The Battle of Neuve Chapelle: Britain's Forgotten Offensive of 1915

By Paul Kendall

Neuve Chapelle a lost battlefield is now opened up for the explorer to learn more about the actions that took place there.In Early 1915, the British decided to take the offensive for the first time in the war against German positions in Northern France. The initial objective was a bulge, about one mile across, in their lines at Neuve.Events which took place here early in 1915 are described in detail and show why this almost forgotten battle set the course of the war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473847194

Paul Kendall

Educated at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, where he also served as an Honorary Midshipman with the University of London Royal Naval Unit, Paul Kendall is a military historian and author from Kent specializing in the First World War.

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Voices From The Past: The Zeebrugge Raid 1918

THE BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE

Britain’s Forgotten Offensive of 1915

This edition published in 2016 by Frontline Books,

an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

47 Church Street, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire, S70 2AS

Copyright © Paul Kendall

www.paul-kendall.co.uk

The right of Paul Kendall to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN: 978-1-47384-718-7

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Contents

Acknowledgements

In the process of writing this book I have consulted numerous documents and reports from The National Archives and I duly thank that organisation for allowing me to use extracts from them. I have also used extensively the personal testimonies of soldiers who fought at Neuve Chapelle that were published in newspapers during 1915. I thank The British Newspaper Archive for allowing me to reproduce these texts.

I extend my gratitude to the Imperial War Museum’s Department of Documents for providing relevant papers from its collection and for assisting me with the process of seeking permission to quote from these sources. I am grateful to Rory Boyle for allowing me to quote from the papers of Second Lieutenant Charles Tennant. I extend my gratitude to Jacky Hodgson and the University of Sheffield Library for allowing me to quote from the papers of Captain Malcolm Kennedy.

I am grateful to the Liddle Collection, Special Collections Department at the University of Leeds for granting permission to quote from documents held within its archives. I am also thankful to Alison Metcalfe at The National Library of Scotland for granting permission to quote from the diary of Douglas Haig.

At Dover Castle during September 2014 I was fortunate to be able to meet the volunteers from the National Army Museum’s ‘Brothers in Arms’ project, which, led by Jasdeep Singh, promotes the role of the Indian soldier during the First World War. They presented visitors with an impeccable drill and an enlightening insight into life as an Indian servicemen in that era. I thank Jasdeep and his team for their welcome and assistance in answering my questions. I was immensely pleased to meet Kuljit Singh Sahota, who is the great grandson of Subadar Manta Singh, and I thank him and his family for allowing me to include his story in this book.

I am grateful to Claire Hill, Deputy Town Clerk and Tring Town Council for their assistance regarding Private Edward Barber VC. I thank Nick Britten for sending me documents relating to this subject.

I would like to extend my thanks to Dr David Omissi at the Univeristy of Hull for kindly allowing me to quote from the letter of Rifleman Amar Singh Rawat, Garhwal Rifles, which was sourced from his book Indian Voices of the Great War: Soldiers’ Letters 1914-18.

Every reasonable effort has been made to obtain the necessary permission to quote from the many sources referred to during the research for this publication.

I thank Martin Mace and John Grehan at Frontline Books for their enthusiasm and support with this project.

Finally, I would like to thank my friend Yves Fohlen, Caverne du Dragon Museum and battlefield guide, for proof-reading this book and for his continued friendship and support. I have known him as a friend for many years and I have spent a great of time walking the battlefields, including Neuve Chapelle, in his company. I very much value his guidance, knowledge and tutorship regarding all First World War subjects.

Author’s Note

Please note that when referring to the men who took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle during March 1915, I have referred to the ranks that they held at the time of the battle. For the sake of brevity, the following units will be listed thus:

Princess of Wales’s Own Alexandra (Yorkshire Regiment) will be referred to as Yorkshire Regiment (The Green Howards).

Duke of Cambridge’s Own Middlesex Regiment will be referred to as the Middlesex Regiment.

Duke of Edinburgh’s (Wiltshire Regiment) will be referred to as the Wiltshire Regiment.

1/4th Battalion Gurkha Rifles will be referred to as 1/4th Gurkhas.

