Monchy-le-Preux (Newfoundland) Memorial

Monchy-le-Preux Memorial
Canada (formerly Dominion of Newfoundland)
The Newfoundland Monchy-le-Preux War Memorial
For the actions of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during the First World War Battle of Arras.
Location	near Monchy-le-Preux, France
Monchy-le-Preux 1917

Coordinates: 50°16′14″N 2°53′36″E / 50.27056°N 2.89333°E / 50.27056; 2.89333

The Monchy-le-Preux Memorial is a Dominion of Newfoundland war memorial that commemorates the actions of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during the Battle of Arras of World War I.

The memorial commemorates an encounter that took place during the Arras offensive in which the British First and Third Armies attacked eastward from Arras on a 22-kilometre front. The 88th Brigade, the brigade in which the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was serving, was to execute a two-battalion attack against an objective known as Infantry Hill. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James Forbes-Robertson, was on the right and the 1st Essex Battalion on the left.

At 5:30 a.m. on 14 April, the barrage opened and the two battalions began their advance.As the Royal Newfoundland Regiment advanced towards the high ground of Infantry Hill they were subjected to a strong German counterattack which surrounded both the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and the 1st Essex Battalion. By 9:00am the surviving groups of men were forced to surrender. Although all communication by telephone had been cut by artillery fire, a wounded man from the 1st Essex Battalion managed to make it to battalion headquarters to report that all men in the 1st Essex Battalion and Royal Newfoundland Regiment had either been killed or captured. The Germans pressed their counterattack, and soon advanced to the edge of Monchy-le-Preux capturing the trenches from which the 1st Essex Battalion and Royal Newfoundland Regiment had launched their attack.

Lieutenant-Colonel James Forbes-Robertson quickly collected all available men of his headquarters staff, as well as weapons and ammunition from dead and wounded soldiers, and led twenty men through the shattered streets of Monchy-le-Preux under heavy artillery fire to a small berm on the outskirts of village. Establishing themselves in this shallow ditch the nine remaining men opened fire on the approaching Germans and kept the Germans ignorant of their pitifully weak numbers. A tenth man who was knocked unconscious joined the other 9 an hour and a half later. These ten men held their position for 11 hours until they were finally relieved after dark. After 4 hours they were able to send one of the men several kilometres to the rear to apprise the British of the situation which allowed them to get artillery support. A Platoon of Hampshires were sent up and provided infantry support amongst the ruins of Monchy. The British bombardment not only helped keep the Germans at bay but also led to a lot of the Newfoundland Regiment soldiers still lying wounded out in the field to be killed.