1st Essex and the push for
Cambrai 1918
In August 1918 the Germans were in retreat but provided stiff
resistance.
On 23 August 1918 the 1st Essex were
part of the forces committed to attack the German line near to
the village of Achiet le Grand and take the strategic
Arras-Amiens railway line at which the Germans had developed
stung defences with machine guns every twenty yards.
The day proved to be one of the hottest
of the year and at 11.08 the advance began.
2nd Lieut and
the majority of his 20 men were killed when their attack was
stalled. Captain Mathieson requested a tank and on it's arrival
the advance again went forward with 2nd Lieutenants Butler,
Silver and Moss to the fore and were in possession of the
railway line by 2pm after the
defences were outflanked at which point 60 Germans surrendered
with eleven machine guns.
The Essex were in the vanguard of the
attack and halted at the trenches by the railway line as there
were no British troops to their left which left them exposed to
counter attack.
By 7.30 the rest of the line had caught
up with the Essex men and the advance continued with Essex
taking up a reserve role.
Within 5 days the sector had been
consolidated. Over 1000 prisoners plus a large quantity of
military equipment had been captured and the way to Bapaume was
open.
1st Essex had 3 officers and 78 other
ranks killed with 10 officers and 197 other ranks wounded with 8
men.
Officers killed were 2nd Lieutenants
H J Whitcombe, E J Brand, and S J Wright with Captains L J Miles
and W H Macauley, Lieutenant C H Campling missing, 2nd
Lieutenants H Fairbank, A J Pearson, A L Bryant, E P Bugg, L H M
Wilcox, J E Barrett and SD Macloughlin.
After a new draft of 248 men the
battalion continued to advance reaching Lebucquiere by 2
September 1918.
Lt Colonel Sanders was promoted to Brig
General and relinquished command to Major T J E Blake from the
13th Royal Fusiliers.
The battalion was given the task of
clearing Havringcourt Wood.
Z Company under Captain W D Mathieson
captured some German trenches and then Corporal Wells led a
bombing party which captured 5 more Germans and a machine gun to
prevent another obstacle to the advance.
During the advance near Havringcourt
Lieutenant Young from the 1st Herts battalion who were advancing
next to the Essex was awarded a VC for his actions and Lance
Corporal Robinson was captured by The Germans but managed to
escape and made his way back through the lines during an
artillery barrage.
By the end of September 1918 the 1st
Essex were taken back into reserve by which time they had taken
38 more casualties including 5 men killed.
On October 5th the advance began on
Cambrai with 1st Essex in reserve but they joined in the attack
on 7th October 1918 situated on the left of the Brigade line.
Considerable resistance was forthcoming
from positions at Bel-aisle farm although X company managed to
clear the farm taking over 80 prisoners.
From then on the advance progressed with
little resistance capturing more ground before nightfall.
1st Essex suffered 166 casualties with 3
officers and 24 other ranks killed, four officers, including Lt
Col Blake, and 107 other ranks wounded and 27 missing.
Those killed included 2nd Lieutenants C
H Reid, S W Hughes and N A Noble.
Lt Colonel received the DSO for his
actions during this advance.