The Project Gutenberg eBook, The War Service of the 1/4 Royal Berkshire
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Title: The War Service of the 1/4 Royal Berkshire Regiment (T. F.)
Author: Charles Robert Mowbray Fraser Cruttwell
Release Date: July 9, 2007 [eBook #22028]
Language: English
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THE WAR SERVICE OF THE 1/4 ROYAL BERKSHIRE REGIMENT (T.F.)
by
C. R. M. F. CRUTTWELL
Late Captain 1/4 Royal Berks. Regt., Fellow Of Hertford
College, And Formerly Fellow Of All Souls College, Oxford
[Illustration: Colonel O. PEARCE-SEROCOLD, C.M.G., V.D.
Commanding On Mobilization 5 Aug. 1914 To 14 Feb. 1916.]
Oxford Basil Blackwell
MCMXXII
Oxford
Fox, Jones & Co.,
Kemp Hall Press,
High Street.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Preface.
Chapter I
Mobilisation and training.
Chapter II
First Days on Active Service.
Chapter III
Holding the Line at 'Plugstreet'.
Chapter IV
On the Move and in Corps Reserve.
Chapter V
Relieving the French at Hébuterne.
Chapter VI
Summer and Autumn in Artois.
Chapter VII
Winter in the Trenches.
Chapter VIII
The new Trench and the Raid.
Chapter IX
Before the Battle.
Chapter X
The July Fighting at Pozières.
Chapter XI
Rest and Battle.
Chapter XII
Uneventful Days.
Chapter XIII
In the Slough of Despond.
Chapter XIV
The Winter and the German Retreat.
Chapter XV
Ronssoy.
Chapter XVI
Towards the Hindenburg Line.
Chapter XVII
The Renewal of Trench Warfare.
Chapter XVIII
The Third Battle of Ypres.
Chapter XIX
Last Days in France and the Journey to Italy.
Chapter XX
The Italian Winter.
Chapter XXI
Mountain Warfare.
Chapter XXII
The Last Summer.
Chapter XXIII
Victory.
Appendix A.
Appendix B.
PREFACE.
This little work was undertaken at the request of Lieut.-Col. R. J.
Clarke, C.M.G., D.S.O., while the war was still in progress. The
Editor of the _Berkshire Chronicle_ kindly gave it the hospitality of
his columns in 1920. Its republication in book form is due to the
generous support of Berkshire people; and I have been very fortunate
in persuading Mr. Basil Blackwell to act as its publisher. The earlier
portion is based on my own personal recollections, the latter on the
war diary of the Battalion, which was admirably kept, and on
information supplied by officers and men.
I have to thank Lieut.-Col. Ewen and Capt. Goodenough, M.C., for the
trouble which they have taken to supply me with all available
documents: and, among many others, Major G. A. Battcock, Captains W.
E. H. Blandy, O. B. Challenor, M.C., G. H. W. Cruttwell, and Sergts.
Page and Riddell for giving me personal details, and thereby clearing
up many points which must otherwise have remained obscure.
The fortunes in battle of a small unit, like a Battalion, in the late
war, can never make easy reading, but I hope that with the aid of the
large-scale maps inserted in the text they may prove fairly
intelligible. The Appendices are due to the present Adjutant, Capt. L.
Goodenough, M.C.
CHAPTER I
MOBILISATION AND TRAINING
Late in the afternoon of August 2nd, 1914, the 4th Royal Berks
Regiment joined the remainder of the South Midland Infantry Brigade
for their annual camp on a hill above Marlow. War had broken out on
the previous day between Germany and Russia, and few expected that the
15 days' training would run its normal course. It was not, therefore,
a complete surprise when in the twilight of the next morning the
battalion re-entered the same trains which had brought them, and
returned to Reading. Soon after arrival, in accordance with orders
received, the battalion proceeded to disband; but many of the men,
unwilling to return to the distant parts of the county when further
developments were confidently expected, remained at their respective
armouries throughout that famous Bank Holiday. At last, at 7.20 p.m.
on the next day, August 4th, the order for mobilisation was received,
and conveyed throughout the county that night by the police and eager
parties of volunteers. The plan of mobilisation had been closely
studied in all its details, and worked with complete smoothness. By 2
p.m. on the 5th the assemblage at Reading was complete, and after a
laborious day spent in medical inspection, drawing of equipment and of
ammunition, 28 officers and 800 other ranks entrained in the evening
for their war station at Portsmouth, while 2 officers and 65 other
ranks remained at Reading to receive the transport from the remount
depôt. At Portsmouth three days were spent mainly in digging, until a
new move on the 9th brought the whole of the South Midland Division
together at Swindon. Here on the 14th the battalion was invited by
telegram from the War Office to volunteer immediately for foreign
service. At this date the formation of the new service units had
scarcely begun, and few realised how widely the common burden of
responsibility would be shouldered in the next few weeks. The
question, therefore, arose naturally in many minds, why those whose
patriotism had led them without encouragement and sometimes with
derision to qualify for the defence of the country in peace, should be
the first called upon to extend their statutory obligation when
emergency arose. None the less, within a few days a large majority of
the men, and practically all the officers, had volunteered. History
will, I believe, honour this prompt decision and recognise its value.
On August 16th, the division entrained for Leighton Buzzard, and the
battalion spent four days in billets at Dunstable, 8 miles away,
before setting out on the 20th on a 70-mile trek to its final
destination at Chelmsford. In spite of the heat, the dusty roads and
the small opportunities afforded since mobilisation for practice in
marching, the journey was successfully accomplished in four days. The
inhabitants of Stevenage, Hoddesden, Waltham Abbey and Fyfield, where
we billeted in succession, to whom the passage of troops was still a
pleasing novelty, and the provision of billets more than a business
transaction, received us with every kindness. Thus Chelmsford became
the adopted home and theatre of training for the battalion, except for
the period September 24th-October 16th, which was spent in three
adjacent villages, Broomfield and Great and Little Waltham. The relations
between the town and the soldiers were excellent throughout, and many
warm friendships were made; while in the surrounding country the
landowners and farmers made the troops free of their land, thereby
greatly assisting the field training, which was carried on uninterruptedly
through a fine autumn and a wet winter. We lost in September for duty
with the New Armies the permanent sergeant-instructors, one of whom had
been attached to each company in peace time, but were fortunately
allowed to retain our regular adjutant, Captain G. M. Sharpe, and the
R.S.-M. (afterwards Lieut. Hanney, M.C.). About the close of the year
the double-company system was adopted, under which the two headquarter
companies became 'A' Company, under the command of Major Hedges, while
Captain Battcock commanded B Company, composed of the men from
Wallingford, Wantage and Newbury, Captain Lewis C Company, from
Windsor and Maidenhead, and Captain Thorne D Company, from Abingdon
and Wokingham. Many memories will remain with us of the laborious days
and nights spent throughout those seven months, of company training in
Highlands, fights on Galleywood Common, route marches up the long
slope of Danbury Hill, journeys to Boreham Range in the darkness of a
winter dawn, returning after dusk with a day's firing behind, and long
hours spent in guarding the Marconi station in rain, snow and mist.
All ranks were very keen and eager, especially before illness, the
monotony of routine and disappointment at receiving no orders for
overseas, produced some inevitable reaction. Colonel Serocold has
indeed expressed his opinion that the battalion, while under his
command, was never better trained than at the end of November, 1914.
At last, however, on the evening of March 30th, 1915, amidst many
expressions of goodwill and regret from the townsfolk, who thronged
the streets, the battalion entrained for France, and left Folkestone
in the S.E.R. packet boat _Onward_ at 11 p.m.
CHAPTER II
FIRST DAYS ON ACTIVE SERVICE
The night was calm and bright with stars as, with an escorting
destroyer, we crossed rapidly to Boulogne. After disembarking we
marched to the Blue Base above the town, clattering over the cobbles,
and drawing the heads of the curious to their bedroom windows. Here we
lay down in tents and endured with the mitigation of one blanket a
bitter frost. That evening we continued our journey towards the
unknown from Pont des Briques station, where we found our train
already contained the transport from Havre, two of whose number had
been deposited on the line en route by the activities of a restive
horse. The men were crowded into those forbidding trucks labelled
"Hommes, 40, chevaux, 8," and suffered much discomfort as the train
crept through a frozen night, whose full moon illuminated a succession
of dykes and water meadows stiff with hoarfrost, and bearded French
Territorials with flaming braziers guarding the line. As dawn was
breaking we detrained on the long platform of Cassel, and after the
transport was unloaded moved up that steep hill which is so well known
a landmark in Flanders. When we reached the summit, leaving the town
on our left, we looked over the great Flemish plain, and heard for the
first time the faint pulsing of the guns. The sun had now fully risen,
and dissipated the thin morning mist; the level country parcelled out
into innumerable farms and clumps of trees stretched endlessly to the
east. Only to the northward the steep outline of the Mont des Cats
with the long ridge of the Mont Noir behind broke the plain. We
descended, and made our way wearily to Winnezeele, a straggling
village of outlying farms, close to the Belgian frontier. Here we
remained three days, and with the zeal of new troops obeyed every
letter of the law. Orderly sergeants descended into the village in
marching order with full packs, no officer was ever seen without his
revolver, while every billet was guarded as if at any moment it might
be taken by assault.
On April 2nd we marched to Steenvoorde, where Lieut.-General Sir H.
Smith-Dorrien, commanding 2nd Army, inspected the 145th Brigade. He
congratulated them on their smart appearance, and spoke most warmly of
the work already done by Territorials in the war. He also cheered us
greatly by his anticipation of the fall of Budapest and of the forcing
of the Dardanelles within the next few weeks.
On Easter Sunday, April 9th, we marched to Flêtre, a village on the
great paved road to Lille, 3 miles short of Bailleul. Here long lines
of lorries attested the importance of this main artery of the Army;
while the effects of war were plainly seen in the bullet-riddled
houses, the random little trenches and crosses dotted around, which
recalled the successful fighting of the 4th Division on October 14th.
The château which Headquarters occupied was said to have been
similarly used for eight days by General von Kluck. Here for three
days we enjoyed the rain of Flanders, and a foretaste of its eternal
mud, before moving a stage nearer to the battle line, the flares of
which had been an object of much interest at nights. Our next journey,
on the 7th, led through Bailleul, where the band of the Artists'
Rifles played in the great square, and the Warwicks of the 143rd
Brigade viewed us with the superior air of men who had already been in
the trenches with the 6th Division; then between the poplars along
the Armentières road, until we turned to the left at Rabot, and soon
arrived at our destination, a small village called Romarin. It lies
just within the Belgian frontier, a bare 3 miles behind the firing
line, whence the crackle of rifle fire was plainly audible, whilst
from the coppiced slopes of Neuve Église, which bounded the northward
view, intermittent flashes denoted the presence of the field
batteries. The battalion was now attached to the 10th Brigade of the
4th Division, who were still holding the same ground where their
victorious advance had come to a standstill in October in front of
Ploegsteert Wood and northward round the base of Messines Hill. The
four Companies were divided for their period of 48 hours in the line
between 1st Warwicks, 2nd Seaforths, Royal Irish, Dublin Fusiliers,
and 7th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (T.F.). The time passed
without casualties or special incident, except for the shelling of a
night working party under Lieut. Challoner, which escaped disaster
only by good fortune. All will remember with gratitude the good
comradeship and helpfulness of this Regular brigade, from whom we
learnt much during our short period of attachment. On its conclusion
we marched back to billets at Steenwerck, a station on the Lille line
midway between Bailleul and Armentières. Here we endeavoured
unsuccessfully, with the aid of a French officer, to locate a chain of
signalling lamps impudently displayed from Bailleul right away towards
the German lines.
On April 13th a Rugger match was played at Pont de Nieppe between
teams representing the 4th and 48th Divisions, and resulted in a
victory for the latter. Here Lieut. Ronald Poulton-Palmer, who
captained the side, played his last game. On April 15th we moved up
again, and took over for the first time our own line from the 2nd
Hants at Le Gheer. The trenches ran here with singular angles and
salients along the east face of Ploegsteert Wood; many disconnected
posts, which could only be relieved by night, strong points in ruined
houses with such suggestive names as First and Second German House
were reminiscent rather of outposts than orthodox trench warfare. The
weather was bright, the enemy entirely inactive, and the wood, with
its oxlips and other spring flowers, its budding branches unscarred by
shell fire, was a picture of charm rare in modern warfare. Forty-eight
hours only were spent in this idyllic spot before we returned to
Romarin to the accompaniment of the roar of mines, artillery, and
concentrated rifle fire and machine gun fire, which heralded the
sudden outbreak of the Battle of Hill 60, 4 miles to the north, just
before sunset on April 17th. Our relief of the 4th Division was now
complete, and our instructors marched to billets in Bailleul, only to
be thrown within a few days into the furnace of the second Battle of
Ypres. Before leaving they placed a great board just outside the
Regent Street entrance to the wood, stating that it had been taken by
the 4th Division on October, 1914, and handed over intact to us.
[Illustration: Berkshire Line At Ploegsteert.]
CHAPTER III
HOLDING THE LINE AT 'PLUGSTREET'
The line held by the Division for the next two months was wholly
within Belgian territory, with a frontage of about 5,000 yards, which
stretched from a point about 500 yards south-east of Wulverghem on the
north to just below Le Gheer. The 143rd Brigade were on the left,
145th in the centre, and the 144th on the right. We were on the left
of the 145th, and worked on a self-relieving system by which two
Companies spent alternate periods of four days in the trenches and in
local reserve. B and C Companies on the right shared trenches 37 and
38, also named Berkshire and Argyll; A and D in turn inhabited
trenches 39 and 40, or Sutherland and Oxford, with a total frontage of
700 yards. The trenches ran along low ground between the wood and the
River Douve; on the left the famous hill of Messines peered into our
positions, and though itself barely 200 feet above sea-level loomed
like a mountain among the mole-heaps of Flanders. The distance between
the opposing lines varied from 450 to 250 yards. Reliefs could be
carried out by day across the open on the right to Prowse Point
(called after Major Prowse, of the Somerset L.I., who here organised a
successful counter-attack in November, 1914, and afterwards was killed
as a brigadier in the Somme battles); but the left was much in the
air, as the only communication trench led up to some reserve
breastworks near the Messines road, barely shoulder high, and
themselves incapable of secure daylight approach, and all rations,
stores, etc., had to be brought up overland by night over
bullet-swept ground, but with negligible casualties.
The amenities of trench life depend almost wholly on the enemy and the
weather. In both these respects we were fortunate. The Saxons who
faced us lived up to their reputation, and apart from some accurate
sniping which did more damage to periscopes than to human life, made
no attempt to annoy us. No gas was ever emitted against us, though but
a few miles to the north the enemy was using this new weapon
incessantly. Throughout the end of April and for many days in May the
wind blew steadily out of a cloudless sky from the north-east, and
every morning we anxiously sniffed the breeze as we fingered the
inadequate and clumsy respirators of those times. Every day a new
pattern arrived with a new set of instructions. Then our sappers were
ordered to make boxes of gun-powder which were to be fired by fuse and
thrown over the parapet to dissipate the gas. In doing this they
succeeded in blowing up several of their own number in their infernal
den at Doo-Doo Farm. Scarcely, however, were these boxes ensconced in
their weather-proof niches in each traverse than they were condemned,
and the sweating infantry who had brought them up returned them with
many curses to store.
The guns also left our sector in peace, which was the more fortunate
as our artillery was not in a position to reply effectively to even a
modest bombardment. Every now and then a little gun, apparently
mounted on an armoured car which ran along the avenue just behind the
German lines at dusk, would loose off half a dozen shells which burst
without any warning, like a pair of gigantic hands clapping. Sometimes
a few 'Little Willies' would strike Anton's Farm, which was included
in our trench line, but no attempt was made to level this valuable
ruin, which concealed patient and boastful snipers. The Warwicks on
our left expiated the sins of the whole Division, and on most days it
was possible to watch with a feeling of complete security a variety of
shells bursting among them a few hundred yards away; while overhead
flew the liberal daily ration expended on the Château de la Hutte on
Hill 63 behind. From the lovely garden which surrounded it, luxuriant
with lilac, Judas trees, tamarisk, wygelia and guelder-rose in full
bloom, you could view, like Moses, the unapproachable land of promise,
Lille and Roubaix, lying afar in the plain, with the smoke of enemy
activity rising from their numerous tall chimneys.
We had our little excitements, as on May 9th, when the French attacked
at Souchez, which was long remembered as 'the day of hate.' An
elaborate demonstration was prepared by the brigade, of which the
chief items were the exposure of trench-bridges 'obviously concealed,'
and the firing throughout the day of long bursts of rapid fire. These
interesting devices failed to deceive the enemy, who took little
notice beyond shelling the unhappy Warwicks and the town of
Ploegsteert with unusual severity. My company was in the wood that day
in reserve, and lay about pretending to be in readiness. It was, in
fact, the only day in which we had nothing to do.
We also had our mine, which was exploded opposite the Oxfords after
two false starts with much pomp and ceremony. A green rocket was sent
up one mile west of Ploegsteert 'to deceive the enemy,' as the Staff
memorandum hopefully remarked. Captain Hadden, of the 1st/4th Oxfords,
opposite whose trench the explosion was to occur, was ordered to keep
half his company in the fire trench with the rifles and bayonets of
the other half. These were to be ostentatiously waved above the
parapet. The other half company spent some time marching up and down
the corduroy paths in the wood, that the sound of their feet might
suggest the arrival of large reinforcements. When the Brigade invited
further suggestions of the same deceptive nature Hadden declared that
he indented for magic mirrors _à la_ Maskelyne and Devant, which would
show the Oxfords not only in front but in rear of their enemy.
There was also the occasion when the gunners promised to destroy a new
work erected by the Huns in front of their lines. They were heavily
handicapped at the outset by the necessity of employing percussion
shrapnel against a strong breastwork. But even when allowances were
made, it seemed unnecessary that their first shell, a premature,
should burst in the trees far behind on the Messines road, that the
second should fall in our trenches, and the third damage our wire. The
fourth, however, it is fair to say, reached if it did not seriously
disturb its objective.
The ground between the lines offered many opportunities for
patrolling; a belt of clover and rank weeds, knee-deep, in which our
wire was enclosed, was succeeded by a deep watery ditch, also
festooned with wire, and, beyond a fringe of willows on the further
side, ran a wide field of rye able to conceal the tallest man. Each
side cleared the ground immediately in front of their wire, and at
nights the sickle of the enemy reaper could be plainly heard cutting
swathes. More than once ambushes were laid in the daytime under cover
of the rye, which waited for an opportunity against him till late at
night, but without success. Lieut. Gathorne-Hardy, who was the pioneer
of these daylight patrols, on one occasion, stayed out from noon till
4 p.m. with his faithful follower, Sergt. Westall, examining the
German wire, for which exploit the former received the M.C. and the
latter the D.C.M. (to which was added a bar next year during the
fighting at Pozières for devotion to the wounded). Our losses during
these ten weeks were very light, but included Lieut. Ronald
Poulton-Palmer, who was shot through the heart by a random bullet
while superintending the building of a dugout just after midnight, May
4th, 1915. He had been nearly four years with the Battalion and was
greatly beloved by all ranks; as I went down the line at stand-to that
morning many of the men of old F Company, which he commanded at
Chelmsford, were crying. He was the first officer to fall, and was
buried by the Bishop of Pretoria in the Battalion cemetery in the wood
on the east side of the Messines road, about 200 yards short of Hyde
Park Corner.
The actual routine of life in the trenches was pleasant enough. The
men knew exactly where they were. There was a time to eat, a time to
sleep, a time for fatigues, and a time for sentry-go. There was little
rain, and no bitter nights. The shelters, which held two or three men
a-piece, though mere flimsy shell-traps, were comfortable, and either
boarded or lined with straw, which was frequently renewed. When the
Warwicks took over from us they exclaimed in admiring surprise, 'Why,
they're all officers' dugouts.' Each section had its little oven made
of a biscuit tin built round with clay. For the officers' mess in D
Company we had the kitchen range from Anton's Farm, and a large
zinc-covered erection in which six people could eat or play cards at
once. The domestic element was supplied by two cats, who safely reared
their offspring among us. Indeed, the calm of that placid series of
days was such that it was difficult to realise that the second Battle
of Ypres was raging with unbroken ferocity a few miles to the north,
until we listened to the unwearied rumble of the guns and saw by night
the great light in the sky where the doomed city blazed.
When in reserve our days were mainly spent in or close to the famous
wood, which was at that time regarded as the show-place, _par
excellence_, of the British front. Its natural glories have long since
departed under the devastating shell fire of the latter days of the
war, but in the spring and summer of 1915 it was a beautiful place,
where one might fancy that the many British dead rested more easily
beneath oaks and among familiar flowers than in most of the cemeteries
of this dreary land. The wood was about 1-1/2 miles long, with a
maximum depth of 1,400 yards, and its undergrowth, where not cut away,
was densely intertwined with alder, hazel, ash, and blackthorn, with
water standing in large pools on parts of its boggy surface. In one
corner was the picturesque Fosse Labarre, a wide horseshoe moat
enclosing a little garden, now a machine-gun emplacement, where grew
the cumfrey, teazle and yellow flag. Everywhere the dog violet and
blue veronica flourished in enormous clumps, and near the Strand was a
great patch of Solomon's seal. It was a continual pleasure to see the
wood clothe itself from the nakedness of early April and increase in
fulness of life until we left at midsummer. The nightingale sang there
unwearingly, but other birds were few, and I never noticed a nest in
the wood. The few pheasants which survived a winter with the 4th
Division were, I fear, exterminated by us. Rabbits continued plentiful
in spite of rifles and snares, and every now and then a hare was
started in the deserted fields.
Our predecessors had spent much labour and ingenuity in fitting up the
wood for comfortable military habitation. It was everywhere
intersected by corduroy paths, which though tiring to the feet,
completely saved one from the horrors of the mud, and enabled rations
and engineering stores to be brought up with ease in even the worst
weather. Near the centre of the wood was Piccadilly Circus, whence
many of these paths radiated; Regent Street and the Strand were the
two great lateral highways; Bunhill Row preserved the memory of the
London Rifle Brigade; Mud Lane served to remind us of those days when
corduroy was still non-existent, whilst Spy Corner hinted at some grim
and secret episode in the wood's history.
Meanwhile, screened from aeroplane observation by the dense foliage,
the reserve Companies of the Brigade, lived in canvas tents
fantastically daubed or in log huts. Some of the more elaborate of
these latter served the double purpose of mess and bedroom for the
Company Officers, the sides being taken up by two tiers of bunks made
of wire and filled with straw. Outside the devices of the various
regiments which had built or occupied them were carved or painted.
Around them were little gardens, some of which with happy forethought
had been planted in the winter. The most elaborate of all boasted a
clump of Madonna lilies, and a red rose. We sowed vegetable seeds
also, and ate our own mustard and cress, lettuces and radishes. In
this connection, too, I should mention the 4,000 cabbages sent by
Messrs. Sutton & Sons, which, planted in the transport lines at Rabot,
were left for the consumption of the 5th Battalion when we moved
south. These sylvan billets we generally shared with the 4th Oxfords,
Hunterston North and South, peaceful spots, seldom visited by shells
or stray bullets; less fortunate were the Bucks and 5th Gloucesters at
Somerset House, further to the east. Here by night a steady drizzle of
lead descended, and on one occasion 70 incendiary shells fell close to
Headquarters. One of these was a dud, and the Bucks, determined to
omit no precaution, sprinkled its resting place with chloride of lime!
On the west side of the Messines road, just outside the wood, our
Headquarters, with one reserve Company, inhabited the Piggeries, the
enormous bricked and covered sties of which easily accommodated 200
men. The owner had only just completed his venture before war began,
and the place was unmarked on the map, which possibly accounted for
its immunity from shell fire.
Life in the wood would have been wholly pleasant but for two things,
fatigues and lack of sleep. There is little doubt that if the war had
gone on for fifty years, its last month would have found the men as
strenuously employed in improving and strengthening the defences as in
those early days. Soldiers are naturally inclined to think when
depressed that (like the persons mentioned in the Bible) when 'they
have done all that is required of them they are but unprofitable
servants.' But at Plugstreet at least there was much which cried out
urgently to be done. A great gap in the trench line just east of
Prowse Point called for attention on our arrival. The work might, of
course, have been highly dangerous, for it was carried on within 200
yards of the enemy. But no attempt was made to interfere with our
labours. Presumably the mild Hun who faced us was afraid that he would
be called upon to attack through the gap and rejoiced to see it
filled. Every night the picks and shovels of 300 or 400 men could be
heard merrily at work with the inevitable undercurrent of conversation
as familiarity increased security. When the moon was bright the enemy
could be seen peacefully attending to his own wire, while sometimes we
were reminded that the hour had come to break off by a voice from
opposite calling out, 'Time to pack up, sappers; go to bed.' Every
morning a new length of enormous breastwork invited shells, which
never came. On such occasions the thought arose that we must be taking
part in the most expensive farce in the history of the world.
The lack of sleep was a more serious hardship, especially as it
appeared avoidable. Owing, presumably, to the thinness with which the
line was held, and to the lack of potential reinforcements behind, we
were not allowed to sleep in the wood. Every night we made our way
either to the lower or higher breastworks. The former were just off
Mud Lane, and were consequently protected by the ridge from view, and
to a certain extent from bullets. Here you could bivouac in the open
under waterproof sheets, and except when the weather was very wet,
enjoy a tolerable night. The latter, however, were on the forward
slope, freely exposed to the continual fire with which the Huns
replied to the provocation of the Warwicks. It was therefore necessary
to lie at the bottom of a narrow and stinking trench on a 9-inch
board. You had hardly fallen into an insecure doze when you were
awakened and had to move out, for these breastworks, being barely
shoulder high, were always evacuated at dawn, and dawn comes very
early in June. The men naturally preferred the regular hours and the
clean and comfortable shelters of the fire trench. Whenever any of the
men desired to get rid of their pay quickly they had only to walk a
few hundred yards to Ploegsteert village, where, within a mile of the
firing line, some hundreds of the inhabitants still remaining sold bad
beer, tinned fruit, and gaudy postcards at Flemish rates, which are
the highest in the world. When shelling was severe they locked up
their houses and disappeared mysteriously for a day or two until a
renewed lull enabled them to restart their profitable shop-keeping.
Many alleged spies lived here unharassed, especially in the outlying
farms; and credibility was lent to the current tales by the number of
carrier pigeons seen passing over the lines, or by the incident of
the two dogs which suddenly appeared early one dawn from the German
lines, leapt our trenches, and were lost in the darkness behind, in
spite of Challoner's frenzied attempts to shoot them.
Besides its inhabitants Ploegsteert offered little of interest. The
church, in spite of a dozen holes in the roof, and a great chip out of
the east end, still reared its tall red-brick spire. On to the square
outside the Huns directed a short afternoon hate at 3.30 punctually
every day, reaching their target with wonderful precision, but doing
little harm except when, as on May 9th, they employed incendiary
shells. When baths and the disinfecting of trench-soiled clothing were
required, the men marched to Nieppe, and wallowed in the famous vats,
where Mr. Asquith, one day arriving unexpectedly, found himself
cheered by a multitude of naked and steaming soldiers. From there it
was but a short walk to Armentières, that centre of the great world,
where Perrier water champagne and other delights could be obtained,
where in a luxurious tea-room you were waited upon by female
attendants of seductive aspect, and where two variety entertainments,
the "Follies" and "Frivolities," were on view most nights. The ugly
industrial town had then been little injured by shells, though every
now and then it received its share. The Huns sometimes playfully
directed against it French 220's captured at Maubeuge, and to point
the witticism sent over a few duds inscribed '_Un Souvenir de
Maubeuge_.'
So passed seven weeks during which we learned the routine of war under
singularly favourable conditions.
CHAPTER IV
ON THE MOVE AND IN CORPS RESERVE
During the first week in June the three Brigades left their own
quarters and exchanged trench sections. The 145th moved from the
centre to the left, to the joy of the Warwicks, whose losses had been
considerable. While this move was in process the Battalion was taken
out of the wood, and marched to huts at Korte Pyp, on a plateau with a
wide prospect on the southern slopes of Neuve Église Hill. The site
was admirable, the huts well-built and commodious, and (rarest of
sights in the rich cultivation of Flanders) a good-sized grass field
was at hand sufficiently level to make a decent cricket pitch. Here
for four days we were free of fatigues, were inspected by the new
G.O.C. of the Division, Major-General Fanshawe, enjoyed the sun, and
endured a violent thunderstorm. Thence returning to the wood we
sampled White Lodge, the Warwick's home under the steep wooded bluff
of Hill 63, where the rats made merry among the dirt and unburied
food; also La Plus Douce, a pastoral but dangerous spot, where the
Douve flowed muddily amidst neglected water-meadows stretching along
to Wulverghem with its battered church tower showing among the trees.