1/9th Battalion Gurkha Rifles will be referred to as 1/9th Gurkhas.

2/2nd King Edward’s Own Gurkha Rifles will be referred to as 2/2nd Gurkhas.

2/3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles will be referred to as 2/3rd Gurkhas.

2/8th Battalion, 8th Gurkha Rifles will be referred to as 2/8th Gurkhas.

3rd Lahore Division will be referred to as the Lahore Division.

3rd London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) (Territorial Force) will be referred to as 3rd London Regiment.

7th Meerut Division will be referred to as the Meerut Division.

15th Ludhiana Sikhs will be referred to as 15th Sikhs.

Prince of Wales’s Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) will be referred to as the West Yorkshire Regiment.

Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Royal Berkshire Regiment) will be referred to as the Royal Berkshire Regiment.

Princess Victoria’s (Royal Irish Fusiliers) will be referred to as the Royal Irish Fusiliers.

Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) will be referred to as the Royal West Kent Regiment.

The Prince Consort’s Own (Rifle Brigade) will be referred to as the Rifle Brigade.

Ross-Shire Buff’s, The Duke of Albany’s Seaforth Highlanders will be referred as the Seaforth Highlanders.

Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment) will be referred to as Sherwood Foresters.

Introduction

The operation at Neuve Chapelle in the Artois region of northern France during March 1915 was significant because it was the first planned offensive strike upon a German trench system on the Western Front conducted independently by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It differs in that respect from the battles fought during 1914, which were classified as encounter battles, namely a series of unforeseen actions in which local commanders on the ground had to react. There were also incursions into enemy trenches to test defences and gather intelligence, reasonably enough known as ‘trench raids’.

In 1915 the British were taking the initiative in attempting to breach the Western Front on this sector. General Sir Douglas Haig had directed I Corps at close quarters during the 1914 campaign, but, as First Army commander, the operation at Neuve Chapelle would be his first experience of controlling an attack.

The generals planning and organising this operation had joined the British Army decades earlier during the Victorian era. They had been trained to fight colonial wars and the strategies of advance and attack were indoctrinated within that training, but this proved to be an ineffective tactic during the 1914 campaign. Modern weapons, such as machine-guns and heavy artillery, with opposing armies entrenched behind barbed wire entanglements, would prevent each side from penetrating the defences of the other. The year 1915 marked the beginning of the generals’ attempt to break the stalemate of trench warfare; yet it would take four years to develop tactics that would succeed. Sir James Edmonds commented in the Official History on Neuve Chapelle: ‘Those responsible for planning the preliminaries for a battle which was the first trench offensive were faced by problems for which neither their training nor experience had actually prepared them: and consequently much of their work at this period was experimental.’¹

Despite being a soldier from the Victorian era, thrust into fighting a modern war, Haig was not afraid to be experimental. He embraced new technology and strategies in his approach to tackling the challenges of getting his infantry across No Man’s Land and penetrating the German lines. Indeed, the offensive at Neuve Chapelle saw innovations in the first effective use of infantry and artillery working cohesively in a British offensive, together with aeroplanes belonging to the Royal Flying Corps. Although Haig did not understand how flying machines could be used in warfare during early 1915 he was keen to investigate their potential use at Neuve Chapelle, where development in aerial reconnaissance techniques gave infantry commanders on the ground the first glimpse from the air of enemy targets to be attacked. Trench maps were drawn from these photos and this intelligence would aid infantry on the ground. During the Battle of Neuve Chapelle the Royal Flying Corps took part in the bombing of strategically important positions while observers were able to direct artillery batteries to targets behind the German lines. Although primitive, this form of warfare would develop throughout the war.

The capture of Neuve Chapelle using artillery, infantry and aeroplanes marked the first successful breach in the German lines and the capture of a village using the strategy of a concentrated bombardment of artillery before an infantry assault. This new strategy succeeded in penetrating the German line and temporarily broke the stalemate of trench warfare that had established itself during the course of the cold winter of 1914/15.

