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WAR HISTORY

OF THE

18TH (S.) BATTALION
DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

■

THE KING’S COLOUR

OF 18th BATTALION DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY.
Laid up in the Chapter House of Durham Cathedral.

WAR HISTORY

OF THE

18TH (S.) BATTALION
DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Lieut. -Col. W. D. LOWE, D.S.O., M.C.

WITH A FOREWORD BY

Lieut.-Col. H. BOWES, T.D.

HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK
TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY CALCUTTA

1920

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY
OF

THE GALLANT COMRADES

OF THE

18TH (S.) BATTALION DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

PREFACE

For the general supervision of this record I am very
much indebted to Lieutenant-Colonel H. Bowes, T.D.,
who organised and commanded the Battalion for
nearly two years, and to whose energy and powers o
administration we all owe a debt of gratitude.

Without the assistance of Major D. E. Ince, M.C
I could hardly have contemplated this task : his
unfailing memory and ready help is registered on
every page.

To the few who responded to the appeal for diaries
and letters, and especially to the Company Commanders
and to Lieutenant W. Allbeury, M.C., I am most
grateful, and trust that they have, in all cases where
desired, received their papers again.

All proceeds from the sale of the History, less the
immediate cost of printing, binding, distribution, etc.,
will be handed to the Battalion fund for the relief of
those who have suffered for us all.

It is difficult in this type of record to hit the happy
mean between writing for the public and for the
Battalion. I have not attempted to do so, and have
therefore described, very probably to the weariness

vii

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

of the general reader, every move of the Battalion,
and for this I do not apologise. To the Battalion
every place-name will recall some memories, some
hopes and in too many cases some griefs. The
History of the Battalion is written for the Battalion.

Lastly, no one is more aware than myself of the
difficulty of compiling a record of the gallant deeds
done. Very many names, as I know, are unrecorded.
Turn to the long list of honours won and to the names
enrolled on the record of decorations, and they are
merely an insignificant minority in comparison with
the numbers of those whose gallantry, singleness of
heart and devotion to duty engraven in the memories
of their comrades remain unrewarded, but were
none the less known and honoured by their fellow-
fighters.

In case a later edition should appear I should be
very glad of any corrections or additions that may
occur to the reader.

My sister, Miss L. A. Lowe, has helped me much
by reading through the proofs.

T he Castle,
Durham.

W. D. L.

Vlll

FOREWORD

Little is required as introduction to “ The History of
the 1 8th (S.) Battalion (ist County) The Durham Light
Infantry.” The circumstances under which the Bat¬
talion was raised, the vicissitudes through which it
passed, and its final disbandment are all so graphically,
concisely, and so humanly related that no special atten¬
tion requires to be drawn to any specific incident or
to the arrangement of the volume as a whole.

Typical of the men of Durham as the county
regiment may be, it is safe to say that no unit of it
was more thoroughly representative of the Palatinate
than that dealt with herein. Drawn almost exclu¬
sively from the entire county, raised under the aegis
of a County Committee, it was the first of several units
similarly raised within the confines of Durham during
the war. That its inception was sound is evidenced
by the fact that its personnel, in the first instance,
strange to training and to comradeship, the essentials
to fighting, and in the absence of a single officer of
the Regular Army, later supplied a very considerable
proportion of its strength as commissioned officers to

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

fill the gaps arising from lengthened hostilities and
the attendant wastage of war.

So far as can be ascertained of all units raised
locally throughout the country during the war, the
1 8th (S.) Battalion stands out as having alone been
enlisted, clothed, equipped, administered, and handed
over as a free gift to the State.

Perusal of the book, an authoritative treatise and
primarily compiled for those who served with the
Battalion, cannot fail to interest generally those who
may in any way have had a prior knowledge of the
wonderful personnel from which it was enlisted, or
the conditions under which the unit was raised, whilst
to those who actually served with the Battalion almost
every page will recall some incident, however trivial,
grave or gay, and bring back to memory, restore and
gild some half-forgotten billet, and may, perchance,
in memory recall some erstwhile forgotten comrade.

Throughout the volume the student may with
ease trace the life history of the Battalion, first in its
chrysalis state, later, as organisation and training pro¬
gressed and developed that comradeship and tradition
so essential to its well-being, bursting forth into the
strong fighting spirit which throughout its career ever
characterised the Battalion and added lustre to its
good name wherever it went, then during the Armis¬
tice, still keeping to the forefront by its sportsmanlike
qualities, and finally returning to the county of its
birth, laying up its King’s Colour in the Mother Church
of the Diocese, forming its Old Comrades’ Association,

FOREWORD

and thus ensuring that the comradeship and tradition
developed under the strain and stress of war should
be continued and enjoyed during the days of peace.

To the author we of the Battalion owe a deep
debt of gratitude. That the unit created a tradition
cannot be denied ; such tradition has now been
stabilised in this history, and no more authoritative or
appropriate compiler could have been selected than
its writer. From the inception of the Battalion at
Cocken Hall in the early autumn of 1914 he was the
life and soul of the training and administration of the
unit ; almost from the first its Adjutant, with all the
multifarious duties pertaining to his office and per¬
mitting him to become conversant with every detail,
later as Second in Command, and lastly, and de¬
servedly so, its Commanding Officer ; from beginning
to end the Battalion was his, he saw it grow up and
pass from success to success, and as reward for his
labour of love in compiling this history all that we
can offer to him is the marvellous tradition which he
did so much to create, and which still exists, together
with the comradeship which continues to this day
amongst all those who have served together in the
Battalion.

I have been asked by Lieut.-Colonel W. D. Lowe,
D.S.O., M.C., to write this “ Foreword.” I have
accepted his invitation not because I consider that I
am the right and proper member of the Battalion to
do so, but because in introducing the History of the
1 8th Battalion The Durham Light Infantry, I find

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

the opportunity of thanking him for the help and
assistance which, often under trying circumstances, he
was ever ready to give, whilst I also take a last oppor¬
tunity of repeating that never did a Commanding
Officer proceed overseas with greater feelings of con¬
fidence, power, and support in his unit than did the
Officer Commanding the 1 8th (S.) Battalion The
Durham Light Infantry in the late autumn of 1915.

Durham,

2 jth May 1920.

HUGH BOWES,

Lieut. -Colonel.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Diary of the War ..... xvii

CHAPTER I

Formation and Early Days of the Battalion, 1914-15 . 1

CHAPTER II

The Formation and Training of Thirty-first Division,

1915. . . . . . .12

CHAPTER III

Service Abroad in Egypt, 1915-16 . . .16

CHAPTER IV

France and the Preparations for the Somme Battle, 1916 28

CHAPTER V

The Battle of the Somme, 1916 . . . .3 7

CHAPTER VI

Festubert, Neuve Chapelle, and Givenchy, 1916 . 48

CHAPTER VII

Back to the Somme, 1916-17 . . . .56

CHAPTER VIII

xi ii

The Spring of 1917

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

CHAPTER IX

PAGE

The Summer Offensive of 1917 . - . -7^

CHAPTER X

Autumn and Winter of 1917—18 . . . .88

CHAPTER XI

The Great German Offensive, 1918 . . .100

CHAPTER XII

The Turn of the Tide, 1918 . . . .118

CHAPTER XIII

The Last Advance and the End, 1918 . . .141

APPENDIXES

I. List of Subscribers to the i8th (S.) Battalion

Durham Light Infantry (County) . .155

II. Telegrams and Messages of Congratulation . 157

III. Roll of Officers and Warrant Officers on Head¬

quarters . . . . . .184

IV. Roll of Officers . . . . .187

V. List of Non-Commissioned Officers and Men who
left the Battalion after Service in France to
proceed to England for a Commission . .197

VI. List of Decorations . . . . .199

VII. Casualty Lists ..... 205

xiv

ILLUSTRATIONS

The King’s Colour .... Frontispiece

Gommecourt under a Barrage . . To face page 35

Craters at Givenchy . . . . ,, 53

Gommecourt in Snow . . . „ 65

Lens Church . . . . „ 82

Meteren Village . . . . .,,114

Meteren . . . . . ,, 12 1

Vieux Berquin . . . . „ 124

Nieppe Forest . . . . „ 127

Bailleul Church 134

Crater of Ammunition Dump . . . ,,136

Ploegsteert Wood . . . . . „ 138

The Lys and Warneton . . . . ,,140

The Lys and German Pill-box . . . 142

Wrecked Tanks . . . . . „ 144

Map ...... In Pocket

DIARY OF THE WAR

IV estern Front. Other Fronts.

1914. 1914.

Aug. 3. Germany declared war on
France.

,, 4. Great Britain declared war

on Germany.

,, 15. Fall of Lifege.

„ 16. British Army landed in

F ranee.

Aug. 26. Battle of Tannenberg

began.

Sept. 5. End of Retreat from
Mons.

„ 6. First Battle of the Marne

began.

„ 15. First Battle of the Aisne

began.

Oct. 9. Fall of Antwerp.

„ 20. First Battle of Ypres

began.

Nov. 1. Naval action off Coronel.

Dec. 8. Naval action off the

Falklands.

1 9 1 5- * 9 1 5-

Feb. 25. Allied Fleet attacked the
Dardanelles.

Mar. 10. British took Neuve
Chapelle. *

Apr. 22. Second Battle of Ypres
began. Gas used for
the first time.

Apr. 25. Allied landing in Galli¬
poli.

May 3. Battle of the Dunajec.

„ 7. Lusitania torpedoed.

„ 23. Italy declared war on

Austria.

Aug. 8. General Birdwood’s ad¬
vance at Anzac.

xvii

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Western Front.

l9T 5-

Sept. 25. Battle of Loos and in
Champagne.

1916.

Feb. 21. Battle of Verdun began.
Apr. 9. German assault at Verdun.

July 1. First Battle of the Somme
began.

Nov. 13. British victory on the
Ancre.

Dec. 15. French victory at Verdun.
1917.

Feb. -Mar. German retirement to
the Siegfried line.

Apr. 6. America declared war on
Germany.

„ 9. Battle of Vimy Ridge

began.

May 4. French took Craonne.

June 7. British victory on Messines
Ridge.

July 31. Third Battle of Ypres
began.

Oct. 9. Allied attack in Flanders.

Nov. 1. German retreat on Chemin
des Dames.

„ 6. British stormed Passchen-

daale Ridge.

„ 20. British victory at Cambrai.

„ 30. German counter-attack at

Cambrai.

1918.

Mar. 21. German offensive in the
West and Second Battle
of the Somme.

„ 24. Bapaume and Peronne

lost.

XVlll

Other Fronts.

1915.

Sept. 28. Victory at Kut-el-Amara.

Dec. 19. Withdrawal from Galli¬
poli.

1916.

Apr. 29. Fall of Kut-el-Amara.
May 31. Battle of Jutland.

June 5. Lord Kitchener lost at sea.

Nov. 1. Italian advance on the
Carso.

Dec. 6. Germans entered Bukarest.

1917.

Feb. 1. Unrestricted “ U ” - boat
war began.

Mar. x 1 . British entered Baghdad.
Mar. 12. Revolution in Russia.

Oct. 24. Italian defeat at Caporetto.

Dec. 9. Bx-itish capture Jerusalem.
1918.

DIARY OF THE WAR

Western Front.

1918.

Apr. 9. German offensive on the
Lys.

May 27. Third Battle of the Aisne
began.

„ 31. Germans reached the

Marne.

June 9. New German assault on
the Matz.

July 1 5. Second Battle of the Marne
began.

,, 18. Foch’s counter-attack.

„ 20. Germans recrossed the

Marne.

Aug. 8. Third Battle of the
Somme.

Sept. 2. Drocourt - Queant line
breached.

„ 12. American attack at St.

Mihiel.

„ 27. Hindenburg line broken.

Oct. 9. Cambrai regained.

„ 10. Battle of Le Cateau.

„ 17. Battle of the Selle.

Nov. i. Battle of the Sambre began.
,, 3. Kiel Mutiny.

,, 9. Abdication of the Kaiser.

,, xo. British at Mons.

,, 11. Armistice with Germany.

Other Fronts.

1918.

Apr. 22. Naval raid on Zeebrugge
and Ostend.

June 15. Austrian offensive in Italy.
„ 23. Great Austrian defeat.

Sept. 29. Bulgaria surrendered.

Oct. 27. Austria sued for peace.

„ 28. Italians crossed the Piave.

„ 29. Serbians reached the

Danube.

„ 30. Turkey granted an

Armistice.

Nov. 3. Austrians surrender.

1 9 1 9

June 28. Peace signed.

xix

CHAPTER I

FORMATION AND EARLY DAYS OF THE BATTALION

In the bitter days of early September 1914, under
the chairmanship of the Earl of Durham, a com¬
mittee of gentlemen from the County of Durham,
including Colonel R. Burdon, V.D., M.P., Sir William
Gray, Bart., and H. Pike Pease, M.P., agreed to raise
and equip at their own expense a Battalion from the
County of Durham, making special appeals to Dur¬
ham, Darlington, the Hartlepools, Middlesbrough,
Stockton, Sunderland and Bishop Auckland. The
raising of such a Battalion was actually first mooted
by Major F. T. Tristram in a letter to Colonel R.
Burdon, and it was brought into being as a direct
outcome of their strenuous efforts seconded by
Lieutenant-Colonel H. Bowes and cordially supported
by the Lord-Lieutenant of the County. The idea,
conceived and carried into effect, was to raise and
equip a Battalion in the County at the sole expense
of subscribers, and it should be observed that this
Battalion was the only unit in the country that was
so raised, the initial expenses connected with the
formation of other Battalions being refunded by the
Government.

Appeals were at once made for funds for the

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

provision of equipment, etc., and the response amounted
to upwards of ^10,000. Lord Durham in addition
generously offered to place Cocken Hall at the disposal
of the Committee : this certainly saved the county
a further expenditure of between £60 00 and £7000,
and without its use it would have been impossible to
house the recruits who poured in rapidly directly the
proposal to form a County Battalion was made public.
See Appendix I. (List of Subscribers).

It is not to be supposed, however, that the forma¬
tion of the Battalion was carried out at the cost of
little or no trouble. As a matter of fact, the work
was attended with considerable difficulty. At the
outset the War Office was totally opposed to Battalions
being raised in such a way, and obstacles were thrown
in the way of the promoters, but Colonel R. Burdon,
by dint of perseverance, eventually succeeded in
obtaining official sanction to go ahead with the scheme.
Curiously enough, after first strongly opposing the
project, the War Office subsequently commended
highly the success achieved in Durham, and Lord
Kitchener summoned Colonel Burdon to London and
expressed the thanks of the country to the county for
having presented the nation with so fine a Battalion.
Composed, as it was, of picked officers and men,
the Battalion was unquestionably a unit of which
any county and any country might well have been
proud.

On September 24, 1914, recruits began to assemble
rapidly at Cocken Hall, the Durham City and District
contingent marching from the Race-course. They
were soon joined by contingents from South Shields,
Sunderland, Hartlepool and Darlington. From the
outset a very high standard of physique was required,

FORMATION AND EARLY DAYS, 1914

the minimum height being 5 feet 9 inches ; the
result was that the Battalion was composed of magni¬
ficent material : similarly, the recruits were of an
unusually high level of intelligence, a very great
proportion being drawn from clerks, tradespeople,
shop assistants, normal students, and men engaged
in educational work. At the first, C. W. Tilly, Esq.,
who was soon promoted Major, was in charge of the
recruits, but towards the close of the month Major
F. T. Tristram and Captain G. C. Roberts arrived,
and finally Lord Southampton of the Reserve of
Officers took command as Lieutenant-Colonel.

Owing to the rapid increase in numbers additional
accommodation had soon to be found, and B Company
moved to billets in West Rainton and A Company
shortly after to Newton Hall. At first billet life
was strange to the men, but the experience of the old
soldiers among them was of great value and the
Companies soon settled down to the new conditions.
By early October the Battalion was raised to its full
establishment, and in the beginning of 1915 it was
increased to six Companies, about 1300 strong.
Lieutenant-Colonel H. Bowes took over the command
about the end of October. Owing to his energetic
action the Battalion was soon fully clothed, and equip¬
ment began to be issued. During the first six weeks
the training had consisted largely of route-marching ;
this was continued and laid the foundation of the well-
earned reputation of the Battalion for its fine marching
powers.

Gradually the organisation of the Battalion was
built up, and the transport, band and regimental
employments of the Battalion came into being. One
and all were most carefully selected, and it says much

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

for the insight of the Commanding Officer that the
work of the Quartermaster’s Stores, of the pioneers,
shoemakers, tailors, cooks, the Sanitary and Water
duties, the Regimental Police, band and transport,
from the beginnings of the Battalion to its final
disbandment, has been of the very highest quality,
and, in the most trying circumstances, has been in¬
valuable in promoting to the full the comfort and
efficiency of the Battalion.

During October the Committee realised that the
numbers would soon far exceed the accommodation
at Cocken Hall, and the building of huts was rapidly
taken in hand : these included housing for the men,
bath and washing arrangements, and an excellent
miniature range where the musketry was developed
quickly to a very high standard under Lieutenant
D. E. Ince, with the help of Sergeants W. Greenwell,
W. L. Allen, and T. W. Pickles. The early work of
these instructors had its fruit in the excellent musketry
results at Ripon and Fovant. During this period
squad drill and close order drill were beginning to
show signs of distinct promise, and field training
and entrenching were started. The catering was
now taken out of the hands of the civilian caterer
and undertaken by the Company cooks under Sergeant
J. D. Moscrop. It would be difficult to point to
any other branch of the administrative side of the
Battalion which has worked harder or had more
excellent results than the cooks, and every member
of the Battalion appreciates the debt of gratitude
owed to them.

In Sports the football team was getting together
and doing well, and it was during one of their
matches that the order was received to despatch

FORMATION AND EARLY DAYS, 1914

two Companies to Hartlepool. Boxing and concerts
were frequently arranged, Privates R. Orde and A.
Russell especially doing well in the boxing, Private
C. Maughan coming to the front later in the heavy¬
weights. He was followed by Private R. Middleton,
an excellent middle-weight who, as Sergeant, in 1919
won the Championship of Thirty-first Division and
reached the Semi-Final of the Second Army at Lille,
where, though suffering from a very heavy cold, he
put up a fine fight against the ultimate winner.

Lieutenant-Colonel T. C. McKenzie of Sunderland
had at an early date interested himself in the Battalion
and presented it with the instruments for a brass band.
The bandmaster, Sergeant W. L. Allen, soon formed
a fine band, which, by its untiring efforts during the
longest marches both in training and on active service,
did much to weld the Battalion together and to lighten
its work.

The Bombardment of Hartlepool and Defence Duty
at Middlesbrough. — Orders were received on the
afternoon of November 16 for two Companies to
proceed to Hartlepool that night, and to take up
Coast Defence Duty. The Commanding Officer
selected the non-commissioned officers and men
from those who had fired a course on an open range.
These were then formed into two Companies and
placed under the command of Major F. T. Tristram.
The detachment entrained at Leamside 1 and pro¬
ceeded to Hartlepool, where they were billeted at
Hart Road. Later one Company moved to Old
Hartlepool. The work consisted chiefly in pro-

1 There was some disappointment caused by the selection, and it was
unofficially reported that a considerable number of men tried to join the detach¬
ment on the way to the station.

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

viding guards disposed at various tactical points
and places of importance along the coast and inland,
together with carrying out training : the trenches
on the coast were also improved.

On December iy Colonel P. H. Hammond, who
was in command of the Tyne and Tees Defences,
received information from the War Office of the
probability of a raid by enemy warships on the East
Coast on the following day at about 8.30 a.m. The
trenches were manned as usual and the rest of the
detachment stood to, while a gunboat and two
destroyers lay off the shore ready for action. There
was a mist which allowed the enemy ships to come
in close before being detected, and they used a clever
ruse of firing out to sea as if they were English ships
retiring and so misled the coast batteries for a few
moments. In addition they used our signals correctly.
The German ships, the Derfflinger carrying 12-inch
guns, the Von der Tann and Bliicher with 11-inch
guns, and possibly a light cruiser in addition, came out
of the mist and opened fire on the British flotilla.
Our small craft gallantly tried to close and torpedo
the invaders, but were very roughly handled, and the
enemy ships drew near the shore and fired on the
coast batteries.

‘ Then began the first fight on English soil with
a foreign foe since the French landed in Sussex in
1690, the first on British soil since the fight at Fish¬
guard 1797/ Most unfortunately one of the first
rounds burst near one of our guards which was being
relieved, and the Battalion suffered its first casualties,
losing five killed and eleven wounded, of whom one
died shortly after. The Derfflinger s 12-inch shells
burst in and round the battery, which, though badly

FORMATION AND EARLY DAYS, 1914

undergunned compared with the invaders’ 12-inch
guns to 6-inch, replied with some effect. For forty
minutes the furious cannonade continued, the enemy
using some 1 500 shells. During the bombardment
some fishermen were bringing in their smack and
tried to land on the beach. One of them was left
wounded on the beach in the thick of the shelling.
Sergeant W. E. Heal and Corporal M. Brewerton at
once asked permission to leave the trench and under
heavy fire ran down to the shore and brought him into
safety. Meanwhile one ship closed in on the battery,
of which the fire was unfortunately partly masked
by the lighthouse, and gave it broadside after broad¬
side ; the others moved farther north and shelled
Old Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and the docks.

4 The streets of the old town suffered terribly, the
gas-works were destroyed, and one of the big ship¬
building yards damaged, but the docks and other
yards were not touched. Churches, hospitals, work-
houses, and schools were all struck. Little children
going to school and babies in their mother’s arms were
killed. The total death-roll was 1 19, and the wounded
over 300 ; 600 houses were damaged or destroyed,
and three steamers that night struck the mines which
the invaders had laid off the shore and went down
with much loss of life.’

The inhabitants behaved extremely well, and the
girls in the Hartlepool Telephone Exchange worked
steadily through the cannonade. 4 The German
aim had been to create such a panic in civilian England
as would prevent the despatch of the new armies to
the Continent, and to compel Sir John Jellicoe and
the Grand Fleet to move the base nearer the East
Coast.’ Both hopes completely failed.

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

The behaviour of the Battalion was equally satis¬
factory : they had been the first Service Battalion
to come under fire, and the men all displayed coolness
and gallantry under heavy fire. Subsequently Lord
Kitchener, General Plumer, then G.O.C. Northern
Command, and Lord Durham bore testimony to their
excellent behaviour and coolness, General Plumer
adding that ‘ if the enemy had followed up the bom¬
bardment by attempting to set foot on our shores, the
behaviour of the troops was such as to assure every one
that they were fully prepared and would have been
able to render an excellent account of themselves

After the Hartlepool bombardment training con¬
tinued until close up to Christmas, when a large
proportion went on leave. The Christmas dinners,
decorations and entertainments went off' very success¬
fully. Early in the New Year, on January 12, the
Hartlepool detachment rejoined the Battalion, the
companies were reorganised, and hard company training
was begun. Battalion close order drill and ceremonial
became a very distinctive feature ; the steadiness on
parade, precision of movement and accuracy of drill
were most marked and were a source of pride to all
those who took part in these Battalion parades.
Training gradually went farther afield and Battalion
schemes were carried out.

In early December the Battalion had been grouped
with the 1 6th, 1 8th, 19th Battalions Northumber¬
land Fusiliers into 122nd Infantry Brigade under the
command of Brigadier-General J. G. Hunter, C.B.,
who, with his Brigade-Major, Captain G. N. Dyer,
took a keen and personal interest in the training of
the Battalion. This Brigade was part of Forty-first
Division.

FORMATION AND EARLY DAYS, 1915

About the middle of April uneasiness was felt by
the authorities as to the detences ot Middlesbrough,
and on April 21 an order was received for Head¬
quarters and three Companies, A, B, C, to proceed to
Middlesbrough. A, B and C Companies accordingly
were warned and entrained that night with Head¬
quarters. On arrival at midnight sealed orders were
opened and in accordance with them an outpost line
was thrown out on the east, south and south-south-west
of the town, with A Company near Cargo Fleet Iron¬
works, C Company near Marton Bungalow, and B
Company towards Marton Hall. The weather was
extremely bad and there was heavy rain at night, but
the Companies rapidly took up the positions detailed
to them. Unfortunately the Battalion had been
vaccinated during the few days previous to the move,
and the exposure under very unfavourable conditions
for several days delayed the recovery considerably.

On April 26, after nearly a week of outpost duty,
the Battalion returned to Cocken Hall. At Middles¬
brough, as at Hartlepool, the municipal authorities
had done everything that lay in their power to reduce
the discomfort of the men.

In less than a month the Battalion was again on the
move, and, less E and F Companies (Reserve), on
May 3 joined the remainder of the Brigade in a tent
camp at Cramlington. While there, the weather was
miserably cold, and the situation of the camp was
entirely unsheltered. One night instructions were
received to prepare for a Zeppelin raid ; ammunition
was issued and the Battalion was standing to in a
creditably short time ; the Zeppelins, however, moved
south of the Tyne. A large portion of the training
at Cramlington was devoted to ceremonial. After a

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

preliminary inspection on May 17 by G.O.C.-in-C.
Northern Command, the Commanding Officer received
the following message :

At the conclusion of his inspection of the Brigade to-day,
the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Com¬
mand, desired the Brigadier-General Commanding to convey
to all ranks in the Brigade his entire satisfaction with what he
had seen, and his appreciation of the hard work of all ranks
which has been instrumental in bringing the Units of the
Brigade to their present state of efficiency. The Brigadier-
General Commanding has much pleasure in publishing this
message, and he considers that all ranks of the Brigade have
combined to earn the praise of the G.O.C.-in-C.

On May 20 the Brigade marched to Newcastle and,
with other North Country troops of all arms, took part
in a Review before His Majesty. Lord Kitchener and
the Duke of Northumberland and the Earl of Durham
were present, and Major-General B. Burton, C.B.,
Commanding Newcastle Area, was in command of the
parade. Lord Kitchener especially complimented
Lieut.-Colonel H. Bowes on the fine appearance and
steadiness of the Battalion. The Review was held
on the Town Moor, and the Battalion was credited with
being one of the smartest on parade. Tyneside Scottish
and Tyneside Irish Battalions also took part in the
inspection.

In the latter part of May the Battalion was detached
from 1 22nd Infantry Brigade and ordered to join 93rd
Infantry Brigade at Ripon. The following letter was
sent to Lieut.-Colonel H. Bowes by Brigadier-General
Hunter, C.B., 122nd Infantry Brigade :

On the departure of the 1 8th (S.) Batt. Durham L.I. the
Brigadier-General Commanding wishes to place on record his
appreciation of the exemplary discipline and soldier-like spirit

FORMATION AND EARLY DAYS, 1915

existent in the Battalion, and the manner in which all ranks
throughout have worked unceasingly to bring themselves to a
high state of efficiency for war.

On May 22 the Battalion, less E and F Companies,
which joined the Second Line T.F. York and Durham
Brigade, arrived at Ripon and came under the orders
of Brigadier-General E. H. Molesworth, C.B., the
other battalions of the Brigade being 15th, 16th, 1 8 th
Service Battalions West Yorkshire Regiment.

