Battle of Langemarck
At 4:45 a.m.on 16 August, an artillery barrage began the advance of the British troops. German flares were seen rising signalling the attack, but the German artillery response was too slow and nearly missed the attackers. In the 18th Division area, German machine-gun fire from pill-boxes caused meany losses to the 53rd Brigade, which was stopped in front of the north-west corner of Inverness Copse. Part of the brigade managed to work forward further north and formed a defensive flank, along the southern edge of Glencorse Wood. To the north, the 169th Brigade of the 56th Division advanced quickly at the start but veered to their right around boggy ground, then entered Glencorse Wood. The German main line of resistance was in a sunken road in the wood, where after a hard-fought engagement, with high losses to both sides, the German defenders were overcome and the rest of the wood occupied. The leading waves then advanced to Polygon Wood.
The 167th Brigade also had a quick start but when it reached the north end of Nonne Bosschen, found mud 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, the brigade turning round it to the left, but the gap which this formed between the 167th and 169th brigades was not closed. Another problem emerged, because the quick start had been partly caused by the rear waves pushing up, to avoid German shelling on the left of the brigade. The follow-up infantry mingled with the foremost troops and failed to mop up the captured ground and German troops who had been overrun, began sniping from behind at both brigades. The ground conditions in the 56th Division area were too awful for the tanks in support to be capable of supporting the attacks.
On the 8th Division front, the two attacking brigades got a good advance, behind an "admirable" barrage and reached the Hanebeek, where hand bridges were used to cross and continue the advance up Anzac Spur, to the green line objectives on the ridge beyond. Difficulties began on the left flank, where troops from 16th Division had not kept up with the 8th Division. After reaching the vicinity of Potsdam Redoubt a little later, the 16th Division was stranded for the next few hours, freeing up German machine-gunners north of the railway to enfilade the area of 8th Division to the south. On the right flank, the same thing happened to the 56th Division, which was stopped by fire from German strong-points and pillboxes in their area and from German artillery concentrated to the south-east. After a long fight, the 8th Division captured Iron Cross, Anzac and Zonnebeke redoubts on the rise beyond the Hanebeek, then sent parties over the ridge.
XIX Corps had the same difficulties as II Corps in preparing its attack by the 16th and 36th divisions, from north of the Ypres–Roulers railway to just south of St. Julien, which were to advance 1-mile (1.6 km) up Anzac and Zonnebeke spurs, near the Wilhelm (third) line. Providing carrying parties since the last week in July and holding ground from 4 August, in the Hanebeek and Steenbeek valleys, which were overlooked by the Germans had exhausted many men. From 1–15 August, the divisions had lost about a third of their front-line strength in casualties. Frequent reliefs during the unexpected delays caused by the rain, spread the casualties to all of the battalions in both divisions. The advance began on time and after a few hundred yards encountered German strong points, which were found undestroyed by a series of heavy artillery bombardments fired before the attack.
The 16th Division had many casualties from the Germans in Potsdam, Vampire and Borry farms, the reason being that these farms had not been properly mopped up due to a shortage of supporting infantry. As a result, German garrisons were able to shoot at the advancing British troops of the 48th Brigade from behind and none of the British troops managed to reach their objectives. The 49th Brigade on the left was also delayed by Borry Farm, which defeated several costly attacks but the left of the brigade got within 400 yards (370 m) of the top of Hill 37. The 36th Division also struggled to advance, Gallipoli and Somme farms were behind a new wire entanglement, with German machine-guns took advantage on gaps made by the British bombardment to fire shells from, which stopped the advance of the 108th Brigade. To the north, the 109th Brigade had to get across the swamp astride the Steenbeek. The infantry lost the barrage and were stopped by fire from Pond Farm and Border House. On the left troops got to Fortuin, about 400 yards (370 m) from the start line.
The attack further north was much more successful. In XVIII Corps, the 48th Division attacked at 4:45 a.m. with one brigade, capturing Border House and gun pits either side of the St. Julien–Winnipeg road, where they were held up by machine-gun fire and a small counter-attack. The capture of St. Julien was completed and consolidated along a line from Border House, to Jew Hill, the gun pits and St. Julien. Troops consolidating were fired on from Maison du Hibou and Hillock Farm, which was captured soon after, then British troops seen advancing on Springfield Farm disappeared. At 9:00 a.m., German troops gathered around Triangle Farm and at 10:00 a.m., made a counter-attack which was stopped after exhausting a battalion. At 9:30 p.m., another German counter-attack from Triangle Farm was repulsed, although another German counter attack took the gun pits and caused the Canadians to fight for them at night with some casualties from exhaustion and fire.
