Last 100 Days - Arras 26 Aug 1918

Battle of Arras 26 Aug – 2 Sep

Two weeks after completing the Battle of Amiens, the Canadian Corps received 12,000 replacement troops, moved back to the Arras sector and prepared to mount the next major assault. Planning for a 4 Division attack that took 5 months for Vimy Ridge was completed for Arras in less than a week.

The over sized Engineering corps laid light railways and transported over 80,000 artillery shells to support the attack.

The objective was to break through the Drocourt-Queant Line as part of the Hindenburg Line, the strongest defensive line of the German Army. However, in order to get to the D-Q Line, the Canadians had to push through 4 defensive lines before they could attack the D-Q Line.

The 3rd Division would attack North of the Arras-Cambrai (straight Roman Road in the middle of the image) and the Second Division would attack South of the Arras-Cambrai road.

The Germans knew the Canadians were back in Arras, so there could be no surprise attack like Amiens. The Canadians attacked in the darkness at 0300 on 26 August to limit effectiveness of the multiple German machine gun emplacements. The 3rd Division quickly took Monchy-le-Preux, leapfrogging battalions to press the attack. One battalion would take an objective, then a fresh battalion would push through to the next objective.

The 2nd Division was also successful on the first day, meeting their first day objectives. As at Amiens, the Germans quickly called up reinforcement battalion and the fighting on the second day became much tougher.

On 27 August, the 3rd Division got to the Fresnes-Rouvroy line. The 2nd Division had a miserable day with machine gun fire from Upton Wood causing heavy casualties.

The defences were 4 or 5 belts of barbed wire 60m wide and multiple machine gun emplacements in each line. Tanks did not play a large part in this battle as the ground was very heavily shelled and trench laden from the previous year’s battles.

On 28 August the 3rd Division broke through the Fresnes-Rouvroy line, but the 2nd Division suffered heavy losses. On the next day the 1st Division replaced the 2nd Division in the line and successfully attacked the Fresnes-Rouvroy line but entering the trenches, then moving along the trenches to sweep up the Germans. The attacks continued until 01 September as both Divisions fought to improve their positions for the attack on the D-Q Line.

Soldiers advancing across the open fields for the attack.

At 0500 on 02 September, the assault on the D-Q Line commenced. 4th Division attacked through Dury and despite initial gains suffered heavy losses from machine gun fire. The 1st Division in the south were successful pushing through to Cagincourt.

Both Divisions made significant gains but held on to tenuous positions throughout the night.  The Divisions were ready to press the attack the next day, but scouting parties could not find any Germans. They had retreated over night to the east side of the Canal du Nord, setting the stage for the final major battle for the Canadian Corps.

Again, the Canadians had made impressive gains throughout the battle, but suffered over 11,000 casualties in winning the ground.

Canadians move up through the fields during the Battle of Arras.

Conscripts in the Last 100 Days

I was always curious as to where all the replacement soldiers came from in the last 100 days, as there were almost 12,000 casualties from Amiens, more than 11,000 from the Battle of the D-Q Line and 10,000 from the Canal du Nord. By the time of the Last 100 days the 5th Division which was stationed in the UK had been used up, so the replacements in the Last 100 Days were conscripts.

The process of call-ups began in January 1918. Certain exemptions from call-up were also lifted in the spring of 1918. Over 90% of the conscripts sought exemption for their status, with only a small portion being successful. Of the 401,882 men who registered for military service, 124,588 men were drafted to the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Of those, 99,651 were taken on strength, while the rest were found unfit for service or discharged. In total, 47,509 conscripted men were sent overseas and 24,132 served in France. The rest served in Canada.  There was some hazing of the conscripts during initial training, but by the time they got to the field, they were part of the constant stream of replacements after every battle, so they were readily accepted.

8,227 Canadians were killed in the Last 100 days. Of that number 1,032 were conscripts. There were over 34,000 Canadians wounded in the same period, so likely more than 4,000 conscripts would have been wounded as well based on the percentage losses.

