The Battle of Moreuil Wood (30 March 1918)

"The Battle of Moreuil Wood was an engagement of World War I that took place on the banks of the Arve River in France, where the Canadian Cavalry Brigade attacked and forced the German 23rd Saxon Division to withdraw from Moreuil Wood, a commanding position on the river bank. This defeat at the hands of the Allies contributed to the halt of the German Spring Offensive of 1918."

- Wikipedia

Genealogy is a strange word that describes an even stranger business. When I set out to explore my family history I had no idea where this would lead or what I would learn. This blog is intended to share with you how I came to find out about the circumstances surrounding the death of my ancestor Harry Speedie.

Harry died a violent death on 30th March 1918 in a wood near a village called Moreuil in northern France. In the course of researching my family history I have unearthed the most incredible detail about what happened on that fateful day - it was a Saturday, by the way.

Harry was brought up on a farm in Co Antrim along with his six other siblings. His older brother William was my grandad. I have quite vivid memories of William who died aged 74 in 1958 when I was seven. As a child I was fascinated by the beautiful grandfather clock that tick-tocked in the hallway of his house in Newcastle, Co Down. He allowed me (quite reluctantly I think) to look at the photographs of World War One scenes in large heavy red leather bound books. All of the pictures were black and white and many showed field guns being fired at the enemy.

As the first-born, William was supported financially by his parents (Henry and Margaret) to obtain a good education and qualified as a doctor. He served (presumably in France) in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Great War. I may have met some of William's brothers as a small child although I have no recollection of this. What is certain is that I never met Harry.

Harry was a member of a cavalry regiment known as the Royal Canadian Dragoons. We know that he signed up on the 24th September 1914. His attestation paper tells us that he was working as a commercial traveler. It is not known how long he had been living in Canada prior to his enlisting.

click on images to see larger version

The RCD were part of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade which (by the time of the battle of Moreuil Wood in March 1918) was part of the 3rd Cavalry Division. The other two regiments within the Cavalry Brigade at this time were the Lord Strathcona's Horse and the Fort Garry Horse. The Royal Canadian Dragoons were formed into three mounted squadrons (A, B and C) and Harry was assigned to ‘B’ Squadron led by Major Reginald S Timmis. Here is a photo of Major Timmis taken in August 1942:

By this date he had been promoted to the rank of Colonel.

Recently a letter has come into my possession which I find very poignant and moving. It was written in April 1918 by my Grandad seeking further details of his brother’s death. Grandad’s letter is written in ink in a neat hand. Below it is the reply written in pencil by Major Timmis, no doubt from some foul-smelling, waterlogged trench in Picardy. The exchange goes as follows:

“Clover Hill
Randalstown
Ireland
19.4.18
Dear Sir
We have been notified this morning by the Canadian Record Office that my brother 14572 Sgt Harry Speedie, Royal Canadian Dragoons, B. Squadron was killed on the 30th March. I would be very much indebted to you if you could let me have any particulars of his death.
I am
Yours sincerely
W Speedy MB”

“Sir

Sgt Speedy was killed on 30th March in the wood just North of Castel - East of Amiens after the squadron had charged upon the enemy which resulted in our taking the wood. He fought a ground battle against a number of Germans after his horse had been shot but later on was shot dead. After the infantry took over from us they lost the wood but later the French retook it. He is a great loss to my squadron. My sincerest sympathies in your sad loss.

Yours sincerely
RS Timmis, Major”

Major Timmis and his Sergeants
Standing, left to right Parkinson, A. B. Martin, William Jones ( author of Fighting the Hun…) and Brindle. Seated, left to right, John Copeland , Major Timmis and Tamblyn.

As luck would have it someone in my family had the foresight to enclose a photo of Harry along with the letter from Major Timmis so we do know what he looked like!

The sketch below is from Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 (1962) by Colonel GWL Nicholson.