CHAPTER II

THE FORMATION AND TRAINING OF THIRTY-FIRST

DIVISION

Early in June 1915 Thirty-first Division was formed :
it was composed of 92nd Infantry Brigade, 10th, 1 ith,
1 2th, 13th East Yorkshire Regiment, 93rd Infantry
Brigade, 94th Infantry Brigade, 11th East Lancashire
Regiment, 12th, 13th, 14th York and Lancaster

Regiment, and 12th King’s Own Yorkshire Light
Infantry, the Divisional Pioneer Battalion, under the
command of Major-General E. Fanshawe, C.B., who
a fortnight later handed over his command to Major-
General Wanless O’Gowan, C.B.

During June the Regimental Transport was com¬
pleted with mules up to establishment. Our Transport
Officer, Lieutenant F. S. Beadon, corralled the mules
for the Division as they arrived at Ripon station. They
were an uncommonly fine batch of animals from South
America, and rising 17 hands. At first they were
very wild and intractable and created a good deal
of trouble in the lines, breaking loose and careering
wildly through the town. We had a beautiful team
of six grey mules, almost perfectly matched and very
fine animals.

T raining at South Camp consisted largely of Brigade

THIRTY-FIRST DIVISION IN 1915

route-marches, digging a Divisional system of trenches
with day and night reliefs of working-parties, bombing,
musketry on Wormald ranges, Brigade schemes and
inspections, in all of which the Battalion more than
held its own. The Brigade was inspected at different
times by General Sir Bruce Hamilton, Lieutenant-
General Sir Archibald Murray, and others. The
Commanding Officer was highly complimented on
the physique, steadiness, and high efficiency of the
Battalion.

No account of Ripon would be complete without
referring to Sergeant-Major F. J. Carnell, who came
to us from the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards and
was at the time the senior Sergeant-Major in the Army.
In addition to a fine and commanding presence he had
a remarkable personality : no soldier ever forgot his
powers of drill and discipline and no non-commissioned
officer his powers of instruction. He had the great
gift of turning out non-commissioned officers of
character. His presence with the Battalion for about
four months was of the greatest advantage to every
officer, non-commissioned officer and man who came
into contact with him.

In the first week of August the Battalion was
officially taken over by the War Office, but the Com¬
mittee refused to accept any refund of the original
cost of raising and equipping the Battalion, about
£ 10,000 , which was thus presented as a free gift to
the nation. Similarly, Lord Durham refused any
compensation for the use of Cocken Hall, so saving
the country the expenditure of a further £ 6000 to
£7000.

The townspeople of Ripon showed every kindness
to the men during their stay there, and by recreation

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

huts and supper-rooms in the town materially increased
the comfort of the troops.

After about four months at Ripon, while undergoing
strenuous training in very hot weather, the Division
was ordered to move to Fovant. On September 19
D Company, under Captain W. G. Hutchence, pro¬
ceeded ahead as advance party to the Battalion, which
followed on September 23.

The camp at Fovant was at that time incomplete
and the roads in and round the camp in a deplorable
condition. Throughout our stay the weather was very
bad, and entrenching and musketry were carried on in
the most unfavourable circumstances.

In October Brigadier-General H. B. Kirk of the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders took over the
command of 93rd Infantry Brigade from General
Molesworth. It was hoped and generally expected
that the King would inspect the Division before training
was concluded, but this was prevented by His Majesty’s
illness. About this time the Divisional, Brigade and
Regimental patches were provided, ours being a patch
of Durham green flannel two and a half inches long by
one inch wide with a scarlet centre of one and a half
inches by half an inch : one was worn on each shoulder
half an inch below the shoulder-strap.

Towards the end of November certain Staff officers
proceeded to France with a view to arranging for our
move there and the troops were issued with P.H. anti¬
gas helmets. These were issued and withdrawn twice.
The Thirty-second Divisional Artillery, which was
farther advanced in training than our own, joined our
Division on the assumption that the Division was to
proceed to France on November 29. At the last
moment, however, sun helmets were issued and this

THIRTY-FIRST DIVISION IN 1915

at once precluded any idea of our going to France. At
the beginning of December the Earl of Durham
inspected the Battalion and on behalf of the County
bade us good luck and good-bye.

For some weeks previous to embarkation the
orderly room staff had been kept at exceptionally high
pressure in weeding out men for return to munitions
and in preparing embarkation rolls. They, at any rate,
hailed departure from England with delight at the
prospect of reduction in paper-work, but experience
in Egypt and France has since taught them not to
count their chickens before they are hatched.

CHAPTER III

SERVICE ABROAD IN EGYPT

On December 5 the Battalion, less regimental transport
which proceeded under Lieutenant F. S. Beadon to
Devonport and sailed on the Shropshire , left Fovant,
and, carrying kit-bags to the station, entrained at Dinton
for Liverpool, where on December 6 it embarked with
the rest of the Brigade and 1 2th King’s Own Yorkshire
Light Infantry under the command of Brigadier-
General H. B. Kirk on the Empress of Britain , a liner
of about 15,000 tons. We sailed on the 7th with an
escort of two destroyers.

There were in addition to the crew well over 5000
on board, and the men’s quarters were very much over¬
crowded, and they suffered a great deal of discomfort.
The food also was totally inadequate and badly
prepared. To add to the general discomfort, early
in the voyage every one was inoculated against cholera.
Physical drill and life-belt drill could only be carried
out by companies at a time owing to the crowded
condition of the decks. Danger from submarines
caused us to follow a very circuitous route, and in
addition the ship took a zigzag course throughout the
voyage. This, combined with heavy weather in the
Bay of Biscay, made us take six days to reach Gibraltar,

SERVICE ABROAD IN EGYPT, 1915-16

which we passed at night in brilliant moonlight and
saw faintly outlined against the sky. Gibraltar signals
warned us of submarines in the neighbourhood. From
the Straits we held close to the African shore until
leaving it to make for Malta, passing two hospital ships
on the way with their red and green lights full on.

On the second night before reaching Malta,
between 1 1 p.m. and midnight on the night I3th-I4th
December when well clear of Tunis, there was a shock
through the ship and the engines stopped. The troops
stood to in their quarters and remained perfectly calm
and quiet, and it turned out that we had collided with
an empty French troopship, the Djuradjura , returning
from Salonika, and almost cut her in two by the engine-
room. She signalled the S.O.S. slowly to us, and
accordingly the Empress of Britain stood by in dead
calm and threw out flares and showed searchlights until
the crew of sixty-two from the French ship, together
with the wife of the French Ambassador at Athens,
were taken on board. Two of the French stokers were
killed in the engine-room by the collision. The Lewis
gun look-out in the bows and the military officer on
duty had seen the French vessel approaching three or
four minutes before the accident, and the bridge was
warned, but apparently neither vessel understood what
the other was going to do. At about the same time
as this, one of our cruisers, H.M.S. Dublin , was
torpedoed twice, though not vitally, by a submarine
about thirty miles north of us, and so we were very
fortunate to escape any undesirable attentions during
the incident.

The next day the sea became choppy and remained
roughish until Gozo and Malta were sighted on the
following morning, where H.M.S. Terrible , some sub-

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

marines and the French flagship gave us a great
reception, including an impromptu rendering of ‘ It’s
a long way to Tipperary \ On reaching the harbour it
was found that our bow plates had been stove in by the
collision and two days would be required to repair them.
General Kirk applied to Lord Methuen, the Governor
of Malta, for permission for the men to visit the island.
Unfortunately this was refused, and naturally the
men were disappointed. They were all, however,
much interested in their first view of the East, and the
bum-boats brought plenty of things for sale, including
fruit at a very high price, while the Maltese boys
flocked in numbers to dive for pennies. While in
port on December 1 6, the anniversary of the bombard¬
ment of Hartlepool, the officers of the Battalion gave
a regimental dinner to all officers on board.

On December 17 at 6 a.m. we left Valetta, which
looked beautiful in the gorgeous morning light, the
strange chequer in black and white of the land fortress
turrets being our first experience of the great art of
camouflage. The next day about noon the look-out
sighted a submarine, and early in the afternoon our
6-inch naval gun in the stern fired at her three times,
but did not hit her, though she partly submerged. By
this time we had crammed on maximum speed, and
this combined with a lumpy sea finally shook the
submarine off. Apparently two torpedoes were fired
at us and we passed between them, one missing our
stern very narrowly.

We now steered north-east, and some believed that
our destination was Salonika. About 5 p.m. December
1 8 we came in sight of the snow-covered peaks of Ida
and Dicte, the twin queens of the mountain range of
Crete. They were thirty to forty miles away, but the

SERVICE ABROAD IN EGYPT, 1915-16

wonderfully pure air threw them up clearly, and a little
later the sunset glow gave us a picture of perfect beauty.
During the early hours of the following morning
another submarine fired a torpedo at us and then
turned tail. We got the satisfactory news later that
both these submarines had been sunk the next after¬
noon, December 20, by a French destroyer. On 19th
we passed a white boat, keel uppermost, which was
possibly a decoy put out by submarines to attract a
visit and to cause us to slow down.

Until reaching Alexandria the weather was beautiful
and, the nights becoming hot, the men were allowed
to sleep on deck on the understanding that no lights
were shown. We entered the harbour at Alexandria
at night (at 7.30 p.m.) on 19th, where the boom had to
be opened, but received orders to proceed to Port Said
for disembarkation, no one being allowed to land at
Alexandria. In the morning while still in port there
was a church parade, with a thanksgiving service for
deliverance from danger. On December 2 1 we
reached Port Said, and after a very slow disembarkation
marched to a tent camp just outside and south of the
town. While there we had some battalion and com¬
pany close order drill, plenty of bathing parades
including a voluntary one on Christmas Day, as the sea
was very warm; and the men had a number of oppor¬
tunities to go into Port Said, where some remarkable
shows could be seen, though Arab Town itself was
out of bounds. Unfortunately none of our Christmas
supplies had arrived and, practically speaking, a
Christmas dinner was out of the question, as all troops
were on hard rations owing to the shortage of transport
ships and the submarining of cargo- and mail-boats,
the Persia among others being sunk, together with a

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Japanese cargo-boat on 23rd about forty miles out
from Port Said.

On December 28 the Battalion entrained with the
rest of the Brigade in open trucks for Kantara, where
we found Sikhs, Gurkhas and Bengal Lancers. Here
we encamped inside the fortified perimeter of the
village which lies chiefly on the east bank of the Suez
Canal on the old patriarchal track from Egypt to
Palestine. C and D Companies under Major C. W.
Tilly marched out (January 27) to Hill 70 about six
miles east of the Canal to reinforce the 1 5th West
Yorkshire Regiment, but returned after one night,
bringing an Arab spy with them. Our work at
Kantara in the beginning of 1916 consisted chiefly in
reconstructing the trenches, etc. which had been built
by and for the Gurkhas, and in building and occupy¬
ing an outer perimeter outpost line. There was also
a great deal of work to be done in unloading barges
and building light railway tracks out towards Hill 70.
One of our subalterns came in from Hill 70 with a
miscellaneous collection of Arabs and their families,
goats and dogs, who had come to our lines.

On January 2 D Company was sent out on detach¬
ment to hold an outpost line well to our south-east
to protect Bir Abu Raidhar east of Ballah, with the
Australians on their right. On arrival there D
Company began to build a new line of trenches. A
portion of C Company was sent out to Hill 40, which
was two-thirds of the way to Hill 70, to expedite the
building of the light railway line. The signallers got
into touch with both these detachments by means of
a home-made heliograph. During this period a good
deal of football was played, and a Kantara Derby
meeting was held. Major P. G. Nevile won the all-

SERVICE ABROAD IN EGYPT, 1915-16

comers' flat race. The Mysore Lancers gave an
exhibition of tent -pegging and horse lancers to
music, and the tug-of-war between teams mounted
on mules ridden bareback and the camel races added
considerably to the humour of the meeting. At other
times there was a great deal of bathing in the Canal
both by company parades and voluntarily. Just before
this gymkhana a strong Turkish patrol came in motor¬
cars within close distance of the Suez Canal, and C
Company sent out a platoon to Hill 40.

In late January, in accordance with the policy of
pushing troops well forward into the desert to defend
the Canal instead of using the old trenches west of the
Canal and leaving the Canal to defend the troops, a
policy which Sir Archibald Murray, then commanding
the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, was vigorously
conducting, the Battalion less C and D Companies,
which were now in Kantara, moved out south-east about
eight miles to Hill 108 over very soft, shifting sand.
Nearly all stores and all water-tanks or fantassies were
brought up on camels. The camels were supposed
to carry 400 lb., but very few carried much more than
half the load, or twenty-four gallons of water in two
fantassies , many of which leaked and caused a very
serious shortage of water. Camels, again, that were
loaded up with corrugated iron on one side and timber
scantling on the other, not only had an incongruous
effect in the desert, but frequently a very depressing
effect on the infantry escort, when the loads worked
loose and fell off.

At Hill 108 the men began on the first portion of
the general defensive system as laid down in Cairo.
This system was as follows : revetted trenches dug
in the loose sand, lined with hurdles which were

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

covered with grass matting or canvas to keep the sand
from sifting through, were the only solution. To dig
a trench which was to be ultimately five feet wide at
the top, the first excavation had to be twenty-four feet
wide, and the labour caused by using ordinary small
General Service shovels seemed likely to be endless.
Moreover, the southern winter was hot and tiring to
the men though they worked in trousers only. How¬
ever, by allotting tasks and allowing the men to work
in regular gangs the work proceeded very rapidly,
though frequently a sandstorm would half fill the
trenches with loose sand in a very short time. As the
trench system progressed. General Horne and General
Sir Archibald Murray came to inspect the Divisional
sector and spoke in high terms both of the quality and
of the quantity of the work done, and the following
message was received from the latter :

I am extremely pleased with the amount of work done,
and think that the officers and men are to be congratulated
on their energy. I was extraordinarily struck with the
cheerful way in which they work and the hard work which
they had evidently put in to accomplish what they have done
in such short time.

In addition to the actual protection of the Canal itself,
it was essential to prevent small hostile parties from
passing between the widely separated posts and, after
crossing the Suez Canal, from blowing up its western
bank which separated it from the Sweetwater Canal.
This latter was a brackish stream which flowed into
Port Said and was there sterilised. The water was
then sent down the Canal in water-tank boats and was
practically the only supply of fresh water for the troops.
If the intervening bank was breached by an explosion
the salt water of the Suez Canal would have rendered

SERVICE ABROAD IN EGYPT, 1915-16

the Sweetwater Canal useless for sterilising. To ensure
that natives should not approach the Suez Canal bank
undetected, the entire eastern bank was swept with logs
drawn by series of camels each evening ; this smooth
trail would then show clearly any footprints in the sand.
Wandering coolies from time to time caused consider¬
able alarm until the footprints were traced to them.
A number of Turkish patrols pushed from time to
time close up to our front line and to the market-place
for the Arabs two miles to the east.

During our early days in Egypt Arab refugees,
homeless and generally starving, who were being
squeezed out between the British and Turkish fronts,
used to attempt to enter our lines. At first this was
forbidden, as it was perfectly easy for Turkish spies to
enter with them, and arrangements were made to send
out grain to their camps in the extensive No Man’s
Land. Later when they were allowed to come through
our lines they would sweep up any grain even from the
horse-lines or any scrap of food lying about. They
were then passed farther back and housed in compounds
and rationed by the British.

At Hill 108 Major C. W. Tilly first started the
regimental canteen, and Sergeant W. Morgan, who was
in charge, carried it on very successfully both in Egypt
and France. Here again we met Turkish patrols and
had an occasional Taube over our lines. There were
a certain number of small deer in the desert, and one
form of amusement was to try to catch the jerboa or
kangaroo-rat with its bushy tail from one of the
numerous warrens in the sand. The time passed
quickly, and after three weeks, in the latter half of
February, the Battalion was relieved by 11th East
Lancashire Regiment, and after a long and very

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

exhausting march through loose sand reached Spit
Post on the east bank of the Canal between Kantara
and Tineh, where C and D Companies undertook front¬
line duties. Here the work was much more interesting.
The ground ran out to the east in a long, irregular and
narrowing spit between two of the artificial inundations
by which the low-lying land was flooded, and the
amount of front to be watched was reduced. About
five miles east of the Canal lay our outpost line with
their own supports, and working from the Canal
towards this line we began to build a road and railway
and to lay a water-pipe line. In addition, we much
enlarged our wharf on the Canal bank. There was
a coolie compound with about 400 coolies working
under Arab overseers to assist in the work : on one
occasion they struck and required considerable pressure
to make them resume work, but they never repeated
their strike. At Spit Post, as at Kantara, there were
regular bathing parades, and towards the end of the
time practically the whole of the Battalion could swim,
many venturing as far as from Asia to Africa and back.
Here Major C. W. Tilly’s pet quail became as well
known to the Battalion as Lieutenant-Colonel R. E.
Cheyne’s magpies later in France, but unfortunately
the quail was eaten and much appreciated by a
cat the night before it should have embarked for
Marseilles.

At Spit Post we first heard that the preliminary
warning order which had been given to prepare for de¬
parture to Mesopotamia was cancelled, and shortly after.
Thirteenth Division, which had recently come from
Mudros, passed Spit Post in liners en route for Suez,
and took much of our Regimental Transport on board
at Kantara, where it had remained while the Battalion

SERVICE ABROAD IN EGYPT, 191 5-16

moved from place to place. At last, on February 29,
we were relieved by a Scotch battalion of Fitty-second
Division and went back in barges to Kantara. There
we found many changes : larger wharfs, many new
stores, huts and camps, more railways, some in con¬
struction, some completed, and the question of investing
in Kantara building sites became almost a serious topic
of discussion in the Mess. On March 2 we left
Kantara and entrained for Port Said and occupied our
old camp. Orders were issued to reduce kit for a
move to France, and on March 5 the Battalion embarked
on the Cunard liner Ivernia^ and on 6th, as our engines
had a breakdown, we sailed apart from the convoy,
the ship being commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel H.
Bowes. The Regimental Transport sailed on the
Minneapolis , which was submarined and sunk at Malta
on the return journey, March 26.

The time in Egypt had been well spent : plenty
of hard work, plenty of digging, a good deal of marching
in the heavy sand and a not too luxurious diet with a
very limited choice, or rather supply, of refreshing
drinks had combined to make the men very fit, and,
generally speaking, the Battalion had learned to fend
for itself, make itself comfortable and settle down
quickly under new and sometimes none too promising
conditions.

There were also many pleasant memories of a
lighter nature* — the Turkish coffee, the bathing, the
queer broken English of the small native boys who
cried their papers or their wares and ascribed strange
stomachic properties to their oranges under the
ingenious tuition of the British soldier. Nor will any
one who ever saw Sandbag City, the monumental
erection of one unit, with even its Rugby football goal-

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

posts built of sandbags in columns fifteen to twenty
feet high at a time when sandbags in the desert were
worth their weight in gold, forget that sight, any more
than another unit will forget the day when proceeding
to their football ground for a match they found
criminals of a newly arrived battalion tied to and in
undisputed possession of the four separate goal-posts.
Rumours too of incarcerated native railway personnel
who had been mistaken for Arab spies, delayed trains
and held up motor-launches, tickled our ears from time
to time in the absence of daily papers. It was a good
time, and prepared us very gently for the more serious
work ahead. While we were in Egypt General
Sir Archibald Murray had reported in a despatch to
the War Office that Thirty-first Division had dis¬
tinguished itself conspicuously by its hard work and
excellent discipline.

The voyage in the Ivernia was far more comfort¬
able than the outward journey : the men were not
crowded and the feeding was better. The weather,
however, was bad most of the way ; still the voyage
was entirely uneventful except when we passed some
of the low-built, wallowing monitors that had been
built for the bombardment of the Dardanelles. We
waited off Malta for orders and then passed through
the Straits of Messina and the beautiful narrows of
Bonifacio, where we received a wireless that three sub¬
marines were active in the Gulf of Lyons. We reached
Marseilles in bad weather on March 1 1, and concluded
our voyage by running foul of a destroyer lying in the
dock where we were to be berthed and by enjoying to
the full the sulphurous remarks of her crew on the
lineage and ancestry of our pilot.

The remnants of the Regimental Transport sailed

SERVICE ABROAD IN EGYPT, 1915-16

from Alexandria, most of the animals having been
handed over in Egypt. Out of the four vessels used
by the Battalion and the Transport two were sunk by
torpedoes or mines, the Empress of Britain and
the Shropshire surviving.

CHAPTER IV

FRANCE AND THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE
SOMME BATTLE

On arrival at Marseilles, March 1 1, in floods of rain,
D Company disembarked at 6.30 p.m. and entrained
for Pont Remy to act as advance party ; the remainder
of the Battalion disembarked about ro p.m. and
entrained at once. The train journey continued until
about 3 a.m. on March 14. Throughout the journey
the French authorities looked after us well and supplied
hot coffee with rum in it three times a day. The train
was composed of the ordinary 40-hommes or 8-chevaux
covered trucks and proceeded at a leisurely pace, two
men who fell out of a truck round a sharp corner four
miles from Orange reaching that station only a few
minutes after the train.

The detraining at Pont Remy completed about
3 a.m. on a bitter morning, the Battalion started for
Citerne, a small village some twelve miles from
Abbeville. The billets were very poor, and even old,
disused sties and hen-houses had to be requisitioned
and cleaned out. A good deal of snow fell, and the
men found the bitter weather trying after the heat and
sun-helmets of Egypt. Most of the training was
route-marching, as the desert sand had made the feet

FRANCE, 1916

soft and very susceptible to the hard roads in France.
After a week at Citerne ten officers and twenty-nine
non-commissioned officers went up in buses to the
line at Fonquevillers to gain a few days’ experience in
trench routine. They not only had that experience,
but also the experience of a raid ; in fact, the 5th and
8 th Royal Warwickshire Regiment hospitably gave
them a taste of all sorts of trench life and treated them
very well.

Meanwhile the Battalion began to move forward
in a series of long and exhausting marches. The rain
was incessant and mixed with sleet, but day after day
the spirit and resolution of the men asserted themselves
and the Battalion marched in nightly without a straggler.
The greatest possible credit was due to the band, which,
under the most adverse circumstances and on roads
which were trying even for men to walk along singly,
played almost continuously and with spirit to the very
end of each day’s march. The first day was a long
trek through Hallencourt to Longpre, where the billets
were good ; then followed two heart-breaking days to
Flesselles, where the party for instruction in the trenches
joined us in a snowstorm, and to Beauquesne, later to
be Sir Douglas Haig’s advanced Headquarters for the
Somme battle a few months afterwards, and finally to
Beaussart via Louvencourt, the last portion of this
day’s march being done at night to avoid detection
by enemy aircraft. 10th Royal Irish Rifles welcomed
us by sending out their band to play us into
billets.

On the following day, March 29, the Battalion
suffered its first casualty overseas, an enemy aeroplane
coming over and dropping a bomb presumably at two
9.2 howitzers at the west end of the village ; one of

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

our men was killed by a splinter. The same morning
the Commanding Officer and Adjutant went up to the
line in the White City sector north-west of Beaumont
Hamel to arrange for taking over from 9th Royal
Irish Rifles, and in the early evening the Battalion
marched up through Mailly Maillet and Auchonvillers
in a snowstorm and carried out the relief very rapidly.
Captain W. G. Hutchence was wounded by a rifle
bullet shortly after the relief while visiting an advanced
post. In spite of every precaution to prevent the
arrival of a new Division in the sector being known,
the Boche put up a notice-board with our Brigade
patch painted in colours on it, and followed this up in
a day or two with exhibiting a large notice, ‘ Kut Taken.
Many Prisoners ’. There was no particular incident
during this tour. The trenches were badly water¬
logged and caving in, and the German trench mortars
unpleasant. The 94th Infantry Brigade was on our
left, 15th West Yorkshire Regiment on our right.
The most noticeable feature of the tour was the rapidity
with which our snipers under Lieutenant H. W.
Hawdon got the upper hand of the German snipers,
and any one who lived in the Redan or passed along
Maxim Street South must have been grateful to
them.

On April 3 the Battalion was relieved by 12th
York and Lancaster Regiment and moved into billets at
Beaussart, and on April 4 into a cold and depressing
hut camp in the wood at Bus-les-Artois. Our huts
had no windows, no doors in the doorways, no floors
and no furniture of any description. Here we entered
on a period of training for a fortnight, passed through
gas chambers, threw bombs, fired rifle-grenades and
watched the Light Trench Mortar Battery carrying out

FRANCE, 1916

terrifying and dangerous entertainments with their
Stokes mortars.

On April 20 every one was glad to leave the
dripping wood and take over our old trenches from
1 8th West Yorkshire Regiment. This tour our
patrols began to operate actively for superiority in No
Man’s Land and did creditable work, while the enemy
on his side was more active with trench mortars. The
weather was much better and good progress was made
in improving the line. After an explosion in one of
our mines in the Redan excellent rescue work in spite
of smoke damp was done by Private W. J. Warwick
of B Company. On April 24 the Battalion was
relieved in just over thirty minutes by 1 8 th West
Yorkshire Regiment, all arrangements being very
carefully cut and dried beforehand, and we moved into
support at Colincamps and on April 28 into reserve
at Bertrancourt, where there was a very fair hutment
camp. At this time in our area the enemy aeroplane
activity was slight, and there was no night bombing,
very little long-range shelling and none of the anxieties
of the later billet life in the war ; the weather was
improving, and the training, though strenuous in the
morning, was interesting as a preparation for the
coming operations.

On May 14 the Battalion took over a new sector
lying just north of the Serre-Colincamps road from
1 1 th East Yorkshire Regiment, a Battalion of the
Lancashire Fusiliers being on our right in our former
sector and 16th W7est Yorkshire Regiment on our
left. Lieutenant-Colonel H. Bowes was in command
of the Brigade, as General FI. B. Kirk was sick. The
latter, to the genuine regret of the whole Brigade, who
one and all were very fond of him, died shortly after-

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

wards of meningitis, and General J. D. Ingles of the
Devonshire Regiment took command of the Brigade.

During this tour we were in very inferior trenches,
which were completely commanded by the dominating
heights of Serre with the mysterious Quadrilateral
lying just in front of us. From the Quadrilateral
persistent sniping and trench mortar fire were main¬
tained ; the latter came from roving trench mortars
which were most difficult to locate. Towards the end
of the tour we came under our first heavy German
barrage : the raid was on the left of us, but the barrage
was intended to prevent any co-operation on our part.
It was, however, unsuccessful, but our trenches were
badly damaged and there were several casualties, yet
we had had the gratification of realising for the first
time the marvellous efficiency and high standard of
our Divisional Artillery.

One incident relieved the monotony of trench life.
We received our first basket of pigeons. Some of the
Higher Staff being anxious to see that their release, etc.
was carried out properly, visited Battalion Head¬
quarters to observe the results. Unfortunately those
in charge of the pigeon-loft some miles in rear did not
then know all there was to know about pigeons, and
instead of sending two cock or two hen pigeons, sent
one of each. On their release with the messages
clipped on their wings, the amative couple, disregarding
their military duties entirely, proceeded to fly over to
Serre and, lighting on an old ruin, perched there, billing
and cooing, wholly oblivious of business. Whether
they ever were pricked by conscience and returned to
their own pigeon-loft is unknown, as the Staff' lost
patience and went home to tea.

On May 19 we were relieved by 18th West

FRANCE, 1916

Yorkshire Regiment and moved to Colincamps. This
village was now becoming unhealthy; Boche aeroplanes
were active and visited us frequently but only for
observation, while anti-aircraft guns of both sides
were equally dangerous, though usually the infantry
preferred German anti-aircraft shells which were high
explosive and burst into small fragments, while ours
were shrapnel and, whether duds or empty cases, were
equally unpleasant for the earth-dweller. The enemy
also started to shell Colincamps freely, several 5.9’s
dropping just in front of Headquarters billet and one
destroying D Company’s cooker. Brigade Head¬
quarters was blown in, a few days later.