The BEF had suffered severe casualties during the 1914 campaigns and it was difficult to replace the experienced officers, NCOs and soldiers who had been lost. Those civilians who answered Field Marshal Earl Herbert Kitchener’s call for volunteers to enlist would need weapons, uniforms, equipment and training – and it would take two years for them to be ready for active service. In early 1915 when Field Marshal Sir John French, Commander-in-Chief BEF, considered the prospect of launching an assault upon Neuve Chapelle his resources were limited. Regular soldiers who had been swiftly transported from garrisons in the colonies to Britain would form the 7th and 8th Divisions but they would not be sufficient to carry out the attack alone. The British Army had no choice but to use Territorial soldiers whose primary role was home defence (and therefore not intended to serve overseas), and the Indian Army, a colonial force, because they were the only fully trained volunteer fighting units within the British Empire available at that time. These troops would form General Sir Douglas Haig’s First Army, comprising of IV Corps and the Indian Corps. They would prove their effectiveness as fighting soldiers at Neuve Chapelle.

In an effort to capture Neuve Chapelle and Aubers Ridge, Haig was assigned the task of launching an assault upon German positions between the La Bassée Canal and Bois-Grenier. This would provide a suitable position from which to launch further initiatives to capture Lille, which was used by its German occupiers as a major transport hub.

A battle had been fought in this sector four months previously by General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien’s II Corps, which captured Neuve Chapelle on 16 October 1914. The following day, the men of II Corps also occupied Aubers Ridge and Herlies during the advance eastwards from Béthune. The British maintained possession of this strategically prominent position for three days until it was retaken by the German Fourth and Sixth Armies on 20 October (including Neuve Chapelle).

A salient was therefore formed at Neuve Chapelle and the British front line was pushed back west of the village where it remained throughout the winter of 1914/15. Haig’s plan for the offensive of March 1915 was to launch a preliminary thirty-five-minute hurricane artillery bombardment before infantry belonging to IV Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Rawlinson, and the Indian Corps, under Lieutenant-General Sir James Willcocks, assaulted this salient in a converging attack on a 2,000 yard front to seize the village prior to an assault on Aubers Ridge.

Lieutenant-Colonel Merewether and Sir Frederick Smith both served as staff officers within the Indian Corps. They described Neuve Chapelle in some detail in their history of the corps in France during the First World War: ‘Eastward from our front lay the village of Neuve Chapelle, in pre-war times a typical French townlet, with its centre street lined by estaminets, small shops and neat dwelling houses, while on the outskirts were the villas of the better-to-do residents. The most prominent buildings were the white church on the left of the main street, the brewery in the south east corner of the village, and a small chateau to the north east of the church. The village was already in a half ruined condition as the effect of the previous sanguinary fighting in October 1914, but this was nothing as compared with the state in which it was left by the bombardment and counter bombardments of the 10 March 1915 and following days.’²

It is important to highlight the significance of this neglected battlefield and pay tribute to the soldiers of all sides who fought there a century ago. The aim of this book is to provide an account of the first large-scale operation executed by the BEF during the First World War, to assess the planning process and to highlight the challenges that generals faced in trying to get their soldiers across No Man’s Land into fortified German trenches. The book chronicles the journeys of the soldiers belonging to IV and Indian Corps before reaching Neuve Chapelle and details the events of those three days when the battle was fought, interweaving the descriptive personal testimonies of those who took part.

Paul Kendall

Folkestone, 2016

Part I:

Prelude to Battle

Chapter 1

The British Army 1914-15

The BEF, commanded by Field Marshal Sir John French and comprising six divisions, was deployed to the European continent during August 1914, but by the end of that year its ranks had sustained significant casualties with many of its officers, NCOs and seasoned regulars lost. The British Army was not large enough to replace those losses and there were not enough fully trained and experienced troops to sustain a long-term campaign during 1915. The swathes of volunteers who came forward to enlist in response to Kitchener’s call would not be ready for active service for two more years as they needed to be equipped and trained. Levels of manpower available to the British Army were therefore extremely limited. There were several battalions of regular soldiers stationed in Britain and serving in colonial garrisons overseas, but these insignificant numbers could not be solely relied upon to fight a long war. Reluctantly the British had to rely upon the Territorial Army and the Indian Army to strengthen their ranks.

