"Our Rifles Being Caked In Mud"

​In the days that followed 2nd Suffolk’s attack at Serre, the Battalion Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel G.C. Stubbs, what asked by his superiors to provide a detailed and comprehensive report of his Battalions actions that day.  His report, which was short, but concise, concluded by stating;
“I attribute the cause of failure of the attack:
1. To loss of direction and mixture of lines owing to the midst.
2. To officers falling early in the advance.
3.  The broken and muddy state of the ground especially near the German trenches.
4. To a certain amount of wire of the concertina type perhaps put out the same night.
5. Invisibility of the barrage in the mist.
6. Strength of the Germans in 2nd line and machine gun fire.
7. Our rifles being caked in mud.”
It was perhaps the final comment that was the most damming. The conditions that the men had to fight through that day to get to the enemy wire, were atrocious. It meant that when they did arrive, they were so exhausted and caked with the mud of the ground they had just covered, that they could bring down sustainable small arms fire upon the enemy, because their rifles were unusable. Harsh lessons were learnt that day by the Battalion.

---