# Defence of Festubert > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Defence_of_Festubert > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Defence_of_Festubert.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_of_Festubert > Source revision: 1264932734 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|First World War engagement on Western Front}} {{see also|Winter operations 1914–15}} {{About|an engagement in 1914|the British attack in spring 1915|Battle of Festubert}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Defence of Festubert | width = | partof = [First World War](/source/First_World_War) | image = File:Defence of Festubert 23-24 November 1914.png | image_size = 250px | caption = Defence of Festubert 23–24 November 1914 | date = 23–24 November 1914 | place = [Festubert](/source/Festubert), [France](/source/France) | coordinates = {{Coord|50|32|39|N|02|44|15|E|type:event_region:FR|display=inline,title}} | map_type = France | map_size = 200 | map_caption = {{centre|Festubert, [commune](/source/Communes_of_France) in the [Pas-de-Calais](/source/Pas-de-Calais) [department](/source/Departments_of_France) and [Nord-Pas-de-Calais](/source/Nord-Pas-de-Calais) region of France}} | map_label = Festubert | result =| combatant1 = {{flag|German Empire}} | combatant2 = {{flag|United Kingdom}} * {{Flagcountry|British India}} | commander1 = | commander2 = {{ubl|[Charles Anderson](/source/Charles_Alexander_Anderson) | [Henry Keary](/source/Henry_Keary) | [Claud Jacob](/source/Claud_Jacob)}} | units1 = [Infantry Regiment 112](/source/Infantry_Regiment_112) | units2 = [7th (Meerut) Division](/source/7th_(Meerut)_Division) | strength1 = | strength2 = | casualties1 = | casualties2 = | notes = | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Western Front (World War I)}} {{Campaignbox Race to the Sea}} }} The '''Defence of Festubert''' was an engagement on the [Western Front](/source/Western_Front_(World_War_I)) early in the [First World War](/source/First_World_War) when Indian and British battalions of the [7th (Meerut) Division](/source/7th_(Meerut)_Division) of the [Indian Army](/source/British_Indian_Army) defended the village of [Festubert](/source/Festubert) against a [German](/source/German_Army) attack from 23 to 24 November 1914. It was one of the first actions in the war in which an attack was made against a prepared defensive position. The British and Indian regiments that took part were awarded the [battle honour](/source/battle_honours_of_the_British_and_Imperial_Armies) ''Festubert 1914''. ==Battle== ===23–24 November=== The fighting around Ypres subsided in mutual exhaustion by 22 November and for about three weeks bad weather also inhibited operations apart from artillery-fire, bombing and sniping. At the end of the month the British made several night raids and on 23 November, the German Infantry Regiment 112 captured {{cvt|800|yd|m}} of trench east of Festubert in the Indian Corps area.{{sfn|James|1990|p=6}} The Indians counter-attacked through the night and recovered the trenches. The Defence of Festubert was one of the first attacks on an organised trench system. Most notably a night attack also occurred, involving mainly the [129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis](/source/129th_Duke_of_Connaught's_Own_Baluchis) and the [Mazhabi Sikh](/source/Mazhabi_Sikh)s of the [34th Royal Sikh Pioneers](/source/34th_Royal_Sikh_Pioneers) Regiment and the 1st Battalion [Manchester Regiment](/source/Manchester_Regiment). The battle was a costly British victory, the lost trench was recaptured but there were many casualties in the [129th Baluchis](/source/129th_Baluchis) battalion and the 1st Manchesters.{{sfn|Edmonds|Wynne|1995|p=4}} ==Order of battle== October 1914, 7th (Meerut) Division{{efn|All data from Edmonds, ''Military Operations, 1914'', Part II, 1925.{{sfn|Edmonds|1925|pp=482–483}}}} GOC: Lieutenant-General [Charles Alexander Anderson](/source/Charles_Alexander_Anderson)
GSO1: Colonel [Claud Jacob](/source/Claud_Jacob) Dehra Dun Brigade GOC: Brigadier-General C. E. Johnson * 1st Battalion [Seaforth Highlanders](/source/Seaforth_Highlanders) * [6th Jat Light Infantry](/source/Jat_Regiment) * [129th Baluchis](/source/129th_Baluchis) * [2/2nd King Edward’s Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Regiment)](/source/2nd_Gurkha_Rifles) * [1/9th Gurkha Rifles](/source/9th_Gurkha_Rifles) Garhwal Brigade GOC: Major-General [Henry Keary](/source/Henry_Keary) * 2nd Battalion [Leicestershire Regiment](/source/Leicestershire_Regiment) * [1/39th Garhwal Rifles](/source/39th_Garhwal_Rifles) * 2/39th Garhwal Rifles * [2/3rd Gurkha Rifles](/source/3rd_Gurkha_Rifles) Bareilly Brigade GOC: Major-General F. Macbean * 2nd Battalion [Black Watch](/source/Black_Watch) * [41st Dogras](/source/41st_Dogras) * [58th Vaughan's Rifles (Frontier Force)](/source/58th_Vaughan's_Rifles_(Frontier_Force)) * [2/8th Gurkha Rifles](/source/8th_Gurkha_Rifles) Divisional Mounted Troops * [4th Cavalry](/source/4th_Lancers) Divisional Artillery * [IV Brigade, Royal Field Artillery](/source/4th_Brigade_Royal_Field_Artillery) (replaced V Brigade, transferred to [3rd (Lahore) Division](/source/3rd_(Lahore)_Division) 17 