On the opposite slope were two broken farms called St. Quentin and
South Midland, wherein lay great quantities of abandoned tobacco,
while all around were the tarnished scabbards thrown away by De
Lisle's cavalry during the fighting at Messines of the previous
October.
On June 15th the whole Battalion returned to the trenches, and held a
total length of 1,450 yards, stretching from our old right, Trench 37,
across the Messines road to a ruined cottage, close by which our
trenches were carried over the Douve by a wooden bridge. Our line was
thus drawn in a curve right round the south of Messines Hill, which
twinkled with points of fire at every morning 'stand-to' from the
tiers of trenches which honeycombed its face. Contrary to
expectations, the centenary of Waterloo passed without incident during
this tour, in spite of the Huns' reputed fondness for such
celebrations.
At this time we were fortunate in having with us our 5th Battalion for
instruction, who had come out about a fortnight before with the 12th
Division, and there were many meetings of friends, both among the
officers and the men.
We then returned for the last time to our familiar haunts in the wood,
where we found the wild strawberries, which we had watched creeping
timidly out of the earth, ripening everywhere in countless numbers.
Meanwhile the 12th Division abode in billets in Armentières and
Nieppe, and rumours grew strong that they would take over from us. The
secret was well kept, but on Thursday morning, June 24th, as the
Company Commanders were on their way to visit the Worcester trenches
they were recalled by orderly with the news that the Battalion was
moving to Bailleul that night. The evening was hot and steamy, the men
soft from lack of exercise and sleep, and the 8 miles seemed
interminable. We arrived at Bailleul about 1 a.m., and billeted in the
quarter adjoining the railway station. For the first time since
leaving England I slept in a bed with sheets in a room to myself.
A fierce thunderstorm next day had failed to clear the air, when we
set out again about 9.30 p.m. in an atmosphere of clinging dampness.
The whole brigade marched together with our faces turned south towards
unfamiliar country, and just before daybreak we arrived at Vieux
Berquin, a village of detached farmhouses with gardens full of all
manner of fruit and vegetables. Here a dozen crosses with a smaller
black cross painted on the wood testified to the presence of the
Bavarians last autumn. That night, with the moon about the full,
though often obscured by clouds, the brigade made a long and weary
march south-west, edging gradually away from the flares and the
distant rifle shots. Towards midnight we had a long check at Merville,
a placid little town with tree-planted boulevards along the banks of
the Lys, while Canadian guns and transport passed us going north from
their second great fight at Festubert and Givenchy. Day had broken and
the sun was climbing an eastern sky ribbed with red and gold, when we
reached our destination, the village of Gonnehem, which boasts an
ancient and beautiful church decorated with a quiet simplicity not
often found in these parts. No enemy had entered here since the
beginning of the war. It stands at the southern limit of the great
plain; beyond are the low wooded hills of Artois, and away to the west
the great slag heaps of Marles-les-Mines loomed through the thunder
clouds like pyramids. That Sunday evening we completed our last stage
of 4 miles by daylight, moving south-west again to the large
industrial village of Lapugnoy, with a station on the St. Pol railway
5 miles west of Béthune, lying in a valley overlooked on either side
by densely-timbered hills.
Here, withdrawn 10 miles behind the line and comfortably housed, we
spent 17 days in a succession of drills, route marches and wood
fighting. We were now in the 1st Army and behind the southern
extremity of the then British line. From the calvary above the
village the eye rested on many famous landmarks: the great cathedral
of Béthune, untouched by the Hun, the church of Givenchy, the slag
heaps of La Bassée, and the low ridge of Aubers, which barred the road
to Lille, a dim frame in the background. We visited Béthune, a
gracious little city girdled about with poplars, limes and chestnuts,
where most things could be bought, including the latest English
novels. The Guards had their Headquarters in the town, and impressed
everyone with their physical fitness and splendid discipline. We
consumed a morning waiting on the Lillers-Béthune road to see Lord
Kitchener drive past in a motor; we watched the Indians going up to
the trenches in motor 'buses, and a motley crew of picturesque French
Colonials going by train to Souchez: Zouaves, turbaned and bearded,
Algerians, with thick-lipped niggers from Congo and Senegal, who ran
along the open trucks shouting and gesticulating. On July 11th a
memorable meeting took place between the 1st and 4th Battalions in a
field near Fouquières-lès-Béthune, where they spent the day together.
This momentary gathering of so many brothers, relatives and friends on
active service gave the greatest pleasure to all. In the improvised
sports which ensued the men of the 1st Battalion beat the 4th at a
tug-of-war, while in the officers' tug the result was reversed. The
1st Battalion were at this time commanded by Captain Bird, as their
late C.O., Major Hill, had been killed not many days before by a shell
which demolished the Headquarters' mess at Cuinchy.
The next evening found the brigade on the move again, through the
mining villages of Marles-les-Mines and Bruay, to a wretched hamlet
called Houchin, where the only accommodation provided for the
battalion was a field of standing rye ripe for the scythe. When day
broke we found ourselves in a desolate country with the high naked
ridge of Notre Dame de Lorette shutting out the southern horizon. Here
in shelter of boughs and waterproof sheets we spent three days of
great discomfort under pouring rain and wind, employed day and night
in digging a reserve line some 4 miles away. As we worked near
Sailly-Labourse we gazed with curiosity at an arid gentle slope some 2
miles away, pitted by trenches and crowned by an elaborate iron
structure with two towers. This ground was the scene of the main
British attack on Loos two months later, and the building was the
famous Tower Bridge. The squalid little town between Houchin and
Sailly, at whose busy coal-mine the enemy intermittently threw shells,
was Noeux-les-Mines, where Lord French had his forward headquarters
during the fighting. But even then there was an abundance of the sound
of battle, for on the second evening a furious cannonade burst out to
the south-east, which signalled the recapture by the enemy of Souchez
Cemetery: the last scene in that terrific fight which had endured
almost incessantly since May 9th.
The day on which we went on the trek again (July 16th) was long
remembered. We had expected in due course to go into the trenches
somewhere near Grenay, but it suddenly became known that the brigade
was to march back to the neighbourhood of Lillers preparatory to
entraining for an unknown destination. Half the battalion that day had
done their daily trip to Sailly and came back about 4 p.m., after
marching 8 miles and digging for four hours. At 9 p.m. we moved off in
driving rain for an all-night march of 15 miles. The brigade transport
was in front, and checks were naturally frequent as we retraced our
steps through Bruay and Marles, thence on to Burbure, where our guide
misled us through a narrow inky lane, in which most of the Brigade
lost touch. Just as the dawn was breaking and our troubles seemed
nearly over our guide again mistook the way, and we found ourselves
bogged in a cart track at the top of a down. The rain and hail
descended in a sudden most violent squall and wetted us to the skin;
while far away in the east the morning flares twinkled for 30 miles in
a great arc. One of the signallers was heard plaintively to remark as
we waited, 'What 'ave we done to deserve all this?' Finally we
descended into Lières, a pleasant remote village in a fold of the
chalk, full of cherry trees, and slept peaceably till noon.
After a day's rest we marched on Sunday afternoon, July 18th, to La
Berguette station, on the Hazebrouck line west of Lillers. Here we met
detachments of our old friends of the wood, the L.R.B., who, reduced
in strength to 70 men during the Ypres fighting, had been put on lines
of communication. We knew by now that our journey would take us to
Doullens, a sub-prefecture of the Somme, and that we were to take over
a portion of the French line. So back again in the cattle trucks and
second-class carriages, the Battalion moved off south under far more
pleasant circumstances. The rate of speed, too, was comparatively high
and can hardly have fallen short of 15 miles an hour.
We reached our destination as usual in the early hours of the morning,
and after unloading drew out of the town, passing on the right the old
Citadelle with its red ramparts high upon a hill, and the point of
elderly Territorials at the junction of the great Amiens road. Thence
we followed the south bank of the Authie River, enclosed on either
side by rounded chalk hills 400 or 500 feet high. We breakfasted by
the road opposite the Château of Autheuille, where Major Barron and
his M.T. lived luxuriously for many months 11 miles behind the firing
line; then plodded on past Sarton, where the 5th Gloucesters watched
us from their billets, and finally bivouacked in the beech woods of
Marieux. Close by was the site of the French aerodrome, now deserted
save for empty petrol tins; down in the valley, Mon Plaisir, an
enormous country house was being prepared for the Headquarters of the
7th Corps; in the orchards were parked two batteries of long French
155's. The roads were encumbered with the impedimenta of two armies.
We were starting on another stage of the great adventure, and felt
again to a lesser degree the uncertainty of essaying the unknown.
CHAPTER V
RELIEVING THE FRENCH AT HÉBUTERNE
After 36 hours in the wood we packed up again and moved by night
through Authie, afterwards most familiar and welcome of rest billets,
passing Coignieux, where the French gunners, sitting by their fires in
the horse lines, called out greetings, and ascended the northern hill
to Bayencourt, a stinking little village full of flies and odours.
By now the enemy had apparently got wind of the coming of the English
(which was first confirmed, according to prisoners, by the discovery
of English bullets fired at their trenches), for during the next few
days aeroplanes flew constantly over the village at a great height. In
a field close by a French 75, which moved with a circular traverse
round a platform of greased wood let into a small pit, endeavoured to
arrest their progress with a wonderfully rapid barrage, and to throw
them back into the area covered by the next gun. Its adjutant had
spent several years in a solicitor's office at Ealing, and spoke
excellent English.
Our ultimate destination was now the sector of Hébuterne, which had
leapt into prominence on the occasion of the successful French attack
on Touvent Farm, June 12th, but was now, from all accounts, peaceful
enough. The 5th Gloucesters and 4th Oxfords were the two first to go
into the trenches, where the French received them with enthusiasm,
putting fresh flowers in all the dugouts, and writing up everywhere
greetings of welcome.
My brother (Captain G. H. W. Cruttwell) went before us into Hébuterne
with part of B Company to relieve the guards of the 93rd Regiment
posted round the village, a ceremony more interesting and impressive
than the relief of the trenches by reason of its greater formality. He
dined with their officers afterwards, and was presented, as a farewell
gift, with the best mattress in the village. The rest of the battalion
started after sunset on July 22nd, passing a battalion of Frenchmen
returning by half platoons from the trenches, and marched into
Hébuterne, a most interesting example of the ruined village organised
for defence, situated 600 yards only behind the front line trenches.
It was destined to be our forward billet for many months, and to
become as familiar to us in the smallest details as our own homes. A
somewhat detailed description will therefore perhaps not be without
interest.
Hébuterne was a good-sized village of about 1,000 inhabitants, on no
highway but the converging point of many small roads, lying in a very
slight pocket of the rolling chalk plateaux of Artois, surrounded on
every side by the orchards of the local bitter cider apple, with a
village green in the centre, and a pond surrounded by tall poplars.
The length of the village was about 900 yards, and its average breadth
about 500 yards. Almost every house was a one-storied farm of three to
four rooms, with considerable outbuildings of mud and plaster, capable
of accommodating in close billets one or two platoons. There were no
large houses, the so-called château on the Bucquoy road being a very
moderate mansion, and, apart from it, the rectory, mairie, the mill by
the pond used as Brigade Headquarters, and the pleasant villa called
Poste Cambronne, alone stood out in modest prominence. There were very
few inns, the largest of which bore the touching and appropriate sign,
'_A la Renaissance_.'
At the south end of the village stood the church, a broken gaping
shell of red brick with imitation marble pillars; it was afterwards
razed to the ground by the sappers, who required its bricks and
perhaps thought it too good a range-mark to exist so near their store.
When we arrived we found, to our surprise, two civil inhabitants
clinging to their ruinous homes; one who held some vague post of
authority called himself a Garde Champêtre; another, an aged crone,
suddenly emerged cursing from her hovel to expostulate with me for
unwittingly stealing her peas and young carrots. They were cleared out
immediately after our arrival. The flight of the remainder had been
evidently precipitate. Not only had beds, tables, and all bulkier
pieces of furniture been abandoned, but knives, forks, crockery and
many little china ornaments. The village had been reoccupied after a
stubborn fight in October, 1914, and the enemy pushed well beyond its
uttermost limits. In the western orchards was the large French
cemetery, and hard by that of our own division, adjoining a cricket
pitch, where we had many spirited games of tip and run.
Though naturally much broken up, with perhaps a dozen houses left
intact, the village had never been so populous in days of peace. Not
less then 3,000 troops lived there above or below ground, including
the brigadier and at least three battalion commanders. That portion of
the village which lies north of the pond had been made into a
fortified redoubt known as the Keep, the garrison of which was the
equivalent of one battalion, whose O.C. lived in the Poste Cambronne,
a much desired residence until an 8.2 shell demolished its upper story
in December. Very few shells indeed ever fell in the Keep until the
beginning of 1916, the chief targets being the pond and the area round
the church. The village was fortunate in being practically screened
from direct observation by a slight rise in ground between it and the
enemy, and the indirect machine gun fire which raked the streets at
odd intervals was curiously ineffective, for the majority of shots
went high, though on occasions one had to abandon respect and lie flat
in the mud, until the shower was overpast.
We sampled all corners of the village--the Serre Cross Roads, where
the rain came through the roof and the machine gun bullets through the
wall of our crazy billet; the château, with its broken conservatory,
its fig tree, Christmas roses, and what we believed to be the only
arm-chair in Northern France; 'D' Farm, where Private Meads, our first
casualty in the village, was killed by a 4.2-inch just outside the
window; and 'B' Farm, with its collection of plates and ornaments
amassed on the first morning before most of the village was out of
bed. Battalion Headquarters were first in the house on the
Mailly-Maillet road, afterwards appropriated by the Brigade, who
hollowed out for themselves great caverns in the earth: then in the
little house by Serre Cross Roads, where the owners had chalked up an
appeal to the French to take care of their newly-weaned calf; and
finally in the factory by the pond, where shells through Q.M. Payne's
bedroom and the gate posts drove them, too, underground, and led to
the erection of an enormous bulwark of sandbags 15 feet high, to
protect the mess.
[Illustration: Map.]
The defences of the village were formidable, and when one got to know
them, simple, in spite of the bewilderment caused by a first
inspection of what appeared to be a mere labyrinth. The Keep, as has
been mentioned, was simply a redoubt with trenches facing all points
of the compass, its two points of chief tactical importance being the
Mound, eminently suited for enfilade machine gun fire, and the
barricades which closed the Keep to any enemy already in possession of
the village to the south of the pond. It will be seen, by studying the
map, that the whole of the eastern face of Hébuterne was protected by
two lines of defences, outer and inner. The former were 200 to 300
yards beyond the edge of the houses, and were excellently sited along
a hedge for almost the whole of their length. They were connected with
the first line fire trench by communication trenches about every 100
yards. The inner defence, running through the orchards, just covered
the village, and was connected both with the outer line and with the
cellars of the houses by numerous communication trenches. Finally the
western exits of the village were commanded by a group of trenches
astride the Sailly road on rising ground. All this scheme had been
completed by the French before our arrival, and reflected great credit
on both their tactical skill and the energy required in construction.
When we turned from the village to the trenches we found also many
points of interest and contrast. In Artois, unlike Flanders, you can
dig to your heart's content, or, to speak more accurately, you can get
a surfeit of digging. The soil is either a light manageable clay, or
more frequently chalk. Here, then, we met with none of the conspicuous
breastworks of our old home, but fire trenches more than 6 feet deep,
and communicators whose bottoms were 8 or 9 feet below ground level.
Many of the dugouts, moreover, were elaborate caves, large enough to
accommodate 25 men, and capable, with their roofs of logs heaped over
with many feet of earth, of resisting the direct impact of a 5.9-inch
shell. The increase in security was naturally great, and bombardments
which would have destroyed whole trench sections at Ploegsteert were
almost ineffective. In the winter, however, under stress of rain and
snow, the dugouts fell in, together with the sides of the trench,
which, from lack of material, could not be efficiently revetted. Then
men sighed for Trench 40, and the little sandbag shelters too small to
collect such quantities of water. But as we viewed them then the
dugouts seemed the last word in luxury; one of those which I inhabited
contained a mattress, two chairs, a table, a large gilt-framed mirror,
some artificial flowers, a portrait of the Czar and his wife, and an
engraving called 'Le Repos du Marin,' which depicted an old sailor
drinking peacefully under a tree. All would have been well but for the
small game; lice, a legacy from the French, enormous red slugs, which
ate any food which lay about, and left a viscous trail behind every
movement, countless swarms of mice and gigantic rats, some of which
were so bold as to gnaw through the men's haversacks, as they slept,
in search of the food contained therein.
We naturally examined every detail of these new trenches with minute
interest, and compared English and French models. The first sensation
was of bewilderment. For at Ploegsteert we had been content with a
very simple system; wayfaring men, though fools, could scarcely err
therein. But here we had to learn our way about a perfect maze of
trench, where it was easy, or rather inevitable, at first to go wrong,
and, finding yourself enclosed by earth walls towering above your
head, to lose all sense of direction. This difficulty was not lessened
for the men by our retention of all the French names for the trenches,
most of which were christened after their Generals. Such names as
Bugeaud, Poniatowski, Bataille, and the like, were so many pieces of
gibberish which it was hardly possible for a self-respecting English
soldier to pronounce, while Boyau, Abri, Feuillée and Puisard were not
helpful forms of identification. But anyone who had become familiar
with the labyrinth would at once admit that for purposes of relief and
inter-communication it was far superior to anything he had yet seen.
Another useful novelty was the systematic use of saps for night-posts.
A sentry in the fire trench will always find his attention distracted
to a certain degree, especially when he is 500 yards from the enemy,
but put him in a sap-head with only a few yards of wire to protect
him, and the acuteness of his vision and hearing will be marvellously
increased.
On the other hand, in certain points the French trenches fell below
the standards to which we had accustomed ourselves. Owing to their
superiority in artillery, and to the thinness with which they held
their front line, they did not bother to build strong traverses
between the inordinately long fire bays, which were, in consequence,
seriously exposed to oblique gun fire. Again, no attempt had been made
to provide any flooring for the trenches, and the Battalion spent many
happy hours working under the August sun as amateur bricklayers, with
the material ready to hand from the village, in the hope, which the
winter was to bring utterly to naught, of thereby providing a solid
bottom.
CHAPTER VI
SUMMER AND AUTUMN IN ARTOIS
During the six weeks after our arrival the weather was very broken,
with many violent thunderstorms and very little heat. Except for eight
days at Sailly, where fear of aeroplanes was fortunately sufficient to
prevent parades, but not cricket in the orchards, we spent all our
time at Hébuterne. The Battalion, for the most part, relieved itself
as at Plugstreet, but had no fixed dwelling-place, sometimes extending
as far to the right as Trench Bugeaud, half way up the north slope of
the hill of Serre, where the ground was littered with the debris and
decomposing bodies of the June fighting, sometimes as far to the left
as Trench Morand, about 300 yards north of where the Bucquoy road
crossed the trenches. From Morand to Hoche the lie of the land was all
in our favour; the trenches were sited just in front of the gentle
rise which covered Hébuterne; 500 to 600 yards away, at the bottom of
the dip lay the enemy, about 40 feet below us, and behind him the
ground again rose leisurely and showed its slope towards us for 3,000
yards, with the hand of the Hun writ large in chalk, revealing his
second and third line with the great covered communication trenches
which connected them. The left of the picture was closed by Gommecourt
Wood, of sinister memory, with its pretty little red-roofed village
encased therein, and its gaping cemetery sticking out from the
south-east corner. On the skyline appeared several battered farms, La
Brayelle, Les Essarts, and Rettemoy, each surrounded by copses and
orchards, and on their right the Bois de Biez, which provided a home
for those thorns in our flesh, the 5.9-inch howitzers. On its right
flank again running down the hill towards us was the Bois Rossignol,
where an active battery of field guns made music less tuneful than
that of the bird whence the wood was named.
Straight in front of Trench Bataille, about 900 yards away, stood the
skeleton of the little farm called by the French Sans Nom. It was the
favourite point on which every type of gun registered, and the Germans
attached great importance to its bowels, for night after night
hand-carts unloaded there, and men could be heard by patrols talking
and hammering. Much interest and amusement could be obtained from this
panorama with field glasses and telescope. Along the road which ran
obliquely from Les Essarts to Gommecourt came cyclists, fatigue men,
and occasionally formed bodies of troops, who, when assailed with long
range machine gun fire, extended and advanced in short rushes. One day
two fat Huns carrying a dixie walked along the side of the great chalk
communication trench, who, when Sergeant Daniels fired a shot at 1,200
yards, dropped their burden and leapt nimbly into the trench. One
morning when Goolden and I were looking through a telescope we noticed
a trestle table being put up near Rettemoy Farm: this was followed by
half a dozen German officers accompanied by two ladies dressed in
white, who, after surveying the view, sat down to lunch. We thought
this too good an opportunity to miss, and informed the F.O.O. By
describing this little gathering as a working party, he obtained the
major's permission to fire, and the ladies' meal was soon interrupted
by four rounds of shrapnel.
Opposite Lassalle a shoulder ran out towards the German lines with its
steep northern face covered with dense thickets of thorn, apt cover
for night adventures; this shoulder so restricted our view that from
one trench the field of fire amounted to no more than 10 yards. If
you walked south you passed the Puisieux road, opposite which and some
500 yards away was a clump of tall poplars between the lines generally
known as the Seven Sisters. There was a superstition that this was
held by the enemy, but when explored by a daylight patrol of the 5th
Gloucesters nothing was discovered in the nature of defences. South of
the road the line curved south-west into lower ground and became
separated from the opposing trench by 900 yards. From here another
wide prospect unfolded itself, with Puisieux 2 miles away, lifting its
white spire from a knoll enclosed on three sides by beech woods.
Behind an occasional wisp of smoke showed that a train was making its
way between Achiet and Miraumont, whose supply depots were frequently
visited by our bombarding squadrons. A mile to the south the hamlet of
Serre, twice fruitlessly attacked next year, topped a barren and
shell-blown ridge. About this point, notorious for frequent visits
from the earth-shelling aerial torpedo, began the lines of the 4th
Division, once again our neighbours. They were our sister division in
the 7th Corps, which was completed by the arrival at the end of August
of the 37th Division, who after spending some days with us for
instruction relieved the French on our left at Fonquevillers and
Hannescamps. The commander of the 3rd Army, which was gradually
increased until its line extended to the southern marshes of the
Somme, was at this time Sir C. Monro, afterwards Commander-in-chief in
India.
The month of August passed quietly with us, though rendered notable by
the great German successes in Russia. The fate of Warsaw moved the
enemy to put up notice-boards announcing the event, one of which had
on one side 'Warschau Gefallen,' and on the other, apparently
reversable by a string, 'Gott Strafe England.' With commendable
caution, however, they were planted so near their own trench that it
required a field glass to read them. A few days later, when the German
Fleet met with misfortune in the Gulf of Riga, Sergt. Tester posted a
board with details of that reverse just in front of their barbed wire.
The French batteries remained with us for a month, while our gunners
were registering, and given a free hand in accordance with the British
custom of annoying the enemy incessantly, showed a complete mastery
over him.
Throughout the night at uncertain intervals their guns threw shells
into Gommecourt. It was difficult to believe that the terrible
explosions which resulted were caused by a shell lighter than our 18
pounders, whose shrapnel burst with an almost inaudible 'pip.'
Practically the only retaliation indulged in by the Germans was to
shell our batteries as they were getting into their gun-pits, though
without serious damage. About the end of the month, however, a serious
misfortune befell A Company, one of whose platoons was half destroyed
by a 4.2-inch, which struck the Brickfields, a dangerous and
conspicuous supporting point. The men had just returned from bathing
in the village, when the shell fell among them, killing five and
wounding nine. At the same spot also Lance-Corpl. Boston, of B
Company, was blown to pieces while gallantly remaining out to see that
the working party under his charge had taken cover safely.
On September 3rd, Captain (now Major, O.B.E.) Porter, Secretary of the
County Association, spent a night with the Battalion in the trenches,
and was thus able to assure the people of Berkshire, if such assurance
was needed, that its Territorial Battalion was doing its fair share of
the laborious task of holding the British front line. Next day, after
a month's continuous residence in Hébuterne or the trenches, we were
relieved by the 144th Brigade. The relief was carried out in daylight,
both Brigades marching boldly along the Sailly road, the crest of
which was in clear distant view of the enemy. The two intermediate
communication trenches, Larrey and Jena, some 2,500 yards long, were
not yet sufficiently repaired for our passage. This labour of love was
accomplished by the 5th Sussex, who were attached to the Brigade as
Pioneer Battalion, and lived at Sailly. We marched to Authie, 7 miles
back, and remained there 12 days; this village was until January to be
the rest billets of ourselves and the 4th Gloucesters for alternate
periods. It lies in the valley of the Authie River, between downs of
chalk, beech-covered, which put on beautiful colours as soon as the
first frosts of autumn touched them. The whole countryside is indeed
strangely reminiscent of the Chiltern Hills of Oxfordshire and Bucks.
Battalion Headquarters were at the Château, a substantially-built,
comfortable house under the southern slopes of the hills, belonging to
a widow, Madame De Wailly, who lived there with her two daughters.
Most of the best billets were occupied by the elderly heroes of the
A.O.D. and the Ammunition Column, but it is a roomy village, and
accommodated us without difficulty. The measure of its prosperity may
be gauged by the fact that whereas before the war there were three
shops, there were now 27. Our principal work was to make thousands of
hurdles in the Bois de Warnimont, which greatly to the men's disgust
mysteriously disappeared as soon as made; for when we indented for
them in the trenches we received no more than 17 for the whole
Brigade. Presumably they went to beautify the corps line, which was
such a model of perfected trench artistry that it seemed almost a pity
that it was never likely to be used. In this wood in company with a
few fallow deer, a Navvies' Battalion lived under canvas, who
performed most useful work in digging flints and repairing the roads.
In age they ranged from 40 to 70, and were a cheery crew, mainly from
Wales. Their notions of military discipline were, as may be imagined,
singular, and it is credibly reported that on one occasion, when
General Fanshawe rebuked a navvy for not saluting him, the offender
beckoned with his thumb towards a pal and exclaimed, ''Ere, Bill, come
and 'ave a look at this.'
On September 7th General Monro, G.O.C. 3rd Army, inspected the
Battalion, who were drawn up in old quarter-column formation with 12
paces interval in the Berkshire field on the west outskirts of the
village. He was greatly pleased with the appearance of the Battalion,
and in his subsequent address thus expressed his satisfaction:--
'After hearing what your Divisional General has said of you, I
expected to see a very fine body of men on parade to-day, and I can
assure you--I say so straight out--that I am not in the very least
disappointed. Your bearing as well as your order and steadiness in the
ranks, and the way in which you put your equipment on, all go to show
that you know the right thing, and prove the high standard which you
set before you. I am well acquainted with your 1st Battalion, and have
served with them in this present war. They have lived up to the high
traditions which attach to the regiment, and to the good name which
they have won in the past. You are proud to belong to such a regiment;
you have already reached a high standard, and I hope and believe you
will continue to retain that high standard.... I hear from your
Divisional Commander that you have conscientiously carried out all the
work allotted to you. In the sentry line your vigilance has been
beyond all criticism. You have done good work in all that pertains to
the work of the trenches, digging and so on. Moreover, your conduct in
the village and in billets has been uniformly good.'
During this stay at Authie rumours began to be active. It was
persistently reported that the 'great offensive' would be in full
swing before September was out. Some of the A.S.C., who had been
buying coal at Marles-les-Mines, reported that the country round
Béthune was incredibly thick with guns, while a similar and more
detailed forecast was brought back by officers who had dined with the
4th Divisional Headquarters. Then leave, which had been on more or
less regularly since the beginning of June, was indefinitely stopped.
Thus, though no one yet knew the date arranged for the opening of the
battle, expectations were abroad, and each morning the significance of
any unusual cannonade was eagerly discussed. Amidst such an atmosphere
of uncertainty we relieved the 4th Gloucesters at Hébuterne on
September 17th, making the passage from Sailly over the brow of the
hill for the first time by the congested Boyau Larrey.
