As is well known, after the failure of the Schlieffen Plan and the subsequent failure of the direct advance on Paris, the aim of the German army in 1914 had to be to outflank the French and British Armies in order to advance further into France. This was to become known, mistakenly, as the ‘race to the sea’. What became of vital importance to the British army was the German threat to seize the Channel Ports. By late October 1914, 1st and 2nd, Divisions, the much-depleted 7th Division, two battalions of 5th Division, and 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions (altogether a very substantial proportion of the British Expeditionary Force) were at, or near, Ypres. Their task was to halt the advancing German army, and together with the French army, prevent it crossing the Ypres-Yser Canal which ran up to the North Sea coast and, thereby, save the Channel Ports.
The first crisis of the First Battle of Ypres centred on the village of Gheluvelt. Lying on the Menin Road on a forward spur of the low ridge to the east of Ypres, Gheluvelt was the last position controlled by the British from which the enemy’s line could be overlooked. By noon on 31st October 1914, the greatly outnumbered British battalions SW of the Menin Road had been overwhelmed by the German advance, while on their right, NE of the Menin Road, 1st South Wales Borderers had been pushed back and were barely holding out in the grounds of Gheluvelt chateau. Gheluvelt village seemed to have been lost and a serious gap had been made in the British line. So serious was the situation that unless the gap could be closed, a German breakthrough to Ypres (and beyond) could not be prevented.
The story of the successful counter-attack of 2nd Battalion Worcesterhire Regiment against the German army at Gheluvelt has often been told. In summary:
On the morning of 31 October Brigadier General FitzClarence, OC 1st Guards Brigade, 1st Division, and in command of the front across the Menin Road, rode out to Gheluvelt. ‘He found things going badly there.’1 He quickly realised that, unless immediate steps were taken, the British line, now pierced, would be completely broken. When Major General Lomax, OC 1st Division heard from Brigadier General FitzClarence that Gheluvelt had been lost, he ordered him to use the reserve troops of 2nd Division in a counter-attack.(This had already been agreed by Major General Monro, OC 2nd Division).
These included three Companies of 2nd Worcestershire commanded by Major E. B. Hankey situated in Polygon Wood.2 At about 13.00 hours on 31 October Major Hankey received an order, personally delivered by Brigadier General FitzClarence, to ‘advance without delay and deliver a counter-attack with the utmost vigour against the enemy who was in possession of Gheluvelt, and to re-establish our line there.’ 3
From the south-western edge of Polygon Wood (now known as Black Watch Corner), where the 2nd Worcestershire advance began, the stretch of country in front of them, at that time, had very little cover. The fields ahead were littered with dead and wounded and German shells were falling in large numbers.4 Major Hankey decided that the only way to cross the last kilometre of this lethal area was at the double.
As the leading men came in view of the German guns their shells were quickly directed on the rapidly moving soldiers. Over 100 of the Battalion were killed or wounded at this point. Casualties would have been greater if they had not been moving so fast. The survivors pushed on and, even increasing their speed as they came close to Gheluvelt, made the final charge across a stream and a narrow-gauge railway track, across a fence, and into the Gheluvelt Chateau grounds. Here they met the remnants of the 1st Battalion South Wales Borderers who had made a heroic effort to hold off the German advance.5
The 2nd Worcestershire’s numbers at the beginning of 31 October had been 471 officers and men – very much under strength. The counter-attack on Gheluvelt had been carried out by three of the Battalion’s companies - about 370 men of whom 187 were killed or wounded – very nearly 40% of the Battalion on that day.
Yet Gheluvelt had been saved and the line restored. The Worcestershires’ counter-attack had thrown back the enemy at a time, when the British Commander-in-Chief (Field Marshal French) was filled with ‘misgiving and alarm’ 6 at the sight of his troops retreating under shellfire towards Ypres. Very possibly their counter-attack had saved Ypres - and the Channel Ports – from being captured. Later, Field Marshal French went further - he was recorded as saying that ‘The Worcesters saved the Empire’.7
Despite the Worcestershires’ heavy casualties and, despite initial doubts (according to Professor Ian Beckett) about General FitzClarence’s orders, Major Hankey concluded: “I feel perfectly certain that by shoving us in at the time and place he did, the General saved the day.”
It was not possible for the Worcestershires and South Wales Borderers to hold on to Gheluvelt. They were considerably outnumbered, much of it was on fire and German soldiers still held some houses on the south-east of the village.