The British 7th and 8th divisions, which would eventually take part in the operation at Neuve Chapelle in 1915, did not form part of the first contingent of the BEF sent to France. While the first six divisions were engaging German forces for the first time at Mons and during the retreat to the Marne, the 7th and 8th divisions were being assembled from battalions of regular soldiers stationed in Britain and those serving overseas.

The 7th Division was formed in the New Forest near Lyndhurst, Hampshire, during late August 1914. It contained three battalions of regular soldiers which had been left in Britain and nine other battalions which had been garrisoned in the colonies. They included the 2nd Scots Guards stationed at the Tower of London, 1st Grenadier Guards from Warley, 2nd Border Regiment from Pembroke Dock, the 2nd Yorkshire Regiment from Guernsey, XXXVth Brigade Royal Field Artillery based at Woolwich, C Battery, Royal Horse Artillery from Canterbury and F Battery from St John’s Wood and 54th Field Company, Royal Engineers stationed at Chatham. These units would form the bases of the 7th Division and they would be joined during September 1914 by the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment and 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers garrisoned at Gibraltar, 1st Royal Welch Fusiliers and 2nd Royal Warwickshire Regiment stationed in Malta and the 2nd Gordon Highlanders in Egypt.

The battalions that would eventually form the 8th Division were also serving overseas. When war broke out in 1914 the 2nd Lincolnshire Regiment was stationed in Bermuda and because the Governor was not present on the Caribbean island, responsibility for reading the King’s speech therefore devolved upon the shoulders of the commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel George McAndrew, who delivered it to the Bermuda Parliament and also declared martial law. Seven months later McAndrew would die during the assault upon Neuve Chapelle.

Many of the soldiers garrisoned in the British colonies were frustrated that they would miss the opportunity to participate in the war raging in Europe. They thought that it would be a short conflict in which they would play no role. Major Hesperus Lloyd was serving with the 2nd Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in Malta when war broke out. Lloyd had extensive military experience after serving twenty-four years in the British Army at home and abroad in Egypt and India. He served in Khartoum and during August 1899 took part in the campaign which resulted in the defeat and death of the Khalifa. However, while he was serving in Sudan he was denied the opportunity of participating in the South African War. In 1908 he was appointed Governor of Kordofan (Sudan) and Officer Commanding the district. When the First World War broke out he was not enthralled with the unappealing prospect of spending the war on Malta with his military experience and skills not utilised. He was not confident that his battalion would be sent to mainland Europe.

Yearning to contribute, Lloyd wrote on 17 August 1914: ‘It is my cursed luck again to be out of the hunt. I spent the South African War in Sudan; now I shall spend my time here. I feel it is 22 years of hard work – for I have worked hard, if not always to the best effect – wasted. Having little or no hope in the West. I am turning my eyes to the East.’¹

Major-General Sir Thompson Capper DSO was appointed commander of 7th Division. Most of these battalions contained regular soldiers who were fully trained and over nineteen years old. They were not expected to leave a third of their complement behind and did not have to supplant their ranks with reservists who would require further training to familiarise themselves with the skills of a soldier and time to adapt from civilian to military life.

There was difficulty in equipping the 7th Division due to high demand for weapons, munitions, transport and horses as there was competition from the Territorial Army and Kitchener’s New Army to acquire the same. As quartermasters addressed the challenges of ensuring that the division had everything required before deployment to Europe the soldiers were given intensive training to harden those who had arrived from overseas garrisons.

Orders to embark to Belgium were received by 7th Division on 4 October 1914. It was allotted to the Royal Naval Division and sent to reinforce the defence of the besieged Belgian port at Antwerp. Within four hours of receiving the embarkation orders the first battalions were on the road heading for Southampton. They were boarding troopships before midnight. Sailing across the English Channel in two groups, protected by Royal Naval destroyer escorts from German submarines, the first group arrived at Zeebrugge at 06.30 hours on 6 October and was transported to billets eight miles away in the medieval town of Bruges later that day.

The second convoy left Southampton at 03.30 hours on 7 October and during the passage one of the destroyer escorts claimed to have sunk a German submarine. The ships berthed at Zeebrugge at 18.00 hours and the men were also sent to Bruges. The entire 7th Division was billeted in and around Bruges and received a rapturous welcome from the local inhabitants who ripped badges, insignia and caps from the soldiers for souvenirs.

