5th September 1914, Hensies.
The attacks had gone in, the German shelling which had been striking along the canal edge and causing casualties amongst the Territorial Force 15 pounder gunners, lifted and crashed down on the attacking brigade. The attack they had attempted faltered, but then they rallied and rushed the bridges over the canal, crossing the canal at the bridge and over the locks they pushed onwards towards the slag heap. The Manchester Brigade had provided the attacking infantry, with 7th Battalion going into the attack first. The plan that the brigade commander had developed for the attack was simple, the 7th Battalion cross the canal and capture any German positions near the canal. The 6th and 8th Battalions would then cross the canal and push up onto the slag heaps, digging in and consolidating their position. The 5th Battalion would provide a reserve and reinforcement for the attacking battalions.
A battery of 15 pounders pushed forward with the 7th Battalion almost to the water’s edge, the German infantry, fired on the advancing British troops but the attack was so unexpected that they seemed paralysed into indecision. A single machine gun was emplaced in the upper floor of a farmhouse nearby, it extracted a tithe of the lead battalion, but the supporting gunners spotted the position and managed to suppress the gun before it completely blunted the attack. The German artillery was firing effectively but their focus had been on attacking the British defenders and not repelling an assault on their lines.
The British first wave albeit with heavy losses had managed to capture the German positions on the far side of the canal, this was the signal for the second part of the attack to go in. The two territorial units had already advanced almost to the canal edge, they used the shallow draining ditches which crisscrossed the flat farmland as cover whilst they waited for the first wave of the attack to go in.
The subalterns lead their men out of the ditches, they crowded the canal paths and crossed over the canal. As they advanced, they did not stop for the scattered bodies of the men of the 7th battalion, they pushed on, their discipline held. The stretcher bearers of both the attacking Manchester Brigade and the London Brigade holding the canal line would deal with the wounded.
They reached the limit of the advance of the 7th from here on it would be they who faced the foe, their courage would determine the success or failure of the attack. The few older officers and NCOs who had fought in South Africa gave steadying advice and then the order came. “Battalion will Fix Bayonets” “Fix Bayonets” with that order a glimmering line of sword bayonets sprouted atop the Magazine Lee Enfield rifles which equipped the battalion, nearly a foot of double-edged steel glinting in the sun. The whistles blew and subalterns, men who a short month ago had been solicitors and management trainees, schoolteachers and the like gripped their swords and lead their men into the storm of steel. Their training on drill evenings and annual camps had been limited, but their orders were simple advance to the top of the slag heaps and dig in, hold until relieved.
The German defenders had responded quickly to the British attack, but they German infantry units had been expecting to go on the attack. They had not expected the British to attempt to storm the high ground north of the canal, the area was a wilderness of slag heaps, coal mounds and mine workings. Only a small number of German troops were occupying it, mainly artillery observers and signallers. Most of the German soldiers were not positioned along the canal line but rather were occupying a number of farmhouses and a light skirmishing line in the ditches behind the canal out of observation of the British frontline. The small number of Machine guns were positioned to attack the British line and support their own offensive, they were not so well placed to defend.
The British Infantry stormed forward, remembering annual camps and led by their Officers and NCO’s they kept moving forward, seeking the cover of any dead ground and fire and movement they advanced rapidly on the slag heaps, gaining the tops of the heaps, they used the advantage of being in enfilade of the German lines.
The next hour was one of carnage, the attacking British battalions had managed to do two things, bring up all eight of the maxim guns attached to the brigade and bring up a unit of signallers, who had managed to rig a field telegraph line but who had also brought semaphore flags.
The Maxim guns were able to fire down onto the German infantry, their hasty cover which had provided adequate protection from observers on the other side of the canal provided no such protection from machine guns placed above them and in line or even rearward of their positions. In addition to the machine gun fire, which was ripping out, the British Territorials were demonstrating the value of the Magazine Lee Enfield Riffle, firing upwards of 10 aimed shots per minute into the disintegrating lines of German infantry. The signallers were attempting to establish communications with the artillery of the London Division, in an attempt to get them into action, but it was proving to be slower than planned for, the combination of signalling errors and the lack of forward observers was hampering effective fire. Eventually a number of enterprising gunner officers made their way forward to direct the heavy battery and the 5” howitzers but by the time they had done this the opportunity for really effective execution had been lost.
The 15 pounder guns had contributed somewhat mainly by firing shrapnel which hampered the attempts of the Germans to withdraw from the beaten zone of the maxim guns and the rifles.
The attempt by the Worcester’s was much less successful, they had been held up by more machine guns who had caused severe casualties as soon as the attack commenced. They managed to storm across the canal, but the local German regimental commander responded with a near instantaneous counter attack forcing the battered remnants back over the canal. They withdrew back through the British lines in some disorder, leaving many men dead around the locks and bridges they had attempted to use. More men had retreated as darkness had fallen, with many wounded recovered by searching stretcher bearers, the battalion had lost many of its officers and NCO's.
Reviewing the reports and his own observations, Byng was surprised by the success of the Manchester Brigade, the men of that brigade had managed to capture their objective and cause a significant disruption to the German attack. On the other hand a near identical objective which was to be attacked by a single battalion of regulars turned into a bloodbath. Losses where higher for the Worcester’s than for the entirety of the Manchester Brigade, 200 dead and 300 wounded, whilst the butchers bill for the Manchester’s in the initial attack was 180 dead, mainly from the 7th battalion, the 6th and 8thbattalions had not suffered as badly in their attack on the slag heap. Although now that they were holding it, they were coming under sustained artillery fire as the Germans would attempt to push them off the position prior to attacking the canal line defences.