Hohenzollern Redoubt

The Hohenzollern Redoubt, near to Auchy-les-Mines in France, [ [http://www.thelincolnshireregiment.org/hohenzollern.shtml The Royal Lincolnshire & Royal Anglian Regimental Association] ] was a German fortification on the Western Front in World War I.

Introduction

The British first attacked the Redoubt on September 25th, 1915, the first day of the Battle of Loos (historians generally take the battle to have lasted from September 25th-October 13th). The 26th Brigade of the 9th (Scottish) Division had the unenviable task of assaulting the Redoubt, a warren of defensive works that surrounded the pre-war mining complex Fosse 8. Although the British were able initially to penetrate the Redoubt, ferocious German resistance ultimately saw to it that, by early October, British forces were confined to holding little more than the West Face of the Redoubt. Vicious, close-quarter fighting continued here into the middle of October. Indeed, the continued fighting for the Redoubt accounts for why the larger Battle of Loos is conventionally taken to have lasted until October 13th. After September 28th, the rest of the ground that had comprised the Loos battlefield had ceased to be the scene of major fighting. In the later October fighting for the Redoubt, the Guards Division was heavily engaged on October 8th in beating back German assaults. The British made their own efforts to take over the Redoubt in October, such as the attack launched by the 46th (North Midland) Division (TF) on October 13 1915. The British casualties in this action consisted of 3,763 officers and men. It was the Division's first major action after its arrival on the Western Front, but was a gallant failure. The casualties incurred that afternoon changed forever the fine pre-war territorial character of the Division. Below follows an in-depth account of the Division's activities during the fighting for the Redoubt.

13th October 1915

The objective of the division's attack was capture of the "The Dump," an old mine slag heap which was strategically important in the Hohenzollern Redoubt's defenses.

The assault began with an artillery bombardment at 1200 hours on Wednesday 13 October 1915. Following the release of gas at 1400 hours, the 46th (North Midland) Division advanced over No-Man's Land towards its objective. After intense and fierce fighting, small gains were made, but consolidation was impossible.

The battle started with the usual artillery barrage in the early morning. After a lengthy pause, it was followed with a gas attack, which proved to ineffective. Once again, the high command demanded a pause before the troops went over the top. This decision gave the Germans the opportunity to occupy their positions in a state of readiness for the attack they expected.

14th October 1915

Captain Charles Geoffrey Vickers aged 21 of The Sherwood Foresters (The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) held a barrier at the Hohenzollern Redoubt with the aid of two men for several hours against heavy German bomb attacks. He ordered a second barrier to be built, a decision that cut off his own line of retreat. He was severely wounded in this action and was awarded the Victoria cross. [cite web|url=http://www.wfrmuseum.org.uk/vcwinners.htm|title=WORCESTERSHIRE AND SHERWOOD FORESTERS REGIMENT -VICTORIA CROSS WINNERS|publisher=Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regimental museum|accessdate=2008-01-18]

Order of Battle

The 46th (North Midland) Division was made up of the following units at the time of the attack on the Redoubt:

137th Brigade (Staffordshire)
*1/5th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
*1/6th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
*1/5th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment
*1/6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment

138th Brigade (Lincoln and Leicester)
*1/4th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment
*1/5th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment
*1/4th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment
*1/5th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment

139th Brigade (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire)
*1/5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
*1/6th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
*1/7th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters
*1/8th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters

Divisional Pioneers
*1/1st Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment

Royal Field Artillery
*I North Midland Brigade (1, 2 & 3 Lincolnshire Batteries)
*II North Midland Brigade (1, 2 & 3 Staffordshire Batteries)
*III North Midland Brigade (4, 5 & 6 Staffordshire Batteries)
*IV North Midland Brigade (1 & 2 Derbyshire Batteries)

Royal Engineers
*1/1st North Midland Field Company
*1/2nd North Midland Field Company
*2/1st North Midland Field Company

Hohenzollern Redoubt Memorial

On the 91st anniversary of the assault, a memorial was unveiled to commemorate the officers and men of the 46th (North Midland) Division who became casualties on October 13th 1915. The Memorial was designed by Michael Credland and takes the form of an octagonal broken column 46 inches high. It is built from Portland stone with two tiers of steps forming the base. The broken column of the memorial is intended to signify the loss of the head of the family and the loss of an army column. The angle of cut at the top of the column is 46 degrees. The pitch line of the steps is also 46 degrees. The Inscription "Their Country Found Them Ready", which is carved on the top step of the Memorial, was chosen by Martin Middlebrook. It comes from the popular war-time song "Keep the home fires burning" composed by Ivor Novello in 1915.

References

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/features/history/2004/hohenzollern_redoubt_2004.shtml BBC page on Stoke and Staffordshire history]
* [http://www.hellfire-corner.demon.co.uk/terriers2.htm Andrew Thornton article]
* [http://battlefields1418.50megs.com/hohenzollern.htm Hohenzollern Redoubt article]