The 11th Division attacked with one brigade at 4:45 a.m. The right flank was held up by machine-gun fire from the 48th Division area and by pillboxes to their front, where the infantry lost the barrage. On the left, the brigade dug in 100 yards (91 m) west of the Langemarck road and the right flank dug in facing east, against fire from Maison du Hibou and the Triangle. Supporting troops from the 33rd Brigade, were caught by fire from the German pillboxes but reached the Cockcroft, passed beyond and dug in despite fire from Bulow Farm. On the left flank, these battalions reached the Langemarck road, passed Rat House and Pheasant Trench and ended their advance just short of the White House, joining with the right side of the brigade on the Lekkerboterbeek.
In the XIV Corps area, the 20th Division attacked with two brigades at 4:45 a.m. The battalions of the right brigade leap-frogged forward on a one-battalion front, crossed the Steenbeek and then advancing in single file, worming round shell craters full of water and mud. Alouette Farm, Langemarck and the first two objective lines were reached easily. At 7:50 a.m., the advance to the final objective began and immediately encountered machine-gun fire from the Rat House and White House, which continued until they were captured, the final objective being taken at 8:05 a.m., as German troops withdrew to a small wood behind White House. The left brigade advanced on a two-battalion front and encountered machine-gun fire from Au Bon Gite before it was captured and was then fired on from German blockhouses in front of Langemarck and from the railway station. Once these had been captured, the advance resumed at 8:20 a.m., despite fire from hidden parties of defenders and reached the final objective at 8:47 a.m., under fire from the Rat House. German counter-attacks began around 4:00 p.m. and advanced 200 yards (180 m) around Schreiboom, being driven back some distance later on.
The 29th Division to the north, attacked at the same time with two brigades. On the right the first objective was reached quickly and assistance given to the 20th Division further south. The Newfoundland Regiment crossed the terrain, being delayed slightly by marshy conditions and fire from Cannes Farm. The Newfoundlanders pressed on, reached the third objective and then took Japan House beyond. The left brigade took the first objective with some opposition, then encountered machine-gun fire from Champeaubert Farm in the French First Army sector and from Montmirail Farm. The advance continued to the final objective, which was reached and consolidated by 11:00 a.m. Patrols moved forward towards the Broombeek and a German counter-attack at 4:00 p.m. retook some of the farm before being stopped by exhausted troops with their artillery and small-arms fire. Langemarck and the Wilhelm (third) line, north of the Ypres–Staden railway and west of the Kortebeek had been captured, but the German strength was such that the positions were repeatedly fought over until night exhausted the troops.
French 1st Army
To the northern flank, the French operated from south of the hamlet of St. Janshoek on the east of the Steenbeek, north of Bixschoote and the edge of the floods to the Noordschoote–Luyghem road, which crossed the Yperlee at Drie Grachten (Three Canals). The Germans had counter-flooded the area between Dixmude and Bixschoote and had built fortifications to stop crossing or circumventing of the flooded area by attackers. The bridgehead of Drie Grachten was the main German defensive fortification in the area, which blocked the Noordschoote–Luyghem road where it crossed the Yperlee Canal, north of the Steenbeek, beyond the confluence with the Kortebeek, where the combined rivers became the St. Jansbeek. From Luyghem, a road ran south-east to Verbrandemis and the road from Zudyschoote and Lizenie crossed the Yperlee at Steenstraat and ran on to Dixmude. The capture of Luyghem, Merckem and the road was necessary for the French to threaten Houthoulst Forest, to the south of Dixmude and north of Langemarck. The bridgehead at Drie Grachten also gave the Germans a jumping-off point over the canal for a counter-attack across it. By 15 August, the French had closed up to the bridgehead from Bixschoote to the south-east and Noordschoote to the south-west.
