A GALLANT FAILURE

Something for David Cameron’s centenary plans, 13^th October 1915:

The Battle for the Hohenzollern Redoubt marks the end of the Battle of Loos in northern France, World War I.

Map as at 13 October 1915. Hohenzollern Redoubt is slightly left of centre;

British trenches at lower left in blue; German at upper right in red

The objective of the 46^th Division’s's attack was capture of the "The Dump," an old mine slag heap which was strategically important in the Hohenzollern Redoubt's defenses.

The assault began with an artillery bombardment at 1200 hours on Wednesday 13^th October 1915. Following the release of gas at 1400 hours, the 46th (North Midland) Division advanced over No-Man's Land towards its objective. After intense and fierce fighting, small gains were made, but consolidation was impossible.

The battle started with the usual artillery barrage in the early morning. After a lengthy pause, it was followed with a gas attack, which proved to be ineffective. Once again, the high command demanded a pause before the troops went over the top. This decision gave the Germans the opportunity to occupy their positions in a state of readiness for the attack they expected.

Dawson

It was on this day that James Lennox Dawson courageously exposed himself to great danger in order to save the lives of his men who were exposed to gas leaking from three cylinders. For his action he was awarded a Victoria Cross. He did survive and died aged 76 in 1967. That is something to celebrate.

The British casualties in this action consisted of 3,763 officers and men. It was the Division's first major action after its arrival on the Western Front, but was a gallant failure. The casualties incurred that afternoon changed forever the fine pre-war territorial character of the Division.

On the 91st anniversary of the assault, a memorial was unveiled to commemorate the officers and men of the 46th (North Midland) Division who became casualties on 13^th  October 1915. The Memorial was designed by Michael Credland and takes the form of an octagonal broken column 46 inches high. It is built from Portland stone with two tiers of steps forming the base. The broken column of the memorial is intended to signify the loss of the head of the family and the loss of an army column. The angle of cut at the top of the column is 46 degrees. The pitch line of the steps is also 46 degrees. The Inscription "Their Country Found Them Ready", which is carved on the top step of the Memorial, was chosen by Martin Middlebrook. It comes from the popular war-time song "Keep the home fires burning" composed by Ivor Novello in 1915.