Gazetteer of the Western Front: Grand Porte Égal and the l’Épinette salient

A virtually static sector of the Western Front for many months – and one that has a particular significance for my family. A case study on the events on a “static” entrenched front.

Location

From a pre-war map of the area. My highlight picks out the hamlet of l’Épinette, east of Armentières.
A present-day map from Géoportail. The layout and situation is more or less as it was in 1914. This article focuses on l’Épinette and the line down to the large farm known as Porte Égal.

How war came to this area

Part of a map from the British Official History of Military Operations – France and Flanders – 1914 volume II. Before the British Expeditionary Force deployed in this part of French Flanders, German cavalry (green) swept the area. The British IV Corps was just arriving at Ypres, some way to the north (red). French cavalry (blue) was nearby.
By 15 October 1914, the British Expeditionary Force was beginning to arrive, having moved up from the Aisne front. The 4th Division of III Corps closed up to face Armentières, but as yet the town and the l’Épinette area was still in German hands.
By 18 October 1914, the III Corps had advanced, secured possession of Armentières, and reached l’Épinette. The front of the area was held by 4th and 6th Divisions.
German counterattack south of the railway forced the British line back, but both l’Épinette and Porte Égal remained in the British front line. And so it remained until April 1918.
Porte Égal farm today, surrounded by its moat. It was reconstructed on the same site, and the whole area described on this page closely resembles the way it had been before war came here.
l’Épinette today. The bend on the road, looking from the south east. The British front line trench ran through where the houses can be seen, and then followed the bend around, forming a salient.

Front line sector

I am still adding notes to this section of the page.

4th and 6th Divisions (18 October 1914 – 11 November 1914)

On 18 October 1914, III Corps ordered an advance, testing the strength of the enemy in front of the higher ground at Pérenchies and Prémesques. The headquarters of 10th Infantry Brigade of 4th Division was aimed at capturing Frelinghien, part of which was that a “right flank guard”, consisting of the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers and patrols from the 4th Divisional Cyclist Company, which would establish posts on the line La Chapelle d’Armentières – Pont Ballot – l’Epinette – La Houlette. Led by its “D” Company, the Dublins came under heavy enemy fire and halted. Later that day, they moved forward again, going slightly north, and the 1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment came in on their right. They reached the left of l’Epinette and were in touch with 17th Infantry Brigade of 6th Division on their right, which had also advanced. The 1st Royal Fusiliers of that brigade reached l’Epinette and spread down towards Porte Égal farm. They were there halted by heavy fire coming from the area of Le Fresnel(les). And there, the units dug in.

Sketch map from the war diary of the headquarters of 17th Infantry Brigade (RF – Royal Fusiliers, RB – Rifle Brigade, NS – North Staffordshire Regiment)
Sketch map from the war diary of the Commander Royal Artillery at 4th Division headquarters (with my highlight in yellow). It shows the situation on 24 October 1914.
Sketch map from the war diary of the General Staff at 4th Division headquarters. It shows the situation on 7 November 1914. By this time, the division held front using 10th Infantry Brigade as far south as the railway, and 12th Infantry Brigade south of it.
Same period. Sketch map from the war diary of the headquarters of 10th Infantry Brigade. The front was being held by the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Note that the front line, protected by barbed wire, trench lay along the road immediately east of Grand Porte Égal farm but then bent away from it, leaving the bend in the road at l’Epinette in no man’s land.

4th Division (11 November 1914 –

Sketch map from the war diary of the General Staff at 6th Division headquarters. On 11 November 1914, the railway line became the dividing line between divisions, and adjustment of dispositions was made. The area of relevance came more completely under 4th Division control.

6th Division ( – 31 May 1915)

Christmas Truce

For full details see this page, which in turn is from my book “The day the war stopped”. The division’s 2nd Leinster Regiment, holding the line facing l’Epinette, and the 3rd Rifle Brigade holding Grand Porte Égal both participated in the unofficial truce.

Offensive action

During the night 11-12 March 1915, the division’s 17th Infantry Brigade undertook an offensive operation, designed to close the distance between the British and German fronts and make it problematic for the Germans to thin this front to reinforce the fighting was going in not far away in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. It would also eliminate the several troublesome and strongly fortified enemy sniper posts in the houses at l’Épinette. It was carried out in two phases: the first would advance across the lane to seize the German front between points W and X; the second would commence at midnight, capture the houses by surprise and cut off attempts to retreat down communication trenches. The latter was entrusted to a company of the 1st North Staffordshire Regiment under Lieutenant Vyvyan Vavasour Pope. The attack went according to plan, with the enemy offering “miserable resistance”, although Pope’s men were slowed a little by barbed wire defences: time lost which allowed the enemy to retreat. Detachments of 12th Field Company of the Royal Engineers quickly placed the captured line into a defensible state. Three German counterattacks were beaten off.