General Haig (OC I Corps which included 1st and 2nd Divisions) was concerned about the strength of the German artillery. He decided to withdraw his defensive line from the forward slope of the ridge at Gheluvelt to a new line running from the Menin Road 600 yards (approx.) further back to Polygon Wood on a reverse slope where it could not be directly observed by the German artillery (This is roughly indicated by the present day Polygonstraat.) As night fell the defenders of Gheluvelt assembled under cover and then moved back along the Menin Road to the new line. The withdrawal was not realised by the Germans until the next morning (1 November) at about 05.00 hours.8
Almost following in the footsteps of 2nd Worcestershire
The precise route of 2nd Worcestershire’s advance cannot be followed today because this would mean walking across farmers’ fields and privately owned land. However, the following photographs were taken (July 2024) as close as possible to the route they took. The land is not as undulating as some of the sources seem to suggest. There was, in 1914, very little cover and Major Hankey’s order for rapid advance was very necessary.
The 1st South Wales Borderers’ Memorial in Gheluvelt
Acknowledgement:
Much of the account is taken from the excellent website WorcestershireRegiment.com (2002-2015) by Louis Scully – including the photograph of Major Hankey. The website draws from the exceptionally fine history: ‘The Worcestershire Regiment in the Great War’ by Captain H. FitzM Stacke MC (of 1st Battalion).
References:
- Brigadier General Corkran OC 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division. Note to General Haig, dated 14 August 1915 attached to 2nd Worcestershire War Diary.
- Brigadier General J. E. Edmonds. ’Military operations, France and Belgium, 1914’ (The ‘Official History’). Pub. Macmillan 1925. Page 322.
- Ibid. Page 323.
- Ibid. Page 328.
- Lyn Macdonald. ’1914’. Pub. Penguin Books 1989. Page 391
- Field Marshal French. ‘1914’ Memoir. Pub. Constable, London 1919. Page 245.
- Professor Richard Holmes. ‘The Little Field Marshal – A Life of Sir John French’. Cassel Military Paperbacks 2005. Page 251. Quoted from MSS Selborne 93, Bodleian Library, Oxford
- Op.cit. 2 Pages 331-2
- Rose Coombs MBE. ’Before Endeavours Fade’. Pub. After the Battle 2010. Page 58. Pub.
Footnotes:
- In recognition of the gallantry shown at Polygon Wood and Gheluvelt, the following' awards were made: Major E. B. Hankey to be Brevet Lt.-Colonel, Captain B. C. Senhouse Clarke to be Brevet Major. Captain E. L. Bowring, the D.S.O., and the M.C. to Captain R. J. Ford, Lieut. G. A. Slaughter and Lieut. E. W. Carrington, R.A.M.C. Sergeants Ellis, Kemp and Sutton were awarded the D.C.M.
- Extract from the account of Private J. Cole 2nd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment:
‘They fled in a solid grey mass and we watched the boys winkling them out. Remorseless. It was slaughter. At one point….. we were firing the machine-gun using dead bodies for cover…. and we did it…. We plugged the gap to Calais.’ (Op. cit. 5 above. Page 391.)
- Brigadier General FitzClarence was killed at Polygon Wood on 12 November 1914. He is the highest-ranking officer to be commemorated on the Menin Gate – his name is at the top of Panel 3.
4. The account of the action in 2nd Worcestershire’s War Diary (WO 95/1351/1) written by Lieutenant G Stoney, Acting Adjutant, is brief and matter-of-fact. The number of casualties is considerably underestimated.
Various documents are attached to the War Dairy which expand the account. (See Reference 1 above). One, issued by the Press Bureau in June 1915 headed ‘How the Worcesters Saved The Day, GHELUVELT 31 October 1914’ is strewn with errors! These are corrected at some length in another attached document headed ‘Addenda to ‘How the Worcesters Saved The Day, GHELUVELT’ which Major A. F. Becke instructed to be placed with the War Diary. A previous document includes comments by Major Becke on a German account of the action at Gheluvelt, on the Press Bureau release (which he describes as containing ‘many minor inaccuracies’), on the Battalion War Diary and the Brigade War Diary. This document he instructed ‘Not be issued with Diary’. Major (Retd.) Archibald Frank Becke (1871-1947) was a Major in the Royal Artillery. He compiled the maps and sketches for the ‘Official History’ of the First World War and was also the author of reference works on the First World War, including ‘Order of Battle of Divisions’ and ‘The Official History of the Great War France and Belgium Atlas’.
Article by Peter Crook (October 2024)