In September 1918, the Allied forces launched a sweeping series of coordinated offensives designed to breach the formidable German defenses of the Hindenburg Line. As part of the Fourth Army, the 38th (Welsh) Division—including the 13th (Service) Battalion (2nd Rhondda) Welsh Regiment—faced the grueling task of assaulting heavily fortified enemy positions across sodden ground and under relentless rain.
The Battle of Épéhy on 18 September 1918, served as a crucial preliminary phase. Across an eleven-mile front, troops fought fiercely to capture the strategic ridges between Verguier and Épéhy, positioned directly between the Canal du Nord and the St. Quentin Canal. Success here shattered the outer defensive belts, paving the way for the general assault on the main Hindenburg fortifications. ► Read more...
It was a profound tragedy that as the German military apparatus finally began to collapse and the promise of peace became a reality, the valley continued to lose its sons. During the brutal assault on Épéhy, 19-year-old Pte. Milson Ellway was killed in action. He would become the last Oakdale man to fall on the Western Front, dying just weeks before the guns finally fell silent in November 1918.