page_title: Battle of the Ancre
section_title: 13–15 November
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of the Ancre / Battle / Fifth Army / 13–15 November
caption_attribution_description: English: Diagram of 51st Division objectives, battle of the Ancre, 13 November 1916
context_page_description: The Battle of the Ancre, was fought by the Fifth Army, against the German 1st Army. The battle was the final large British attack of the Battle of the Somme; the Reserve Army had been renamed on 30 October. After the Battle of Flers–Courcelette on 22 September, the Anglo-French armies tried to press their advantage with several smaller attacks in quick succession, rather than pause to regroup and give the Germans time to recover. Subsequent writers gave discrete dates for the Anglo-French battles but there were considerable overlaps and continuities of operations, until the weather and supply difficulties in mid-November ended the battle until the new-year.
  The British attack was to fulfil complementary objectives. Political discontent in London would be muted by a big victory, as would doubts of British commitment by its allies and British loyalty to the Chantilly strategy of 1915 would be upheld. The capture of Beaumont Hamel and Serre would go some way to redeem the failure of 1 July and obtain ground on which the British would have a tactical advantage.
context_section_description: The seven-day bombardment cut the wire on most of the attack front and destroyed many German defensive positions, except the dugouts built deep below the villages near the front-line. The rain stopped on the night of 11/12 November and a full moon illuminated the landscape. Towards dawn on 13 November, a mist developed which reduced visibility to nil. The mist helped the British advance by reducing visibility but caused many units to lose the barrage as they struggled through mud. II Corps attacked on the right with 19th Division. A battalion from the 58th Brigade made no progress against Stump Road; the 56th Brigade attacked on the right by assembling in no man's land before Stuff Trench, with a machine-gun company attached and followed up by Engineer and Pioneer parties, ready to help consolidate captured ground. The mist helped conceal the British troops, who by 8:15 a.m. had reached their objective, partly along Lucky Way, a sunken road leading into Grandcourt. No German counter-attacks were encountered.
  The 39th Division attacked to the west of the 19th Division, with the 118th Brigade on its right flank. The brigade formed up on tapes laid without the German sentries noticing and one battalion advanced north about 1,100 yd (1,000 m) to the Hansa line by 7:30 a.m., while three battalions attacked north-west to Mill Trench and then reached the station crossing and Beaucourt Mill by 10:00 a.m.; the other two battalions got lost in the fog. At 6:15 a.m. the 117th Brigade attacked from Mill Road up the Ancre valley next to the river, with one battalion and achieved surprise, despite a special barrage from twelve 18-pounders. The battalion cleared dugouts in the side of the river bank and along the top, then met some of the troops of 118th Brigade who were lost and combined to attack St Pierre Divion, which was captured around 7:40 a.m. Three tanks were to advance from Thiepval to assist but one was bogged on the drive to the village, the second broke down and the third reached the German front line at 7:00 a.m. then fell into a dug-out, where it was attacked by the Germans. A messenger pigeon was sent by the tank crew for help but infantry arrived at 9:00 a.m. and the Germans withdrew.
  In V Corps, two 63rd Division brigades advanced with all four battalions forward and with two in support from the reserve brigade. On the right, the advance met much German machine-gun fire from the start but captured the German front trenches, then advanced on time to capture Beaucourt Station and Station Road, taking 400 prisoners by 6:45 a.m. The two battalions on the left were severely depleted by machine-gun fire, as was the left brigade although about 100 men reached the first objective. On the extreme left, only isolated groups managed to advance, where they met troops from the 51st Division. The left brigade began bombing attacks and the reserve brigade was sent forward. By 7:40 a.m., troops were digging in along the German reserve line in the south, while three battalions were held up along the German front line, although some of their troops appeared on the Beaumont Hamel spur. At 7:45 a.m., about 450 men advanced to the edge of Beaucourt, before withdrawing slightly and digging-in under artillery fire, before gaining touch with troops from the 39th Division from across the river. The German strong point on Beaumont Hamel spur was attacked many times but little ground was gained. As night fell, the division had linked with the 51st Division on the left, in the German support trench. Reinforcements from the reserve brigade and an extra battalion reached Beaucourt and extended the position to the left as far as Beaucourt Alley by 9:30 p.m. Two battalions reached the first objective by midnight and a battalion took over the British front line.
  Both brigades of the 51st Division attacked the first objective (green line) at Station Road and Beaumont Hamel and then the final objective (yellow line) at Frankfort Trench with three battalions, while the fourth provided carrying parties. Six minutes before zero, the leading battalion of t
caption: 51st (Highland) Division objectives at Beaumont Hamel, November 1916
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