Major John George Brew - 1916: The Big Push

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1916 - The Big Push

The centre of activity of the war had been on the Western Front throughout 1914, but had swung to the Eastern Front in 1915, while a solid deadlock remained between the Allied and German the trenches of the Western Front. Towards the end of 1915 plans began to take form for a united Allied effort to break the stalemate, when the commanders of the Belgian, British, French and Italian armies met at a conference at French General Joffe's headquarters, with representatives of the Japanese and Russian armies in attendance. Although a plan of simultaneous British, French, Italian and Russian attack was adopted, it was realised that much preparation would be necessary and the commencement of any such offensive not realisable before the summer of 1916. Russia would need time to re-build her military machine, having been battered on the Eastern Front, and Britain required time to train new troops.

Although the British forces in France had reached an impressive 38 Divisions purely through voluntary enlistment, Britain had deemed it necessary to introduce a system of conscription, which was instituted in January 1916. She was in a position to bring extra strength to the battlefield, but needed the time to prepare it.

Meanwhile the German commanders were making their own plans. The German Chief of General Staff, General von Falkenhayn, was vigorously pushing for a German offensive on the Western Front, but intended to do it in such a way that a mass breakthrough would be unnecessary. Instead, he planned to bleed France through simple attrition, by using up her entire manpower at one position of attack, "for the retention of which the French command would be compelled to throw in every man they have".[1] Two possible locations were selected for the attack: Belfort and Verdun. Verdun was chosen as it was the site more likely to most adversely affect French morale if it were to fall.

The commencement of the German offensive was marked by the opening of a bombardment on French positions at Verdun across a 15 mile front at 07:15 on 21 February 1916. Within days, France's allies on the Western Front came to her aide by taking over the Arras Front, enabling the French Tenth Army to withdraw from there and move to Verdun to strengthen their besieged colleagues. British and Commonwealth troops now held the entire front between the Yser and Somme Rivers.

In effect, von Falkenhayn's assault did succeed in that it drained French forces from other fronts and concentrated them at Verdun, thus diluting the density of British troop strength on the rest of the Somme front. But despite inflicting great damage on the French, some 90,000 casualties in the first six weeks, German gains were relatively small and the true goal was never fully realised.

Then, in March, in an attempt to entice German troops off the Verdun offensive, the Russians launched an offensive on the Eastern Front at Lake Narocz. This had the desired effect, though at great cost to the Russians. Furthermore, it set back Russian preparations for the planned united Allied summer offensive, but at the same time eliminated any German chance of either achieving a decisive victory at Verdun or effecting any adequate counter-attack to the already obvious Allied preparations for their summer offensive on the Western Front.

During a further conference of the Allied commanders which was held on 14 February, the date of the offensive's commencement was set for the end of June, and would involve some 14 British Army Divisions of each about 130,000 men along a 21 mile front, north of the Somme River between Gommécourt and Maricourt, plus an additional 5 French Divisions along an 8 mile front, south of the Somme River. The offensive would become known in history as "The First Battle of the Somme".

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This was the scene and developing situation facing John George Brew and the 9th Battalion in the months following their arrival on the Western Front in October 1915. Busy with preparations for the looming summer offensive, they began to settle into life in the trenches, though most of these remained knee-deep in water. During this time, the front around Hamel was a relatively quiet place, and it has been suggested the weather was for a time a larger problem than the enemy. Back at home, the women maintaining the 'Home Front' were busy knitting and sewing warm clothing such as mittens and socks, and concerned themselves with trying to make their boys' lives as comfortable as possible.

In early February 1916, the Division's 107th and 108th Brigades moved into the front line again between the Ancre River and the Mailley-Maillet to Serre road, while the 109th remained in reserve. Later, when the troops were relieved and went back into reserve, Division shooting competitions were held involving teams from all three Brigades. During one competition, the 9th Irish Fusiliers' team was considered the best and it was a proud Colonel Blacker who stepped forward to accept a silver trophy from Brigadier General Hatchett-Pain on their behalf. Other forms of relaxation behind the lines included football games, sports days, card playing, reading, and even fishing in the Ancre River. Maybe there was the opportunity to visit a nearby village or a town, such as Albert, with it's damaged statue of the Virgin Mary high on the steeple of the église. Not much further away was the ancient town of Amiens, with it's restaurants and cinemas.

