Current Information:

The Battle of Arras was a series of offensives by the British Army between 9th April 1917 and 16th May 1917. It had been planned in conjunction with the French who would attack in Artois and between them the Allies would force the Germans out of the large salient they had held since the line of trenches was first established. But the Germans had spoiled this plan by falling back to the new and very strong Hindenburg Line in January 1917 and the salient no longer existed.  For the want of an alternative plan the attack went ahead anyway. It all started well for the British who made substantial gains on the first two days but then the offensive ground to a halt and by the end their losses amounted to over 150,000.

Third Battle of the Scarpe (3–4 May 1917)

The Third Battle of the Scarpe was launched in conjunction with an attack by British and Australian troops at Bullecourt to the south of Arras. Its objective was to force a German retreat further to the east and to try and reach the Wotanstellung, a strong German defensive line. This did not happen. It started badly as a result of the decision to fix zero hour at 3.45am, half an hour before sunrise which made it very difficult to see what was going on. To add to this, the nearly full moon, which set at 3.35am, silhouetted the assembling troops drawing enemy fire which caused heavy loss and confusion.  During two days of fierce fighting the British and Canadians were unable to make any significant advances and the offensive was abandoned. Once again the casualty rate had been shockingly high.

On 3rd May, 3rd Division attacked from a line 1000 yards east of Monchy-le-Preux with 8 and 9 Brigades. The 4th Royal Fusilier and 13th Liverpool battalions were used by 9 Brigade and managed to reach the first objective between the Bois de Aubépines and the Bois du Sart. This was not achieved without difficulty however. As soon as 4th Royal Fusiliers left their trench they were hit by German fire of all types. According to the Battalion Diary, the British artillery barrage had failed to damage the enemy trench in front of the battalion and it was still bristling with defenders. Their fire caused many casualties among the first two waves going over the top. Nevertheless the survivors dug themselves in as best as they could and fought off the first German counter attack. But not so the second one which was delivered in greater force and resulted in the enemy getting round their defences. Some managed to withdraw but not many of these first two waves got back to their own lines. The casualties for 4th Royal Fusiliers on 3rd May amounted to almost 300, one of whom was Thomas Trood who was killed in action.