On May 24 we were moved back into camp in
Warnimont Wood near Bus-les-Artois and did not go
up to hold the line again until we moved up on the
morning of June 30. During this period there were
endless working parties up the line, digging assembly
trenches for the attack and buried cable trenches,
building mined dug-outs and aid-posts, and carrying
out all the thousand-and-one tasks necessary to the
success of a great assault. In many cases the
Battalion had to march at night seven miles to its task
often under heavy fire, carry out the task under fire,
and return seven miles under fire. What the troops
endured, they only can know who did it night after
night, and they never say^ — just, after it is all
over, ‘A bit rough last night’, or ‘Jerry’s got the
wind up ’ — and all the time the casualty list grows
longer.

During off-days from working parties the trench-
to-trench attack was practised over taped or flagged
trenches by Companies, Battalions and Brigades.
Officers and non-commissioned officers were taken

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

over small models on the ground and visited plastic
clay models beautifully made. Parties visited observa¬
tion posts in the line, and everything was done to ensure
that each man should have an accurate knowledge of
the ground, and an exact knowledge of his particular
job. In this work, as also in sniping and observation
work generally in the line, the telescopes and field-
glasses, so generously given or lent by friends at home,
were of inestimable value both for peaceful observation
of the ground and for the location and disposal of
German snipers, thereby reducing our own casualties.
While we were so engaged Sir Douglas Haig visited
the Battalion and spoke warmly of its fine appear¬
ance, and congratulated the Commanding Officer on
its high reputation.

On June 4 the Battalion moved forward to
Courcelles, where, owing to shelling, trenches for
bombardment cover had to be dug outside the village,
and in these we lived more or less continuously. At
the same time a beginning was made of evacuating
the French civilians, who, especially the farmers, still
remained at work. On June 20, D Company left for
Gezaincourt to join 1 6th West Yorkshire Regiment,
to whom they were to be attached for the attack on
July 1, it being intended to give the battalions forming
the leading waves a week of special training in the
back area. Meanwhile the Battalion bombers at
Courcelles practised the making and use of Bangalore
torpedoes. These are long iron pipes filled with
ammonal and fitted with a detonator. They explode
laterally and vertically upwards, very slightly down¬
wards and not at all backwards or forwards, and are
most useful in destroying wire entanglements uncut
by a bombardment. The chief essential is close

'll

Taken from Balloon.

GOMMECOURT WOOD AND SALIENT WITH THE SMOKE
OF OUR BARRAGE EAST OF NAMELESS FARM.

The strong front German line on the fringe of the wood and the belts of wire
west of the barrage are clearly seen. The map references are mostly to German
strong points, dumps, road junctions, etc.

FRANCE, 1916

packing of the ammonal, and the main disadvantage
their unwieldiness for carrying.

By this time the whole countryside was stiff with
high-velocity guns from the naval 6-inch and vicious
6o-pounder to the 1 8-pounder ; with howitzers from
the corpulent 15-inch to the snub-nosed 4.5; and with
9.2’s, 8-inch and 6-inch where there was room to spare.
Naturally all these had to be hidden, and a bird’s-eye
view of the country gave one the impression of a series
of large mottled tortoises sprinkled freely about. The
most varied designs of camouflage on gun, carriage,
wheels and tarpaulin covers were to be seen, and all
credit is due to our airmen who kept the enemy aero¬
planes at such a height that these strange objects were
not spotted.

During the latter days of June the heavy bombard¬
ment of German trenches and wire went on systematic¬
ally, assisted by observation from our balloons and
’planes, and every day thick clouds of our cylinder
gas could be seen rolling greasily over the enemy’s
line. Unfortunately the weather during the last
week in June was so bad that Zero day, originally
fixed for June 29, was put back to July 1, and most
unfortunately for Thirty-first Division, as afterwards
was learnt from German prisoners and documents,
the enemy gun - power round Serre, Puisieux and
Gommecourt being very heavily strengthened by
numerous reinforcing batteries of 3-inch and 5.9’s
during the last two days of June. Most of these
batteries were wisely kept silent by the enemy until
the morning of July 1.

Prior to the end of the month Lieut. -General Sir
Aylmer Hunter-Weston, Commanding Eighth Corps,
addressed the Brigade and pointed out that it was

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

to act as the spearhead to penetrate through and
beyond Serre and form a breach through which
reserve troops were to push forward, while 94th
Infantry Brigade formed a left defensive flank for
the Division, 92nd Infantry Brigade being held in
Divisional Reserve. On our right, Fourth Division
with Twenty-ninth Division to their south were to
envelop and capture the high ground south of
Pendant Copse and Beaumont Hamel itself.

During the last few days of the month the assembly
trenches for the Battalion were extended and the
overland track avoiding Colincamps reconnoitred,
marked and cleared of obstacles. The preparations
were now complete for the longest battle ever known,
and the Battalion was looking forward with cheerful¬
ness and confidence to success.

CHAPTER V

THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME, 1916

On June 30 at 8.45 p.m. D Company followed
1 6th West Yorkshire Regiment up to the line, and
at 10.15 p.m. the Battalion less D Company left
Courcelles, and moving north of Colincamps, which
was now blazing, after many checks and delays
reached the assembly trench, Maitland, and settled
down by 4.50 a.m. on the morning of July 1, rather
glad of a rest after the slow and tiring march
up.

The Division was disposed as follows : 94th
Infantry Brigade on the left, 93rd on the right, 92nd
in reserve. The dispositions of 93rd Infantry Brigade
placed D Company on the extreme right in touch
with 2nd West Ridings, 16th West Yorkshire Regi¬
ment in centre, 15th and 1 8 th West Yorkshires
respectively on the left and in support, our Battalion
less D Company being in reserve. Immediately on
reaching our assembly trenches special bombing
parties, under 2nd Lieutenant J. B. Bradford, went
torward to report to 15th West Yorkshire Regiment
at Sap A, one of the advanced Russian saps with
T-heads, in which 93rd Light Trench Mortar Battery
had placed their Stokes mortars.

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

About 6 a.m. the enemy guns appeared to be
inferior to our artillery, and our aircraft patrolled
our lines, No Man’s Land and the German trenches
with clear superiority. At 7.20 a.m. the great mine
at Beaumont Hamel, which had taken many months
to construct and was charged with 1 5,000 lb. of
ammonal, was sprung, and a stupendous mushroom
of smoke and debris was flung high into the air.
Then for the last ten minutes before Zero, at 7.30 a.m.,
our guns redoubled their efforts and crashed out a
tornado of living steel ; but the same explosion
warned the Boche that Zero was at hand, and with
one roar their guns broke out into a triple fire-curtain
on our front line, supports and reserve, hurling a
deadly avalanche of shells up to the highest calibre ;
their masked batteries opened, and with absolute
accuracy of aim poured hell and destruction on to
our trenches, crowded with men who were now on
the point of climbing out. Our front line trenches,
Russian saps and advanced communication trenches
literally disappeared, and with them the major portion
of the two leading Battalions and D Company. A
tew of our men broke past our wire, fewer still crossed
No Man’s Land, and only a mere handful reached the
German lines. Some of D Company struggled on
and vanished into Pendant Copse and were never seen
again, and a very few stumbled up the heights ot
Serre ; and these stout hearts now lie buried there. As
one of the prominent war-correspondents, in what he
termed ‘The Gommecourt Epic’, said: ‘Heroism could
go no further. Our men died; and in dying held
in front enough German guns to have altered the
fate of our principal and our most successful advance
on the south. They died undefeated and won as

THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME, 1916

great a victory in spirit and in tact as English history,
or any other history, will ever chronicle.’

Meanwhile the hostile trenches could be seen
thick with men, who, immediately the barrage had
lifted and passed beyond them, stood breast-high to
repel our assault. Every effort was made to get
our guns to shorten their range again, but it was im¬
possible to check the advance and programme of the
barrage, now well beyond our few who had struggled
on, the remainder of the troops being mown down
in swathes as they lay in the open and stood in the
trenches. The ferocity and volume of the Boche
batteries was as overwhelming as it had been un¬
expected. The troops on our left made slightly more
progress along the sheltered valley north-west of
Serre, but the left of Fourth Division on our right,
faced with the same glacis as ourselves, could not
get forward. About this time very heavy casualties
began to pour in from the whole Brigade, and also
from flank units, to our Regimental Aid Post, where
Lieutenant J. W. Macfarlane, R.A.M.C., who had
been recently attached to the Battalion, with his medical
orderly and staff, did heroic work in spite of devilish
fire ; above all, the stretcher-bearers distinguished
themselves, many unfortunately without recognition,
as they did not reveal what they themselves had done,
and there was no other witness to tell the story of their
bravery and devotion.

At 9.20 a.m. the Battalion was ordered to move
forward to Monk trench to support 18th West
Yorkshire Regiment. A Company moved up at
9.47 a.m., B Company at 10 a.m. : the delay was
due to the depth of the trench and the destruction
of the ladders by shell fire. Between 10 a.m. and

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

1 1 a.m. A and B Companies were violently shelled
between Maitland and Monk and lost heavily, the
German artillery now predominating and being most
deadly, though some of our Divisional Artillery, just
west of Sackville, did magnificent work to support
our second advances ; our 1 8-pounders were most
manfully and efficiently handled throughout the
day.

At 12.30 p.m. the Brigadier personally ordered
Captain D. E. Ince to reorganise B Company, which
was then in the open west of Monk, and to hold
Sackville in conjunction with troops from Fourth
Division, who also held Legend, as he suspected
that the enemy were on the point of delivering a
counter-attack. Lieut.-Colonel H. Bowes, however,
reported to Brigade that Monk, Languard and Dun-
mow were still tenable, and undertook to reorganise
the troops there, as the Commanding Officers of 16th
and 1 8 th West Yorkshire Regiment had been killed
and the Commanding Officer of 15th West Yorkshire
Regiment was badly wounded. He was instructed
by Brigade to carry out his proposal. Ultimately
by nightfall, after varying phases, C Company
manned what was to be found of the front line, or,
more probably, a new assembly trench, Leeds, dug
immediately in rear of it ; a company of 11th East
Yorkshire Regiment in Languard was sent up to
reinforce the Brigade. Remnants of 1 8 th West
Yorkshire Regiment were in New Dunmow, the
survivors of 1 6th West Yorkshire Regiment in Old
Dunmow, together with a few men of 1 5th West
Yorkshires in Maitland ; all three Battalions had
suffered appalling losses in their exposure to the
inferno of fire. A and B Companies of our Battalion

THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME, 1916

were in Maitland ; of D Company only 10 men
had survived.

At 6.30 p.m. Major C. W. Tilly reported at Head¬
quarters, and later about sixty first reinforcements
arrived. C Company now reported the front line to
have been blown out of existence as a fighting trench
and piled high with casualties. B Company relieved
C Company in the front line at 1 a.m. July 2. I he
latter moved back to Old Monk, where four machine-
guns of 93rd Machine-Gun Company were placed,
two more being in Dunmow.

About 1.30 p.m. on Sunday we received instruc¬
tions to hold the front line with one company and
four Lewis guns by day, and with two companies
and eight Lewis guns by night, the remainder of the
Battalion and Headquarters moving up into north
and south Monk. This was completed by 2.40 p.m.
From 3 to 3.30 p.m. and 6.30 to 7 p.m. special bombard¬
ments were carried out by our artillery to mask a
minor operation to the south. This drew heavy
retaliation on C Company, who lost two officers
wounded and a considerable number of other ranks.
The enemy used a good deal of gas-shell during
the following nights. On the night 2nd-3rd July, C
Company collected over 40 casualties of West York¬
shires, and every night rescue-work of wounded and
burial of dead continued, 12th King’s Own Yorkshire
Light Infantry coming up to assist, as the hot and wet
weather rendered it essential to clear the battlefield
as soon as was possible. The front line had also
to be wired in, at least in front of the posts.

On the early morning of July 3, Forty-eighth
and Twenty-ninth Divisions were ordered to attack
from the river Ancre north towards Serre at 3.30 a.m.

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Our Divisional Artillery co-operated, and the enemy
retaliated heavily on our line with high explosive and
tear-shells. Our ration-carrying parties, which had
arrived early on the morning of 4th, and included the
Band, were ordered to remain in the line as reinforce¬
ments against an expected enemy operation, and at
4.3 a.m. a heavy hostile barrage opened on our front
line, then lifted west to Monk and Maitland and then
back to Monk. Meanwhile 94th Infantry Brigade on
our left were gassed, and 12th Infantry Brigade on our
right reported gas. At 4.23 a.m. our guns opened
with counter-battery fire, and at about 4.40 a.m. the
enemy’s fire weakened. During the same morning
Lieutenant H. W. Tait, who had been lying out in
No Man’s Land since the early morning of July 1,
was brought in, largely through the instrumentality
of Sergeant Cross.

At 1 1 a.m. of the same day information was
received that a battalion of the Worcestershire Regi¬
ment of 144th Infantry Brigade would relieve us on
the night 4th-yth July, and that we were to move to
Louvencourt and thence to Bernaville area, joining
Second Corps and coming into G.H.Q. Reserve.
By 10 p.m. the relief was complete, and by 5 a.m.
on yth our weary Battalion was at Louvencourt.
Our losses were, 12 officers and nearly 60 per cent
other ranks, out of the total of 789 all ranks
with which we had gone up on June 30. The losses
of the Brigade were about 2000.

On July 6 the Battalion cleaned up, and the
Corps Commander again spoke to the Battalion and
thanked them heartily for their tenacity during their
ordeal in the line. See Appendix II. (1).

On 7th the Brigade moved to Fienvillers, the

THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME, 1916

Battalion proceeding further to the delightful village
of Berneuil, where one day’s rest was most thoroughly
enjoyed. From there at 9 p.m. on the following
evening we moved to Conteville, and after a cold
bivouac on the roadside entrained at 5 a.m. on 9th
for Berguette and joined the First Army. After
detraining and getting coffee and a biscuit at the
Y.M.C.A. we marched to an attractive village, La
Pierriere, a few kilometres north of Busnes. Here
billets, though rather crowded, were very comfortable,
and the inhabitants most friendly. During the week
of rest large drafts arrived and were absorbed, com¬
panies were reorganised, and D Company, which had
been nearly wiped out, was reinforced with officers
and non-commissioned officers from the other com¬
panies to form a cadre on which to rebuild. The
enemy’s aircraft was active at night and bombed the
mine-heads of Berguette and ironworks to the north ;
and from this time onward, whenever the Battalion
moved into new billets, bombardment-cover trenches
had to be arranged for by the companies, and all men
notified of their location before nightfall. On July 15
the Battalion vacated billets at La Pierriere, which we
were sorry to leave, and had a long, dusty and sultry
march over very inferior roads to La Fosse. Here
billets were poor, but these were gradually improved.
Solid training was started again, including bomb¬
throwing, bombing tactics and musketry, especially
for the late reinforcements.

During the week General Sir Charles Monro,
G.O.C. First Army, reviewed the Brigade at Lestrem
and welcomed us to the First Army, and on July 25
Lieut.-General Sir R. C. B. Haking, commanding
Ninth Corps, spoke to all officers of the Brigade, laying

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

great stress on the value of incessant raids to wear
down the enemy’s morale, pointing out in a humorous
way that the truest value was to be obtained not by
the Corps Commander ordering a raid to be carried
out, but by a Platoon Commander, after thoroughly
reconnoitring and selecting a piece of his sector,
volunteering to organise and lead a raiding party
over ground well known to them all. He ended by
saying that in view of the hardships on the Somme
he hoped to be able to give us a little more rest before
we went up to the line. However, the next morning
sudden orders were received to prepare to relieve
the Battalion holding the Neuve Chapelle sector.
As it was possible to carry out the relief by day we
marched out of La Fosse at 8 a.m. July 27, and
relieved 14th York and Lancaster Regiment by about
mid-day. Here for the first time we had to deal with
breastworks in place of trenches, and very inferior
we found them, as they were difficult to maintain
and liable to flood.

During the early part of the evening the enemy
opened out a heavy bombardment, especially of heavy
trench mortars, of which we found a base plate measur¬
ing 9 inches in diameter, and a long stretch of nearly
100 yards of the breastwork was virtually .torn away ;
this bombardment ceased about 7.30 p.m. The
Battalion was well settled down in its new sector, and
the runners had learned the routes to the companies,
when at 9.30 p.m. a furious bombardment opened
on our front and, to our right, over the front of 18th
West Yorkshire Regiment, 2nd/5th Gloucester Regi¬
ment on our left receiving only the fringe of the fire.
The zone of the enemy fire included the front line
trench, where complete breaches were blown in the

THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME, 1916

breastworks, the support line slightly and the com¬
municators everywhere : these last were, one and all,
blown in and impossible to use : all wires went
immediately. Heavy trench mortars and 5.9’s were
directed especially on the front line breastworks.
Information could only be obtained by runners
avoiding communicators and going over the top
through the confusing ruins of Neuve Chapelle. At
10.25 P-M* B Company in the centre reported the
enemy to be in our front line, but after a sharp struggle
of less than five minutes he was ejected, leaving
one of his officers and several of his men dead in
our trenches. Captain D. E. Ince and B Company
especially distinguished themselves ; Corporal M. R.
Pinkney of the same Company shot with his revolver
the German officer and a man following behind him,
then hearing a scuffle in his rear, turned round and
shot another, driving off the remainder. About
the same time Lance-Sergeant F. G. Allison, who
was in charge of the C Company Lewis Guns on
the left flank, had the target of a lifetime : a large
party of about 50 Boche were mounting the breast¬
work to his flank ; he enfiladed them direct at point-
blank range with his gun and accounted for 39 of
them, the remainder jumped down into our trench,
but were at once thrown out. At 10.45 P*M*
unit on our right reported the enemy in his line
between Hun Street and Oxford Street, and that a
counter-attack was being prepared at 11.15 p.m. to
eject them. A Company was ordered to co-operate
in this counter-attack. At 1 1 p.m. Hush Hall, the
Battalion bomb-store, was in flames, but the Battalion
bombers, under Corporal E. Myers, in spite of the
danger managed to extinguish it amid a hail of shrapnel ;

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

the enemy’s high explosive again fired the store, and
the bombers again succeeded in putting the fire out.
Meanwhile A Company on the right was heavily
shelled, and the breastworks, especially at the Neb,
were torn and breached. Shelling ceased at 1.30 a.m.
The chief damage done was in the centre and left
centre, where the breastworks were levelled in places,
and several dug-outs set on fire : as far as possible
the breastworks were built up before dawn, but
the whole line required extensive repairs. After
this success the Australians near us gave us the nick¬
name ‘ The White Ghurkas ’. The Ghurkas had
fought at Neuve Chapelle and in Biez Wood to the
east. See Appendix II. (2).

A Boche prisoner, captured by us in the ruins of
Neuve Chapelle with an elaborate telephone apparatus,
stated that one and a half battalions had taken part
in the raid, or rather minor operation, and that the
intention had been to stay and form a salient in our
line. Our total casualties were 79 ; more than
80 German dead alone were counted in and in
front of our line, apart from those further out in No
Man’s Land and accounted for by our guns. Enemy
casualties were estimated at approximately 200.
Among these dead were found instances of saw
bayonets with jagged edges, and bullets with filed
and split noses both in rifle magazines and cartridge
pouches. At this time our artillery was limited to
ten rounds a week per battery, but during this raid,
as usual, they gave us the most effective support.
Shortly after, however, the shortage grew almost
worse, owing to the destruction by enemy bombs of
the huge ammunition dump at Audruicq.

The rest of this tour was quiet and devoted to

THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME, 1916

clearing the trenches and No Man’s Land of casualties.
One day a French civilian came to Headquarters to
ask permission to dig in the ruins of Neuve Chapelle
for a strong-box of papers buried there by him during
the German advance in 1914. His search was
successful. The feelings of the Sappers and working
parties who had dug a trench within five yards of this
treasure-trove, when they heard what they had missed,
can only be vaguely and quite inadequately imagined.
Similar cases happened at Vimy and again at Willer-
val in late 1917. At the latter place, the trail of an
1 8-pounder actually had to be moved, and to the
disgust of the R.F.A. the French civilian found a
hoard of francs which he had buried just under the
surface of the ground, and which lay immediately
below the spade of the gun. A noticeable feature of
Neuve Chapelle amid the destruction and levelled
ruins, in the heart of the village, was a lofty crucifix
still practically undamaged, the only sign of peace in
the scene of havoc and desolation.

CHAPTER VI

FESTUBERT, NEUVE CHAPELLE, AND
GIVENCHY

On August 4 we were relieved by 14th York and
Lancaster Regiment and moved back to La Fosse.
On 7th a draft of fifty reported. On the following day
Lieut.-Colonel H. Bowes handed over the command
of the Battalion to Lieut.-Colonel R. E. Cheyne, and
after nearly two years’ command returned to England,
accompanied by the best wishes of the Battalion for
which he had worked so long and felt such affection.

On August 9 we left La Fosse and after a long
and dusty march moved into very poor billets at
Le Hamel and Essars, and thence the following day
into the line east of Festubert, with a battalion of the
Hampshire Regiment on our right and 16th West
Yorkshire Regiment on our left. If we had thought
the line at Neuve Chapelle was bad, we found this
sector far worse : the front and close support lines
consisted of island breastworks, or small disconnected
posts at considerable intervals, very low, in very bad
repair and with hardly any communication from
island to island, unless one crawled on hands and
knees along a gutter about if feet deep. The com¬
municators were also falling to pieces and consisted

FESTUBERT, NEUVE CHAPELLE. 1916

of sandbags rotten with age, and in many places
merely of latrine canvas sagging badly on posts, and
not always providing even cover from view. The
Reserve line (Old British Line) was good. The con¬
dition of the front line may be judged from the fact
that three shots from an enemy sniper brought down
a considerable portion of the sand-bagged parapet.

There was a portion of the German line opposite
us which jutted out into a sharp salient known as the
Pope’s Nose. From this point he kept up a perpetual
harassing fire of rifle-grenades; in retaliation the
salient was ‘ strafed ’ with Stokes and rifle-grenades.
This only increased the enemy fire ; accordingly, a
general retaliatory bombardment was arranged for
2.45 p.m. on 15th, and, in view of the known accuracy
of the German ranging and the weakness of our
breastworks, nearly all troops were withdrawn to old
overgrown and disused trenches in rear of their respec¬
tive lines. On the opening of our 4.5 howitzers,
1 8-pounders and trench mortars the enemy replied
quickly on the front line, more heavily on the close
support trenches, George and Cover, and with good
effect on the Old British Line and Battalion Head¬
quarters, blowing in several bays and dug-outs there.
No. 1 1 Island was blown in and Barnton East damaged,
but, owing to the withdrawal of our troops, we only
had three casualties. On August 1 7, six willow trees
in No Man’s Land, believed to be used by enemy
snipers and perhaps also as a ranging mark, were blown
up by mobile charges, and later in the day the pro¬
gramme of August 15 was repeated with the same
precautions. The Boche replied with thirty minutes’

‘ hate ’. After the demolition of these willow trees
the Boche fired a dud bomb into the trenches adjoining

49 e

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

ours on the right, with a label on which was written in
English : ‘We are Saxons and are fed up with the war :
we won’t shoot if you won’t.’ U nluckily these peaceful
overtures were nipped in the bud, as a bombardment
of their trenches had already been arranged for.

During most of this tour there were repeated
bursts of heavy fire on Givenchy Ridge just south
of us, which we watched with some interest and un¬
concern : we did not suspect then that an early
sideslip to that lively and undesirable sector was to
be our lot. On this occasion in the line the enemy
anti-aircraft guns got a direct hit on the observer’s
seat just behind the engine of a B.E.2 c. The
aeroplane burst into flames and corkscrewed down
behind D Company at Barnton T. Both pilot and
observer were killed.

On August 1 8 the Battalion less B Company,
which remained in the line, was relieved by 15th West
Yorkshire Regiment and marched into very com¬
fortable billets at Le Touret. On 20th there was
heavy and increasing hostile fire all day, extending
into the billeting areas in rear and causing our Brigade
Headquarters staff to take precipitate flight into
the fields together with their papers. This enemy
activity was not reduced by our artillery fire. Ac¬
cordingly, in the evening B Company sent up two
platoons to reinforce the front line, and under orders
from Brigade the Battalion stood to from 8 p.m. to
11.30 p.m. At 8.40 p.m. a strong German raiding
party was repulsed with heavy loss between No. 9
and 12 Islands ; the Islands were badly damaged.
On 22nd, C Company relieved B Company in Old
British Line ; the latter joined the Battalion in Le
Touret. On 26th we relieved 15th West Yorkshire

5°

FESTUBERT, NEUVE CHAPELLE. 1916

Regiment, having 2nd Yorkshire Regiment on our
right and 16th West Yorkshire Regiment on our
left. Early on 29th our heavies bombarded the
craters to the south for thirty-five minutes, and at
3 p.m. there was a heavy bombardment on both sides
of the Ridge. The remaining days were very quiet,
and the general improvement of the Islands and
linking up of the front line by a traffic trench pro¬
ceeded rapidly. On September 1 the Battalion less
D Company, which remained in Old British Line,
was relieved by 15th West Yorkshire Regiment
and returned to Le Touret, but found the village
spoiled by the arrival and ear-splitting activity of a
6-inch Naval Gun Battery which had come up for
long-range work on La Bass^e and lilies; two
days later, however, we moved back to the peace
and comfort of La Fosse, D Company from the Old
British Line rejoining us the following day.

For the next week a considerable amount of time
was devoted to training a raiding party for the next
tour and to reconnoitring overland routes for re¬
inforcing the Festubert sector. On September 1 1
we relieved 13th York and Lancaster Regiment in
our Old Neuve Chapelle sector with 15th West York¬
shire Regiment on the right and 2nd/ist Bucking¬
hamshire Regiment of 61st Division on our left.
Our horse lines were again near Lestrem. The whole
tour was quiet but very wet and cold. Active patrol¬
ling was done by our left Company with a view to
finding gaps in the German wire, which was extra¬
ordinarily strong, high and thick. The raid was
to take place on the last night in, but we were
unexpectedly relieved by 2nd/6th Gloucestershire
Regiment side-slipping south, and 7th Worcestershire

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Regiment side-slipping north, and after a complicated
but speedy relief we moved into very indifferent billets
at Vieille Chapelle on night i6th-iyth September.
Next day we embussed (a new war-word on the analogy
of entrain) and reached Gorre, and marched thence into
support on the Village line east of Givenchy, taking
over from 1 8th Liverpool Regiment. Our duty was
to man and hold a line of strong points, from right to
left, Pont Fixe south and north, Hilder’s Redoubt,
Givenchy Keep on the site of the ruined church,
Herts Redoubt, Moat Farm, Windy Corner and Le
Plantin, and to provide working parties. The following
day B Company took over Orchard Keep, behind which
lay a motor machine-gun detachment. The general
policy was to hold this chequer system of strong points,
in case the enemy broke through the very ragged
and crater-torn front line, and by mutual support
to break up any advance and then counter-attack, as
our retention of Givenchy Ridge was all-important
for denying the enemy complete observation and
command of the low-lying ground to the west. The
value of this system fully proved itself when it broke
up the great German assault in March 1918, and the
strong points, though at first passed and surrounded,
managed to disintegrate the advance and finally
to counter-attack and win back our front line from a
demoralised foe. Battalion Headquarters were in
a Heath Robinson ruin of a house with a fine
panelled room, which was decorated with the crests
and mottoes of the battalions which had been
quartered there. Our transport and Quartermaster’s
stores moved to Gorre. In our Battalion Head¬
quarters at Givenchy we found the following memor¬
able lines :

The Red Dragon Crater.
One of the largest mines
blown in the war.

