Since yesterday morning the enemy has continued his violent thrusts against our line westwards from Bapaume and Peronne, and at the time I write his massed troops, mostly Brandenburgers and picked troops, are endeavouring to advance in the direction of Roye from Nesle, where French troops are heavily engaged. At the same time he is pushing on over the old Somme battlefields down from Delville Wood, High Wood, and Maurepas towards the old lines we held before the beginning of the Somme battles in 1916.
The enemy has only paused since he began the great offensive on Thursday last to bring up new divisions and pass them through and beyond the divisions exhausted by attack or shattered under our fire, while the latter re-form and rest and then come on again or are relieved by reserves continually crowding over the captured ground. By this means, and owing to the enormous forces at the disposal of the German Command, they are able to pursue any advantage gained with fresh troops against our hard-pressed men, who have been fighting without respite since the beginning of the battle, six days ago, except where on the right some of them have now been replaced in the front line by French battalions.
Amazing Odds.
In spite of the gravity of these hours and the progress made by the enemy, there has never been a more glorious spirit shown by British troops throughout our history, and when one day, but not now, all details of this battle may be written, it will be an epic of heroism more wonderful than the world now realises.
For our men and their officers have withstood the onslaught of forces which have never been less than two to one, and in most parts of the line have been four to one, and six to one, and eight to one ╤ nine divisions against three round Croisilles, eight divisions against two from the Cambrai sector westwards, in many places one division against one battalion. Such odds have been unknown before. Yet the enemy dare not let these odds stand, but continually increase and renew the fighting line with fresh troops against those of ours who go on fighting.
Our men have gone on fighting by night and day from one day to another, falling back most of the time, but holding the enemy all the time by machine-gun and rifle fire, by field batteries getting into action as soon as they have taken up new positions, by desperate little battles in which one or two companies hold up waves of Germans until their own line has fallen back in an orderly way to new defensive positions.
Six Days╒ Killing.
For six days they have been killing the enemy as he advances across the open of the old barren battlefields nakedly exposed to their fire. Our riflemen in some old trench of theirs or ours on these battlefields of the Somme which were left derelict for a year ╤ as I saw them yesterday above Pozieres ridge, where they made fire trenches of these ditches full of undergrowth ╤ shoot down German troops as in the old days at Le Cateau, lay their ranks out in dead and wounded men.
But immediately the gaps are filled up by the grey swarms behind, and our weakened forces come further back to a new ditch or road from which they fire again and kill again and fall back again, because the enemy is reckless of the cost of his advance, and his tide never ceases its drift.
Our men have been fighting six days and nights like this after the first storm of shells and gas until their beards have grown long and their faces haggard and worn for lack of sleep, and their clothes have become torn on wire and covered with dust of mud and chalk.
I saw a small party of them to-day so weary with this endless battle that they could hardly walk, and were holding hands like tired children and leaning against each other like drunken men. But for the most part they hold their heads up gamely and show no kind of dismay because so far luck has been against them.
They look grimly towards the enemy's lines, waiting for him to show himself across the slope so that they can deal with him once more, and while they are waiting they stand about in groups under the cover of ruined walls or in sunken roads, smoking cigarettes, with their rifles handy and their steel helmets thrust over their eyes, which are steady and calm.
Cool and Steady.
The whole movement of our army under the necessity of withdrawal from fixed positions is as orderly as though on manoeuvres in England. I can say honestly that I have seen no officer show a sign of being flurried.
The transport lorries move away from a road only when it becomes untenable by the enemy's shell fire, and retire to some village further back, where they unpack their supplies with leisurely method, much faster than it seems. Camps are packed up and stores removed as the Germans are reported nearer, and headquarters staffs change their lodgings from one old chateau to another or one cottage to another, with their signallers and despatch riders, and retain extraordinary composure, because of the perfect discipline of character which is a quality of our race in bad times as well as in good times.
It is all an amazing drama, because this open warfare is a new thing to us and the menace of the enemy is strong and serious, and the retirement under the terrific pressure of the human avalanche now hurled against us is by no means pleasant.
But in the inevitable turmoil of this situation, in roads crowded with the traffic of men and guns, in villages seething with troops rushed up towards the battle-line, on the field of battle itself, the British army retains its self-control, its will-power and its supreme, inspired courage.
The Machine Well Controlled.
Above all, it retains its hopefulness and its faith. These are dark days for us because of the sacrifice of life and the success of our enemy in gaining ground, but at least this is good and great ╤ that our armies still remain unbroken, and the enemy has failed to divide our forces or to cut off large masses of men.
Our generals have control of the machine from one end of the line to the other. No division has been lost, however battered it may be by heroic fighting. The enemy has to pay dearly all the way along, and our men have never lost heart or courage to keep the German hordes in check long enough for orderly retirement. That is wonderful and magnificent, and the heart of the world will beat faster because of what these men have done and are still doing in sheer human valour.
New French divisions have come to our support and have taken the places of some of these men of ours who fought the longest and at greatest sacrifice.
The Battle Between Ham and Nesle.
Yesterday and on Sunday enemy pressure became strongest round Ham and northwards along the valley of the Somme, which he was trying to cross with a large army. I have already told how he made repeated efforts to get a crossing at St. Christ, Brie, and other places, and how his outposts were flung back by our counter-attacks. But on Sunday he had definitely gained a bridgehead at Ham, and by strong attack got as far as Verlaine, a mile on the other side of the river.
On Sunday morning the enemy was in Esmery Hallon, and made an attack on a big scale with newly arrived Brandenburgers on the village of Voyennes, his object being to enlarge the district round the bridgehead of Ham. Our gallant men, fighting step by step, had to fall back, making a separate battle in defence of Rouy-le-Grand, and holding that night the line of Libermont, the canal to Bouverchy, and up to Offoy. It was a perilous winding line, difficult to hold, and its weakness was tested by the enemy in great strength.
The French Pouring Up.
By this time the French divisions were beginning to arrive, and as their splendid regiments came into the battlefields, mixing with our battalions and fighting in their midst, new heart was put into our men at this most welcome and priceless support. Gradually, as the hours passed on Sunday and Monday, the French held the battle line more strongly.
But the enemy saw our weakness on the left of here and Ollezy, and made new and stronger attacks. During the night battalions at Ollezy who had borne the brunt of the hard struggle fell back, and yesterday our left on this sector also had to withdraw.
It had now been decided to dig a defensive position on which our men could retire in case of need, and for this purpose all pioneer and infantry battalions in the neighbourhood did some heroic digging, which enabled our line to swing back when the time came for relief with much greater safety from a sudden break-through.
Yesterday the enemy still further increased his pressure towards Morchain and on both sides of Nesle. He did not make a frontal attack on that town, but came down on its flanks, and did not actually enter it till last night. An officer of ours walked through Nesle yesterday afternoon, and there was no German there at the time.
On the extreme left of our line there has been a continual struggle about the Arras-Bapaume road, and the enemy has been trying to force his way across the old Somme battlefields towards Montauban and Mametz.
I can say with absolute truth that our army is still confident that it will defeat the enemy╒s plans of a decisive victory.