For a few days we lived our ordinary trench life, and helped to
instruct a company of the 13th Manchesters; but on September 21st the
bombardment from the sea to the Vosges opened in our sector, with
short fierce bursts of fire on the enemy villages and roads. On
September 23rd, at 7.30 a.m., a squadron of 21 aeroplanes, spread
loosely over the sky, flew over Hébuterne to attack the station of
Valenciennes; throughout this day the roar of the guns to north and
south was continuous; as the sun set a fierce thunderstorm came up,
and the rival rumblings and flashes of nature and machinery in the
dusk made a sufficiently lurid prelude for battle. On the 24th it
became generally known that in certain contingent events, carefully
kept secret, the Brigade would attack between Gommecourt Wood and the
Puisieux road, with the Berks and the Bucks in the leading waves.
Accordingly, the gunners got to work, and the 18-pounders cut three
narrow lanes in the enemy wire (which each night the patient Hun
carefully repaired), while the howitzers played on the forts and
beehive structures in Gommecourt Wood and near Ferme Sans Nom. It was
far and away their biggest show up to date, but the number of rounds
fired by the Divisional Artillery in the three hottest days was only
5,000, an amount which, by present-day standards, appears ludicrously
small. Meanwhile, two platoons of 5th Sussex, cursing the fortune
which had brought them up again to the trenches, were packed into the
battalion sector to look after our belongings, if we went over.
Saturday, the 25th, broke wet and misty; the lovely autumn weather of
the past fortnight had gone for good. The gunners were unable clearly
to see their targets, or to mark by the spurt of dry earth the exact
strike of their wire-cutting shrapnel. Through the mist on that most
inappropriate morning appeared a herd of cows and men harvesting
between Rossignol and Puisieux, not much more than a mile from our
lines.
During the day a notable series of messages came through from G.H.Q.,
and it seemed at first as if the attack had broken the German lines,
as we identified on our maps those names then unfamiliar--Loos, Hill
70, Hulluch, Cité St. Elie, and Cité St. Auguste--which successive
messages announced as having passed into our hands. Then came the
reports from Champagne with their impressive and ever-growing lists of
guns and prisoners. The men were in high spirits, and some of B
Company were heard making bets as to who would take the first German
prisoner. Towards evening, however, the messages spoke only of
violent counter-attacks and ground lost, while it was announced that
the attack of the French Corps on our immediate left had failed
completely. When this message reached Major Hedges in the Keep just as
he was turning in, he summed up our general feeling by his remark:
'Well, I think I can take my boots off now.' Throughout the whole of
Sunday expectation was at its highest pitch, for all believed that if
the general advance was coming it would come quickly. But there was
little positive news beyond the short French statement: 'We have taken
Souchez.' Yet in the evening all the last preparations for attack were
hastily carried through. A Berks and a Bucks dump were dug in the
trenches, in which were collected all the engineering material
required for an assault--tools, sandbags, trench bridges and flags for
marking out positions in the captured line. The Brigade Signallers
were busy putting up directions everywhere for the Bucks, who were to
take over the left of our line: and new maps were issued to come into
use at midnight. The night was very disturbed with bursts of rapid
fire, and once a great cheer from the Warwicks at Fonquevillers, who
were simulating an attack; while thousands of spent bullets from the
37th Division in the loop north of Gommecourt came wearily to rest in
our trenches, several of which struck sentries in the sap-heads
without doing them any harm. Early next morning a British aeroplane
flew very low over the enemy trenches and, as desired, drew heavy
fire, thereby proving them to be full of men, a matter in doubt
before, as they had not responded to our attempts at provocation. But
during the day it became increasingly clear that the great scheme had
failed; for, although a message came from 3rd Army saying 'that in
view of the great Allied successes both north and south it is
possible that the Germans may evacuate their trenches, and in that
case you must be prepared to slip quietly into them at a moment's
notice,' its effect was more than discounted by a simple message which
read: 'Work may now be resumed as usual in the trenches.' The enemy,
meanwhile, appeared to be well acquainted with our plans, for voices
were heard calling out, 'Come on, Bucks, come on, Berks!' 'The Royal
Berks will lead the attack,' while a humorist shouted from the fort at
Gommecourt, 'Run away, English; go away home.' The enemy had indeed
good reason to be confident in the strength of these positions, which
twice next year were to defy capture after the most elaborate
preparation. The turmoil of the last few days was now succeeded by a
complete calm in which scarcely a gun spoke.
On September 30th we were relieved in due course by the 6th
Gloucesters, but went not to Authie, which was considered too far
away, but to Souastre, a village in the area of the 37th Division,
five kilometres west of Fonquevillers. As we approached we were played
into the village by our band of drums and fifes, which had just
arrived from England. Here the Battalion remained for six days in
readiness to move at half an hour's notice, with baggage and transport
reduced to a minimum, before we returned to Authie and resumed for
many months to come our customary alternation of trench duty and rest,
though the respective periods were in future lessened from 12 days to
8.
By our next return to the trenches autumn was already merging into
early winter in this chilly tableland, with sharp night frosts and
thick white mists. For days on end it was almost impossible to
distinguish the hostile lines: and so the guns maintained their
silence, for it was unprofitable to fire where you could not observe,
and our own people had the strictest orders to economise rigorously
until the expenditure of the Loos battles had been again made good.
Such weather gave the finest opportunity for patrols, whose wanderings
were made easier by the apparent indifference of the enemy. His saps
and barbed wire were examined more than once, but though hares were
started constantly in the thick tangled grass, only once were his
patrols encountered. On this occasion a party of ten, moving in a
dense fog and pitch darkness along the enemy wire, was challenged, and
a lively fight ensued for a few minutes with rifles, revolvers and
bombs, in the course of which Private A. Gibbs, of D Company, a huge,
stout-hearted soldier, specially distinguished himself. As generally
happens in these blind affrays, there was more noise than damage, and
our patrol, which was considerably outnumbered, made its way safely
back. One man who became separated from his comrades remained,
uncertain of his direction, in No Man's Land for eight hours, until
sunrise showed him his bearings. An officer and sergeant of the 10th
Royal Irish Rifles, who formed part of the patrol, were spending their
first tour of instruction with us in the trenches.
On October 17th-18th the general calm was rudely broken by the
performance of the Bavarian Circus, a travelling siege train of 5.9's
with a few heavier pieces, which retaliated effectively from the Bois
de Biez for our September bombardments. The first day's firing was
directed on the forward billets, Hébuterne, Sailly and Colincamps,
with short fierce bursts from six or seven batteries firing
simultaneously. Next day it was the turn of the Trenches. On the left
of the battalion sector part of D Company held a little salient
position which enclosed a thicket standing steeply some 12 feet above
the Bucquoy road. The enemy apparently believed it to be used for
observation purposes, and frequently directed fire upon it, but in
point of fact it was untenanted by day. On this salient and on its
approaches, a total trench line of about 150 yards, the Bavarians
threw during an hour about 400 5.9's, not to mention smaller shells,
while two field guns galloped into Gommecourt Park and unlimbering in
full view fired obliquely at the wire from point-blank range. They
were harassed and eventually forced to retire by the action of Lieut.
Coombes, of the Bucks, on our left, who gallantly got a machine gun
into the open and took them in the flank. Our own guns were not
available at the time, as they were themselves engaged in a 'shoot'
and busy on pre-arranged targets. Although the trenches were cut to
pieces and the thicket levelled by the fire, which was of extreme
accuracy, not a single serious casualty was incurred. Captain Thorne
had his Company Headquarters just behind the salient, and his dugout
received several hits, and bulged ominously, but did not give way. All
wires were cut, but were promptly repaired by the Company Signallers
in the heat of the bombardment. Meanwhile, the Oxfords had been
assailed with much greater violence, and over 2,000 shells fell in
their lines; while their communication trenches were barraged with
lachrymatory shells. It almost seemed as if an infantry attack might
be imminent, and colour was lent to this theory by an aeroplane
message saying that what appeared to be gas cylinders were observed
along the enemy trenches between Gommecourt and Serre. Accordingly we
stood-to all night repairing the shattered trenches and re-erecting
the wire. The hostile infantry who probably disapproved of their
artillery's activity as likely to bring future trouble upon
themselves, made no attempt to hinder with rifle or machine-gun fire
our all-night task. This was by far the heaviest and most concentrated
bombardment which the Battalion had yet sustained.
CHAPTER VII
WINTER IN THE TRENCHES
In spite of many rumours of a rest the 48th Division remained in the
line throughout the whole of the winter, and, indeed, as we shall see,
until the spring of 1916 was far spent. Meanwhile, the wastage of the
Battalion was considerable, and was not made good by drafts, whose
total number up to March 1st, 1916, amounted only to 103 men.
Companies, therefore, with a fighting strength of from 90 to 110 men
had to hold (under far more trying conditions) the same frontage
(about 1,400 yards as a rule) which had been allotted to them when at
practically full strength in the summer. It is true that a company of
some New Army battalion was constantly arriving for instruction, but
during the two or three days of their visit they could not relieve our
men of any of the burden. On the contrary, the work and
responsibility, especially for officers and N.C.O.'s was considerably
increased, and the difficulty of finding accommodation in the teeming
hive of Hébuterne for an extra 250 men added to the general
discomfort. A certain amount of change, however, from trench routine
was afforded by the courses now established at the various schools of
instruction behind the line; for instance, one officer and 30 men went
every fortnight to the Brigade Bomb School at Sailly, and in spite of
constant shelling found reasonably comfortable billets.
Although casualties still, happily, remained light, and no officer had
been killed since Lieut. Poulton-Palmer, considerable changes took
place during the winter which it is convenient to summarise here.
Colonel Serocold left the Battalion on February 14th, 1916. He had
served with the regiment for 32 years, and had commanded it for
11-1/2. All Berkshire people know of the affection and respect with
which he was regarded by the regiment, which alone can fully
appreciate the debt they owe to his training and personal example. He
was succeeded by Major (now Lieut.-Colonel) R. J. Clarke, C.M.G.,
D.S.O. The adjutant, Captain G. M. Sharpe, had already left in the
previous October, and was afterwards to command his first Battalion.
In losing him we all felt that we were losing not only an ideal
adjutant, but a personal friend. He was succeeded by Lieut. L. E.
Ridley, who was killed next August, near Pozières. The two commanders
of A and D Companies, Major F. R. Hedges and Captain H. U. H. Thorne,
came home through sickness about the end of 1915. Captain Thorne
afterwards won distinction in command of the 12th Royal Scots, and was
killed in the Battle of Arras, April 9th, 1917, leading the first wave
of assault 'in the old chivalrous way,' as his Brigadier wrote.
Captains W. E. M. Blandy and R. G. Attride assumed command of A and D
Companies respectively. R.S.-M. Hanney also left, to our great regret,
and received a commission in the 1st Battalion, where he afterwards
won an M.C. His place was filled by the C.S.-M. (now Q.M.) Hogarth, of
A Company. In fact, after a year abroad, the Battalion lost just a
third of its original officers, and about 400 N.C.O.'s and men.
Winter set in early and in its most unpleasant form. During November
there was only one day on which neither rain nor snow fell. The
trenches began collapsing at once; after each heavy storm the
unrevetted sides fell in, and liquid mud, reaching as high as the
thighs, made movement almost impossible; the sump-hole covers floated
away, and in the darkness it sometimes happened that a man would be
plunged in water up to his neck. Many of the saps were entirely
blocked, and at one time it became necessary temporarily to abandon a
portion of the front line. Things would have been better if the floor
of the trenches had consisted of duckboards (for the bricks so
elaborately laid proved mere labour lost), while a proper supply of
revetting hurdles could, by the exercise of a little foresight by
Corps staff, have been made available. The thigh boots, which
gradually arrived in numbers sufficient for men actually in the front
line, went far towards preventing wet feet; whale oil was rubbed in,
and arrangements made in the village for drying 400 pairs of socks
every 24 hours, while the R.A.M.C. provided hot baths in the factory
by the pond. Unfortunately, most of the dugouts, after a short
resistance, succumbed to the alternations of frost and torrential
rain. Sometimes the roof and sides collapsed, as the Oxfords found to
their cost when an iron girder killed four men. Sometimes the pressure
of water merely caused leakage, but in either case the result was
eventually the same. The plight of the men without shelter was often
extremely wretched. They lived in water and liquid mud, which mingled
with their food and with the fabric of their clothes. However, it was
found possible to hold the line more thinly, and during the eight days
at Hébuterne no man (except the Machine Gunners) normally spent more
than 48 hours in the front line, as only two platoons of each of the
two Companies holding the line composed the trench garrison; the
remainder stayed in the support dugouts. Platoons were relieved every
24 hours and companies every 48. But the spirit of the men remained
unabated, and the rate of sickness surprisingly low; while the mild
open weather of January and February brought about a considerable
improvement in trench conditions. On the other hand, as the winter
drew on the hours of duty in the trenches grew longer and the rests
shorter. For instance, during February the Battalion spent 25 days in
the trenches and only 4 in reserve. Moreover, the former period was
unusually exacting, as we held a more extended front, and the enemy's
guns showed violent and continuous activity; while the rest billets,
Sailly and Courcelles, were uncomfortable and frequently shelled.
It might have been expected that fighting activity would diminish
during this period, but this was far from being the case. Both sides
gradually brought up and permanently established in this sector large
numbers of big guns; the 9.2-inch and 8-inch howitzers, whose first
advent was signalled in the autumn, fired with increasing frequency as
stocks of ammunition accumulated. For several consecutive days in
February, Hébuterne received a ration of several thousand shells, and
cases of shell shock made their appearance. During one of these
bombardments Company-Sergt.-Major Lawrence, of B Company, was blown to
pieces as he came up from the cellar of the sergeants' mess in the
Keep. Although a man of nearly 45 he made light of every hardship; his
constant cheerfulness and devotion to duty were an inspiration to all.
Intense bombardments of short trench sections also became more common,
as the art of raiding, first practised by the Canadians at Messines,
developed. The 6th Gloucesters were the first Battalion in our
division to indulge in this amusement in November, 1915, when they
successfully penetrated the German lines at south-east of Gommecourt
Wood. Our Battalion took neither an active nor a passive part in such
operations during the winter; their turn was to come, as will be
related, on May 16th.
Small encounters between patrols, however, were not infrequent, as
the enemy showed increased enterprise, and was no longer willing to
surrender tamely command of No-man's Land. On December 14th a patrol
of seven men, on reaching the east end of M hedge, were received with
bombs and machine-gun fire from the sunken road which ran diagonally
between the lines, losing one killed and three wounded. A search party
was organised by Captain Blandy, which succeeded in recovering the
body of the dead man. Lance-Corpl. Clayton (afterwards 2nd Lieutenant,
killed on the Somme), a member of the patrol, though wounded, most
gallantly volunteered to lead the search party and covered their
withdrawal by throwing bombs. On March 17th, 1916, Lieut. Goolden and
Corpl. V. H. Taylor had the satisfaction of shooting two Germans in a
mist, who were trying to get back through their own wire; and on
returning the patrol picked up an odd assortment of articles, which
sound like an extract from some mad auctioneer's catalogue: (1) a
glass globe full of liquid with a string net round it; (2) a strong
case with powder inside it; (3) six hand grenades; (4) a shoulder
strap, silver braid on red cloth, 169 in gilt; (5) a pair of gloves.
Scarcely a night passed without fresh ground being covered and new
information acquired, which was sometimes of a whimsical character.
Once, for instance, an enemy working was heard conversing entirely in
English, with such phrases as 'Dig that hole deeper,' 'Bring those
stakes along'; one would imagine them to have been a waiters'
battalion. Among the most active patrol leaders were Lieuts.
Gathorne-Hardy, Lund, Downs, Calder and Teed; the two last-named
distinguished themselves by a daylight reconnaissance lasting 3-1/4
hours in the course of which much information of value was collected.
Nor must we fail to remember with gratitude the three cavalry officers
who were attached to us during the winter for periods of one month:
Captain A. L. Friend and Lieut. Ansell, of the 7th Dragoon Guards, and
Captain M. Simmonds, Indian Cavalry. All did their best to relieve the
short-handed company officers, while Captain Simmonds, although a
senior captain, took charge of a platoon, and shared all fatigue
duties with the subalterns of the Battalion.
When we were back in reserve the various amusements and relaxations,
which a stationary warfare permits, were elaborated for the benefit of
the men.
Christmas Day was fortunately spent at Authie, and the various
companies sat down in comfort in the estaminets to a splendid dinner.
Three pigs had been killed for the Battalion's consumption, a plum
pudding was presented to each N.C.O. and man by the C.O., and others
arrived from the _Daily News_ Fund. A tin of cigarettes came from
Messrs. H. and G. Simonds', a packet of cigars from the Maidenhead
Fund. Each man received a shirt, muffler, socks and chocolate, the
produce of a fund most energetically collected from Berkshire by Mrs.
Serocold and Mrs. Hedges. The officers spent an equally happy evening
at the château, whose owner, Madame De Wailly, kindly provided a room
and all other requisites.
A Divisional Football Cup was given by the G.O.C., which was competed
for by all units of the 48th Division under Association rules. We were
beaten in the first round by the 5th Gloucesters, who scored the
winning goal just on time, after an exciting game, in which Sergt.
Hedges distinguished himself. The 'Varlets' of the 1st/1st South
Midland Field Ambulance, and the Divisional Variety Troupe, of which
Private Cooter (B Company) was a well-known member, performed for our
benefit, and perhaps most attractive of all was Major Barron's
cinematograph entertainment, which was always sure of the warmest
reception.
Thus the first winter passed in the normal alternations of trench
welfare.
CHAPTER VIII
THE NEW TRENCH AND THE RAID
The spring of 1916 was slow in coming. The German attack at Verdun had
coincided with a long spell of deep snow and bitter cold. An officer
going on leave at the end of February vividly remembers his
experiences on the frozen roads, and the sight of a column of French
troops of all arms 20 miles long, making their way painfully along the
great 'Route Nationale' to Amiens to join in the defence of Verdun.
But towards the end of March the weather grew warm and genial and the
wild daffodils began to appear in all the fields around Sailly.
Meanwhile the preliminaries for the Somme offensive became
increasingly significant. The forward villages such as Sailly and
Bayencourt were cleared of the civil population, and handed over
entirely to the Army. Still more monstrous guns came crawling up, and
in place of the old battery of 60-pounders, the orchard at the western
outskirts of Sailly, in the angle of the Bayencourt road, harboured
two 15-inch howitzers. Gun-pits and enormous new dugouts were
constructed in Hébuterne. The single-line railway which served the
48th and 4th Division with railheads at Acheux and Louvaincourt was
supplemented by numbers of light lines. Troops grew thick upon the
ground; the 56th Division appeared upon our left, the 31st on the
right, and in May the front held by the Division scarcely exceeded
that allotted to a single battalion during the winter. A 4th Army had
been formed, of which the 48th Division was on the left in the 10th
Corps. Conferences were held by the G.O.C. with C.O.'s and Adjutants
two or three times a week, while parties were constantly detailed to
witness demonstrations of gas, smoke and flame throwers. At last,
also, the drafts so badly needed and so long overdue appeared in
fairly adequate numbers; in March alone 202 men joined the Battalion
for duty, which brought our total strength up to 874.
[Illustration: Map.]
Meanwhile the G.O.C. was planning for the execution of the 145th
Brigade a task, which sounds prosaic enough on paper, but which
demanded for its success minute organisation and a high state of
discipline in all concerned--namely, the digging of a forward trench
in front of our own wire. Our line between Hébuterne and Serre sagged
back in a westerly direction from Trench Hoche to Trench Bouillon,
thereby interposing 800-900 yards between ourselves and the Germans,
with an intervening rise in No Man's Land. This configuration of the
ground presented three obvious defects for offensive operations. It
was impossible for the gunners to get direct observation on the sector
of enemy trench opposite; it meant that troops deploying for the
attack would get out of trenches facing in three directions, and would
have to cross an unnecessary depth of shell-swept ground before
getting to the assault. It was, therefore, determined to straighten
out the line between the two points mentioned above. The battalions
concerned assiduously practised wire-cutting, filing silently through
the gaps, and night-digging. Our Battalion, which was to find the
covering parties, took over the part of the line affected (J Sector,
from Serre road to Trench Lassalle) a week beforehand, and every
effort was made by means of patrols, two or three of which went out
each night, to locate any forward posts or rifle pits from which the
enemy might get wind of or interfere with the digging of the new
trench. On the night of the 9th-10th April the scheme was carried out
under the direction of Major Clissold (1st/1st Field Company, South
Midland R.E.'s), an unfailing friend of the infantry, who was killed
in the autumn of 1917. About 1,500 men in all were engaged; the
digging was done by the 4th Oxfords and the 5th Gloucesters, while
covering parties and fatigues were provided by the Bucks Battalion and
ourselves. About six hours were allotted for the completion of the
work, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. The moon, which was near the full, shone
brilliantly, though at times obscured by clouds, so that there was no
fear of the confusion which arises from darkness, but rather of
detection by the enemy's posts. Soon after 8.30 p.m. A Company, who
were responsible for the protection from the right to the Puisieux
road, strung themselves out into groups of three, some 20 yards apart,
about 70 paces in front of the tape which marked the course of the
proposed trench. While Captain Crouch, of the Bucks, was similarly
employed on the left, some of his men, losing touch, ran into the
vision of Hun sentries at the Poplars and were received with shots and
bombs, which caused uneasy anticipations of discovery, happily
unfulfilled. The diggers got to work behind their screen, and ate into
the ground with remarkable speed, for stray rounds of shrapnel,
intermittent sniping, and the constant discharge of Verey lights
throughout the night, suggested that the Hun had some uneasy suspicion
that all was not quite as usual; and indeed it seems almost incredible
that the clash of the tools, the whispered orders, and the movements
of the wiring parties should have entirely failed to strike the ear of
a vigilant sentry at 250 yards. By 2 a.m. the work was almost
finished; nothing remained but to strengthen the parapet of the new
trench and to fill up the spaces between the knife-rests, which
defended it some 40 yards in front, with screw pickets and loose
strands of wire. By 3.20 a.m. all the diggers had returned to the old
line, and the weary covering party, who had lain out for seven tedious
hours, came home to get a hot drink, which they had well earned. Only
15 casualties were reported from the whole Brigade, none of which fell
to the share of our Battalion. The trench was held by a few posts
until dawn and then evacuated. About noon next day an enemy aeroplane
flew along it, and the observer could be plainly seen leaning out and
taking photographs of this mushroom growth. Almost immediately every
battery from La Brayelle to Serre began to register upon it, and for
weeks it was rendered unwholesome by the constant attention of
artillery and mine-throwers. A poem of Lieut. Downs' preserves the air
of mystery in which the whole scheme was so fortunately conceived and
executed.
A whisper wandered round
Of a plan of the G.O.C's,
And figures surveyed the ground
In stealthy groups of threes;
But the whole Brigade were there,
Or pretty well all the lot,
When we dug the trench at Never-mind-where,
On April the Never mind-what.
The What's-a-names dug the trench,
The Who-is-its found the screen,
And we mustn't forget to mench
The Thingumies in between;
The Tothermies built the fence,
And the R.E.'s "also ran,"
For we didn't spare any expense,
With labour a shilling a man.
There isn't much else to tell,
Though the enemy made a song.
And tried to blow it to Hell,
But got the address all wrong;
For you'll find it's still out there
In the bally old self-same spot,
That trench which we built at Never-mind-where,
On April the Never-mind-what.
After these excitements the Battalion moved back on the 12th, half to
Sailly, half to the huts in the park of Couin Château, which were
leaky and surrounded by a pathless morass of mud several inches deep.
Here the Battalion was reinoculated, as 18 months had elapsed since
the original dose was injected in the autumn of 1914, and spent its
mornings in Platoon and Company Drill, until its return to J Sector on
the 20th. There was plenty of work and little comfort in the line that
tour. The conditions resembled those of the winter at their worst; in
the new trench, hastily dug and unrevetted, water and mud engulfed the
passer-by to the waist. One afternoon a German was reported to have
got in, and the Adjutant (Lieut. Ridley) who happened to be on the
spot, at once organised a bombing party to deal with him, but after
wading laboriously to the point indicated, found that the bird had
flown. Meanwhile, the Huns showed their displeasure by sending into
the sector 500-1,000 shells every day, and casualties were naturally
higher than the normal, including Lieut. Duff seriously wounded, and
Lieut. Calder shell-shock. No one was therefore sorry when on the 25th
we returned to Authie, after an interval of three months, to the great
delight of the inhabitants, and enjoyed the spring for a short while
in that pleasant valley. Before returning to the line the battalion
spent a few days at Sailly and Couin, furnishing working parties for
Hébuterne each night and day. On May 8th we relieved the 4th Oxfords
in G Sector on the extreme right of the Brigade front. This tour was
destined to be memorable in the history of the Battalion. The ground
was entirely new to us, and extremely difficult. All rations and
supplies had to be brought up from Hébuterne by communication trenches
more than a mile long and in bad repair. The whole sector had been the
scene of a fierce battle in June 1915, for the possession of Touvent
Farm and the outskirts of Serre, and was everywhere cut up by old
disused trenches, French and German, and shell holes, and was still
littered with bones and skulls. Nor was the front line more
attractive; it formed a sharp salient projecting towards Serre, held
by disconnected posts, ill defended, close to the enemy, and joined to
the support line by only two communication trenches, one at each side
of the salient. So vague and difficult of identification was this line
of posts that Captain Cruttwell, when visiting them for the first
time, nearly walked into the German lines while trying to establish
connection with D Company, until warned of his mistake by a shower of
rifle-grenades. The whole sector, indeed, closely resembled the crater
areas, which the experiences of the Somme were to render familiar. The
first week in this dreary spot passed uneventfully; the enemy guns and
_minenwerfer_, the latter of the largest calibre, whose explosion was
deafening, were active, but not unusually so, and up to the 15th the
Battalion could congratulate themselves on an absence of casualties
during the tour. They were to be relieved next day, and it seemed that
the trouble always expected here would be reserved for others. During
the 15th, however, the usual shelling seemed to the two Company
Commanders in the front line--Captain Cruttwell, of B, and Captain
Attride, of D, to be more methodical and to suggest a registration on
all tactical points. Still this impression was not definite enough to
arouse serious foreboding. Up to midnight all was quiet. Then a heavy
bombardment opened upon the 56th Division on the left; our divisional
guns, who were helping to cover that sector, opened at once in
response to the S.O.S. The two anxious Company Commanders felt
convinced that if a raid was intended they would not be the victims of
it. But as soon as our guns were securely switched off on to a false
target, the enemy showed his hand. His guns ceased to play on the 56th
Division and were directed with extreme violence against our front. It
was then 12.30 a.m. on the morning of May 16th; the raid had begun.
It is now necessary, in order to understand its course, to describe
minutely, with the aid of the map, the dispositions of the two
Companies affected. The length of the line was approximately 1,200
yards; on the right B Company had two platoons in the front line
strung out into seven posts between Nairne and Wrangel, each
containing from six to nine men. Two sections and a Lewis gun team
were in Jones Street, which had been chosen as the main defensive line
in case of attack. The remaining two sections with another Lewis gun
were in Caber, and the fourth platoon in Worcester Street. Company
Headquarters were established some 800 yards behind the front line, at
Pimlico, where a platoon of A Company was placed in dugouts at the
disposal of O.C. Company. The line of D Company on the left stretched
from Wrangel to Jena, and was similarly held by two platoons
furnishing eight posts. The supporting platoon on the right was
equally divided between Trench Dominique and Oxford Street; that on
the left was located in the forward end of Jena. Company Headquarters
were in Vauban, and Captain Attride disposed of a reserve platoon of C
Company in Vercingetorix. Further two platoons of C Company which were
returning from a working party in Wrangel when the bombardment
started, were placed in dugouts near Pimlico.
[Illustration: 16 May 1916]
The plan of the bombardment, which was a masterpiece of method, was as
follows:--From 12.30 to 1 a.m. the whole of our front and supervision
line was bombarded with field guns, 5.9-inch howitzers and
mine-throwers; but the chief intensity of fire was directed at B
Company between Nairne and Chasseur Hedge, with the object, which was
practically accomplished, of destroying or burying all the posts
included therein. At 1 a.m. a red rocket was shot up from the enemy
lines, and the fire from Nairne to Wrangel lifted, but fell with
redoubled fury on the support and reserve lines, where every
communication trench and dugout was deluged with shells. At Pimlico,
in particular, 5.9-inch shells were thrown at the rate of 100 a
minute, enveloping it in a dense fog of smoke and fumes, and the
supporting platoon of A Company lost nearly half its strength.
