Headstones of Lance Corporal A. F. MacDougall and Private W. H. Hodge of the Canadian Corps, 54th and 50th Battalions, died March 1 and April 10, 1917, Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery. © 2013 by John M. Shea
161295 Lance Cpl. A. F. MacDougall 54th Bn. Canadian Inf. 1st March 1917 Age 39434905 Private W. H. Hodge 50th Bn. Canadian Inf. 10th April 1917 Age 32
"As we turned the bend of the road to go up the hill I stopped. The sight that greeted me was so horrible that I almost lost my head. Heaped on top of one another and blocking up the roadway as far as one could see, lay the mutilated bodies of our men and their horses. These bodies, torn and gaping, had stiffened into fantastic attitudes. All the hollows of the road were filled with blood. This was the cavalry."
Second Lieutenant Alan Thomas's description of his entry into what remained of the village of Monchy-le-Preux late on April 11, 1917 during the Battle of Arras. The British were unprepared for their success on the battle's first day, April 9, that included the capture of Vimy Ridge and an advance of up to three and a half miles. Their limited action on April 10 gave the German defenders time to bring in reinforcements and strengthen their positions, and they inflicted many casualties on the British infantry that advanced into Monchy with two tanks. The British cavalry, that could have been put into the battle on April 9 and 10 had been positioned too far behind the front to be of use. They rode into Monchy behind the infantry, were slaughtered, and retreated led by riderless horses. After losing the village, German artillery subjected it and the British to a box barrage, laying down a rectangular pattern around the village, then shrinking the box.
Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras, 1917 by Jonathan Nicholls, page 147, copyright © Jonathan Nicholls [1990 repeatedly renewed through] 2011, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2010
1917-04-11, 1917, April, Battle of Arras, Arras, Monchy, cavalry, box barrage,Monchy-le-Preux
