ARTOIS - Illies - Wicres

The Hebrew text on this Jewish grave means :

This 1916 period photo shows a large memorial in the Wicres-Village cemetery with two figures. This memorial has been removed after 1918, and it is not to be found anymore in the cemetery.

“Infanterist”, Michael Streifinger , of an Ersatz-Bataillon of the I.R. 16, fallen on 12 March 1915 near the Bois du Biez, Neuve-Chapelle, rests in Block 2, Grave 79.

Before we continue our trip, I shall briefly explain in the frame below the situation around Illies in October 1914.

There were two other battles before this First Battle of Ypres. More to the north the British advanced from 16 October on Armentières, culminating in a battle, which lasted until 2 November 1914 and ended with the British capture of Armentières.

The Battle of La Bassée

As always during these first 3 months of the war, the Germans were eager to follow this traditional example of the inhabitants of these lower, often flooded areas; and they focused their attacks to occupy as much of the hills as possible.  The military advantage from the possession of a hill is obvious: a better observation of the enemy, a better position for fortifications, and a better position for defence actions.

Warfare with superfluous water

Another advantage is perhaps less known: warfare with superfluous water. In all lower ground front sectors, from the Ypres Salient in the north, via Neuve Chapelle, to Loos-en-Gohelle, more to the south from Illies, the Germans were flooding their superfluous water from their heights to their British enemies on the lower ground, forcing them to pump dry continuously their trenches and dug-outs.

Breastworks instead of trenches

Here the soldiers constructed double breastworks on ground level, as shown in this sketch of the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division.

Concrete bunkers

We continue our route to the Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Wicres - Route de La Bassée, ...

The brown granite crosses stand on communal graves.

Before we will take a closer look at the exact site of action near this memorial,  Madame Dhennin tells us the story of the fate of Captain Boyle.  

The attack began on 16 October, and made slow progress. Givenchy was recaptured, but the advance failed to reach La Bassée. The II Corps suffered another 1,000 casualties during this phase of the battle.

A key element in the failure of the offensive was the arrival of German reinforcements. The German Army XIII corps took over part of the line held by the VII Corps, making the German lines deeper.

Herlies, 18 October 1914

Ahead they could see the ground rising a bit to the La Bassée Road (now the RN 41). The wood was surrounded by entrenched German machine guns. Held up on the left the Scots were forced to dig in under heavy fire some 500 m. short of the objective. Just as it was getting dark, the Battalion was ordered to continue the attack. The 'D' Company under Capt. James  Boyle was sent up in support. By 5.30 p.m. they were only 60 m. short of the wood but, they were ordered to retire.

Capt. Boyle, says the "History of the Royal Scots Fusiliers" (J. Buchan, 1925), fell as he reached the German trenches. But according to research by Geoff Bridger, Capt. Boyle and Capt. Lyon found themselves in a German trench occupied by dead Germans. "For some unaccountable reason Capt. Boyle prodded a dead German with his stick, a move, which awakened the in reality sleeping soldier, who promptly bayoneted and killed him."  He was buried by the Germans, but his grave was subsequently lost.

A clip from the Glasgow Herald, d.d. 2 December 1914, honouring Capt. Boyle:

Right and directly next to the memorial we find the Site of Action of Capt. Boyle, ...

Time to tell you what happened on that next October day in these fields. 

Another Allied attack was planned for 19 October. The only success during this attack would lead to tragedy. The 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment captured le Pilly, a village on the eastern outskirts of Herlies, but the rest of the advance failed. The Royal Irish were dangerously isolated, but before the order to retreat could reach them, they were surrounded by the Germans. Of 800 men only 300 survived to surrender to the Germans.

On 20 October the Germans went on to the attack. A major offensive was launched all along the German line from Arras to the sea. Fortunately, that day the II Corps had halted their offensive and been ordered to hold their line. German attacks on 20 and 21 October were repulsed, but Smith-Dorrien decided to retreat to a stronger defensive line that had been prepared behind the front line.

Source: Military History Encyclopedia on the Web 

After parking our car we descend on foot a path southward to a location called Montécouvé. An information panel in the local dialect of French Flanders, of the Pays de Ch’ti , tells us ...

This map of Lt. Col. Waldham shows the German trenches and fortifications, which were known to the British, just before the Battle of Festubert (15-25 May 1915).

After the spring battles of 1915 of Neuve Chapelle and Festubert, the Germans speeded up their construction works. They constructed more and better breastworks in the lower grounds.

Let us take a closer look at this trench map. The map shows two remarkable features:

1. Of course you will notice the enormous extension after 3 years of construction of fortifications, trenches and barbed wire entanglements of a third line artillery position opposite the British area of Festubert and Neuve Chapelle!

2. Usually, trench maps of all the belligerent parties, meant for use on the battlefield, show only the lines of the enemy, like the 1915 map of Lt. Col. Waldham. Maps for use on the battlefield show only the “own” front line / jump-off line, and these maps hide all the other “own lines”, in case the owner of the map would be made Prisoner of War.

This German 1918 map however is of course a secret staff map. It was not meant for use by a common soldier or officer on the battlefield. This staff map, which was meant for use in a headquarters at a safe distance from the front line,  shows also the lines of the Germans themselves.

During our route in the area of Illies we will explore some 30 bunkers of this “Artillerie Sicherungs-Stellung”. Later on this page I will show you sometimes a detail of this 1918 trench map to help you to imagine the situation of the site in wartime.

This map detail represents the situation around L'Aventure and Montécouvé.

Next to it stands a small shelter bunker.

...  we detect in the fields on the western side of the road three large bunkers.

Three zoomed-in tele-views of these bunkers, from left to right:

In 2010 and in 2014 we paid a visit to the Illies Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof, ...

Out of the 2890 burials I show you here only two remarkable graves.

This the grave of Alexander Freiherr (Baron) von Siebold, a son of a Japanologist, famous for his knowledge in the 19th century in Germany and Austria, Alexander George Gustav Freiherr von Siebold .

The father was killed in October 1914, the son was killed in July 1941. 

Almost 4 km. south of Aubers this concrete observation post bunker is also part of a third line stronghold, ...

... which belonged to the Aubers Ridge front sector of the 1917 Hindenburg Line.

... the Germans established this stronghold already at the start of 1915.

... with a construction on the top, fit for mounting an anti-aircraft machine-gun.

On this side of the road we detect this field with a concentration of several bunkers.

This large bunker could possibly have served as a Command Post. It used to be a farmhouse, which the Germans fortified with concrete.

We enter the field along the damaged walls of the Command Post.

The interior of the right bunker. Quite remarkable; after so many years there is hardly a trace of rust.