It wasn't until March that the weather started to improve again, but it was accompanied by new, more intensive artillery bombardments by the Germans. A particularly heavy barrage in the early hours of 10 March was followed by an attack and breakthrough by German soldiers in the 10th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers trenches around Thiepval Wood, resulting in 30 dead and a number of prisoners being taken.

At the end of March, the Ulster Division front line was shortened slightly, and positioned astride the Ancre River. The river formed a natural border between two sub-sectors which became known as 'Hamel' and 'Thiepval Wood'. This was their territory and the Ulstermen began to name their trenches after Belfast streets, such as 'Great Victoria Street', and 'Royal Avenue'.

In April 1916, John George Brew was promoted to Captain and became 2nd in command of the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers' 'D' Company. A Captain at the time would usually be responsible for a company of 5 officers and 240 men, on a daily pay rate of 12s 6d. This almost quadrupled the amount of men for which John George was previously responsible, and increased his pay by 5s per day, around 70% more. In particular cases, an officer's daily pay was additionally supplemented by 2s 6d field allowance. By comparison, a private received a mere 1s per day.

April and May brought fields of flowers to the Ancre Valley and alongside the business of war, many still managed to find time to bathe or fish in the river during pleasant weather. However, despite the appearance of calm, soldiers of all ranks were becoming aware of the magnitude of the coming offensive. The quiet time between the opposing foes had actually given both sides the opportunity to make extensive preparations and vastly improve fortifications along the entire front. The Germans knew the offensive was coming; they could see the preparations under way. They just didn't know when it would come.

The month of June saw scaled-up preparations for the offensive, which had become known among the men as 'The Big Push'. It soon became apparent that the Ulster Division was to play a major roll in General Sir Douglas Haig's plan and the 9th Irish Fusiliers, in the Hamel Sector, was energetically preparing itself for the imminent assault, one of their first major attacks. Training ran at a feverish pace; mock attacks on dummy trenches were practised behind the lines during the day, and 'live' practise raids were made on German trenches at night. Other work involved the building of light railways, improving roads, digging new trenches and dugouts, and building two causeways over the Ancre. Many obstructions in the river were also removed which reduced the level of flooding.

The Ulster Division was lined up on a broad line below Thiepval Ridge, believed to be held in depth by troops of the German 10th Bavarian and 26th Reserve Divisions. The ridge was fortified by what were considered some of the strongest German defences on the Somme front, and included 'Schwaben Redoubt', a triangular system of trenches and deep bomb-proof underground bunkers, purported to be able to withstand anything but a direct hit. German troops also had the additional advantage that they had dominant views over a wide section of the Ulster front.

The German and British lines were approximately 400 yards apart with a ravine of some 70 yards width about half way in between, the banks of which were steep and in part 15-20 feet high. It was a particularly well defended area with heavy machine gun pillboxes and makeshift fortifications in old ruins. One of the more formidable was 'St. Pierre Divion', 1500m north-west of Thiepval, which was so positioned that it could provide both frontal and flank fire on an Allied attack on the Schwaben Redoubt defences, on Beaucourt, and in the direction of Beaumont Hamel and the Ancre River. By this time, Thiepval itself was already in ruins, but most of the houses had cellars which the German 180th Wurtemburger Regiment had turned into strong defensive positions, making them extremely difficult to destroy. To the north-east of Thiepval there were also additional defences at 'Stuff Redoubt' and 'Goat Redoubt'.

The Division's Commanding Officer, Major-General Nugent, was acutely aware of how difficult it would be for his men to overrun these strongholds. The Germans were well dug in and well prepared; they knew the offensive was coming and there was no effect of surprise. Moreover, the Division would be attacking them uphill and in a general easterly direction, which would mean into the rising sun.

