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2. Dedication. Blog 13 is dedicated to the memory of Josef Glanzmann, the grandfather of Forum Member Peter Pgt. Josef served in 2 Komp IR 169 from 8 Sep – 15 October 1917, where he was wounded by artillery fire in the Battle of Pinon/Fort La Maison. IR 169’s parent unit, the 52nd Division, took severe losses in the battle. In its aftermath, the 52nd Division cross-leveled its remaining troops between IR’s 169, 170 and 111. Josef was then transferred to 10 Komp, IR 111, where he served for the remainder of the war. Josef fought in the battle described below, where he was wounded in the hand.

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As described in Blog 12, IR 169 took a leading part in the massive 27 May 1918 assault that overran four British Divisions along the Chemin des Dames in the Operation Bluecher Offensive. Much of the German account in this blog comes from the memoirs of Leutnant Otto Lais, then serving as the executive officer of IR 169’s 2nd Machine Gun Company (2 MGC). The offensive opened with one the most deadly and effective artillery barrages of the War. German storm troop formations quickly overwhelmed the first series British trenches as they surged to cross the Aisne River, just 2.5 miles further to the south. The story picks up as IR 169 troops attack through the final obstacle to the river, La Ville and the connecting Bois des Buttes.

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Located behind the third British trenchline, the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment (2/Devons) became the last organized form of resistance standing before the Aisne. The 2/Devons’ sector comprised the Bois des Buttes, a twin crested hillock south of the La Villa hamlet. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Anderson-Morshead, the Devons had moved into this position just hours before the attack. When the barrage lifted, Anderson-Morshead deployed Companies B, C and D forward, with Company A in the reserve. The heavy early morning mist enabled German infantry to close in before being engaged. Germans were massed to thickly that British rounds could hardly miss striking a target. The Devons were able to repel the first waves of Germans before sustained enemy machine gun fire, balloon guided artillery strikes and aircraft strafing decimated the British ranks. The few survivors of three front line companies were knocked off the hillock’s summit by 7.00am.

In the battalion’s final moments, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson-Morshead organized A Company and the battalion headquarters into a last stand defense on a reverse slope. Around this time, II Battalion/169 joined the final German assault. IR169’s recent experience in training with tanks came of use when a pair of German refitted Mark IV’s came into the battle. The Devons, with no anti-tank weapons available, were powerless to stop the armor. The tanks lumbered forward, firing machine guns and cannons to dislodge the British at the edge of the forest. These tanks were only stopped when they proved unable to climb the steep berms of the last artillery positions.

IR 169 storm troop squads, augmented by machine gun teams, closed in on the last remaining positions. Many of the Devons fought to their death. In attacking one bunker, a German officer was killed when directing machine gun fire. A pioneer squad then maneuvered to destroy it with an explosive charge. Nearby, Leutnant Spies, the regiment’s most respected small unit commander, led a storm troop platoon and machine gun element into another bunker complex to wipe out remaining defenders. Lais described the fate that befell Leutnant D.R. Barth after he led his men into a trench whose defenders had raised their hands in surrender. ‘A fanatical scoundrel pulled a Browning pistol and shot Barth in the stomach, leaving him with a grievous wound. The Englishman paid for his treacherous act with his life. The remaining prisoners stood still, with snow white faces as they raised their arms as far as can be stretched. All were evacuated with an audible breath of air from their lungs.’

By 9.30am the Bois des Buttes was fully in German control. Lieutenant Colonel Anderson-Morshead, last observed with pistol in one hand and riding crop in the other, was among the many British dead. The 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment was nearly annihilated, having lost 552 members killed or captured and leaving less than 80 survivors to regroup with the retreating British forces. The battalion’s legendary heroism was recognized with a British Army Battle Honour and French Croix de Guerre.

IR 169’s next objective was to cross over the Aisne River and canal, just a mile further south past the Bois. Although the British were able to destroy a series of smaller bridges, Pontavert’s large stone bridge remained intact and vigorously defended by British elements managing to escape over the river. German storm troop and infantry units swarmed up to the northern bank and made prisoners of those remaining British troops not able to swim across the river. A captured British colonel approached II/169’s commander, Hauptmann D.R. Knapp, and stated in perfect German: ‘Captain, I congratulate you for the performance of your troops.’

Disorganized British troops, augmented by French reservists, attempted to rally to defend the Pontarvert bridge and southern bank. II/169 was peppered with small arms fire as they approached the La Pecherie Ferne, a substantial fishery complex one mile to the east of Pontavert. A large graveyard, filled with dead from the past three years of combat, covered much of the grounds. Leutnant Lais’ 2MGC’s gun and ammunition wagons arrived after a difficult journey over an obstacle field that ensnarled the team for over an hour. Lais’ men set up in a courtyard where they distributed ammunition and unloaded the heavy machine gun hardware. 2MGC’s Commander, Leutnant Fahr placed one gun section on the river embankment to begin returning fire.

With his ammunition supply duties fulfilled, Lais took a few moments to explore the fishery buildings. He found one of the rooms being used as a dressing station that was being staffed by captured British medical personnel. Lais recalled: ‘English doctors and medics treat both friends and foes. We respect these people who selflessly attend all while the battle rages nearby.’ In another building Lais’ men came across abandoned stores of bed frames and posts that could be re-purposed to construct improvised footbridges. The pioneers quickly got to work, lashing together the posts with wires and using wooden planks for the bridging. Within an hour, they had constructed footbridges sufficiently long enough to cross the river and canal at a nearby, uniquely narrow point.

In addition to the creation of these ad hoc foot bridges, an infantry company discovered two abandoned barges. The makings for a hasty river assault were soon in place. A collection of IR 169 storm troopers were tasked to lead the attack. The 9th Company, commanded by Leutnant Kastner, took position along the north bank to join the machine guns in providing covering fires. At 10.00am, the crude foot bridges were complete and dragged up to the river. Enemy fire killed a number of covering force troops with head shots and cut down several pioneers trying to swim across the river to set the bridging upon the far bank.

Leutnant Selle, described by Lais as ‘a dear comrade,’ led the first squad of storm troopers across the footbridge. Selle and his entire unit were killed within a short distance of the crossing. Lais’ mind was forever branded with the image of his friend’s corpse lying face down in the mud. Other troops continued on. Crossing the shaky bridge was a perilous affair, as not only did the attackers face a deadly fire, but were also heavily laden with weapons and equipment. A fall into the river would likely result in drowning.

Leutnant Ries, described by Lais as being a completely unflappable warrior, led his storm troop across the river to maneuver against enemy strong-points. Filthy dirty, and with a long stubble of a red beard, Ries attacked a French detachment with great fury: Lais wrote: ‘Scared of this red devil, the French reserve commander could not raise his hands fast enough. It was a bad situation for the elderly men to be fetched up early in the morning by lorries and thrust into a frenzied battle against this God of Thunder, roaring devil-fire.’ The surge of German units crossing the Aisne forced the British to abandon fully intact Pontavert Bridge. All across the Aisne, German pioneers soon constructed substantial bridges that enabling combat forces and support elements to pour over the river.

Within the space of a few hours from the attack’s launch, the Aisne was firmly in German control. The next major natural obstacle was the Marne River, 25 miles to the south. The allied lines were so shattered that there was little organized resistance to stop the German march to the Marne.