West of the Yperlee Canal, the bridgehead consisted of a semi-circular work, which was built above ground, due to the waterlogged soil. Reinforced concrete shelters had been built and connected by a raised trench of concrete, earth and fascines, with a communication trench leading back to a command post. Several hundred yards forward on the causeway was a small blockhouse, joined to the work by a communication trench on the north side of the road. Barbed wire entanglements, above and below the water, extended in front of the post and blockhouse, astride the Noordschoote–Luyghem road. To the north was l'Eclusette Redoubt and another to the south, west of the Yperlee. The redoubts met with the ends of the defences on the eastern bank of the canal and enclosed the flanks of the position, 2 metres (6.6 ft) above the inundations. Platforms provided command of a wide arc of ground in front for machine guns. Across the Yperlee on the east bank, there was a rampart of reinforced concrete, behind and parallel with the canal, from opposite l'Eclusette to the southern redoubt. Communications between the concrete rampart and the defences of the Luyghem peninsula, were via the raised road from Drie Grachten to Luyghem and two footbridges through the floods, one north and one south of the road. Every 35–50 metres (38–55 yd), traverses with reinforced concrete shelters had been built.
The German redoubts in the area were much better defined targets than those across the Ypres–Staden and Ypres–Roulers railways and were more easily destroyed, as they were almost entirely above ground. The German floods hampered attack but also made moving reserves to threatened points complicated while the open country facilitated French aircraft observation of positions. The First Army objectives were the Drie Grachten bridgehead and the triangular spit of land between the Lower Steenbeek and the Yperlee Canal. The right flank was to cross the Steenbeek and assist the British XIV Corps to take the positions north-west of Langemarck and south of the Broombeek stream, which joined the Steenbeek just south of St. Janshoek. The Steenbeek was 2 metres (6.6 ft) broad and 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) deep at this point and widened between St. Janshoek and the Steenstraat–Dixmude road; from the Martjewaart reach to the Yperlee Canal it was 6 metres (20 ft) broad and 4 metres (13 ft) deep. During the night of the 15/16 and the morning of 16 August, French aircraft bombed the German defences, the bivouacs around Houthulst Forest and Lichtervelde railway station, 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of Dixmude. French and Belgian air crews flew at a very low altitude to bomb and machine-gun German troops, trains and aerodromes and shot down three German aircraft.
The attacking divisions of the French I Corps crossed the Yperlee from the north-west of Bixschoote to north of the Drie Grachten bridge-head and removed the Germans from a part of the swampy Poelsele peninsula but numerous pillboxes built in the ruins of farmhouses further back were uncaptured. The French crossed the upper Steenbeek from west of Wydendreft to a bend in the stream south-west of St. Janshoek. Keeping pace with the British, they advanced to the south bank of the Broombeek. Mondovi blockhouse held out all day and pivoting on it, the Germans counter-attacked during the night of 16/17 August to penetrate between the French and British. The attack succeeded partially and the next morning, the French and British troops on the army boundary had little observation across the narrow Broombeek valley. Apart from resistance at several blockhouses, the French had achieved their objectives of 16 August relatively easily. The German garrisons at Champaubert Farm and Brienne House held out until French artillery deluged them with shells, which brought the German defenders to surrender after an hour. The French took more than 250 prisoners, numerous guns, trench mortars and machine-guns.
North and north-east of Bixschoote, the ground sloped towards the Steenbeek and was dotted with pillboxes. Just west of the junction of the Broombeek and Steenbeek, were the Les Lilas and Mondovi blockhouses, in the angle between the streams. The French artillery had shelled the Drie Grachten bridge-head for several days and reduced it to ruins, the concrete works being easily hit by heavy artillery and on 16 August, the French infantry waded through the floods and occupied the area. On the Poelsele peninsula the German defenders resisted until nightfall before being driven back, as the French closed up to the west bank of the Martjewaart Reach of the Steenbeek. North and north-east of Bixschoote, the French reached the west bank of the St. Janshoek reach and surrounded Les Lilas. On the night of 16/17 August, French airmen set fire to the railway station at Kortemarck, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Dixmude.
On 17 August, French heavy howitzers battered Les Lilas and Mondovi blockhouses all day and by the next morning's early hours, both strong points had been breached and the garrisons taken prisoner. The total of prisoners taken since 16 August, exceeded 300 and fifteen guns had also been captured. From the southern edge of the inundations and swamps, between Dixmude and Drie Grachten, the French line had been pushed forward to the west bank of the Steenbeek, as far as the south end of St. Janshoek. South of Mondovi blockhouse, the Steenbeek had been crossed and on the extreme right, the First Army had swung northwards to the south bank of the Broombeek, which eliminated the possibility of the British Fifth Army being threatened from the north. French engineers had worked in swamps and morasses to repair roads, bridge streams and build wire entanglements despite constant German artillery fire. The advance was made west of the northern stretch of the Wilhelm (third) line.
