Last Stand At Zandvoorde 1914 by Mike McBride

Author:Mike McBride
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2016-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Zandvoorde

On 22/23 October the 3rd Cavalry Division started their nine days in possession of the Zandvoorde trenches:

‘They formed the most dangerous position in the whole line of defence, being in the form of a promontory which jutted out defiantly into the enemy’s country … Their chief attraction, from the purely military point of view, lay in the fact that they were on the crest of a ridge some 120 feet high. Their weakness lay in the fact that they were practically surrounded by the enemy.’

Haig is reported as saying: ‘If we give way the war’s lost. Positions will be held to the last man and the last round.’

10th Hussars (6th Cavalry Brigade) relieved the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards (10th Brigade) from the Zandvoorde trenches. The Scots Guards were to take over the trenches at nearby Kruiseik. The idea was that the 6th and 7th Cavalry brigades were take turns to man the trenches: ‘A portion of the line was allotted to the Division, and, when possible, the two Brigades relieved each other every forty-eight hours.’

The Scots Guards manning the Zandvoorde trenches before they were handed over to 3rd Cavalry Division. (Imperial War Museum)

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