HAIG'S WAR DIARIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22198, 27 August 1935, Page 16

HAIG'S WAR DIARIES

By A. Duff Cooper—Copyright to the New Zealand Herald

SUCCESS AT NEUVE CHAPELLE

FRENCH APPROPRIATES CREDIT

THE final orders for the attack at Neuve Chapelle were sent out from Haig's headquarters at 9 p.m. on March 8, and the last of two of the heavy guns arrived from England, only on the morning of March 9. At 7.30 a.m. on the 10th the bombardment began.

In comparison with what was to come in the future, the preliminary bombardment before the battle of Neuve Chapelle was insignificant; but nothing like it had beea heard before in the history of the world. Simultaneously, as the hands of the clock pointed to the given hour, 150 heavy guns rent with a vast roar the silence o'f the morning. During the thirty-five minutes that followed 3000 shells fell upon the German trenches, flattening the wire defences, obliterating the parapets: and killing or wounding the majority of the defenders. At a pre-arranged moment the belt of fire shifted from the enemy's front line to a line further back, thus cutting off the retreat of the survivors, and as the line of falling shells moved forward the infantry advanced to capture what remained of the enemy's battered trenches. There were two occurrences that morning which delayed the general advance. On the right, one battalion of the Garhwal Brigade, part of the Indian Corps, j'.ost direction, and instead of advancing straight to their front bore right, and so came up against enemy trenches which had not been subjected to the preliminary bombardment, and also caused a gap to occur between themselves and the troops advancing on their left. Siege Batteries Arrive Late

At the same time there had been a misfortune on the left, for the two siege batteries that had arrived onlj- the day before had not had time to complete their gun platforms, so that accurate lire was impossible, and on the 400 yds. of frontage for which they were responsible the German trenches were practically intact and the advancing British infantry were unable to make progress.

In the centre the attack was completely successful—and by nine o'clock Haig learnt that the village of Neuve Chapelle had been captured, but the delay caused by the difficulties on the right and left prevented any attempt to continue the advance until the afternoon, and in the interval the Germans had time to recover from the shock that the unexpected bombardment had given them, and had been able to organise and strengthen their new line of defence. Nevertheless, at the end of the day an advance- had been made and all the front line defences of the enemy had been captured on a front of 4000 yds. Seven hundred end forty-eight prisoners had been taken. On the following day Haig ordered the attack/to be continued. Weather conditions proved less favourable, for a heavy mist prevented effective observation from the air. Further, the Germans were prepared for battle, and not only offered an obstinate resistance, but also delivered vigorous counter-attacks, which were successfully repulsed, but which obviated the possibility of an advance. Bacl Visibility " Sir John French called to congratulate me on the result of yesterday. He said that he was most grateful, and that he realised the fine state of the First Army was due to me. Ho was having an anxious time with the Second Army and had been obliged to find fault with Smith-Dorrien." i■ The atmosphere was still more opaque the next morning, and the advance, which had been timed for 10.30, was postponed till noon. Meanwhile, the Germans again attacked, in spite of the fog, and, although they were driven back with considerable loss, the British were unable to make any progress, for the sector of the front which faced them had been heavily reinforced. Haig was quick to appreciate the new situation, and altered his plans in order to meet it. Abandoning the idea of continuing to hammer on the door that was now firmly barred and bolted, he gave instructions that the line now held should be strengthened, with a view to its retention as a defensive position, while the next blow should be delivered at some other point, so as to take the enemy once more by surprise. The Battle of Neuve Chapelle may, therefore, be said to have ended on March 12. Any further attack was, for the time being, rendered impossible by the shortage of ammunition. The experience gained on this occasion was of great value. The possibility of breaking into the enemy's line was proved, and also the great difficulty of converting an initial " break in " into a permanent " break through:" The part played by weather conditions, especially by the inist so frequent in Flanders, was significant, and the destruction of telephone wires by bombardment, which broke down communications between headquarters and the front line, proved the hopelessness of endeavouring to keep control over the later stages of a day's fighting. The events of those two days produced a deep impression both on the enemy

and on our allies. The German Front that faced the British Army was henceforth held in greater strength and the French discarded any doubts that they may have entertained as to the fighting value of the English. Much activity certainly was going on in the political world during those fateful first months of 1915, and Haig was thankful that such activity did not concern an Army Commander. He was able to take five days' leave at the end of March. There are not many men who, in his position, would not have welcomed the opportunity of visiting London in order to discuss recent events and the future, with the powers that were, both at the War Office and in Downing Street. There were rumours already of great changes in the personnel of both military and civilian authorities. At such moments presence on the spot and personal contact may prove invaluable to the fortunes of an individual. It is typical of this great, simple, unself-seeking soldier, that he telegraphed to his wife to meet him at Folkestone, that he spent the whole of those five days alone with her, playing golf during the day and dining

together at their lodgings in the evening, that he even respectfully declined a suggestion that he should go to London for an interview with the King;and that he returned to France without having seen a single individual in authority, but having refreshed his soul with five days of doep, untroubled peace. When Haig returned to France he found his staff in great indignation over the official report of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, which the Commander-in-Chief had caused to be circulated. This report had naturally been drawn up at the Headquarters of the First Army-under the supervision of General Butler, the Chief Staff Officer. When, however, the report was submitted to General Headquarters, instructions were received that for the words " General Officer Commanding the First Army " at the beginning of the report, there should be substituted " Commander-in-Chief " —it thus being made to appear that the whole plan had been worked out by Sir John French, who had had, in fact, no hand in its preparation whatever. About the same time General Huguet, the head of the French mission, told Ilaig that General Foch was anxious to see him, "but was desirous not to cause displeasure to Sir John French, who apparently does not like Foch to see anyone of the British Force except himself." Foch was not the only one who had been impressed by the battle of Neuve Chapelle. Lord Fsher, who was in France at this time, told Haig thai the officers of the French Army whom ho had seen The Kaiser's Opinion " Were much impressed with our recent success at Neuve Chapelle. Until then they had said that our troops were all right on the defensive but could not attack. . . . Lord Fsher also told me he had met an American during the winter who had just returned from Berlin, where ho dined with the Kaiser. " The former said that the 1 First Army Corps under Douglas Haig is the best in the world.' This was after our retreat from Belgium, the battle of the Aisne and the battle of Ypres. Fsher said that the Kaiser emphasised 'D.H in command.' " In my opinion, however, ' the command' greatly depended on the excellent staff, which had worked together in peace a? 1 been trained with the troops at A orshot." It was on April 22 that the second battle of Ypres began, when for the first time the Germans made use of poison gas with fftr greater effect than they had themselves anticipated or were prepared to folloAV up. The First Army, however, took no part in this battle beyond sending reinforcements and endeavouring to learn from it such lessons as might prove of assistance in the future. To-morrow the Btory is told of two less successful offensives, the first against Aubers Ridge.