Circumstances Leading to Death          

From 1.00 am on May 27th onwards for some three hours, shells and trench-mortar bombs had been rained upon the British trenches north of the Aisne. At 4.0 a.m. the first "S.O.S." rockets went up from the front line, showing that the enemy were attacking.

The mist was dense, and it was not possible to see more than thirty or forty yards. Through the mist German tanks and infantry advanced. Some of the tanks came up the valley of the Miette and soon the 2nd Northamptonshire were fighting desperately against odds.

The anti-tank guns of the Division were disposed in the second system of defence. In that dense mist they could give no help to the Northamptonshire, two hundred yards in front, and eventually that brave battalion was overwhelmed. The German tanks rumbled forward through the mist, closely followed by their infantry, towards the second system of trenches, the position of the 1st Worcestershire.

The trenches held by the Battalion were strong and well-sited, on the level ground across which runs the main road from Berry-au-Bac to Corbeny (see map above). The first waves of the German attack struck the forward trenches of the 1st Worcestershire about 5 a.m. and were beaten back by rapid fire; but more and more of the enemy came on from every direction through the mist. Light machine-guns were established in shell-holes and raked the defenders' parapets from front and flank while, covered by their fire, parties of "Storm-troops" dashed in to close quarters. At many points there were fierce hand-to-hand struggles, and the crashing roar of the firing echoed through the mist.

On the right front of the Battalion, "A" Company made a most gallant stand. Captain R. B. Berry was shot through both legs and disabled, 2nd Lieutenant M. R. G. Gardner was killed and 2nd Lieutenant W. Kelly was wounded; but the one surviving subaltern, 2nd Lieutenant A. P. Edgar, took command of the company and inspired all to resist to the last. Ammunition ran short and the enemy closed in from all sides, shooting and bombing, but the brave subaltern called his men up out of the trench on to the parapet to fight it out with the bayonet. The Germans charged inwards, and after a short but desperate struggle the remnant of the company were killed or captured. 2/Lieut. Edgar, although bayonetted in the chest and stunned, fortunately survived.

At other points there was the same story to tell. Everywhere the companies and. platoons made a fierce resistance, holding their ground so long as their ammunition lasted and men survived to shoot. The anti-tank guns smashed the German tanks at point-blank range, while the enemy's infantry, disordered after their battle in the forward trenches, were beaten off again and again by rapid fire of musketry and machine-guns. Confident reports were sent back that the Battalion was holding its ground, and all seemed well when, through the mist, more tanks and fresh waves of the enemy's infantry came surging up from the right rear against the flank of the 1st Worcestershire. The battalions of the 25th Brigade further to the right had been overrun, and the victorious enemy, wheeling to the right, were rolling up the defensive line.

In a short time the Battalion was surrounded and was attacked in front, flank and rear. There was no surrender: all fought to the last. Major J. B. F. Cartland, commanding the Battalion (Colonel Davidge was temporarily sick and back with the transport lines), was killed in the trenches with his men. One by one the platoon posts were overwhelmed. Only a few stragglers came back.

The above taken from, and courtesy of, The Worcestershire Regiment website