EPHY 



2945 



Epehy, BATTLE OF. Fought be- 

 tween the British and the Germans, 

 Sept. 12-25, 1918. After the severe 

 German defeats by the British 

 armies in the battles of Bapaume 

 and Arras, Ludendorff decided to 

 fall back to the Hindenburg Line, 

 confident that his troops would be 

 able to hold this gigantic fortress 

 system in the face of any attack 

 through the winter of 1918-19. Sir 

 Douglas Haig was equally confi- 

 dent that the line could be cap- 

 tured. But before delivering the 



Epehy. Plan oi the battlefield show- 

 ing the ground gained by the British 

 in the battle of Sept. 12-25, 1918 



decisive attack upon it, its ad- 

 vanced positions and outworks had 

 to be taken. 



For this purpose the battle of 

 Epehy was fought, in very difficult 

 country. A fortified belt three 

 miles deep had to be traversed be- 

 fore the main Hindenburg Line 

 could be reached, and several subsi- 

 diary lines of defences had to be 

 taken. The British forces operating 

 were troops of the 3rd army under 

 Sir Julian Byng on the left, and of 

 the 4th army, including the Aus- 

 tralian corps, under Sir Henry 

 Rawlinson on the right, with the 

 36th French corps, forming part of 

 Debeney's 1st French army on the 

 extreme right, operating south of 

 Holnon. The German forces en- 

 gaged were troops of the 2nd and 

 18th German armies, forming part 

 of von Boehn's army group, and 

 they included several crack corps, 

 among them the Alpine corps and 

 the 2nd Guards division. 



The first operation was the at- 

 tack on the German positions at 



Havrincourt and Trescault, which 

 > was begun by the 3rd British army 

 on Sept. 12. Both villages were 

 taken on that day, and a deter- 

 mined German counter-attack on 

 Sept. 13 was beaten off at Havrin- 

 court. Meantime the Australians 

 captured Jeancourt, and on Sept. 

 17 the 9th corps on the extreme 

 British right fought its way into 

 Holnon, where a struggle continued 

 for some days with doubtful result 

 for the possession of the village. 



The main battle was timed to 

 open at 5.20 a.m. of Sept. 18 and, 

 as in the first battle of Cambrai and 

 the battle of Amiens, the infantry 

 was to advance without any pre- 

 liminary bombardment and to de- 

 liver a surprise attack, covered by 

 a creeping barrage. The Germans 

 expected attack, but were not cer- 

 tain of the exact date or time ; as 

 the British troops advanced to the 

 assembly points, a heavy gas-bar- 

 rage was put down by the German 

 guns ; and two hours before the 

 moment for the advance rain began 

 to fall and the weather became 

 thick and unfavourable. 



On the extreme British left the 

 3rd army beat off a determined 

 German attack at Havrincourt. 

 The 3rd corps cleared Peiziere, 

 Ep6hy, and Ronssoy, but was held 

 up at Lempire and could not reach 

 its objectives. In the centre the 

 Australian corps under Gen. Mon- 

 ash advanced with great dash and 

 initiative, broke through the Ger- 

 man front over an extent of 5,000 

 yards, and pushed rapidly forward 

 to a depth of nearly four miles 

 through the fortified zone, taking 

 Hargicourt and Villeret, and forc- 

 ing its way into the outer defences 

 of the mahi Hindenburg Line, 

 where it established itself firmly 

 about 1 m. W. of Bellicourt. To the 

 south of them the 9th corps was 

 held up at Fresnoy-le-Petit and in 

 the Quadrilateral : but the village 

 of Berthaucourt was stormed. 



On Sept. 19 the 3rd corps made 

 an advance of about a thousand 

 yards towards Vendhuille. The 

 36th French corps, south-east of 

 Holnon, could not get forward, but 

 Holnon village was captured at last 

 by the British after a three days' 

 struggle in which it had changed 

 hands repeatedly. On Sept. 20-22 

 the 3rd corps reached the positions 

 which had to be attained before a 

 direct attack was delivered on the 

 Hindenburg Line. On Sept. 24 the 

 9th corps attacked once more at 

 Fresnoy-le-Petit and in the Quadri- 

 lateral. The German gas-shelling 

 was exceedingly violent, but Fres- 

 noy and Gricourt were taken, and 

 the French south-east of Holnon 

 advanced some distance. On Sept. 

 25 the Quadrilateral was hi British 



hands, and all the ground needed 

 for the attack on the Hindenburg 

 Line had been secured. 



This battle was fought on the 

 British side with very limited re- 

 sources, but all the objectives were 

 attained and 100 guns and 11,750 

 prisoners were taken from the Ger- 

 mans on the British section of the 

 front. In all, 14 British divisions 

 were engaged against 15 German. 

 The British success was the more 

 notable because it was won by 

 troops that had been fighting 

 almost continuously for seven 

 weeks and in that time had suffered 

 casualties totalling 72,000. See 

 Cambrai, Battles of. 



Bibliography. Earl Haig's De- 

 spatches, 1920 ; The Last Four 

 Months, Maj.-Gen. Sir F. Maurice, 



1919 ; My War Memories, 1914-18, 

 Gen. LudendorfE, 1919 ; The Story of 

 the Fourth Army in the Hundred 

 Days, Maj.-Gen. A. Montgomery, 



1920 ; Tanks in the Great War, 

 1914-18, Col. J. F. C. Fuller, 1920 ; 

 Australian Victories in France, 1918, 

 Sir J. Monash, 1920. 



Eperjes, EPERIES OR PRESSOW. 

 Town of Czecho-Slovakia, formerly 

 in Hungary, capital of the comitat 

 of Saros. It stands on the Tarcza, 

 a tributary of the Theiss. 25 m. 

 W. of Leutschau. Encompassed 

 by walls, the town is well planned, 

 with fine streets, gardens, and 

 buildings, including an 18th cen- 

 tury cathedral. A thriving trade is 

 carried on in pottery, beer, gram, 

 wine, cattle, and linen goods. The 

 seat of a Catholic bishop, it 

 possesses an academy of law and 

 theology. There are mineral 

 springs and opal mines in the neigh- 

 bourhood. Pop. 16,323. 



Eperaay. Town of France, hi 

 the dept. of Marne, about 19 m. 

 W.N.W. of Chalons-sur-Marne. It 

 has important in- 

 dustries, including 

 spinning, tanning, 

 cork and cask 

 making, and brew- 

 ing, but its chief 

 importance is its 

 connexion with 

 the champagne 

 Epernay arms industry, the wine 

 being stored in cellars hollowed out 

 of the chalk rock. In normal times 

 about 5 million bottles are laid 

 down annually. The town was 

 occupied for a brief period by the 

 Germans in the early stages of the 

 Great War, and came into pro- 

 minence later, being one of the 

 German objectives in the second 

 battle of the Marne, July, 1918. 

 The assistance of the British divi- 

 sions, composed of Yorkshiremen 

 and Highlanders, in the defence of 

 Epernay, was specially recognized 

 by Gen. Berthelot. Pop. 21,800. 

 See Marne, Battles of the. 



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