Hohenzollern Redoubt
Encyclopedia
The Hohenzollern Redoubt, near to Auchy-les-Mines
in France
, was a German fortification on the Western Front
in World War I
.
(historians generally take the battle to have lasted from September 25-October 13). The 26th Brigade of the 9th (Scottish) Division had the unenviable task of assaulting the Redoubt, a warren of defensive works that surrounded the pre-war mining complex Fosse 8. Although the British were initially able to penetrate the Redoubt, ferocious German resistance ultimately saw to it that, by early October, British forces were confined to holding little more than the West Face of the Redoubt. Vicious, close-quarter fighting continued here into the middle of October. Indeed, the continued fighting for the Redoubt accounts for why the larger Battle of Loos is conventionally taken to have lasted until October 13. After September 28, the rest of the ground that had comprised the Loos battlefield had ceased to be the scene of major fighting. On October 2, the benefactor of Cardiff City Football Club, Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart
, was killed whilst leading the 6th battalion, The Welsh Regiment in a night attack on the Redoubt aged 32. In the later October fighting for the Redoubt, the Guards Division was heavily engaged on October 8 in beating back German assaults. The British made their own efforts to take over the Redoubt
in October, such as the attack launched by the 46th (North Midland) Division (TF) on October 13, 1915. 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. Below follows an in-depth account of the Division's activities during the fighting for the Redoubt.
The objective of the 46th Division'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 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.
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
.
/Geoffrey Vickers aged 21 of The Sherwood Foresters (The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) held a barrier at the Hohenzollern Redoubt with the aid of two men for several hours against heavy German bomb attacks. He ordered a second barrier to be built, a decision that cut off his own line of retreat. He was severely wounded in this action and was awarded the Victoria cross
.
137th Brigade (Staffordshire)
138th Brigade (Lincoln and Leicester)
139th Brigade (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire)
Divisional Pioneers
Royal Field Artillery
Royal Engineers
. It comes from the popular war-time song "Keep the home fires burning" composed by Ivor Novello
in 1915.
Auchy-les-Mines
Auchy-les-Mines is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. Until 1926 it was named Auchy-lez-La-Bassée.-Geography:...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, was a German fortification on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Introduction
The British first attacked the Redoubt on September 25, 1915, the first day of the Battle of LoosBattle of Loos
The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. It marked the first time the British used poison gas during the war, and is also famous for the fact that it witnessed the first large-scale use of 'new' or Kitchener's Army...
(historians generally take the battle to have lasted from September 25-October 13). The 26th Brigade of the 9th (Scottish) Division had the unenviable task of assaulting the Redoubt, a warren of defensive works that surrounded the pre-war mining complex Fosse 8. Although the British were initially able to penetrate the Redoubt, ferocious German resistance ultimately saw to it that, by early October, British forces were confined to holding little more than the West Face of the Redoubt. Vicious, close-quarter fighting continued here into the middle of October. Indeed, the continued fighting for the Redoubt accounts for why the larger Battle of Loos is conventionally taken to have lasted until October 13. After September 28, the rest of the ground that had comprised the Loos battlefield had ceased to be the scene of major fighting. On October 2, the benefactor of Cardiff City Football Club, Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart
Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart
Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart was a British Member of Parliament killed in the First World War. He was the second son of John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute and Hon. Gwendolen Mary Anne Fitzalan Howard.Lord Ninian was educated at Harrow School and Christ Church, Oxford...
, was killed whilst leading the 6th battalion, The Welsh Regiment in a night attack on the Redoubt aged 32. In the later October fighting for the Redoubt, the Guards Division was heavily engaged on October 8 in beating back German assaults. The British made their own efforts to take over the Redoubt
Redoubt
A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a...
in October, such as the attack launched by the 46th (North Midland) Division (TF) on October 13, 1915. 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. Below follows an in-depth account of the Division's activities during the fighting for the Redoubt.
13th October 1915
The assault began with an artillery bombardment at 1200 hours on Wednesday 13 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.
It was on this day that James Lennox Dawson
James Lennox Dawson
Colonel James Lennox Dawson VC was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
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
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
.
14th October 1915
Captain Charles Geoffrey VickersCharles Geoffrey Vickers
Sir Charles Geoffrey Vickers VC was an English lawyer, administrator, writer and pioneering systems scientist...
/Geoffrey Vickers aged 21 of The Sherwood Foresters (The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) held a barrier at the Hohenzollern Redoubt with the aid of two men for several hours against heavy German bomb attacks. He ordered a second barrier to be built, a decision that cut off his own line of retreat. He was severely wounded in this action and was awarded the Victoria cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
.
Order of battle
The 46th (North Midland) Division was made up of the following units at the time of the attack on the Redoubt:137th Brigade (Staffordshire)
- 1/5th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
- 1/6th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
- 1/5th Battalion, North Staffordshire RegimentNorth Staffordshire RegimentThe North Staffordshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. It can date its lineage back to 1756 with the formation of a second battalion by the 11th Regiment of Foot, which shortly after became the 64th Regiment of Foot...
- 1/6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment
138th Brigade (Lincoln and Leicester)
- 1/4th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment
- 1/5th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment
- 1/4th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment
- 1/5th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment
139th Brigade (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire)
- 1/5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
- 1/6th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
- 1/7th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
- 1/8th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
Divisional Pioneers
- 1/1st Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment
Royal Field Artillery
Royal Field Artillery
The Royal Field Artillery of the British Army provided artillery support for the British Army. It came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1 July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924....
- I North Midland Brigade (1, 2 & 3 Lincolnshire Batteries)
- II North Midland Brigade (1, 2 & 3 Staffordshire Batteries)
- III North Midland Brigade (4, 5 & 6 Staffordshire Batteries)
- IV North Midland Brigade (1 & 2 Derbyshire Batteries)
Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
- 1/1st North Midland Field Company
- 1/2nd North Midland Field Company
- 2/1st North Midland Field Company
Hohenzollern Redoubt Memorial
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 October 13, 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 MiddlebrookMartin Middlebrook
Martin Middlebrook is a British military historian and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He was appointed as a Knight of the Order of the Belgian Crown in 2004.-Education and military service:...
. It comes from the popular war-time song "Keep the home fires burning" composed by Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello
David Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
in 1915.
See also
- Map coordinates :
External links
- BBC Staffordshire history, "The Hohenzollern Redoubt - the Staffordshire Regiment's worst day"
- Peter Last, "Another fight for the Hohenzollern Redoubt" : the struggle to have the site preserved
- No Man's Land The European Group for Great War Archaeology, Report on Archaeological Excavations at Hohenzollern Redoubt. February 2005
- Paul Reed, Hohenzollern Redoubt article
- Andrew Thornton, "Over the Bridge of Death" - 137th Brigade's Attack
- Report in Australian newspaper from the time
- Captain W.C.C. Weetman, "History of 1/8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters 1914-1919". Published by Thomas Forman & Sons, Nottingham, 1920