Meanwhile the fire on either flank covered both front line and
support, rendering lateral communication impossible. Thus B Company
was isolated, and the enemy infantry immediately entered. Post No. 7
opposed their entry, but was overpowered--none of the nine men who
composed it were ever seen again, but the ground about was afterwards
found littered with exploded and unexploded German bombs, showing
that they had fought a good fight. The Germans then divided into two
parties with separate tasks. One party worked along Jones Street
towards the right, some moving in the trench, some along the parados.
They destroyed the left post in Jones Street, but were eventually
checked by Lance-Corpl. Cooke with his Lewis Gun team, which,
reflecting the coolness of its commander, kept up a steady rifle fire
when the gun jammed. The Huns then retired and left Jones Street at
the point of entry, after fulfilling what was presumably their job of
protecting their comrades from attack in the rear. For the other
party, working along the fire trench, attacked Posts 6-2 inclusive
from the rear. These posts were in sore straits. Their defences had
been blown to pieces, their rifles damaged, broken or buried, and
their bombs scattered; they had themselves been shaken or buried and
were left defenceless. The story of a survivor from Post 2, who
escaped, will serve as an example. As they endeavoured to extricate
themselves and their weapons from the wrecked post, Germans appeared
behind them and ordered them in English to mount the parapet or they
would be shot. Private Chapman at once tackled an officer with his
fists and, shot by the latter's revolver, died most bravely. Four men
were taken, and one alone escaped. However, 12 survivors in all
reached Post 1, which remained intact and resisted stoutly. Here
Lieut. Ward, who was on duty, took charge, and reorganised the 12,
only to find that some were wounded, and that the rifles of the
remainder were useless. Accordingly he withdrew towards Nairne, and
was fortunate to get them back safely, for at one point four Germans
peered into the trench, which was a very deep one, close to the party,
but made off when Ward loosed his revolver at them. Meanwhile, No. 1
Post, under Sergt. Holloway, a brave soldier from Abingdon, facing
both to front and rear, drove back all the enemy who approached them
with rifle and bombs, and effectively staved off their progress
towards Nairne, where the position was secured by a post of 13th West
Yorks (31st Division) which was promptly moved to the left in answer
to Lieut. Ward's request. The support platoon was organised for
defence in Caber by Lieut. Field, who remained with his men though
seriously wounded. Here he was found by Lieut. Gathorne-Hardy, who,
with his usual contempt for danger, had volunteered to go up from
Company Headquarters to re-establish connection, which had been broken
within five minutes of the commencement of the bombardment.
While B Company was being attacked, fire was still directed with
violence on the front line of the left Company, and continued until
1.40 a.m., when it also lifted on to the support and reserve areas.
The damage here had been mainly confined to Posts 1-3, where all the
men had been killed or buried; at Post 1 five men were saved by the
systematic and collected courage of Private Appleby (4749), who dug
them out one after the other. At Post 3, Captain Boyle and Sergt.
Pitman dug out Lance-Corpl. Sargeant and the other men, being
disturbed during the operation by the appearance of a German on the
parapet, whom they shot and wounded. Lance-Corpl. Sargeant was no
sooner extricated than he collected bombs, and returned to his post
only to find two wounded comrades being hauled off by a party of
Germans. They received his bombs into their midst and ran back into
the darkness behind Chasseur Hedge, where their supports were waiting.
Meanwhile, Posts 4 and 5 remained intact and full of fight. Singing in
the intervals between firing:--
'Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile,'
they held off the enemy, who could be dimly seen filing through their
wire and forming up outside in three lines, distinguished by white
armlets. Post 5 soon received a reinforcement of some 20 men under
Sergt. V. H. Taylor, who came up from Oxford Street. They had been
summoned by Corpl. Page, a most gallant Wokingham man, who volunteered
to go back through the fiery curtain of the barrage, which task he
accomplished without harm. No further attack was made upon D Company,
which escaped with comparatively light casualties. Captain Boyle was
afterwards awarded the M.C. for the skill and coolness with which he
organised the defence of his sector, and Corpl. Sargeant the Military
Medal. The bombardment continued unabated until 2.45, and then ceased
suddenly with the first light of dawn. The ruinous state of the
trenches made daylight movement difficult and dangerous, as the enemy
fired rifle grenades continually at broken points in the communication
trenches, causing several casualties among men who were not quick
enough in running the gauntlet. In spite of such difficulties all the
wounded were evacuated by 10 a.m., though in some cases it took four
hours to get the stretcher from the front line to the dressing station
in the village. The losses had been heavy, amounting in all to 98, of
whom 18 were killed and 29 missing; of these B Company supplied 60,
thus losing half of its fighting strength. Many hours were spent next
night by parties left behind after the relief of the Battalion in
search of the missing, who afterwards were almost without exception
reported as prisoners of war. This eventful night was the last spent
by the Battalion in the trenches for five weeks; the 48th Division,
which had established a record for an unbroken length of service in
the line, was being withdrawn into Army Reserve. Thus the Battalion
came through their first serious test, and were not found wanting. The
praise which Colonel Clarke bestowed next day at Couin on their
endurance, discipline and fighting spirit, was repeated by the
Divisional General and the Corps Commander.
CHAPTER IX
BEFORE THE BATTLE
The day at Couin was spent in packing and loading up, a task rendered
easier by the loan from our good friends, 3rd Warwick Battery, of two
G.S. wagons. Early on the 18th we joined the Brigade at St. Leger and
marched to Beauval. The day was very hot. The march was mainly through
narrow valleys, dense with dust. The Battalion were short of sleep,
and very weary, while the sun beat down upon their steel helmets,
which they wore for the first time on the march. None the less, Sir A.
Hunter-Weston complimented Colonel Clarke on the way in which they
marched past him at Marieux. Beauval was reached at noon, a quiet
little country town, with long shady streets; and the billets were
very good. The fortnight here was spent in route marches, grouping
practices at the range, and platoon and company training in general.
The keen pleasure with which the men turned to drill and small company
schemes after the months of trench monotony was very noticeable. A
splendid compliment was paid to D Company by the Corps Commander, who
met them one day on the march. Stopping their commander, Captain
Attride, he said that he had never seen a finer body of men in France;
that he was proud of them, and that they had every right to be proud
of themselves, for their conduct on the night of the 16th. On the 31st
the Brigade made an early start, rising at dawn and moving off at 4
a.m. in a bright, fresh, lovely morning, well-suited for the long
march to the St. Riquier training area. The Battalion arrived at their
billets, the small village of Maison Roland, some 7 miles north-east
of Abbeville, before midday. The inhabitants, who had been unfortunate
in the troops quartered on them just before, showed some hostility,
closing their houses, and refusing to allow the men to enter. All
ill-feeling, however, was rapidly removed. Colonel Clarke had warned
the Battalion to do everything to create a good impression, and when
we left the Mayor sent a letter thanking all ranks for their
behaviour. The whole neighbourhood was a mass of troops rehearsing the
Somme battles on specially prepared areas, where officers remarked on
the advantage of being able to move freely without fear of damaging
the crops. Some days in succession were spent in Battalion, Brigade
and Divisional Training, and all learnt by experience how much the
inevitable stagnation and immobility of long-continued trench warfare
dull the initiative and lessen the quickness of mind and body. The
days were strenuous; réveillé, as a rule, was at 4 a.m., and work
began at 6 and lasted until 1, leaving the afternoons free, while the
nights were twice begun with Brigade attacks, and finished in bivouac.
But the men enjoyed their time; they grew hard for battle, with supple
limbs and the indescribable thrill of perfect physical fitness. And in
spite of the hard work time was found for recreation; cricket was
played again for the first time since the summer days at Hébuterne in
1915, and a Brigade Horse Show created keen interest. In St. Riquier
men from all the Division could foregather in the estaminets, one of
which possessed a much-coveted billiard table, and sometimes it was
even possible to spend a day in the pleasant town of Abbeville.
For the latter part of this training period the Battalion had moved to
Gapennes, a village some 6 miles north of Maison Roland, where, as
before, hostility shown at arrival was soon changed to friendliness
and goodwill.
On June 10th the Battalion set its face again towards the east; and
after two days' long and dusty marching we found ourselves again in
the huts of Couin, which next day were exchanged for an undesirable
and filthy bivouac at Sailly. The preparations of the last month had
completely changed the aspect of these forward villages, and it was
clear that the time was at hand. Sailly was full of camps and dumps;
the bare and desolate slopes to the east harboured tier upon tier of
guns. Reliefs from the Brigade worked day and night without a pause in
Hébuterne and the adjacent trenches. When the Battalion took over H.
Sector on the 16th, they found every nook and corner of the trenches
by night filled with parties digging new dugouts and Stokes mortar
emplacements, bringing up gas-cylinders, smoke candles and all the
diverse paraphernalia of the modern offensive; while the enemy's
artillery and machine guns incessantly harassed these suspected
activities. Otherwise, no incident of especial note occurred during
this tour, except a forced landing by one of our machines in front of
Puisieux, which drew immediately into the open a mob of inquisitive
Germans estimated at several hundreds. The 24th found the battalion
back at Couin, where they were to stay until the fateful 1st July. The
damp, ill-ventilated and crowded huts were responsible for a good many
cases of sore throat and rheumatism. But there was little time to be
sick. In the interval between working parties, bayonet fighting and
wire-cutting, the last and most significant preparations for attack
were made. Blue hearts, the distinguishing mark of the Battalion, were
sewn on to the back of the steel helmet cover, and tin triangles
affixed to the haversack, which was to be worn on the back in
fighting order. It may be of interest to give in detail the equipment
with which the men went into battle. Two sandbags were tucked in front
of the belt; one Mills bomb was in each of the bottom pockets of the
tunic; 50 extra rounds of ammunition were slung in a bandolier over
the right shoulder. In his haversack each man carried one iron ration,
cardigan waistcoat, soft cap, and pair of socks; the waterproof sheet
was folded and strapped on outside, and the mess-tin fastened to the
lowest buckle of the haversack. Every other man carried a pick or
shovel slung; and the Brigade, with a more intimate solicitude,
advised all ranks to carry a pipe, matches and tobacco.
The bombardment had begun on the 25th, and night after night from the
hilltop at Couin watchers saw with exultation and confident
expectation, reflected in many letters, the great shells picking out
the enemy's lines with fire.
On July 1st the 48th Division were in Corps Reserve, and took no part
in the battle, with the exception of the 5th and 6th Warwicks, who
covered themselves with glory in Serre, though suffering terrible
losses, which included both their commanding officers. The Division
was concentrated for the day round Mailly-Maillet, which we reached
about 1 p.m. after numberless checks in the encumbered roads.
Detachments of Indian Cavalry were resting their horses by the
roadside as we passed through Bus. The rest of the day was spent in
bivouac in an open field; the guns around fired incessantly, including
a 15-inch close at hand, but no hostile shell fell near. We were about
3 miles west of Beaumont-Hamel, where the 29th Division were so
furiously engaged. All the good news of the morning, the taking of
Gommecourt Cemetery and of Serre, had fired expectation, and the
disappointment was correspondingly bitter when it was known at
nightfall that the 8th Army Corps were everywhere back in their
original front line. Next morning the Brigade received orders to
attack early on the 3rd, their objective being south of Beaumont-Hamel
and beyond the Ancre brook, a piece of country which none of them had
seen before. The Brigadier, with the Commanding Officers, tried to get
forward during the day and pick up the lie of the land, but the
shelling, smoke and dust made observation impossible. The Brigade,
therefore, moved up that night to Mesnil, a small ruined village 1
mile behind the line, very much in the dark. As they moved in, many
smelt for the first time the curious fragrant odour of lachrymatory
gas, which seemed to come from the flowers of some wayside garden
until the pricking and watering at the eyes proved otherwise. The
Company Commanders went forward into the trenches to find out what
they could; to their right loomed a great black mass, and they debated
whether it was a hill or a cloud. Suddenly an array of lights and a
flicker of rifle-fire running along the top revealed it as the steep
western slopes of Thiepval. A Company was just filing into the
trenches when a rumour was brought by Lieut. Hughes that the attack
was cancelled; inquiries were made and its truth confirmed. The
Battalion returned the way it had come and bivouacked again in
Mailly-Maillet at daybreak. The men, who had moved out in high spirits,
were greatly cast down by this conclusion. It is, however, a matter
for congratulation that the Battalion was not called upon to make its
first attack under circumstances so unfavourable on positions which
had defied the elaborate preparations which preceded the assault on
July 1st. Next day guns and limbers passed in a steady stream going
south--a sure indication that all efforts were being concentrated in
widening the breach already made. That evening the Battalion returned
to the huts at Couin much depressed at the prospect of taking up
again the drab monotony of trench life after hopes aroused in the last
few days. The weather now became very bad with almost incessant rain,
and we relieved the 5th Gloucesters on July 8th in trenches waist deep
in water, badly damaged by the bombardment, and affording the
depressing view to right and left of the dead of the 31st and 56th
Divisions lying out unburied. Meanwhile a great show of activity was
kept up to foster among the enemy the idea that further attacks were
intended; new stores of smoke bombs were sent up with instructions
when and how to let them off, which were invariably cancelled before
performance. Another assaulting trench was dug by the Brigade, running
some 700 yards south of that already described, for which the
Battalion supplied a small covering party of 50 men, who suffered a
few casualties in the bright moonlight. The weather fortunately
improved, and we were able to hand over the trenches to the 5th
Gloucesters on July 12th dry and in good repair. Next day 100 men went
over to see the 5th Battalion in the Bois de Warnimont. Thirteen
months ago they had come to us for their first experience of trench
warfare; this time a small remnant, they were resting from their
attack on Ovillers, where every officer except the C.O. had been killed
or wounded. We were now immediately to follow them into battle, for
next day a fleet of motor-'buses bore us south to the crowded village
of Senlis behind the Ovillers--La Boisselle Sector of the Somme
front.
CHAPTER X
THE JULY FIGHTING AT POZIÈRES
The successful night attack of July 14th had eaten into the third
German line between Longueval and Bazentin-le-Petit on a front of some
three miles. The principal British efforts for the next six weeks were
consequently directed towards getting more elbow-room on both flanks.
On the north progress had been greatly hindered by the stubborn
resistance of the German Guards at Ovillers, which was not cleared up
till July 11th. Our line now skirted the southern orchards of
Pozières, running westwards just north of Ovillers and then curving
sharply back to the old front line near Authuille. All this sector
was, to our great disadvantage, overlooked and enfiladed by the height
of Thiepval; and progress, though steady, was for the most part slow
and heavily bought.
On this occasion the Battalion was given ample time to view and get
familiar with the ground, as the attack did not take place until July
23rd. Soon after arrival at Senlis the officers went over to La
Boisselle. This first sight of the devastated area created the deepest
impression. Afterwards such complete destruction became common enough;
but till then no one had seen a village literally blown away. Not only
the walls, but the very brick dust had vanished; its site could be
fixed only by reference to the map and to the board stating "THIS IS
LA BOISSELLE." Every kind of battle-wreckage lay about, including many
dead bodies, ten days unburied in the midsummer heat. But though the
guns had done their work so well, enough remained of the wonderful
fortified labyrinth to suggest the difficulties of attacking troops.
The Battalion moved up by degrees, bivouacking on the 18th east of
Albert in support of the Oxfords; and taking over trenches west of
Pozières next night from 7th Royal Warwicks. Only two platoons of B
Company held the short front line; which was naturally of a rough and
ready description, shallow and blocked in places by earth or bodies.
The enemy, in hourly anticipation of attack, were very restless; their
infantry, who appeared to be very thick on the ground, sent up showers
of lights and fired at intervals throughout the night hours. Their
guns, mostly 5.9-inch and 8-inch, fired almost incessantly; even a
comparative lull, it was remarked, would have been counted a heavy
bombardment in the old quiet days. Many gas shells were used, mainly
on road junctions and assembly points in the rear. We had only some
seven casualties from this source--our support and reserve companies
moved up or down constantly in accordance with the ever-shifting
situations. Battalion Headquarters remained in a German dugout in La
Boisselle. Though tainted by the foul reek from the village, it earned
the admiration of its tenants by its solid and elaborate construction.
The 21st was a day of great activity, stores were brought up all day,
and the trenches improved for the attack as far as intense enemy fire
would permit. Lieut. Downs that night took out a patrol from the
right, who explored the south-west corner of Pozières in spite of the
extreme alertness of the Huns, and returned safely with the most
valuable information for which the Anzacs, over whose attacking
frontage the patrol had gone, were most grateful. Everyone was glad to
have them on our flank, for they were splendid men, full of confidence
and keenness.
[Illustration: Map.]
Next day detailed orders were issued for the attack of the 145th
Brigade. The two assaulting Battalions, 4th Oxfords and 5th
Gloucesters, were allotted a frontage of about 500 yards a-piece. The
right flank of the Oxfords rested on the Anzacs at a point some 500
yards west of Pozières. We were in support to the Oxfords, and,
therefore, concerned only with their objectives. To understand the
events of the following day it is necessary closely to study the map.
The irregular curve of Sickle Trench, prolonged along the north side
of the main road, constituted our front line. The Huns held a somewhat
similar line, with a marked southward bulge; the Oxfords had orders to
take the whole of this trench from Point 81 to Point 11. The
difficulties of a simultaneous attack on such a pronounced salient are
obvious, and were increased by the trench running southward from Point
81 for 150 yards, which terminated in a hostile strong point at 97.
The Oxfords attacked at dawn, but were immediately pressed at both
flanks, and began to be squeezed into the centre near Point 28. B
Company (Captain Aldworth) and C. Company (Captain Lewis), Royal
Berks, had come up the main road under cover of darkness and were
deployed by 3.30 a.m. (summer time), along a tape running east and
west some 250 yards south of the centre of the Oxfords' objective.
Here they waited for information and orders. It was still twilight and
no certain information could be gained. Shots were now heard
intermittently, and wounded men came back, telling, as wounded men
will, contradictory stories. Some said that the Oxfords were wiped
out; others that they had captured the trench. Two men were sent
forward to reconnoitre, and came back to report that the position was
critical. It was now 3.55 a.m.; the day was coming and the enemy
barrage was growing more intense. Captain Aldworth at once ordered the
two Companies to go forward to the assistance of the Oxfords. For this
prompt decision, which undoubtedly secured the success of the whole
operation, and for his bravery throughout, Captain Aldworth was
awarded the M.C. The two Companies now advanced into the captured
trench, losing some men en route from shell fire, especially on the
right, where 2nd Lieut. Clayton was killed. During the advance B
Company got split in two, Nos. 5 and 8 Platoons being divided by C
Company from Nos. 6 and 7, who entered the left of the trench with
Captain Aldworth. The congestion of the men of the two Battalions in
the centre of the shallow trench was great, and there could be no
security until the flanks were cleared and made good. Point 97 was
soon gained, and Lieut. Downs pushed resolutely forward beyond 81,
endeavouring to get in touch with the Australians. He reached the
heavily-wired German second line, which ran north and south through
the outskirts of Pozières, but was forced back. Returning with about
20 men from all three Companies he barricaded and secured Point 81,
after killing 11 Germans in hand-to-hand fighting and capturing 2.
Meanwhile, Point 11 was attacked on two sides. When the left of B
Company got into the trench some Germans were still in view running
away towards the left, one of whom Captain Aldworth bayoneted himself.
Lieut. Tripp at once followed them up and bombed them out of Point 11
with the assistance of a party under Lieut. Wakeford, who jumped out
of the centre and led them fearlessly over the open to the disputed
place. Lieut. Wakeford was shot dead just as he reached his objective,
but his action was entirely successful. By 6 a.m. the situation was
reported safe, and the men still crowded and mixed up, were able to
start consolidating and deepening the trench. At 6.30 a.m. about 200
men appeared over the brow of the hill on the left, where it dips down
towards Ovillers, advancing with fixed bayonets. It was a Company of
the Bucks moving in perfect order and with great fire. As they reached
the trenches east of Point 11 the Huns could be seen coming out of
their dugouts and flying in all directions, many with their hands up.
A Lewis gun from C Company opened on those who tried to bolt back
northwards, but soon stopped, as it was clear that they could not
escape the Bucks. Captain Lewis went up to meet the Bucks officer, and
they decided on Point 11 as a division between the two Battalions. The
morning passed quietly, with no more than intermittent sniping on
both sides, in which Sergt. Giles accounted for several Huns. Thanks
to the excellent organisation of Captain Attride, parties from D
Company brought up all that was required in the way of bombs, sandbags
and so forth. By 10 o'clock the trenches had been reduced to a decent
order, and the men were able to eat their breakfasts. At noon the
Oxfords, who had been moving away to the right, took over from 81-97;
B Company carried on the line to a large bush near 28, which had
escaped the bombardment, and from there C Company extended to the
Bucks' right flank. This sorting out had scarcely been accomplished
when the enemy started a heavy bombardment, which lasted until 5 p.m.
For the last two hours in particular it was of extreme violence, and
fell chiefly on B Company. Here in the ruinous and improvised trenches
very great damage was done, and more than 50 per cent of the Company
were put out of action. Many of the carrying parties from D Company
had also been hit, and lay in the open. Private C. J. Sadler, from
Wokingham, a Company Stretcher-Bearer, dressed them all, and put them
into shell holes until nightfall. In the performance of these very
brave actions three of his ribs were broken by a shell. He was
subsequently awarded the D.C.M.
Meanwhile touch had been established with the Anzacs. News of their
progress had been sought throughout the day with great eagerness. They
had been seen in the morning by D Company making their way through the
ruins of Pozières; and later on the fires which they imperturbably lit
on the captured ground to fry their bacon, had drawn heavy shell-fire
on the whole area. But it was not until the afternoon that a more or
less continuous line was linked up. The violence of the shelling
suggested a counter-attack after dark, which it would be difficult to
repel with the greatly reduced forces available. There was great joy,
therefore, when Captain Aldworth returned from a journey to Battalion
Headquarters at 6.30 p.m. with the news that the Battalion would be
relieved that night by the 5th Warwicks. The two Companies stood-to
from dark onwards, but no attack developed. There was an anxious
moment for C Company when a bomb exploded close to 2nd Lieut. Beazley
in the trench. He had just come up to join his Company and was hard at
work digging. A light was sent up and showed the ground in front to be
clear; the bomb had evidently been buried in the trench and went off
when struck by a shovel. Lieut. Beazley was fortunate to escape with
some severe bruises. The relief was begun at 10.30 p.m., and the weary
men were able to get a short rest by sleeping in the old German line
south of Ovillers. The rest was, however, a very short one, for by
1.30 p.m. next day the Battalion were back in the trenches, which they
had taken over from the Bucks, immediately to the left of their former
line. They were alloted a frontage of about 400 yards, spanning the
head of the shallow valley running down to Ovillers; between the lines
ran the almost obliterated tracks of a light railway.
About 200 yards north of the left of our line a German strong point on
higher ground looked into and enfiladed the whole of the captured
ground, and D Company was ordered to attack it at 1.50 a.m. next
morning. Colonel Clarke was able to make his arrangements direct with
the artillery through Major Todd, the forward liaison officer, much to
their mutual satisfaction. The batteries concerned gave a five-minutes
intensive bombardment with wonderful accuracy in the darkness. This,
however, was the only part of the attack which was destined to go
smoothly, for the enemy replied at once by a furious artillery and
machine-gun fire, causing many casualties, and made it almost
impossible for the attack to develop. One bombing party pushed forward
a few yards, only to lose every man but two from a concentrated shower
of rifle grenades. The Germans, in fact, were in great force, and held
every approach to the strong point resolutely. All chance of surprise
had gone, and the C.O. therefore refused Captain Attride's request to
be allowed to make a new attack. Indeed, at daybreak the German
bombardment, which had died down, restarted with a violence which kept
on increasing until 5.15 a.m., when a bombing attack was made on 13
and 14 Platoons at the road barricade. 2nd Lieuts. Taylor and Cooke
(the latter having come up with supports) kept up a hot fire with
rifle grenades and by their action and example drove back the enemy.
C.S.M. Rider, who had joined the Battalion not long before, had the
first opportunity of showing that combination of bravery and capacity
which afterwards earned him a M.C. After the counter-attack had been
repulsed there remained only a few hours to hold on until the 5th
Gloucesters relieved us, and we were able to get back to bivouacs near
Albert to enjoy a hot meal and fall asleep.
Such were the fortunes of the Battalion in their first attack. Their
losses for the six days spent under continuous heavy fire were, if
judged by the standards of this present war, very moderate. Three
officers, 2nd Lieuts. Wakeford, Clayton and Teed, were killed, and
three wounded (2nd Lieuts. Down, Taylor and Kenney). The losses among
other ranks amounted to 230, of whom only 27, a singularly low
proportion, were killed. The total number who went into action was
about 650.
I will close this chapter with a short quotation from the special
order of the day on these operations by Colonel Clarke, whose words of
praise were fully endorsed by the Divisional and the Corps
Commanders.
'It will be a matter of great pride for all who know or are connected
with the Battalion to hear of the gallant way in which the Company
Officers led the attacks, and the able way in which they handled their
various commands; of the contempt for danger and ready resource shown
by all the N.C.O.'s, and the bravery, extreme steadiness and coolness
in which the lines advanced across the open to the attack or held the
captured trenches under the heavy machine-gun fire, and during the
counter-attack.'
The acts of individual gallantry and devotion were many and
conspicuous. Some have already been mentioned in the course of this
narrative, and a full list will be found at the end of the book.
CHAPTER XI
REST AND BATTLE
The Battalion stood greatly in need of a respite from fighting. As we
have seen, it had lost rather more than a third of its fighting
strength. It is true that numbers had been practically maintained by a
succession of drafts, but time was required to assimilate these men
into the companies, and to complete their training, which was in some
respects seriously deficient. Conscription had only come into
operation in the spring, and voluntary supplies had fallen very low;
the wastage of the first two months of the Somme had therefore to be
made good by men whose average length of service was no more than
three months. Some of them were by no means familiar with the handling
or mechanism of their rifles, and knew nothing about a bomb, while
their marching powers, as tested by the hot July sun and the dusty
roads, fell short of the required standard. The Companies, also, which
had suffered very unequally in the fighting, required considerable
reorganisation, while many fresh N.C.O.'s had to be created, and made
familiar with their duties as far as the short time available
permitted.
The Brigade made a long two days' journey from Bouzincourt, a crowded
little village west of Albert, through Beauval, where the inhabitants
welcomed us for one night in our old billets, to Cramont. Here, in
glorious midsummer weather the Battalion spent ten days enjoying with
an intense pleasure, after the blasted and featureless battle front,
the peacefulness of a charming village, with green fields and trees,
almost beyond the sound of the guns. The whole of this period was
allotted to Company Training, and many hours were spent in bayonet
fighting and bombing. Every man, indeed, threw at least two live
bombs, a practice which proved of the greatest value in the August
fighting ahead.
Major Barron's cinematograph and Divisional Band made their
reappearance, to the general pleasure; whilst all clothing received a
much-needed disinfecting from a travelling thresher. The brief
interlude was soon over. On 9th August the Battalion moved back in the
same direction, though a detour caused by blocked roads, lengthened
the return journey to three days. Bouzincourt was now the daily target
of long-range guns, and as cellar room was very limited it was thought
prudent for the Battalion to bivouac outside the village on the Senlis
road. The Division was returning to exactly the same sector west of
Pozières, where the 12th Division had been operating during our
absence. The difficulties of the uphill advance may be estimated by
the fact that the line had been advanced barely half a mile during
that period. On the night of the 12th, however, our 5th Battalion,
taking the Huns by surprise, won an important success by taking Ridge
Trench or 6th Avenue, at the crest of the long slope, with a view
northward and eastward. This they accomplished at the incredibly low
cost of three casualties. Three platoons of the Oxfords crawled up in
daylight next morning and successfully relieved them without incident.
The remainder of that day passed quietly; the Battalion were in
dugouts round the southern and eastern outskirts of Ovillers, in
support to the Oxfords, comparatively comfortable and secure, and
expecting no immediate call. But they were to undergo within 24 hours
by far their severest ordeal since they landed in France.