Sketch map from the war diary of the headquarters of 17th Infantry Brigade. Note it is not orientated with the usual north at top. It records the attack made on 11-12 March 1915. The British front was advanced from the brown line and seized the German position around the road junction. It was an advance of between 200 and 300 yards on a front half a mile wide.
Sketch map from the war diary of the General Staff at 6th Division headquarters. The advance made by 17th Infantry Brigade on 11-12 March 1915 incorporated l’Épinette into the British front and formed a salient around the road junction.
The attack was led by Lieutetant Vyvyan Pope, who went on to an illustrious military career that ended with his death in an air crash in 1941, at which time he was a Lieutenant-General in command of a corps.

The North Staffords suffered the deaths of 14 officers and men during the operation. Second Lieutenants Arthur Dale and Frederick Mann are buried in adjacent graves in Chapelle d’Armentières Old Military Cemetery; Pte 11289 Arthur Chambers lies in Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery in Armentières; the others have no known graves and are commemorated at the Ploegsteert Memorial. On their left flank, the 2nd Leinster Regiment had four men killed: one lies in Cite Bonjean, the three others are in Ferme Buterne Military Cemetery. They include Cpl 4130 Victor Mulkern, who I researched for a private client many years ago.

From the “Cannock Chase Courier” of 27 March 1915 (British Newspaper Archive)
The death of 2/Lt Frederick Christmas Mann as described in his obituary article in the “Bond of Sacrifice”

27th Division (31 May 1915 – 21 July 1915)

This division arrived having been relieved in the Ypres sector, where it had been recently heavily engaged in the Second Battle of Ypres.

The division found its new front relatively quiet throughout the period it held it, with occasional shellfire but no major incidents. Work continued on developing the trenches and defensive system.

Part of a map from the war diary of the 3rd King’s Royal Rifle Corps, produced during 27th Division’s time in this sector. It is not orientated with the usual north at the top. It is of considerable interest is showing the development of the front and support lines, and the numbering of the sub-sectors of the front. It also shows the lengthy communication trenches (the central one being “Plank Avenue” by which men approached or left the front.

On the night 17-18 July 1915, a reorganisation of sectors brought this front within that covered by II Corps.

50th (Northumbrian) Division (21 July 1915 – 12 November 1915)

This division came into the sector from St. Jans Cappel, to which it had been withdrawn after the Second Battle of Ypres.

The 50th Division took over the front and held it with two brigades: one on the right, between trenches 74 and 79, and one of the left between trenches 57 and 73. In other words, the lane (now called Chemin du Pilori) coming towards the front from White Farm was the dividing line between the two brigades.

Chemin du Pilori today, looking towards the old front line. The lane and the front line trench ran across this field of view, just beyond where the trees can be seen. The flat, open nature of this landscape is evident.

The division ordered much work of development of the trench system, not only to strengthen it as a defensive system that could withstand heavy and prolonged bombardment but to prepare for the possibility of an equally wet winter to the one experienced in 1914-1915. The front line was to be strengthened, with particular attention to making machine gun emplacements with overhead cover, and a system of support trenches about 50-100 yards behind the front line, which should also have barbed wire in front of them.

For the most part, the situation on this front was quiet while it was held by this division. There was occasional shellfire, a few small “demonstrations” outside the immediate area, frequent sniping, and more intensive shelling by both sides on 13 October 1915 (coinciding with activity further south in the Battle of Loos).

Accurate and detailed trench mapping emerging. Part of a map attached to the November 1915 war diary of the General Staff at 50th Division headquarters. Valuable in particular as it shows locations of battalion headquarters and regimental aid posts. It also suggests a trench tramway of some kind running along the lane except in the vicinity of the l’Épinette salient.
From the war diary of the Deputy Director of Medical Services of II Corps, July 1915. A map, with key, of the main locations along the route of casualty evacuation from the area. The Regimental Aid Posts just behind the front line fed the cluster of Advanced Dressing Stations in Armentières. From there, if needed, men were usually evacuated to the group of Casualty Clearing Stations in Bailleul.

