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The Battle of Neuve Chapelle

Between 10th and 13th March, 1915, the Indian Army Corps and IV Corps attacked the village of Neuve Chapelle in the Artois region of France. During the winter of 1914-1915, reinforcements had arrived from Britain and this was seen as an opportunity to use them to break through the German lines.

It started well. At 7.30am on 10th March, a 30 minute hurricane bombardment destroyed the German wire and front line trenches and at 8.05am the infantry went in. Neuve Chapelle was captured and over a mile of the German line taken. But that was the end of the success.  The British chain of command was weak and their communications poor, which was hardly surprising given that many of the troops had no previous experience of battle. The Germans re-organised and reinforced during the night and no further gains were made. British casualties mounted to 12,000 by the time the offensive petered out on 13th March.

David Greenfield was killed on 12th March, 1915 whiled serving with the 8th Division Company of the Cyclist Corps at Neuve Chapelle but as yuet there is no further information concerning his death. The main role of the Cyclist Corps was reconnaissance and communications but they could provide mobile firepower if required. However, as the war progressed, the nature of trench warfare meant that their tasks did not differ much from the infantry.