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| Photograph of Vimy Ridge monument with battlefield in the foreground. Credit: Anglo-celtic-connections |
2012 marks the 95th anniversary of the Battle of
Arras. The British led offensive started on the 9th of April and
concluded on the 16th of May 1917. Historians predominately from the
United Kingdom have led the charge in commemorating the anniversary of the
Arras campaign. As for my fellow
Canadians, our interest in the campaign starts and ends with the battle of Vimy
Ridge (9 – 12th April 1917).Vimy’s importance to the psyche of
Canadians is measured by our national First World War monument that was constructed on Vimy Ridge. As for the 3rd Battle of the Scarpe or the other 34 days of the Arras offensive? Canadians know very little if
anything at all; even Canadian Historians have very little interest in studying
or writing about the Arras Campaign after the Canadian victory at Vimy.
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| Another View of Vimy Ridge Memorial. Credit: Google Images |
Many English tourists that travel by ferry over the English
Channel often make their first rest stop at Canada’s monument at Vimy Ridge.
Even the most uninterested of visitor, laden with sandwiches in the French
countryside cannot help but be amazed at the representation of Mother Canada
mourning her sons. Vimy is a tempting subject for historians; it was an
overwhelming surprise victory that took place on Easter Monday, with Canadian
Corps losing 10,602 men (3598 KIA). The
battles that followed on the Douai plain like Fresnoy seem like an operational
maneuver compared to Vimy. In my view, the Battle of Fresnoy, is just as
important as Vimy. The attack and defence of Fresnoy demonstrates that the
Canadian victory at Vimy was not luck or a one off victory. By May 1917 the
Canadian Corps had become one of the premier fighting forces on the Western
Front, comparable with the ANZACs and our British counterparts.
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| Aerial view of the Hindenberg Line and Bullecourt, taken in 1920. Two years after war had ended, the line was still a powerful defensive position. Credit: Wikipedia |
Before proceeding, a brief overview of situation on the
ground is needed. By late April 1917, the British Arras offensive had almost
run out of steam. On the other side of no man’s land, the Germans had moved to
the vicinity of the Hindenburg line, and refused to give more ground. The
Hindenburg Line was an impressive constructed network of German defensive fortifications,
tunnels, trenches, barbed wire and bunkers. In the north, the Canadians had
captured Vimy Ridge overlooking Douai Plain and the German lines. Allied artillery
now had observation of enemy movements, trenches, and supply columns for
several kilometres. In the centre, the British had launched two separate
offensives with very limited results. At the southern flank, the Australians were
stuck in pitched struggle at Bullecourt and Lagnicourt.
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| Happy Canadians who captured Vimy Ridge returning to rest billets on motor lorries, May 1917 Credit: Library and Archives |
On 3 May 1917, the 3rd and final Battle of the
Scarpe began. After the war, a British military historian wrote that the first day of combat as “a
day which many who witnessed it considered it to be the blackest day of the
war.” The British continued their
attack in the centre, with minimal results, and the Australians resumed the
near suicidal battle of Bullecourt. The Canadian objective on 3 May was to
capture a village of Fresnoy, a 1000 yards to east of Arleux.
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| Map of the Battle of Fresnoy, 3 May 1917. Credit: Official History of the Canadian Army in the First Word War: Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919, G.W.L. Nicholson |
The red-roofed village of Fresnoy was positioned between two
wood lands. The 1st Canadian Brigade (Ontario) was assigned the
objective. The 2nd Battalion (Eastern Ontario) was to capture the
town, and the 1st and 3rd Battalions were to secure the
wooded areas located on the sides of the town. The Canadians rehearsed the assault
for two days on mock enemy positions, akin to the operational preparation to
the attack on Vimy Ridge.
In the German trenches, soldiers were on a high state of alert after nearly a month of combat. German intelligence sensed another push after witnessing a build-up of troops along the Allied lines. At roughly the time as the British offensive began, the Germans began to shell the British and Canadian lines. A duel between the German and British heavy and medium artillery commenced.