Taken from Aeroplane .

THE FAMOUS LINE OF MINE-CRATERS RUNNING NORTH
AND SOUTH ASTRIDE GIVENCHY RIDGE.

Some of the craters are over sixty feet deep. Ti}e sapheads leading to the crater
lips are very clear especially on the llritish side. The size of the craters should
be compared with the small shell-holes, most of which are ten to twelve feet in
diameter, and with the crater opposite page 136, which is barely a quarter of

their size.

FESTUBERT, NEUVE CHAPELLE. 1916

Hearken all ye whom Duty calls

To spend some time within these friendly walls:

Others will sojourn here when you have passed,

You were not first and you will not be last :

Therefore, take heed and do whate’er you may
For Safety or for Comfort while you stay :

Just put a sandbag here, a picture there,

To make a room more safe, a wall less bare.

Think, as you tread the thorny path of Duty,

Of Comfort, of Security, and Beauty.

So your Successors when they come shall say :

* A fine Battalion we relieved to-day.’

On September 21 we relieved 1 8th West York¬
shire Regiment in the front line, having 1 5th West
Yorkshire Regiment on our right on the Ridge and
1 ith East Lancashire Regiment on our left on the low
ground north of it. This was our first experience
in a heavily mined and cratered area with its huge
craters 50 to 60 feet deep. Especial precautions
had to be taken lest the Boche should blow fresh
mines eating into our line, and try to occupy them,
and consolidation parties with concertinas of barbed
wire and bombs were always in readiness day and night.
The mining situation when we arrived was still
dangerous, as the deep German mines had well undercut
our old shallow-level mines, while our deep mining
did not yet give us any real protective value, though
gradually the situation improved by strenuous labour
on the part of the indefatigable 252nd Tunnelling
Company in our sector. Meanwhile, the forward
posts in the sapheads, pushed out on to the lips of
craters, were in a somewhat critical position, and liable
to be isolated and cut out at any moment by a deter¬
mined enemy raiding-party. The tour was, however,
generally a quiet one except for trench mortars,
especially mediums, in response to our 60-lb. footballs.

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

On September 23 our 9.5 heavy trench mortars
appeared on the scene, as artillery ammunition was
still very scarce, and, after a considerable space in
our front line was cleared, heavily mortared the
enemy line with delay fuses : cascades of debris, duck
boards, revetting stakes, and an occasional Boche ap¬
pearing high up in the air. One ‘short ’ unfortunately
landed in the centre of our empty front line trench,
destroying it entirely for about ten yards and forming
a very good-sized crater. In response, the enemy
trench mortars increased their fire, and especially on
the following day when one Minenwerfer killed three
of our men. In the case of one, his hair turned grey,
and, though death was almost instantaneous, it went
on turning colour until it became completely white.
That night there was a very violent mutual bombard¬
ment from 10.20 p.m. to 1 1 p.m. just south of our
sector, but nothing came our way, there being one of
those curiously sharp lines of demarcation in the limits
of the barrage. During and from this tour onwards,
the Regimental Canteen, under the care of Sergeant
May, always came up into the line and added con¬
siderably to the comfort of the men.

On 26th, 1 8th West Yorkshire Regiment relieved
us, and the Battalion less A Company, which remained
in the Village line, marched into billets at Gorre
Chateau, where every one was exceedingly comfort¬
able, the baths especially being good and well arranged.
During the rest-period gas precautions were strictly
enforced, as it was believed that the enemy had in¬
stalled cylinder gas just to the south ; and on more
than one occasion the alarm came through to us, * Gas
being released well outside the Divisional area ’, and
once caused one of our senior officers some consterna-

FESTUBERT, NEUVE CHAPELLE. 1916

tion, as he was then in the middle of a hot bath: he
decided to remain where he was — with a gas mask on.

On September 29 we returned to the Givenchy
front line, relieving 1 8th West Yorkshire Regiment,
with 15th West Yorkshire Regiment on our right
and 13th York and Lancaster Regiment on our left.
The tour, which lasted until October 4, was a quiet
one, but Captain J. B. Hughes-Games was very severely
wounded while out wiring, and in him we lost the
services of one of our most painstaking and efficient
Company Commanders. On relief by 1st Duke of
Cornwall’s Light Infantry we moved into support
in the Village line, and the following day, after handing
over to 1 2th Gloucestershire Regiment, moved back
to Bethune into the Ecole des Jeunes Filles. We
only had these good billets for one night, as the follow¬
ing day the Brigade marched to Busnes while we went
on to our former comfortable quarters at La Pierriere
shortly after mid-day. Lfnfortunately, after a very
brief stay amid the luxuries of chickens, eggs, butter
and milk, we marched on a sultry afternoon to Lillers,
and, entraining there, reached Doullens at 11.30 p.m.
After two hours’ most trying march on unknown
roads we reached Orville at 2.15 a.m. on October 9,
and were allotted very inferior accommodation, tents
and billets being both bad and scanty. We were
now in Thirteenth Corps in the then-named Reserve
Army. On the arrival of fresh troops in Orville
the Battalion moved into bivouac in Orville Wood,
and the weather at once broke, the result being that
we were all cold and miserable. The Commanding
Officer at once resumed hard training, and with the
wood facilities the Companies had plenty of practice
in wood fighting in addition to Battalion schemes.

CHAPTER VII

BACK TO THE SOMME, I 9 I 6—1 9 I 7

On October 17 the Brigade began to move forward
slowly by stages in bad weather and along water¬
logged roads, and many of us began, if not to sigh
for the flesh-pots of Egypt, which certainly had not
been attractive, at least to remember longingly the
warmth of the previous winter. At St. Leger we began
to re-enter the utter desolation of the Somme, pig-sties,
hen-houses, cattle-byres being taken into use to give
some shelter from the rain. On 2,1st every one was
glad to move again on the chance of finding better
quarters, and we made our watery way through
Coigneux to Sailly-au-Bois, relieving 12th East York¬
shire Regiment in support to the Hebuterne sector.
Sadly, though largely destroyed, gave us better billets
than St. Leger, the chief objection being the fondness
of the Boche for using it as a target for 5.9’s and 4.2’s,
especially at night. A and B Companies were shelled
out of billets on the second night and had to take to
bivouacking in the open. C Company only had
occasional ‘ strafes ’, while D Company, though
moving out three times in one night, managed to live
on in the remnants of the billet left to them after the
shelling. It usually rained during these midnight

BACK TO THE SOMME, 1916

flittings, or to put it more correctly, the enemy appeared
to shell chiefly when it rained at night, knowing the
additional discomfort and hoping to catch the easy¬
going and somnolent ones ; anyhow, as it rained
most nights, he had plenty of opportunity to do so.
It can be easily imagined that the condition of the
village gave the Commanding Officer a chance to
practise village-fighting and carry out instructional
schemes with the officers. From this time onwards,
throughout the winter until the end of February 1917?
the Battalion, while out of the line, had to endure the
wearisome working parties practically every night,
wiring defensive systems, digging trenches, carrying
up trench mortar ammunition for light and mediums,
taking forward and installing gas cylinders, clearing
communicators apart from the ordinary work in the
line, until no one, officer or man, felt that he could
call a moment his own.

On October 26 we relieved 1 8th West Yorkshire
Regiment in the Hebuterne south sector, making
our first acquaintance with the famous Hebuterne
Suicide Corner, where it was reported that the same
traffic control policeman was never seen twice. 18th
West Yorkshire Regiment had just received a heavy
gas-shell bombardment of the pine-apple type, and
the ground occupied by D Company was still heavy
with it. The trenches were very wet and muddy,
and in spite of every effort could only be kept dry
and passable in patches, the water gradually gaining
the upper hand everywhere ; all communicators and
trenches on the forward slope facing Gommecourt
were deplorable, and the only satisfaction was that
the Boche trenches were in still worse condition,
our bombardments of his line being accompanied by

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

cascades of water. To add to the humour of the
situation, the British Army paid rent for these desirable
residences to the French, whereas, at a later date, the
Americans more wisely bought their trenches outright.
Naturally, nearly all forward movement, except in
the case of single individuals, was restricted to night,
when every one went over the top.

A policy of accustoming the enemy to bursts of
fire was now adopted in order to mislead them as to
the exact time and date of our impending attack on
November 13. General Haking had in his previous
address to the Officers of the Brigade explained the
theory as follows : ‘ There will be heavy minute

bursts of artillery, trench mortar, machine-gun, Lewis
gun, rifle-grenades and rifle-fire at irregular times,
but especially in the night and early morning ; at
the first burst all the Boche will expect an attack
and pop out of their burrows and nothing will happen,
but rather fewer of them will go down than came up ;
at each succeeding burst fewer Boche will pop up and
still nothing will happen, but rather a smaller number
will go back to their burrows than came out ; then
at last, when we have trained him and he is quite
tame, and not even the sentry takes any notice ot a
burst except to duck down, we will come over and
find him still in his burrow, and then you can let him
come out or stop up his burrow just as you like.’
This policy was carefully explained, and carried out
for a fortnight or more prior to our attack of November
13, and was in the main successful.

On October 27 the unit on our right carried out
a raid, but the state of No Man’s Land, which was a
honeycomb of water-logged shell holes, was all against
success. In continuation of this policy all our

BACK TO THE SOMME, 1916

Companies did very active patrolling, but the fighting
patrols met no one, and it appeared as if the enemy
only desired to be left alone, as he put in no appear¬
ance in No Man’s Land. His chief activity was in
shelling Headquarters and blowing in the Regimental
Aid Post, and in frequent gas-shelling of D Company’s
sector. Apart from the wet, a great drawback to
this tour was the uncertainty when the installed gas
cylinders would be discharged ; almost every evening
if the wind was favourable about 6 p.m., the troops
would be withdrawn from the gas zone often at very
short notice and stowed away in rear trenches, all gas
precautions being taken ; gas would then be cancelled,
the troops would re-man the line and half the night’s
working hours had gone. Such was the regular
evening programme, the sporting element alone in the
Battalion making any capital out of it.

On 30th we were relieved by 12th York and
Lancaster Regiment, handed in our gum-boots,
went into comfortable billets at Rossignol Farm and
resumed living. This year brought about great
improvements in the storage and drying of gum-boots
under Divisional arrangements as compared with the
haphazard handling of them in the previous winter.
Whale oil and foot rubbing also became a part of
the daily limited toilette in the trenches, every stretcher-
bearer being responsible that each man in his platoon
rubbed his feet and changed his socks at least once
a day ; the results were most encouraging, trench
foot and frost-bite being practically unknown in the
Battalion. Rossignol Farm was an excellent billet
for the whole Battalion, and though it stood up con¬
spicuously on a hill, was never shelled. The training
area was not very good, but could be used lor training

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

raiding parties, instruction in patrolling and small
schemes. About this time, too, the Follies, the
Divisional concert-party, came into being, also the
Tonics of 92nd Infantry Brigade, followed later by
the Nissen Nuts of 94th Infantry Brigade and the
Owls of 15th West Yorkshire Regiment. These
evening entertainments, however, were only available
for men not on working parties, and the ordinary
Infantryman could not often enjoy them.

What the Infantryman did appreciate at this time,
but that at rare intervals, was leave — not going on
leave, which was a very different thing and sometimes
rivalled the hardships of the trenches. The trains
were in miserable condition ; doors and all windows
were often absent and seldom replaced even by wooden
shutters to keep out the icy draughts. The stove-
heated horse trucks of very much later days were
really comfortable, but military science did not attain
to these until towards the end of the war. The reason
for dilapidations was not difficult to find : in the
first place, the very oldest French rolling-stock was
used, the doors were bulged and impossible to shut,
and were frequently torn off during travelling by other
trains carelessly loaded with timber, etc., which had
slipped. In one case within the Brigade the entire
side of a compartment was torn out and a Brigade
officer narrowly escaped a very serious accident. In
another case within the Battalion a train was climbing
a steep incline, and owing to the weight behind, the
entire back-end of a carriage was pulled out, leaving
the occupants still seated but rather surprised. All
the danger of the war was not confined to the trenches.
Again, with regard to the broken windows, the damage
was not often wilful. In the first place, the men as

BACK TO THE SOMME, 1916

a whole were wonderfully good and well-disciplined on
train journeys ; secondly, to break windows would
be only to increase the existing discomfort. What
happened might be seen or rather heard at any
advanced station in the dead of night : no lights
were allowed either in the carriages or on the stations,
and a voice would be heard : ‘ Twenty-five to Twenty-
seven, Twenty-nine to Thirty-one Divisions get out
here.’ The carriages were generally crowded with
men in full marching order, very few would know
at which station to detrain until they heard the order, so
they would hurriedly collect their kit, stumble over
the feet of their comrades, and the pack, rifle or
steel helmet might fall against a window, and this
would be repeated nightly the whole way up the line.
As no repairs appear to have been carried out in the
early days, the condition of the carriages became more
and more deplorable. Leave in France of seven to
ten days was a much later and thoroughly appreciated
innovation ; it did not interfere with leave for
England and there were always plenty of applicants
for it.

On November 7 we returned to Hebuterne south,
relieving 14th York and Lancaster Regiment, and
finding the trenches worse than ever, some of the
communicators being neck-high in porridge-like mud
of extraordinary tenacity ; even in the better trenches
a gum-boot, once securely sucked in by mud thigh
deep, was as good as lost. The gas programme
of the previous tour was repeated and no gas was
discharged. Headquarters was rather hotly shelled,
but we had luck, and no real damage was done.
Nothing of interest happened, and after handing over
to 1 8th West Yorkshire Regiment we moved on nth

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

into huts and sandbag shelters in the Dell, west of
Sailly.

After the description of the General Post movement
caused by gas installation to troops in the line, an
account of what it meant to troops at rest (!) naturally
follows. At 4 p.m. daily an unending procession of
Infantrymen would be seen tramping through the
gloom of a drenching November afternoon along
the Sailly-Hebuterne road, for all roads lead to Rome,
— Suicide Corner ; mixed with these would splash
along ammunition columns for the guns, pontoon
wagons carrying elephant shelters or rails, G.S. wagons
with wire and timber, limbers with rations, pack
animals with anything, and probably some lorries
with gas cylinders, gas shells or gas bombs, of which
one or more might be leaking slightly. The mud can
now be passed over only in silence. The whole
column moves on slowly with frequent checks, as
double-banking is not only forbidden, but is impossible
owing to the returning stream of men and transport.
The majority of us will probably admit that we only
had two wishes : first, that the 1 8- and 6o-pounders
firing across the road would have sufficient elevation
to clear our heads ; second, that there would not be
a check at Hebuterne Corner. By about 6 p.m.
there would be, in addition to the garrison and front
line troops in Hebuterne, well over 2,000 men all
moving forward towards the line on their thousand-
and-one duties, and at the same hour ‘ Gasper ’, the
code word for ‘ wind favourable for discharge of
gas ’, would be received at the various Orderly Rooms
of the units from which these parties had been found.
At once, mounted orderlies and cyclists would hurry
at full speed into Hebuterne to warn and bring back

BACK TO THE SOMME, 1916

their respective parties. Wagons, vehicles of all
sorts, animals and men had then to turn round in the
narrow, debris-strewn, shell-pitted village streets and
get clear of Hebuterne, parties would be broken or
cut in two by converging transport, and could only
be got together again by the exertions of officers,
non-commissioned officers and of the men themselves.
And this did not happen one night, or two nights,
but night after night ; yet it was entirely unavoidable,
the working parties must carry on, and the gas must
be discharged when possible ; and the fact that
night after night parties returned to their units without
a straggler speaks much for the self-discipline of the
British soldier and the resourcefulness and powers of
control possessed by the British officer and non¬
commissioned officer.

Hebuterne at its best was a spot where few people
dawdled, as the enemy used to send all his spare
ammunition there, and the village had a sinister and
unhealthy reputation. The most dangerous spots
were the crossroads at the west entrance, which were
frequently hit, the pond which quite as frequently
went up in the air, and the church which, lying between
communication trenches, was smashed up, only two
thick walls remaining. Behind this ruin lies the
cemetery with its graves gashed open by shells. In
the debris of the school hard by were found the
school register of 1891, and old copy-books, in many
of which was written as an exercise : ‘ La patrie me
demande de grands sacrifices.' How many who wrote
those words more than a quarter of a century ago have
made the sacrifice!

The increased artillery activity now made it quite
clear that the guns were culminating for an attack

THE i BTH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

on a large scale. Most of the fire was directed to
our right on our old battle-front of Serre and further
south on Beaumont Hamel. In the Dell we were
in reserve to 92nd Infantry Brigade, and as a Boche
attack was expected to forestall our impending attack
due for November 13, we were at twenty minutes’
notice to stand to ; meantime, we found a party of
50 men for training to put up a smoke barrage with
P. bombs on the left of the attack, while the remainder
of the Battalion carried stores, ammunition, rations
and water up to battle dumps. At 6.15 p.m. on 12th
the smoke party proceeded up to the line, and at
5.45 a.m., November 13, 92nd Infantry Brigade
attacked the German line south-east of Hebuterne
in conjunction with an assault on Serre, which failed
on the fatal glacis as on July 1, while the springing
of the great Beaumont Hamel mine, this time con¬
taining 25,000 lb. of ammonal, which had borne no
fruits in July, succeeded, the defenders being over¬
whelmed and the site of the village captured. The
92nd Infantry Brigade after penetrating into the
third German line, found themselves enfiladed from
the impregnable heights of Serre, and were ordered
by the Corps Commander to return to their original
line that night. See Appendix II. (3).

On November 14, Headquarters A and B Com¬
panies moved into bivouacs on a frozen turnip-field
west of Courcelles, C and D Companies returning to
Rossignol Farm. The Battalion was still at twenty
minutes’ notice to reinforce 94th Infantry Brigade
now in the line, in case the enemy took the offensive.
The weather for open bivouacs in mid -November
was bitter, and ice had to be thawed before a wash was
possible. On 17th there was an inter-Company relief.

The Mousetrap Post. Taken from Aeroplane.

GOMMECOURT SALIENT IN THE SNOW.

The German wire belts in front of and through the wood are faintly outlined in the
snow. The snow shows up clearly which of the trenches are used and which are not,
both in our lines and in the enemy’s.

BACK TO THE SOMME, 1916

On 19th we moved in a thick mist to Sailly, met
the two Companies from Rossignol Farm and took
over Hebuterne north sector from 1 8th West York¬
shire Regiment, the going being very bad all the way.
Here we found ourselves on a forward slope dominated
by the Garde Stellung, the third German line ; both
front lines lay in the valley, and our left at the Mouse¬
trap was only thirty to forty yards at most from the
German sap-head in front of Gommecourt salient and
Park. There were, in addition, at this point two
Russian saps parallel to each other, which extended
from our close support line to under the Boche front
line ; these had to be securely guarded day and
night. The tour was quiet, and much patrolling and
trench repair work was carried out, as the line was
falling in badly in all directions owing to persistent
rain. In an orchard at the north end of the village,
and in our sector, was an excellent example of a
camouflaged iron apple tree, covered with ivy made
of green cloth. This was used as an Observation
Post and was a much better and cleverer imitation
than the rough-and-ready iron elm trees at Neuve
Chapelle and near Neuville St. Vaast. The enemy
had a very clever imitation tree on one of the Arras
roads which was indistinguishable from the other
shell-shattered tree-stumps on the roadside ; it was
used by him as a machine-gun emplacement.

Towards the end of this tour, on or about Novem¬
ber 25, two L.Y.G. enemy aircraft attacked one of
our F.E.2b, a long-distance, photography aeroplane,
which had separated from the remainder of its flight.
They forced it to land behind Hebuterne. We
found later that Lieutenant J. A. V. Boddy was the
observer in it, and that he had been knocked un-

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

conscious by a bit of his own machine which had
been splintered off by the fire of the German aeroplanes.

On November 27, after a long tour in the line,
we were relieved by 1 8 th West Yorkshire Regiment,
and, moving out by the newly cleared Nap trench to
the north, avoided Hebuterne and reached Rossignol
Farm via Bayencourt. This new route, avoiding
Hebuterne Corner and the gas-swept road to Sailly,
though involving heavy going if the ground was wet,
was a distinct success. In billets, working parties
continued as usual to help Battalions in the line
and prevent their trenches from falling into a state
of total collapse.

On December 3 the Battalion, less a party de¬
tailed to carry out a raid later and left out for special
training, returned to the line using the same north
route and took over from 1 8 th West Yorkshire
Regiment, and on 9th, after an exceptionally quiet
time, again handed over to the same Battalion, and
leaving B and C Companies as garrison of Hebuterne
Keep, went into Brigade support at Sailly. B and C
Companies were relieved by A and D on 12th. On
15th we relieved 1 8th West Yorkshire Regiment.
Our artillery began now to bombard Gommecourt
salient preparatory to our raid, and some wire-cutting
was done. The enemy retaliated and a shell, penetrating
a dug-out and bursting inside, killed Captain D. S.
Phorson and Second Lieutenant R. G. C. Busby,
Second Lieutenant G. H. Lean having a marvellous
escape with only a few splinter scratches. During
the next two days the enemy made little reply to our
bursts of artillery, and on 19th when the raid took
place, though everything went exactly according to
plan and the party penetrated even deeper into the

BACK TO THE SOMME, 1916-17

salient than was intended in the hope of obtaining an
identification, no enemy were found and the German
lines were seen to be in a state of complete ruin ;
the few posts known to have been on the outskirts
of the salient had in all probability fled at the opening
of our barrage.

On December 21 we handed over to 12th East
Yorkshire Regiment and embussed for rest billets
at Famechon. Here we met the Baroness de Gomme-
court, who was very anxious to know whether we
thought that the silver plate which she had buried
in the Park was still safe. She was an old lady of
seventy and very plucky ; she had stayed at her
chateau during the first great wave of the German
advance, and when they were swept back and the line
hardened through her Park, they allowed her to come
through to the British. We now began to make all
preparations for Christmas, and generosity at home
made the dinners a complete success. The cooks
did very fine work in parading punctually a party of
seventy turkeys well dressed and well turned out,
exact to time. The Divisional Commander visited
the men’s messes and wished them good luck. The
day was wound up by a show given by 31st Divisional
Ammunition Column.

On January 2, 1917, we moved up into Divisional
Reserve, going via Pas and Couin along heavy roads
to Bayencourt. The billets were wretched and leaky.
After three days of working parties on trench repair,
we relieved 1 8 th West Yorkshire Regiment in
Hebuterne north. The trenches were totally im¬
passable, all movement was over the top, and the posts
were the only tolerable portions of the line. The
rain still increased in violence, and landslides occurred

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

everywhere. On January io we were relieved by
ioth Worcestershire Regiment of 57th Infantry
Brigade and rendezvoused at Coigneux about mid¬
night to embus for Outrebois west of Doullens, B
Company proceeding farther west to Frohen-le-
Petit. After a very frosty spell we moved on 16th
to Thievres to indifferent billets, A and C Companies
going on to huts near Marieux. The huts, being
incomplete, were worse than indifferent billets, and we
found the weather very hard ; it was the beginning
of the prolonged spell of frost in 1917.

On 22 nd, after a long eighteen-mile march on frosty
roads, we reached Heuzecourt, and training according
to the Divisional programme began in earnest ; the
sports also were fully organised. In the latter, our
football eleven lost to the runners-up 0-1 in the
Divisional competition. Sergeant F. H. Reay was first
home in the Divisional cross-country platoon team
race ; our platoon team was second. Privates R.
Middleton and W. Christie won their events in the
Divisional boxing, and in the tug-of-war our team
was second. Our best and most satisfactory success
was the very easy victory with a handsome margin by
No. 8 Platoon under Second Lieutenant C. G. Findlay
in the Divisional combined musketry and marching
competition : this platoon was chosen to represent
the Division in the Corps event. The D Com¬
pany Platoon won the Divisional bombing com¬
petition.

On February 4 training was interfered with by
the despatch of 300 men to work at Candas, but
Company and several Battalion schemes, based chiefly
on trench-to-trench attack following a barrage, had
already been carried out. The biting north winds

BACK TO THE SOMME, 1917

over the snow-covered hills certainly tended to curtail
training, but a great deal of very useful work was done.
The training culminated on 16th in a Brigade scheme
with a contact aeroplane, which was successfully carried
out near Le Meillard.

CHAPTER VIII

THE SPRING OF I 9 I 7

The thaw now began to set in, and on February 19,
when the roads had become extremely bad and very
trying, we started on our long march up to Beauval,
and the advantage of marching in threes, rather than
in fours, on bad roads was clearly seen. On 20th we
again had a long, wet trek to Couin, where the hut
accommodation was most inadequate. On 21st the
Battalion moved into support at Sailly with B and D
Companies in Hebuterne Keep. After three quiet
days of rest the Battalion was ordered on February
25 to be ready to move at 5 a.m. on the next day
to take part in a general advance, as the enemy was
reported to be retiring on a line from Gommecourt
southwards. At 7.40 a.m. we moved up to Hebuterne,
but operations were cancelled, and in the afternoon we
relieved 1 8 th West Yorkshire Regiment in the front
line.

On February 26 our observers reported Germans
standing about in the neighbourhood of Garde Stellung,
a trench on the crest of the ridge linking up their first
and second trench systems, apparently watching for
movement from our lines ; half an hour later they
shelled No Man’s Land and their own trenches about

THE SPRING OF 1917

Nameless Farm. In the afternoon at 4.15 p.m. six
Platoons under the command of Second Lieutenants
D. H. Keith and G. H. Lean left our lines in artillery
formation to take up a line about Nameless Farm ;
this was observed, and the enemy put a thin barrage
on No Man’s Land. These Platoons got into touch
with 1 5th West Yorkshire Regiment in the old German
line where it cuts the Hebuterne-Bucquoy road.
During the night of 2 6th-2 7th a forward dump of
ammunition, rations and water was established in the old
first German line by Lieutenant R. Armstrong. Early
on the morning of 27th Second Lieutenant N. Richard¬
son took two additional Platoons across as reinforce¬
ments. About mid-day Lance-Corporal T. Rigg and
Private H. W. Lawer returned from an entirely
voluntary reconnaissance of Gommecourt salient, Park
and village and reported them all evacuated. This
was an exceptionally daring piece of work, as after
crossing No Man’s Land they had plunged into the
mysterious maze of Gommecourt salient, which was
not then known to be empty, and had continued
until they reached the fringe of our own artillery fire
on the east side of the village. As a result, Second
Lieutenants C. G. Findlay and J. H. Ruby took their
Platoons from the Mousetrap and occupied the village,
taking up a line on the east edge. Next morning on
28th Second Lieutenant C. G. Findlay handed over
Gommecourt village to 4th Leicestershire Regiment on
our left, obtaining with true Scotch caution an official
receipt from them for this transaction. Second Lieu¬
tenant G. H. Lean then pushed out patrols to his left
and got into touch with 4th Leicestershire Regiment
by noon. Before 7.30 p.m. the entire Moltke Graben
was occupied by the Battalion from Crucifix Corner

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

to Gommecourt Cemetery, and touch was established
on both flanks.