The first hint of trouble came at 9.30 p.m. that evening, when a
message from the Oxfords stated that the enemy were trying to bomb
them out of the trench. An hour later the Brigade ordered bombs to be
sent up, and Nos. 1 and 2 Platoons, under Lieut. Garside, were sent
forward. It was at that time intended that the Oxfords themselves
should undertake the counter-attack; but Sergt. Taylor went to the
Oxford Headquarters to maintain close touch between the two
Battalions. At 12.50 a.m. D Company were similarly put by the Brigade
under the orders of Colonel Bartlett, and left with a further supply
of bombs. Colonel Clarke realised that the situation was becoming more
serious, and that further help might be demanded of him, though he was
at present assured that one Company would be sufficient. The other two
Companies were accordingly warned to be in instant readiness, and
Captain Lewis moved C Company out of their dugouts into one of the
communication trenches leading up to the Oxfords' Headquarters, which
were in the line captured by the Bucks on July 23rd. Here they waited
after bombs and a bandolier a-piece had been served out. Two hours
passed in uncertainty. But at 2.50 a.m. an unwelcome message was
received from Colonel Bartlett, asking Colonel Clarke if he would
undertake the counter-attack. The latter most naturally refused, on
the ground that Colonel Bartlett was on the spot, knew the ground
(which our Battalion had never seen), and had his own Battalion with
1-1/2 of our Companies. The Brigadier, however, finding that the
Oxfords were not in a position to take the action required, owing to
their losses, made a virtue of necessity, and ordered Colonel Clarke
to do so as soon as possible. It was now 3 a.m.; the Oxford
Headquarters had already told us that 1-1/2 hours would be quite
sufficient to get the Battalion into its assaulting position. The
attack was therefore fixed for 4.45 a.m., and a 7-minutes barrage
arranged with the artillery. C Company and the remaining two platoons
of A began their journey forward with all speed, though time was found
to give each man his tot of rum before starting. They reached Point 18
on the place of assembly (which will be remembered as the junction
between Bucks and Berks on July 23rd) about 4.15. Here Colonel Clarke
found the Company Commanders with Captain Pickford, of the Oxfords.
The latter gave them the disastrous information that another hour
would be required to get into position instead of the half hour
previously estimated. Colonel Clarke instantly went back to Oxford
Headquarters to make the necessary alterations with the artillery, and
to secure a barrage commencing at 5.15 a.m. Meanwhile the Companies
doubled up, with C leading and A in the rear. The need for haste was
most urgent, for the day was breaking and the trench was seriously
battered. The men crouched low as they ran, but the Hun probably saw
their heads, for shrapnel was sprinkled along the communication
trench, causing a few casualties. As Captain Blandy (O.C. A Company)
approached the head of the communication trench in broad daylight, he
looked at his watch and found it was already 5.10 a.m. His remaining
two platoons were waiting for him, lying low in the trench, very
weary, for they had been carrying all night. They got up and followed
along at the rear of the Company. Turning right-handed they entered a
vacant and much-broken fire trench. A man looked over the parapet and
exclaimed: 'There are our boys going over on the right,' These were C
and D Companies. An officer of the Oxfords came along at the moment
trying to straighten things out, but he had no detailed orders, and
did not know where the flanks of the Companies were to rest.
Moreover, there was no barrage.
Thus the three Companies went over most bravely, in face of almost
certain failure. They had 250 yards of absolutely unfamiliar ground to
cover. The rifle and machine-gun fire was intense, and terribly
accurate. The Huns, having no shells directed at them, stood up in
their trenches aiming deliberately at each man in the broken and
thinning lines. Short rushes were made from shell-hole to shell-hole,
each rush proving very costly in casualties. Few, if any, of the men
got within 100 yards of the enemy. Captain Attride had been wounded in
the body, and Captain Lewis in the thigh, and hardly an officer was
left. It was evident that no bravery or determination on earth could
turn failure into success. The men began, therefore, in accordance
with orders to edge into a shallow communication trench only half
finished, which the 5th Berks had started from their old line to 6th
Avenue. It was a poor shelter, but offered a chance of safe return.
Captain Lewis reached it with his orderly's help, and, though
grievously wounded, was brought back. Captain Attride was shot through
the head as he reached the very edge, and pitched forward dead. He had
commanded D Company for nine months with the greatest tact and
ability; his many friends mourned the best of comrades. Captain Blandy
was shot through the face and blinded for the time while stepping out
of the way of a wounded man lying at the bottom of the trench. Some
men still lay out scattered in shell-holes, not daring to move, for
the Hun still aimed at every living thing, picking off the wounded if
they stirred. After a while a British aeroplane flew low over the
scene, sounding its horn. Sergt. Page resourcefully lit some flares,
which he had with him, and the pilot flew back. He proved a good
friend in necessity, for almost immediately our 9.2's opened on 6th
Avenue, the heads of the Huns disappeared, and the survivors made
quickly for the communication trench. One of them, in entering,
stepped on the body of an officer; he turned him over, and saw that it
was Captain Attride. The casualties were naturally very heavy. Besides
those officers already mentioned the killed were Lieut. O'Hara (1st
East Surrey Regiment, attached), 2nd Lieut. Beasley (whose little son
was presented with the M.M. which his father had won by the King when
he visited Reading in March, 1918), and 2nd Lieut. Bartram, while 2nd
Lieut. Taylor was wounded. He lay out for 48 hours, tended throughout
that time with wonderful devotion by Sergt. Westall, who well earned a
bar to his D.C.M. This sergeant, the bravest of the brave, when with
the 2/4th next autumn near Arras, was last seen in a shell-hole close
to the German wire, during a daylight patrol, laughing at the Huns,
who were firing rifle grenades at him, but has since returned safely
from captivity in Germany. Casualties among other ranks were 140, of
whom 28 were killed and 31 missing, of most, if not all, of whom, I
fear, no news has ever been heard. Failure is often more heroic than
success, and I believe that those who read this imperfect account will
realise that on August 14th the Battalion showed the highest and
hardest form of courage.
[Illustration: Map.]
As soon as the high ridge west of Pozières had been taken, a
converging movement began upon Thiepval, that stubbornly defended
height, which was not to fall until the 27th September. The 48th
Division, facing half left, now began to move towards it from the
south-east, whilst continuous pressure was directed from the west, or
the direction of our old front line. On August 18th the 143rd
(Warwick) Brigade attacked on a line about 1,000 yards north of
Ovillers, with their right secured by a bombing attack made by B
Company 4th Royal Berks. The ground round here was one of the grimmest
of crater fields; almost every one of the many trenches which scarred
it being marked on the map as either 'destroyed' or 'much damaged.'
The 143rd Brigade attacked about 5 p.m. The whole course of the attack
was visible to our men holding the front line, who looked over the
parapet cheering and shouting with excitement as the successive waves
moved inevitably forward and disappeared into the German trenches.
Major Aldworth (O.C. B Company) handled his men with great skill,
capturing 27 prisoners and a machine gun, and driving many of the
enemy into the hands of the 6th Warwicks. Confused and fierce fighting
went on until midnight; attack and counter-attack succeeding each
other as either side received fresh supplies of men and bombs, but B
Company finally held their objectives. The value of the bomb practice
at Cramont was evident, for the men threw splendidly. Lieut. L. E.
Ridley was killed fighting bravely at the head of his bombing party.
Captains Cruttwell and Lacy, Lieuts. Wix and Smith (3rd East Surreys,
attached), were wounded, the two former while getting their Companies
ready for an expected counter-attack during the night. The remaining
casualties amounted to nine killed and 36 wounded.
The fighting strength of the Battalion had now been reduced to about
500, but it was to take one last highly successful part in the Somme
fighting before being withdrawn.
The Division had now reached a point about midway between Ovillers and
Thiepval. A deep and narrow valley separated them from the latter
stronghold, which rose steeply 170 feet above: a line of broken stumps
standing forlornly near the crest line, 1,000 yards away, marked where
the apple orchards had run along the southern outskirts of the little
village. The enemy's positions lay astride this valley, thrust forward
in a pronounced salient towards Ovillers. The whole of the Division
were engaged in this attack, the 145th Brigade being in the centre,
with 143 on the right and 144 on the left. The two assaulting
Battalions of the 145th Brigade were 5th Gloucesters on the left and
ourselves on the right. Each Battalion had a frontage of about 300
yards, our objectives being the point of the salient (79) and its
eastern face, running obliquely across the hill slope towards the
valley on the left (_i.e._, from 79-92). The attack was launched at 5
p.m., heralded by a splendid barrage of three minutes' duration. More
than 50 guns were firing on the Battalion's front alone, and their
accuracy was perfect. The two Companies, A on the left, C on the
right, moved up close behind the barrage, in which they showed
complete confidence. On the right little difficulty was experienced,
the trenches had been ruined, and many of their defenders buried. But
the 8th Royal Warwicks, with whom our own men were to join hands in
the trench running north from 92, were unable to reach their
objectives, thus leaving an open flank. A strong point was therefore
started at once in the heap of debris and scattered earth, known as
Point 91, and a platoon of our old friends, 5th Royal Sussex, came up
with the darkness and helped to dig a communication trench back to our
old front line. No counter-attack developed, though shell-fire from
the usual 5.9's was heavy for 12 hours, and the position was held
securely until relief.
On the left there was more opposition. The key to the enemy's defence
was Point 79: the trench here, and a collection of dugouts around it,
had been almost untouched by our heavy guns. One of our platoons
rushed up a communication trench leading from their assembly trench to
Point 79, while two others kept pace along the open, one to the right
and one to left. The enemy showed plenty of fight, standing on their
parapets to throw bombs and to fire at the platoon advancing up the
trench, in spite of cross-fire from Lewis guns, which did great
execution amongst them. They delayed, but could not check the advance,
which broke through them into the disputed point. Lance-Corpl. Rixon,
of Reading, deserves much of the credit for this success. He was in
charge of the first bombing party in the communication trench. When
they were held up, he sprang on the parapet, and from that point of
vantage directed the bomb throwers, escaping unhurt himself by
singular good fortune. This gallant action subsequently earned him the
M.M. Unable to retire under cover, since the available trenches on
either flank were already occupied, the Germans fled back across the
open down the slopes of the hill, affording a target which was not
neglected. Ten only remained to be taken alive, but their dead were
thick on the captured ground. The 5th Gloucesters were already in
their objectives, and the left flank was secured. A section of the
R.E.'s following closely up helped to put the defences of 79 in order.
There were now, owing to casualties, no officers with A Company, but
there was no lack of direction or control, thanks to Sergeant White,
an old Territorial of many years standing. He inspired the men with
his energy, and kept them constantly at work, moving up and down
throughout the night under a rain of shells. He was rewarded with the
D.C.M.
The attack had been well planned and well executed, and happily cost
very little life. Thirty one men were killed or missing, and 50
wounded (including 2nd Lieuts. Garside and Buck). The men were
specially pleased and proud of their success, which had been gained at
the expense of the 5th Grenadier Battalion of the Prussian Guard. The
latter had recently been sent to Thiepval after a commendatory speech
from the Kaiser, which, as often, had failed to ensure good fortune.
We were relieved next day by the 74th Brigade, and returned to bivouac
at Bouzincourt. The 48th Division, every unit of which had been
engaged at least thrice, was to enjoy a well-earned rest. They
received gratifying tributes to the value of the work achieved. The
Army Commander wrote as follows: 'The Division has fought with only
very short periods of rest since July 1st. Since then it has met and
defeated many different units of the German Army, and has fully
maintained the best traditions of British infantry. This record shows
a high sense of discipline and honour in all ranks.' The Corps
Commander (Lieut.-General Jacob) G.O.C., 2nd Corps, in forwarding his
message to General Fanshawe, added his own tribute: 'Will you please
express my gratitude and thanks to all the units under your command
for their devotion to duty, and for the way they have fought and
worked.... All ranks of artillery, engineers and infantry have carried
out their tasks with such spirit and co-operation that the results
have exceeded expectations. You have all done nobly and I congratulate
you and your officers on the way the Division has worked. Your record
in the recent operations is first rate.'
CHAPTER XII
UNEVENTFUL DAYS
The Battalion now moved back to Bus, that shady village with its white
château so long used as Divisional Headquarters in the old days. Here
General Fanshawe inspected the Battalion, addressed them on their late
exploits, and presented Military Medals to Privates S. Smith and T.
Russell. He spoke of the importance of practising open fighting, which
he said might be the next task of the Battalion, a prophecy which, as
we shall see, was fulfilled when we fought at Ronssoy in the German
retreat next April. He added that the responsibility of officers and
N.C.O.'s would be even greater than that in the late fighting, where
all realised by experience how much depended upon them.
A short spell of 48 hours in the trenches followed in front of
Auchonvillers, facing the coveted spur of Beaumont-Hamel, which was to
fall in November. Here we sustained our only casualties during the
month, one killed and one wounded, a happy contrast to August, when
286 men were put out of action. During this tour the Huns loosed a
number of small balloons, which drifted behind our lines, scattering
leaflets. These effusions, written in French for the benefit of the
civil population, commented with brazen and comic impudence on the
action of French aviators in bombing innocent German towns. The German
military authorities, they amusingly remarked, believing that the
French were incapable of such barbarity, thought that the airmen must
have mistaken their objectives. But, no! The origin of these crimes
is now known. They were expressly ordered by M. Poincaré, 'the slave
of England.' (This new title for the President is printed in thick
black type.) They are part of a devilish plan, conceived by England to
revive the dying hatred of France against Germany, by forcing the
latter Power to reprisals on French civilians, reprisals which she
would be most reluctant to take. This illuminating specimen of German
psychology deserves, I think, to be recorded.
The remainder of the month was divided between Beauval and Candas, a
new village, whose inhabitants, with a curious naiveness, imagined
that the blue hearts, which the Battalion wore as distinguishing
badges, were the hallmark of a dangerous brand of storm-troops, and
signified their desire to have the hearts of their enemies. So strong
was this conviction among them that they locked their houses and
refused us an entry until matters were explained. The barns allotted
to the men were found half full of the produce of the harvest. The
usual work was carried on; new drafts arrived steadily, men of good
quality, but of little experience, though always with a leaven of old
1st/4th men returning after wounds and sickness. A number of new
officers, 17 in all, also joined the Battalion from a variety of
regiments, 5th Norfolks, 4th Northants, 4th Royal Sussex and 10th
Middlesex, no supplies from our own Reserve Battalion being at the
moment available. Further awards also of decorations won during July
and August kept coming through with gratifying regularity, and will be
found in the appendix. Finally the C.O. was awarded the D.S.O. to the
delight of all ranks, who trusted him implicitly, knew how minutely he
studied their comfort, and how much of their success was due to his
untiring thoroughness in every detail of organisation.
October, that wettest of months, in which the last fires of the Somme
flickered out, quenched by the everlasting rain, was spent by us in a
variety of places, mainly well behind the lines, but far from
comfortable. Such was Sombrin, 9 miles south-west of Arras, where
officers were faced with the unpleasing alternative of sleeping in
barns or in dripping and unboarded tents. Then we revisited Souastre
after thirteen months, overlooking the ruins of Fonquevillers and the
splintered remnants of Gommecourt Wood ravaged by 15-inch shells. Here
again the liveliest activity was manifest. That successful finale to
the year's fighting known as the Ancre Battle had been planned for
October 14th, though owing to repeated postponements it was not
launched until a month later. Again, day after day enormous working
parties descended into Hébuterne, some to pursue mining operations
under the R.E.'s, others to bury cable between the village and Sailly.
Two strenuous days (12th and 13th) spent in the trenches immediately
opposite Gommecourt cost us 16 casualties. Our line here still bore
witness to the terrible bombardment which had frustrated the efforts
of the 56th Division on July 1st, for long sections of trench then
levelled and rendered impassable had not since been opened out. Every
man not on duty was employed with one or other of the multifarious
details for the expected attack, while on the morning of the 13th
heavy shells were poured upon us, amongst them being many 11-inch.
About this time Major Aldworth left the Battalion, to which he
afterwards returned as Second-in-Command, to attend General Kentish's
school for senior officers at Aldershot. B Company, as we have seen,
did extraordinarily well under his command. The following N.C.O.'s
were promoted to commissioned rank at Souastre for bravery and good
conduct in the field: Sergts. Wickens, Ross, Turner, Rogers, Cawley
and Crust. The two latter gained command of B and A Companies
respectively during 1918. These appointments were most gratifying to
officers and men of the Battalion. During the remainder of the month
we moved about from place to place in the neighbourhood of Beauval and
between it and the Somme. It stands greatly to the credit of the
Battalion's fitness and discipline that not a man fell out during all
those marches in the rain over indescribably miry roads.
On October 31st an eastward move of the Brigade settled us in a camp
at Millencourt, the village on the western hill looking down at
Albert, on the fringe of the old battlefields. The fighting had died
down, but an enemy had to be encountered more insidious and more
trying to endurance and moral--namely, the mud and the cold.
CHAPTER XIII
IN THE SLOUGH OF DESPOND
After three days at Millencourt the Battalion moved forward into that
featureless waste for the possession of which so much blood had been
shed. For 7 miles or more east of Albert along both sides of the great
highway to Bapaume up the long slope from La Boisselle to Pozières
windmill, and down again towards Le Sars, the eye would pick out no
natural landmark except a few broken sticks, once trees. The surface
of the country, churned up and scooped out by innumerable shells, was
literally a sea of mud; where water had collected in the hollows it
was deeply stained with green and yellow, the result of gas and fumes.
The cold was coming, but at present was only sufficient to chill the
mud through and through, not to freeze it into hardness. No buildings
were available for the great army echelonned along this area, and few
dugouts; the vast majority of all ranks lived out in rough shelters,
or under the scanty protection of sodden tents. Though the infantry
were glued to their shell-holes the artillery still maintained the
characteristic activity of battle areas: and the few roads and paths
available for transport and communication were their constant targets,
especially during the hours of darkness.
The Battalion soon found that the hardships to be undergone far
exceeded those experienced up to date. On their arrival at Lozenge
Wood (so-called) they took over from the 11th Argyll & Sutherland
Highlanders in the pouring rain a camp which consisted only of one
bivouac sheet per platoon, and eight tents for officers: and any
attempt at improvement was frustrated by the complete absence of
material. Reserve and support lines were alike in affording no shelter
of any kind, and the front trenches were naturally the worst of all,
any part of which was considered to be in good condition if the liquid
mud at the bottom did not exceed a foot in depth. No hot rations could
be brought up, for the cookers could come no nearer than the ridge
behind Martinpuich, more than 2 miles away as the crow flies. A
'Tommy's cooker' was served out to each section, but there were no
dugouts in which to use it, and in the open the mud and rain were an
effectual hindrance. The trenches themselves were in the shallow
valley to the north of Le Sars, looking across to the last ridge that
defended Bapaume, with Loupart Wood fringing its crest. On the left
our line was extremely dangerous and weak, for it was enfiladed from
the high ground in the direction of Pys; while the extreme left post
in a chalkpit was not only isolated by 300 yards from the next
Battalion, but had close by a covered ravine leading to the German
lines. This post was, in fact, raided by the enemy soon after we had
been relieved. This first tour lasted three days, and considering the
violence and the methodical character of the shelling the Battalion
were fortunate in having only 17 casualties. In addition five cases of
trench feet were reported, for though dry socks were sent up every
twenty-four hours, this could do little to mitigate hardship. It was
rather surprising that the number of cases were so small, for amongst
the men was a large draft of Yeomanry having their first experience of
the trenches.
Meanwhile a new camp at Lower Wood, about a mile behind Martinpuich,
had been started, and we inhabited and improved it during the next
four days. The rain had at last ceased; and the whole country was
enveloped with those dense, clinging mists so characteristic of
Artois, which at least had the merit of blinding the artillery's
action.
On November 16th orders came for the Battalion to make an attack on
the Butte of Warlencourt in 48 hours. Accordingly that night they
moved up into the trenches on the east of the Bapaume road immediately
facing the Butte. This ancient burial place rose steeply in a rounded
hump 50 feet above the surrounding country about 500 yards north-east
of Le Sars. Its greyish-white sides were pitted and scarred by
shell-fire, but none the less in its chalky bowels it contained plenty
of dugouts filled with machine gunners, who took full advantage of
their dominant position. It had already been reached and even
partially taken, but never held. The attack, however, was cancelled at
the last moment. Everything, indeed, had combined to make success
unlikely. The flanks were not secure, the weather was again thoroughly
broken and the Battalion was very weak in numbers. Although the
nominal ration strength was not much under 700, barely half of these
were available for fighting purposes; in D Company at this time the
average strength of platoons was only 13. In these wretched trenches
the average casualties each day were about six, an apparently small
number, perhaps, but equivalent in a year to twice the strength of a
strong Battalion. The wastage from sickness was also high, while many
of those who carried on in the line were tired almost to the point of
collapse. Nor was there any rest, comfort or security in the camps
behind. There were no fires, no cookhouses, only tents without
floorboards. It was very different from the winter before, when,
whatever the hardships of the line (and they were incomparably
smaller) men could look forward to a good spell at Authie with its
pleasant aspect, its untouched houses, its estaminets, and its
cheerful civilian population. Almost the only thing which could now be
done for the comfort of the men was the institution of a Battalion
Canteen, at which all the articles bought from the Expeditionary Force
Canteen were sold at cost price.
The weary interchange between camp and trench went on for nearly
another month. Scotland and Chalk Trenches, the same line which had
been taken over after first going forward from Lozenge Wood, were
twice revisited. On the second occasion 2nd Lieut. Cawley was kept
throughout in Destremont Farm with 20 men, and used entirely for
patrol work. This new experiment proved a great success, for on one of
these expeditions, which started from the chalk pit already mentioned
on the left, they came by surprise on a German working party, and
killed about 30 without loss to themselves. Among the many other
troubles in these trenches was the exact knowledge which the Germans
naturally possessed of their few dugouts, which the artillery firing
(as always against captured ground) with great accuracy continually
shelled. On December 8th C Company Headquarters were blown in and
three casualties caused; next day a shell hit A Company Headquarters,
with even more disastrous effect, killing 3 and wounding 6. These
shelters might, it is true, be patched up, but with the earth
liquefying all around and a shortage of material the result was not
likely to be very secure. At last, on December 14th, the Battalion,
now reduced in strength to 540 all ranks, moved back to Bécourt Camp,
a mile south of La Boisselle. It was a poor place, but situated beyond
the western border of the great waste, and practically immune from
shell-fire. For the greater part of December the Battalion was
commanded by Captain J. H. Goolden, who had returned during the Somme
Battles after a long absence with the Brigade and Divisional Staff.
Colonel Clarke was at this time on a month's leave in England, while
Major Battcock had gone sick. Of the original officers who had gone
out in March, 1915, there were now only four remaining: Colonel
Clarke, Captains Goolden and Challoner, with the Quartermaster, Lieut.
Payne. The interpreter, M. Hénaut, still remained with us, and indeed
stayed on, always cheerful, willing and helpful, the friend of
everybody, until our departure for Italy next November. The casualties
(exclusive of sick) during this year of severe fighting amounted in
all to 779, including 24 officers. As a result of these losses, and
the impossibility of finding adequate local drafts, the Battalion
during the latter half of the year gradually lost its exclusive
Berkshire character, which at the beginning of the war had been its
unique possession.
CHAPTER XIV
THE WINTER AND THE GERMAN RETREAT
Christmas was spent in the huts at Bécourt with a wild gale blowing;
the festivities and feastings of the previous year at Authie were not
possible, but at least the men could congratulate themselves that they
were not in the trenches. On the 28th we moved back through Albert to
the village of Bresle, which lies just north of the great straight
highway from Amiens to Albert. Here some houses yet remained, and
contact was re-established with the vestiges of civilisation. The
Brigade, drawn up in a hollow square, was inspected by Lieut.-General
Sir W. P. Pulteney, the Corps Commander, and earned his praise. Boxing
competitions, concerts and football matches reappeared in the
intervals of work. A train journey on January 9th took us to Citerne,
a quiet, comfortable village, intact of war, in the French area south
of the Somme. The inhabitants were most friendly, accommodation good,
and each officer found a bed at his disposal. The three weeks' respite
from the rigours of the line was the more appreciated as the great
cold had now set in, which was to continue with almost unmitigated
intensity until the middle of April. There was much to be done in the
way of training, for the new platoon organisation had now come into
force. Its object was to make the platoon a self-contained unit of
specialists, with its four sections divided into riflemen, Lewis
gunners, bombers and rifle-bombers. This was obviously to require from
the average man a higher standard of specialisation than before, and
consequently threw greater responsibility on the platoon and section
commanders. It was, in fact, found impossible during the course of the
1917 campaign fully to attain this ideal, as the time available for
the training of new drafts was not generally sufficient. Another train
journey on January 28th took the Battalion by a circuitous route
through Amiens, past Villars-Brettoneaux to Hamel, two names destined
next year to become famous in the fighting history of the Australians.
Hamel was soon exchanged for Cappy, a village high above the southern
bank of the Somme, overlooking its great loops, and the widespread
marshes and pools all frozen stiff. Although only about 2,000 yards
behind the trenches from which the French started to the assault of
Frise on July 1st, it was not badly knocked about. Houses and barns
were available for billets, but the men suffered considerably from the
cold, as fuel was very scarce, and the frost was now at its height,
the thermometer marking 20 or more degrees of frost every night. Then
followed a few days in the great French Adrian Huts, each holding a
Company, in a camp by the edge of the Somme Canal a few hundred yards
further east.
The month of February passed uneventfully, though unpleasantly, in
alternatives between the trenches west of Peronne and Cappy. Until the
16th the extreme cold continued unabated, so that all the water which
was brought up in petrol tins each night from Cappy froze solidly in
transit. Another result of the severe weather more appreciated by the
men was the hardness of the trenches, which made most of the ordinary
trench fatigues impossible. A thaw, however, set in on the 16th, and a
mist arose over all the country, which lasted for many days, and made
it possible for the enemy to carry out unobserved his plans for the
great retirement. Though further north throughout this very bitter
weather fighting was incessant round Miraumont and the approaches of
Bapaume, here inactivity prevailed, and the month cost the Battalion
no more than nine casualties. There was also little sickness, and
strength and fitness were well maintained.
March came in with a return of frost and snow, but the front was
gradually waking into life. It was obviously the German policy to mask
the moment of their withdrawal by lively activity, and their artillery
and machine guns showed considerable vigour. On the other hand, though
the British had not yet realised that the front was about to give
along a stretch of 80 miles it was clear from the events round Bapaume
that the enemy had for the first time begun to entertain the idea of
ceding ground voluntarily. Hence raids for purposes of identification
again became frequent. One of these was most successfully carried out
by the Battalion on the night of 7th-8th March without any loss to
themselves. The raiders were under the command of 2nd Lieut.
Hampshire, and were divided into three small parties, each of 8 men.
The portion of trench to be entered was shut off by a 'box barrage,'
which, falling on both flanks and on the support line, enclosed it, so
to speak, in a frame of shells. The wire was fully cut, and no
difficulty was found in penetrating the enemy's line, but all the
birds had flown beyond the limits of the barrages on either side.
Accordingly, as no prisoner had been caught, a second attempt was made
at 2.45 a.m. Again an entry was easily effected on the left; the party
worked further down towards the south owing to the enlargement of the
barrage, and finally found a small dugout, which was bombed. This had
the effect of producing two Germans, who were carried off. The object
of the raid thus happily accomplished, Hampshire and his men returned.
The flanks throughout had been strongly held by the enemy, who fired
rapidly but inaccurately, and caused no casualties whatever. The only
effect of this action was to prevent the entry into their trench of
our right-hand party towards La Maisonnette, which could not get
through the hostile wire, but returned undamaged. The two
prisoners were found, on examination, to belong to King Constantine's
Own 88th Infantry Regiment, and had their shoulder-straps adorned with
a crown and the letter K beneath. The G.O.C. of the Division sent
special congratulations on the success of the whole operation. For
their conspicuous share in this success, 2nd Lieut. Hampshire received
the M.C., Sergt. A. C. Evans, Corpl. H. Hart, Lance-Corpls. J. Mazey
and G. W. Hutchings the M.M.
Shortly after this the results of the weary and bloody months on the
Somme battlefields became manifest. On March 17th-18th the enemy began
his general retreat. The 48th Division was in the forefront of the
pursuit south of the Somme. The 1st/7th Royal Warwicks were the first
British troops to enter Peronne, and the flag which they planted on
the ruined towers is now carefully preserved and treasured in the
Imperial War Museum. Our Battalion was in reserve at Cappy practising
Advance Guards. Open warfare was no longer relegated to the dim and
uncertain future, but became the certainty of the moment. On the
morning of the 20th operation orders were issued which began: 'The
Battalion will move to Peronne at 11 a.m.' For the first time since
they went abroad, they could advance unmolested over enemy country.