By the end of June, John George Brew was commanding the 9th Irish Fusiliers' 'D' Company and realised he would have an important part to play in the offensive's execution. The Battalion was positioned to the north of the Ancre River, on a line approximately 1000 yards long. They were given the objective of capturing the German 1st, 2nd and 3rd line trenches, the mill on the river, and thereafter Beaucourt Railway Station and the two houses behind it, with the support of two platoons of the 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles on their left flank, three companies on their right, and a further two platoons in support. The left boundary of their operation was the Divisional line of responsibility with the 29th Division, which ran at an angle to the Ancre, their right boundary, which made the shape of a triangle. On each side of the Ancre, the ground rose sharply; on the north side a gorge ran at a 90° angle to the river and continued through to the village of Beaumont Hamel.

To the south of the Ancre, on a front of around 2000 yards width, the 11th and 13th Royal Irish Rifles were to attack the northern side of Schwaben Redoubt with the support of the 15th Royal Irish Rifles, while the entire 109th Brigade - the 9th, 10th and 11th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 14th Royal Irish Rifles - were to attack it's southern side.

Grim reminders of the coming battle were to be seen in the preparations by the Medical Corps. First Aid stations were prepared in dugouts along the front, stocked with supplies, and each battalion was assigned 32 stretcher bearers. It was planned that the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers and 12th Royal Irish Rifles, north of the Ancre River, would evacuate their casualties through a specially prepared trench running from Hamel to the road to Albert, where they could be transferred to other means of transport for a quicker evacuation to better equipped field hospitals either at Clairfaye Farm for the less serious wounded or Forceville for the stretcher cases. They were manned by the 110th Field Ambulance and the 108th Field Ambulance respectively.

As the day grew near, a sombre, serious air began to take over the men, as they realised the enormity of what was coming. Many wrote final letters home, some wrote wills, and many sought out their Division's Chaplain, looking for solace and fearing the worst. It has been told that on the evening of 29 June, somewhere in the Ulster trenches, someone began to sing "Abide With Me", and it moved up and down the trench lines until everyone had solemnly joined in. The singing continued some 15 minutes in the quiet between artillery bombardments.

On the morning of 1 July, the 9th Irish Fusiliers left Mesnil, in the rear, at 00:05 to take up their positions in the assembly trenches near the front, to the west of Hamel, where they occupied old trenches around 03:00. Advance bombardment of the German positions along the front by over 1,500 guns of the Allied Artillery was in progress, to cut wire and keep German troops in their trenches. The men of the 9th spent the rest of the night cowering sleeplessly in their muddy trenches, with their nerves taut in anxious excitement of the imminent fight.

Anyone who did manage to fall asleep was awakened at 06:00 when the Germans, who had anticipated their attack, began concentrated shelling on the Division's positions. The barrage caused some 50 casualties alone in the Royal Irish Fusiliers' ranks. As if in retaliation, the British artillery opened up at 06:25 for a final hour's intensive bombardment, and continued until 07:30 when the early morning mist began to clear and reveal a warm, sunny morning.

According to the 9th Irish Fusiliers' War Diary, the Battalion was deployed on a four company front; 'A' Company, on the right, under the command of Captain C. Ensor, 'B' Company, at right centre, under Major T. J. Atkinson, 'C' Company, at left centre, under Captain C. M. Johnston, and 'D' Company, on the left, under Captain J. G. Brew. Each company was to send it's platoons in 4 waves, the leading wave with Lewis guns, the second with 2 Stokes mortars and the third with 5 Vickers guns.[2]

At 07:00, 30 minutes before the attack was to begin, Allied trench mortars opened fire on the German front line and, under cover of the barrage, smoke and gas, the troops moved forward through the pre-cut British wire to position themselves for the 07:30 start time.

All of a sudden, the long wait was over; it was time to go. To reach their start trenches, the Fusiliers' first wave crossed the parapet at 07:10 having relatively no difficulty getting through Allied wire, in which lanes had already been cut, although casualties increased during the advance to the ravine. The second wave, which crossed the parapet at 07:15, "suffered more severely crossing our wire, and also came under the M. G. fire from the flanks".[4] The third wave went over the parapet at 07:20 and the fourth at 07:30 as the British artillery barrage lifted and whistles in the trenches marked the beginning of the offensive.

An original British 1916 map showing the area of attack

The Germans survived the bombing in their shelters, and, as the British barrage lifted, they had manned their guns and awaited the British offensive.

