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Flowerdew’s Charge

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On 30 March 1918, during the Battle of Moreuil Wood which helped blunt Ludendorff’s massive Operation Michael spring offensive, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade– which had long been held in strategic reserve in case the Allies were able to break through– galloped into the field.

One of these units, C Sqn of Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), commanded by Lt. Gordon Flowerdew, wheeled into line, and “with a wild shout, a hundred yards in front of his men, charged down on the long thin column of Germans.”

Alfred Munnings: Charge of Flowerdew's Squadron, Beaverbrook Collection of War Art, Canadian War Memorial

Alfred Munnings: Charge of Flowerdew’s Squadron, Beaverbrook Collection of War Art, Canadian War Memorial

The horsemen charged through the German lines twice and set them to retreat– but lost 70 percent of their effectives in the process. Nonetheless, they held their captured ground until Canadian infantry arrived to reinforce them. Flowerdew later died of his wounds and his family was presented with the VC in his honor.

The Royal Canadians’ Strathcona Mounted Troop recently recreated the charge in France, sans Germans.

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the most important, and least remembered Canadian cavalry charge

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The Battle of Moreuil Wood on March 30, 1918, is captured in the painting “Charge of Flowerdew’s Squadron” by Sir Alfred Munnings via the Canadian War Museum:

UNDATED — Undated handout photo of Alfred Munnings’ painting CHARGE OF FLOWERDEWS SQUADRON, held by the Canadian War Museum.

The story behind the charge:

“The Canadian charge at Moreuil Wood occurred at the height of the Kaiserschlacht, the German Spring Offensive of 1918, a massive assault on the Western Front that the German High Command hoped would split apart the Allied armies and drive the British out of Europe.

On the foggy morning of March 30, 1918, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, one of the few Allied units not retreating from the German onslaught, was tasked with recapturing the Moreuil Wood, a forested ridge east of the French city of Amiens, a crucial railway junction that linked the British and French armies…”

There, only C Squadron of Lord Strathcona’s Horse, under a 33-year-old British Columbian rancher named Lt. Gordon Muriel Flowerdew, made ready to ride into history.

More here in this great piece in the National Post

Charge of Flowerdew’s Squadron

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Charge of Flowerdew’s Squadron, Painted by Sir Alfred James Munnings. Currently in the Beaverbrook Collection of War Art. Canvas was formerly at the Imperial War Museum in London; but it is now in the collection of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

Nearly three-quarters of the Canadian cavalry involved in this attack against German machine-gun positions at Moreuil Wood on 30 March 1918 were killed or wounded. This included Lieutenant G.M. Flowerdew, Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), who was awarded the Victoria Cross for leading the charge that, while devastating to the Canadian horsemen, did break the German line. Unable to break the trench deadlock and of little use at the front, cavalry remained behind the lines for much of the war. During the German offensives of March and April 1918, however, the cavalry played an essential role in the open warfare that temporarily confronted the retreating British forces.

Flowerdew’s VC citation:
For most conspicuous bravery and dash when in command of a squadron detailed for special services of a very important nature. On reaching his first objective, Lieutenant Flowerdew saw two lines of enemy, each about sixty strong, with machine guns in the centre and flanks; one line being about two hundred yards behind the other. Realizing the critical nature of the operation and how much depended on it, Lieut. Flowerdew ordered a troop under Lieut. Harvey, VC, to dismount and carry out a special movement, while he led the remaining three troops to the charge. The squadron (less one troop) passed over both lines, killing many of the enemy with the sword; and wheeling about galloping on them again. Although the squadron had then lost about 70 per cent of its members, killed and wounded from rifle and machine gun fire directed on it from the front and both flanks, the enemy broke and retired. The survivors of the squadron then established themselves in a position where they were joined, after much hand-to-hand fighting, by Lieut. Harvey’s part. Lieut. Flowerdew was dangerously wounded through both thighs during the operation, but continued to cheer his men. There can be no doubt that this officer’s great valour was the prime factor in the capture of the position.

The Royal Canadians, now in their 113th year, are part of the Royal Canadian Armored Corps today as a recon unit stationed in Edmonton, AB. They are a reinforced battalion-sized unit equipped  with 40 Leopard 2’s (21 Leopard 2A4M’s,19 Leopard 2A6M’s) and 24 Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicles. Organized during the Boer War, they have seen combat in WWI (France 1915-18 on horse), WWII (Italy 1944-45 and Holland with M4 Shermans) Korea (1950-53 with M4A3E8 Shermans), and Afghanistan (2002-2011 mainly with Task Force Kandahar) as well as peacekeeping in Bosnia.

As for Flowerdew, he is buried at Namps-au-Val Cemetery in France located 11 miles south-east of Amiens (plot I, row H. grave 1)