 |
|
|
Ph5 - Into Serious Business..........
..............................*Italian Howitzer On The Piave River Front*...................
*Stop Press Update* : 2 Nov - Scroll below to find Harry and the boys.
..... x10 days since Harry and the boys overnighted in Treviso and then marched West to Chogarin near Trevignano.
Being cold is one thing, but being soaked to the skin in torrential rain, another. Just imagine what it is like for the boys for a moment.... reaching yet another unknown destination laden with rifle; web belt & pouches plus backpack and worldly goods..... socks and boots squelching with water; inspite of issued capes or equivalent, uniforms most likely sponge-like and dripping wet through.... The battle here is not being wet but trying to get everything dry. Nothing worse that having to tog up with wet 'everything' to face another long day..... and, sentry duties, fatigues and weapon cleaning etc never stops - no matter what the weather!
17th - The Bn rested during the day. Billets & environs were cleaned.
.....The guess is that the 17th was a day programmed to allow the men chance to sort themselves out. Company CQMSs might have possibly set up braziers or similar, designed to create some sort of drying facilities for the lads to dry kit..... but, the rest and scope for admin, will have been very important and hugely popular!
18th - The Bn route marched 15 Kilometres: Men carried full marching order.
......The CO will have been in the know about what lay ahead without having precise details at this point, of course. He needed to know his Bn was in tip top order physically and hence programming route marches to keep the boys fit and feet hardened? The 'tommies' in the platoons would not have seen it this way returning to billets after a 15km 'out & back' tab!
19th - Owing to exceptionally wet weather, men were confined to billets for the day.
20th - Church Services were held during the day.
21st - Company Training in Arms Drill, Musketry, Physical Drill and Ceremonial Drill during the morning. Officers reconnoitred the line in the vicinity of PALAZZON.
......wet weather is obviously a factor for 9 Y&L (as well as the enemy, don't forget) and the need to maintain high standards of weapon training and prepardness self evident. Questions might be asked as to why on earth drill & ceremonial drill were at all relevant? .... well, x2 angles on this: i) It's an old truism that bodies of soldiers need to be kept active and busy and subject to daily programmes and ii) activities such a drill involve teamwork and coordination.... just like the whistle to go over the top..... the overiding need is the maintenance of discipline and..... during WWI..... need more be said? Yes, it was hard, unbelievably hard, for this generation.
22nd - The Bn moved by march route to billets at S. GIUSEPPE near TREVISO. 23rd - Route march during the morning. At night the Battalion supplied a working party of 400 men to unload shells under orders of C.A.R.O. TREVISO.
..... yes, back East to Treviso area again. What happened on the 23rd gives a clue as to what is coming..... and not lost on the boys either, who will have been chit chatting about 'what's brewing' for days.... strong rumour control at platoon level is a dead cert! The money here is on a march into Treviso to the rail head for just about the whole battalion (all companies) - objective to unload an ammunition re-supply train(s) that have come up from the rear area.
This would have been exceptionally hard graft. Shell sizes will have varied but some of the larger calibre howitzer shells will have required a number of men and great teamwork to shift the pallets / crates into either motorised trucks or onto horse drawn carts?..... sorry no fork lift trucks yet.....
24th - The Battalion marched from S. GIUSEPPE to billets at CARITA. 25th - The Bn returned to Billets at S. GIUSEPPE.26th - The Bn marched from S. GIUSEPPE to billets near CATENA.
......Click on the slide below 'Catena & Ready' that brings you up to speed with where the boys are now and how close this is to the Piave river and Front Line. Step back for a moment and think about the bigger picture.... Harry's platoon; his Company; 9 Y&L Bn; the other battalions and supporting arms in 70 Brigade; the x2 other Brigades and 23rd British Division are all there too in this sector..... busy busy.... and an awful lot going on the ground right now!
27th - Bn remained at C. BARCHESSE near CATENA under orders to move at half - an - hours notice.