October 1914) ** 7th, 14th and 66th Batteries, IV Brigade Ammunition Column * [IX Brigade, RFA](/source/9th_Brigade_Royal_Field_Artillery) ** 19th, 20th and 28th Batteries, IX Brigade Ammunition Column * [XIII Brigade, RFA](/source/13th_Brigade_Royal_Field_Artillery) (replaced XI Brigade, transferred to [3rd (Lahore) Division](/source/3rd_(Lahore)_Division) 17 October 1914) ** 2nd, 8th and 44th Batteries, XIII Brigade Ammunition Column * 110th Heavy Battery, [Royal Garrison Artillery](/source/Royal_Garrison_Artillery) ** Heavy Battery Ammunition Column * Meerut Divisional Ammunition Column Engineers * 3rd and 4th Companies, [1st King George’s Own Sappers and Miners](/source/Bengal_Sappers_and_Miners) Signals Service * Meerut Signal Company Divisional Pioneers * [107th Pioneers](/source/107th_Pioneers) Supply and Transport: * Meerut Divisional train Medical Units: * 19th and 20th British Field Ambulances * 128th, 129th and 130th Indian Field Ambulances ==Notes== {{notelist}} ==Footnotes== {{reflist|20em}} ==References== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |series=Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918: Militärischen Operationen zu Lande |title=Der Herbst-Feldzug 1914: Im Westen bis zum Stellungskrieg, im Osten bis zum Rückzug |trans-title=The Autumn Campaign 1914: In the West until Position Warfare, in the East until the Retreat |author= |volume=I |year=2012 |orig-year=1929 |publisher=Mittler & Sohn |location=Berlin |edition=Die Digitale Landesbibliothek Oberösterreich |url=http://digi.landesbibliothek.at/viewer/image/AC01859873/1/LOG_0003/ |access-date=29 July 2015 |oclc=838299944}} * {{cite book |series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence |title=Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914: Antwerp, La Bassée, Armentières, Messines and Ypres October–November 1914 |volume=II |last=Edmonds |first=J. E. |author-link=James Edward Edmonds |year=1925 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |oclc=220044986}} * {{cite book |series=History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence |title=Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915: Winter 1914–15 Battle of Neuve Chapelle: Battles of Ypres |volume=I |last1=Edmonds |first1=J. E. |last2=Wynne |first2=G. C. |author-link1=James Edward Edmonds |year=1995 |orig-year=1927 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |edition=Imperial War Museum and Battery Press repr. |isbn=0-89839-218-7}} * {{cite book |title=A Record of the Battles and Engagements of the British Armies in France and Flanders 1914–1918 |last=James |first=E. A. |year=1990 |orig-year=1924 |publisher=Gale & Polden |location=Aldershot |edition=London Stamp Exchange |isbn=0-948130-18-0}} {{refend}} ==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Corrigan |first=Gordon |title=Sepoys in the Trenches: The Indian Corps on the Western Front 1914–15 |year=2006 |publisher=Tempus |isbn=1-86227-354-5}} * {{cite book |title=The War in the Air, Being the Story of the Part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force |volume=II |last=Jones |first=H. A. |year=2002 |orig-year=1928 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=London |edition=Imperial War Museum and Naval & Military Press |url=https://archive.org/details/warinairbeingsto02rale |access-date=30 July 2015 |isbn=1-84342-413-4 }} * {{cite book |title=The Indian Corps in France |last1=Merewether |first1=J. W. B. |last2=Smith |first2=F. E. |author-link2=Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead |year=1919 |orig-year=1917 |edition=rev. |url=https://archive.org/details/indiancorpsinfra00ltco |access-date=31 July 2015 |oclc=3774822 }} * {{cite book |title=An Analysis of 1,000 Wounds and Injuries Received in Action, with Special Reference to the Theory of the Prevalence of Self-Infliction (Secret) |last=Seton |first=B. |year=1915 |publisher=War Office |location=London |url=http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/analysis-of-1000-wounds-injuries-received-in-action |access-date=30 July 2015 |id=IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2402 |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025211928/https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/analysis-of-1000-wounds-injuries-received-in-action |url-status=dead }} * {{cite book |title=With the Indians in France |last=Willcocks |first=J. |author-link=James Willcocks |year=1920 |publisher=Constable |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/withindiansinfra00will |access-date=30 July 2015 |oclc=1184253 }} {{refend}} ==External links== {{commons category|Defence of Festubert}} * [http://www.1914-1918.net/bat8.htm The Long, Long Trail, The Winter Operations 1914–15] * [http://memoire.pas-de-calais.com/images/_uk/pdf-nationalites/indians.pdf Defrance, C. Indians, unheralded heroes] {{World War I}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} Category:Battle honours of the British Army --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Defence of Festubert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_of_Festubert) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_of_Festubert?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.