The situation in Antwerp was deteriorating rapidly but before the 7th Division could march east towards the city it had to march thirteen miles west towards Ostend on 8 October in order to protect the disembarkation of the 3rd Cavalry Division. Arriving at 16.00 hours it formed a defensive arc because German cavalry were feared to be moving towards the Belgian port. Meanwhile in Antwerp the Belgian defence had collapsed and the process of evacuation of the Belgian Field Army had begun.

The priority now was to cover the withdrawal from Antwerp and General Sir Henry Rawlinson sent two brigades belonging to 7th Division together with artillery to support French Marines in Ghent. By the night of 9/10 October they had established a defensive line across the line of advance of the mighty German force that was heading in their direction. French Marines repelled a German attack, but the 7th Division had an unpleasant night for it rained throughout and the soldiers were not allowed to light fires, meaning they were unable to cook a hot meal or keep warm. The men defended this outpost line until 11 October as German forces were approaching closer to Ghent. Rawlinson ordered the 7th Division to withdraw during that night west towards Thielt. It marched across the hard, cobbled Belgian roads during that cold night and at dawn, after marching sixteen miles, reached the Canal du Lys where it halted for rest. The march to Thielt was resumed at midday, led by French Marines. Roads congested with Belgian refugees delayed their journey and they reached Thielt around midnight exhausted and famished. They had covered twenty-six miles during that one day. With the Belgian Field Army safely evacuated from Antwerp, the 7th Division could be utilised for other tasks.

The 7th Division continued to move westwards on 13 October towards Roulers. The march was carried out under torrential rain on extremely muddy, uncobbled roads which which made the ten-mile journey difficult. Threats of German attacks meant that defensive lines had to be created to fight rearguard actions causing further delays. It arrived at Roulers by nightfall. The division travelled a further fifteen miles west to Ypres on 14 October without encountering German forces. Here it established an outpost line from St. Eloi south-east to Zillebeke, where it linked up with the line held by the French 87th Territorial Division which continued the line to Wieltje. Thus ended the 7th Division’s first week on Belgium where it had carried out much marching, but had not engaged with the enemy.

The initial days spent at Ypres were relatively quiet. Major-General Capper ordered 7th Division to form a defensive line from Voormezele to Zillebeke on 15 October. As it prepared this line German patrols and snipers were moving towards the British from south and south-east of Ypres. During 16 October 20th Brigade pushed forward its line from Zandvoorde eastwards towards Gheluvelt. It was at Gheluvelt that 21st Brigade encountered a German cavalry patrol and inflicted several casualties. The 22nd Brigade arrived at Zonnebeke soon after German forces evacuated the town.

The 21st Brigade engaged with German forces during the night of 16/17 October when the line held by the 7th Division came under sporadic German sniper and artillery fire. The 2nd Scots Guards cleared a sector of German snipers and occupied Kruiseeke. For the next two weeks the 7th Division became embroiled in the First Ypres campaign. The men had been thrown into the defence of Ypres without time to prepare themselves and were expected to defend a fragile line against a series of German attacks, launched by fresh troops with superior numbers. Without heavy artillery to support them and limited supplies of ammunition they held their shallow trenches and helped to prevent a German breakthrough to the Channel ports. The 7th Division suffered 9,302 casualties, including 364 officers, during the First Ypres campaign alone, leaving its battalions severely reduced.

By 6 November the 7th Division was exhausted and desperately required time to rest and supplant its ranks. Many reinforcements were old soldiers whose Reserve time had expired who were not required to re-join the colours of their former battalions, but who did so voluntarily to ‘do their bit’. When the division was withdrawn from the Ypres Salient it had to replace lost weapons, equipment and transports. However, there was not sufficient time for 7th Division to rebuild and on the 14 November the men began to march towards Rouge Bancs in the marshy Lys valley in French Flanders. During that evening they began to relieve 6th Division which was positioned two miles north east of Neuve Chapelle.