The numbers from the 1st Division are typical. They lost over 3,300 personnel during each battle, but were back up to strength a few weeks later, a testament to the importance of the conscripts at the end of the war.

1st Division Strength the Last 100 Days
Amiens
	Officers	Other Ranks
Start of Battle	452	11,072
Casualties	170 (38%)	3,148 (28%)
Arras
Start of Battle	429	12,432
Casualties	163 (38%)	3,224 (26%)
Canal du Nord
Start of Battle	419	11,861
Casualties	209 (50%)	3,764 (32%)

Battlefield Tour

Once again, our tour traces the bottom portion of the battlefield from start to finish then loops back along the top to create an efficient driving loop. The Canadians had to smash through 4 separate trench lines before getting to their true objective of the Drocourt-Queant Line.

The tour points are shown in order of travel.

Our first stop was the Tilloy Bunkers, just past the Tilloy British Cemetery. As can be seen on the map, the German defences in blue were layered in depth, so the Canadians had to fight their way through multiple defensive lines.

Along with wide bands of barbed wire, multiple concrete bunkers were placed as machine gun posts or observation areas.

These bunkers are about 100m apart.

In the spring during plowing, all sorts of wartime artifacts come to the surface. This shell was the only bit of Iron Harvest I saw during this tour.

This point is on the southern border of the Canadian Advance, the view to the north along the power lines shows the jump off point for the Canadian 2nd Division.

While heading to the next stop, I ran into a detour because of construction on a bridge, so while I was trying another approach, I ran across a pretty little cemetery called Tank Cemetery.

One of the interesting features of the cemetery was a row of headstones very close together against one wall. These were all members from the British Cameron Highlanders. 64 of them were killed on 23 April 1917 during the 1917 Battle of Arras and were buried in a mass grave on 28 April, after the battle had moved on.

Several of the markers had two names on them. This one struck me because of the two personal inscriptions.

On whose soul sweet Jesus have mercy. Let perpetual light shine upon him.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.

The detour led me past Hibers Trench Cemetery, in a pretty setting on a hill. Most of the fallen were killed in 1917, but there is a lone Canadian Pvt F. Gillers 3rd Battalion, who was killed on 29 August 1918.

Finally made it to Wancourt Tower, the second stop. This shows the advance of the 3rd Division throughout 26 August.

The tower had been destroyed in earlier fighting, so was just a pile of rubble.

The next stop was the Sun Quarry cemetery. As shown on the map, this is in the midst of the German Trench system (blue lines). The 2nd Division captured this area on 27 August fighting along the banks of the Sensee River.

The first row of the cemetery has the head stones close together, indicating the bodies were buried in a long trench. The 26 soldiers were killed mostly on 29 and 30 August.

There is a slight ridge just east of the cemetery and it is covered with wind turbines.

Looking west you can see another collection of wind turbines. It is always windy in this area, and from this cemetery you can see over 100 wind turbines.

Again, the ground is gently rolling farmland, great for the defenders, and hell for the attackers.

Next stop was just outside the village of Vis-en-Artois. The plan for the 28 Aug was to have the 2nd Division continue the attack. The division was disorganized from the previous day’s battles and the attack didn’t go in until 1230. They immediately ran into heavy machine gun and artillery fire. The famous 22nd Regiment (the Van Doos) lost all of their officers and 460 men. Maj Georges Vanier (future Governor General of Canada) was wounded, and as he was being attended to was hit by an artillery shell which killed the stretcher bearer and resulted in the loss of Vanier’s right leg. A small family aside, in 1959 Governor General and Mrs. Vanier visited Moncton, and my wife Katharine then 10, played the piano for their visit.

On 29 August the 1st Division replaced the 2nd Division and on 30 August attacked down the trench lines clearing the German Garrisons. The Germans continued to bring in reserve units and fierce fighting continued for days.

The two trees in the centre of the image, are at the Sun Quarry Cemetery.

The high ground in the distance is Monchy-le-Preux.

Next stop was the Upton Wood Cemetery. The fighting to date was just to position the Canadians for the assault on their primary objective, the Drocourt-Queant Line.

