Current Information:

Age-35

Born-Calcutta, India

With an end to the fighting on the Eastern Front after the Russian Revolution, Germany was able to bring its troops from there to France and launch a series of offensives in the Spring of 1918, designed to bring the war to a swift conclusion. Four times between March and July they attacked in strength and on each occasion they broke through the British and French lines and made spectacular gains but in each case they over extended themselves and without adequate supplies keeping up with their rapid advances, they could go no further.

The first of these attacks, Operation Michael, was made on 21st March by 63 specially trained divisions, attacking along a 60 mile front held by 26 British divisions, many of them in a weakened state At 4.40am the German artillery opened up with the most ferocious and concentrated bombardment of the war, the likes of which the British had never experienced before. The Forward Zone, consisting mainly of individual posts was blown away. Very few of the men there made it back. Many were killed and many more were taken prisoner. The Battle Zone was also battered as were the British guns, firing from positions just to the rear. Brigade and Divisional HQs were targeted as well and then, from out of the thick mist came the German storm troopers. Moving fast, they skirted round the few remaining strongholds and penetrated deep into the British lines, including those of the Battle Zone, causing the utmost confusion. There were many cases of heroic stands being made but the relentless pressure forced the British back everywhere and there then began a general retreat that went on for two weeks and which ceded to the Germans a huge amount of territory, including all of that that had been won at such great cost during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

When the German offensive began on 21st March, 8th Division were out of the line undergoing training near St. Omer but the events further south meant that reinforcements were desperately needed and they were rushed south to defend the Somme crossings just south of Péronne at Éterpigny, Brie and Happlincourt. During the night of 24th-25th March, the 2nd Middlesex battalion of 23 Brigade moved forward from Villers-Carbonnel and relieved the 2nd West Yorks defending the bridges over the Somme. The following morning they came under heavy attack by overwhelming enemy forces and lost heavily, suffering over 350 casualties. The survivors fell back, as did the units around them and ended the day in trenches just south of Deniecourt on the road to Vermandovillers where they were re-organised into 4 companies, W,X,Y & Z each about 40 strong. On 26th March they were ordered to fall back to a series of rearguard positions when attacked and Z Company was placed near Soyecourt to facilitate this. This retirement began at 10am and after changes in direction which saw Y Company detached from the battalion for some hours, they eventually occupied a position at Vermandovillers before moving back further to Lihons. During this stage of the retreat, X and Z Companies had some stiff fighting which accounted for further casualties. A further withdrawal took them back to Rosieres where 2nd Middlesex dug in between the Sucrerie and the railway crossing on the Meharicourt road. At 1pm and then later at 6pm, the Germans attacked and came close to their positions but were eventually repelled. At some stage during the day William Blake was killed.