The weather at last showed a delusive promise of spring, and the sun
shone. Hopes ran high and all were pleased beyond measure to be
leaving the mire and clay for the green untouched country beyond. They
went over the forsaken trenches, crossed the Somme by a bridge thrown
over at Bézancourt Farm and entered Peronne. The little town, after
its long history as a French fortress, after the battle of Mont St.
Quentin and the German occupation of 1870, had now been laid utterly
waste. Few houses had been previously damaged from shell-fire, since
the French gunners had purposely spared the place, but now the
destruction by the hand of the enemy was complete; it had been
organised with the greatest care to make impossible military and civil
occupation. In the suburbs the fruit trees had been felled; children's
toys and all manner of debris, wantonly destroyed, lay about the
streets. The Battalion was billeted in the remains of the barracks,
and was joined during the evening and night by the rest of the
Brigade.
Next day a march was made south-east along the Cologne Brook, which
was crossed at Doignt. The roads were being everywhere busily
repaired, the tall poplar trees which had been felled across them were
being dragged out of the way, the great mine-craters at the crossroads
were being filled up; the whole countryside was alive with labour
repairing the damage for the advancing army. For some days the time
was spent in outpost duty in the old style between Peronne and Roisel,
and working on the defences which were being provisionally dug, till
touch was fully restored with the Hun, and the limits of his retreat
became clear. On March 24th the 5th Cavalry Division passed by, riding
eastward, a sign of the new conditions of warfare. At Flamicourt, one
of the adjacent villages used as billets for the Battalion for several
days, were several interesting signs both of the carefulness of the
enemy and of his hasty departure. In the street outside almost every
house were great heaps of tin and zinc ready to be carted away; at
another court was a pile of copper stripped from our shells. Here,
too, for the first time was seen that inspiring yet most pitiful
spectacle, a number of the civil population released from German
captivity. The proof of victory, they were also an incitement to
vengeance; their faces, from which all life and hope seemed to have
departed, were a testimony to the misery which they had endured for
the last 30 months. Among them were the inhabitants of Tincourt, whom
the Germans, by a refinement of cruelty compelled to halt on the rise
overlooking their homes and there to witness the destruction.
Meanwhile, in the bitter weather that had returned, incessant pressure
was being exerted against the stubborn German rearguards, who were
being gradually pushed eastward towards the much-vaunted defences of
the Hindenburg Line.
[Illustration: Map.]
CHAPTER XV
RONSSOY
The beginning of April found the 145th Brigade round Villers-Faucon in
support to the other two Brigades who were fighting their way forward
beyond Epéhy. On the 4th the Battalion received orders in concert with
the remainder of the Brigade to take the three villages of Ronssoy,
Basse Boulogne and Lempire. These three lie closely clustered together
at the head of a valley with an undulating rise to the east. It was
arranged to capture them by an encircling movement from the south and
west. Snow fell heavily throughout the 4th, and frustrated all
attempts of the Company Officers who had gone forward to see the lie
of the land. A cold, dense mist wrapped everything in still greater
obscurity when the Battalion moved off from Villers-Faucon at 2 a.m.
The narrow sunken lanes, with numerous steep little hills, were
clogged with snow. In spite of this we neither lost direction nor
time, but reached the rendezvous at Templeux Wood by 4 a.m. Touch was
obtained with the 8th Warwicks in Templeux village, who were
prolonging the attack on the right, and with the 4th Oxfords on the
left. The Companies were silently deployed a few hundred yards east of
the wood. As the fighting was open and no elaborate defences were
expected, each Company had a frontage of 200 yards, and was drawn up
in depth with six waves each of two lines, the distance between the
former being 50 yards and between the latter 25 yards. The village of
Ronssoy was 1,600 yards away; between it and the attackers was a
girdle of little woods, still untouched of green, and a number of
small intersecting lanes and ditches. The enemy's outposts, as far as
was known, were about 1,000 yards away, running north-west and
south-east to cover the village. The morning was ideal for surprise,
provided that mistakes were not made in the mist; for that reason no
barrage would be provided unless called for by signal rockets.
We must now follow the fortunes of the three Companies, who began
their advance at 4.30 a.m. B Company, on the right, had only gone 200
yards before enfilade fire was directed at them through the darkness
from the slag-heaps on the right. A platoon was detached to deal with
it, and its garrison, fearing encirclement, gave themselves up to the
8th Worcesters, who were coming up on the other side. Another 800
yards advance disclosed a further obstacle: the wire of the German
outposts with well-manned trenches just behind. A Lewis gun was
brought into action, gaps were cut, a barrage called for, which
descended on the enemy at 5.45 and shortly afterwards the position was
gained without any hand-to-hand fighting. The Company now turned to
its fourth task of protecting the flank of the Battalion, and dug
themselves in on a line just east of the captured slag-heap. A Company
under Captain Challoner, in the centre, also ran into the wire of the
same position rather further north, but were able to break through
without much difficulty. Then, led by Captain Challoner with great
dash and determination, they pushed on rapidly through the eastern
outskirts of the village, seized the cemetery, and there divided. One
platoon joined hands with the 7th Gloucesters, whose successful attack
from the west had put them in possession of the joint hamlets of
Lempire and Basse Boulogne. The remainder, moving to the right,
occupied a bank 800 yards south-east of the village, which had been
designated beforehand as the left of the new outpost position. This
long advance of 1-1/2 miles over unknown country with the successful
division of forces just after the assault, when disorganisation is
most wont to occur, reflects the highest credit on all concerned.
Captain Challoner, who kept the firmest grasp throughout, and both
inspired and controlled his men, well deserved the Military Cross
which was awarded a few days later. A fine example of initiative was
shown by Sergt. Millican, whose Platoon Commander was killed as the
village was entered: taking charge instantly he led his men with
distinction throughout the rest of the fight.
To D Company on the left fell the lion's share of the fighting and of
the booty. Approaching unobserved almost to the south entrance to the
village, they overwhelmed two hostile posts in the first light of
dawn, killing every man among them and taking two machine guns. Though
their flank was for the moment open, as the Oxfords were held up on
the edge of Ronssoy Wood, they burst into the village. Here was the
wildest confusion. No attack had been expected in the wild weather,
and the enemy were in their cellars and dugouts just sitting down to
breakfast. Figures could be seen running about outlined in the snow;
at a corner of the street a sergeant-major was shouting and beckoning
to his men to fall in round him. D Company, wild with excitement,
hunted them through the cellars and lanes and made a great slaughter.
The dead lay all about the streets and in the bombed dugouts. Lieut.
Rogers, O.C. No. 16 Platoon, was reputed to have killed eight himself.
Those Huns who escaped ran pell-mell singly or in groups up the hill
and along the Hargicourt road, flinging away their packs, with which
the slope was littered. Captain James, who had led the Company so
gallantly and successfully, got them together and wheeled round to
the east of the village in the chance of exploiting still further the
result achieved. Through the clearing mist a battery could be dimly
seen on the ridge 1,000 yards away limbering up and then disappearing
over the crest, and it seemed possible to advance there, and thus
command a view into Hargicourt. Unfortunately at this moment our
barrage, by some unexplained mistake, fell upon the eastern exit of
the village, causing several casualties. Part of the Company,
therefore, made its way to its alloted position in the outpost line.
The remainder cleared up Ronssoy, and found all kinds of booty. Soup,
coffee, bread and sausages were all ready in the dugouts and were
consumed by the victors. A mail had just come in, and the letters lay
about unopened. The equipment and packs were examined with keen
interest. Everything was new and of the best material, for the Huns
had just come from Russia, and had been hastily fitted out for the
Western Front. In every pack, in addition to the usual articles, were
a change of underclothing and three pairs of socks. One fortunate
sergeant found a bottle of whisky in a dugout, which was quickly
shared; it was not till afterwards that he discovered that it was not
legitimate loot, but the property of the Brigade M.G. officer, who had
appropriated the dugout and most incautiously left unguarded his
treasure, which he had brought up with him in the attack. At the other
end of the village a lively dispute was going on with the Oxfords, who
were found carrying off the two machine guns captured when the
outposts were rushed. The men were wonderfully excited and delighted
at their achievement, and have always declared since that it was the
best fight they have ever had in France.
The enemy's artillery had been active throughout the attack, but
ineffective, as it was without direction. It had shelled Brigade
Headquarters and the ground in front of Templeux Wood, but had never
overtaken the attack. Throughout the day 5.9-inch shells were poured
into Ronssoy, but did no damage whatever, as the men were either in
the unlocated outpost line, or withdrawn well west of the village. A
patrol of C Company managed during the day to get up to the ridge and
look into Hargicourt, in front of which the enemy were visible,
digging actively. Once or twice small patrols of Uhlans rode along the
skyline, the first enemy cavalry that had yet been seen. No
counter-attack of any description was attempted, and it was clear that
the enemy rearguards, who were not in great strength, had been
seriously inconvenienced by this surprise capture of their positions.
General Fanshawe, who, as usual, was not far behind, soon came up, and
after going over the village said he had not seen a better day's work
since he had been in France.
The casualties in officers were heavy, which is explained by their
conspicuous gallantry in leading and directing their commands over the
unfamiliar country. Four were killed or died of wounds; 2nd Lieuts.
Garside, Heppell, Hunt and Bostock; while Captain James and 2nd Lieut.
Rogers were wounded. Other ranks escaped very lightly with 9 killed
and 39 wounded.
CHAPTER XVI
TOWARDS THE HINDENBURG LINE
April pursued its bitter way with snow and sleet. The first and
triumphant stage of the Battle of Arras was fought on the 9th, when
the enemy was thrust back 5 miles with the heaviest losses in
prisoners and guns which he had yet suffered at the hands of the
British. The repercussion of this violent fighting was felt all along
the British line, and particularly to the southward, where the
positions were still semi-fluid. The enemy's object was to delay as
long as possible in his outposts before the Hindenburg Line, while the
British endeavoured to push him rapidly upon his main positions, which
would then be open to regular attack. Accordingly, small actions to
seize local tactical features were epidemic throughout the 4th Army
during this month. The Battalion at first rested from its labours in
the village of Hamel, its former halting place in January, from 5th to
13th April, when it returned via Villers-Faucon to take over from the
Oxfords. The line had by now been consolidated some 2,000 yards east
of Ronssoy on the slopes of the hill, the crest of which was occupied
by the German outposts, the key to whose position was the fortified
farm of Guillemont. The Battalion was ordered to attack this point
next evening in conjunction with a combined night movement by the
whole Division. The weather was again vile, and wet snow fell
incessantly. The night was pitch dark, and without firing lights it
was impossible to see 5 yards. The attack was due to start at 11.30
p.m. It was to be carried out by two Companies, C and D. The password
was 'Wilson,' which called to mind the entry of the United States into
the war a few days previously. The Companies arrived punctually after
a march of 2 miles from support, and began to form up for the assault.
While they were doing so, covering parties ahead reported that the
enemy were advancing on the right flank. This was probably a patrol,
but Captain James wisely pushed forward a platoon of D Company to
secure his Company's advance. The enemy disappeared into the darkness,
and immediately telephoned to their artillery, which promptly put a
heavy and accurate barrage on our men who were formed up on open
ground with no kind of cover. This caused 30 casualties, and as the
men were so cold that they could hardly hold, much less fire, their
rifles, it was decided not to proceed with the attack, and they were
withdrawn to the trenches. A second attack, which was proposed for
1.30 a.m., was vetoed by the Brigade. General Fanshawe, when
addressing the Battalion on the 22nd April, said that he was 'fully
satisfied with the effort put forward, and that if it had been
possible to reach the objective the Battalion would have done so.'
Guillemont Farm was taken by the 144th Brigade on 24th April. In this
attack our Battalion cooperated after a few days' renewed rest at
Hamel, where the immediate awards to officers and men for the fight at
Ronssoy were made.
The attack, on the night of the 24th-25th resolved itself, as far as
the Battalion went, into a demonstration. Apparently owing to the
darkness of the night and the width of frontage allotted to the
attacking Companies, touch was lost with the right Battalion of the
144th Brigade which was enveloping Guillemont Farm from the south. As
our rôle was to protect the right flank, and as the attack on the
left was disorganised by shell-fire, the operations came to a
standstill. Dawn arrived before it was possible to sort out the
attackers and to get a fresh Company into position. The two Companies
engaged, A and B, lost only 1 killed and 9 wounded from machine gun
fire. The net result of the attack was that Guillemont Farm was taken,
but the Quennemont Spur to the south remained in the enemy's hand. The
Battalion next day took over the whole of the front concerned from
Companies of each of the four Battalions of the 144th Brigade. The
relief was long and laborious, as all the Companies were mixed
together and their exact limits uncertain. The enemy, expecting a
renewal of the attack, showed great nervousness, and put down a
counter-preparation three times during the night, but without doing
much harm. This state of anxious expectancy continued during the
remainder of the tour making life the more unpleasant, as the trenches
were as yet improvised, and supplies had to be brought up over the
open. Much patrolling was done to discover the exact position of the
enemy's forward posts, while the snipers of D Company from their
commanding position in Guillemont Farm claimed several victims. At
sunset on the 29th the 7th Worcesters relieved us, and we went back
into billets at Villers-Faucon. The long winter had ended, and spring
arrived with a burst of sun and warmth. A fortnight's well-earned rest
was now to follow, in which time could be given to refit and to
assimilate the new drafts, which, however, were only sufficient to
bring the total strength, from 600 to 700 men. It was remarked that
although the general quality was good, out of the first contingent of
35, five wore trusses and three others possessed flat feet, varicose
veins or hammer toes.
CHAPTER XVII
THE RENEWAL OF TRENCH WARFARE
The great attempts to break through in April had definitely failed
from a variety of causes. The Russian Revolution had rendered
impossible the blow in the East, for which British munitions had for
the first time adequately armed the Russian Armies. The German retreat
had partially disorganised the combined British and French plan. The
failure of Nivelle's great blow at the Chemin des Dames on the 16th
April with enormous losses, made the French Armies incapable of any
offensive operation on a large scale for several months. Hence the
Battle of Arras, which had begun so happily, degenerated towards the
end of April into a series of furious struggles, each of which showed
less promise of decisive importance than the last. The centre of
gravity shifted to the north, where preparations on a vast scale were
pushed forward for the main attack in Flanders, which opened on 31st
July. Accordingly, the southern sector in which the Battalion
remained, settled down into a normal period of what is called
inactivity.
The Battalion spent the beginning of May in the ruins of the village
of Doignt, now greatly improved since they passed over the blasted
roads on the 22nd March. Here the time passed in the usual training
and recreations, and a Challenge Cup, presented by the C.O., was
competed for in inter-Platoon Football Matches. Here, too, an
invaluable thresher installed at Peronne disinfected the blankets,
which were in a filthy condition. On the 12th the Battalion, now
under Major Aldworth's command, as the C.O. was Acting Brigadier,
moved to Combles, and entered the 15th Corps area. The old Corps
Commander rode up to the Brigade on the way and expressed his regret
at leaving such a gallant and well-behaved Brigade. The old Somme
battlefields were still entirely desolate, the ground was full of
corruption and noxious fumes and littered with the debris of battle.
Far away, on the eastern horizon, a green strip appeared, showing the
limits of the devastation. Next day the march was continued through
the centre of the waste past Le Transloy to a capacious camp at
Beulencourt on the Peronne road, 2 miles south of Bapaume. Next day
the Battalion re-entered the line in front of Hermies, relieving the
9th Sherwoods, whose C.O., Colonel Thornton, came from our 1st
Battalion. Until the end of June our lot was cast in this
neighbourhood with normal periods of trench duty and relief. The line
held by the Brigade stretched south from the great Bapaume-Cambrai
road. It was from these trenches that the northern part of the
surprise attack against Cambrai was launched on 20th November. The
enemy was ensconced in his Hindenburg Line, which took advantage of
every undulation in the bare tableland. The villages in our
occupation, Hermies, Doignies and Beaumetz, had all shared in the
systematic devastation of the spring. The foremost British line was
still a matter of partially connected outposts, each Platoon forming
as a rule a self-contained strong point, while inter-communication
with other posts was always difficult and sometimes impossible by day.
The Battalion frontage was strung out to a width of about 2,300 yards,
and on our arrival was protected only by discontinuous belts of wire,
but before the first tour had been completed they had all been linked
together. No Man's Land was wide and ill-defined, amounting sometimes
to 1,000 yards, with such debateable features as ruined farms or
clumps of trees situated in the midst, which required constant
patrolling, but were found regularly unoccupied. The aspect of the
country with its tangled growth of grass and weeds revived memories of
Hébuterne two summers ago.
Thus six weeks were spent in comparative stagnation. Again the enemy's
artillery were almost silent for days on end, though now and again
violent bursts of 5.9-inch would be directed at the Support Companies.
The Battalion made no raids; the only one which was attempted against
them was on a small scale, and was completely crushed by Sergeant
Garrett, of Wokingham, whose good leadership of the post attacked
earned him the Military Medal. We suffered no loss, and took one
prisoner entangled in the wire. The total casualties for the period
were no more than 15, but included Captain Down, who died of wounds on
22nd May. He had been with the Battalion since the spring of 1916, and
was deeply regretted as a capable officer, who showed always the
greatest consideration for his men. On 30th June the Battalion turned
their backs on this quiet spot and marched by stages through Velu and
Bihucourt northwards to Bailleulval, a village about 6 miles
south-west of Arras, now 10 miles behind the line to which it had been
in close proximity until that spring.
Here every sign suggested that the Battalion was soon to take part in
an offensive. Drafts arrived in such numbers that the total strength
was raised to 930, a higher figure than at any period since we first
crossed to France. Training went on feverishly through the sultry
days. The old system of trenches in front of the village were the
scene of many practice attacks, nor did the musketry, bombing, and
gas specialists neglect their opportunities. The Brigadier appeared,
to give lectures and to inspect the capacity of each officer to use
his compass. The Divisional General carried off all the senior
officers for staff rides. Thus the three weeks were spent in most
arduous preparation, which left no doubt that a severe ordeal was
imminent. That a general offensive was intended in the north was no
secret either to our Army or to the enemy, and was indeed the natural
sequel to the Battle of Messines. All doubts were resolved when the
Battalion entrained on 21st July at Mondicourt and moved north into
Flanders. They passed along the same route by which exactly two years
before they had come down to Hébuterne, and the survivors of those
days cheered as they passed the well-remembered little towns of Marles
and Lapugnoy. As the evening drew in the train wandered slowly through
Lillers and Hazebrouck, vast centres of activity, finally drawing up
at Godewaersvelde at 10.45 p.m., whence a weary march ended at dawn at
Houtkerque, which, curiously enough, was next door to our first
resting place in Flanders,--Winnezeele. The entire move had occupied
20 hours; it is interesting to note that while the direct distance
between the two points was 43 miles, the Battalion had traversed by
road and rail at least 70.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES
The prolonged and terrible struggle which was now about to begin was
the last attempt to break through in the west on the old plan. The
immense collection of guns, ammunition, railway material, and every
kind of transport aroused high hopes. It was believed that the
bombardment prolonged throughout many days with an intensity far
greater than before the Somme would overwhelm the German resistance,
and open the way to the Flanders coast and to the submarine bases then
at the most successful height of their activity. These expectations
were disappointed. The German positions no longer consisted of
continuous trench lines, which could be reduced to shapeless masses of
earth. An organisation of great depth had taken their place. Machine
gun nests and pill-boxes scattered about were almost indistinguishable
from the sea of mud in which they were placed, and defied accurate
aerial reconnaissance. In this fortified zone the foremost lines were
weakly held, and the British troops after taking them found the main
resistance still before them, when their energies were almost
exhausted by their painful journey through the mire. The artillery had
done its work only too well in tearing the soil to pieces; but had
none the less left intact many a pill-box which would only succumb to
the direct hit of a 9.2-inch shell. The dice of success were thus
loaded heavily against the attackers, and complete victory was
rendered impossible by the incredible weather. The great storm which
raged throughout the initial attack on July 31st was succeeded by
almost unprecedented rain throughout August. The brief improvement of
September relapsed into the deluges which made the last stages of the
struggle for Passchendaele so heroic a feat of endurance. The last
month of the Somme Battle had been terrible, but the whole of the
events now to be described were fought under far worse conditions. No
trenches or dugouts were available for sheltering the troops in the
battle area, of whom only a small fraction could be accommodated in
such pill-boxes as remained intact. The corduroy paths by which alone
rations and stores could be brought up were gassed and shelled night
and day; one false step was to be engulfed sometimes beyond hope of
recovery. The artillery were in little better case, their guns were
placed almost wheel to wheel in the open, always sinking deeper into
the morass, and unable to move away from the storm of shells. The
light railways on which they depended for a regular supply of shells
often sank themselves from lack of solid foundation. Far behind,
junctions, dumps and rest camps were attacked by long-range fire and
bombs, with a violent persistency quite unprecedented until the March
days next year. The ordeal was bitterly hard, and the prize
incompletely won, but the spirit of the British Armies rose supreme
over all, and the German defence was taxed to the uttermost.
The 31st July brought the Battalion no excitements. Leaving camp soon
after midnight they crossed the Belgian frontier and moved to St. Jan
Ter Beezen, just west of Poperinghe. The flickers and rumble of the
greatest bombardment yet known in war accompanied them through the
night. The rain descended and the floods came for the next three days.
Again, as in the days of Loos and the Somme, the first expectations
and the eager hopes were disappointed. Success had been only partial;
the weather was impossible, operations were postponed. Next day the
sodden men found themselves in dripping tents, just pitched, a stage
nearer the line at Dambre Farm, in the low country west of Ypres. On
the 5th the battlefield was reached. All through the afternoon at five
minutes' interval the platoons moved up. Heavy shells followed them
all the way. At dusk the relief of the 188th Brigade in the reserve
lines south of St. Julien was completed. Water stood everywhere, the
trenches were blotted out, the pill-boxes themselves were flooded. The
shelling was incessant, and no sleep was possible that night. On the
night of the 6th-7th the 1st/4th Oxfords were relieved, and 24 hours
were spent on either side of St. Julien through which runs the
Steenbeck, foulest of streams. Next night, amidst violent thunder, the
Battalion crawled back to Dambre Camp. The four days had cost them 11
killed and 31 wounded, which might well have been increased but for
the steady discipline prevailing among all ranks.
Next week the attack, whose date was yet unknown, was sedulously
practised in all its details. A large scale model of the ground was
inspected by all officers and N.C.O.'s at Divisional Headquarters. On
the 15th the time for action had arrived. The march to the battle was
slow and deliberate. The men halted at midday at the camp of
Reigersberg, ate and slept. Then ate again a last hot meal before
setting out on their final journey through the darkness. All the
Companies were in position by 3.30 a.m. on the 16th. Then followed a
period of anxious inactivity, until at 4.45 the British barrage burst
forth in its awful salute to the dawn. Men began to advance against
the enemy on the whole front of 25 miles; the second act of the great
struggle had begun.
The attack was, on the whole, a complete failure, though on the left
the French made progress through the swamps towards Houthulst Forest,
and the 23rd Division took Langemarck. In the centre, where our
Division was engaged, progress was infinitesimal. The enemy troops,
hidden in their deep and inconspicuous labyrinth of defence, were
fresh and fought stoutly. Our attack was based on the support of
tanks, which, owing to the condition of the ground, could not come
into action. The forces alloted were far too weak to approach the
ambitious objectives which had been assigned to them: and were
fortunate if they succeeded in winning a few hundred yards after a
long and desperate struggle which left them crippled. Our Battalion
had a hard and disspiriting task. Assigned as Reserve to the Brigade
it had been intended to sweep through the assaulting Battalions to the
final objective. Actually their rôle was reduced to hanging about
under violent shelling, almost stationary, turning now to right, now
to left, to fill up gaps in the line, or to ward off threatened
counter-attacks, always waiting for an order to advance which never
came.
Although I have avoided criticism as far as possible in this
narrative, I cannot refrain from saying, after a careful study of the
documents available, that the staff work of the 5th Army (General
Gough) was thoroughly bad as far as our Division was concerned. Time
after time units were set impossible tasks, with inadequate support
from artillery and tanks, and with ludicrously small reserves. This
opinion is thoroughly shared by others more competent to pass judgment
than myself.
[Illustration: Map.]
The order of battle for the Brigade was as follows:--Starting from the
line of the Steenbeek the three Battalions, covering a frontage of
about 1,200 yards, were to take the fortified line of the Langemarck
road from the crossroads at Winnipeg to those just west of Keerselare.
This accomplished, their assault was to take them beyond the Pink and
Blue lines to an outpost position along the farms of Flora Hubner and
Stroppe. The 5th Gloucesters on the right joined the Ulster Division,
the Bucks Battalion was in the centre, and on the left the 4th Oxfords
touched the 12th Division. It will thus be seen that the Brigade,
unsupported, was expected to advance about a mile through the mud,
everywhere ankle-deep, taking on its way three regularly-organised
positions, to say nothing of the intermediate strong points with which
the ground bristled. The enemy was at his strongest, well-prepared and
expectant. The 7th Bavarian Regiment, which faced us, had just come
into line; it was part of a good Division, the 5th Bavarian. His
barrage descended only three minutes after our own had begun. It is
not surprising that, as a result, no impression was made even on the
line of the Langemarck road, except at one point round Springfield.
The fight swayed about round the pill-boxes, disused gun-pits and
fortified farms which studded the countryside. Each one of these had
to be taken separately; the pill-boxes in particular had to be rushed
by bombers, who crept up and threw their bombs through the loopholes,
which meanwhile were silenced by continuous machine-gun fire. One of
these structures, entirely surrounded by water except for a narrow
causeway, successfully defied all attempts at capture.
Meanwhile, our four Companies had varied experiences just behind this
all-day battle. A Company on the right, advancing over the Steenbeek
at zero, caught the full blast of the barrage. Captain Tripp (3rd East
Surreys), who was in command, was immediately killed, and the only
other officer, 2nd Lieut. Brooke, wounded. 2nd Lieut. Buck was then
sent from Headquarters to take command. During the remainder of the
day the Company, harassed continuously by shells and rifle fire (for
the enemy held positions within 300 yards of them), reduced in
strength by almost a half, succeeded in maintaining touch with the
Ulsters and the Gloucesters. Twice the enemy, pushing forward small
parties, tried to find a gap, but was arrested at once. The line
remained, curving in an arc east of St. Julien, about 200 yards beyond
the starting point. B Company also experienced great difficulty in
making their way through the barrage. Captain Norrish, who was in
command, walked up and down looking for a gap. After a while he
brought them through by the north-east corner of St. Julien. Thence,
turning right-handed in small parties, they dug in behind A Company
and the Gloucesters. For the remainder of the day they remained in
support to the latter, who were vainly endeavouring to force their way
forward to the Langemarck road. This Company seems to have lost about
40 men during the day. To C Company fell such small share of actual
fighting as came the way of the Battalion. The Bucks, on moving
forward, were held up by a large strong point at Hillock Farm, which
resisted obstinately with machine guns. Two platoons of C Company,
creeping up from the north-west, played their Lewis guns upon the
loopholes. The farm was encircled and taken, 50 of the garrison were
killed and the remainder captured. This was about 7 a.m. During the
next three hours the Bucks thrust slowly forward, losing heavily all
the way. By 10.30 they had gained a precarious footing in the Green
line on a front of about 200 yards round Springfield. Their position
was very dangerous, as both their flanks were in the air. The Oxfords,
on their left, had been completely hung up, and were barely beyond our
front line. Two platoons of C Company pushed up northwards into the
gap at 11.30, but found only small parties of the enemy, who enfiladed
them at close range from some disused gun-pits 200 yards west of the
Poelcapelle road. These snipers caused constant casualties, and when
Captain Holmes was hit at noon all the officers had been put out of
action. Under the leadership of Sergt.-Major Heath they cleared the
gun-pits and extracted six prisoners, the only trophies of the day;
there they remained until relief, losing at least 50 men. C.S.-M.
Heath obtained the M.C. D Company, contrary to their experience at
Ronssoy, had the easiest time of the four. Held back on the western
bank of the Steenbeek by the congestion at the bridges until 5.15
a.m., they crossed when the barrage, always lighter on our left, had
greatly slackened and suffered only slight loss. They dug in near the
eastern bank, and remained all day there in support of the Bucks. At
noon one platoon moved forward to the right, and securing the Bucks'
right flank, kept in connection with the posts of A Company. The
losses of this company were about 30 men. In all the casualties of the
Battalion were 35 killed (including Captain Tripp), and 138 wounded
and missing (including Captains Winslow and Holmes and 2nd Lieuts.