Upton Wood Cemetery has 226 burials, 217 of whom were Canadian, with only 8 unknowns. This list included 56 from the 1st Battalion, the unit of Sgt Robert Connelly who we have talked about previously. 49 of the 1st Battalion men were killed on 30 August during the push through the German Trenches. The cemetery is adjacent to Upton Wood, the site of many Canadian Casualties.

I took pictures of many of the 1st Battalion headstones, and the inscription on 18-year-old F.W. Newman’s was compelling for me:

He won the Martyr’s glory and passed on to his reward.

While in the cemeteries I often think about how fortunate I was to have my military career in times of relative peace. A few decades earlier and that could well have been me in the trenches, or as a parent of a soldier, and I have a hard time thinking I would have such benevolent thoughts on the death of myself or my son.

In the distance the Dury Canadian Memorial is almost visible.

The next stop was Dominion Cemetery jumping off point for the 1st Division attack on the Drocourt-Queant Line. The line was protected by 4 or 5 60 m wide belts of barbed wire and multiple machine gun nests, the toughest challenge that the Canadian Corps had experienced.

213 of 230 burials are Canadians, with 112 killed on 02 September in the battle of the D-Q Line.

Another inspiring inscription on Pvt S.C. Stevens head stone reads:

He died the noblest death a man can die, fighting for God and Right and Liberty.

Many people do tours to honour all of the Victoria Cross winners. I don’t specifically seek them out, but keep an eye out, and note the ones I spot. Sgt Arthur Knight single handedly attacked a German trench, knocked out one machine gun and killed or captured all of the occupants of the trench. He was wounded shortly afterwards and died of his wounds.

There was a total of 7 Victoria Crosses awarded on 02 September during the assault on the D-Q Line, illustrating the individual efforts and sacrifice required for a successful attack.

Once again, the attack was carried across open fields, a tremendous disadvantage to the attackers.

Next stop was at the Dury Canadian Memorial, the jumping off point for the 4th Division.

The Dury Canadian Memorial is one of the 8 Canadian Memorials in France and Belgium and specifically celebrated the attack on the D-Q Line.

The inscription celebrated the attack on the D-Q line.

The Canadian Corps, 100,000 strong attacked at Arras on 26th August 1918, stormed successive German lines and here on Sep 2nd broke and turned the main German positions on the Western Front and reached the Canal du Nord.

One of the Victoria Cross winners that day was Private Claude Patrick Joseph Nunnery, VC, DCM, MM. The Germans attacked the Canadian Assault positions the night before the final push to the D-Q Line, and Pvt Nunnery charged forward in the midst of the artillery barrage and helped repel the attack. He was wounded later the same day and killed on 18 September. In addition to the Victoria Cross, he had won the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal, the three medals available to non commissioned officers. He was extremely courageous, but had nonexistent discipline, having been broken in ranks 3 times for various insubordinations.

The land around the memorial appears quite flat.

However the elevation profile along the blue line shows the Dury Memorial is on the second peak, and there is a significant drop in altitude as the troops progressed to the west.

The next stop was at the Dury Crucifix Cemetery, moving North. The 4th Division suffered heavy casualties in the fight. The Germans decided their position was untenable, and crossed over the Canal du Nord, digging in to set up the last major battle of the war for the Canadians.

The Dury Crucifix Cemetery was created in September 1918 and held mainly 4th Division members. After the war it became a concentration cemetery which now contains 2,058 soldiers, 1,766 (86%) of whom are unidentified.  The burials were largely from Battlefield clearances, mainly from the 1917 Battle of Arras.

Next, we moved down to the southern boundary of the Canadian Corps to the Buissy Switch, a major defensive line that joined up with the D-Q Line.

Near the Buissy Switch is the Queant Road Cemetery. The Cemetery was created in October 1918, and expanded to 2,226 graves after the war, mainly from Australian fighting at Bullecourt in 1917.

The land remains very flat in this area.

The weather was extremely changeable, with all of these photos taken within a few minutes. A rare ray of sunshine snuck into this photo.

