Location 17 – The Ancre Heights: Desire Trench

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Directions - The final phases of the Battle of the Somme occurred on what are known as the Ancre Heights north-east of Thiepval. To reach this area from the Butte return to the D929 and proceed in the direction of Albert. At the crossroads in Le Sars take the right turn, the D11 to Pys and Miraumont. Pass through Pys and then take the D74 to Miraumont. Just before you reach the bridge over the River Ancre take the left turn (the D151) to Grandcourt. Once in Grandcourt take the left turn up the hill signposted the D151 to Thiepval. After a short while on the left you will see a green CWGC sign for Stump Road Cemetery.

Practical Information – You can either park in the wide entrance to the farmtrack leading to the cemetery or drive up the track and stop the car further up. A word of warning though. Whilst the track is by no means busy (on two occasions I have seen no other vehicles come up or down), it does get very muddy past the cemetery entrance and there is very limited turning space. Unless you have a 4x4 it is best to leave the car at the bottom and walk.

Personal Link – With so many cemeteries and memorials, the sheer scale of sacrifice sometimes makes it difficult for the visitor to put the Battle of the Somme into a human context – to relate to it if you will. The terrible events played out here in 1916, as they fade from personal experience, are so alien to our safe and comfortable lives that it sometimes takes a personal link to the past to bring home to us the significance of what these men really went through.

Just such a personal link exists at this spot for me as my great-great uncle, Lance Corporal Charles Arman of the 7th East Kents (the "Buffs"), fought here in November 1918 during the closing days of the Somme offensive. I have included below some extracts from my research, which is provided in full within the Tracing Military Ancestors section of this website. The attack on Desire Trench was only one amongst thousands of individual operations conducted during the Battle of the Somme but, in microcosm, it provides a good summary of what the men on the ground had to face. I would encourage other battlefield tourists to research the exploits of their military ancestors to make their trip to the battlefields of the Western Front more insightful.

Historical Notes – In early November, despite heavy rains, which turned much of the battlefield into a quagmire, Haig planned a further phase. Known as the Battle of the Ancre, it was designed to shatter the German line astride the River Ancre, a tributary of the Somme. Haig also secretly hoped that a late advance would create a more favourable impression with the French at the upcoming Allied conference at Chantilly.

7th East Kents were to be part of this new attack. The battalion was not new to the Somme battlefield. They had been fighting almost continuously since 1st July. Brigaded in the 55th alongside the 7th Queen's, 8th East Surreys and 7th Royal West Kents, they formed part of the 18th (Eastern) Division under Major-General Ivor Maxse. Assaulting the southern part of the German line on 1st July opposite Montauban, the division captured all its initial objectives and two weeks later took Trτnes Wood. Then in September and October they were in action again, finally capturing the German trench system at Thiepval where the Memorial to the Missing now stands and the fortified Schwaben Redoubt beyond. They were well established as one of the best divisions in the British Army – a division that got things done.

On 13th November when the Battle of the Ancre began, the battalion was behind the lines at Albert, moving up to Ovillers on 14th. Here they received orders that A and B Companies (Coys) would move up to the front line and take over Sixteen Street and Hessian Trench on the 16th with C and D Coys remaining at Ovillers in reserve. Battalion Headquarters also moved into Hessian Trench where they would take over a stretch of the line, which included A and B Coys and two companies of the 7th Queen's.

A and B Coys reached the front line at 1:50am on 17th November and at 2:30pm the plan of attack for the following day was explained to them. Just after 6 am the following morning, 55th Brigade was to advance to and capture Desire Trench, the first of two trench lines (the second being Grandcourt Trench) south of the village of Grandcourt. To their right would be the 4th Canadian Division tasked with taking the right hand portion of Desire Trench and Desire Support Trench beyond. 7th Queen's would advance to the left of the 7th East Kents and the 7th Royal West Kents on their right were to maintain contact with the Canadians.

The weather on the morning of the 18th was bitterly cold with snow flurries. At 5:30am A and B Coys of the 7th East Kents moved out into the darkness of no man's land. As H-Hour approached the British artillery opened up a moving shrapnel barrage hoping to neutralise the German defenders. Then, at 6:10am, the assault companies moved forward behind it in two waves of two platoons each, although some shells fell short causing casualties amongst the British infantry. Soon they were out of sight – lost in the gloom and mist of a November morning.

Seconds later a German barrage broke on the attacker's "jumping-off" trench (Regina Trench) becoming intense by 6:45am. 7th East Kent's Headquarters, sheltering as best they could from the German barrage, waited for news from the assaulting companies but no information came back. Two runners were sent out from Regina Trench but both were killed by German fire. By 7 am wounded started to return but none with any concrete information on whether the attack had been successful. Unfortunately, even the light of morning failed to reveal the fate of A and B Companies – the ground fell away short of the objective, obscuring it and a heavy mist clung to the ground. Five more runners were sent out – one was wounded and three were not seen again. Only one got a view of Desire Trench and returned but could not give any details of who held it.

