Page:Breaking the Hindenburg Line.djvu/101

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.

Part I

The Battle of Ramicourt


Chapter IV

The victory at Ramicourt


If Bellenglise is the name which is destined to be for ever remembered by all ranks of the 46th Division in connection with the most dramatic of the victories which was placed to their credit during the glorious autumn of 1918, still the Battle of Ramicourt, fought and won on the 3rd October, will take its place in the annals of the Division as the action in which, beyond all others, superior numbers of the enemy were thoroughly beaten in stout, straightforward fighting, on the part of the rank and file of the Infantry, inspired by the gallant leading of their officers.

On this occasion there was no such providential fog as that to which in great measure was due the successful breaching of the Hindenburg Line at its strongest point. At Ramicourt the 46th Division met, on more equal terms, and defeated in a pitched battle by stark and straight fighting, the 241st, 221st, 119th, and 34th Divisions of the German Army. True, some of these Divisions had lately been withdrawn from other fronts and were still worn out with their previous great ordeal, but the 241st and 34th, at least, were fresh troops, and, after all, the 46th Division also had just passed through

81