32 http://www.britainatwar.comABOVEA stretcher party passes a disabled Mark IV
at Villers-Bretonneux in this stereoscopic photograph.RIGHTNo.542, ‘Elfriede’, one of the A7V tanks used
in the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux. After being
disabled on April 14, it was covered in graffiti by
Tommies and Diggers alike.DECISIVE ACTION, NO. 4
not just by General Sir Henry Rawlinson
(who forced the prickly Heneker to accept
Australian help), but by the pugnacious
‘Pompey’ Elliott. Two formidable
characters; Elliott pushed for a counter-
attack at midday, but Heneker overruled
him on the basis it would be suicidal.
Instead, they decided to attack at night
before the Germans were fully able to
entrench.THE BOLD NIGHT ATTACK
At 10pm, they moved in silence with the
moonlight for guidance and without a
preliminary bombardment to give them
away, the 15th – under Elliott – advanced
in the north with few losses. The 13th –
under Brigadier-General William Glasgow- became tangled in the British wire and
were enfiladed by German fire, losing
1,009 men to the 15th’s 455. There had
been no time for reconnaissance and, while
Elliott knew the woods around the town,
Glasgow didn’t.
With the town enclosed by the
Australian pincer, British 24th Brigade –
the same formation that had suffered so
catastrophically in the bombardment early
that morning – advanced on the inner
flank of the Australians, to “mop up”
Villers-Bretonneux itself. The 2nd
Northamptons advanced on Glasgow’s
left and the 22nd Durham Light Infantry
(Pioneers) on Elliott’s right, and their
perceived lack of progress was remarked
upon archly by the Australians.
The Brits weren’t dragging their heels,
but in “mopping up” the town they were
attacking right where the enemy expected
them. The 2nd Northamptons lost their
CO, Lieutenant-Colonel S G Latham, and
the 22nd DLI were only able to advance
against the dug-in German guns when
Heneker sent up the 2nd Royal Berkshire
Regiment at 6.30am the following
morning.
That 8th Division is blamed for losing
Villers-Bretonneux is fair enough, but the
expertly executed counter-attack belongs
to them, too. They bore the brunt of the
fighting – 3,390 casualties – against a
crippling barrage and the first major use
of enemy armour. Finally, as night fell, the
battered 2nd Northamptons and the 22nd
DLI were ordered back into the streets they
had been driven from hours before to take
the Germans head-on.