16 May 1915:
Having arrived in their positions in the British trenches at 11pm the night before, the artillery bombardment of the German wires started at 2.45 am. At the same time the men were given a tot of rum.
3 minutes before the attack at 3.15 , the first two platoons were lined up ready to scale the ladders.
The first attack proceeded so quickly towards the German line that as they reached it they had to slow down as British shells were still firing overhead. The Brigade diary notes that the few Germans still in their trenches were bayonetted.
The Scots Guards then ventured further , wheeling left , as subsequent pairs of platoons arrived. The final platoon consolidating the position in the trenches and waiting there for the Borders regiments.
In the general commotion a number of men , rather than wheeling left carried on straight with the Royal Welsh Fusilliers. Whilst they met little resistance they did meet with heavy machine gun crossfire suffering ' somewhat heavy casualties'.
Most of the men did incline left, partly because their left flank was exposed because the Border regiment had not been able to advance as planned. Again they came under heavy machine gun fire. At this point the whole of F troop came under attack. Some 40 men made their way through , but the rest became completely encircled by Germans. The Battalion diary comments that when these men were subsequently found they were lying amidst dead Germans- 'from appearances they must have fought the battle to the finish'.
The fighting continued till 5pm and at nightfall at about 8.30 the Scots Guards moved into the German trenches with the Grenadier Guards occupying the front line.
At this time the whole of F company was missing, one whole platoon of LF company was missing and RF company had only 30 men left. Of 16 officers at the start of the day, only 6 could be accounted for at the end.
Blog note:
If you have any connection with Louis Harley or any of the men listed in his diaries, or if you have found this useful please add a comment.
3 minutes before the attack at 3.15 , the first two platoons were lined up ready to scale the ladders.
The first attack proceeded so quickly towards the German line that as they reached it they had to slow down as British shells were still firing overhead. The Brigade diary notes that the few Germans still in their trenches were bayonetted.
The Scots Guards then ventured further , wheeling left , as subsequent pairs of platoons arrived. The final platoon consolidating the position in the trenches and waiting there for the Borders regiments.
In the general commotion a number of men , rather than wheeling left carried on straight with the Royal Welsh Fusilliers. Whilst they met little resistance they did meet with heavy machine gun crossfire suffering ' somewhat heavy casualties'.
Most of the men did incline left, partly because their left flank was exposed because the Border regiment had not been able to advance as planned. Again they came under heavy machine gun fire. At this point the whole of F troop came under attack. Some 40 men made their way through , but the rest became completely encircled by Germans. The Battalion diary comments that when these men were subsequently found they were lying amidst dead Germans- 'from appearances they must have fought the battle to the finish'.
The fighting continued till 5pm and at nightfall at about 8.30 the Scots Guards moved into the German trenches with the Grenadier Guards occupying the front line.
At this time the whole of F company was missing, one whole platoon of LF company was missing and RF company had only 30 men left. Of 16 officers at the start of the day, only 6 could be accounted for at the end.
Blog note:
If you have any connection with Louis Harley or any of the men listed in his diaries, or if you have found this useful please add a comment.
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