As a consequence of the rigours of Gallipoli, the Main Body that sailed in October 1914 was effectively destroyed. Using a steady stream of reinforcements, the New Zealand Division was to be rebuilt and expanded. These reinforcements, added to the surviving Anzacs who were licking their wounds in Egypt, were to be transferred to France to take part in this great Somme offensive. The New Zealand war effort was increased at the request of the British, and units were reorganised. A separate New Zealand Division being created broke the Anzac link with the Australians. This involved adding an additional battalion from each of the regions to form the First and Second Infantry Brigades, and the creation of a (Third) New Zealand Rifle Brigade. In addition to these infantry brigades, there were Divisional units such as Artillery, Field Ambulance, Engineers, Transport and Supply, three machine guns companies and a pioneer battalion.
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The Somme September 1916
The initial British Somme offensive on 1 July had resulted in the infamous bloody slaughter, as thousands of men launched themselves against prepared German positions that had not been destroyed by the huge preparatory bombardment. The hoped-for breakthrough did not occur, so the British were committed to a bloody battle of attrition in order to try to win a breakthrough. In the middle of August, the New Zealand Division were removed from the Armentieres sector and transferred to villages near Amiens to prepare for a further attempt to break the developing stalemate.
The purpose of this offensive was to try to break through the German defences near Bapaume, an important road and rail centre. Haig's original hope that the cavalry would be able to break through and exploit the gap was renewed, but this time an innovation would be used. Famously, and controversially, tanks were to be used for the first time in an attempt to break the deadlock and create the gap for the waiting cavalry to sweep through. Forty eight tanks were to be used, though only thirty-two made it to the start line due to mechanical breakdowns.
The New Zealand Division came under the command of Lieutenant-General Rawlinson, who commanded the British IV Army. One of fifteen divisions available to Rawlinson, the New Zealand Division was tasked to capture the village of Flers. Their starting point was the gap between High Wood and Delville Wood, in front of the infamous Switch line that had been unsuccessfully assaulted with so many casualties. At 6.20 a.m., the initial planned artillery barrage began. The New Zealanders moved out of their assembly trenches and moved forward, with other British Divisions on either side. Here and there, the new tanks rumbled forward, not quite keeping pace with the infantry as it moved forward under the barrage. The German artillery then crashed down on No Man's Land, causing many casualties. The British artillery maintained its creeping barrage fire plan, while at the same time searching for the German guns to destroy with counter-battery fire. As the creeping barrage lifted off the German front line, the surviving New Zealanders surged in. A bloody struggle involving rifle, bayonet and grenade ensued and the previously impregnable Switch Line was seized. Battalions of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade seized the trench lines around Flers, with the assistance of two tanks, which caused understandable panic among some of the German defenders.
Strenuous efforts were then made to reinforce the area that had been seized. Field guns were rushed forward to prepare for the inevitable German counter-attack. Supplies of wire and ammunition were brought up. Wounded were collected by stretcher-bearers and taken to casualty clearing stations. Prisoners were escorted back to areas further in the rear. The infantry began digging more trenches to provide shelter from the “storm of fire that would beat upon them when the German field guns had been moved back, and from which they could beat back counter-attacks.” The New Zealanders maintained pressure on German positions throughout the first evening, with field guns searching for targets such as roads and supply dumps while machine guns continually fired into areas where it was thought the German might be massing for a counter-attack. The weather, which previously had been warm and dry, changed swiftly and rain turned the battlefield into a quagmire. This not only hampered the movement of men and equipment forward, but also made the relocation of artillery most difficult.
While the New Zealanders had achieved their objectives, English troops on both flanks had not. Consequently, the New Zealanders were exposed, and German resistance centred on a communication trench, part of which was known as Goose Alley and part as Drop Alley. On 20-21 September, the 2nd Canterbury Battalion made a night-time attack without a preliminary bombardment. They remained undiscovered until they were 50 yards from the German wire and then machine-guns opened up. The Canterburys fought their way in, then survived numerous counter-attacks, as the Germans fought to take back the trench bay by bay and the Canterbury men repulsed them. Reinforcements arrived and the attack was renewed by the Germans, who were again driven out. A welcome respite enabled the weary men to restore their defence and have a short rest before the Germans attacked again up the trench. The Canterbury men responded by climbing out of the trench, advancing overland and bombing the Germans from above. The German attack broke, and was finally routed by a fierce bayonet charge. The New Zealanders were left in possession of the area around Goose Alley. The Germans left behind five machine-guns and nearly 300 dead.
