Battle of Épehy
Part of theHundred Days Offensive ofWorld War I
The Western Front, 1918
Date 18 September 1918 Location Épehy,France Result Allied victory
Belligerents
British Empire  United Kingdom Australia  France	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Henry Rawlinson Julian Byng Marie-Eugène Debeney	Georg von der Marwitz
Strength
12 divisions[1] 1,500 artillery pieces	At least 6 divisions[2]
Casualties and losses
Total: unknown 1,260 men (265 killed, 1,059 wounded)[3]	Total: unknown Captured: 11,750 men and 100 artillery pieces

TheBattle of Épehy was fought during theFirst World War on 18 September 1918, involving theBritish Fourth Army under the command ofGeneralHenry Rawlinson againstGerman outpost positions in front of theHindenburg Line. The village of Épehy was captured on 18 September by the12th (Eastern) Division.

Field MarshalSir Douglas Haig,Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) on theWestern Front, was not eager to carry out anyoffensives, until the assault on theHindenburg Line, influenced by mounting British losses from previous battles that year, over600,000 casualties since March,180,000 of them in the past six weeks. Rawlinson was kept reined in and advised by Haig to ensure his men were well rested for the eventual attack on the Line. When news arrived of theBritish Third Army's victory at theBattle of Havrincourt, Haig's mind was changed. On the day following the success at Havrincourt, 13 September, Haig approved Rawlinson's plan to clear German outpost positions on the high ground before the Hindenburg Line and preparations began.^{[citation needed]}

Very fewtanks could be provided for the attack, so anartillery barrage would have to be relied upon to prepare the way. But in the interests of surprise, they would not be able to provide a preliminarybombardment. The1,488 guns would instead fire concentration shots at zero hour and support the infantry with acreeping barrage;300 machine-guns were also made available. All threecorps of the Fourth Army were to take part, with V Corps of the Third Army on their left flank and on their right theFrench First Army (underMarie Eugène Debeney).^[4] The objective consisted of a fortified zone roughly 3 miles (4.8 km) deep and 20 miles (32 km) long, supported by subsidiary trenches and strong points. The German2nd Army and18th Army defended the area.^{[citation needed]}

On 18 September at 5.20 am, the attack opened and the troops advanced. The promised French assistance did not arrive, resulting in limited success for IX Corps on that flank. On the left flank,III Corps also found difficulty when attacking the fortifications erected at "the Knoll", Quennemont and Guillemont farms, which were held determinedly by German troops, the village was however captured by the British 12th Eastern Division (7th Norfolk, 9th Essex and 1st Cambridge). In the centre, GeneralJohn Monash's twoAustralian divisions achieved complete and dramatic success. The1st Australian Division and the4th Australian Division, had a strength of some6,800 men^[1] and in the course of the day captured4,243 prisoners,76 guns,300 machine-guns and30trench mortars. They took all their objectives and advanced to a distance of about 3 miles (4.8 km) on a 4 miles (6.4 km) front. The Australian casualties were1,260 officers and men(265 killed,1,057 wounded,2 captured).^[3] The attack closed as an Allied victory, with11,750 prisoners and100 guns captured.^[5]

However, during the battle, all but one member of "D" Company of the1st Australian Battalion refused to take part in an attack to help a neighbouring British unit. The protest was against the battalion being sent back into combat when it had been about to be relieved. On 21 September 119 members of the company were subsequently imprisoned fordesertion; this was the AIF's largest incidence of "combat refusal" during the war and formed part of a general weakening in the force's discipline due to the stresses of prolonged combat.^[6] The charges of desertion in the face of the enemy (a crime that could meanexecution by firing squad in World War I)^[7][8] were reduced to the lesser crime of beingAWOL. All bar one soldier had their charges dropped after thearmistice in November.

Although Épehy was not a massive success, it signalled an unmistakable message that the Germans were weakening and it encouraged the Allies to take further action with theBattle of St. Quentin Canal, before the Germans could consolidate their positions. The failure of the III Corps to take their last objective – the outpost villages, would mean that the American forces would face a difficult task due to a hurried attack prior to the battle.

The Épehy Wood Farm Cemetery takes its name from the Ferme du Bois, a little to the east. Plots I and II were made by the 12th Division after the capture of the village, and contain the graves of officers and men who died in September 1918 (or, in a few instances, in April 1917 and March 1918). Plots III-VI were made after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields surrounding Épehy and from the smaller cemeteries of Deelish Valley Cemetery, Éphey, in the valley running from South-West to North-East a mile East of Épehy village which contained the graves of 158 soldiers from the United Kingdom (almost all of the 12th Division) who fell in September, 1918, Éphey New British Cemetery, on the South side of the village, which contained the graves of 100 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in August, 1917-March, 1918 and in September, 1918 and Éphey R.E. Cemetery, 150 yards North of the New British Cemetery which contained the graves of 31 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in April-December, 1917, and of whom 11 belonged to the 429th Field Company, Royal Engineers. The Épehy Wood Farm Cemetery now contains 997 burials and commemorations of the First World War. 235 of the burials are unidentified but there are additional special memorials to 29 casualties known or believed to be buried among them, and to two casualties buried in Épehy New British Cemetery, whose graves could not be found when that cemetery was concentrated. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

1. ^ – TheBritish andAustralian official histories both state an Australian strength of6,800 infantry. Major-General SirArchibald Montgomery'sThe Story of the Fourth Army, written apparently with access toBritish Army documents states different figures;5,902 Australian infantry engaged,1,700 prisoners taken,87 guns captured and casualties of1,022 men. The former figure has been used in this article but the difference should be noted. C. E. W. Bean:Volume VI – The Australian Imperial Force in France during the Allied Offensive, 1918 lists5,822 infantry engaged but uses the figure of6,800 soldiers (as the later figure includes the various battalion and brigade headquarters staff).

Published References

• A. G. Butler (1940). Official History of the Australian Army Medical Services 1914–1918.
• Les Carlyon (2006). The Great War.ISBN 978-1-4050-3761-7ISBN 1-4050-3761-X
• Michael Duffy (2001)."Battles: The Battle of Epehy, 1918".Archived from the original on 29 December 2005. Retrieved2 February 2006.
• Terraine, John (1978).To Win A War: 1918 The Year of Victory. Cassell & Co.ISBN 0-304-35321-3.
• Chris Baker."British Order of Battle: The Battles of the Hindenburg Line". Retrieved2 February 2006.

Media related toBattle of Épehy at Wikimedia Commons

50°00′N3°07′E / 50.000°N 3.117°E /50.000; 3.117

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