The phase of the war we are talking about here was one of relatively mobile warfare as opposed to the more static trench warfare preceding it. The German high command had been carefully planning throughout the Winter of 1917-18 for a major offensive push against the Allies to take advantage of the extra troops being moved from Russia after the signing of an armistice with the Bolsheviks.

Here is the relevant text from Nicholson’s official history:


“On the second day of the offensive, when the Fifth Army was under severe pressure, the British cavalry divisions had improvised dismounted units to reinforce General Gough’s infantry; the Canadian Cavalry Brigade provided a dismounted brigade of 800 men. The Canadians were employed in the area of the Crozat Canal, between the Somme and the Oise, where, on 23 March, they helped cover the retirement of the British 18th Division across the canal. Falling back towards Noyon, the Dismounted Brigade came briefly in support of the French 6th Corps west of Chauny.

As the Allies continued to fall back there was still the greatest need for mounted troops to cover the retirement and fill important gaps in the line. Accordingly on 23 March a mounted detachment some 500 strong was formed from what was left of the 3rd Cavalry Division. The two British brigades provided 150 men each; the Canadian contribution was General Seely’s brigade staff and 200 cavalrymen of his brigade. During the next four days the three squadrons operated in the northern half of the triangle formed by the Crozat Canal, the Oise and the Canal du Nord, helping to re-establish infantry lines that had broken and delivering small-scale counter-attacks on advanced German positions.

On the evening of 27 March the Canadian brigade reassembled at Arsy, west of Compiègne, and was assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Division. Next day the Anglo-Canadian cavalry passed under command of the French First Army, which had just made successful local counter-attacks that enabled it to link up with the British right flank. In a further drive French troops, advancing with unexpected ease on Fontaine, a village eighteen miles south-east of Amiens, near Montdidier, took a number of “prisoners dressed like Canadians”. One of the “captives” turned out to be Lieut. Harvey, V.C. , of the Strathcona's! Sent forward some time beforehand on a mounted reconnaissance, Harvey and ten men had entered the village and driven out a greatly superior force of Germans.

As German pressure in the direction of Amiens continued, the 2nd Cavalry Division again came under British command on 29 March in the sector adjoining the French left. When early next morning battalions of the 243rd German Division began occupying Moreuil Wood, a commanding position on the right bank of the River Avre only twelve miles south-east of Amiens, the 3rd Cavalry Division and the Canadian Cavalry Brigades were at once sent to recapture it.

French troops had already fallen back across the Avre. A mile and a quarter long from south to north and flaring to a width of nearly a mile at the northern end, the wood consisted mainly of ash trees. These were not yet in leaf, but close-growing saplings and heavy undergrowth made riding exceedingly difficult.

The Canadian brigade was first on the scene, and the assault was carried out in converging thrusts by three mounted squadrons of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, followed up by attacks-mounted and dismounted - by Lord Strathcona’s Horse. The German infantry resisted stoutly, but by 11:00 a.m., after a considerable amount of hand-to-hand fighting, the northern part of the wood was in Canadian hands. While one squadron of the Fort Garry Horse rode back across the Avre to bring the enemy under enfilade fire, a second joined in a dismounted advance through the remainder of the wood. By midday the wood was clear of Germans.

The enemy soon counter-attacked. Reinforced by dismounted units of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade and a company of British infantry, the Canadians strove to maintain their position; though portions of the wood changed ownership more than once, and some lost ground was not recovered. That night the cavalry, having suffered many casualties, were relieved by three improvised battalions of the British 8th Division.

On the 31st the enemy resumed his attacks, recapturing most of Moreuil Wood and occupying the smaller Rifle Wood, which lay a mile to the north beside the Amiens-Roye road. During the afternoon this was retaken, but only temporarily. A further attack that evening, the artillery support for which included two batteries of the R.C.H.A., partially restored the situation, but left Rifle Wood and all but the north-west corner of Moreuil Wood still in German hands.

On the morning of 1 April dismounted units of the 2nd Cavalry Division attacked Rifle Wood in three waves. It was the third wave, consisting of 488 all ranks of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, which entered and cleared the wood.”

