The Second Battle of Ypres and The 1st Monmouthshires

By the autumn of 1914, Germany had failed in its aim of knocking France out of the war. It had hoped to avoid a protracted war on two fronts so allowing the German army to concentrate its forces against Russia in the East. Following the battles of 1914, Germany now occupied large areas of northern France and most of Belgium. By the end of the year, the war in the West had stagnated into a line of trenches stretching from the Channel coast to the Swiss frontier. From the autumn of 1914 until 21^st March 1918, the German army essentially adopted a defensive posture along this line, with the exceptions of the attack on Ypres in 1915 and the massive assault on Verdun in 1916. It is with the first of these attacks, the Second Battle of Ypres, that this series of three articles is concerned, from the perspective of a Welsh Regiment and the experiences of some the individuals in it.

By the end of 1914 the trench line bulged east around the Belgian Town of Ypres. As the war moved into 1915, the British Army took an increasing responsibility for manning these trenches. They began to replace French troops and progressively extended the British Sector to the French Border and beyond to the South. By April, the British defended the trenches of the Ypres salient with the exception of a short length of the front to the north of the town, which was still defended by the French. It was here on 22^nd April that the Germans opened a furious artillery bombardment at 5pm followed by the release of Chlorine gas. Unprotected against gas, French troops fled in panic, creating a major breach in the Franco-British lines. Rushing forward to close the gap, The 1^st Canadian Division overcame the immediate crisis. However, German attacks continued and by 1^st May  British troops began to withdraw to a new defensive line closer to Ypres itself.

 

 

Men of The 1st Monmouths march down Stow Hill Newport on being mobilised at the outbreak of War in 1914

 

Part of the new British line now ran in an exposed position along the front of the Frezenberg Ridge to the North West of Ypres. It fell to the 28^th Division, which included The 1^st Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment, to defend these trenches. The 1^st Monmouths had been in the line in the fighting following the German attacks of 22^nd April, but as the withdrawal took place they were moved behind the line to the West of Ypres at Brielen. The opening of an intense German artillery bombardment on 4^th May marked the beginning of another stage in the battle, causing heavy casualties amongst the troops defending the Frezenberg Ridge,  and on 6^th May the 1^st Monmouths received orders to move up to the front line. This was hardly a straightforward task and a number of casualties resulted from shell fire as the men moved forward. Reaching the front line on 7^th May in darkness they took over badly damaged trenches and began a desperate attempt to make repairs before dawn broke. The 1^st Monmouthshires had been involved in the fighting in April, but were now to face their sternest test as the 8^th May dawned. 

With the 2^nd Battalion to the north and the 3^rd Battalion to the south, all three battalions of the Monmouths were in the line as dawn broke. The British defenders were massively outnumbered, both in terms of infantry and artillery. Intense German artillery fire was followed by powerful infantry attacks and in the centre of the defensive ring around Ypres, the order was given to retire. As British troops, including the 3^rd Monmouths, pulled back, a gap opened up in the line. It now fell to those units to the north, including the 1^st Monmouths, to face German attacks from both their front and from their flank.

Finding themselves in the middle of a storm of shellfire and machine gun fire, the Monmouths lost contact with both their artillery and headquarters (See The Second Battle of Ypres- Melville Ray, An Exceptionally Brave Act). As the scant British artillery support faded, officers of the battalion HQ moved forward to direct the desperate defence. The adjutant, Captain Dimsdale, was killed in an attempt to lead a counter attack (See The Second Battle of Ypres- The Men From Newport Docks), as was the second in command, Major Williams. The Monmouths were now in danger of being overwhelmed and an attempt to provide reinforcements failed as those sent forward were decimated by shellfire. The situation was critical as the Monmouths attempted to hold off attacks from their front and deal with Germans who had taken over the trenches to their right. Captain Edwards attempted to organise a flank using a communication trench, but was soon almost surrounded. Called on to surrender and uttering the phrase which became part of regimental history, “surrender be damned,” he was last seen firing his revolver at his attackers, a scene commemorated in the painting in the entrance of Newport Civic Centre (See The Eighth of May). The battalion commander, Colonel Robinson, now gave the order for the Monmouths to be pulled back from the front line to form a flank against the German attacks from the right, after which he too was shot through the neck and killed. It was now the afternoon and the situation was clearly hopeless.

With no alternative before them other than annihilation, the remaining isolated groups of the Monmouths pulled back to their support trenches. Some men attempted to get back along shallow communication trenches, others ran desperately over open ground; many were wounded or killed by the continuing shellfire and machine gun fire. From these reserve trenches, however, The Monmouths and the Royal Irish Rifles were able to hold off further German advances. With this the involvement of the 1^st Monmouths in the Second Battle of Ypres battle came to an end and the remains of the battalion were withdrawn to Brielan the following day. Here the extent of the casualties suffered became clear: of the 23 officers and 565 other ranks who had left Brielen on 7^th May, 3 officers and 126 other ranks returned. The impact of these losses on families in South Monmouthshire and particularly Newport, from where most of the men came, was enormous.

 

The memorial on Stow Hill Newport on the site of the drill hall at which the 1st Monmouths mustered in August 1914 and from which they set out to join the general mobilization at the outbreak of war.

 

For those British troops in the front line a period of respite was followed by more German attacks on 24^th and 25^th May and although more ground was given up, this marked the end of The Second Battle of Ypres. British forces had been pushed into a tighter salient around the town, but Ypres had not fallen, although the losses had been great; almost 60,000 British casualties of whom nearly 11,000 were killed. The battle had also proved costly to the Germans who had suffered 35,000 casualties in just over four weeks of fighting. For the Monmouths the end of the fighting also marked the end of the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Battalions whose survivors were now amalgamated in order to create a viable size for a fighting force which became The Monmouthshire Regiment.

Guided Battlefield Tours organise fully guided tours to Ypres, see: www.guidedbattlefieldtours.co.uk