Part 2

Off to the front

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The greatest attack of the Arras battles took place on April 28th 1917. On the northern part of the battle-front Arleux was captured by the Canadian Corps, to the right of them the British Division attacked the German trenches near Gavrelle. At first the Worcestershire Regiment bore no part in the attack, the Battalion was occupied in work on roads in the battle-area just north of Arras. The Platoons heard the noise of the guns and watched the streams of wounded and prisioners as they came back from the line. At 9 p.m. came an alarm. Orders had come for the Battalion to move foward in fighting order to assist the troops in front. The enemy were making a counter-attack and the Battalions holding Gavrelle were having trouble. Ammunition was issued as the Battalion set out through the darkness to Gavrelle, the Battalion joined up with the 188th Brigade. By the time that all were in position dawn had broken ( April 29th ) and the battle was raging on all sides. To the east German trenches stretched across the low- lying ground, those trenches had already been taken the previous day but had been taken again by German-counter attacks. The 188th Brigade attacked the trenches to the east of Gavrelle and were bombed back to their original trenches, the germans attempted to follow up their success but were met with steady fire from the Worcestershire Regiment which stopped any futher advance. The Worcestershire Regiment were left to hold the north-east corner of the area and did not join up with the 188th Brigade until the following night. On april 30th the Worcestershire Regiment moved westward to St. Aubin, they were sent out on many working parties during the next two weeks.
Above is a map of Gavrelle. It shows the battle lines but it is of poor quality. Click the map to see a larger version. Click on part 3 from the menu to continue.