On the night 28th February- 1st March a Platoon
of B Company made every effort to force its way into
First Garde Stellung by working up Rom Graben on
our left, but was strenuously resisted by a strong
bombing party and two machine-guns and failed to
get in. On the right two Platoons between Lehmann
and Becker Graben lost their way in the intense dark¬
ness, these two communicators being practically
obliterated by our shell-fire and giving no guiding
marks. In the afternoon, a D Company patrol re¬
ported First Garde Stellung strongly held. They saw
many Germans and several machine-guns, which were
in action ; the wire also was thick and strong. On
March 2 our guns cut wire, but patrols reported a
strong enemy party rewiring the gap at nightfall,
and again after midnight. At 2 a.m. on March 3
1 8th West Yorkshire Regiment entered the once
formidable strong point Rossignol Wood just to our
right without any opposition, and accordingly at
6 a.m. Second Lieutenant H. E. Hitchin, M.M.,
worked up Pionier Graben, but was held up by wire
and a strong block west of First Garde Stellung. At
7.25 a.m. Sergeant F. H. Reay with a Platoon of D
Company forced a footing in First Garde Stellung
and bombed his way to his right and left and linked
up with another Platoon which had forced a way in by
Becker Graben. These two Platoons extended to their
left and got into touch near Gommecourt Cemetery
with 5th Sherwood Foresters, who had relieved 4th
Leicestershire Regiment. Between noon and 4 p.m.
all efforts by B and D Companies to work south-east
along Garde Stellung and link up with C Company,

THE SPRING OF 1917

endeavouring to enter it from Pionier and Schweikert
Graben, were held up by strong wire and trench
blocks, and it was arranged to bombard it, as the Stokes
mortars were not able to come into action. The
Companies were withdrawn from the immediate danger
zone, and from 4.30 p.m. to 4.50 p.m. our 4'5’s bom¬
barded the Boche strong point in co-operation with
9- 5 mortars, which by the most praiseworthy efforts
had been brought with their unwieldy shells across
the old shell-torn, water-logged No Man’s Land and
installed in Rossignol Wood. On the cessation of
the bombardment the Companies which had gradually
been creeping up dashed in and at once overpowered
the garrison, taking 35 prisoners and 2 machine-guns,
Second Lieutenants H. E. Hitchin, M.M., and J. B.
Bradford showing fine leadership. The latter was
one of the four distinguished Durham brothers, of
whom Brigadier-General Bradford and Lieutenant-
Commander Bradford gained the Victoria Cross,
Captain Bradford the Distinguished Service Order,
and Second Lieutenant Bradford the Military Cross.
At 5.25 p.m. a German counter-attack from the Second
Garde Stellung was repulsed with loss : we resumed
the offensive at once and assaulted this trench, captured
and consolidated it. Both the First and Second Garde
Stellung were now firmly in our hands. At 7.40 p.m.
we handed over the new position intact to 12th York
and Lancaster Regiment and returned to billets in
Rossignol Farm. Our casualties were 1 5 killed,
28 wounded ; our gains : Gommecourt, first and
second German systems for about 1600 yards with
both flanks secured, and the possession of a ridge
which blocked all enemy observation over the
Hebuterne plain and gave us command of the

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

slopes leading past Knife and Fork Woods direct to
Bucquoy.

Next day while at rest, messages of congratulations
began to pour in from General Sir H. de la P. Gough,
commanding our army, for the excellent work of the
Division during the week, with special congratula¬
tions on the capture of the Garde Stellung, and
also from the Corps Commander and Divisional and
Brigade Commanders. See Appendix II. (3 a).

On March 8, after three days’ rest and refitting,
we were ordered to move to Euston Dump north of
the Sucrerie to work on the Colincamps-Serre broad-
gauge railway. There being no accommodation
available we moved to Magnolia Camp, a little south
of the Dell, and until March 1 7 the whole Battalion
went out daily on working parties on the railway.
The work was interesting, as it took us over the well-
known battlefield of Serre, and we were able to see
our lines from the enemy point of view and to realise
how he was able to remain there so long. The village
used to stand on the top of a hill, and perfect observa¬
tion of all our trenches and many of our gun positions
was to be had from its slopes. The whole terrain
had been cut up and scarred beyond recognition by
incessant bombardment — from June 1916 to February
1917. All old landmarks had vanished and our own
trenches, once so familiar to us, could not be dis¬
tinguished. Serre was no longer a village, no longer
even a brick-heap, it was merely a site, while of Pendant
Copse no trees, only a few gaunt and battered sticks,
remained. The rest was utter desolation, a shapeless,
meaningless desolation of broken entanglements,
derelict tanks, weather-beaten equipment and green
slime craters.

THE SPRING OF 1917

On March 18 the Battalion began to move by long
marches to First Army Area and reached Beauquesne,
where we had been in March 1916; the next day
we moved to Fienvillers, and thence on 20th to
Neuvillette and Ransart, on 21st to Nuncq, and on
22nd to Bours, where we had a day’s rest. On 24th
we started again and marched to Westrehem and
reached Bethune on 25th, finding billets in the Tobacco
Factory. Throughout this week of marching the
weather had been most favourable, bright and frosty
with very little wind, and the Battalion had marched
well.

CHAPTER IX

THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE OF I 9 I 7

While we were at Bethune we were at four hours’
notice to reinforce Sixtieth Division at Givenchy, which
many of us took the chance to revisit. Training
continued under bad conditions of weather and of
ground.

Nothing definite was known of what was coming,
but there was a general feeling of something ahead,
and on April 9 the attack was launched on Vimy
Ridge. On April 12 the Division began to move
south ; we went to Haillicourt, and on 14th to
Caucourt, and thence on 20th to Ecoivres, and joined
the Thirteenth Corps. A week of working parties on
the Arras-Bailleul railway followed. While we were
there, about 5 p.m. on a clear day with a few fleecy
clouds about, two enemy Albatross aircraft were
spotted and attacked by one of our Nieuport Scouts.
They at once turned and flew for cover into the clouds,
and, while in the mist, crashed into each other, one
coming down in very small pieces, apparently cut up
by the propeller of the other, which in turn, with its
propeller smashed off short, began to volplane down
and finally crashed. The pilot was not badly hurt
and was captured.

THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE OF 1917

On April 28 the Battalion, now in Eighth Corps,
was attached to Sixty-third (Naval) Division and was
ordered to rendezvous in fighting order south-east
of Bailleul railway cutting ; this was done by 5 p.m.
On 29th, 93rd Infantry Brigade took over the line
from 1 88th Infantry Brigade, and the Battalion was
placed in reserve. During the whole period there
was violent shelling, and we suffered heavy casualties.
On May 1 the Battalion moved back to the Black
line, near Bois de la Maison Blanche. Preparations
were now undertaken in full earnest for the attack
on Gavrelle trench near Gavrelle, and the Battalion
moved up on the night 2nd-3rd in reserve to 15th,

1 6th, 1 8th West Yorkshire Regiment from right to
left, 92nd Infantry Brigade being on our left and
Ninth Division on our right. The enemy barrage
came down on the Battalion as it was getting into
position. Our attack started about 4.30 a.m. on 3rd,
but was absolutely overwhelmed by a furious bombard¬
ment, and the enemy regained the Windmill ; our
left was then refused in order to avoid being turned
by the enemy counter-attack, which appeared to have
bitten deeply into the unit to the north of us. C
Company, under Lieutenant H. E. Hitchin, D.S.O.,
M.M., now reattacked the Windmill and at the
second attempt captured it, but was driven out tempor¬
arily by our own barrage, the artillery apparently not
having been warned of our operation. The enemy
thus again reached the Windmill, but were yet again
thrown out by C Company, who consolidated and
retained it, thereby linking up and presenting a solid
Battalion front.1 The 4th was spent in improving
the position and reorganising before relief on night

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

4th~5th by 94th Infantry Brigade. On the morning
of 5th we reached a very poor camp north of St.
Nicholas. On 7th we returned to the line east of
Gavrelle, with 94th Infantry Brigade on our left
and South African Brigade on our right. Each of the
following days was marked by a succession of heavy
bombardments, partly due to yth Divisional fighting
at Fresnoy and to the nervousness of the Boche.

On the night ioth-iith, after handing over to
1 6th West Yorkshire Regiment, we moved to the
Black line, and on nth, after relief by 12th East
Yorkshire Regiment, moved into camp at Ecurie.
The following days were spent in refitting and practis¬
ing for a night attack on 1 7th- 1 8th. On 16th we
relieved 1 2 th East Yorkshire Regiment east of Gavrelle,
with 9th West Ridings on our right and 14th York
and Lancaster Regiment on the left. The object
of the night attack was to capture Gavrelle trench
and to cover the right flank of the Windmill ; A
Company on the right, D on the left were to line
up before Zero with a barrage from Zero to Zero +
4 minutes. Prior to and early in the attack, 1 officer
was killed and 4 officers were wounded, including
both Company Commanders. A Company was met
by volleys of hand-grenades, but, attacking a second
time, got in ; they were then counter-attacked on
both flanks and came under a fierce machine-gun fire,
and were finally forced back. D Company managed
to reach Gavrelle trench; on the right the trench was
totally destroyed and they overran it in the dark, on
the left they were held up by wire and by a strongly-
manned machine-gun nest, and failed to get a footing
in the trench. The first party then came back to the
trench and bombed to their left, with Lewis guns

THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE OF 1917

co-operating on the top, but after an hour’s fighting
were counter-attacked by strong enemy waves in front
and on both flanks and forced out. One valuable
identification was, however, brought back, and a large
number of enemy killed. Our losses were 1 officer,
8 other ranks killed ; 4 officers, 41 other ranks
wounded, and 1 7 more wounded and not brought
in. The Battalion was reorganised on the night
1 8th- 1 9th, as this could only be done under the
cover of darkness, and on the following night we
were relieved by the Howe Battalion, Sixty-third
Division, and moved into camp at Roclincourt. From
22nd to 26th the Battalion worked on the Green line,
running north and south through the Bailleul cutting,
and on to Point du Jour. See Appendix II. (3 b).

On May 27 we moved into good billets at Maroeuil.
Enemy aeroplanes bombed a good deal round Maroeuil
at night. From May 28 to June 2 training and
working parties on the new rifle-range at Bray con¬
tinued. On June 3 we returned to Roclincourt and
began working on roads and on the Red line north
of Arras - Gavrelle road. On June 9 our Brigade
relieved 18 8th Infantry Brigade, with 94th Infantry
Brigade on the right and a unit of Seventeenth Corps
on our left. We were in reserve in the Black line,
finding working and carrying parties each night. On
night I5th-i6th we relieved 15th West Yorkshire
Regiment in the front line, 18th West Yorkshire
Regiment being on our right and 12th York and
Lancaster Regiment on our left. The tour was fairly
quiet but exceedingly hot, and the impossibility of
burying all the fallen made the trenches insufferable.
B Company, which was on the right of the Battalion,
shot down in the early morning a low-flying enemy

THE iBTH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

aeroplane, which crashed in No Man’s Land. On
night 2ist-22nd we handed over to 16th West York¬
shire Regiment and moved back to the Green line near
Point du Jour, from which a wonderful panorama to
the east over Oppy and Gavrelle and south to Monchy-
le-Preux was obtainable. On June 27 we returned
to the front line, taking over from 1 6th West Yorkshire
Regiment, and on the following day, 94th Infantry
Brigade on our left and the Division to the north of
them, at 7.10 p.m. on a wide front stormed successfully
Cadorna, Wood and Oppy trenches, gaining all
objectives. Our part was confined to misleading the
Boche by sending up coloured flares and false barrages
of trench mortars and thermite, an explosive of white-
hot heat hurled by shells. The casualties were slight.
The 29th and 30th June were quiet. From 1st to
3rd July the enemy artillery was very active, and a
raid near the Windmill was suspected but did not
materialise ; our trenches were badly knocked about.

The night 3rd~4th was quiet and it was supposed
that the Germans also were having a relief. We
handed over to the Howe Battalion and 2nd Royal
Marine Light Infantry, and reached Roclincourt after
a very hot and long tour. While in this camp we
resumed work on the Roclincourt - Bailleul light
railway on July 6 and continued until 13th, moving
on 1 6th to rather poor hutments, an old French camp
in a stiff clay swamp beneath the wonderful ruined
abbey of Mont St. Eloi. The great, white, fang-like
towers of this abbey are a landmark for many leagues
round, peering even over the Vimy Ridge as far as
Douai and south to Monchy-le-Preux.

The Brigade was now in Divisional reserve, Thirty-
first Division having taken over the Vimy sector

THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE OF 1917

from First Canadian Division. From 15th to 20th
training included battalion sports and a great deal of
cricket, for which we turned out a very fair eleven.
In the Brigade sports the Battalion did well, the tug-
of-war team trained by Sergeant J. D. Moscrop, a
really excellent instructor and himself of fine physique,
being especially good, and after three magnificent
pulls winning in the final against 16th West Yorkshire
Regiment team. About this time the War Saving
Certificates scheme was introduced to the notice of all
ranks, and a very keen interest was aroused, which
resulted in a large number of Certificates being taken
up. This interest was renewed from time to time
during the war by series of competitions offering free
Certificates to be drawn for among the platoons with
the highest number to their credit.

On July 21 the Brigade relieved 94th Infantry
Brigade. We were in Brigade reserve at Thelus, and
were heavily shelled from time to time, but the men
had plenty of room in the old Thelus caves or under¬
ground quarry-workings, which stretched for great
distances, but were very cold and damp to live in.
This usually happened when the Canadian 8-inch
howitzers in Thelus started firing.

From the top of the Vimy Ridge just in front of
our Headquarters there was a wonderful view to the
west, and from this Ridge the enemy once dominated
the whole country from the low-lying cathedral at
Arras to the high-perched abbey of Mont St. Eloi.
Roclincourt, Ecurie and Neuville St. Vaast seemed to
lie at one’s feet with the great glistening twin craters
of white chalk near La Folie Farm and the lofty white
Canadian Cross in honour of the fallen victors of
Vimy and Thelus in the foreground. One turned

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

round from the west to face the east and, as it were on
the other side of a panel picture, saw far away the
churches of Douai and Henin Lietard, nearer at hand
the white mass of the chalk quarries at Chez Bontemps,
a German headquarters, the green of Bois Bernard
where his guns lay, the sheer black sides of Drocourt
Fosse with Acheville and Mericourt in front, and away
to the north the battered skeletons of Sallaumines,
Avion and Lens ; closer still lay the red brick ruins
of Arleux and the white Mont Foret quarries, and,
immediately below the Ridge, Farbus, Willerval,
round both of which our Batteries clustered thickly,
and Yimy village, three heaps of desolation and ruin
amid the wonderful colouring of the summer weeds
that carpeted the plain, and at one’s very feet the
precipitous sides of the Vimy Ridge with their ravines,
woods and great concrete buildings where the enemy
had hidden for two years up till that astounding feat, the
capture of the Ridge by the Canadians. And as one
looked, the ruins of Lens would disappear hidden in
great smoke eddies and wide-spreading mushrooms of
red dust from houses collapsing under our heavies,
a thick pall lying over the town for hours in daytime,
or a firework display flashing over it at night. The
activity of the Canadian gunners and infantry was
untiring : they shelled, they raided, they met enemy
raiders in No Man’s Land, and threw them back with
bomb and bayonet to the trenches from which they
had come.

On July 29 we left the reserve line and moved up
to the Mericourt front line. The whole of the tour
was quiet, but a great deal of work was undertaken in
linking up posts and in trench repair. 13th East
Yorkshire Regiment relieved us on night August 6-7,

RUINS OF LENS CHURCH.

\ isible from the Battalion Observation Post opposite Mt?ricourt.

THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE OF 1917

and we marched to Aux Rietz Corner near Neuville
St. Vaast and rode in buses to Winnipeg Camp at
Mont St. Eloi. From 8th to 15th there was com¬
pany training with cricket in the afternoon. On
August 1 6 the Battalion entrained at Laurel Siding
for Neuville St. Vaast and marched thence to relieve
13th York and Lancaster Regiment in support in the
Acheville sector with Headquarters near the Beehive,
an immensely strong, domed concrete pill-box that had
been shattered by a shell. Here we had a beautiful
view of the Vimy plain in autumn colouring, the
sorrel, cornflowers, poppies and coral root giving an
extraordinary effect like a richly tinted Turkey carpet.

Fifth Division was now on our right and 92nd
Infantry Brigade on our left. On our second night
in, and the following nights, we carried up endless gas
projector shells, and on August 20 at 12.30 a.m. there
was a gas discharge of 1000 shells each containing
30 lb. of gas. These projectors, which we were
soon to come to know too well, whether for gas or
burning oil, were dug in at the required angle in the
ground in deep tiers and could be discharged simul¬
taneously or in any desired number of waves. The
volume of gas could thus be made very dense and
effective, while it was also far safer for our own troops
and far more economical in labour than carrying up
and installing the old gas cylinders in the front line,
where they were liable to be exploded prematurely by
a lucky enemy shell and when placed in position could
only be used once. Still gas projectors were not
popular, they drew too much retaliation and demanded
large carrying parties.

About this time official documents were captured
which warned the enemy division opposite us that

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Thirty-first Division was a most energetic patrolling
division, and that the utmost precautions were to be
taken against surprise. A few months later another
‘ black list ’ document was captured in which Thirty-
first Division was described as one of the most kampf-
liistig (keen on fighting) formations opposed to them.

We handed over on night August 21-22 to 11th
East Lancashire Regiment, and then, crossing over
north, relieved 11th East Yorkshire Regiment in the
front line of the Mericourt sector with 1 8 th West
Yorkshire Regiment on our right and 94th Infantry
Brigade on our left in touch with 85th Canadians of
Third Canadian Division in front of Lens. This tour
was fairly quiet except on 30th, when the enemy
attempted a raid on our Company and on 1 8th
West Yorkshire Regiment. He was, however, easily
repulsed, and a prisoner, machine-gun and Bangalore
torpedo were taken by our men, who also killed a
German officer and several men. We had a few
casualties.

Rain now fell for several days and the trenches
became very greasy. On September 1 there was a
slight epidemic in the Battalion, traced to the meat-pies.
This was very unfortunate, as the use of the fuze-tins
of 4*5 howitzers had been most useful to the cooks
in making much appreciated pastry and meat-pies of
a size most convenient for issue in the trenches. In
this case it was probably due to the use of defective
Maconochies in the pies. The cooks had by now
reached an extraordinarily high standard in preparing
food for the trenches ; as a variant to stew kept hot
in special containers, steak-pies and rissoles were sent
up ; in place of the cheese ration, cheese rissoles or
savoury paste, scones, jam tarts, open tarts or roly-poly

THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE OF 1917

were made, to give the men plenty of variety and
an interest in the food. At the same time great
economy was enforced, and the Battalion had a very
good record for the fat-and-bone return to the Base.
The pioneers were just as resourceful as the cooks ;
in cold weather they collected wood and made charcoal
in ovens for use in the trenches, where no smoke was
permissible, or made briquettes of clay and the coal-
dust of which the ordinary infantry fuel ration was
mainly composed. The cooks also in every new
camp and often in the trenches built excellent field
ovens of tins, petrol or Maconochie, and of a few angle-
irons, or even of sandbags filled with clay, which when
burnt hard resembled fire-bricks. The sanitary squad
too was just as inventive ; they evolved a patent
clothes and underclothing disinfector which could be
made quickly out of a couple of paraffin drums on a
clay oven. Twenty minutes’ steaming disinfected
the clothing. The advantage of this home-made
disinfector was that it could be kept going all day and
the men could bring the articles at any time that suited
themselves.

The 2nd and 3rd of September were uneventful.
On 4th a Nieuport Scout brought dowm a Boche two-
seater, which at a very great height was shot through
the tank and finally lost a wing. It crashed and burst
into flames on reaching the ground just west of Teddie
Gerard trench, which had to be cleared of men owing
to the intense heat. Both pilot and observer were
killed. The Boche then shelled it to prevent our
men salving it, and at night turned their machine-guns
on it with so accurate a range that one of our party
which was burying the two Germans was wounded.
Just about the same period the enemy developed an

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

intense dislike for the observation balloon at Neuville
St. Vaast and brought it and its successors down in
flames eight times in seven days, costing us about
£800 to ^1000 a time.

In the evening of 4th the Canadian Mounted
Rifles began to relieve the units in support and reserve
which thus left the trenches early. From midnight
to 12.40 a.m. and from 1.30 to 1.50 a.m. the enemy
threw a thick barrage of mustard-gas shells on the
Yimy area. One entire company of a Canadian unit
was gassed in the La Chaudiere brickstacks ; we
had only eight men slightly gassed, and found the
curtains of dug-outs in all cases gas-proof and satis¬
factory. The effect of the mustard-gas, unless dense,
only causes nausea at first, but later dangerous symptoms
appear and often total collapse follows. The only
safe way of dealing with men so gassed is immediate
evacuation and complete rest. The gas hangs long
on the ground and may remain inert for days until
the sun warms the ground, when strong fumes rise.
The liquid gas or any article splashed with it causes
bad burns. It was now the custom of the enemy to
mix high explosive and shrapnel with gas shells in
order by the loud detonation of the former to conceal
the unmistakable whirr and gentle burst of the gas
shell. At first this was very effective, but the trick
was soon discovered, though up to the end the device
was often, from the enemy’s point of view, successful
for the moment. However, the Battalion had from
incessant gas drill been singularly immune from gas
casualties even under heavy gas attacks. The pro¬
perties of the gas were not known to all, and one
individual, who refused to diagnose a man as gassed
because he had not turned green, caused a good deal

THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE OF 1917

of amusement. Mistakes are easy indeed in this
technical war of present days. To prevent the enemy
from overwhelming back areas without warning with
cloud gas, strombos-horns or sirens with compressed
air were installed in the line. To maintain communi¬
cation under an enemy barrage when all wires were
cut, power buzzers and amplifiers were established
similarly at Company Headquarters in the trenches.
All these technical instruments were familiar, at least
by name, to the Jack-of-all-trades, the infantryman,
but were not so simple to the newly-arrived, and the
Commanding Officer, on receiving a cheerful ‘ Certainly,
sir ’ to his inquiry as to whether a particular company
had a power buzzer, and on being shown the strombos-
horn, felt a distinct shock. Among other strange
instruments was the listening apparatus, at one time
known, for some occult reason, as IT. This picked
up Boche messages and gave most useful warnings
of his impending operations. The Boche, in turn,
had his listening apparatus, which in certain stages of
the war picked up messages from our lines by trans¬
mission from steel rails, wire fences or sometimes an
earth-line laid carefully by him in what he knew would
be our probable position after his retirement, inside
and parallel to our approximate front.

CHAPTER X

AUTUMN AND WINTER OF I9I7-18

After leaving the Vimy sector, which we had handed
over to the three remaining companies of the Canadian
Mounted Rifles, all went well, and we reached Van¬
couver Camp north of Neuville St. Vaast by 2.30 a.m.
September 7. At 5 p.m. we started in a violent
thunderstorm for Territorial Siding and entrained for
Bray, where we found billets and huts. These light
railways, worked sometimes by small steam engines,
sometimes by motor engines, to and from the Vimy
and Arleux sectors and in 1918 near Meteren, were
invaluable for saving the troops on their way in and
out of the trenches. They also allowed greater depth
in the distribution of Brigades when out of the line,
and this ensured safer and more comfortable billets.
By this time in the year every unit was engaged in
building covered horse-standings for the winter. This
sounds a simple task, but one must remember that,
owing to constant changes in the sectors, each battalion
built two or three at least, generally leaving them when
nearly completed ; moreover, most of the material
had to be salvaged as very little was supplied. Still,
this system was no doubt very economical and saved a
great deal of expense in new timber and corrugated iron.

AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1917-18

From 7th to 18th battalion training and tactical
schemes for the instruction of officers and non¬
commissioned officers in control and leadership formed
the programme of the day.

On September 1 9 we moved into a new sector, reliev¬
ing 13th East Yorkshire Regiment in Sandbag City
on the Bailleul-Arleux road in support to 16th West
Yorkshire Regiment in the Arleux sector. Fresnoy
just east of Arleux had been won and lost in the summer,
and our retention of the latter was essential in order to
deny the enemy the rising ground which would have
given the Germans clear observation to the foot of Vimy
Ridge and rendered our gun positions round Willerval
and the Sucrerie untenable. The lack of this observa¬
tion made the enemy aircraft very active morning and
evening, to the annoyance of the troops in support and
reserve.

The maintenance of this ground was of such
importance that early in August a series of strong
systems of defence was built to protect the Vimy
Ridge. Behind the front system came the Red Line,
a very fine trench strongly wired and well provided
with deep-shaft machine-gun emplacements, resting
on Willerval and Bailleul and strengthened in front
and in rear by covering fire from machine-gun nests ;
the Brown Line just east of the Farbus-Vimy railway
embankment and pivoting on Farbus brickstacks ;
behind the embankment and dug in on the slopes
of the Ridge numerous deeply-mined machine-gun
emplacements strongly wired with wire rays tactically
laid out to split up and divert enemy attacks by guiding
them directly into the zones of machine-gun fire.
West of the crest of the Ridge lay the Green Line, in
places the old German line adapted to our needs, and

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

in support of this a series of strong points, mutually
supporting and based on Thelus ; farther back came
the Corps, Army and G.H.O. systems. The planning
of this work, which continued from the beginning
of August 1917 to March 1918, was justified in its
successful resistance to the great German offensive
in March, when the front line alone was overwhelmed,
and the enemy was broken up and never penetrated
even the Red Line.

On September 25 we relieved 1 5th West Yorkshire
Regiment in the front line of the Arleux sector. Our
daylight patrols in No Man’s Land now became very
active both in observation and sniping. The enemy
did a lot of trench mortar work on our lines, causing
damages and casualties ; his low-flying aeroplanes also
patrolled and machine-gunned our trenches, and he
began to put over a good many gas shells. Altogether,
he was more active than usual. On October r we
handed over to 11th East Yorkshire Regiment and,
marching out by the aptly-named Tired Alley, an
endless trench with very fine but fatiguing traverses,
entrained at Daylight railhead just west of the Ridge
on the reverse slope and reached Ecurie Camp.

This camp was now a very fine and large one, or
rather a series of camps, with baths, cinemas, three or
four concert-party huts for the Tonics, Nissen Nuts,
the inimitable Ouarante-Sept and the Tres Bons, etc.,
and plenty of canteens. The horse-standings and
Quartermasters’ stores were also good. The main
disadvantage was the sausage balloon in Ecurie W ood,
which was sent up wet or fine throughout the day
and was heartily ‘ strafed ’ by high velocity 9-2’s and
5‘9’s and caused showers of splinters and sometimes
a few duds all over this enormous encampment, one of

AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1917-18

the latter landing in the very centre of our cricket
pitch. Splinter-proof banks against aeroplane bombs
also had to be built round the horse-lines, huts, etc.
This tour out was spent in working-parties of all
descriptions at Total Post, Long Wood, Farbus,
Roclincourt, etc. Two hundred barbed wire * con¬
certinas ’ had also to be made daily.

