page_title: 2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers
section_title: German Spring Offensive
hierarchical_section_title: 2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers / World War I / 1/III London Brigade / German Spring Offensive
caption_attribution_description: English: The German Spring Offensive, March-july 1918 A battery of 18-pounder guns of the Royal Field Artillery moving up towards Mailly-Maillet to meet the German advance, 26 March 1918.
context_page_description: The 2nd Middlesex Artillery was a Volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Artillery. First raised in the Victorian era among Customs officers in the Port of London, it later became the 3rd London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery in the Territorial Force and saw action on the Western Front during World War I.
context_section_description: The brigade spent the winter alternating between VII Corps (21st, 39th and 16th (Irish) Divisions) and GHQ Reserve. It came back into action with 21st Division when the German Spring Offensive was launched on 21 March 1918. The division managed to hold the Germans at Épehy, but was forced out next day. On 23 March the brigade supported 39th Division, brought up from reserve to help the shattered 16th Division. The two divisions fought on as they retired towards the River Somme, the field brigades withdrawing to new positions from time to time as they covered the infantry, inflicting serious casualties on the Germans. At one point German infantry appeared while the British infantry were falling back through CCLXXXII Bde's guns, and heavy German shellfire was poured onto the battery positions. The batteries lost 11 guns to direct hits but caused heavy casualties firing over open sights as the gun teams galloped forwards. The remainder of the guns were got away, except one in a concealed flank position: the crew waited until the German column was only 200 yards (180 m) away before opening fire with three rounds of shrapnel, 'with terrifying effect', before galloping away with the gun. 39th Division and the remaining guns then crossed the Somme before the bridges were blown up.
caption: 18-pounder battery moving up during the Spring Offensive
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