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diff --git a/22028.txt b/22028.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..33882ac --- /dev/null +++ b/22028.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5359 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The War Service of the 1/4 Royal Berkshire +Regiment (T. F.), by Charles Robert Mowbray Fraser Cruttwell + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +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 + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WAR SERVICE OF THE 1/4 ROYAL +BERKSHIRE REGIMENT (T. F.)*** + + +E-text prepared by David Clarke, Christine P. Travers, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) from +page images generously made available by Internet Archive/Canadian +Libraries (http://www.archive.org/details/toronto) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 22028-h.htm or 22028-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/0/2/22028/22028-h/22028-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/0/2/22028/22028-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/warserviceberk00crutuoft + + +Transcriber's note: + + Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. All other + inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling + has been maintained. + + The original book used for this file did not contain a table + of contents, and one has been added for the convenience of the + reader. + + + + + +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 Hebuterne. + + 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 Pozieres. + + 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 +depot. 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 Fletre, 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 chateau 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 Armentieres 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 Eglise, 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 Armentieres. 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 Chateau 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 _a 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 Pozieres 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 Armentieres, 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 Eglise 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 Armentieres 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 Bethune, 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 Bethune, untouched by the Hun, the church of Givenchy, the slag +heaps of La Bassee, and the low ridge of Aubers, which barred the road +to Lille, a dim frame in the background. We visited Bethune, 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-Bethune 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 Fouquieres-les-Bethune, 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 Lieres, 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 Chateau 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 HEBUTERNE + + +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 Hebuterne, 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 Hebuterne +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 +Hebuterne, 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. + +Hebuterne 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 chateau 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 Champetre; 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 chateau, 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 Hebuterne 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, Feuillee 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 Hebuterne. 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 Hebuterne; 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 Hebuterne 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 Chateau, 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 +Bethune 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 Hebuterne 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 Hebuterne 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, Cite St. Elie, and Cite 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, Hebuterne, 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 Hebuterne 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 Pozieres. 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 Hebuterne 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, Hebuterne 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 chateau, 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 Hebuterne. 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 Hebuterne 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 Chateau, 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 +Hebuterne 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 Hebuterne 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; reveille, 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 Hebuterne 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 +Hebuterne 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 POZIERES + + +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 +Pozieres, 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 +Pozieres 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 Pozieres 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 Pozieres. 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 Pozieres, 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 Pozieres; 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 +Pozieres, 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 Pozieres 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 +chateau 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. Poincare, '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 Hebuterne, 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 Pozieres +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 Becourt 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. Henaut, 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 Becourt 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 Bezancourt 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 Epehy. 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 role 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 +Hebuterne 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 Hebuterne, 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 role 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 chateau, 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 L50 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 Compiegne, 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 Pozieres 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 MERITE D'AGRICOLE. + + Lieut.-Col. R. J. Clarke. + + FRENCH CHEVALIER DU MERITE 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 +BERKSHIRE REGIMENT (T. F.)*** + + +******* This file should be named 22028.txt or 22028.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/0/2/22028 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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