By mid-morning the headquarters staff in Regina Trench, were becoming increasingly desperate for news and the Bombing Officer, 2nd Lt Howcroft volunteered to take a section forward to take a look. However, almost as soon as he left the trench he was shot dead by a German sniper. Wounded continued to come back, some talking about the objective being "full of Germans".

Meanwhile, to the right of the 7th East Kents, the 7th Royal West Kents had been more fortunate. Assisted by the excellent progress of the Canadians on their right, they had taken their allotted portion of Desire Trench and were now trying to bomb their way along it to where the East Kents should have been. At 4:15pm two platoons of D Coy who had been moved up from Ovillers to act as a battalion reserve, were sent to establish contact with A and B Coys but were driven back by German fire. A further patrol met heavy resistance and only found its way back to Regina Trench early the following morning.

By then, with the battle already having lasted for 18 hours, the Commanding Officer of 7th East Kents ordered that Desire Trench must be taken at all costs and C Coy and the remainder of D Coy were brought up from reserve. With the news that 7th Royal West Kents were now only yards from the presumed location of A and B Coys at a position known as Point 66, D Coy under Captain Wood was sent to the right, through the 7th Royal West Kent's' positions and across their axis of advance into Desire Trench. Moving along Desire Trench, they reached A and B Coy's objective at 6:30pm. During the evening patrols reached Stump Road (at that time a trench line running at right angles between Regina and Desire Trenches). The War Diary states that "no enemy were encountered". At 7pm orders were received to evacuate Desire Trench up to 200 yards west of Point 66. The assault on Desire Trench was over. But what had happened to A and B Companies of the 7th East Kents?

In the hours immediately following the fighting, Major Mitford-Brice, who was responsible for keeping the battalion's War Diary, debriefed members of D Coy who had eventually reached the objective and recorded his own views on what had happened. It is worth recounting this part of the War Diary in full:

Examination of the ground over which A and B Coys assaulted noted:

1. Shell holes (25-30 yards south of Desire Trench) used by the Germans across A Coy front to avoid the barrage/then as resistance posts with supplies of bombs – number of dead included Captain H. A. Dyson, A Coy Commanding Officer, found here.
2. B Coy front, fewer bodies and no shell holes.
3. Much British equipment found in the left-hand area of Desire Trench.
4. Dugouts for 80 men found in Desire Trench (inside were two dead Germans).

The following points should be noted:

1. There was only one unwounded survivor of A Coy. He followed 7th Royal West Kents into the attack when a gap opened up with 7th East Kents.
2. All officers of A/B Coys were dead, wounded or missing.
3. On the evening of 19th, Captain Wood discovered an officer and several men of A Coy and 2 men of 7th Royal West Kents all badly wounded in dugouts in Desire Trench. All hit in front of the objective and Germans brought them in late afternoon. The Germans, who had treated them well, had packed up at dawn on the 19th instant and left them. The Germans had also brought in other wounded men.
4. Germans fired heavily from Point 66, Sixteen Street and Stump Road during the attack.
5. Our shrapnel barrage inefficient and short (wounding a platoon commander and his sergeant).
6. Heavy German counter-barrage on Regina Trench.
7. Runners could not provide information and all but one killed or wounded.
8. D Coy suffered 30% casualties from rifle fire.
9. Possible some elements of Desire Trench were taken but overwhelmed by enemy reinforcements from Stump Road.
10. Very dark and snowing at zero-hour and touch must have been difficult to maintain.
11. Aircraft, prior to attack, reported no sign of the enemy in Grandcourt or Desire Trench, but post battle intelligence summary concludes there were three German companies present.

The men before going 'over the top' had been told to expect little opposition and I know they were confident.

Major Mitford-Brice
On behalf of Lt-Col commanding Buffs

Casualty returns for the 7th East Kents for the period 18th to 21st November were 3 officers killed, 4 wounded and 1 missing with 23 other ranks killed, 76 wounded and 124 missing – 231 in total. 7th Queen's to their left suffered a similar fate with the two assault companies being decimated by German fire. Just one action on one day in one phase of one offensive in one First World War battle. Yet, to put it in perspective, more British soldiers were killed in this long forgotten action than have been killed in Afghanistan during eight years of conflict.

Charles Arman, my great-great uncle, was one of the casualties arising from the disastrous attack on Desire Trench. He died of his wounds at the base hospital in Rouen four days later on 22nd November 1916 and is buried in St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen. Many of his mates are buried close to where they fell in Stump Road Cemetery – 119 from the 7th East Kents alone. Of all the cemeteries I have visited the epitaphs here are some of the most poignant. "Not lost, but gone before, not dead, but sleeping", "God be with you, till we meet again, from mother and all", "Though lost to sight, to memory ever dear, mum & dad". These are just a few of the moving tributes to the fallen that echo down the years from a battle long ago in a place far from home.