The New Zealand forces continued to advance. On 25 September, battalions of the First Brigade attacked across a front of 1700 yards and met very little resistance. They seized ground and prisoners and dug assembly trenches for the main attack to begin two days later. This attack began with the usual “creeping barrage”. The Canterbury battalion had little trouble in seizing their objectives but the Auckland and Otago battalions were faced with uncut wire and were in a more perilous position. A fierce firefight developed which eventually forced the Germans to retreat and the position was taken. Losses in both the Auckland and Otago battalions were severe. A final attack on 1 October by the Second Brigade seized their objectives. The weather then broke and made further progress impossible. The Second Brigade dug in, were relieved by the Third Brigade and on 4 October, after 23 days' continuous fighting, the New Zealanders were relieved by other British units.
The village of Flers September 1916. (1990-1712 Kippenberger Military Archive)
The New Zealand Division had had its first taste of a major offensive on the Western Front. The Division had achieved much but it had also cost a great deal. The British commanders lauded the efforts of the Division. Haig, in a telegram to the New Zealand government, stated that “The Division has won universal confidence and admiration. No praise can be too high for such troops.” Rawlinson wrote that: “On three successive occasions they attacked the hostile positions with the greatest gallantry and vigour, capturing in each attack every objective that had been allotted to them. More than this, they gained possession of, and held, several Strong Points in advance of and beyond the furthest objectives that had been allotted to them. The endurance and fine fighting spirit of the Division have been beyond praise, and their successes in the Flers neighbourhood will rank high above the best achievements of the British Army”
Behind the ritual compliments, there lies the impression that the Division had done better than might have been expected of a raw unit. It is possible that evolving improvements in artillery, the surprise factor of the tanks and the aggression of the New Zealanders in hand-to hand fighting all helped to produce greater success for the British at Flers compared with earlier Somme battles. However, it was success on a small front, and as Stewart had noted above, the battle had been costly for the New Zealanders. The Division would have to be rebuilt with conscripted reinforcements from New Zealand. Meanwhile, those back in New Zealand looked at the long casualty lists in the newspapers, and read glowing accounts of the role of New Zealanders in the battle. Some comfort might have been taken in nationalistic pride at the performance of the New Zealand Division.
The reports in The Press of this time make for interesting reading. On September 19 the tanks are referred to as “creeping forts”. On 22 September, the Daily Chronicle's Phillip Gibb's was quoted are describing the New Zealanders as “clean-cut, handsome fellows (whose) gallant charge at dawn will long be remembered. They crossed ‘No Man's land', went over the German trenches and out into the blue in pursuit of the retreating enemy” Three days later, under the heading “New Zealanders in Battle. Unstinted Praise from Commanders.”, The Press noted that “The Commander in Chief telegraphed his congratulations and thanked the New Zealanders for their successful attacks, adding that they showed fine fighting spirit, admirable energy and dash.” In an editorial the next day, after quoting fulsome praise for the New Zealand Division by Gibbs, the editor introduced a note of realism.
“The war has now reached a point where it is going to take a heavy toll of our men, and it becomes even more necessary that the sorrowful gaps will be filled up … But as yet no-one can say when the war will end – a year hence our men may still be smashing their way nearer to the heart of Germany, and there is honour and glory in plenty yet to be won.”
It is important to retain some sense of perspective about the contribution of the New Zealand Division to this campaign. Its role had been a relatively small though successful one within the circumstances of the September 15 offensive, and within the overall context of the Somme battles. The reality is that the Somme had not been the decisive success that had been hoped for. At huge cost, the entire British line had been advanced over a few miles at best from 1 July until the offensive was called off in November 1916. Some historians have attempted to characterise the Somme as a victory for the British, pointing out the long term effect on German morale and the relief of pressure on Verdun . Peter Liddle claims that “first, in 1916-1917 terms, a British victory was won on the Somme , not one to be greeted with bell-ringing and bunting … but a victory nevertheless”. If it was a victory for the men of Papanui and the New Zealand Division, it was a Pyrrhic one.
Burton O.E. The Silent Division, Angus and Robertson, 1935
Malthus Cecil, Armentiéres and the Somme , Reed, 2002.
Pugsley Christopher, The Anzac Experience: New Zealand , Australia and Empire in the First World War, Reed, 2004
Stewart H. The New Zealand Division 1916-1919, Whitcombe and Tombs, 1921
Williams E.P. A New Zealander's Diary, Cadsonbury Publications, 1998