21st Division (12 November 1915 – 23 March 1916)

This division came to the sector after its terrible experience in its first action, the Battle of Loos in late September 1915, and then some weeks in training and reorganising in the area of Merris. During that time, many of its units had come into the l’Épinette sector for short periods of training in front line conditions under 50th (Northumbrian) Division.

The pattern of activity continued much the same as had been experienced by the 50th Division. On 19 December 1915, it was reported that the Germans had used aerial torpedoes against the l’Épinette salient. The trenches of the salient were also heavily bombarded by 7.7cm guns and 10.5cm howitzers on 28 December. Armentières and Chapelle d’Armentières came under frequent heavy shellfire. The general level of hostile activity appears to have increased during January 1916, and the division carried out several raids and “minor enterprises”, although generally outside the area of line covered by this article. Eighty shells fell on Trench 76 on 1 March 1916, and ten days later Grand Porte Égal was bombarded during an exchange of shellfire.

Part of a document attached to the December 1915 war diary of the General Staff at 21st Division headquarters. The Royal Engineers were requested to erect four screens east of the farm across the railway, as indicated.

On 16 February 1916, Pte 10197 James McSloy of the 14th Northumberland Fusiliers died of wounds while in the care of 2 Casualty Clearing Station in Bailleul. He was my wife’s great uncle. We have never seen a photograph of him.

From the “Morpeth Herald” of 3 March 1916 (British Newspaper Archive). Pte 10228 Stuart Mirrilees is buried in Cite Bonjean cemetery. The author of the letter, A/Cpl 10066 George Lewis Cormack, was himself killed on 18 February 1916 and is also buried there. It is difficult to be sure exactly where James McSloy and Stuart Mirrilees were when hit, for the war diary describes work on dugouts, communication trenches and other features in a number of places on both sides of the railway line. They may have been the party working on a 150-yard stretch of sunk pit for concealed barbed wire that was being made by a support trench in the l’Épinette salient.
Approaching l’Épinette from the British rear. The bend in the lane can be seen in the distance ahead. The front line ran along the right-hand side of our position, and support trenches were in the field on the right. Was this where our great-uncle was mortally wounded by a burst of machine gun fire? Probably.

17th (Northern) Division (23 March 1916 – 16 May 1916)

This division came into the area having been relieved after participating in the fighting at the Bluff, near Ypres.

It is increasingly evident that the sector was viewed as a quiet, low risk one, to which tired formations could be sent to reorganise and refresh after action.

The general pattern of artillery activity, working parties and sniping continued. On 20 April 1916 the l’Épinette salient came under heavy mortar and shellfire, which included 15cm rounds. It happened again during 2 May and the morning and evening of 5 May 1916, when serious casualties were incurred in the trenches of the salient. This particularly affected the 10th West Yorkshire Regiment, the battalion holding the salient at the time. Ten of its men killed that day are buried in Cite Bonjean cemetery. . A poison gas alarm was sounded to the right of the area, but no gas was reported.

Among the losses to German shellfire was Company Sergeant Major 5892 George Ovenden. He left a wife and three children, one of whom was born in York on 14 February 1916. George had been in France since joining his regiment’s 1st Battalion in late September 1914, although he had been wounded in the foot during the October of that year. In 1911, by then married with one child, he had been employed as an engineers labourer by a cocoa and chocolate manufacturer (quite likely to be Rowntrees). George is one of those buried at Cite Bonjean.

New Zealand Division (16 May 1916 – )

from II Corps to ANZAC Corps

divided into six “brigade sectors”, one of which was to be called “Epinette” and ran from grid map reference I.16.b.27 to I.5.a.4.9.

51st (Highland) Division (18 August 1916 – )

II ANZAC during September 1916

24 September 1916

103rd IB (arrived day before from Somme) relieved 153rd IB in Epinette and came under orders 51st (Highland)

25 September bde came under “Franks Force” for ops but remained 34th Div for admin

20-21 November 1916 raids by 24th NF and 2nd NZ Cyclist Bn

3rd Australian Division (24 November 1916 – 1 May 1917)

This division was formed in France at this time, under command of (then) Major-General John Monash. He took control of “Franks Force” which was holding the Armentières front (a temporary composite force including 103rd Infantry Brigade of 34th Division and 2nd New Zealand Brigade of New Zealand Division), and over the next few days the 3rd Australian Division deployed and relieved “Franks Force”. Its 9th Australian Infantry Brigade took over the area of l’Épinette.

1 February 1917 42nd Battalion AIF raid south of E but were beaten back by MG fire

57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division (1 May 1917 – 17 September 1917)

This division was relatively new to the Western Front, having landed in France in February 1917. It had been under orders of II ANZAC for some time and now moved into this area from elsewhere within the Corps’ sector.

