German attack on Vimy Ridge, 21 May 1916
In 1932, Edmonds recorded 1,344 German casualties; 615 men in the attack and 729 during British counter-attacks. British casualties in the 47th Division from 22 to 24 May were 1,571, 2nd Division casualties were 267 and the 7th Brigade (25th Division) had 637 casualties, a total of 2,475. In 1936, the official historians of "Der Weltkrieg", the German official history, recorded that 300 British prisoners had been taken.
High Peak Rifles
The German Spring Offensive opened on 21 March while the division was in the Bullecourt sector of the line, 178th Bde holding the right sector with 2/6th Bn on the left, occupying a thinly-held forward zone with the main position behind. A heavy German bombardment began at 05.00 and immediately cut all telephone lines; the brigade commander last heard from the signalling officer of 2/6th Bn at 05.05. When the German infantry attack came in at 08.30 it was covered by morning mist and within an hour had penetrated and rolled up the line as parties of Sherwood Foresters were cut off and surrounded but fought on until they were overrun. Only 53 men of 178th Bde got away, the rest becoming casualties or prisoners. The CO of 2/6th Bn, Lt-Col H.S. Hodgkin, was among those taken prisoner, and the battalion suffered 131 killed, one of the highest casualty rates of the battle. The survivors, together with their rear echelon troops, then spent the next 10 days wandering around with divisional HQ on a long retreat.