On October 13 we relieved 11th East Yorkshire
Regiment in Arleux support. On 16th the enemy
put down a hurricane bombardment of gas and high
explosive on the Red Line and batteries in rear of it
from 12. 1 a.m. to 1.50 a.m. We had slight casualties.
On 19th the Battalion moved up to the front line
and took over from 16th West Yorkshire Regiment.
This tour was again unpleasant owing to the activity
of the German mortars with gas shells. Their heavies
were also busy on our right Company’s lines. In
retaliation we shelled Fresnoy Wood and Park, and
especially their headquarters at Chez Bontemps. We
also cut their wire systematically, which again caused
them to retaliate along our whole line, travelling from
south to north. On October 25 we handed over to
1 ith East Yorkshire Regiment and trained from Day¬
light railhead to Ecoivres, a poor camp in a swamp,
but near a cinema and baths and a capital football
ground. This village was Thirteenth Corps head¬
quarters. In spite of incessant bad weather, company
and battalion schemes were practised daily, together
with a good deal of musketry. The Battalion was now
re-inoculated. An inter-platoon tactical competition
was arranged, which was won by a platoon of A
Company under the command of Second Lieutenant
J. Pattison.

During the latter portion of this rest period the

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

iith East Yorkshire carried out a most successful
daylight raid north of Fresnoy. Their flanks were
well protected by a smoke barrage ; the Boche trenches
and headquarters were bombarded with harmless but
most offensive smelling gas which caused the enemy
to put on his gas masks and thereby to be at a dis¬
advantage, while our troops knowing the plan were
free from this hindrance. His headquarters at Chez
Bontemps and his observation posts were barraged
and blinded with burning oil projector shells and
thermite, while, to mislead him, for a considerable
distance on both flanks dummy tanks and rows of
dummy painted figures were exposed ; these in the
smoke and dust drew all his machine-gun fire, and by
the enormous number of bullet-holes testified to the
accuracy of his aim. He was rendered still more
unhappy by showers of different coloured rockets of
which he did not know the meaning on both flanks ;
he could not — they had no meaning, but they puzzled
him. The raid was an unqualified success, and a large
number of prisoners were taken.

At this time it was the custom to pull the Boche’s
leg. On November 5 an effigy of the Kaiser was
displayed in German uniform with a large cardboard
iron cross complete. There was one unfortunate
incident. A Polish deserter who came over to us
said that many of his comrades wished to do the same.
A large board with a notice in Polish was put up in
No Man’s Land. This caused many of the enemy,
probably Poles, to collect in the trenches and expose
themselves. The Light Trench Mortar Battery, who
had apparently not been warned of the notice, seeing
an excellent target, let fly in their midst. It was from
certain points of view unfortunate, as we might other-

AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1917-18

wise have had a large number of deserters. Deserters
were not very fine specimens as a rule. On a previous
occasion on the Somme while we were in the course
of a relief, a very drunk German staggered across No
Man’s Land. He alternately embraced and struggled
with his captors. His story was that they had been
gambling in his dug-out, and he had killed a non¬
commissioned officer, so he thought he had better not
wait any longer.

On November 9 we relieved 16th West Yorkshire
Regiment in the Red Line, but thereafter extended
our left flank to cover Willerval. Owing to the
persistently wet weather the trenches were beginning
to fall in and needed constant clearing and repair. At
the same time there was a good deal of gas on Willerval
batteries and on the Red Line just in front of them.
On November 1 6 we went up to the front line to relieve
1 6th West Yorkshire Regiment. On 1 8th it was
believed that the enemy forces opposite us were being
relieved, and their trenches had several bursts of hurri¬
cane fire on them, and the cross-country routes in rear
were shrapnelled. As a matter of fact, on the morning
of 19th through the mists parties of Germans were
seen in the open in marching order, and our guns got
well into them.

During this tourwork on the new system of defended
localities was begun, preparatory to the approaching
winter. It had been realised that it was impossible,
owing to the weakness of battalions through the lack
of men, to maintain long, continuous lines of trenches
with endless communicators throughout the winter.
Large self-contained and self-supporting posts were
therefore constructed at intervals of 400-1000 yards
with strong entanglements, a revetted front and close

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

support line, with weather- and splinter-proof cubby
holes made of baby elephant iron sheets in front lines
and dug-outs in the close support line for garrisons
of a half to one and a half companies. The interven¬
ing trenches were filled in with wire, and the spaces
strengthened by wire rays to prevent the enemy getting
in and making flank attacks on a locality. The
intervals were also carefully patrolled, and Very lights
and Lewis guns fired from them at night in order to
make the enemy believe that the whole line was
occupied. The defended localities were most care¬
fully sited to command all the ground of any tactical
value, and the intervals between were covered by
supporting defended localities, chequered 300-600
yards in rear. The system made for great economy
in man-power and combined a very fair degree of
comfort with great resisting power.

On November 23, after relief by 1 8 th West York¬
shire Regiment, we moved back to the Red Line.
The artillery was very active on both sides, our guns
carrying out frequent hurricane bombardments while
the enemy did destructive shoots on Willerval and its
batteries, and on Arleux and Bailleul Sucrerie. On
29th, after relief by 15th West Yorkshire Regiment,
we returned to the front line and 1 8th West Yorkshire
Regiment went out. The enemy continued his
activity, and we retaliated with gas shells, but as
his bombardment on communicators and defended
localities became very pronounced, our guns in
accordance with a set scheme began wire-cutting. At
dusk our patrols, as had been expected, found German
wiring parties. The patrols at once fired a red-and-
white light, and the machine-guns which had ranged
on the gaps in daytime immediately opened up. As

AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1917-18

work ceased and was not resumed, it was reasonably
hoped that they had been effective. On December 6
this programme was repeated, a green-and-white light
being fired, with similar satisfactory results. A little
before this, when the enemy was showing signs of
attempting active patrolling of No Man’s Land, a
drag-net barrage was evolved and successfully carried
out. The methodical and regular patrolling of the
Boche made it easy to mark down their usual tracks
and usual hours. Our patrols went out a short way
and, finding the enemy patrols, fired a signal ; the guns
at once put down a barrage between the enemy patrols
and their trenches, and then, gradually shortening
range, shepherded them towards our lines. The
enemy were unable to side-slip away to the flanks, as
these were locked by machine-gun barrages ; our
front-line Lewis guns then opened, firing low, and
a very fair number were found killed or wounded
not far from our lines.

On December 7 we were relieved by a composite
force from 8th Middlesex Regiment and 1st London
Regiment, and moved by light railway and bus to
York Camp, Ecoivres. We were now ordered to
cut down kit, become mobile and get ready for a
move. It was understood that this was preparatory
to going to the Cambrai front. Unfortunately,
however, the move was cancelled at the last moment,
and our visit there was delayed until March 1918,
when we arrived in much more unpleasant circum¬
stances. Ordinary training followed, combined with
tactical schemes for officers and non-commissioned
officers, in which officers from 31st Machine Gun
Battalion and 93rd Light Trench Mortar Battery took
part. There was also plenty of musketry practice

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

on the Bray range. On 22nd we marched to Ecurie
Camp, going into Brigade reserve. Working-parties
followed until Christmas Day, when a dinner was
arranged for the Battalion with a concert by the Owls
afterwards. On 28th we relieved 18th West York¬
shire Regiment on Brierley Hill on the Ridge with
two companies in Willerval North and Sugar Post.
This relief was probably spotted by the enemy, who
took the opportunity to shell Tommy Alley and
Tunnel Dump throughout with 5‘9’s.

New Year’s Day 1918 was very quiet and frosty.
Working-parties could make little progress owing to
the hardness of the ground. On January 3 we handed
over to 1 2th East Yorkshire Regiment, who again were
probably seen coming over the Ridge, as Tommy and
Ouse Alleys were heavily shelled. We entrained for
Ecoivres. There we had several company and battalion
schemes, representing a counter-attack on Arleux post
on the supposition that the enemy had got in.

On January 15 we relieved 12th East Yorkshire
Regiment with two companies in the Red Line and
two in Arleux Loop. The thaw set in the same day,
and trenches began to collapse, and in the course of
the next two days became impassable. On the evening
of January 19 we relieved 18th West Yorkshire
Regiment in the front line entirely over the top, and
took over Tommy, Arleux and Oak posts, as the
system of defended localities had now been completed.
Strong fighting patrols went out to examine certain
shell-holes, consolidated by the enemy to form forward
listening posts, and also Chump trench. The latter
alone was found occupied. On 23rd, after relief by
15th West Yorkshire Regiment, we railed to Ecurie
Camp and provided the usual working-parties. On

AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1917-18

27th we moved back to Ecoivres and resumed normal
training.

On February 5 the Battalion returned by rail to
Daylight railhead and relieved 10th East Yorkshire
Regiment in the Red Line and Arleux Loop, and were
perpetually shelled until moving up to the front line
and relieving 16th West Yorkshire Regiment on 1 ith.
At about 3.15 a.m. on 12th a strong enemy patrol
crept through our wire between Beer and Brandy
trenches and intercepted one of our small ration¬
carrying parties. One of this party dashed past the
enemy to warn Arleux Post garrison, while the other
two, still carrying their loads, ran along the top of the
trench and handed in the food-containers safe and
sound to another post. A patrol went out at once to
eject the enemy, and a sharp fight ensued. We had
two casualties, but drove out the Boche, who left their
rifles and bombs behind them. Accordingly, our
daylight patrols again became very active, patrolling
No Man’s Land freely at any hour of the day, and
carried out some very useful observation. Before
going out of the line we got a deserter, who stated that
the enemy suspected the presence of the Guards and
intended shortly to make a raid to obtain an identifica¬
tion. This warned the 4th Grenadier Guards, who
relieved us February 17, and they staved off a raid
of four officers and sixty men specially selected
with complete success, and no identification of the
fact that 4th Guards Brigade had recently joined
Thirty-first Division was obtained by the enemy. We
entrained and reached Bray about 1 1 p.m.

With reference to the joining of 4th Guards
Brigade to our Division, owing to the lack of men to
keep battalions in the field up to establishment, a

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

general policy was now adopted through the British
Army of reducing all Infantry Brigades from four to
three battalions. This was done by amalgamating
units, or by disbanding, and then re-drafting the
men. In Thirty-first Division the four Battalions
of East Yorkshire Regiment of 92nd Infantry
Brigade were amalgamated into two Battalions, and
11th East Lancashire Regiment, strengthened by a
draft of 400 men from another East Lancashire
Battalion, was withdrawn from 94th Infantry Brigade
and completed 92nd Infantry Brigade. In our
Brigade 15th, 1 6th, 18th West Yorkshire Regiments
formed 1 5th/ 1 7th West Yorkshire Regiment; 1 8th
Durham Light Infantry remained intact; and 12th,
13th, and 14th York and Lancaster Regiments, with¬
drawn from 94th Infantry Brigade and forming 13th
York and Lancaster Regiment, completed our Brigade.
Thus 94th Infantry Brigade disappeared and 4th
Guards Brigade took their place as the new 94th
Infantry Brigade.

During our period of training at Bray, February
18 to 27, an enemy aeroplane landed a spy at
night near Ecoivres, but fortunately he was caught.
This was a common form of obtaining intelli¬
gence, the spy then making his way back through
neutral countries, after sending off his information
by carrier-pigeon. One of our airmen is reported
to have landed intelligence-men behind the enemy
lines successfully at night no less than thirty-four
times.

We then moved into G.H.O. Reserve via Acq,
Aubigny, and Frevillers after a long and muddy
march to Magnicourt ; the billets were miserable and
the floors of the lofts in which the men slept dangerous,

AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1917-18

consisting chiefly of straw strewn over poles or widely
separated rafters ; the climax was reached when an
orderly sergeant, warning a man in the evening for
guard on the following day, fell with his victim
through the floor into a pigsty beneath and landed
among the four-legged occupants. After a week’s
cleaning, reorganisation, and training the Battalion
sent 350 men away on working parties on the Reserve
System of defence.

On March 1 Lieut.-Colonel R. E. Cheyne, after
nineteen months’ command of the Battalion, left us
for a six months’ command of a Battalion in England.
Throughout this time, by his fearless tenacity of
purpose, his single - mindedness of character, his
powers of leadership and instruction, he had won
the admiration and respect of the entire Battalion.
.After three weeks, during which Major D. E. Ince,
M.C., commanded the Battalion, he was succeeded
for a short period by Lieut.-Colonel H. F. G. Carter,
M.C., of King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, who
had until lately commanded 1 8 th West Yorkshire
Regiment.

On March 1 1 we took over billets at Bajus and
Frevillers. On March 15 the Battalion acted as
Reserve Battalion in a Brigade attack near Herlin-le-
Vert. Ceremonial parades filled up 18th and 19th,
and on 20th, at the Brigade ceremonial parade at
Tincques, Major-General W. O’Gowan, after about
thirty-two months’ command of the Division, bade
us farewell, handing over his command to Major-
General R. J. Bridgford, C.M.G., D.S.O.

CHAPTER XI

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, I 9 I 8

On March 21 the great German spring offensive
opened on the exact date forecasted by G.H.O.
Intelligence Department, the object being the entire
annihilation of the Allies’ fighting power. In the
evening, while still at Bajus, we received orders to
move according to the prearranged plan which had.
been communicated to us. At 7.15 a.m. on 22nd
we marched to the embussing point between Berles
and Tincques to move to Pommier. We rode via
St. Pol, Frevent, Doullens, and after a very long,
hot and dusty day reached Pommier ; there, owing
to the increased pressure of the enemy, we were
ordered to move straight up via Beaumetz-les-Loges
to Blaireville, which we reached at 9 p.m. After
debussing, packs were dumped, and the Battalion
less first reinforcements embussed again and, moving
by Boisleux St. Marc, debussed and marched on
through Boyelles, not far from Bullecourt. The
Army Line lay to the east of Boyelles about 300
yards west of the Arras - Bapaume road. The
position was well wired, but the trenches were wide
and very shallow, and the Companies at once com¬
pleted portions of the system to give bombardment

100

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, 1918

protection. 4th Guards Brigade was on the right
facing Mory, 93rd Infantry Brigade on the left
opposite Croisilles ; in the latter Brigade 1 yth West
Yorkshire Regiment was on the right, and 13th York
and Lancaster Regiment on the left, 1 8th Durham
Light Infantry being in support. 92nd Infantry
Brigade were in reserve. The Battalion details stayed
at Blaireville.

On March 23, 111th German and 2nd Guards
Reserve Divisions attacked 31st Division, chiefly in
the southern portion of the sector, and were driven
off, but meanwhile the Division on our right was
forced back : accordingly 92nd Infantry Brigade
came up and reinforced our exposed flank towards
Ervillers. During the day we were ordered to
reconnoitre the switch line then occupied by the
Guards Division ; this line lay 1 500 yards east of
Hamelincourt. Orders were issued for a move at
dusk to this position, but a S.O.S. signal,1 accom¬
panied by shelling of the Arras-Bapaume road and
of areas to the south, caused the order to be cancelled.
After things had quietened down and after the Welsh
Guards had relieved us, we proceeded along the
Arras - Bapaume road and took up our position
east and west across the road, A and D Companies
on the west side, B and C on the east. During the
early part of the day we had been astounded at seeing
a convoy of lorries travelling fast along the road
through our lines towards the enemy. The first six
did not stop in spite of shouts and proceeded straight
into Boche-land, where no doubt they were received
with open arms, as they were carrying rations. We
managed to head off the remainder, who somehow

1 Eleven S.O.S. signals went up on our immediate front alone during the night.

IOI

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

or other turned round without being shelled by the
enemy and moved off even faster than they had come,
in fact all out for home. This is a fair example of
the complete uncertainty of the whereabouts of a line
while it is in a fluid state.

On March 24 the enemy attacked in force and
took Mory by 9 a.m., and 4th Guards Brigade saw
heavy masses of the enemy east of St. Leger : after
the fall of Mory they dug a support switch towards
Ervillers to keep touch with 40th Division on our
right. Meanwhile 93rd Infantry Brigade was heavily
shelled, and the enemy brought up numerous trench
mortars. In the afternoon the enemy forced their
way into Ervillers, and 40th Division curved north¬
wards to cover Hamelincourt from the south-east.
While this was happening, D Company was sent to
dig a position for a Company of 15th West York¬
shire Regiment just west of St. Leger, where 13th
York and Lancaster Regiment held the line. The
Divisional line was now in a very critical position,
as it lay in a sharp salient facing both east and
south, the northern part of the Division not having
budged, while the southern part had been com¬
pelled to conform to the Division on our right ;
thus our right rear was threatened, and at the same
time our left was in danger, as the enemy were
striking for Boyelles. During the night of 24th-2 5th
we relieved 2nd Irish Guards who sideslipped south.

On 25th, 92nd Infantry Brigade was ordered to
relieve the pressure on the right, and by a fine counter¬
attack retook Ervillers, but the enemy enveloped
their right which was unprotected and poured past
the flank of the Division towards the western apex
of the re-entrant in the British front, though they

102

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, 1918

lost heavily under the machine-guns of the East
Yorkshires at point-blank range ; to prevent this and
to divert the attention of the East Yorkshires, a whole
regiment of 2nd Guards Reserve Division, assisted
by massed artillery, endeavoured without success for
three and a half hours to retake Ervillers. At
1. 1 5 p.m. 93rd Infantry Brigade was fiercely attacked,
but held on firmly, keeping off heavy assaulting
masses by rifle-fire ; we were ordered to relieve 13th
York and Lancaster Regiment, but by night the
salient was so critically placed that the Division
received orders to readjust their line and to take up
a position from Moyenville to Ablainzevelle ; the
final dispositions found 92nd Infantry Brigade on the
right, 93rd on the left, 4th Guards Brigade in Reserve
and the Guards Division on our left. Accordingly,
our first orders were cancelled and we were instructed
to withdraw to Hamelincourt Cemetery ; at the last
moment this too was cancelled, and guides were given
to take us to a new position. We moved along the
Hamelincourt-Courcelles road to the railway cross¬
ing, and were finally given a position along a railway
cutting about a mile south of the level crossing. As
soon as this move was resumed one of our aeroplanes,
which sounded like an R.E.8, dropped four bombs
and killed six men of other Divisions attached to us
and acting as a flank-guard during this parallel move¬
ment along the railway. We reached our new positions
and dug slits under the hedges bordering the east
edge of the cutting, with advanced posts about 300
yards east of the railway. We then tried to get into
touch with 92nd Infantry Brigade on our right, the
object of the move being to check any further advance
of the enemy who had now broken through at Gomie-

103

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

court to the south. Troops of 40th Division began
to filter through our lines.

Just before daybreak on 26th, D Company captured
a German reconnoitring patrol coming from the
direction of Gomiecourt ; unfortunately the officer
from whom valuable information might have been
obtained was shot dead in the melee ; the man was
hit in the ammunition pouch ; this exploded his
ammunition, and he proceeded to take down his
trousers to see if he was wounded, howling all the
time. About 7 a.m. a much delayed message, which
should have reached us by midnight, was received to
the effect that we were to move back and form support
to 13th York and Lancaster Regiment who were
digging in our rear. The Battalion, which was easily
holding its own, was very much disappointed at these
repeated orders for withdrawal, as we did not then
realise how seriously things were going to the south
of us. By great luck, in spite too of moving in broad
daylight, we effected the withdrawal without many
casualties, and the men behaved splendidly under the
heavy shelling. We reached the high ground west of
Moyenville, and had begun to dig in, when Lieutenant-
Colonel H. F. G. Carter, M.C., was wounded. C
Company, under Captain G. B. Stafford, who was
wounded about the same time, and Lieutenant W.
Allbeury, was covering our move and fighting a
severe rearguard action, using all their ammunition
on magnificent targets of the enemy. Shortly after¬
wards a Staff-Officer, who was later found to be
suffering from severe shell-shock, informed us that
a general retirement had been ordered on to the line
Adinfer-Ficheux, and that we, with 13th York and
Lancaster and 15th West Yorkshire Regiments, were

104

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, 1918

to cover the retirement. In agreement with 13th
York and Lancaster Regiment on our left, our right
being by this time completely in the air, we moved
slowly back and found the Guards Division digging
in 500 yards to our rear on the Ayette Ridge ; we
halted behind them on a line 1000 yards west of
Valley Wood, about 800 yards in front of the Adinfer
line. This was personally reported to the Brigadier,
who disagreed with the original order of the Staff-
Officer and thought that it should not have been given,
and ordered an attempt to be made to take up the
Moyenville line again, if possible. Both Battalions
then moved forward, and an officer’s reconnoitring
patrol went out and found the right of the Guards
Division in the air ; on advancing further, this
patrol was heavily fired on from Moyenville ; it
was therefore impossible to move the two Battalions
farther down the forward slope by day ; accordingly
they dug in on the right of the Guards Division.
Meanwhile the above orders to withdraw from
Moyenville had not reached 15th West Yorkshire
Regiment.

On the night 2 6th-2 7th a strenuous effort was
made by 13th York and Lancaster Regiment and
1 8th Durham Light Infantry to advance and dig two
lines 200 yards west of Moyenville, but no real
progress was made owing to the journey up, the
shortness of the night, and the lack of tools, so the
parties were ordered to return to the Ayette Ridge ;
B Company 1 8 th Durham Light Infantry had,
however, found old trenches and been able to repair
these ; they therefore remained in front of Moyen¬
ville and linked up with 15th West Yorkshire
Regiment on their right. These gallant troops

io5

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

extended their left and, finding Moyenville full of
Boches, drove them out of the village and held on for
thirty-six hours, maintaining a 2000-yards front and
machine-gunning nine successive waves of Germans
as they advanced from Courcelles against Moyenville,
thereby relieving the pressure on the Divisional front.
Their shattered remnants rejoined the Brigade on
27th, after fighting their way back with the utmost
determination. B Company had lost so heavily and
was so weak, having had over a hundred casualties,
that it was put in reserve. Lieutenant A. A.
McConnell and Second Lieutenant R. R. Turnbull
had led their Company with great resolution.

On the morning of 27th Lieut.- Colonel C. H.
Gurney, D.S.O., took temporary charge of the Brigade,
Brigadier-General J. D. Ingles, D.S.O., being in
hospital. Major W. D. Lowe, M.C., took over the
command of the Battalion, coming up from the
details which had moved from Blaireville to bivouacs
south-west of Adinfer Wood and thence to bivouacs
west of Bienvillers. While the Brigade details were
encamped at Bienvillers an officer, dressed as a brigadier,
had galloped into Bienvillers and reported the break¬
through of the Germans at Hebuterne ; he ordered
the ridge running south-west from Bienvillers and
facing Hebuterne from the north to be manned and
a line to be dug to refuse the flanks, and all transport
to move off at once to Warlus ; this was done.
We then sent patrols through Fonquevillers, just
north of Hebuterne, and found all quiet. Mean¬
while, the 142nd Infantry Brigade, under Brigadier-
General J. Campbell, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., who
was shortly to be our Divisional Commander, had
been ordered up to fill the supposed gap, and took

106

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, 1918

over the new line. The report proved to be false
and was set down to German agency, as similar cases
had arisen elsewhere, the originators, as also in this
instance, riding off and not being traced or identified
later. There had indeed been a rumour, such is
the fog of war, that German tanks had been seen
east of Hebuterne, but these were found the same
afternoon to have been motor-cultivators, etc., driven
by French soldiers in uniform, and at a distance,
especially in thick country, it is not easy to distinguish
between the French faded sky-blue and the Boche
new field-grey.

On the Ayette Ridge, which was one of the
northern storm-centres of the enemy offensive, the
entrenching was reorganised and developed into a
respectably strong chequer system of considerable
depth with Lewis guns pushed well forward to break
up any attack, though the Battalions were terribly
weak. To prolong the right of the Guards Division,
13th York and Lancaster Regiment was moved up,
and A Company of our Battalion continued this to
the south with the other Companies distributed in
depth, the remaining Battalion of the Brigade now
providing only one weak Company. On 28th the
enemy made two violent attacks and succeeded in
entering the line, but were at once ejected by a
counter-attack of D Company, who were sent up
from support to reinforce the front line. At mid-day
Colonel R. D. Temple, now commanding 93rd
Infantry Brigade, ordered us to move three companies
to the rear of 2nd Irish Guards on our right on the
Ridge to be used for counter-attacking purposes, if
the Germans got a footing in their trenches. C
Company was then sent up to the front line to thicken

107

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

2nd Irish Guards, as their left was very thinly held,
and a Company of East Yorkshires was placed at the
disposal of the Battalion Commander of 18th Durham
Light Infantry to take their place. During these
days the shelling on the crest and reverse slopes of
the Ayette Ridge was exceptionally violent, and we
had a very high percentage of casualties ; all move¬
ment from the cover of the trenches was dangerous.
In rear of us lay iith East Lancashire Regiment,
who had passed through our lines to dig in, 1 500
yards in our rear, on the fringe of Adinfer Wood.
On our right the three Companies for counter-attack
dug in for cover in the dried bed of the Cojeul river
near Boiry Rictrude, while C and A Companies from
right to left lay between 2nd Irish Guards and 13th
York and Lancaster Regiment, the latter being also
at our disposal on the east side, the Boiry Rictrude-
Ayette road. The Brigade was thus satisfactorily
straightened out and arranged in considerable depth.
On the right of the Division touch was lost with the
neighbouring Division. To fill the gap, 92nd In¬
fantry Brigade was flung in, as the enemy was pushing
south of our flank between Courcelles and Ablainze-
velle. During the day 92nd Infantry Brigade lost
their outpost line four times, but regained it each
time. Finally, fighting their way back through 4th
Guards Brigade which was covering Ayette, they re¬
formed and held a line on the east fringe of Adinfer
Wood. By 6 p.m. 4th Guards Brigade threw out a
line to the south and found touch with 42nd Division
who lay west of Ablainzevelle ; thus 31st Division
linked up the line again. On 28th Lance-Corporal
G. Girling of A Company brought down an enemy
aeroplane in No Man’s Land with his Lewis gun.

108

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, 1918

Hostile attacks were thrown back, but our lines
suffered heavily under the enemy’s fierce bombard¬
ment.

On 29th, in the evening, orders were received that,
as 2nd Irish Guards had now received their own
reinforcements and were sufficiently strong, we were
to sideslip north and take over part of 13th York
and Lancaster Regiment trenches, thereby allowing
them to thicken up and increase in depth. This was
done on the night 29th~30th, and Headquarters
moved into a slit trench 500 yards south of the
Sugar Factory ; this trench lay close to the Boiry
Rictrude-Douchy road and was a very hot corner.
In the morning of 30th G.O.C. 97th Infantry Brigade
and officers from 2nd King’s Own Yorkshire Lffiht
Infantry and from a Battalion of the Border Regiment
visited our line preparatory to taking over. There
was violent firing throughout the day, but it was fairly
quiet at night for the relief. After the relief was
complete, we were to have worked on the way out on
the repair of the old German line west of Douchy,
but the darkness hindering the complicated double
relief, and orders being received that the Battalion
was to be west of Monchy-au-Bois by 5.30 a.m. at
the latest, no real work could possibly be done. We
entered comfortable billets at Bienvillers after ten days
of exhausting fighting, hard marching, and constant
digging. Our last march back from the Ayette
Ridge to Bienvillers over the old Somme battlefield
was most interesting, but the majority were too tired
to realise where they were. The Battalion had fully
deserved the high credit given to it for its stubborn
grip on the Ayette Ridge, which was one of the
chief hinges on which the great German assault

109

THE iBTH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

pivoted.1 Our casualties had been approximately

35°-

During the day there was some shelling of Bien-
villers. The Brigade was ordered to move to Souastre at
3 p.m., but this was cancelled, and at 4 a.m. on April 1
we marched to Ivergny, and on 2nd by route-march
and bus to our old billets at Frevillers. Here work
consisted chiefly of reorganising, refitting, baths,
simple training, and musketry.

