Border Incident (3) - Army Manoeuvres of 1912

 

Cambridge Examiner. 18th September.  Near Ashdon.
Orders reached 2nd Cavalry Division overnight to switch their axis
of operations northwards toward the West Wrattling - Great
Abingdon road. Apparently, word - from patrols into no man's 
land and the occasional refugee - is that the enemy Cavalry 
Division is congregating around Stoke-by-Clare and 2nd Division 
along the Haverhill- Brinkley road. A gap has in consequence developed between the latter and 1st Division on the line of the Granta River. That gap is only partially filled by the enemy Army HQ and the heavy artillery. They are undoubtedly a tempting target.

Lt-Colonel Shelby Wright having assumed command vice the injured Colonel Briggs, readied his command by issuing orders to be on the march north by daybreak. Much hope is being placed upon the outcome of this strike.

Haverhill.  Morning,  18th September.
Elements of Curelean 2nd Division led by 5th Brigade and supported by the artillery sortied from Haverhill and fell upon the rather exiguous line formed by our 8th Brigade. Heavily outnumbered, our troops gave way before the fury of the enemy onset, and fell back towards Ashdon, and the positions that had been occupied by the now departed 2nd Cavalry Division.

This assault coincided with a brigade sized attack upon Linton, the site of General Grierson's HQ and the heavy artillery, defended by 10th Brigade along the river line.  This attack, however, has been roundly repulsed, the enemy abandoning such of his machine guns that were not destroyed. 

The attack from Haverhill stalled in front of Ashdon village, they came under a flanking gunfire from the 3rd Division artillery. Unable to sustain their attack, the enemy is falling back towards Haverhill.

Ignoring the threat presented by the enemy issuing forth from Haverhill to their right rear, the cavalry crossed the Ashdon-Stole rail line and struck the road west of Wrattling shortly after mid-morning. It transpired that the reported gap was largely illusory, as the enemy 6th Brigade had marched through West Wrattling itself a short time earlier. So our cavalry met them on the road.  

Stiff fighting - the enemy infantry supported from close by the Army heavy guns - eventually drove them off the road with heavy loss.  The Dragoon Brigade was unable to make much head way, but the Lights, charging the left front of the enemy line, drove them back an mile or so to the north.

Severing the direct road link between the 1st Division and the Army Commander from the main body of his army is a very considerable strategic success.  It remains to make good the advantages that have accrued therefrom. One was the hazard to which the Cerulean Army Train had been placed.

In pursuit, however, our horse proved unable completely to break the rallied remnants of 6th Brigade, and further success was denied them.

Linton. 18th September.  Noon
Before the cavalry operation could take effect, a counterbattery duel between the respective armies' heavy guns - a profitless action in this writer's view - led to the silencing of our own.  Thus encouraged, once more the enemy, identified as 1st Brigade, attempted a storm of the Linton bridge.  Both sides suffered losses, but to ours was the greater, as General Grierson, directing the defence, was struck by a bullet and instantly killed.   

This was part of a major effort by General Sam Lomax's 1st Division

to force the Granta River line, once and for all.  The attack along the 
Whittlesford road was barely held - both sides incurring heavy losses 
(1 SP each).  That the defenders could barely hold with the odds in their favour calls into question the leadership of our 4th Division and its
constituent brigades.

Twelfth Brigade was even more roughly handled, driven back as far as the Cambridge rail line, and almost to Whittlesford.  

Of course, the importunate enemy followed up. At last, 12th Brigade is finding its mojo and have halted the enemy short of the railway line. During this attack, Major-General d'Oyly Snow has borne a charmed life.  A bullet severed the strap of his map case and another passed though his peaked cap. He seems to be revelling in the fight.

  

(Aside: the attackers score TWO extra sixes on the dice, which, as he was present, placed general d'Oyly Snow at hazard. He had to roll two dice - one for each 'hit'.  A one meant killed or mortally wounded (as happened to General Grierson); a 4-6 meant no harm that would take the officer out of the battle.  So what did d'Oyly Snow roll? Two sixes.  One lucky, lucky general!)

Stoke-by-Clare. 18th September. Morning.
Little action has developed during this forenoon. The enemy cavalry began to advance along a broad front to cross the Stour River. At about the time 8th Brigade was fighting its defensive battle along the Haverhill-Ashdon road, 7th Brigade, along with the divisional machine-gun company, was pushing towards Stoke-by Clare.  

It is hoped that the fresh 7th, as yet unengaged in the fighting might at least contain, if not overthrow, the enemy cavalry formations thought to be depleted from the previous days' action.

At this time, reports are coming in from other fronts that ...

... the cavalry's breakthrough thrust, though initially successful, is being held by a tenuous enemy line, ...

... and 4th Division is struggling to hold the line of the Granta River at Linton, or to restore it at Great Abingdon. Latest reports indicate that our 12th Brigade has at last driven the enemy 1st back 4 miles - all the way back to the river, and even across it.  Success at Stoke might yet turn the invaders back to their own side of the border.

Birdbrook. Noon.
Seventh Brigade has encountered two enemy cavalry brigades fighting dismounted.  The results are not encouraging.  Although some loss has been visited upon the enemy 2nd Cavalry, ours have been the heavier, although the action against 3rd Cavalry has been apparently more favourable. The enemy 1st Cavalry charged 9th Brigade, the outcome inconclusive. 

Cambridge Examiner. 18th September. Mid-afternoon.
Although the day still wants some hours before nightfall, the guns have fallen silent.  The day has not overall been favourable to our arms, as Linton has fallen, the cavalry breakthrough finally failed, and on the Stoke-Haverhill front, if anything the enemy are - or were - pushing forward. Against those, the restoration by 4th Division of at least our side of the line to the Granta River scarcely weighs in the balance (see Map).

Nevertheless, were are told that Major-General Haig, commanding the invasion army, has called for an armistice, citing the heavy losses incurred by both sides. It seems his Army is as exhausted as ours. We can not call this victory, I dare say, but it is far from defeat. No doubt overnight we shall see what the negotiations bring forth. It seems likely that after the exchange of prisoners, the Cerulean Army shall be allowed to return to its own borders, and the settlement, as is usual in such cases, shall be on the basis of status quo ante bellum.