On 20 May 1917, a reorganisation moved the focus of II ANZAC northwards, and XI Corps extended to take over the Epinette sector and command of 57th Division.

14-15 June attempted raid by 170th IB

Part of a simplified sketch map of the casualty evacuation route from the Epinette sub-sector. War diary of 57th Division ADMS June 1917.
During 1917 the army implemented a simple and consistent method for naming enemy positions. The German front line facing Grand Porte Égal became “Incandescent Trench” and that facing l’Épinette became “Inane Trench”. Behind them came “Incandescent Support” and “Inane Support”, fed by the main communication trench “Inane Alley”.

38th (Welsh) Division (17 September 1917 – 15 January 1918)

This division moved to the area from the Ypres sector, where it had been participating in the major Third Battle offensive.

7-8 November 10th SWB raid

XV Corps relieved XI Corps on 23 November 1917 (the latter soon moving to Italy)

15 March 1918 15th SWB raid

57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division (3 January 1918 – 31 March 1918)

sector passed from 1st ANZAC to XV Corps 4 January 1918

2 Feb raid 2/9th Liverpool?
7 Feb 2/7th Liverpool?

34th Division (31 March 1918 – 10 April 1918)
The sector is given up

This division arrived in French Flanders after participating in the costly defence against German offensive operation “Michael” in the Somme sector, and established headquarters at Steenwerck.

7 April 25000 to 40000 gas shells fired into Armentieres; west wind carried gas into area held by reserve units of 102nd IB which was holding Epinette. 900 casualties. Next day quiet no indication

Part of a map from the British Official History of Military Operations – France and Flanders 1918 volume II. It illustrates the position at dawn on 10 April 1918. I have highlighted the 25th Northumberland Fusiliers which was holding the l’Épinette sector. On 9 April, German Sixth Army had attacked south of Armentières and pushed the British front back to the black solid line. Next day, while that attack continued, German Fourth Army attacked the British 25th Division and broke its line in the area held by the 8th Border Regiment. Armentières was in danger of encirclement and at 10am, 34th Division was ordered to evacuate to the west bank of the River Lys. The 25th Northumberland Fusiliers received the order at 3pm and quit the l’Épinette sector, apparently without the Germans being aware of the fact for some time. The German advance pushed on several miles over the next few days, leaving Grande Porte Égal and the l’Épinette salient well in their rear.

40th Division (2 October 1918 – 16 October 1918)
Liberation

By the end of the first week of September 1918, a gradual advance had brought Second Army back to the north west outskirts of Armentières. Operations continued during the month, mainly local affairs with patrolling and penetrating enemy positions where possible. Central to these operations was the XV Corps and its 40th Division. On 2 October 1918 the division occupied Le Bizet and Erquinghem-Lys, on either side of the town. The latter advance was exploited and continued round to the south of Armentières, bringing the division to within striking distance of Grande Porte Égal and l’Épinette. On 5 October, Grande Porte Égal was captured. Local operations continued and by 16 October it could finally be said that the area was firmly in British hands as the eastwards advance took the fighting well away from the area.

Visiting today

The area is easy to reach and can be seen in a short visit, for other than the lanes and buildings of the hamlet and farm there are no other attractions. From Armentières, take the D933 signposted for the A25 motorway (Dunkirk-Lille). Follow the D933 through La Chapelle d’Armentières. On reaching a roundabout where the motorway is signposted to the right, instead turn left onto the M945 signposted for Comines and Houplines. Go across the railway bridge and then turn right at the next roundabout. This is not signposted to anywhere, but is called the Chemin du Grand Porte Égal. It soon becomes a very narrow single track (but metalled) road. Take care. Porte Égal farm is reached just before the road bends sharp left and the railway is just a few yards away on the right.

The nearest refreshment, shops, fuel, etc are in La Chapelle d’Armentières and Houplines.

Part of a map from the “The White Cross Touring Atlas of the Western Battlefields”. The red numbers indicate military cemeteries. Number 701 is indexed as Grand Porte Égal Farm. This cemetery no longer exists. It was presumably cleared and the remains reburied elsewhere, but my efforts to determine exactly where have so far proved negative. The only existing cemetery close to the area under study is Ferme Buterne Military Cemetery (numbered 579), but many of the casualties from the sector lie elsewhere.

Links

Other places in the Long, Long Trail’s Gazetteer of the Western Front