Hi all,
I'm trying to see if I can identify what German units would have been opposing my great-grandfather's first attack during WWI. As fate would have it, I now live in Germany and I'd like to know more about 'the other side' of this action.
My great-grandfather first went into action on the 28th of April with the 10th Lincolnshires (a.k.a. the Grimsby Chums) at Roeux, or as part of what some members of the battalion later referred to as 'the fiasco at the chemical works at Roeux'. Also involved in the attack were the 11th Suffolks and the 15th Royal Scots, all as part of the wider battle of Arras.
I've read the regimental diaries, as well as a number of descriptions of the action itself. The Chums were in the centre, with the immediate objective of seizing a cemetery that lay at the junction of Rue de Fampoux and Rue Eugène Dumont, where there now stands a memorial. The Royal Scots were to the south, attempting to take Roeux proper, with the Suffolks to the north trying to take the aforementioned chemical works.
From my understanding of the battle, it was a complete disaster for the Lincolnshires from the outset. Their trench was actually at right angles to the objective, and an attempt to covertly leave the trench before dawn and form up for the attack in the open caused so much noise that they immediately came under hellish fire.
As they tried to advance on the cemetery, they discovered that the buildings and houses surrounding it were heavily garrisoned and most troops had to take cover in shell-holes as best they could. A large number of these troops were captured when the German commander realised they were pinned by fire and sent out a counter attack to surround them.
Eventually the commanding officer of the Chums realised the attack was in trouble and began attempting to organise a defense from the expected counter-attack. The regimental diary says he managed to gather together 40 men from the battalion's original 626. A detachment of German soldiers did later advance from the town itself to the South East. They managed to enter one of the trenches, but were eventually driven off with a bombing run using grenades.
I sadly have very little knowledge of the German side of military history, and I was wondering if anyone could help me identify some of the forces involved in this German defence/counter-attack.
Many thanks in advance!