A remarkably detailed blow by blow account of the battle (written by Captain J.R. Grodzinski) can be downloaded from the website of the Lord Strathcona’s Horse regiment. The web address is:

http://www.strathconas.ca/pdf_files/the_battle_of_moreuil_wood.pdf

The part of this account that has most relevance for Harry’s unit led by Major Timmis reads as follows:

"The Brigade Headquarters moved into the knob of wood extending from the northwest corner of Moreuil Wood. Seely could see the Royal Canadian Dragoons moving across the river. He assessed the situation and formulated a bold plan. Seely told Connolly:

"The Royal Canadian Dragoons are to send one squadron to the right of the Bois de Moreuil, occupy the southeast corner and get in touch with the French in the village of Moreuil. The other two squadrons are to gallop around the left face of the wood and endeavour to seize the northeast corner of it. Lord Strathcona's Horse are to follow close behind these two squadrons of Dragoons and send one squadron forward to gallop right around the northeast corner, engage the Germans who are entering the wood by mounted attack and, having dispersed them, occupy the southeast face of the wood. The remaining two squadrons of Strathconas are to enter the wood just beyond my headquarters at the southern point, fight their way through, and join their comrades on the eastern face. Fort Garry's are to be in reserve with me."

At 0930 hours, 'A' Squadron, Royal Canadian Dragoons under Captain Roy Nordheimer proceeded south of the wood knob to clear the northwest corner of the wood. 'B' Squadron under Major Timmis galloped along the northern face of the wood to the northeast corner. From there he would try for the southeast corner. Captain "Newky" Newcomen turned right and moved south along the southwest face of the wood. He would also try to link up with Timmis. Nordheimer's squadron, although exposed to heavy rifle and machine gun fire, continued to its objective. Nordheimer later recalled:

"The first troop, under Lieutenant Cochran, galloped into the wood, but they were soon driven out by heavy machine gun fire. I ordered the squadron to dismount, and reentered the wood with bayonets fixed and Hotchkiss guns supporting our flanks. We drove the enemy out of the part of the wood which we faced and occupied the edge".

This action surprised the Germans in the wood. They were members of the 8th Company, 2nd Battalion, 101st Grenadiers:

"For a moment this wholly unexpected and unusual intervention by a body of cavalry seemed, as it were, to stun the defence, and the attack lost nothing of its morale effect for the reason that there were many young soldiers in the
battalion who, on this day, were taking part in their first action. Consequently, the Canadians were able to charge right home , into the front line of the infantry where a desperate hand-to-hand fight ensued, the horsemen engaged grenadiers at first with their pistols (most of them had rifles as well)and, when these were discharged, taking to their swords and falling upon the Saxons, cutting and thrusting, the infantry offering stubborn resistance".

Newcomen penetrated about halfway down the southwest face of the wood but was forced to seek cover due to heavy machine gun fire from the area between Moreuil and Morisel. He the decided to fight his way eastward through the trees. At the northeast corner of the wood, Major Timmis and 'B' squadron suffered many casualties from heavy fire and were forced to wheel to the left. They too then entered the wood. The Dragoon squadrons were unable to provide mutual support and the battle quickly developed into a series of separate fights. Major Timmis describes his troubles:

"My own squadron.... instead of being 160 strong was about 98.... The Boche had here over 40 (this is probably incorrect) machine guns, the lighter ones of which were up the trees. After we had gone past all these machine guns I turned around in the saddle and saw only two men out of 90 down. After we got into the wood we had to practically walk because it was very thick and many of our horses were shot and killed...."

By this time, the remainder of the Brigade had crossed the Avre at Castel. The Strathconas deployed immediately. 'C' Squadron was ordered to pass around the northeast corner of the wood in support of Major Timmis' squadron and cut off any enemy reinforcements from moving into the wood. 'B' and 'A' Squadrons were to attack the north face of the wood dismounted.