Another Victoria Cross recipient, Capt P.H Cherry of the Australian Imperial Force, who won his VC on 27 March 1917 during the battle of Bullecourt. His citation reads:

'During the attack on LAGNICOURT on the morning of 26th March 1917, this Officer was in Command of "C" Coy. who stormed and cleared the village. His gallantry and bravery are beyond description. After all the Officers of his Company were casualties, he carried on in the face of fierce opposition, and mopped up the town in a most careful and determined manner. He continuously sent reports of the progress being made, and when held up for some time by an enemy strong point, immediately organised Lewis gunners, bombers and rifle bombers, and led the rush which captured this position. His leadership, coolness, and bravery set a wonderful example to his men. On clearing the village he took charge of the situation, and with about 100 men, and with the assistance of Lieut. STAPLETON, was mainly instrumental in beating off a most determined counter-attack made by the enemy with about 1000 men. He was wounded in the leg at about 6.30 a.m. but would not leave his post, encouraging all around him to hold out in the face of fierce opposition. He was unfortunately killed by an enemy shell at about 4.30 p.m. During the day he personally killed 9 Germans. He had previous to this attack been wounded on three occasions, and was recommended for a D.S.O. when the Battalion attacked the MALT TRENCH north of WARLENCOURT on March 1st 1917.'

The concentration cemeteries often commemorate previous burials that were lost, usually when the cemetery became part of the battlefield again.

The lost graves are kept together.

Driving the battlefields always comes up with surprises. In this case it was the Digger Memorial to the Australians for their efforts around Bullecourt in 1917.

The Australians spent a great deal of time, and sacrificed a large number of troops in this battle.

The sun came out just in time to mess the front of the statue, however the back was great!>

Completing the loop and moving back on the northern section of the battlefield we stop between Boiry and Monchy-le-Preux to look at the action of the 3rd Division 26-28 August. My grandfather’s regiment the 58th Battalion had a breakthrough of the Fresnes-Rouvroy Line, the key to success in this sector. Of course, by then my Grandfather William Johnston had been wounded 2 years ago and was working at the Canadian Training Facilities in England.

Any trip to Monchy-le-Preux has to include a visit to the Newfoundland Regiment Caribou at Monchy, symbolizing the tremendous loss at Monchy in 1917, followed by a heroic stand by the remaining 10 members of the Regiment, who held off the Germans for several hours, thereby saving thousands of casualties that would have been lost in the subsequent retaking of Monchy-le-Preux.

The final stop of the tour was at the Orange Hill Cemetery, in the area taken by the 3rd Division on the first Day of the battle.

Orange Hill Cemetery is a tiny plot with 42 burials, all from the 3rd Division and almost all of them killed on 26 August.  In row B (the shorter one shown in the front) there are 8 members of the 58th Battalion (my Grandfather’s old Battalion) all killed by a single shell as they were being relieved after heavy fighting.

This cemetery is about a km down a muddy track. I had been dodging rain all day, but as this was my last stop, I was sure I was going to poured on and possibly stuck in the mud, so I didn’t do as careful examination of the headstones as normal. I was able to see one member of the 58th Battalion, Pvt E Lobsinger, one of eight killed by a single shell.

The other headstone that caught my eye was the name of my good buddy Terry Sullivan. Not likely a relative but interesting nonetheless.

Traveling over the battlefield, visiting cemeteries big and small gives you a good appreciation of the success of the battle, the large amount of ground recovered, and of course the heavy price paid for the victory.

Walking the cemeteries, you can really feel the radiation of the souls from the ground. I like the tiny cemeteries the best, you can reasonably visit or acknowledge everyone in the cemetery. I’m glad that the Commonwealth left many of the small cemeteries and did not amalgamate them like the French and Germans. The massive cemeteries are impressive, but somewhat impersonal as it is impossible to focus on one individual.

Although the losses were very heavy, this extended push by the Canadians likely shortened the war by a year. High level Allied and German staff were planning for the war to continue into 1919, with untold additional losses.

The pictures from Arras make it easy to visualize the troops walking or fighting their way through the fields. This photo shows the Canadians in the distance, marching to their next battle.