.....Visiting the history in the lead up to 27th October 1918..... In June 1918, the Allies had been bitterly disappointed at the Italians inability to counterattack against the Austrians following their defeat at Asiago and along the Piave river. Both Foch, newly appointed Generalissimo and Lord Cavan, Commanding British forces in Italy, attempted to persuade the Italians to action. However, no definite assurances were received from Diaz (Italian Commander-in-Chief, succeeding Cadorna) until October 6th. During the long pause in serious operations, the French and British Allies carried out sustained raiding and patrol activity. For example, in July the British fired an average of 14,000 shells a day on the Asiago alone.
The German Army suffered a serious defeat on the Western Front in August and the Austrians were left in no doubt that they could no longer count on German assistance: on the contrary they were asked how many Divisions they could send to France. This had a crushing effect on Austrian confidence. On 4 October 1918, Austria associated herself with the German appeal to President Wilson, for an armistice.
Diaz reorganised and formed two new armies. The Tenth Army was commanded by Lord Cavan. It included XIV Corps - 7th & 23rd British Divisions and the Italian XI Corps with two Divisions. The Twelfth Army, under the French General Graziani, included no British units. 48th British Division came under Italian XII Corps.
By October, the Allies had x60 Divisions with 7,700 guns, facing an enemy with x61 and 6,030.
The overall battle plan was for Allied forces to break through across the Piave, separating the Austrian armies in the mountains from those on the Vittorio Veneto plain, and then to wheel Westwards. The first phase would be for the Tenth and Eighth Armies to attack at the junction of the Austrian’s Isonzo and Sixth Armies which was the area lying between the Montello and Papadopoli Island (top right of latest slide linked below). This would be preceded by an advance to capture Papadopoli itself, which was garrisoned by Hungarian units. ……..Where the battle took place?
As covered earlier, the River Piave flows in a generally north-west to south-east direction, joining the sea to the east of Venice. North-West of Treviso, itself north of Venice, the Piave loops around a hilly whale-back feature called the Montello. The river from this point to the sea is very broad, some 800 yards in places, but fast-flowing. South-east of the Montello a series of islands lies in the river, of which the largest is the 4-mile long Papadopoli. The land on either side is flat, giving those in occupation of the Montello an excellent observation advantage. The land beyond the next river, the Monticano, is densely-populated and agricultural. How have events in recent days unfolded?
1. Securing Papadopoli Island. At 8.15pm on 23 October 1918, the 22nd Brigade of 7th Division began to cross the dangerous Piave on 12 flat-bottomed boats. The first platoons landed safely, before the Austrian artillery were alerted. Casualties were suffered, but no boat was hit, and the crossings continued. Once bridgeheads were secured, Italian Pontieri engineers built footbridges, and the rest of the Division crossed by this means. By 5am on the 24th, the Papadopoli objectives had been achieved, at small loss. The Hungarians put up poor resistance and did not counterattack. However, the weather worsened and although more units crossed to the island ready for the next days main assault, conditions slowed progress, to the point where the attack was postponed. Next day, the weather improved: the island was cleared, and a pontoon bridge constructed after much effort.
2.The Bund - Austrian Front Line Clearance. The next phase of attack was to clear the Bund (the Austrian front line on the east bank) and advance into the plain beyond. Zero hour was 6.45am on the 27 October. Both Divisions of XIV Corps would attack. The infantry crossed the rest of the river on foot; some men were drowned in the attempt. The thin bombardment had destroyed little of the wire, and enemy machine-gun fire was intense. However, by rush and bravery, the Bund objective was captured by 7am.
According to official Austrian historical archives, the appearance of the British (at the Bund) created ‘universal terror'. Further objectives were reached after overcoming resistance from fortified villages and isolated farms. XIV Corps was the only attacking formation to achieve all of its objectives on the day. In so doing it captured 2,500 prisoners and 54 guns, and advanced 3000 yards from the river. ………BACK TO HARRY……
As at PM 26th Oct 1918, Harry and mates had been in a 23 Div / 70 Bde forward holding location behind the front line and close to the Piave……. The lads will have heard the incessant artillery counter battery work day and night; will have been looking out at the torrential rain and quite probably wondering what impact this is having on the progress of the lads (22 Bde / 7th Div) slightly further east and the state of the river which they experienced last Spring.
NB - As a pointer on the tactical situation, it is likely the other two 23 Div Brigades are right up forward, securing the front line 23 div sector on the southern edge of the Piave with 70th Brigade slightly further to the rear. Once a bridgehead across the river has been secured,70th Brigade would then move forward swiftly ‘through’ its sister brigades and lead the 23 Div attack on the Bund as described at para 2 above.