German 4th Army
The troops of 169th Brigade of the 56th Division, which tried to follow the leading waves from Glencorse Wood, were stopped at the edge of Polygon Wood and then pushed back by a counter-attack by the German 34th Division at approximately 7:00 a.m., overwhelming the advancing British. The brigade was driven back later in the afternoon to its start line by German attacks from the south and east by troops from a regiment of the 54th Division sent back into the line.The 167th Brigade pulled back its right flank as the 169th Brigade was seen withdrawing through Glencorse Wood and at 3:00 p.m. the Germans attacked the front of 167th Brigade and the 25th Brigade of the 8th Division to the north. The area was under British artillery observation and the German attack was stopped by massed artillery fire. At 5.00 p.m. the brigade withdrew, to a better position 350 metres (380 yd) in front of its start line, to gain touch with 25th Brigade. German artillery fired continuously on a line from Stirling Castle to Westhoek and increased the rate of bombardment from noon, which isolated the attacking British battalions from reinforcements and supplies and prepared the counter-attack made in the afternoon.
As the German counter-attacks by the 34th Division on the 56th Division gained ground, the 8th Division to the north, about 1,000 metres (1,100 yd) ahead of the divisions on the flanks found itself enfiladed, as predicted by Heneker before the offensive. At about 9:30 a.m. reinforcements for Reserve Infantry Regiment 27 of the 54th Division, from the local Eingreif division, Infantry Regiment 34 of the 3rd Reserve Division, attacked over Anzac Farm Spur. SOS calls from the British infantry were not seen by their artillery observers, due to low cloud and smoke shell being fired by the Germans into their creeping barrage. An observation report from one British aircraft, failed to give enough information to help the artillery, which did not fire until too late at 10:15 a.m. The German counter-attack pressed the right flank of the 25th Brigade, which was being fired on from recaptured positions in Nonne Bosschen and forced it back, exposing the right of the 23rd Brigade to the north, which was already under pressure on its left flank and which fell back slowly to the Hanebeek stream. Another German attack at 3:45 a.m. was also not engaged by the British artillery, when mist and rain obscured the SOS signal from the infantry. The Germans "dribbled" forward and gradually pressed the British infantry back to the foot of Westhoek Ridge. That evening both brigades of the 8th Division withdrew from German enfilade fire coming from the 56th Division area, to ground just forward of their start line.
At around 9:00 a.m. the 16th and 36th Divisions were counter-attacked by the reserve regiment of the 5th Bavarian Division, supported by part of the 12th Reserve (Eingreif) Division behind a huge barrage, including smoke shell to mask the attack from British artillery observers. Despite "ideal" weather, air observation failed as it did on the II Corps front. The forward elements of both divisions were overrun and killed or captured. By 10:15 a.m. the Corps commander, Lieutenant-General H. Watts, had brought the barrage back to the start-line, regardless of survivors holding out beyond it. At 2:08 p.m. Gough ordered that a line from Borry Farm to Hill 35 and Hindu Cottage be taken to link with XVIII Corps. After consulting the divisional commanders, Watts reported that a renewed attack was impossible, since the reserve brigades were already holding the start line.
There were few German counter-attacks on the front of XVIII and XIV Corps, which had also not been subjected to much artillery fire before the attack, as the Germans had concentrated on the corps further south. Despite the "worst going" in the salient, the 48th Division got forward on its left, against fire from the area not occupied by 36th Division on its right; 11th Division advanced beyond Langemarck. The 20th and 29th Divisions of XIV Corps and the French further north, reached most of their objectives without serious counter-attack but the Germans subjected the new positions to intense artillery fire, inflicting heavy losses for several days, especially on the 20th Division. The German army group commander, Crown Prince Rupprecht wrote that the German defence continued to be based on holding the Gheluvelt Plateau and Houthoulst Forest as bastions, British advances in between were not serious threats. Ludendorff's opinion was less calm because, despite writing that 10 August was a German success, the British attack on the 16 August was devastating as Poelcappelle had been reached and despite a great effort, the British could only be pushed back a short distance.