Brooke, Oldridge and Wood). This amounted to about a third of the
fighting strength. The remainder of the Brigade suffered more heavily,
especially the Bucks, who had clung for hours with splendid gallantry
to the exposed and practically untenable position round Springfield.
The Battalion next day was relieved by Companies at dawn and dusk, and
reassembled at Dambre Camp. The respite was short, for before many
days the Division was called again to make a fresh attempt at the same
spot. Although no general attack was found practicable until the 20th
September, it was apparently deemed essential first to gain a footing
on the low ridge of Gravenstal, which, though it rose only 60 feet
above the Steenbeek Valley, dominated the country as far as Ypres, and
gave the enemy eyes to see our preparations. The next attack was fixed
for 27th August; this time it was the turn of the 143rd and 144th
Brigades to attack, while we remained in Divisional Reserve. The front
and the objectives were almost exactly the same. On the left was the
11th Division, on the right the 61st, our second line. It was the
first time that these two had come together on the battlefield, and
the occasion was not fortunate, for both were unable to make headway
and lost severely. The plan of attack showed great lack of
imagination, and shook general confidence in the staff of the 5th
Army. The lessons of the 16th seemed to have been entirely thrown
away. The same impossible advance was expected. The ground was far
worse than before. The water lay knee-deep in the valley. As the men
struggled forward they could be seen pulling one another out of the
glutinous mud in which they had sunk to the waist. The tanks,
promised as before, were unable to perform. Finally, the attack
started at the singular hour of 1.55 p.m., which rendered concealment
of all the final preparations impossible, and gave the German machine
gunners deadly opportunities for dealing with the reserves who poured
up in the afternoon along the crowded tracks. The Battalion arrived at
its assembly place on the road running through St. Julien about 3.30
p.m., and, as before, waited on events. Towards dusk it became known
that the Warwicks' attack had completely failed, while further north
the 7th and 8th Worcesters succeeded after four hours' fighting in
seizing the Green line from Springfield as far as the Keerselare cross
roads. At 8 p.m. all hope of a further advance in the Warwick area had
gone, and the Battalion was ordered to relieve the shattered Brigade,
one Company taking the place of each Battalion. There was naturally
much difficulty in taking over, and next morning it was discovered
that three platoons of the 8th Warwicks, whose position was unknown to
their C.O., were still lying unrelieved round Border Farm. Meanwhile,
on the evening of the 27th, confused fighting still went on north of
Springfield, where the 1st/4th Oxfords had been brought up to try by
exploiting the success already gained to turn the Spot Farm-Winnipeg
portion of the Green line. No further ground, however, was secured;
the men were at the limits of their endurance, and by next morning it
was clear that everything had combined to render a further attack
impossible. The day was therefore, passed quietly for the exhausted
combatants; in front the stretcher-bearers bravely and indefatigably
picked up the wounded, who had lain out all night in the liquid mud.
That night two companies of the 2nd/10th London relieved us. Thus half
a Battalion held defensively the whole fighting front of a Brigade.
We returned again to Dambre Camp, which the enemy shelled viciously
with a naval gun. The Battalion may be considered fortunate in losing
only 11 killed (including Captain Norrish, 10th Middlesex), and 51
wounded (including Captain Shaw, 4th Northants).
St. Jan Ter Beezen now reharboured the Battalion, which was built up
again in strength by a succession of curious little drafts of 6 and
11. The usual training, increasing in intensity as the men recovered
from the fatigue of battle, was carried on through a spell of close
and thundery weather. The nights were more than once disturbed by a
shower of bombs. On 16th September a train journey removed us far from
the front to Audenfort, near Calais, to occupy the farms and barns of
several scattered hamlets. The attitude of the population, as
sometimes happened in the back areas, was unfriendly. The reason,
doubtless, is that the distance from the realities of war is apt to
make the inhabitants less accommodating and the troops less
well-disciplined. In this case, however, excellent relations were
established in a few days. The training during the ensuing ten days
was mainly confined to musketry, and A Company had the satisfaction of
beating all the other companies of the Division in a field practice
fired under the eyes of the G.O.C.
On the 27th September the Battalion returned to the same blighted
region, now enveloped by dense autumn mists. The great attack of 20th
September had rolled forward the tide of battle for more than a mile,
and the British, now ensconced in the demolished farms on the east
side of the Gravenstal Ridge, were preparing to carry out another
stage of that painful and bloody progress. At dawn on 4th October the
143rd Brigade attacked through us, advancing some 1,500 yards. The
Battalion spent the next three days in an uneasy reserve, changing
their quarters every 24 hours, continuously soaked by the rain, which
again fell pitilessly. On 7th October they regained the front line,
pulling one another out of the trackless mire as they crawled up
through the dripping night, plentifully sprinkled with gas on their
way. Next night was even worse; the 7th Worcesters came up to relieve
us under shell-fire; most of the guides we sent down to them were
either killed or buried and the relief was long and arduous. The 144th
Brigade attacked again on the 8th-9th October, under the worst
possible conditions; our Battalion, in Divisional Reserve, was
allotted to the Brigade, and lay out scattered by Companies until dusk
on the 9th, ready to repel counter-attacks and to lend help as
required, but was not actively engaged. The total casualties during
this period amounted to 84, of whom 16 were killed. All who took part
in these ten days' operations agree that the hardships suffered by the
men exceeded everything yet endured on active service. The exhausted
troops were taken back to Dambre Camp on the 9th by motor lorries.
This was their last experience of that tremendous and ill-conducted
battle, in which they had been engaged with but slight intermission
for 70 days.
CHAPTER XIX
LAST DAYS IN FRANCE AND THE JOURNEY TO ITALY
On 15th October the Battalion left the Flemish swamps for good, and,
returning south by rail, eventually settled for the remainder of the
month in the huts at Villars-au-Bois, north-west of Arras. Here they
rested in pleasant country behind the 2nd Canadian Division, one of
whose regiments, the 27th, they replaced in reserve. The former were a
splendid body of men, and very friendly. Their Quartermaster excited
general admiration, being a man of over 60 years of age, two of whose
sons were serving in the same Battalion as Second-in-Command and
Adjutant. As usual, after active operations adequate drafts arrived of
both officers and men; the former came mainly from the 3rd Wilts, the
latter from the M.T., who, though practically ignorant of infantry
work, soon developed in a very satisfactory way. From 2nd-10th
November we occupied the sector in front of Vimy Ridge, the scene of
the great Canadian victories in April, looking across to the
devastated mining town of Lens. The Canadians had done all that was
possible to improve the trenches, which the counter-bombardment of
either side had levelled, and they were generally good except on the
left, where all the soil had been shot away. The dugouts, as generally
in ground captured from the Huns, were excellent; there was little
fighting activity, and no more than three casualties were suffered. On
the 8th the Battalion received the thanks of the 31st Division for
their assistance in a daylight raid carried out by the latter on our
right. Smoke-clouds were emitted from our trenches, while the skilful
manipulation of life-sized dummies successfully produced the illusion
of lines of men issuing from their trenches, who drew on their wooden
bodies the desired effect of heavy enemy fire. On November 14th Savy
and Villars Brulin received the Battalion. These little villages, some
12 miles from the firing line near the source of the Scarpe, were,
though we knew it not, to be the last billets of the Battalion in
France. Every autumn the enemy had replied to our offensive in France
with a furious blow elsewhere. As in 1915 he had crushed Serbia, in
1916 occupied two-thirds of Roumania, so this year he fell upon the
Italians at Caporetto on the 25th October. This enormous disaster,
which cost the Italians 250,000 prisoners and a third of their
artillery, brought the Austro-Germans by the beginning of November to
the banks of the Piave, and it was decided that British and French
forces should be dispatched to Italy to defend Venice and to give the
Italian Army a breathing space for reorganisation. Therefore, when we
were resting on the 21st, and speculating on the possibility of taking
part in the Cambrai Battle so dramatically begun the day before,
orders arrived for entrainment next afternoon with nine days' rations.
The journey was made in two trains, under the command of Colonel
Clarke and Major Aldworth respectively, which made for Italy by
different routes, after leaving Troyes. Colonel Clarke's train reached
Dijon on the second evening; Lyons early the next morning; throughout
that day the exquisite and fruitful Rhone Valley passed before the
delighted eyes of the men. The journey was slow, and when Avignon was
reached at 2 a.m. on the 25th, the train was already twelve hours
late. Still further time was then lost owing to an accident at
Toulon, which station was only entered at dusk after a triumphant
progress through crowds of excited southerners, who gathered along the
line cheering and waving. Most of the famous places of the French
Riviera were passed in darkness, but at 8.10 on the 26th the frontier
was passed at Ventimille. The journey continued along the lovely
Italian coast until Savona was reached at nightfall. The Italians
showed little disposition to welcome their deliverers, and the
unpopularity of the war in these districts was patent. Next dawn found
the train at Pavia, whence it proceeded along the Po to Cremona, where
a 16-hour halt enabled the men to stretch their legs. With band
playing they marched through the streets, and succeeded in arousing
the enthusiasm of the inhabitants. The local commandante, Cav.
Vittorio, a very courteous gentleman, took the salute as the two
Companies re-entered the station. The extreme congestion of the
Italian railways now upset all timetables completely. Mantua was not
reached until 1 a.m. on the 29th, but finally the two Companies
detrained at Saletto; and in the afternoon billeting orders arrived,
and the evening found them lodged in a private house, a theatre and a
monastery at Noventa. The billets were shared with a detachment of the
Italian Veterinary Corps, the miserable condition of whose horses and
mules bore witness to the rigours of the recent retreat. An 8-mile
march next day over roads slippery with frost ended in a most elegant
billet, a gorgeous château, which belonged to a Colonel Cabely, killed
near Gorizia. Part of its magnificence, however, consisted in marble
floors, a cold bed for men wrapped up in only one blanket.
Major Aldworth's train travelled more rapidly; by midnight on the 24th
it had crossed the Mont Cenis and was running through Italian
territory. Early next morning everyone was peering out of the
windows at the great snow mountains through which the train descended
to the Piedmontese Plain. The bells of the village churches were
ringing everywhere on this Sunday morning as the train moved towards
Turin, which was reached at noon on the 25th November. This city
provided a rousing welcome; ladies handed out chocolate, cigarettes
and little silk flags from the platform; the train steamed out into
the open country between vociferating crowds. The journey henceforth
was slow and circuitous, the direction being first north-east to
Milan, which was passed during the night of 26th-27th November; then
south to Pavia, and from there along the Po through Mantua to Nogaro,
where the men were comfortably installed in billets by 9 p.m. on 27th
November. Both journeys were as comfortable as could be expected in
the exceptional circumstances. The men were able to get a hot drink at
least twice a day, which was often supplemented by the energy of Red
Cross ladies on the platforms, particularly in France.
CHAPTER XX
THE ITALIAN WINTER
Happy the Battalion which for a while at least in wartime has no
history. We had come to Italy expecting at once to be desperately
engaged against the victorious invaders. But the Italians, greatly to
their credit, had reorganised their broken forces, and, with their
left resting on the mountains, had repelled all attempts of the enemy
to cross the Piave, swollen with autumn rains. By the end of December
the British and French Armies were fully concentrated, and a period of
immobility set in, not to be broken for six months. The 48th Division,
which formed part of General Haking's 11th Corps, found itself
peacefully installed in Army Reserve. Under the clear Italian skies,
in the peaceful Venetian plain, moderately well housed and not
overworked, their lot was cast in a fair ground. The two halves of the
Battalion reunited on 4th December, and finally settled on the 15th
December at S. Croce Bigolina, where they remained six weeks. This
village is situated just east of the Brenta, about 20 miles north of
Padua, where G.H.Q. were established, and a similar distance south of
the foothills of the Trentino Alps, where the line ran through the
famous plateau of Asiago. Excursions to these hills in small parties
for the purpose of reconnaissance formed from time to time a diversion
from the ordinary routine of training.
Christmas was celebrated with great festivity. The officers had
supplemented the men's rations by a subscription, stores were
purchased in Vicenza and Padua, and a cheque of £50 was received from
the County Association for the same purpose. Dinners, concerts and
suppers were provided for the Companies; the officers were given free
use of the house of the Parish Priest, who was entertained by them as
the guest of the evening. It was the happiest Christmas which had been
spent overseas.
With the New Year winter set in with a hard, bright frost, so keen
that all the running streams were frozen. Visits of inspection were
paid by General Plumer, the popular Commander-in-Chief, and by General
Haking, whose kindliness and geniality in chatting to the men as
individuals was heartily welcomed. At this time also the gratifying
news was received that the commanding officer had been awarded the
C.M.G.
On the 24th January the Battalion left S. Croce amidst general regret.
The excellent priest, who had worked with all his will to promote good
relations, in a parting message to Colonel Clarke especially commended
the honourable and chivalrous relations which had existed between the
troops and the women of the neighbourhood. At Paviola, which was
reached after a weary march in a misty thaw over roads reduced to
quagmires, the Battalion split up again: B and D Companies, with
Headquarters remained in the same area, while Captain Challenor with
the remainder moved to the Convent di Praglia, south of Padua, in
order to supply working parties to the central school at G.H.Q. Here
they remained till the end of February, doing every kind of job, to
the complete satisfaction of those concerned. Some worked at the
quarries, some at a bayonet-fighting assault course, some at the
musketry school, others at the gas school; finding, however, time
between their labours to play a number of football matches with
neighbouring units.
By the end of the month all were again reunited; their long spell of
rest had come temporarily to an end, and on the 27th they took over
from the 2nd Queen's (7th Division) reserve lines on the Montello,
that well-known hill overlooking the right bank of the Piave, which
was one of the key-positions of the Italian line. The next fortnight
was spent in this area, about half in the front line. It was an
interesting though, fortunately, not a very dangerous experience, as
the losses amounted only to one killed and one wounded. The long hill,
which stretched for miles to the west of the river, was furrowed with
numbers of deep, narrow dells, in which the platoons were housed.
Along the foreshore was a series of disconnected posts, every second
of which was armed with a Lewis gun. The majority of these were held
only at night. They looked across the wide bed of the Piave, which,
like all capricious mountain streams, divided into three or four
channels, intersected by overgrown islands and beds of shingle, which
heavy rain, as in the June battles, would convert speedily into a
roaring torrent. The widest and deepest stream flowed on the enemies'
side. Their inactivity was very marked, scarcely a shot was fired
either by day or night, and except for the last day their artillery
gave few signs of life. As was proved time after time, the last thing
desired by the weary and disillusioned Austrian was to provoke the
British.
This interlude was the nearest approach to warfare encountered for
many weeks to come. On the night of the 14th March in intense darkness
the Italians relieved us without incident, and we turned our backs on
the Montello for good. The division now moved west for many days; some
short time was spent at Arsego, but it was not till 3rd April that the
Battalion settled down to a three weeks' sojourn at Valle, in the hill
country west of Vicenza. The great events, which were shaking the
Western Front to its foundations, found no echo here; two British
Divisions were, it is true, moved to France, but the 48th was not
among them. The Austrians as yet showed no signs of renewing their
attacks.
While the Battalion were at Valle they lost their Commanding Officer,
Lieut.-Colonel Clarke, who was appointed to command the newly-formed
Divisional Machine Gun Battalion. His departure was deeply regretted.
He had led the Battalion through all its serious fighting, and had
gained the complete confidence of all. He had kept a strict discipline
without worrying the men about trifles; they could all appreciate his
administrative ability, his grasp of detail and practical concern for
their comfort. We were fortunate in gaining as his successor Colonel
Lloyd Baker, of the Bucks Battalion, who had been well-known earlier
in the war as General McClintock's Staff Captain, and he brought to
his new duties all his characteristic kindness and tact.
Meanwhile the constant exercise in hill-climbing for men and pack
ponies, the schemes of attack and defence suggested that our next
destination would be northward in the mountains. Nor was expectation
falsified; for by the 23rd the Battalion had climbed up out of the
warm, showery spring of the valley, and billeted in Italian huts at
Granezza, about 4,500 feet above sea-level in storms of snow and hail.
They were in Brigade Reserve immediately behind the lines on the
Asiago plateau, which they were destined to guard until the advance to
final victory at the end of October.
CHAPTER XXI
MOUNTAIN WARFARE
The new line ran along the forward slope of the hills, which had just
been so painfully climbed, and whose reverse sides sheltered in their
folds, densely populated with pine forests, the local reserves. The
trenches themselves were strangely unlike any as yet inhabited, being
blasted out of the solid rock. An impressive and, indeed, magnificent
panorama extended itself in front. The valley of the Seven Communes,
that curious little tongue of German-speaking territory projecting
into pre-war Italy, ran across the foreground. Barren and almost
treeless, it had been in the battle-line since the Austrian offensive
of May, 1916, which had nearly broken successfully into the Venetian
plain. Many villages and hamlets dotted the plain, especially towards
the western end, the most imposing of which was Asiago. Though knocked
about to a certain extent, they offered a regular and habitable
outline as compared with the blank desolation of France. On the
further side of the valley the pine-clad shoulders of the mountains
were gradually merged in the great snow-covered, cloud-capped bastions
of the Alps. Between the lines a vast No Man's Land extended, in many
places nearly a mile in width, with miniature hills and valleys, and
studded with houses and copses, over which our patrols were able to
roam almost at will unmolested. Such was the general calm prevailing
that officers in the front line were accustomed to sleep in their
pyjamas. The entire casualties during May, most of which month was
spent in the line, were three wounded. In a successful raid carried
out on the 12th by two platoons of D Company, 2nd Lieut. Stott,
slightly wounded, was the only victim. He obtained the M.C. and the
Italian Silver Medal for Valour as a reward for his work. It was
somewhat difficult to capture the prisoner required for
identification, as the only post encountered promptly ran away; one,
however, of the elderly Hungarians of the 24th Honved Regiment, who
composed it, tripped and fell into a shell-hole, and was carried off
by the raiders. The enemy made up for their lack of resistance by
bombing their own wire and shouting assiduously until daybreak. On the
22nd the Battalion returned to Cornedo, in the plains; summer had by
now fully set in; the vines, the maize, the mulberry and the orange,
with many other diverse forms of luxuriant foliage, had completely
changed the aspect of the country. The men were glad to wear the suits
of drill and the sun-helmet which had now been issued. Thus May merged
into June; the fourth great German attack was battering at the gates
of Compiègne, but the Italian front had as yet given no sign. On our
next visit, however, to the line, it became known that a British
offensive was to be launched in the middle of June. The usual
conferences and rehearsals took place; detailed orders were issued,
the very date became known. It was to take place on the 16th of June.
Twenty-four hours beforehand the Austrians, goaded at length out of
their long sleep by the prodding of their Allies, suddenly launched
that great attack on practically the whole of the front, which was the
last offensive effort of the Hapsburg dynasty. After a somewhat
alarming initial success on the Montello and the lower Piave, it
changed into a complete failure. We have now to see how it affected
the fortunes of our Battalion.
The Austrian attack was planned after the model of Ludendorf's great
offensive of March 21st; that is to say, it was preceded by a short
but violent bombardment of high explosive and gas directed
particularly on the back areas and gun-positions. Its effectiveness
was not, however, great, partly owing to the extreme difficulty of
searching all the crannies of the mountain country, partly because the
level of Austrian efficiency was low. Their gas-shells, in particular,
seem to have been almost innocuous. The shelling began about 3 a.m.,
and lasted for three hours, when the infantry left the trenches. The
two British Divisions in the line, 23rd and 48th, were attacked by
portions of four Austrian Divisions; it is said that the latter had
been brought up immediately before the battle in lorries, and told
that their objective was weakly held by Italians, as their
disinclination to face British and French troops was notorious.
However that may be, they advanced against our Division with
considerable energy at the outset. The two Battalions of the 145th
Brigade in the line were from right to left, the 1st/4th Oxfords and
1st/5th Gloucesters. The enemy succeeded in driving in the outer
flanks of both Battalions, and also in pushing a wedge between them to
a maximum depth of about 1,000 yards. But attacking uphill over
unfamiliar and blind country, exposed to cross-fire from rifles and
machine-guns, and heavily bombarded, their progress was soon arrested.
Our Battalion was in Brigade Reserve, and did useful work during the
day in joining hands with the two assaulted Battalions. D Company
joined the Oxfords at noon, and suffered some loss during the
afternoon while forming up in the open to counter-attack. Here its
commander, Captain C. Buck, a good and conscientious officer, was
killed. He had served unhurt through the whole of the third Battle of
Ypres, and was the only officer whom we lost by death during the
Italian year.
Next morning very early, with the co-operation of C Company and one
platoon of A, a completely successful advance was made to the old
front line. All the heart had now gone out of the enemy, the failure
of whose effort was patent. They made scarcely a shadow of resistance,
and more than 60 prisoners remained in our hands. During the previous
day C Company had been already engaged in stopping the gap between the
Oxfords and Gloucesters. The latter, who had been isolated on both
flanks, were in danger of complete encirclement during the morning and
early afternoon, but extricated themselves and joined hands with C
Company at 5.30 p.m.
During the 16th the whole divisional front was without exception
re-established, and patrols were pushed forward into No Man's Land;
the Austrians continued to surrender in little bodies, until the
Division had collected over 1,000, with eight mountain guns abandoned
and picked up. The casualty list of the Battalion afforded happy proof
of the ineffectiveness of the enemy. We lost no more than five killed
and 13 wounded. Thus ended ignominiously the great Austrian attack.
CHAPTER XXII
THE LAST SUMMER
The remainder of June was spent pleasantly in rest billets, disturbed
only by the first of the great influenza epidemics, which, pursuing a
mild course, resulted in no deaths, but caused the evacuation in all
of 112 men. On the 20th the Division lost their Commander, Sir R.
Fanshawe, who returned home. He had commanded us for more than three
years; devoted to the care of his Division and to the task of
defeating the enemy, he demanded in everything the same high standard
which he always set himself. A frequent visitor to the trenches, he
did not reserve his appearance for quiet times; at Pozières and
Ronssoy, for example, he was on the captured ground at the heels of
his infantry. Therefore, he retained the confidence of the men
throughout, in good days and bad.
Our sojourn in the plains was prolonged during the first twenty days
of July under the full heat of summer, all moves being made in the
early hours of the morning. On 12th July the Battalion had the
satisfaction of winning the Divisional Signal Competition.
The ten days spent in the line were devoid of incident, one man only
being wounded by a shell, and on the 30th July a return was made to
Marziele for ten days, where a terrific storm one night blew down all
the tents and bivouacs. The 10th August found them again in the
mountains taking over from the 6th Gloucesters the extreme left of the
divisional line. The war had now entered upon its penultimate stage
with the splendid Allied victories of 18th July and 8th August; the
enemy had lost everywhere the initiative, and was not to have the
chance of regaining it. Although the Italians did not feel themselves
capable at present of any important attack, the Austrians were not
left in peace. Large-scale raids resulting often in the capture of
hundreds of prisoners, were undertaken without respite by the French
and British, provoking no attempt at retaliation.
Nor was the Battalion without share in these activities. The ground
was first prepared for a full-dress raid by offensive patrols. On
August 16th Lieut. Baxton attacked and bombed a party of the enemy on
Coda Spur, the bombs falling clean among them. On the 15th a similar
party under 2nd Lieut. Crawford shot five Austrians, who were
patrolling their own wire, and who, when challenged, with fatal
stupidity, halted and stood outlined against the skyline, an easy
mark.
The time was now ripe for a more ambitious effort. The Battalion was
withdrawn for a few days to Granezza, and returning to the trenches on
the evening of the 26th, made a successful raid that same night in
conjunction with the Bucks on our left. The attack was to be directed
against the enemy trenches on either side of Asiago, the point of
junction between the Battalions being at the south-east corner of the
town. All four Companies were engaged; C on the right was to form a
defensive flank within the enemy's trenches; B, on the left, was to
seize the front line before Asiago, where A, passing through, would
secure the support line, and allow D Company in turn, passing through
them, to explore the southernmost limits of the town, and join hands
with the Bucks. The withdrawal was to be in inverse order--_i.e._, C
and B were to hold the captured positions until the other two
Companies had been safely passed back.
Zero hour was 10.40 p.m., and there had been no preliminary barrage.
The Companies had moved out from our outpost line at 9 p.m. and got
into striking position after safely traversing the wide intervening
area. As they lay waiting for the fiery signal, the enemy began to
show nervousness; they had probably heard something suspicious, but
could not see far, as clouds obscured the moon, and a white mist hung
in the valley. They fired lights and rifle grenades and a few shells
during the last half-hour before the bombardment opened, but caused no
serious inconvenience. The barrage worked well; 32 minutes elapsed
before it completed its shift from the front line to the final
objective, which also it enclosed in a frame of shells on either
flank. Here it remained for one hour, after which it died gradually
away, as the withdrawal progressed. C Company reached and held their
objective on the right with little difficulty, extracting 50 prisoners
from the trenches and dugouts. B were equally successful, though a
little hand-to-hand fighting was necessary to force an entrance on
their right; they found the trenches shallow and ruinous, with few
occupants (they could only collect six prisoners), and the dugouts in
the quarry behind were wholly untenanted. The enemy annoyed them
during their occupation of the trench with continuous shell-fire. A
Company, according to programme, now passed through them in small
columns, but as their commander was hit at this difficult moment, they
lost direction and got mixed up with the Bucks, so that only one
platoon met the enemy, who showed some fight in houses and dugouts
near his support line. D Company successfully reached their objective,
the enemy flying wildly before them and leaving four only in their
hands. Those houses of Asiago which they searched were neither
garrisoned nor fortified. The withdrawal took place with surprising
ease, without even being troubled by systematic shell-fire. Prisoners
were handed in to the 144th Brigade and receipts were given for 72;
but it seems that nearly 100 was the actual bag. Casualties were
fairly numerous, amounting in all to 77, but very light in character,
only one man being killed and four missing, while of the wounded 26
remained on duty. The majority of wounds was due to shell-fire and
unaimed machine-gun bullets, as there was very little genuine
fighting. Many awards were made in connection with this well-executed
operation; they are given in an appendix. I may mention here that
Captain Cawley, who was wounded, received the M.C. and the Italian
Silver Medal, and C.S.-M. Alder the same Italian decoration, together
with the D.C.M.
September passed quite quietly in alternations between the front line
and Granezza. The Battalion was now under the command of Colonel
Whitehead, who succeeded, but did not replace, Colonel Lloyd Baker. He
was a brave man, but of a narrow and unsympathetic school, staled by
continuous service throughout the war.
October brought no change except in the weather, which declined
suddenly to autumn on the hilltops, with night-frosts and continuous
violent rain. The Austrians were still harassed perpetually by
enormous and invariably successful raids, by bombardments and aerial
bombing, to which they submitted with the patience of necessity.
The absence of any great concerted attempt to destroy them seemed
almost inexplicable to our troops, as they heard of all the great
works which were being performed against their enemies elsewhere.
Already had Bulgaria fallen; the last Turkish Army had been dissolved;
the German line was crumbling to pieces under the remorseless hammer
of the British; and the interchange of Notes with America foreshadowed
the end of the war. The Italians, however, were determined to wait
until the possibility of failure had been reduced to a minimum, and
doubtless they were the best judges of the capacity of their own
troops. Thus it was not until 25th October that they launched the blow
which was to prove the destruction of the Austrian Empire.
CHAPTER XXIII
VICTORY
The attack was started first on the Piave and the Brenta; and
operations further west were contingent on success in those areas.
Accordingly, its effects did not become apparent on our front until
29th October, when the Austrians were already in headlong flight
towards the Tagliamento. At that date we were holding the extreme
right of the Divisional Area. On that morning, at daybreak, C Company
sent out a patrol, which found that the Austrians had abandoned their
front lines--a retirement which deserters had foreshadowed for some
days past. They pushed on at noon and entered Asiago, a silent
village; thence exploring more boldly, they wandered right across the
valley as far as Ebene, close to its northernmost limits. There they
saw the French patrols similarly engaged in searching the houses. Then
the enemy gave the first sign of his continued existence, firing with
two machine guns from a little knoll, which commanded the village 500
or 600 yards away. The Bucks, who were out on the left, brought back
similar word, and it was apparent that a general retirement had been
carried out to their Winterstellung, or Winter Lines, which ran along
the northern slopes and barred ingress into the side valleys which led
up to the railway of the Val Sugana. It now became necessary to
discover whether the enemy was standing strongly in this main line of
defence, or whether it could be overrun by a _coup-de-main_. During
the night of the 29th-30th, therefore, B Company was sent forward to
feel its way and report on the resistance encountered. Captain Winslow
now established his Headquarters in the Military Barracks at Asiago,
keeping one platoon at hand. The remaining three spread widely over
the plain and moved forward. They occupied the villages lying at the
foot of the mountains, but it was evident that the enemy was still in
strength before them. Here and there they extracted Austrians who had
been left behind in houses and dugouts. The left platoon, in
particular, discovered 17 in Bosco, including an officer; as they
drove this party before them towards Asiago, while it was still light,
machine-gun fire was directed upon them from the ridges of Monte Catz,
causing several casualties. The prisoners, headed by their officer,
were foolish enough to refuse to continue their journey, and their
mutiny cost them dear, as, with one exception, they were all killed.
