In Defence Tuesday, April 10th, 2018
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The breakthrough west of Fleurbaix allowed the German Army to turn their attack eastwards towards Armentieres, against the rear of existing allied defences, as 34th Division dug in and 40th Division held the defence line along the banks of the River Lys, reinforcements were sent up. 4th and 6th Battalions, Duke of Wellington’s West Riding Regiment arrived during the night, the former being sent to assist 34th Division, the later to 40th Division. Their timely arrival held the enemy for several hours allowing a withdrawal across the river to be carried out, after which the bridges were blown. Near Erquinghem Lys, stretcher bearer Private Arthur Poulter of the 4th Dukes rescued at least 10 wounded of his battalion, carrying them on his back to a place of safety, he also dressed the wounds of 40 men. For his actions he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Meanwhile in the Plugstreet area the infantry attack began at 6am, the German troops surging across the river at Basse Ville near Warneton with the aim of taking back the ground captured by 3rd Australian Division in June 1917 and the long held Allied sector of Houplines. The two Brigades of 25th Division and their machine gun companies fought a desperate battle, their reserve brigade having been sent to meet the onslaught on the other side of Armentieres the previous day, they were assisted by their Pioneer Battalion and men of the Royal Engineers. Having been caught up in the German Offensive on the Somme in late March, the Division was still recovering and the battalions included large numbers of 19 year olds, very few of whom had full completed training in England and had only arrived in France over the last few days, by all accounts they handled the situation exceptionally well. In the Plugstreet area, the 1st Wiltshires fell back onto the defensive positions prepared by the Australians before they had been sent south. The war diary of the 1st Wiltshires notes that one of their lewis gun teams used the machine gun post in the defences on the lip of Ultimo Crater, a position our Team excavated in 2008. This line was held until the order to withdraw was given.
In the Houplines Sector the 8th Borders were also pushed back, holding a defensive line in the communication trench Nicholson’s Avenue and along the edge of Ploegsteert Wood. But the enemy found a way through behind them, moving through the gas soaked streets of Armentieres into Le Bizet and then into Plogsteert Village. The Borders found themselves surrounded, some managed to escape through Plugstreet Wood, but many were killed or taken prisoner.
North of the Douve, 19th Division were ordered to hold the defensive line on the eastern slopes of Messines and Whitesheets at all costs. The task was impossible due to overwhelming numbers of enemy and the thinly stretched defensive Battalions.
A counter attack was organised with the remaining troops of 25th Division making an attack through Plugstreet Wood and the South Africans counter-attacking at Messines. This too was unsuccessful and by 8pm the German forces had crossed the Lys west of Armentieres and the British troops were defending along the line of the Armentieres to Ballieul railway line to prevent the troops in Plugstreet and Neukirke being surrounded. By the end of the day they were forced to withdraw north and west.
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Filed under: Great War History by
PlugStreetTeam
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