Opening Of The German Offensive - 21st March

After a period of calm on the front, a terrific bombardment, using a big percentage of gas shells, opened on a fifty-mile front against our Third and Fifth Armies at 5.30 a.m. on 21st March. It was a morning of thick fog and the Germans, by using a new method of infiltration instead of linear attack, easily penetrated the thinly held "forward zone" of the Fifth Army and were well into the " battle zone" before their advance was slowed up at all.

On 21st March the 14th (Light) Division was in the front line of the Fifth Army. Our 8th and 9th Battalions were in the forward zone near the St. Quentin—Vendeuille Road and the 7th Battalion - in the battle zone near Benay. As all form of communication except by runner was destroyed, or impossible owing to the fog, accounts are incomplete. Many small parties fought gallantly to a finish, but the defensive system adopted in these areas was generally inadequate to cope with an attack where the odds were four to one in men and three to one in guns. The enemy were not checked until reaching the "rear zone," where the 43rd Brigade checked their advance for some hours.

Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. S. Dimmer, V.C., M.C. (60th), was killed in action on 21st March when commanding the 2nd/4th Bn. The Royal Berkshire Regiment.

Last Days of the 14th (Light) Division, 22nd March to 6th April

On 22nd March the 14th (Light) Division held the Germans on a reduced front on the canal. The enemy crossed at several points on the next day, and the retirement continued on the 24th and 25th. An exhausted remnant, about 2,000 strong, of a fine division reached L'Ecouvillon on the 26th.

The Division was relieved between 4th and 6th April. A short period employed in the training of American Autry units followed and it was then disbanded after an honourable existence of four arduous years.

During the retirement our 9th Battalion lost 23 officers and 620 other ranks. The muster on 26th March was as follows : 7th Battalion, 5 officers and 140 other ranks; 8th Battalion, 1 officer and 30 other ranks; 9th Battalion, 2 officers and 70 other ranks.

Losses of the three battalions: Officers about 70, other ranks: over 2,000.