Despite the presence of active German snipers, there was less fighting on this sector, which enabled 7th Division to strengthen the line, assimilate new drafts into the depleted ranks of the division and to replenish supplies of equipment and munitions. The new drafts were allowed to adapt to life on the Western Front without engaging the enemy and the risk of sustaining further casualties.

Towards the end of November the 7th Division comprised approximately 15,000 soldiers. The main problem related to the health of the men, many of whom suffered from trench foot. This was a condition caused by wearing puttees and boots continuously for days and to feet being kept in wet and cold conditions within the trenches. The suction of the sticky mud was enough to remove a man’s boot from his foot and with most trenches ankle-deep in mud and water the conditions were conducive for the affliction to flourish. The sick rate was increased when the climate turned cold, causing further health problems such as influenza, but this was moderated when fur waistcoats arrived on the front.

The 7th Division was not in a position to conduct a major operation, but during the night of 24/25 November a party belonging to the Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Royal Engineers assaulted a farm at Fleurbaix being used by German snipers. The farm was secured and then demolished to render it useless as a sniper’s position before they returned to British lines without sustaining a casualty.

A few nights later on 27 November, Lieutenant Sir Edward Hulse led another trench raid carried out by 7th Division, comprising nine men belonging to the 2nd Scots Guards. Using a ditch they were able to crawl across No Man’s Land and to get within ten yards of the German trench without being detected. They were then able to throw bombs at a group of twenty German soldiers who were keeping warm around a fire. The raiding party was supported by machine-gun and rifle fire from the British trench as well as artillery fire which targeted the German line. During this raid they ascertained that there were no obstacles in front of the German trench and that sentries were not over-vigilant.

By the close of the 1914 campaign the BEF had been significantly reduced due to heavy casualties. The 7th Division after the first battle of Ypres was left with fifteen per cent of its original complement. So in many instances the divisions that entered the battle of Neuve Chapelle were new formations with a small percentage of experienced ‘Old Contemptibles’ from the 1914 campaign.

The beginning of 1915 was extremely wet in the Neuve Chapelle region and experienced the wettest winter in twenty years; clearly, not conducive to trench warfare. The 7th Division continued to hold the line at Rouges Bancs until 1 March 1915 when it was relieved by 1st Canadian Division.

The 8th Division was established on 19 September by a small group of officers who set up their headquarters at the Polygon Hotel in Southampton with Major-General Francis Davies appointed as divisional commander. A week later 23rd Brigade arrived from Malta and marked the beginning of the division’s formation. On 2 October, 8th Division relocated to Hursley Park, close to Winchester, where it waited for the remainder of the division to arrive. It would comprise battalions containing regular soldiers who were serving in British garrisons in the colonies.

Major Hesperus Lloyd of the 2nd Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was in Winchester as the 8th Division was being organised prior to be being sent to France. He was aware of the challenges of modern warfare before embarking for France, for on 30 October 1914 he wrote: ‘The accounts of the present fighting all show that we have had to alter our tactics, and that modern artillery has not only got ahead of fortresses, but also of infantry. As a result everyone is digging, a process the British infantry man is not too fond of. Even shell fire, unless heavy, does not overcome his distaste. But from what I can gather, we have got to dig our way into Germany, and I am very glad I have given so much attention to fortification. At least the principles of a siege will have to be observed and to many infantry officers a closed book.’²

The entire 8th Division set sail from Southampton to France on the night of 5/6 November and arrived in Le Havre the following day. Major-General Davies motored to Field Marshal Sir John French’s headquarters at St Omer where he was ordered to establish 8th Division’s headquarters at Merville. This was conducted on 9 November when the first battalions belonging to the division began to arrive from Le Havre by train.

The last German initiative of the First Ypres campaign took place on 11 November. The following day the 2nd Devonshire Regiment was the first battalion from 8th Division to enter the trenches north of Ploegsteert Wood, later joined by the other battalions belonging to 23rd Brigade.

On 14 November, 24th and 25th Brigades, 8th Division were sent to Estaires where they relieved part of the line between Rue de Bois and Fauquissart, which was being held by the Indian Lahore Division. They were within two miles to the north of Neuve Chapelle. These brigades received their baptism of fire on this sector on 15 November when