Artillery, of course,
had a key roll in the overall stratgety. The five-day pre-attack bombardment
- aimed at cutting wire and entombing the Schwabians in their dugouts
- was to conclude with a redoubled ‘hurricane’ bombardment
just before zero-hour, the mortars joining with the heavier 
artillery.
Then there would be the barrage : as the Ulstermen moved from trench to
trench, so would the shell-fire, in a series of timed ‘lifts’
that would keep the shells falling just ahead of the advancing Infantrymen.
At zero hour, 07.30, as the Ulster Volunteers moved off across no-mans-land,
the barrage would lift from the first German line to the second; at 07.33
it would move to the third line; at 07.48 it would move to the third line;
then at 07.48 it would advance to an area some 400 yards beyond the third
third line; then at 7.58 it would move up to the fourth line. At 08.48
the shell-fire would shift to the distant fifth line, then there would
be a halt to allow the three Battalions of the Belfast Brigade to move
through and effect the capture of the fifth line. At 10.08 the barrage
would finally move to an area 300 yards beyond the final German line.
At each ‘lift’ the 18-pounder and 4.5 Howitzer guns had to
‘walk’ up the communication trenches to the
next main trench line.
A member of a trench mortar battery with
mortar in Thiepval Wood
The
artillery was reinforced by French guns which were to drop tear-gas shells
in the Ancre Valley.The mode of Infantry attack was much the same as elsewhere
on the Somme front. The Infantry men would have moved forward into the
preportatory positions,packing
the front trenches in the Thiepval Wood and Hamel
subsectors, in the hours before zero. At 07.30 the would march
across no-mans-land under the cover of the barrage; at their head would
be officers carrying the polished Blackthorn stick of the Irish Regiments
and if the wished, a revolver. (Commanding Officers of each Battalion
were however, asked to stay out of the assault - a controversial decision)
The Battalions varied their formations of attack, but generally the went
in eight successive waves of men, at fifty-yard intervals. With the Division
would go eighteen stokes mortars and twenty-four machine-guns - a number
that seems small in consideration to the formidable objectives being assaulted.
If the gunfire of the heavy artillery had done its job, and the Germans
had been physically and morally devastated by it, then the Infantry might
obtain their objectives with relatively light casualties. The Ulster Volunteers
also needed to be sure that the 32nd and 29th Divisions on either side
of them were going to capture their objectives. For no mater how well
the Ulstermen advanced, if Thiepval village to the south or Beaumont-Hamel
to the north remained in German hands, then the 36th would be exposed
to fire from each flank and indeed, virtually from the rear.
View
and sign Guestbook
South Belfast Friends of the Somme Association and its
website belfastsomme.com do not necessarily agree with all comments and
statements made in the guest book, and cannot be held responsible for
the content of external links placed on the guestbook. The guestbook is
moderated and IP address recorded, so any vulgar, sectarian, degrading,
raciast or bigoted comments will be removed and the violaters Internet
Service Provider informed.