On April 10, just before the end of the morning’s
work at 12.30 p.m. the Battalion was ordered to move
in fighting order to a point near Tincques to embus.
In spite of the time required to call Companies in,
get their dinners, hand in blankets, stores, etc., by
2 p.m. the Battalion was on the move. The transport
had a thirty hours’ march ahead of them, and with only
one hour’s rest finished their trek in wonderfully good
time, the cooks, brakesmen, etc., marching the whole
way in a most creditable manner. The buses were
to off-load us in the Lillers-Busnes area, but this was
countermanded in view of the urgency of the situa¬
tion, and they drove through by 2 a.m. to Vieux
Berquin, a run of 1 1 hours. Here, owing to engine
trouble, ditched lorries, etc., when we debussed, the
Battalion was short of five buses, all Headquarters’
signallers and many Lewis gunners having been left
on the road ; these men, however, in their stout¬
hearted way, started to march with their telephone
equipment, Lewis guns, magazine panniers, and
what not, and ultimately joined up, some of them
having had as much as 15 kilometres to go under
their heavy loads.

Brigadier - General S. C. Taylor, D.S.O., now

1 See Appendix II. (4).

I IO

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, 1918

commanding the Brigade, ordered the Battalion to
march on at once to Outtersteene and to throw out
an outpost line covering this village on the east and
south-east and to link up on the flanks. This was
done by 5 a.m., and the men, thoroughly tired, turned
down for a rest. During the morning there was
heavy firing at times to the south. After mid-day the
trenches were extended and improved. Brigade
Headquarters were in the Convent at Merris. After
a conference of Battalion Commanders at Brigade
Headquarters at 4 p.m., the Battalion was informed
that an attack was to take place on La Becque Farm
and La Rose Farm, in conjunction with an attack by
13th York and Lancaster Regiment on our right, and
still farther to our right by 92nd Infantry Brigade,
who were to advance against Doulieu and Le Verrier.
This advance was to begin at 7 p.m. This left very
little time as the starting-point was some four miles away
and the day was very hot, also shovels, picks, and
extra S.A.A. had to be brought up and issued to the
men. By dint of strenuous exertions the Companies
were in position in time, C and D Companies in front
wave from right to left, with A and B Companies in
support. At 7.10 p.m. the two battalions advanced ;
C Company had easy and open ground, D Company
were in somewhat enclosed country, but the whole
Battalion moved forward in perfect formation as for
drill attack. Officers of another Division, who were
watching, asked how long we had been practising for
this attack. C Company made comparatively short
work of La Rose Farm, while the other Companies
took La Becque Farm ; each place was strongly
garrisoned by the enemy. C Company passed on
then to the second objective, a road lying across the

1 1 1

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

front, and dug in there with A Company on their
left, meeting only with slight resistance. Lieutenant
H. Seymour got a German heavy machine-gun into
action and used it with effect ; several light machine-
guns also were captured along with over thirty
prisoners. The left half battalion meanwhile were
also digging in on their second objective, getting
into touch on their left with 74th Infantry Brigade.
On the withdrawal of the latter, late in the evening, a
large gap was left which D Company tried in vain to
fill. Our right was in touch with 13th York and
Lancaster Regiment and was secure. Their right in
turn was in the air and wholly exposed, as the units
attacking on that flank were upwards of 1000 yards
in rear, not having reached their final objective, and
it was this gap that proved so fatal to our Brigade the
next day. During this night Major D. E. Ince, M.C.,
had the utmost difficulty in getting our rations up,
and it was due to his indefatigable exertions, accom¬
panied by very considerable personal danger, that we
ever received them at all.

About 7.30 a.m., on April 12, all four Companies
in quick succession reported the enemy massing in
front ; immediately after came the information that
the Battalion on the right was withdrawing, as their
right, which lay open to the enemy, had been badly
turned. C, our right Company, hung on for some
time, until it was obvious that to hold on longer
would involve the whole line being rolled up in
detail. No artillery support, though urgently called
for, was forthcoming, but the enemy casualties from
rifle and Lewis gun fire were exceedingly heavy ;
moreover, our machine-guns on the left flank did
excellent work in supporting the retirement of D

1 12

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, 1918

Company, which was badly outflanked owing to the
gap on the left and had held on doggedly until the
other companies had been withdrawn. Our casualties
had already amounted to about 270. The Battalion
fell back to its first objective of the preceding night,
but was again turned on both flanks. Successive
lines of resistance were held until the Rau-du-Leet
was reached, where for a short time we came under
the fire of our own batteries. Here both Battalions
stood fast, and 15th West Yorkshire Regiment came
up to reinforce, but by this time the remnants of the
Brigade were completely isolated and in a most
critical position. The enemy, whose attack had been
elaborately and ingeniously designed, was now coming
on in thick clouds of skirmishers, supported very
closely by mobile trench mortars and light batteries ;
mounted men and cyclists were also seen, even his
observation balloons were not more than 2500 yards
away and could see everything. By a clever arrange¬
ment of showing Very lights whenever his troops
had enveloped and turned our flanks, the enemy’s
artillery was kept closely informed of the progress
of his infantry. Orders now came from Brigade to
hold the railway line south and south-east of Outter-
steene. This was a most difficult position, as it gave
no cover to the men firing, being absolutely swept by
machine-gun fire, and it was soon enfiladed by strong
forces which had crossed the railway line to the west.
The Brigade was, however, reorganised here, but had
lost two-thirds or more of its numbers. Finally, the
Brigade was again attacked from its right rear and
forced to fall back once more to forestall complete
envelopment. We retired by the right, 15th West
Yorkshire Regiment, 13th York and Lancaster Regi-

1 13 1

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

ment, and our own right and left half Battalions in
succession. Meanwhile, the personnel of the Regi¬
mental Aid Post, who had received no other orders
than to endeavour to conform to our moves, had
co-operated splendidly, not only by their admirable
medical work, but also by their choice of new positions
and whole-hearted co-operation throughout.

The Brigade now moved, after a hurried con¬
ference of Battalion commanders, slightly north-east
towards Bailleul, and, finding 1 8th Middlesex (Pioneer)
Regiment on a reserve line facing south and east midway
between Bailleul and Meteren, prolonged their right
to fill in the wide gap between this Battalion and a
Battalion of the Queen’s, thus covering Meteren.
Here we again dug in with 15th West Yorkshire
Regiment on the right, 1 8th Durham Light Infantry
on the left, and 13th York and Lancaster Regiment in
support. We reported to 19th Infantry Brigade
for orders and rations, and sent an officer and a runner
by different routes to inform our own Brigade Head¬
quarters of our position, casualties, etc. We obtained
supplies of food and water for immediate requirements
from abandoned farmhouses near our new line.

At first a series of rifle pits were sited and dug ;
these during the night and next day were systematically
deepened, improved, and finally linked up into a
continuous and well - traversed trench. On April
13 at 10 a.m. an intense and sustained barrage of
heavy calibres opened on our new lines, which were
necessarily on a forward slope and very conspicuous ;
this lasted for an hour ; the bombardment was re¬
peated at 3.30 p.m. and continued for three hours.
Orders were issued for our relief by 5th Scottish
Rifles, but they were too weak to carry this out, and we

114

MEIEREN VILLAGE AFTER ITS RECAPTURE BY THE BRITISH.

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, 1918

offered to remain in the line. The Brigade was now
down to 450 rifles. The same night D Company
did an excellent piece of patrol work under Second
Lieutenant F. A. Flin, and established touch with
the Oueen’s, who had lost all touch with their left
posts. This consolidated the line. The same series
of patrols searched a wood in front and found it clear
of the enemy. Meteren, which had been shelled
throughout the day, was now in full blaze, and the
flaming thatch of the cottages lit up the country round.
Bailleul was incessantly ‘ strafed,’ and at times
almost hidden under a pall of red brick dust and shell
fumes. This was repeated throughout 14th from
1 1 a.m. to 5 p.m., and for six hours our trenches came
under a devastating fire ; the enemy made repeated
efforts to get up, but were dealt with by Lewis gun
and rifle fire, and also by our 1 8-pounders, which had
now returned, coming up on the night I3th-I4th,
and they gave us invaluable support and encouragement
by their indefatigable work. During the course of
14th between noon and 1 p.m. Lieut. -Colonel C. W.
Tilly, in command of 15th West Yorkshire Regiment,
was killed instantaneously by a shell splinter through
the heart ; we thus lost a very gallant officer who,
until quite lately, had been with the Battalion from
its formation. All the enemy attacks were beaten
back. Meanwhile G.O.C. 19th Infantry Brigade
had arranged for our relief in the early hours of
April 16 by a portion of 5th Battalion Tank Corps
and sent Lieut. - Colonel W. D. Lowe, D.S.O.,
who was now in command of the remnants of the
Brigade, a letter of very warm appreciation of the
assistance of 93rd Infantry Brigade at such a critical
juncture. About 6.30 a.m. on 16th the Brigade,

11 5

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

now less than 450 strong, handed over the line and
moved via Fletre and Caestre to Borre and reported
to our Brigade Headquarters.

During this severe fighting the details of the
Brigade had been heavily engaged. On the night
nth-i2th they had moved back to Borre, having a
very warm time among blazing motor-lorries in
Strazeele and coming under severe bombardment
by long-range guns. The next evening the details
of 1 8th Durham Light Infantry were formed into a
Company and were sent up to dig an advanced out¬
post line east of Merris across the Merris -Outter-
steene road, the latter place having now fallen ; this
they did successfully under slight shelling. On the
morning of 13th there was a thick fog, during which
the enemy enveloped both flanks, and our Lewis
gunners had some magnificent targets ; ultimately
the Company was ordered to withdraw from their
advanced posts to the main line of resistance west of
Merris ; at the last moment, while this evacuation
was taking place, it was discovered that some refugees
had remained in the Convent. During the rest of the
day, in spite of shells and medium trench mortars
which caused the Company numerous casualties, our
men continued to improve the line. After our evacua¬
tion of Merris our artillery bombarded heavily, and
by 7 p.m. the town was in flames. On this night
the Transport, which had the utmost difficulty in
locating the Company, had by a fine effort brought
rations right up to the firing-line. On 14th the enemy
shelled our trenches repeatedly through the day, and
before dawn on 1 5th, after relief by an Australian
Battalion, the Company moved back to Borre.

It was the stubborn resistance put up by 31st

1 16

THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE, 1918

Division in opposition to this determined and almost
successful German attack on the Hazebrouck road-
and rail-centre that caused the enemy to fail in his
object in April which was to culminate in the capture
of the Channel ports, just as he had but recently failed
in March in his aim to divide the British and French
armies and to reach Paris ; and in both attacks,
southern and northern alike, its magnificent stand
had won laurels for Thirty -first Division. See
Appendix II. (5).

1 17

CHAPTER XII

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1 9 1 8

The German offensive had failed, and both sides were
recovering breath for the next move. The Allies
were the first to regain energy and slowly to win back
lost ground before their final onrush and the grand
debacle of the entire fighting force of Germany.

During April I5th-i6ththe Battalion was reorgan¬
ised and temporarily amalgamated with 15th West
Yorkshire Regiment under the command of Lieu¬
tenant-Colonel W. D. Lowe. On 1 7th intense shelling
opened on Borre, and we moved into the fields north¬
west of La Kreule : later in the afternoon, 93rd
(composite) Battalion moved to L’Hoffand to man
and work on the merely spit-locked outer defences of
Hazebrouck. On April 1 8 we were ordered to relieve
a battalion of 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade in the
front line. After all arrangements had been made,
this was cancelled, and on 19th, moving round by
the north-west of Hazebrouck, we reached a hut
camp at Le Grand Hasard. Here there was a good
deal of aeroplane bombing at night. On 21st the
Battalion was detached from the Brigade and lent to
92nd Infantry Brigade to hold the front line south
of Hazebrouck - Strazeele railway, with defended

1 1 8

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

localities at Grand and Petit Sec Bois in rear. We
relieved 3rd Australians on night 21st- 2 2nd, having
6th Australians on our left and 11th East Yorkshire
Regiment on our right. Our patrols reported an
unusual amount of hostile movement in No Man’s
Land and round the houses at Le Paradis. On April
26 at 4.45 a.m., in co-operation with a raid by 92nd
Infantry Brigade which proved abortive owing to a
poor barrage and strong enemy resistance, we tried
to raid an outlying farm, but found it strongly
garrisoned and protected by three machine-gun nests,
and the early daylight prevented our effecting a surprise.
Later attempts next evening to secure an identification
were frustrated, the enemy being strongly reinforced.
On April 27 our Aid Post and Headquarters near
Grand Sec Bois were heavily shelled by 5‘9’s and had
to be temporarily evacuated. On night 27th-2 8th
we handed over to 1st Border Regiment, and after a
long and much protracted relief marched to a tent camp
near Sercus.

Tours in the line were at the present remarkable
for the large amount of fresh pork, veal, and chickens
obtainable. There was also plenty of fresh milk and
eggs. During the enemy’s advance very little live
stock had been removed by the French farmers, and,
though this was gradually corralled and driven back
to a kind of Divisional pound, it was impossible to
get it all away at once. This was not wholly in our
favour, as many animals were killed by shell-fire or
wounded and then drowned in the dykes, and the burial
parties had hard and unpleasant work, often having
to wear box respirators while burying the animals.

At Sercus the Battalion was at one hour’s notice,
and found very large working-parties on the support and

119

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

reserve systems. We also built a small range for the
Battalion, and had company schemes with dummy tanks.

On May 6, prior to his departure for England,
Major-General R. J. Bridgford, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.,
said farewell to the Battalion. He had only com¬
manded Thirty-first Division for two months, but had
its complete confidence, and we were very sorry to lose
him. He handed over to Major-General J. Campbell,
C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., who had commanded 142nd
Infantry Brigade which relieved our details at Bien-
villers in March. About this time we . received
provisional warnings that the Division was to be
broken up owing to our very heavy losses in March
and April, and used as instructional staff for U.S.A.
army, but most fortunately this was averted, and the
Division remained intact.

On May 9 we marched to a point 1000 yards west
of Wallon Cappel and embussed at 8.30 p.m. for
Caestre, moving via Hazebrouck and St. Sylvestre
Cappel. At 11.30 p.m. we debussed and marched
through Caestre and Fletre into the support line north¬
west of Meteren, relieving 1st Australians, a Brigade
of Australians being on our right and 160th Infantry
Regiment French on our left. The relief and march
up was a hot one, the enemy shelling all the back areas
and overland routes. Captain L. A. Dick lived at
the French Regimental Headquarters as liaison officer,
and combined international posts were arranged.
The enemy artillery now gradually weakened, and the
French 75’s opened with their ear-splitting crack.
In this sector the trenches were very poor, and there
were no communicators, so movement had to be
reduced to a minimum, as most of our ground was
under direct Boche observation from the high parts

120

The Church,

Taken from Aeroplane.

METEREN VILLAGE FIVE WEEKS AFTER ITS CAPTURE BY

THE GERMANS.

The trench lines running down the centre of this photograph are British. The
enemy lay up chiefly in rifle pits covered with straw, etc. , in the daytime to escape

observation.

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

of Meteren, which the enemy had captured twenty-
four hours after the completion of our relief on April
15. All work, therefore, on the trenches, and much
was required, was confined to night-time. During
this tour we had our first experience of war-dogs as
messengers ; most of the animals were reliable, though
they varied a good deal in speed in delivering messages.
A few were poor, and any dog that was shell-shocked
was utterly useless and a pitiful sight.

On the evening of May 1 6 we took over the reserve
line from 10th East Yorkshire Regiment, to whom we
handed over the support line. We passed through
a good deal of mustard gas during the move. Work
on the defended localities, Phinc Boom, Haute Porte
(nicknamed Hot Pot owing to its repeated shelling)
and Quatre Fils Aymon, proceeded quickly in spite of
a good deal of sporadic 4 strafing ’ by the enemy. On
2 1 st we handed over to 1 ith East Yorkshire Regiment
and took over the centre sub-sector of the front line
from 10th East Yorkshire Regiment. We sent out
a series of fighting patrols to locate enemy posts,
preparatory to raiding them, but though they penetrated
well into his supposed line they found no Germans.
They appeared to be holding their front line with a
few observation parties or listening posts at wide
intervals, and these, moving to different positions
every night, could not be definitely marked down for
a raid ; the thick mists also added to the difficulties
of our patrols. The enemy shelling was now becoming
heavy and accurate, and he obtained direct hits on
the trench line, Company and Battalion Headquarters.
Our trench cow, which was regularly handed over as
a trench store from battalion to battalion, wTas slightly
wounded by a splinter but this did not reduce her

121

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

milk supply. Ultimately when things were getting
too hot, as we were not likely to be able to replace her
by indent if she was killed, we sent her to the Aid
Post, which was not in so dangerous a place. The
enemy’s gas shelling each morning was severe, and
the low-lying ground below the Ridge and round La
Besace Farm was thick with gas daily. During this
tour, while the Battalion was in the line, the details were
in an excellent farm half a mile west of Caestre, and
were most comfortable until they had been shelled
out of it by 8-inch high-velocity shells, when it was
decided to pack up and move into a tent camp to the
south-west. As the weather was hot the men were
quite comfortable in their new camp.

On the night 2 5th-2 6th we were relieved by 7th
Seaforth Highlanders, marched to the west of Caestre,
embussed at 4 a.m., and moved via St. Sylvestre
Cappel, Cassel, and Arques to Heuringhem, debussed
there and marched into very indifferent billets at
Campagne, where, the week before we arrived, a very
extensive ammunition dump up to the largest calibres
had been badly bombed by enemy aircraft. The
concussion had spread through the dump, and there
were enormous craters ; all the trees along the road¬
side were battered and blasted. Throughout our stay
we were repeatedly visited by aeroplanes at night, and
a large number of bombs were dropped, some being
very close, within thirty yards of billets, but fortunately
these were only 25 or 30 lb. bombs and did no damage.

On May 26 the Divisional Commander gave a
lecture to all officers and non-commissioned officers
of the Brigade at Racquinghem. Battalion and
Brigade ceremonial parades were held, and General
Plumer, commanding Second Army, inspected the

122

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

Brigade and, after a fine address, distributed decorations.
The Brigade then marched past. The Battalion was
on its mettle, and its splendid swing showed up very
well. Ordinary training followed, but was broken into
by inoculation, range-building, etc. However, the
training soon became more regular ; company and
battalion schemes were carried out, together with a
great amount of musketry. The various inter-platoon
musketry competitions certainly raised the standard
of firing, both in accuracy and rapidity. In the after¬
noon there was cricket, and bathing in the canal,
which wound up with a swimming gala; the gala was
entirely successful and attracted a large number of
competitors and spectators.

About this time the Divisional Commander, to
promote esprit de corps in the Division, instituted a
Divisional parchment and decoration to be awarded
to all those who had received British decorations,
and to others whose deeds in his opinion were worthy
of recognition. This decoration consisted of an
enamelled laurel wreath of green enamel with an
enamelled red and white rose in the centre. The
whole badge was about one and a half inches in
diameter and was to be worn on the right shoulder
just below the regimental shoulder-patch.

On June 14 there was an officers’ reconnaissance
for a Divisional scheme to take place on 1 5th, but
sudden orders were received to march to the old Coolie
Camp, south of Hondeghem. On 17th we moved to
a camp near Bois des Huit Rues. On June 20 we
moved east of the Morbecque Ridge and relieved 1st
Lancashire Fusiliers of Twenty-ninth Division in the
reserve line west of Grand Sec Bois. One Company
held the Swartenbrouch, and one Company the Petit

123

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Sec Bois defended localities. On 22nd we relieved
13th York and Lancaster Regiment in the front line,
with 11th East Lancashire Regiment on our right,
while 13th York and Lancaster Regiment sideslipped
to our left, our Headquarters being in Swartenbrouch.
Active patrolling took place in view of an impending
attack on Ankle Farm and La Becque Farm by 13th
York and Lancaster Regiment and 15th West York¬
shire Regiment respectively. The tour was a hot one
both from shelling and from the grazing machine-gun
fire. A great deal of gas shelling was also done by both
sides.

On the night 2 5th-26th No. 9 Platoon dug and
wired in an oblique series of posts in No Man’s Land
facing south-east to refuse and guard the right flank
of 13th York and Lancaster Regiment after their
advance on the following night. About 1 1 p.m. on
the night of 2 6th-2 7th our two front line Companies
vacated their trenches and lay behind the parados in
order to make room for the assaulting troops, and
placed spare footbridges for the wide ditches in readiness
for the assault troops. At Zero, 12.30 a.m. on 27th,
the line advanced in small columns under an excellent
barrage. By 12.55 A,M- the attack of 13th York and
Lancaster Regiment was successful, and No. 9 and
half of No. 1 1 Platoon under Lieutenant W. Allbeury
reached their position on the defensive flank, and after
a sharp struggle captured some machine-guns and
prisoners. See Appendix II. (6).

In the evening of 27th No. 1 and half of No. 2
Platoon of A Company under Lieutenant A. Everatt
relieved C Company prior to the attack of 15th West
Yorkshire Regiment on our right against La Becque
Farm and of 92nd Infantry Brigade farther to the

124

Taken from Balloon.

VIEW OF VIEUX BERQUIN TAKEN FROM NIEPPE FOREST
ABOUT FIVE WEEKS AFTER ITS CAPTURE BY THE ENEMY IN

APRIL 1918.

Chimney and La Plate Becque La Becque Farm

Bridge. Stream. and Enclosure.

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

south. B Company relieved the right front line
Company of 13th York and Lancaster Regiment.
Zero was fixed for 6 a.m., June 28. A Company
moved forward in a series of small columns and by
6.5 a.m. reached their objective and, after some resist¬
ance, linked up with B Company on the line of La
Plate Becque, the right defensive flank of the preceding
night being now in rear. Some of our parties began
to consolidate, while others carried the stream and
attacked the German posts in the high corn, capturing
thirty prisoners and a number of machine-guns which
they turned against the enemy, inflicting heavy
casualties. As there was no barrage to cover our
advance, B Company was ordered to put down a
barrage of rifle-grenades and Lewis guns obliquely
across the front of A Company as the latter advanced.
This was very effectively carried out and kept the
enemy down until the final assault of A Company.
At 7.2 a.m. both Brigades had captured all objectives
and taken many prisoners and machine-guns and some
field artillery. The nibbling process had begun, and
it was undoubtedly effective in reducing the morale of
the enemy. See Appendix II. (7).

During the night June 29th-3oth we sideslipped
south to relieve 15th West Yorkshire Regiment, a
very difficult move owing to incessant gas- and heavy
shelling. At 3.10 a.m. our guns put down a heavy
counter-preparation to disperse the enemy, who were
massing east of the stream near Vieux Berquin. On
July 1 there was persistent mutual shelling, and
Swartenbrouch Headquarters became very warm.
This continued with occasional changes to pepper-
shells on Headquarters, which only tickled the throat
and eyes, until 4th, when we handed over to 10th

I25

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

East Yorkshire Regiment and moved into Hull camp
on the high ground west of Morbecque. Training
consisted chiefly of range firing and rifle-grenade
firing with phosphorus bombs, which set light even
to green corn or grass. Previous to this, 4th Guards
Brigade had left Thirty-first Division, and their place
had been taken by 12th Norfolk Regiment, 12th Royal
Scots Fusiliers and 24th Royal Welsh Fusiliers, the
first two being dismounted Yeomanry units, and all
three from Palestine. These Battalions formed the
94th Infantry Brigade.

On July ro we relieved 12th Norfolk Regiment
in the right front line east of Nieppe Forest with Vieux
Berquin ruins in front, which gave the enemy good
observation as far back as our reserve line on the
east fringe of the Forest. On the late evening of
11th, A Company captured some prisoners and a
machine-gun from a party of the enemy who apparently
had lost their way, while trying to relieve one of their
forward posts ; this took place on the Vierhouck-
Caudescure road near La Plate Becque. We con¬
tinued active patrolling of No Man’s Land, and two
nights later a corporal and two men went out on their
own to silence a machine-gun which had been annoying
their post. They attacked it, killed the gunner and
took the gun, the rest of the enemy taking to their
heels. It was about this time that an extraordinary
incident occurred. In the evening the drone of one
of our F.E.2b was distinguished on its return from
Vieux Berquin ; then suddenly the whistle of one of
our 6-inch howitzer shells was heard coming over from
behind the Forest, and at once, low down, about 200
yards east of one of our posts in La Becque Farm,
there was an explosion and sheet of flame close to the

126

A MAIN forest track or ride in nieppe forest
WITH A LIGHT RAILWAY LINE FOR PUSHING UP RATIONS,

R.E. STORES, ETC.

The whole forest was criss-crossed with similar rides.

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

ground ; evidently the shell had made a direct hit on
the aeroplane. Next morning bits of engine, copper,
and aluminium were found all round the post and as
far back as Caudescure.

The next night we handed over to 15th West
Yorkshire Regiment and moved into the Reserve
System in the Forest. The weather had been very hot
and the mosquitoes were appalling ; several men were
stung in the eye and temporarily blinded, and a number
had to go into hospital ; bad weather now set in, accom¬
panied by torrential rains, which seemed to freshen
up the activities of the mosquitoes, which certainly
grew larger. The earth tracks in the Forest became
seas of mud, and X track and No. 3 track will remain
memories for ever: C ride was comparatively good.

On 1 6th and 17th respectively D and A Companies
went back to the horse lines east of Wallon Cappel
to practise an attack due to take place on the morning
of July 19. The intention was for these two Com¬
panies and two Companies of 15th West Yorkshire
Regiment to advance under a barrage and clear the
ground of the enemy as far as La Plate Becque, from
La Becque Farm southwards to the Vierhouck road.
On 1 8th, preparatory to this operation we took over the
front line from 13th York and Lancaster Regiment.
At the last moment, entirely contrary to our expecta¬
tions, the barrage was cancelled, as higher authority
insisted that resistance would be slight. This was
most unfortunate, as from prisoners taken later it
was found that a new, hard-fighting Division had
the day before come in to relieve a dud Division and
held the front far more strongly under the most
definite orders not to lose La Plate Becque. Zero was
6 a.m. Immediately after starting, B Company got

127

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

close up to the Enclosure, which was its objective,
but were here fiercely resisted by machine-gun fire
and grenades ; they tried to work up the hedgerows
and to jump from shell-hole to shell-hole, but the
ground was absolutely swept with fire. Finally,
about 8.30 a.m. they dug in some fifty yards from
the Enclosure, intending to push in at night. On the
right, A Company pushed slightly nearer the stream,
in some places almost on to its banks, but the
machine-gun fire from both sides of the stream and
enfilade fire from the Enclosure caused very heavy
losses. They, however, dug in almost on their
objective. The unit on their right had a still more
difficult task ; from the outset they were enfiladed
from the south and lost great numbers at the start.
As it was impossible for them to get forward across
No Man’s Land, our right flank was turned by thick
parties of the enemy creeping through the high
standing corn. A Company refused their right,
but the enemy worked along, following the cover
of the corn, past our right and towards our rear, and
A Company had to fight its way back. B Company,
then isolated, managed gradually to conform, filtering
the men through by degrees. Our casualties were
severe, being upwards of 70, many being caused by
enemy shell-fire in the open ; between 30 and 40 of
the enemy were known to be killed.