The Allied bombardment of the German lines had not at all been as effective as was thought.

Despite high casualties, the troops tried to continue advance, and became involved in much bloody hand-to-hand fighting. Then, as no gains were made by the 29th Division at Beaumont-Hamel, German troops there were able to be concentrate flanking fire upon the Fusiliers and 12th Irish Rifles assault, below and to the left of them. With German machine gun fire raining in on them from three sides, the air was thick with German bullets and men were falling everywhere, while attempting to scramble for cover behind anything which would afford it. One writer recollected that they could see bullets flying through the air like a shower of fine a hail, while another described it as being like a great spray of water from a hose with a perforated nozzle. Many were killed and many others were trapped by Germans who had infiltrated the rear of their advance. This in turn hindered Allied artillery firing on No Man's Land as the risk was too large of hitting British troops, but German artillery bombarded the British front line and prevented the advance of reserves and the re-supply of ammunition.

Another account records,

Those around Beaucourt Station were now trapped behind German lines, and had to decide whether to surrender or fight their way back. Many had run out of ammunition and had to rely on covering fire from those behind them to scramble back to safety. During the remainder of the morning survivors, amongst them many wounded, limped back individually or in small groups, but it is said that only a quarter of them made it back alive. Many of those stranded behind the lines, often wounded, soon became Prisoners of War and were destined to spend the rest of the war in captivity. 

Elsewhere on the Division's front the battle was still raging. Owing to the additional failure of the 32nd Division's attack on Thiepval, the German guns in Thiepval turned their fire onto Thiepval Wood, where the 8th, 9th, and 10th  Battalions of the Royal Irish Rifles were awaiting the order to advance. This caused many casualties and forced them to leave the wood soon after 09:00. Their objective, the Grandcourt Line, was only 600 metres away but many fell already in No Man's Land. Notwithstanding this, they were also hit by friendly fire when the British barrage caught up with them, causing heavy casualties. They were forced to lie in the grass without cover until the barrage moved on, which enabled the Germans time to man the lines at Beaucourt Redoubt and Grandcourt and open fire on them, causing even more casualties.

Despite the seeming failure of the 9th Irish Fusiliers' advance, the Battalions south of the Ancre had, in fact, at great cost, formed a deep wedge into the German lines in their section of the front, between the 29th and 32nd Division, but it left them dangerously exposed to German attacks on their flanks. The Ulster Division would be the only division on the entire front to reach beyond the German 4th trench line, but by mid-morning the Germans had reorganised and began to counterattack in strength. The Ulstermen were driven back but had additional trouble retreating as the German artillery had again laid down a barrage in No Man's Land; before midday the Ulster advance was all over.

When the extent of the casualties was realised, every available man was sent to hold the front line, while extra medical orderlies were sent up to try to deal with the wounded.

By 15:00, the Ulster Division was in a desperate position. Battalions of men had been fighting around eight hours and were becoming exhausted. Their numbers were dwindling under fire from three sides, and ammunition and water were running low. German troops were seen gathering behind their lines in preparation for a counter-attack and an urgent request for reinforcements was sent to Brigade Headquarters. German troops soon attacked and succeeded in driving the Ulstermen back from positions they had won earlier in the day. They was much delay in sending up reinforcements and it was not until around 19:30 that evening that companies of the 1/4 and 1/5 Yorks and Lancs from the 148th Brigade of the 49th West Riding Division were sent forward to assist.

It became obvious that the attack had become a complete disaster and at the end of the day, still under heavy attack by both infantry and artillery, the Ulstermen were ordered to retire to the German first line trenches, which the eight companies of the 1/4 and 1/5 Yorks and Lancs had since occupied.

Early on 2 July, the Ulster Division received orders to retire. Around 12:00, the 9th Irish Fusiliers handed their trenches over to the 29th Division's 87th Brigade and gladly withdrew to Martinsart, a few kilometres to the south west, reporting a 'ration strength' of just 281 men, including officers. The following day, at 14:00, they withdrew further to Forceville. The Division's remaining troops were shattered as their losses became apparent.

