2nd
Battalion,
the Welsh Regiment
War diary 25- 26 September 1915 covering operations near Hulluch
25 September
The 2nd Welsh were in reserve to the attack being made by 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, facing Hulluch.
The Battalion it moved off at 3:30am and took it up to its position for the battle in some old French trenches just in front of Vermelles. It was a wet day and the wind was still about south but there was very little of it. We never for a moment thought they would use gas. At about 7:00am to our amazement we heard that they would use gas and at about 7:30am the show started. We saw clouds and clouds of white and brown smoke rise into the air but apparently the clouds remained stationary and seemed to drift back instead of forwards. At about 8:30am the smoke and gas cleared a little and then we saw men go charging over the ridge and out of sight. We thought everything was going well but there was still a lot of rifle fire which we could not understand.
We heard no news at all until 11:00am when we received orders to move up to Le Rutoire Farm and dropped into a trench there and waited for about an hour there. Whilst we were here we saw a great many of our wounded and an astonishing number of men suffering from our own gas. We saw some prisoners being marched down the Hulluch Road and also guns come up Hulluch Road and come into action by the farm [this was the artillery of 7th Division]. We then heard from a staff captain of 1st Brigade that we had broken through between the Haie and the Hulluch road and that we had captured Cite Saint Elie and Loos and that 1st Brigade were in Hulluch but if they were not supported they would have to retire.
We also heard that the Germans were still holding out in their front line from the Bois Carre to Lone Tree.
At about 12:30pm we received orders to support the Munsters in an attack to the south of Hulluch. We moved off being extended order, two companies in front and two behind fully imagining that the Munsters were in front. We came under fire immediately from the Germans who were in the position shown on the sketch [reproduced below].
Suddenly the fire from our right slackened and at last stopped altogether and a German bearing a white flag came towards us. He was sent up by the Germans holding out to arrange their surrender. We then captured 160 men and five officers. They had a wounded English officer in their officers dugout. They had bound him up and treated him very well.
The
Welsh were now able to advance rapidly as there was no fire except
a few snipers who were active in Hulluch. We eventually reached the
Hulluch - Lens road and then halted and lined the road. We had no troops
on our right or left and so we could not push on. There were apparently
no Germans in front of us all on our right and there were only a few
who could fire at us from her luck. Had we been stronger or supported
we could have gone right through. We remained on this road until 6:00pm and
then we were ordered to withdraw to a line of German trenches about
700 yards behind us. When we were in this line we had the South
Wales Borderers on our left and the London Scottish [14/Londons]
on our right. We spent a miserable night, all being soaked to the skin
and
having
no coats
or anything.
26 September
Everything was very quiet in the early morning and remained quiet until about 9:30am when we saw an attack take place on Hill 70 but it was apparently unsuccessful [this was the 15th (Scottish) Division].
At 10:30am we saw to our amazement that the Germans were advancing in fours and fives from their trench, which was situated on the crest of a hill running from Hulluch to Bois Hugo. At 10:20am we received orders from Brigade that we were to make an attack on Hulluch with the South Wales Borderers and the Black Watch on our left.
We telephoned to Brigade and informed them of the fact that the Germans were advancing but at about 10:55am a shell fell on our telephone wire thus cutting communication between us and Brigade. At 10:30am masses of Germans came out of Bois Hugo and advanced in one great mass but five heavy shells fell right into the middle of them and a whole lot turned round and bolted into the wood again. About 200 Germans had now advanced from the trench south of Hulluch and were lining the road from Hulluch to Lens.
At 11:00am A and -- companies left the trench and then halted a few yards in front of the trench and got extended and picked up their dressing. They then advanced followed by --- and --- companies also in extended order. We immediately came under heavy fire both rifle machine-gun and shellfire and began to lose men freely. To our horror we saw that no one else was coming on our left and that we were entirely on our own. We also fully realised that we were assaulting a place which had no doubt been strongly fortified during the night and which had not been bombarded. We reached the Hulluch - Lens road having lost about 100 men. We were now in the predicament of being entirely unsupported and only about 300 strong with a perfectly impossible place to take in front of us.
Just at this moment, 11:15am, we saw a marvellous sight. Line upon line of men being extended order came over the west of the hill behind us and advanced down to the Hulluch - Lens road and then towards the German line of trenches on the crest of the rise. All the Germans who had advanced to attack us, on seeing these men advance, turned round and ran as hard as they could up the hill, throwing away all their arms and equipment and finally disappeared through their barbed-wire and into their trench.
Two of our companies joined up with the advance of the troops on our right who turned out to be a certain Corps of Kitchener's Army [it was 21st and 24th Divisions]. The other two companies remained just outside Hulluch and opened fire on the village. Our machine guns also fired at a German machine guns which could be seen firing from the windows of houses in Hulluch. The two companies which had advanced as shown in the sketch eventually arrived at the German wire which they managed to get through with ease and extend and entered the German trench which was practically unoccupied. The few Germans who were to be seen were unarmed and desirous of surrendering.
The Corps on our right also reached the German wire and we all thought that at last we had gained what might be called a real victory, as according to all maps this line was the last line of defence and we all had visions of advancing many miles. But suddenly to our amazement and disgust the whole Corps on our right turned round and bolted in a wild panic. The men threw away their rifles and equipment and ran back across the valley and disappeared over the crest of the hill over which they advanced so magnificently. In this rout they all bunched together and so made a good mark for the Germans shrapnel and machine guns in Hulluch and consequently lost twice as many as they did advancing.
We were left with two companies on the crest of the hill and two companies opposite Hulluch, an impossible situation to remain in as we had both flanks in the air and had no support, so we retired slowly but naturally losing heavily. Eventually the remnant of some 180 men with seven officers arrived in the trench we started from. Here we remained all day in comparative quiet. All our wounded had to be left between the lines.
About 2:00pm the Germans sent out a great many stretcher-bearers and RAMC men who worked the whole of the afternoon bringing up our wounded and sending all who could walk or crawl back to us. There were plenty of our shells falling about but although they apparently lost some men these Germans never stopped their good work.
Directly it was dark we sent out parties to bring in our wounded and we found several men who led been bound up by the Germans and who had left telling them that if they were not removed before a certain hour they would be forced to take them prisoners. We were relieved about 12 midnight and went back to the old German first line.
The 2nd Welsh suffered 311 casualties on 25 and 26 September 1915.
Click here for a detailed analysis of the Battle of Loos.
This is an extract from the Battalion war diary which is held at the Public Record Office, in document WO95/1281.
Notes:
This photograph of Ninth Avenue Cemetery gives some impression of the bleak and exposed nature of the ground over which the 2nd Welsh advanced on 26th September 1915. The photographer is standing behind the St Mary's ADS cemetery which is located on the Vermelles - Hulluch road, looking South. Named after a trench, this cemetery is a mass grave of 42 men of the 1st Cameron Highlanders who died between 25th and 29th September 1915. Another cemetery, Bois Carré, stands a few yards away to the left of this picture.
This page is dedicated to the memory of Thomas Callow.