page_title: 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment
section_title: Chipilly
hierarchical_section_title: 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment / World War I / New 2/4th Battalion / Chipilly
caption_attribution_description: English: The Hundred Days Offensive, August-november 1918 Battle of Amiens. The ruins of Chipilly the day after it was taken by the 58th Division aided by a regiment of the 33rd Division of the American Army, 10 August 1918.
context_page_description: The 4th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment was a Volunteer unit of Britain's Territorial Army recruited from East London. During World War I it raised four battalions, which carried out garrison duty in Malta and Egypt, served at Gallipoli and against the Senussi, and saw a great deal of action on the Western Front, notably in the Attack on the Gommecourt Salient in 1916, at Bullecourt in 1917 and at Oppy Wood and Chipilly Ridge in 1918. During World War II it served as an anti-aircraft regiment in the Battle of France and during the Blitz in 1940 and in North West Europe in 1944–45. It continued in the TA until 1961.
context_section_description: For the opening attack of the Hundred Days Offensive (the Battle of Amiens) on 8 August 1918, 174th Bde was given the initial objective of capturing Malard Wood, after which 173rd Bde would pass through to take the vital Chipilly Ridge overlooking a bend in the River Somme and flanking the battlefield. 2/4th Bn led on the left of 173rd Bde's advance in 'artillery formation' through the German barrage that fell behind 174th Bde, during which the battalion HQ staff, including Lt-Col Grover, were wounded by shellfire. In the morning mist the battalion drifted 500 yards left of its intended line through the gullies. At 08.30, as the leading companies reached the far edge of Malard Wood, the mist began to clear and the battalion was brought to a halt by machine gun fire across the valley in front and so dug in at the edge of the wood.
  The failure to take Chipilly Ridge resulted in heavy casualties to the troops to the left of 58th Division who were overlooked by this feature. The division therefore made a second attack on 9 August. 2/4th Londons attacked in the centre of 173rd Bde, from an assembly trench that turned out to be no more than a string of shell-holes, and behind a misdirected barrage. The supporting American battalion was not yet in line and the battalion was enfiladed from Chipilly village. Under heavy fire and taking serious casualties, the battalion dug in under the shelter of the Chipilly gully. At nightfall the 2/10th Londons managed to clear Chipilly village and dislodge the defenders from the ridge.
  The battalion had lost another 300 men over the two-day battle, and at one point had five acting COs in 12 hours. Between 10 and 22 August the battalion was brought up to strength with a large draft of 20 officers (from various London battalions) and 480 other ranks, mainly seasoned soldiers from 14th (Light) Division.
caption: The ruins of Chipilly after its capture
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