15 Officers and 615 men of the 9th Irish Fusiliers had been sent into battle and "of these all the Officers are killed, wounded or "missing believed killed", and of the other ranks 520 are killed, wounded, missing believed killed, or missing believed wounded." [12] Of the A, B, C, and D Company commanders, Captain Johnston was killed in action, Major Atkinson was missing believed killed, and Captains Ensor and John George Brew were wounded.

The entire 36th Ulster Division suffered losses of 5104 men on 1 July. The heaviest losses within the Division were the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles which reported 595 casualties, followed by the 11th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers reporting 589, and then the 9th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers with 532. Total British losses for that day amounted to a horrific 19,240 dead, 35,493 wounded, 2152 missing, and 585 prisoners. It is purported to be the greatest ever British loss for any one single day during the war.[13]

Several details were sent out into No Man's Land to search for casualties on the nights of 2-3, 3-4 and 4-5 July. During a daylight search Captain Geoffrey St. George Cather, the 9th Irish Fusiliers Adjutant, brought in a wounded man who had been lying about 150 yards from German wire, but was killed when he returned to retrieve another. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, one of four earned by the Ulster Division during the offensive.

As news of the slaughter reached home, the newspapers became filled with lists of casualties and the scale of the disaster became obvious. Small envelopes holding news of hope or horror began to be delivered to Ulster homes, and scarcely a family was left untouched. At the arrival of news, friends and neighbours gathered around to offer solace and the vicar became a regular visitor.

On 5 July, John George's wife, Annie, also received an envelope which contained the  following telegram,

And indeed, a week later, on 12 July, came a second telegram,

Flags were flown at half mast, and memorial services were held in the local churches. Annie's local paper reported,

Unfortunately, many people were too poor to afford to buy a newspaper so local newsagents began to hang casualty lists in their shop windows; onlookers would read the names out loud for those who could not.

On 5 July, the Division retired to Rubempré and surrounding villages, followed by a further withdrawal to the Bernaville area five days later. On 14 July, the 9th Irish Fusiliers commander, Colonel Blacker, wrote to the 10th Irish Fusiliers commander, Colonel Fitzgerald, describing the recent events. His invaluable narration of the episode and depth of feeling warrants its full reproduction:

By the time Colonel Blacker wrote this letter, the Division was already on the move again. On 11 July, the demoralised remnants of the Division were removed from the Somme and Picardy region altogether and had entrained for Flanders in Belgium. The route took the Division through Auxi-le-Château, Frévent, Conteville, Berguette, Thiennes, and Steenbecque to an area north-west of St. Omer for training. Divisional Headquarters was set up in Tilques, and the 108th Brigade was positioned in Eperlecques.

On 20 July, the 108th was moved forward by motorised transport to camps south of Neuve Eglise and on the southern side of Hill 63, just west of Bois de Ploegsteert, which had been nicknamed 'Plug Street Wood', while Divisional Headquarters was moved to Mont Noir, a few miles north-northwest of Bailleul. During the evening, the 108th relieved battalions of the 20th Division in the front line trenches and were the first of the Ulstermen to go back into line since the Division's extraction from Hamel.

Meanwhile, back on the Somme, the Allied offensive had continued on until 12 July, but, except for a few exceptions, was successfully contained by the German Army. It soon became a battle of attrition, which continued until March 1917. The Germans continued to hold Beaumont-Hamel and Thiepval and it wasn't until 27 September 1916 that Thiepval was surrounded and captured. It is interesting to note that during September British tanks were used here on the front for the first time, but with less than desirable results.

St. Pierre Divion and Beaumont-Hamel weren't conquered until 13 November, with the aide of seven divisions under cover of a thick fog, and was followed by Beaumont village next day. The 32nd Division objective, the Thiepval Plateau, even then still resisted capture but finally fell with a bounty of 7000 German prisoners on 19 November, some 4 1/2 months after the initial attack.

Despite the fact the German forces had held on so long, it is estimated they suffered a massive 700,000 casualties across the entire front between 1 July and 1 December, while it is thought the British lost some 400,000.

Although John Brew had survived the terrible slaughter of 1 July, and recovered from his wounds, it would be over 5 months before he was at last able to return to the command of 'D' Company.

Next Chapter - Messines, Ypres and Cambrai