Next day A Company took on the patrolling work, and found the lines
still occupied, while the Austrians denied them access to Costa, which
had been examined on the previous day. Reports from either flank gave
similar information; there was nothing, therefore, to suggest the
speedy and dramatic overthrow which was to follow.
During the night of the 31st October-1st November, the Corps decided
to make a general attack at dawn, the orders being verbally delivered
to Colonel Whitehead by the Brigade-Major soon after midnight. There
was thus very little time to make preparations. Fortunately Major
Battcock was acting as intelligence officer, and set to work with all
his characteristic energy and method. He had only rejoined the
Battalion at his own request some days previously, and although senior
to every officer except that of the Colonel, had volunteered to act in
any capacity in which he could be useful. He was living in advanced
Headquarters at Asiago School, and succeeded in getting everyone in
position by 3.30 a.m. Meanwhile D Company, whose duty it was that
night to patrol in front, reported that Monte Catz was still strongly
held. This long bare shoulder, which projected southward from the main
ridge into the valley, was the objective of the Battalion. It was the
key of the whole of this section of the Winterstellung, as it
overlooked the trenches on either side. At 5.35 the attack was
launched; C and D Companies, from right to left, were charged with the
assault; they advanced close behind a barrage. Each had a section
widely extended in advance as skirmishers, the main body advancing in
two lines. C Company met with immediate and splendid success. Brushing
aside opposition at Costa and on the slopes of the hill, they stood
upon the summit at 7.30 a.m.; they had already taken 65 prisoners and
had completely cleared their area. D Company had met with a tougher
resistance, and being assailed by cross-fire from both right and left,
were held up in the Plain until B Company came into the gap, and
seized the machine-gun nests on the south-west slopes of Monte Catz
about 7.30 a.m.
Thus our position was satisfactory beyond expectation. The 144th
Brigade, however, on the left, were in a less happy condition. Their
assault on the lower slopes of M. Interrotto had not been successful.
The enemy had even passed to a counter-offensive, and had thrown them
back beyond the uttermost villages of the Plain, Camporovere and
Bosco. The evacuation of the latter imperilled all our dispositions,
and Colonel Whitehead wisely kept A Company at Asiago in case the
enemy should drive a wedge between the two Brigades. It was the more
unfortunate that O.C. D Company, acting on one of those vague orders
which often circulate during battle, whose source it is impossible to
trace with certainty, had withdrawn his company somewhat from the
slopes, believing himself to be conforming to the desires of the 144th
Brigade. Monte Catz was therefore left in a dangerously salient
position on the west, but as the Bucks, and beyond them the French on
the east, had been completely successful, it was thought well to take
the risk of exploiting the success which the 145th Brigade had already
won. The indefatigable C Company, therefore, pushed on up the hill,
seized and passed the Sichestal Trench (the last organised defence in
that area); the Bucks securely protected their right flank; on the
left B Company held a line slanting backwards to the Plain, where D
continued the line on the outskirts of Bosco, still untaken. All this
was accomplished by about 3 p.m. The blow of the Battalion had been
decisive, as Lord Cavan mentions in his despatch. They had taken that
day 480 prisoners, and more than 30 guns, and had destroyed many more.
Next morning the 144th Brigade seized all their objectives with little
difficulty; the Winterstellung existed no longer. The Division held
the entrance and both sides of the Val d'Assa, and began to march up
it towards their final objective, the Val Sugana, one of the main
nerves of the enemy system. The Austrians fell into a rout, which can
have few parallels in military history. Famished and without hope in
the world, faced at the same moment with military disaster and
political collapse, they fled headlong into the mountains, or swarmed
down in enormous numbers to surrender to our advancing troops; almost
the last remnant of self-respect which they retained was their
determination not to become the prisoners of the Italians. The rough
mountain tracks were blocked with their debris; and the crowds of
unarmed men embarrassed our advance-guards and checked their progress.
Generals and superior officers came down to meet us, sometimes at the
head of troops, sometimes as solitary stragglers. A Corps Commander
and three Divisional Generals were among the spoil of the Division.
Here and there during the 2nd and the early morning of the 3rd, little
bodies of devoted men still resisted; as at Mount Meatta, where a
Company of 4th Oxfords put 100 Austrians to flight after a sharp
combat. It was noted also that when the red-capped Bosnian Regiment
surrendered to our Battalion, the men obeyed their officers smartly,
and laid down their arms and equipment neatly at the word of command.
It was curious that these Mahommedans, from the latest acquired of all
the Austrian possessions, should have been the most faithful to their
military oath. During the 3rd the confusion among the Austrians was,
if possible, increased by their mistaken belief that the Armistice had
come into force; they ceased even the isolated semblance of
resistance, and were herded in the valleys like sheep. Meanwhile the
Division advanced inexorably by the Val d'Assa and the subsidiary Val
Portule; they crossed the enemy's frontier at 8.30 on that morning,
first of all the armies of the West (except for that portion of Alsace
which had remained in French hands since 1914). That evening the
Battalion lodged in Caldonazza, just south of the Val Sugana; here the
enemy had abandoned a vast ordnance park and more than 200 guns. The
Advanced Guards were already in Levico, that pleasant little spa in
the valley, with its baths and springs, only 20 miles from Trent. Next
morning the news came that the Armistice was signed and was to come
into force at 3 p.m. The weary troops continued their march up the
valley until that hour, taking still vast quantities of prisoners;
then they halted. For our Battalion the war ended at the village of
Vigalzano. They had covered 35 miles in two and a-half days over
rough paths in the mountains. Not a single man had fallen out. Their
casualties in this last glorious battle amounted to 17 killed and 23
wounded. Their individual captures cannot be recorded, but the booty
of the Division was unprecedented, and reached 22,000 prisoners and at
least 600 guns.
Here I will leave them; I will not describe their subsequent stay in
Italy, the demobilisation of the Battalion, the return of the nucleus
and its welcome at Reading, or its rebirth in peace under its present
popular and capable Commander, Colonel Aldworth, and its excellent
Adjutant, Captain Goodenough.
Let us not forget these Berkshire men, who played a worthy part in the
changing scenes of this tremendous conflict: who, at the close, amidst
the utter confusion of their enemies, bore witness to the truth of
that saying, 'He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.'
APPENDIX A.
1/4TH BATTALION ROYAL BERKSHIRE REGIMENT.
ROLL OF OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN WHO DIED IN THE WAR.
CAPTAINS.
Attride, R. G.
Buck, C.
Down, W. O., M.C.
LIEUTENANTS.
Hunt, N. G.
Palmer, R. W. P.
Ridley, L. E.
SECOND-LIEUTENANTS.
Bartram, A.
Beasley, A. W., M.M.
Clayton, N.
Garside, T. O.
Heppell, H. D.
Teed, H. S.
Wakeford, G. T.
ATTACHED TO OTHER UNITS.
Lieut.-Colonel Thorne, H. U. H.
Lieut. Wells, H. M. W.
COMPANY SERGT.-MAJORS.
392 Lawrence, W.
200546 Wright, A. T., D.C.M.
COMPANY QUARTERMASTER SERGEANTS.
599 Moore, F. W.
1637 Perrin, C.
SERGEANTS.
2399 Amor, A. S.
200627 Benn, C.
2478 Brewerton, W. W.
200485 Childs, F.
2327 Didcock, F.
2402 Forge, G. F.
202093 Garrard, C. J. C.
200080 Giles, F. C.
2883 Grant, E. J.
426 Haines, G.
891 Hedges, F. W.
203799 Henson, A.
2446 Hewett, W. C. E.
200010 Holloway, W. C.
2610 House, A. E.
200861 Lukeman, C. H.
2529 Lush, G.
200605 Nicholls, A.
200406 Paddick, H.
200670 Parker, C. J.
200169 Parker, J.
2773 Pinnell, H. J.
44 Reddrop, R. T.
200542 Russell, T. D.
441 Rutter, P.
2434 Taylor, V. H.
200246 Weavings, R.
200690 Wright, F. J.
LANCE-SERGEANTS.
2342 Gorring, H. J.
200390 Langford, A. W.
1937 Watson, F. W.
200192 Webb, F. W.
CORPORALS.
202402 Cocking, J. H. A.
200422 Davies, E. L., M.M.
2340 Jones, A. T. N.
12799 Killmaster, W.
201482 Knight, F.
1830 Painter, A. G.
2701 Papps, A. C.
2575 Piggott, W.
203840 Russell, W. J.
1678 Rutland, H. S.
1825 Searle, A. E.
203836 Simmonds, T. G.
200896 Snow, J. M.
2154 Taylor, W. G.
201555 Watts, W.
2395 Wilson, R. G.
LANCE-CORPORALS.
200412 Attride, G. J.
200382 Barker, E. A.
200344 Beard, H. E.
2765 Boston, A. W.
200137 Brooks, A. C.
203198 Campbell, H. V.
5649 Cole, A. C.
200125 Cook, W. C.
200160 Dean, H. S.
1625 Deane, M. A. C.
200946 Dee, A. E.
2176 Garrett, F. H.
2947 George, R. W.
666 Godwin, A. H.
2946 Goodall, A.
200813 Hands, W. T.
3015 Haskins, R.
200513 Hatto, H. H.
2659 House, H. J.
203833 Jenkins, W.
4945 Johnson, W. G. A.
1470 Lambert, A. J.
1767 Legge, A. E.
201450 Lewis, F. C.
200242 Mills, G.
2442 Odell, E. V.
200425 Perkins, E. H. R.
201508 Rackley, A.
200621 Saunders, E.
6289 Smith, F.
1690 Somerville, S.
2354 Vaughan, F. W.
201543 Ward, E.
5775 Wright, A. V.
PRIVATES.
4716 Abery, L. H.
5529 Adlam, F. C.
200545 Allum, F. S.
203061 Andrews, G.
202156 Andrews, W.
201477 Annetts, P.
5455 Appleton, G.
2653 Atkins, F.
200824 Aubrey, F. W.
201843 Austin, J. W.
5654 Ayles, E. H.
1883 Ayres, F.
2714 Bacon, P. G. W.
1939 Badcock, A.
4682 Baker, P. G.
200617 Barnett, A. A.
1768 Barney, C.
5789 Bateman, J.
2962 Beckett, A. J.
5831 Beckinsale, L.
200157 Belcher, H.
200743 Belcher, S. E.
202211 Benger, A. T.
201877 Bickle, A. E.
5843 Bird, F.
1473 Blade, H. R. W.
4920 Bloomfield, C. I.
200472 Bolton, C.
10116 Bond, F. S.
2748 Boothby, R.
37969 Borley, F. G.
3088 Bowell, G. P.
20662 Bracey, G. G.
200400 Brant, B. J. L.
36259 Bromley, H.
5444 Brooman, H. B.
2076 Brown, C. J. F.
200544 Brown, S. R.
203847 Brown, W. A.
203181 Buckingham, F. J.
220192 Bullen, E. L.
18181 Burrows, C.
2782 Butler, A. J.
4969 Buxcey, A. E.
200960 Buxton, W.
200632 Cane, N.
203294 Cannon, H. F.
202033 Carter, A.
203195 Chaplin, F. A.
2122 Chapman, A. E.
202068 Chapman, W. J.
5327 Clarke, E. F.
36539 Clayton, W. M.
37974 Clements, F.
203192 Cleveland, F. T.
201991 Cockell, J.
5648 Collacott, F. E. V.
201548 Collis, A.
202139 Commins, H. J.
34087 Cook, A. E.
18346 Cook, F. H. V.
30435 Cook, J.
203706 Cook, R.
37977 Cooke, F. T.
5671 Cooper, H.
17723 Copas, A. W.
4801 Coventry, H. T.
4815 Cox, E. B.
5263 Coxhead, W.
5199 Cripps, A. E.
200902 Crook, W.
4701 Cropp, C.
5349 Cruse, A. G.
202219 Curtis, W. J.
202181 Dale, S.
2656 Dance, W. W. S.
202887 Darling, F. H.
5855 Davey, A. A.
2983 Denham, C. W.
2753 Dix, W. H.
5828 Dixon, G.
202230 Drake, F. J. V.
5738 Duckett, H. E.
202107 Eade, J.
202149 Eady, L.
200566 Early, F. W.
20350 Eighteen, H. T.
5083 Elbrow, A. J.
201908 Elwick, C. G.
201773 Emmett, C. W.
202186 Emmons, C. W. H.
5208 Evans, D.
200535 Fennell, F.
3250 Filbee, W. H. F.
3271 Filmore, H. W.
37921 Fisher, H. A.
203326 Fleetwood, F. P.
20202 Fleming, B.
2727 Ford, A. E.
200878 Freeman, J.
12384 Freeth, R.
202895 French, H.
201970 Fryer, E. G.
203712 Fullbrook, A. H.
37979 Furness, F. C.
203075 Garraway, R. H.
201356 Geater, A. J.
2539 Gee, R. B.
2996 Gibbard, H.
4983 Gibbons, C. E.
5641 Giles, E. S.
3053 Giles, F.
203881 Giles, H.
37915 Goddard, H. T. W.
200058 Goodenough, A. S. J.
2062 Goodship, A. B.
4874 Gore, A. J.
201412 Gould, A.
4939 Grant, G.
44411 Grant, G.
5131 Graves, T. H.
203255 Green, W. G.
32808 Greenaway, E.
5092 Greenough, E. J.
4124 Grigg, J.
201694 Haines, A. E.
201757 Haines, H. W.
2613 Hall, A. E.
201883 Hall, A. E.
201883 Harding, A. E.
203727 Harmer, H.
2723 Harris, J. F.
2881 Harvey, E. E.
4759 Harvey, F. W.
203793 Hawkes, C. J.
5178 Hays, J.
2968 Head, W.
1686 Heath, W. H.
2130 Herne, G.
200660 Herring, C.
201736 Hester, H. R.
5688 Higgins, A. H.
2380 Higgs, A. W.
201085 Higgs, J.
202365 Hill, S. A.
36755 Hipkiss, J. P.
202201 Hodges, S. G.
202426 Holloway, E.
4906 Holton, F. V.
37918 Hood, J.
202247 Hopkins, R. G.
2718 House, O.
203852 Humphries, W.
3382 Hunt, A.
203736 Ireland, G.
37186 Jackson, C.
202044 Jefferies, G. H.
37958 Jessel, H.
37939 Jones, L. L.
201568 Jones, T. H.
200293 Josey, B.
200196 Kinchin, H.
203187 King, A. E.
6126 King, F.
201455 King, H. A.
2616 Knott, A. T.
200251 Lambourne, W.
200834 Langford, A. B.
203746 Langmead, A. R.
6124 Lee, A. H.
202016 Lennard, J.
202041 Leonard, A.
3058 Leonard, R.
202703 Lett, G. E.
3113 Lewendon, A.
5709 Liddard, E.
200291 Long, D.
2607 Loving, H.
2204 Luke, W. S.
200783 Lunnon, P.
36028 Macdonald, A.
37913 Main, A. H.
3955 Maidwaring, H.
3198 Marshall, H. K.
202124 Martin, J.
36831 Mason, L. G. A.
203045 Mathers, G.
3166 May, C.
202118 May, P.
3836 McKay, J.
3060 Meads, F.
3809 Meads, T.
201494 Meads, W. H.
14102 Merriman, H. J. C.
203817 Miles, W. H.
1816 Miles, W. T. G.
18439 Millest, S. E.
200583 Mitcham, W. C.
41312 Mitchell, G.
2758 Moody, L. F.
5422 Morton, T. W.
2951 Muggridge, F. J.
2143 Mulford, F.
200361 Mulford, R. C. A.
37932 Nacowitz, J.
201396 Neale, G. W.
3193 Nelson, F.
200099 New, J.
37941 Newell, J.
20375 Newman, E. T.
1826 Noakes, A.
200454 Norman, J. P.
201765 Osborne, H. J.
201994 Packford, C.
3483 Painter, F. C.
202194 Panting, G. A.
5240 Parker, A. Y.
203760 Parker, H. L.
5653 Parsons, C. F.
5567 Parsons, W. H.
202148 Pascoe, H.
201839 Pearce, E. A.
201474 Pearce, W. A.
36417 Pepper, C.
3234 Piddington, W. J.
3456 Pike, W.
37960 Platt, R.
202014 Plumridge, W.
3032 Pocock, S. H. V.
201029 Pocock, S. R.
200310 Poole, J. H.
2713 Pratt, R. E.
36684 Prowse, W.
203846 Quarterman, C. F.
3450 Rackley, F.
202892 Robertson, R. H.
4974 Robey, W. R.
37169 Robinson, C. E.
6144 Rodman, S. H.
3004 Rogers, G. F. D.
2057 Rose, C. R.
18532 Rudge, S.
200373 Russ, E.
201581 Sadler, J. H.
203803 Sadler, T.
3384 Salmon, H.
35971 Salmon, W. H.
37989 Sargent, S.
200737 Schaffer, A.
201975 Searing, A.
202059 Searle, C.
202121 Searle, E.
2848 Selby, F. P.
2845 Seymour, A. J.
3033 Shackleford, A. F.
201881 Sharland, H.
201801 Shepherd, C.
37935 Skuce, W.
2469 Smith, A. F.
2378 Smith, W. T.
37925 Spice, A. F.
21830 Stevens, L.
203854 Stratford, W.
2635 Street, H. S.
5312 Swain, A. T.
36875 Taylor, G.
202165 Tellan, F. E.
203822 Thompson, J. H.
203781 Thorn, R. E.
5164 Tipping, H.
202174 Trather, E.
203782 Treadwell, W. S.
200054 Turner, F.
2639 Turner, J.
203300 Tyler, W.
1751 Tyrell, E.
5193 Vickers, J.
5729 Vockins, B. O.
200879 Waite, A.
2960 Walker, H. V.
201060 Walters, C. H.
3216 Warren, P.
1947 Webb, G. W.
2017 Webb, W. E.
203845 Welch, F. A.
5844 Wells, A.
19430 Werrell, W.
203770 Wheatcroft, A. F.
5197 Wheeler, F.
1457 Wheeler, G.
200986 White, C. V. T.
2662 White, J. H.
4795 White, R. J.
5856 Whittle, W.
200804 Wickens, B. E.
200665 Wicks, N. J.
5143 Wicks, W. C.
5553 Wicks, W. G.
201131 Wiggins, A. J.
202115 Wiles, F.
5638 Williams, A. G.
5412 Wiltshire, G.
2580 Wing, A. G.
2633 Winter, L. V.
201514 Witts, H.
2764 Woodall, R. E.
202000 Woodley, A. G.
203790 Woodley, F. W.
202684 Woodward, H.
23660 Woolford, E. J.
5793 Young, S.
APPENDIX B.
Honours And Decorations Gained By Officers, N.C.O.'s And Men Of The
1st/4th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment, While Serving With The
Battalion.
C.M.G.
Colonel O. Pearce Serocold.
Lieut.-Col. R. J. Clarke.
D.S.O.
Lieut.-Col. A. B. Lloyd-Baker (Bucks Battn. attached).
Lieut.-Col. R. J. Clarke.
Capt. W. A. Wetherilt.
M.C.
Major J. N. Aldworth.
Capt. S. Boyle.
Capt. G. M. Gaythorne-Hardy.
Capt. O. B. Challenor.
Capt. W. O. Down.
Capt. D. J. Ward.
Capt. O. M. James.
Capt. E. W. Crust.
Capt. B. F. Holmes (Norfolk Regt. attached).
Capt. J. W. Cawley.
Capt. G. C. W. Gregory (East Surrey Regt. attached).
Capt. L. Ball (R.A.M.C. attached).
Capt. L. T. Goodenough.
Capt. S. C. Larn.
Lieut. W. O. Forder.
Lieut. P. G. Handford (Wilts Regt. attached).
Lieut. T. Rogers.
Lieut. A. O. Stott.
Lieut. H. T. Wevill.
2nd/Lieut. E. E. Millar (Wilts Regt. attached).
200005 C.S.M., A. G. Rider.
201108 C.S.M., W. H. Heath.
DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL.
200024 R.S.M. Laidler, A. H.
200546 Sergt. Wright, A. T.
3134 Sergt. Rogers, T.
65 Sergt. White, S.
203794 Sergt. Gilding, F.
200569 Sergt. White, W. T.
[A]405 Sergt. Westall, A. G.
200034 Sergt. Roberts, W. A.
201115 Sergt. Wilson, W.
200052 Sergt. Holloway, T.
200756 Sergt. Salmon, J. H.
200500 Sergt. Moore, S. W.
203791 C.S.M. Alder, G.
4749 Pte. Appleby, J.
2594 Pte. Sadler, G.
[Footnote A: _denotes award of Bar to D.C.M._]
MILITARY MEDAL.
12 Sergt. Beasley, A. W.
445 Sergt. Wickens, R. A.
203809 L/Cpl. Ranscombe, W.
142 Sergt. Shorter, G.
2035 Pte. Sellwood, P.
3128 Pte. Ross, B. A.
4968 Pte. Wernham, H. W.
[B]3120 L/Cpl. Rixon, W.
2439 L/Cpl. Davies, E. L.
2612 L/Cpl. Rice, R.
2646 Corpl. Cooke, W.
[B]200814 Pte. Mitchell, R.
144 Pte. Smith, S.
2629 Pte. Russell, T.
1547 Sergt. Goodenough, L. T.
2768 Corpl. Crust, E. W.
200150 Sergt. Garrett, E. J.
200633 Pte. Lambden, R. E.
200426 Sergt. Millican, H.
200847 L/Cpl. De Gruchy, H.
200620 Sergt. Martin, S.
200647 Sergt. Seeley, C. L.
203875 L/Sergt. Baylis, L. G.
200661 L/Cpl. Slatter, S. G.
201824 Pte. Breadmore, F.
200846 Sergt. White, H. G.
200406 Sergt. Paddick, H.
200373 Pte. Russ, E.
200682 Sergt. Fuller, B. H.
20649 L/Cpl. Mazey, J.
2772 Pte. Hutchings, G. W.
2252 Sergt. Evans, A.
3143 Corpl. Hart, H.
1858 Pte. Oliver, M. W.
8362 Corpl. Allen, W.
200675 Sergt. Shaw, E.
200263 Sergt. Harman, C. H.
37317 Corpl. White, N. B.
200356 Corpl. Withers, A. V.
38157 Pte. Black, D.
203850 Corpl. Cripps, H. J.
201508 Pte. Rackley, A.
36644 Pte. Edmunds, F.
26031 L/Cpl. Lloyd, L. V.
203873 Sergt. Thatcher, A.
200905 Pte. Robinson, F. W.
201115 Sergt. Wilson, W.
36796 Pte. Cooksey, E. H.
202187 Pte. Disbury, C.
200500 Sergt. Moore, S. W.
200256 Corpl. Duncan, J. A.
1794 L/Cpl. Sargent, E. N.
1140 Sergt. Holloway, T.
203771 L/Cpl. Stratton, W. W.
37937 L/Cpl. Rogers, S.
200485 Corpl. Childs, F. W.
200562 Pte. Clare, H. H.
203812 L/Cpl. Parris, A. T.
201775 Pte. Cund, F.
201917 Pte. Curtis, C. W.
200796 Pte. Stokes, W. J.
201505 Sergt. Prior, S. C.
200215 Pte. Carter, A.
203772 Pte. Cartland, J.
200216 L/Cpl. Bricks, H. A.
203862 Pte. Wiggins, C. W.
201753 Pte. Evans, G.
201796 L/Cpl. Thomas, M.
200877 L/Cpl. Freeman, J.
34146 Pte. Tyrrell, F.
202165 Pte. Crouch, W. J.
202244 L/Cpl. Edwards, H. F.
21799 Pte. Brooks, F. J.
201383 Pte. Hopkins, F.
17048 Pte. Fisher, A.
201776 Corpl. Sturgess, A. H.
[Footnote B: _denotes award of Bar to Military Medal._]
MERITORIOUS SERVICE MEDAL.
200423 C.Q.M.S. Pitman, C. E.
200063 C.Q.M.S. Snarey, F. A.
200019 C.Q.M.S. Hatton, E. S.
200849 Sergt. Grover, F. R.
200549 Sergt. Morris, W. H.
203829 L/Cpl. Kurton, C.
203753 Pte. Meads, H. H.
MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES.
Colonel O. Pearce Serocold (twice).
Lieut.-Col. R. J. Clarke (three times).
Lieut.-Col. A. B. Lloyd-Baker (twice) (Bucks Battn. attached).
Major G. A. Battcock (twice).
Major J. N. Aldworth (twice).
Capt. A. G. M. Sharpe.
Capt. G. M. Gaythorne-Hardy.
Capt. R. G. Attride.
Capt. O. B. Challenor.
Capt. L. Ball (R.A.M.C. attached).
Capt. A. C. Hughes.
Capt. O. M. James.
Capt. F. Winsloe.
Capt. W. A. Wetherilt.
Lieut. R. A. Hogarth.
Lieut. J. Payne.
Lieut. R. W. Wells.
2/Lieut. C. A. Freeman.
R.S.M. Hanney, W. C.
R.S.M. Hogarth, R. A.
2361 R.Q.M.S. Borton, E.
200024 C.S.M. Laidler, A. H.
200427 Sergt. Gutteridge, A.
200756 Sergt. Salmon, J. H.
203798 Sergt. Neal, S.
200540 Sergt. Monney, J. T.
200084 Sergt. Palmer, F.
1179 Sergt. Beaver, H.
200532 Sergt. Higgs, W. A. E. (twice).
200848 Sergt. Gale, A.
200947 L/Sergt. Earle, W.
200072 Corpl. Eggleton, A. E.
200356 Corpl. Withers, A. V. (twice).
200415 Corpl. Peacock, W. J.
200040 Corpl. Poulter, E.
200275 Corpl. Croft, J.
899 Corpl. Collier, G. H.
203182 L/Cpl. Parris, L.
200810 L/Cpl. Shaw, A. E.
17048 Pte. Fisher, A.
202196 Pte. Hardy, T. E.
200562 Pte. Clare, H. H.
38172 Pte. Jukes, F.
FOREIGN DECORATIONS.
FRENCH CROIX DE GUERRE.
Lieut.-Col. H. F. Whitehead (E. Lancs. Regt. attached).
203842 Pte. Holley, P. F.
BELGIAN CROIX DE GUERRE.
200415 Corpl. Peacock, W. J.
ITALIAN SILVER MEDAL FOR VALOUR.
Capt. J. W. Cawley.
Capt. W. A. Wetherilt.
Lieut. A. O. Stott.
203791 C.S.M. Alder, G.
ITALIAN BRONZE MEDAL FOR VALOUR.
Lieut. O. Buxton.
203846 Sergt. Gilbey, O.
38157 Pte. Black, D.
ITALIAN CROCE DI GUERRA.
Lieut.-Col. A. B. Lloyd-Baker (Bucks Battn. attached).
202235 Sergt. Hill, A. J.
200569 Sergt. White, W. T.
203850 Corpl. Cripps, H. J.
201753 Pte. Evans, G.
36796 Pte. Cooksey, E. H.
FRENCH OFFICIER DU MÉRITE D'AGRICOLE.
Lieut.-Col. R. J. Clarke.
FRENCH CHEVALIER DU MÉRITE D'AGRICOLE.
Major J. N. Aldworth.
[Illustration: Lieut.-Col. R. J. CLARKE, C.M.G., D.S.O., T.D.
Commanding From 14 Feb. 1916 To 13 April, 1918.]
[Illustration: Lieut.-Col. A. B. LLOYD-BAKER, D.S.O., T.D.
Commanding From 13 April, 1918 To 1 September, 1918.]
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WAR SERVICE OF THE 1/4 ROYAL
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