Three Officer Patrols were also ordered from the Strathconas. These patrols, normally consisting of ten men led by a junior officer, were tasked to gain information about the enemy for the Brigade Commander. Lieutenants Harrower of 'C' Squadron, May from 'B' Squadron and McDonnell of 'A' Squadron were detailed. More will be said of these patrols later.

As 'C' Squadron moved off, the officer commanding, Lieutenant Flowerdew, ordered Lieutenant Harvey to take his troop ahead as an advance guard. Harvey was to make good the northeast corner of the wood and report back. When the squadron passed Brigade Headquarters, General Seely rode up to Flowerdew and described his task. The Royal Canadian Dragoons had suffered heavily; the enemy was being pushed to the east. Flowerdew's squadron would cut them off. Seely went with Flowerdew to where they could see around the northeast corner of the wood. Seely then bid him farewell watched 'C' Squadron ride off.

Meanwhile when Harvey's troop was some 200 yards from the northeast corner of Moreuil Wood, they found four or five Germans looting a French transport wagon. Harvey sent several men forward and the Germans were quickly despatched. As 2nd troop reached the edge of the wood, they were fired upon from within it. Harvey dismounted his men and attacked the Germans. Flowerdew and the remaining three troops of the squadron then arrived. Harvey gave Flowerdew a quick overview of the situation and suggested that his men could probably drive the Germans out of the wood. Flowerdew agreed. He would proceed mounted to the end of the wood and catch the Germans as they came out. The two men looked confidently at each other and Flowerdew rode off.

'A' and 'B' Squadrons had moved around the north side of the wood and halted about 1000 yards from it. 'B' squadron dismounted and proceeded into the wood. General Seely followed them. The Germans increased fire and brought up a 77mm gun, which quickly opened fire on the Strathconas and Dragoons. The Dragoons were slowly pushing the enemy back towards the east side of the wood.

Timmis' squadron met up with Nordheimer's and together they continued to press the enemy. 'B' Squadron of the Fort Garry Horse, under Captain Hutchinson, with a section of the Machine Gun Squadron were sent back across the Avre. They took a position on the high ground west of Morisel and established fire on the enemy in Moreuil. Another section of the Machine Gun Squadron took up a position astride the main road to Moreuil just west of Brigade Headquarters. They too fired into Moreuil. 'A' and 'C' Squadrons of the Garry's entered the wood from the western face to support the other squadrons within. There were now six squadrons of Canadian cavalry in the woods.

the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was also attacking the enemy. Initially outnumbered by the German air arm, the RFC gained superiority by rapidly re deploying aircraft. The loss of forward airfields and the subsequent movement of squadrons created a disruption of bomb and fuel supplies that was quickly overcome.

At the start of the German offensive on 21 March , the RFC fired 28,000 rounds at ground targets and dropped fifteen and one half tons of bombs; by the 24th, this had increased to 82,000 rounds fired and nineteen tons of bombs. On 27 March 313,000 rounds were fired against the enemy on the ground, mostly in the Third and Fifth Army areas.

The air activity took a heavy toll on the Germans. The 243rd Division which was moving to relieve the 23rd Saxon Division in Moreuil Wood, reported on 30 March that its ...

"dense marching columns attracted numerous enemy air units which attacked with bombs and machine guns.... With improved weather and good visibility numerous enemy planes were constantly attacking and without hindrance circling above our positions.... the enemy planes were attacking more boldly".

At Moreuil Wood itself, three squadrons of the Royal Flying Corps dropped 109 bombs and fired 17,000 machine gun rounds into the melee."

I hope you have found this interesting. I'll finish by mentioning that while doing my research I stumbled across a fascinating book. It has the fearful title "Fighting the Hun from Saddle and Trench". What thrilled and amazed me was the discovery that our Harry is mentioned in this memoire (written from the trenches) by Sergeant Major William R Jones (see group photo above). William (or 'Lucky Bill' as he was known to his comrades) made it through the war relatively unscathed and his book is a first hand account of his life with the Royal Canadian Dragoons from the outbreak of war until its conclusion.