the Belgian and British Armies units of the French Army defended Belgian soil from the early start of the war, occupying various front sectors during the three great Battles of Ypres. You might argue that it was in the strategic interest of France to fight a forward defensive war on Belgian soil, and you may be partly right. Nevertheless, the fact stands that thousands of French officers and soldiers of several units, including colonial troops, suffered heavily during their four years of deployment in the Ypres Salient and on the Yzer Front, many of them sacrificing their lives to defend Belgium.
The sad story of the 1918 Battle of Mount Kemmel is only one episode out of many of how French troops took many casualties on Belgian soil.
Mount Kemmel
For a long time this Mount Kemmel artillery base annoyed the Germans, as we may conclude from this quotation of the “Bericht aus dem deutschen Großen Hauptquartier vom 17. Juli 1918”:
"… the Kemmelberg has served the enemy as a firm underground network, as a basis for its heavy batteries and as a support of his observation posts, its views on the country, far behind the German lines, with its point of view on the houses robbed of the coverage of hedges and its dense tree growth in incessant battles, (this country) was lying more and more openly.”
(Source: Stahlgewitter.com)
Battle of the Lys (9-29 April 1918)
During the Battle of the Lys (9-29 April 1918), the 4th Army under command of General Friedrich Sixt von Armin opened an offensive against the British 2nd Army of General Plumer between Armentières, France, and Hollebeke, Belgium.
The “Gruppe von Eberhardt”, an army group named after its general and consisting of units of the X. Reserve Korps and the “Alpen Korps”, had the task of capturing the front sector of Mount Kemmel.
The Second Battle of Kemmel (25-29 April 1918)
From 19 April the “Gruppe von Eberhardt” possessed a line starting in the east, next southward to Wulvergem, south-westward to Neuve Eglise, and more to the west “Salon Farm”, and a location, south-west of Dranouter, the heights of Vleugelhoek, a name which completely disappeared on modern maps. On 24 April the “Gruppe von Eberhardt” prepared at the south-east foot of Mount Kemmel the attack of 25 April.
The Second Battle of the Kemmelberg began in the morning of 25 April 1918. During the night, from 3.30 hrs., the German artillery opened fire, launching also a large amount of gas grenades, on positions on the left flank of the British XXII. Corps of General Godley: directly on the French troops of the 413e, 416e, 30e and 22e Régiments d'Infanterie on the “Kemmelberg”.
At 6.45 hrs. the soldiers of the German “Alpen-Korps”, mainly Bavarian “Jäger” Batallions, stormed successfully the Kemmelberg. By 1918 all "Jäger Bataillone" were well trained and battle-hardened experts in storm troop tactics. During the Bavarian storm attack the French reinforced their defence with fierce air attacks on the Jäger, but to no avail. It took the Gruppe von Eberhardt less than a day to force the French to withdraw to the north at the Rodenberg and the Scherpenberg, hills near Loker.
On 26 April the French counterattacked to re-capture the Kemmelberg front sector without success, causing more severe French casualties. According to the German censored Flemish newspaper, “Het Vlaamsche Nieuws”, of 27 April 1918 the Gruppe von Eberhardt made 6,500 soldiers Prisoners of War, some British but mainly French soldiers.
Exact casualty numbers of both belligerent parties of the Kemmelberg are lost and incorporated in the larger lists of casualties of the Battle of the Lys. An indication of the death toll of the French on Mount Kemmel is to be found on the site we will visit next, after this frame: the "Ossuaire du Mont Kemmel": 5,492 officers and soldiers!
On 29 April General der Infanterie and Erster Generalquartiermeister Ludendorff, executive Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, ordered all offensives on the Western Front to cease.
Before we continue to my modern photos of the French “Ossuaire du Mont Kemmel”, I show below an illustrated frame, meant for my loyal visitors from Belgium and the Netherlands and for others, who understand Dutch. The photos in the frame below are scans of the newspaper article, an official message of the German Army, referring to the Battle of Kemmel from the German censored Flemish newspaper, “Het Vlaamsche Nieuws”, of 27 April 1918.
Non-Dutch speakers possibly would like to skip these scans and continue scrolling down to the “Ossuaire du Mont Kemmel”.
Photos and translations of the inscriptions on the "Ossuaire du Mont Kemmel" Memorial |
Followed by a list of 57 names killed during the year of 1914, 1915, 1917, and 1918.
At the foot of the hill we turn right at the Lokerstraat to continue eastward in the direction of the village of Kemmel.
Inleiding: Franz Von Papen & Werner Horn; schaker en pion
Onlangs stuitte ik in een oud boek (1) van 1919 op een opmerkelijk verhaal over een Duitse Luitenant, die in begin februari 1915 een half geslaagde bomaanslag pleegt op een spoorbrug over een grensrivier tussen de Verenigde Staten en Canada. Ook al staat de bekentenis van de dader, Werner Horn, deels in het boek te lezen, de naam van zijn opdrachtgever zal Horn blijven verzwijgen. Na wat verder zoeken vond ik ook de naam van Horn’s opdrachtgever, Franz von Papen, een van de aangeklaagden van het latere Neurenberg Proces in 1946.
In een Grote Oorlog als de Eerste Wereldoorlog is Horn’s aanslag op de brug uiteraard slechts een bescheiden wapenfeit. Toch vermoed ik dat dit relatief onbekende verhaal, dat de geschiedenis is ingegaan als de “ Vanceboro International Bridge Bombing ”, nog interessante kanten kent. Het is onder andere een spionageverhaal over hoe in een groter plan een sluwe schaker zijn naïeve pion offert.
Beknopte situatieschets Canada en de Verenigde Staten in 1915
This trip we start at the Léomont near Vitrimont and we will with some exceptions concentrate on the Battle of Lorraine of August-September 1914 in the area, called, the “Trouée de Charmes”, the Gap of Charmes.
After the Léomont battlefield we continue our explorations to Friscati hill and its Nécropole Nationale. Next we pay a visit to the battlefield of la Tombe to go on to the Château de Lunéville. There we cross the Vezouze to move on southward to the Bayon Nécropole Nationale. At Bayon we cross the Moselle to pass Charmes for the panorama over the battlefield from the Haut du Mont. North-west of Charmes we will visit the British Military Cemetery containing 1918 war victims. From Charmes we go northward to the battlefield of the First French Victory of the Great War, the Battle of Rozelieures of 25 August 1914. North of Rozelieures we will visit the village of Gerbéviller. From there we make a jump northward to visit the ruins of Fort de Manonviller to finish with an interesting French Dressing Station bunker, west of Domjevin.
During this visit, we try to focus on the day that the momentum of the battle switched from the French side to the advantage of the Bavarian side: the day of 20 August 1914, when the Bavarians rapidly re-conquered the territory around Morhange , being also the day of the start of their rather successful “Schlacht in Lothringen”.
We will visit beautiful landscapes of the "Parc Naturel Régional de Lorraine", memorials, ossuaries, and cemeteries. Sometimes we will divert to other periods of the Great War, honouring Russian and Romanian soldiers, who died in this sector. We start our route at the border village of Manhoué, and via Frémery, Oron, Chicourt, Morhange, Riche, Conthil, Lidrezing, Dieuze, Vergaville, Bidestroff, Cutting, Bisping we will finish in Nomeny and Mailly-sur-Seille, where the Germans halted their advance on 20 August 1914, and where they constructed from 1915 some interesting bunkers.
