canal between Inchy and Moeuvres was carried out according to
programme, thanks in large measure to the intensity of the
barrage covering the operation. All the field artillery of the
Canadian and XVII. Corps were firing on this area, and as a
frontage of only 9 yd. was allotted to each gun the resistance of the enemy was speedily stifled. While the infantry pressed forward to carry the Marquion line bridges were swiftly thrown over the dry canal bed, and batteries went over at a gallop to take up their positions for supporting the farther advance. The first objective and part of the second were carried on time and without great difficulty, but the left of the 1st Canadian Div., swinging to the left against Marquion, was checked for a time, until reinforcements, including units of the 11th Div., came up to complete the capture of the village and its defences. The second objective was in Allied hands by midday everywhere. Further progress was difficult, particularly on the right, where the 4th Canadian Div., which had outstripped the advance of the left of the Third Army, was held up by flanking fire and counter-attacks from the S., and was unable to do more than establish itself on the fourth objective by the evening, with its right thrown back along the Bapaume-Cambrai road. On this line it was relieved during the night by the 3rd Canadian Div. Farther to the N., the first phase of the attack was successfully completed by 2 P.M., and it was found possible to commence the second phase at 3:20 P.M.
At this hour the 1st Canadian and 11th Div. moved forward. The former stormed Haynecourt, pressed up to and beyond the Douai-Cambrai road E. of that village, and maintained its position despite repeated and violent hostile efforts to regain the lost ground. The nth Div. also met with great success, and before nightfall was in possession of Sauchy Cauchy, Sauchy L'Estree, Oisy and Epinoy.
The line therefore at the end of the day ran from just W. of Fontaine Notre Dame to the Douai-Cambrai road N.E. of Haynecourt, thence to Epinoy and Oisy le Verger. Four thousand prisoners and 100 guns had been taken in this day's advance of some 7,000 yd. in depth on a front of 15,000. The whole operation, investing as it did a most complicated and yet perfect combined action, had been a most brilliant success.
It was decided that the attack should be continued on the 28th, the 3rd and 4th Canadian Div. on the right and the 11th Div. on the left advancing at 6 A.M., while the ist Canadian Div., which was farther advanced than they, followed suit only at 8 A.M. The Germans resisted stoutly all along the line, but were unable to stem the drive. On the right the 3rd Div. cleared Fontaine Notre Dame and the 4th Sailly and were then held up for the time being in front of the Marcoing line, which, however, was completely cleared later in the evening by a renewed attack. The 1st Div. made little headway, but the nth Div. got well forward along its front and established itself from Epinoy to Aubencheul on the Sensee. Large captures were made besides the substantial gain of ground.
At the same hour on the 29th the infantry again went forward, the objectives being to complete the capture of the Marcoing line and the seizure of the Scheldt canal bridges W. and N. of Cambrai. The 11th Div. made no progress, but the line on the rest of the front was advanced to the junction of the roads from Arras and Bapaume in the suburbs of Cambrai and the line of the Douai-Cambrai road and railway, including the village of Sancourt. A certain amount of ground gained beyond the railway had to be evacuated before the violent counter-blows of the enemy against the left of the ist and then of the 4th Div.
None the less neither side was prepared to give up the struggle. At dawn next day the 3rd and 4th Canadian Div. advanced once more with the object of securing the cqveted bridges over the Scheldt canal, to be followed later by the 1st Canadian and 11th Div., which were to clear the peninsula between that canal and the Sensee. A certain amount of progress was made, the village of Tilloy being entered by the 3rd Div. and Blecourt by the 4th Div., but not all these gains could be maintained in face of repeated hostile counter-attacks, and at the end of the day the line ran much as before on the front of these two divisions. The second phase of the offensive as planned could not even be commenced. Another effort was made on the morrow to complete the operation. It met with stubborn resistance from German divisions in line, now increased to ten. These endeavoured again and again to check the Canadian advance by blows against their left front and left from the direction of the con- fluence of the Sensee and the Scheldt canal. The Canadian advance began at 5 A.M. and went well despite all obstacles. The 3rd and 4th Div. attained their objectives the line of the canal south of Ramillies and the road between that place and Cuvillers. The 1st Div. had even more desperate fighting before it succeeded in clearing Blecourt, Cuvillers and Bantigny, and when it had finally captured them a powerful thrust against its exposed left from the direction of Paillencourt forced back the Canadian line to the west of Cuvillers and Bantigny. Meanwhile the 11th Div. on the N., attacking in the afternoon, secured and held its objectives and thus eased the situation on that flank. On the evening of Oct. 1 the Canadian line ran from the western suburbs of Cambrai by Tilloy to the Douai-Cambrai railway W. of Blecourt and along that railway to the Sensée.
This was the final day of the Cambrai battle on the First Army front. After its exertions and achievements during the previous five days of incessant fighting the Canadian Corps was in urgent need of rest and refitment. It was therefore decided to postpone further attacks for a few days, until the effect of the Third and Fourth Armies' advance in the S. should make itself felt. The results of the First Army's battle were in any case satisfactory to a degree.
Though Cambrai itself only fell into Allied hands a week later, its fate was in fact sealed by the five days' fighting which has just been narrated. During its course the First Army's line had been advanced close on eight miles; its four divisions had driven back the 13 German divisions engaged by the Seventeenth Army on their front, and taken from them over 7,000 prisoners, 205 guns and 950 machine-guns, besides inflicting losses in killed and wounded which certainly far outweighed their own casualties. The last German fortified system had been breached on this front and the first stage and the most difficult stage completed of that triumphant advance which was to lead the First Army, in six weeks' time, back to Mons.
6. Assault of Third Army on Hindenburg Line (Sept. 2?-Oct. 2). The front of the Third Army on the evening of Sept. 26 ran W. of Villers Guislain and Gouzeaucourt, E. of Trescault and Havrincourt to the line of the Canal du Nord S. of Moeuvres and along its W. bank to that village. From right to left along this front were the V. Corps (33rd, 21st and 38th Div. in line), the IV. Corps (jth and 42nd Div. in line, New Zealand Div. in support), the VI. Corps (3rd and Guards Div. in front, 62nd in support) and the XVII. Corps (52nd and and 63rd Div. in front, 57th in support). Facing them the German Seventeenth Army held the Hindenburg system with seven divisions in front line.
In view of the great strength of the defences in the southern section of the Third Army zone it was decided that there should at first be no attack by the V. Corps, but that the salient held by the enemy in that area should be left until the progress of the operations on either flank should endanger the garrison's line of retreat. Accordingly the offensive of Sept. 27 was carried out by the Third Army with its three leftmost corps only.
The task of the IV. and VI. Corps was to clear the Hindenburg front and support lines on either side of the Ribécourt valley as far E. as Highland Ridge (running N. from Villers Plouich) and the spur overlooking Marcoing from the west. Five objectives were laid down, and exploitation was to be carried out beyond the final one to Welsh Ridge (N. of La Vacquerie) and the Scheldt canal. The XVII. Corps was first to carry the Hinden- burg system on its front and then to advance to the line Graincourt-Anneux, with exploitation if possible as far as Cantaing-Fontaine Notre Dame. Zero hour was at 5:20 A.M.
The 5th Div. of the IV. Corps moving off at that hour early met stubborn resistance and suffered from flanking fire from the south. Beaucamp was not taken till 11:30 A.M. after hard fighting, and then had to be surrendered again late in the evening to a