As both sides shelled each other, the signal was given to launch the attack. The Canadian rolling barrage hit Fresnoy at 3:45am, cutting much of the enemy wire. Many Germans from the 25th Reserve Division were forced to seek shelter from the inferno of shells and shrapnel. The artillery pounded and careened into the trench network that surrounded the French village. Following behind the screen of exploding earth and sandbags was the attacking Canadians. In effort to repulse the attack, German machine gun fire raked the approaches to the village; luckily the darkness hid the Canadians as they approached Fresnoy.
In the German trenches, soldiers were on a high state of alert after nearly a month of combat. German intelligence sensed another push after witnessing a build-up of troops along the Allied lines. At roughly the time as the British offensive began, the Germans began to shell the British and Canadian lines. A duel between the German and British heavy and medium artillery commenced.
As both sides shelled each other, the signal was given to launch the attack. The Canadian rolling barrage hit Fresnoy at 3:45am, cutting much of the enemy wire. Many Germans from the 25th Reserve Division were forced to seek shelter from the inferno of shells and shrapnel. The artillery pounded and careened into the trench network that surrounded the French village. Following behind the screen of exploding earth and sandbags was the attacking Canadians. In effort to repulse the attack, German machine gun fire raked the approaches to the village; luckily the darkness hid the Canadians as they approached Fresnoy.
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| Examining a Skull found on a battlefield of Vimy Ridge. Credit: Library and Archives |
Once the Canadians had breached the wire in front of the
village, the 3rd Battalion swung south, clearing out the German
trenches with enfilading fire. The 3rd Battalion had captured 500
yards beyond their objective (support lines), but in the process they had sustained
high losses, losing 1 of their 3 assault companies, roughly 200 men. In the
northern sector of the attack, the 1st Battalion quickly overcame
the enemy wire, and advanced upon the trenches parallel to the woods known as
Fresnoy Park. The 1st Battalion had the easiest task of the 3 units
on 3 May, their assigned objective was lightly held and quickly taken.
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| Canadian writing home from the line, May 1917 Credit: Library and Archives |
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| British Stokes Mortar Crew, 1918. |
Once enemy commanders realized the nature of the rupture of their
line at Fresnoy, two rapid counter-attacks were ordered. Around 10am, the
Canadians received a peppering of high explosive shells on Fresnoy. After the
shelling had subsided, units from the German 15th Reserve Division
were spotted advancing upon the village from the north east. The enemy counter
attack was quickly broken up after the British and Canadian artillery unleashed
a torrent of shells and machine gun fire among the attacking infantry. In the
early afternoon two more units, the German 4th Guard Division and
185 Infantry Division, were ordered into the fray. The second German attack was
able to enter into the Canadian lines, but after the arrival of a stokes mortar
crew and a liberal use of grenades, the enemy attack could not advance any
further and withdrew.
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| German Prisoners of War helping a wounded Canadian, Arleux 1917. Credit: Library and Archive |
As the sun set on 3 May 1917, the Canadians had been
involved in nearly 16 hours of strenuous defense and assault. They had lost 1,269
men taking Fresnoy. On the German side, the first day of the 3rd
Battle of the Scarpe, official records list their deepest losses occurring at
Fresnoy. The loss of Fresnoy did not sit well with the German High Command. One
German regimental historian wrote that the Canadians had knocked Fresnoy, “out
of the German defensive wall which had to be replaced without delay.” The Allies
occupying the town had a commanding sight over sections of German trenches in
the Oppy-Méricourt line and the Hindenberg Line (Wotan Stellung).
In my next
entry, I will look at the second major German attack to re-capture Fresnoy on 8 May 1917 and its impact on the Canadian and British lines.
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| Canadian identifying a deceased German soldier, Arras Sector 1917. Credit: Library and Archives |