….So what does x30 minutes ‘Notice To Move’ (NTM) actually mean? For a battalion this was probably the lowest on the timescales of NTMs. Just imagine.... over the 27th & 28th Oct, Harry and the lads have been at x30mins... this will have meant all platoons & companies held in strictly designated areas; all men accounted for; specific permission to visit latreens; the boys dressed; boots probably ‘on’ ready to be laced up and puttees fitted; kit laid out alongside the individual; weapon cleaned and ready; full ammo scaling; immediate action to fall in and parade at designated points outside billets; ready to march off……
'Okay this is it'.....29th The Battalion crossed the PIAVE at 0900 hours and commenced the advance towards VASSOLA. Given a crossing at 0900hrs at the Piave over a bridgehead (or wading through the river), this would have probably meant an 0330hrs reveille & breakfast and a 0500hrs start from Catena; a stop start march North as part of a Brigade & Divisional plan via CPs to a ‘Forming Up Point’ (FUP) and then when ordered……… the 9th were off……. Click on the link below 'The Piave and Beyond' to see current front line dispositions via slide illustration and map.
On reaching the MONTICANO the Battalion moved forwards to support the 8th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment who were held up by hostile shelling & machine gun fire. Later in the day the Battalion captured the village of CIMETTA and established a line of posts forward of the CAMPO - CEVARO _ BGO di SOPRA road. Just consider for a moment command & control…?
With battalions & brigades on the move (thousands of men; animals; equipment and supplies on the move….. across an uncertain major (river) obstacle….. how is control maintained?? The orders for the frontal attack over the Piave will have come all the way down from Army > Division > Brigade > Battalion > Company > Platoon > Section
Each command level will have been given its Mission; Set Objectives; Coordinating Instructions (incl strict Timescales) and most importantly ‘Actions On’ or contingency plans. A stream bed might have been a battalion’s left boundary and a track or road its right boundary. Every unit and subunit would known exactly who was on its left & right in the advance. The given ‘Limit of Exploitation’ in the orders would have detailed how far each unit was allowed to go in a given phase of the battle…… this way commanders (without radio etc) would have exercised control – albeit rudimentary……. The Orders would have been pre-issued before the 9th Y&L set off so that everyone ‘knew what they were on’....
30 Oct - The objective for the Battalion was SACILE. On reaching the ORSAGO – SACILE road at point 47, information was received from the cavalry who were then in SACILE that the enemy had counter- attacked and were advancing towards ORSAGO. (See war Diary).
31 Oct - At 10.00 hours the Battalion advanced towards SACILE (See war Diary)
(Stats Report As at 31st Oct 1918)
* Total Number of Enemy captured during operations - 298
* Wounded & Sick Prisoners in Hospitals - 239
* Grand Total: 537
* Captured Enemy Equipment: Field Guns(42); Machine Guns(53); Trench Mortars(44); Rifles (3000).
* Number of 9 Y&L Battalion Casualties: Killed (8); Wounded (33).
31 Oct - At 10.00 hours the Bn advanced towards SACILE By 12.30 hours we had established a line along the western bank of the LIVENZA but were unable to cross to the eastern side as the bridge had been destroyed and enemy machine-guns in the church steeple , also snipers in houses, kept up incessant fire. After a bombardment of houses etc, by 6" Newton Mortars, Stokes Mortars and Machine Guns, the section of 18 pounders obtained three hits on the church steeple and no further trouble was caused by hostile machine guns. The pioneers then prepared a bridge over which Companies crossed the LIVENZA
1 Nov - The Battalion occupied a line of posts in the N.E. outskirts of SACILE. The Austrians were reported to be retiring across the TAGLIAMENTO.
2 Nov - The battalion moved by march route to RORAI (near PORCIA) arriving in billets at 1730 hrs.
'Harry's Back'
'Boys Back On The Piave'
'Catena & Ready'
'The Piave and Beyond'
La Grand Guerra - Allies Support For Italy
Realities Of Trench Warfare - WW1
Send E-Mail to:
Copyright © 2007 . All Rights Reserved