On night July i9th-2oth, Fifth Division on our
right carried out a small raid ; had they agreed to do
this and to co-operate with us on the morning of 1 9th,
all might yet have gone well, even in the absence of the
barrage. On 22nd, 11th East Lancashire Regiment
relieved the Battalion, and we moved back to the camp
west of Morbecque. On 28th we relieved 24th Royal

128

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

Welsh Fusiliers in the reserve line of the Grand Sec
Bois Sector, with 92nd Infantry Brigadeon our right and
Fortieth Division on our left. There were large parties
working on the Z, or reserve, line for the next few days.

It was about this time that we heard some definite
news of the last great intended effort of the Germans,
dated for July 19, against Hazebrouck as a pivot to
push for the Channel ports. This was finally frustrated
by our ceaseless night and day bombing and by our
unending long-range firing on his railways and roads,
which entirely cut off his communications and avenues
of supplies to his vital areas ; these should have been
stocked weeks ago with ammunition and stores of
all kinds. This destruction of his communications,
and his inability to make the finishing preparations,
combined with the increasing epidemic of influenza
in the German army, first postponed and finally
cancelled his last and expiring bid for fortune.

On August 1 we relieved 13th York and Lancaster
Regiment in the front line of the Swartenbrouch
Sector, but on the night 3rd~4th, after relief by 12th
Norfolk Regiment and 23rd Lancashire Fusiliers, we
took over the front line of 11th East Yorkshire
Regiment, crossing over into the Nieppe Forest
Sector. In both this and the last sector shelling was
indiscriminate and sometimes rather vicious. A great
deal of work was now done on defensive lines in the
Nieppe system, which were largely breastworks, as
water was reached on digging a foot down. Strong
fighting patrols went out, but No Man’s Land was
clear, and the enemy suspicious of the danger there
or lethargic. On August 6 the front line was evacu¬
ated, preparatory to a discharge of 20,000 lb. of gas
from 600 projectors just in rear of the front trenches.

129

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

D Company took a prisoner early on the morning of
7th. He died from the gas effects soon afterwards.
In the afternoon of the same day a daylight patrol
from C Company reported to the Company Com¬
mander that the Enclosure did not appear to be held.
Captain A. Neal, D.C.M., at once sent out Second
Lieutenant J. G. Perry with six men to form a post
there. After crossing 350 yards of No Man’s Land
in the clear afternoon this party worked down from
the north flank and surprised and captured two posts,
fourteen prisoners and their machine-gun, killing
several others : a daring and fine piece of work.

At midnight, 7th-8th, the front line Companies
advanced their line about 200 yards into No Man’s
Land, dug in and left small holding parties during
the day, and on the next night completed and wired
the posts in. The object of this was to enable the
Companies to advance on a straight line if an attack
was ordered, as our original front line was like an
incurved bow and tended to cause loss of direction.
Our day and night patrols were now finding the
enemy more alert, and the enemy kept sweeping No
Man’s Land by perpetual bursts of heavy machine-
gun fire, which showed his nervous condition.

On the night of August 9th-ioth we were relieved
by 1 ith East Yorkshire Regiment and moved to Hull
camp. During the temporary absence of the Battalion
Commander, Major D. E. Ince, M.C., took over the
command. On 1 5th there was a battalion scheme
in co-operation with a contact aeroplane. On August
22, Fortieth Division relieved Thirty-first Division
in the Nieppe sector, and we marched on a burning
afternoon, via Hazebrouck, to a camp belonging
originally to some Australian pioneers, and therefore

130

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

correspondingly comfortable ; it lay east of Hon-
deghem near Le Peuplier. The march was very
exhausting indeed and the sun caused several cases of
partial collapse. On the evening of 23rd we moved
up to the Meteren south sector, taking over from
1 2th Royal Scots Fusiliers. The trenches were mere
rifle-pits and had to be linked up. Enemy shelling
was constant and very accurate on Headquarters,
roads and trenches. On 24th we handed over a
part of the trenches on our right to 13th York and
Lancaster Regiment and took over extra trenches as
far as the Meteren-Bailleul road on our left from
5th Cameron Highlanders. The 25th wras a very
wet day and the trenches became really bad ; our
daylight patrols saw a great deal of enemy movement.
We tested some whistling message rockets, which had
a range of 2000-3000 yards and fell within the enemy
lines. They seemed to startle him considerably, and
he opened fire, apparently imagining that they were
the signal for starting an attack. There was violent
shelling with numerous casualties on 26th and 27th,
and the weather continued wet and depressing.

On the night 2 6th-2 7th our right was relieved by
1st King’s Own Scottish Borderers and 12th Royal
Scots Fusiliers. D Company now lay south of
Bailleul-Meteren road with A Company on their
right, C Company in support in African Trench, and
B Company in reserve in Phinc Boom. Much wiring
and trench repair took place. During the night
2 9th-3oth it was decided to shorten our line by drawing
a chord of posts across the re-entrant south-east of
Meteren. Each front line company dug and wired
three posts and occupied them before dawn. During
the preceding day and night a very great number of

J3i

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

fires were seen in the enemy’s back areas, a clear sign
of an intended withdrawal. In the early morning
our patrols reported no enemy near at hand. A and
D Companies, under Captain L. A. Dick and Captain
C. G. Killick, were ordered to move up to Coute
Corner and then to send forward patrols into Bailleul ;
the two rear companies to conform. During their
advance D Company captured several light minen-
werfers with their carriages near Coute Corner. Their
patrols also were first into Bailleul Grande Place, where
they found no Germans or British. On climbing on
to a roof they could not see any Germans to the east
of the town. A Company patrols found no one in
the south outskirts of the town, but got into touch
with i st King’s Own Scottish Borderers near Bailleul
station. The situation was reported to Brigade.
Meanwhile C Company was ordered to take the Mont
de Lille, which commanded the exits from the town
and was the key to a further advance on to the Ravels-
berg Ridge. Major D. E. Ince, M.C., reconnoitred
the position and found that a prior attack by the unit
on our right had failed. At 7 p.m. C Company seized
the Mont de Lille and dug in. They buried the bodies
of the unit which had failed earlier in the day and re¬
covered their Lewis guns. The remainder of C Com¬
pany formed a right defensive flank to keep touch with
1st King’s Own Scottish Borderers, and D Company
on their left filled in the gap to the right of 15th West
Yorkshire Regiment. During this advance we found
a number of simple booby-traps, such as bunches of
grenades on cords across the entrances to dug-outs,
bombs behind doors, curtains, etc. ; but the men had
been warned, and we had no casualties. The day
after the Battalion had captured Bailleul, a Boche

132

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

spy dressed in British uniform was shot at the entrance
to a cellar dug-out, in which he had a store of rations
and full equipment of telephone apparatus and wires
to his back areas. He must have been a brave man,
as he could not have expected to wait long for the death
which he met. See Appendix II. (8).

At 2.45 a.m. on August 31 the Brigade was ordered
to advance and take up a line 1500 yards east of Mont
de Lille and to consolidate with Twenty-ninth Division
on our right and Thirty-sixth Division on our left.
This operation was to take place after Thirty-sixth
Division had captured the west end of the Ravelsberg,
a hogsback ridge which runs east and west from
Neuve Eglise to Mont de Lille and commands the
entire country to the south, over which the Brigade
and Twenty-ninth Division were to advance. By
7.30 a.m. the Ravelsberg was taken, and B and A
Companies from right to left advanced in artillery
formation with scouts well forward. D Company was
in support, and C Company remained in reserve
holding their trenches on Mont de Lille. By 10 a.m.,
in spite of hot opposition from snipers and machine-
gun fire from houses and platforms in trees, all three
companies were digging in somewhat beyond and
east of their objective. A Company was in touch with
a Battalion of the Inniskillings on the left, 1 5th West
Yorkshire Regiment having been squeezed out in the
advance, B Company lay astride the Bailleul-Armen-
tieres road with a platoon in an enormous tank-
trap crater on the road, and formed a defensive
right flank, as they were far in advance of, and out
of touch with, the next unit. Both companies had
patrols pushed forward and in touch with the enemy
at Pegasus, Bolus and Blondin Farms. One of these

133

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

machine-gun nests had been located by a low-flying
contact aeroplane, which dropped a message within
fifty yards of Headquarters then moving forward,
and thus warned us of its position. Shelling with
5’9’s, 4'2’s, and especially with whiz-bangs, now
increased, and very little movement, except in the case
of single individuals, was possible. B Company’s right
at last found touch by means of one of our patrols with
the unit on our right, who finally pushed forward a
post about 7.30 p.m. and secured our flank, which had
been absolutely exposed throughout the day and
offered a tempting opportunity to an enterprising
enemy. Headquarters had been placed in a farm,
but this position became impossible for runners to
approach, and it was moved 200 yards back to Karrier
Cottage. As Thirty-sixth and Twenty-ninth Divisions
converged, it became useless to maintain Thirty-first
Divisional front, which was now held by our Battalion
only, and at 3.45 a.m. September 1 this sector was
taken over from us by 1st Border Regiment of Twenty-
ninth Division. Our casualties amounted to about
twenty, but the number of narrow escapes from snipers,
etc., made us think ourselves very lucky.

We moved along rather an unpleasantly ‘ strafed ’
road back to a tent and bivouac camp just west of
Bailleul. This camp again revealed a large number of
booby-traps, all of which were safely exploded. The
Battalion was then put on to clearing roads in Bailleul
from debris. Meteren had been flattened out, but
Meteren was only a village; Bailleul had been a large and
flourishing town of 14,000 inhabitants, and well built,
and now there was not a house fit even to bivouac in.

On September 5 we moved forward to a tent camp
east of the town and just under the Ravelsberg. This

134

RUINS OF BAILLEUL CHURCH.

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

camp unfortunately lay beneath a sausage-balloon and
was perpetually shelled by high-velocity shells and
heavy calibres. It was also shelled regularly at night,
one dud falling beneath the regimental pioneers’
bivouac, but one could not count on many being duds.
Company tactical training and working-parties con¬
tinued until 1 2th, when we moved forward again into
a ruined camp on the south-west slopes of Neuve
Eglise. In view of persistent shelling, companies
and platoons were all separated out, but there were
many casualties, and the companies were kept perpetu¬
ally on the move. From 12.15 A-M- to 3 a.m. on 15th
D Company, which was in shelter slit-trenches near
Lampernisse Farm, came under a hurricane bombard¬
ment of mustard-gas. The first flight of shells burst
in and around the trenches, and forty of the men who
were asleep were gassed outright more or less seriously,
as the sentries could not possibly warn all the men at
once, and the first storm of shells came with such
violence. This was the only occasion throughout the
war that we had so large a number of gas casualties.
Fortunately very few proved to be severe cases. D
Company then moved forward to support 1 5th West
Yorkshire Regiment, and C Company to support 13th
York and Fancaster Regiment, both being in the
Nieppe system and lying respectively north and south
of Fe Romarin. This Nieppe is a western suburb of
Armentieres and not to be confused with Nieppe
Forest, south-east of Hazebrouck.

On the afternoon of 17th, just south of Head¬
quarters, two lorries on Bailleul - Armentieres road
were hit direct by 4-2’s and set on fire. One was
quickly pulled out by another passing lorry, but the
leading one, which was full of gas shells for the guns,

l3S

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

blazed furiously, and ultimately the gas shells exploded
and released a widespread cloud of gas. On the early
morning of September 1 8 the two front line Bat¬
talions made successful raids, capturing prisoners and
a strong resistance-centre at Soyer Farm. Our right
was now close to the outskirts of Armentieres.
Battalion Headquarters, which had moved forward to
the Nieppe system for the raid, returned to the Neuve
Eglise camp, and were violently shelled all day with
heavy stuff, and had to move out temporarily. In the
evening we handed over to 12th Norfolk Regiment.
On return to our camp, under the Ravelsberg, C
Company was most unfortunate, and, just before
reaching camp, had eighteen casualties from a high-
velocity 8-inch shell.

On September 20 we moved to a quieter spot, a
tent camp west of La Creche. Here there were many
salvage working-parties, and the Army Education and
Lecture System was started. This scheme developed
later in the year, when it became possible to ensure
greater continuity, and it was of very material benefit to
those who took part in it, especially the book-keeping,
accountancy, and shorthand classes. We built a small
rifle range near the camp and carried through a number
of successful double-company and battalion schemes,
which were especially intended to develop infiltration
in the attack and chequer consolidation in depth after
the attack. While we were here, an immense volcano
of flame was seen near, or east of Armentieres, which
was either a dump going up or a very large tank
trap being blown.

On September 27 we moved up again and relieved
11th East Yorkshire Regiment in the Ploegsteert
sector, and came under the orders of 92nd Infantry

136

A LARGE CRATER NEAR DE SEULE.

The result of an ammunition dump of heavy shells exploded by an aeroplane
bomb. This crater was over twenty feet deep : it should be compared with the
far larger craters on the Givenchy Ridge opposite page 53.

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

Brigade. From noon on 28th we were again at the
disposal of 93rd Infantry Brigade. Our Headquarters
remained at Petite Munque Farm. In the afternoon
in accordance with a plan depending on the success of
the earlier attack on Messines Ridge to the north,
92nd Infantry Brigade, to whom the Battalion was
again attached, advanced at 3 p.m. with 11th East
Lancashire Regiment on the left and 10th East York¬
shire Regiment on the right, both units forming to the
right in order to attack Ploegsteert Wood from the
north. Our task was to make a direct frontal attack
on the west edge of the wood in order to create a diver¬
sion. This feint attack, from Maison 1 875 at the south¬
west corner to Hyde Park Corner at the north-west,
succeeded admirably, all our objectives being reached
after a short struggle, with the capture of a number of
prisoners and three machine-guns. Our formation
was a series of shallow columns preceded by scouts
in pairs, with Lewis guns well up. D Company, who
had got a footing deep into the wood, could get no touch
with 11th East Yorkshire Regiment except on our
extreme left, which was the right pivot of this unit’s
change of direction, the hostile opposition on the north
edge of the wood being very determined. C Company
had got beyond their objective and taken Touquet
Berthe Farm farther to the east, but were compelled
by a hurricane bombardment of 4-2’s and 77 m. to
evacuate it, as, at the same time, their flanks were en¬
veloped by two counter-attacks. The 92nd Infantry
Brigade ordered the whole attack to be resumed at
dawn on 29th. Our Companies, using the same forma¬
tion, drove deeper into the wood and reached their
objective, which ran north-east and south-west through
Bunhill trench. They then pushed out advanced

137

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

posts and secured touch with ioth East Yorkshire
Regiment on the left, while the right flank was pro¬
tected by a series of posts bending right back in
echelon to Fortieth Division, who had not been able
to get forward. See Appendix II. (9).

At 7 p.m. on 29th, in driving rain and intense
darkness, the Battalion was ordered to withdraw from
its new line, leaving only two platoons to cover the
whole original front, and to move by the west and north
edges of the wood, and finally down the east side into
a position between the convent at the south-east corner
of the wood and Ultimo crater, and to continue the
attack in a south-east direction against Lys at dawn.
All companies, in spite of the difficulties of torrential
rain, seas of mud and the pitch-black night, did
magnificently, Captain C. G. Killick leading the way
with D Company along most intricate tracks to the
farthest point with complete success. On the morning
of 30th we advanced with wider intervals on the
principles of infiltration, as the ground was very open,
and reached our second and final objective, where we
linked up with 12th Royal Scots Fusiliers on the left,
our right being thrown far back and echeloned on
this exposed flank, as the unit on our right had not
yet advanced after the confusion caused by wood¬
fighting. On the morning of October 1 we were
ordered to swing up our right at dawn towards the
Lys in co-operation with the unit on our right, retaining
our left as a pivot. This unit, owing to misadventure,
did not advance until late in the day, and our right
became still more exposed and suffered casualties, but
the advance was continued, posts being dropped one
after another to protect the flank of D Company, which
was absolutely in the air. The day then became

138

Taken from Balloon.

PLOEGSTEERT WOOD.

Recaptured August 1918. The Lys winds in the background to the east of the
wood. Armentieres lies just outside the right of the photograph, Hill 63 to the

left of the wood.

rt >

•«# i

, 1 1 \

THE TURN OF THE TIDE, 1918

brilliant, and the enemy artillery, probably observing
from the houses in Deulemont, began to show great
activity, and the unit on our right suffered very heavily,
whereas the advance in the morning mists was inex¬
pensive. D Company came in for the backwash of this
shelling. See Appendix II. (10).

The above line was held until the night of ist-2nd.
We were relieved by the 1 ith East Yorkshire Regiment,
and, after being much complimented by the G.O.C.
92nd Infantry Brigade, returned along appalling tracks
under heavy rain to our own Brigade, now in a camp
north of Neuve Eglise and at the foot of the southern
slopes of Mont Kemmel. Estimated casualties to
the enemy ninety-five ; our own casualties thirty-five,
of whom fifteen were killed. This envelopment of
Armentieres from the north forced the evacuation of
the town by the enemy, who, before he left, blew up the
church towers which he had used for observation posts
and which our artillery had spared.

In the new camp we were in the thick of our 6-inch
naval guns and 6-inch howitzers, and accordingly were
shelled badly with high-velocity 5'9’s during the early
morning of the first day ; fortunately nearly every shell
was a dud. There were many extraordinarily narrow
escapes; one shack had four shells round and under it.
So we side-slipped our camp a short distance to the south¬
west. Up till the time of our entering this camp, our
transport was at Le Romarin, where there were several
German dug-outs with notice boards directing c Zum
Unterstand ’ (cTo the dug-out’). The wits among
the transport at once chalked up underneath ‘ And
Zum Don’t.’ The transport, in spite of their hard
work, certainly extracted a good deal of enjoyment out
of life. On one occasion a driver, suddenly ordered

T39

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

out with the water-cart, could only find one heavy
draught horse and one small mule. He was stopped
by a Brigadier, who asked him what he meant by
driving such a pair. The driver assured him that
it had been his regular pair for some time. The
Brigadier retorted by asking what their names were.
The driver, without a moment’s hesitation, pointed to
the horse and said ‘ Jack, sir,’ and pointing to the
small mule, ‘And that un’s Jack-ass.’ The Brigadier
laughed, and the driver went on his way undefeated.

While we had been detached from the Brigade at
Ploegsteert, General S. C. Taylor, D.S.O., of our own
Brigade, was badly wounded, and his Brigade-Major
was killed by the same shell. The Brigadier died
of wounds a few days later, and Lieutenant-Colonel A.
W. Rickman, D.S.O., took temporary command of
the Brigade. The Brigadier, who had been with the
Brigade since 1915, was much regretted by all.

On October 4 we relieved 1 3th York and Lancaster
Regiment and a company of 29th Durham Light
Infantry on the Warneton-Deulemont front on the
west bank of the Lys. Patrols examined all the bridges
across the river and found them practically impassable,
as they were either broken by shelling or destroyed by
the Boche. He had also made all the foot-bridges
useless. Brigadier-General G. B. Smyth, D.S.O.,
now took command of the Brigade. On 6th we handed
over to 1 2th Royal Scots Fusiliers and moved into
tents at De Seule, south of Neuve Eglise. Active
training began, including practice in intensive musketry
and rifle-grenade firing, combined with platoon and
company schemes. Major C. G. Killick now took
temporary command, as the Battalion Commander was
on leave.

140

Ruins of Warneton Church to the left.

CHAPTER XIII

THE LAST ADVANCE AND THE END, I 9 1 8

On October 16 the Battalion moved up to Ploegsteert
with Headquarters in the Convent, the weather being
very bad. We were ordered about i p.m. to cross
the Lys north of Deulemont over a single duckboard
bridge in rear of 92nd Infantry Brigade. The
transport crossed about 1 1 p.m. on a hurriedly con¬
structed pontoon bridge at Warneton. We spent
the night in German shacks and pill-boxes in which,
fortunately, for it was very dark, there were no booby-
traps. On 17th Headquarters moved into Ouesnoy.
This town, after being burnt out early in the war, had
been partly rebuilt by the enemy, who had used the
shells of the walls as a framework for their new
buildings. On 18th we went to a scattered village
called Bondues. Here the country was not devastated,
and a few civilians welcomed us. In the afternoon
we went on to Tourcoing, in all about twenty-five
kilometres. During 1 9th we marched through
Tourcoing and Roubaix to Lannoy, and were received
with the wildest enthusiasm. The houses were
covered with flags ; some were very fine ones and
represented the combined flags of the Allies, and were,
therefore, comparatively new. The people in Roubaix
told us that the Germans had actually sold many of

141

THE 18TEI DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

these to the inhabitants, just prior to their evacuation.
As we marched through, little flags were stuck in the
rifle barrels of every soldier in the Battalion, and wine,
beer, liqueurs, coffee, cakes, and every imaginable
thing was pressed on us. Owing to the pressure of
the inhabitants, the column was repeatedly broken into
sections, and sometimes into file. On reaching Lannoy
we got into excellent billets, but the inhabitants insisted
on every man having a bed, and on all sides it was,

‘ Yous etes allies, prenez ce que vous voulez et faites
ce que vous voulez.’ They would not hear of payment.

In spite of this reception, every man was punctuallv
on parade next morning at 8 .30 a.m., when we moved to
Leers Nord, four miles east of Lannoy, where again
we were most kindly treated. By this time we had
passed through 92nd Infantry Brigade and were in
support to 13th York and Lancaster Regiment, who
were in the front line on the west bank of the Scheldt.
During this week there was general cleaning up and a
little training. On October 22 Lieutenant-Colonel F. C.
Walton, M.C., from 1 / 6th Durham Light Infantry,
took over command of the Battalion temporarily.

On October 26 we moved north-west to Mouscron
and on 28th to Steenbrugge, a poverty-stricken village
where the people were inhospitable and almost hostile.
While we were there, the Boche aeroplanes bombed
Courtrai and Steenbrugge at night. We remained
in this uncomfortable spot till November 3, when we
moved into Divisional reserve in Roncq. In this
town there was a woollen factory of very great size.
The Germans had gone to the trouble of knocking
one cog out of every cog-wheel in the factory. There
was also an enemy soda-water factory with 500,000
soda-water bottles full ! These were excellent. The

142

A LARGE GERMAN CONCRETE PII.L-BOX FOR ALL-ROUND MACHINE-GUN FIRE ON

WEST BANK OF THE LYS.

Height about sixteen feet.

THE LAST ADVANCE AND THE END, 1918

Germans had fled from this place on the first sight
of British troops, not waiting for any attack. On
November 8 news came that the German delegates
were to arrive shortly to arrange terms for the Armistice.
We moved forward the same day into support at
Marcke, and thence on 9th to Sweveghem, preparatory
to the Battalion forcing a crossing of the Scheldt and
attacking the high ground east of Ruyen, a very fine
position and one most difficult to carry, if the enemy
should make any stand. On reaching Sweveghem,
however, we found that the enemy had again run as
a result, according to the statements of the inhabitants
of Amougies and Orroir, of our preliminary shelling.
The same evening we moved to Ruyen and crossed
the Scheldt about 7 p.m. on a pontoon bridge, which
was built by the sappers while we waited on the bank.
Here 92nd Infantry Brigade, who were to have been
in support while we attacked, passed over in front of
us. The march had been very trying, and over bad
roads eighteen miles was quite long enough. Ruyen
was undamaged, but practically deserted. We stayed
there, our transport joining us on 10th, on which day
the Battalion moved to Renaix, a good-sized town,
where we again had a very warm welcome. This
was the first place where the gasworks had been left
intact, and gas was being used in the houses, the Boche
having to leave the town so precipitately that he had
no time to devote to wanton destruction.

At 8 a.m. on November 1 1 the news came through
that the Armistice was to come into force at 1 1 a.m.
We moved east to Oueneau ; this was well inside
Belgium, but there the people spoke only French,
though farther west in many places the people knew
no French and used only Flemish.

143

THE LAST ADVANCE AND THE END, 1918

12.30 p.m. ; the sergeants and corporals had theirs
at 7 p.m. ; the transport at 5 p.m. ; the cooks putting
theirs off to Boxing Day. Everything went off
extremely well, and the dinners were the best we
had ever had in France.

For these Christmas dinners, as well as for un¬
counted presents of all descriptions during the war, we
were very much indebted to the continuous generosity
of friends at home who had subscribed with such a
free hand. In the same way we owed very much indeed
to the ‘Lady Anne Lambton fund’ for mufflers, socks,
gloves, badges, etc. Many associations, and also
the readers of many newspapers, sent presents of
tobacco, cigarettes, chocolate, papers, magazines, etc.,
to the Battalion. It was all these kindnesses, con¬
tinued so regularly and for so long a time, that had
made life under the stress and hardship of war still
liveable, and reminded us how often the thoughts of
those in England were with us.

Colonel R. Burdon, V.D., M.P., and Captain B. S.
Roberts, who looked after the Battalion funds, never
failed to give us any assistance asked for, keeping
and supervising the accounts at very considerable
trouble to themselves, more particularly to the former
in the midst of his Parliamentary activities.

On New Year’s Day 1919 sports were held,
and during the first week in January our tug-of-war
team lost by one pull to two to 15th West Yorkshire
Regiment in the Divisional final. Our Battalion
team was second both in the Brigade and Divisional
Cross Country, Second Lieutenant E. R. Callender
being first man home in the former. We had five
members of the Brigade fifteen in the final of the
Divisional Rugby, and in Association reached the

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

semi-final and were easily favourites, but unfortunately,
owing to the prolonged frost, the competition was
definitely cancelled, though it was unexpectedly
resumed some weeks later, when we had lost eight
of the eleven through demobilisation. In boxing,
Sergeant R. Middleton easily won the Divisional
Middle-weights and put up the best fight for the
same weights in Second Army Championship at Lille,
when suffering from a really very heavy chill.

On January 2 regimental censorship of letters was
discontinued, to the sincere delight of both officers and
other ranks. Educational classes in French, short¬
hand, book-keeping, economics, general history, mathe¬
matics, were in full swing, and continued until the
Battalion was down to cadre. Meanwhile, the band,
which had of late regained its old excellence and had
been considerably strengthened in numbers, was now
decreasing again. Demobilisation steadily continued.
The only work done by the Battalion was the conver¬
sion of the concrete factory into Fifth Army Stables.

On January 1 6 Lieut.-Colonel W. D. Lowe, D.S.O.,
M.C., returned to the Battalion and resumed command.
About midnight 2 8th-2 9th we received orders to
entrain for Calais. Both Thirty-first and Thirty-fifth
Divisions were ordered to Calais in view of the dis¬
turbances among the R.A.O.C. and R.O.D. We
moved off at 5 a.m., and, travelling in unheated horse-
vans, arrived 1 p.m. on 29th at Beau Marais and were
given a tent camp ; there was snow on the ground
and the weather was bitter. The transport followed
by road. 105th Infantry Brigade piqueted Calais, to
prevent disorder spreading beyond the docks and
storehouses which had been seized by the R.A.O.C.
Negotiations took place on 30th, General Sir W. R.

146

THE LAST ADVANCE AND THE END, 1918

Birdwood, G.C.M.G., interviewing representatives.
On 31st R.A.O.C. and R.O.D. resumed work, and
the Divisional Commander, knowing how uncomfort¬
able the men were, induced the Governor of Calais to
send us back to Arques the same evening. Authority
and discipline had won, and the bloodless battle of
Calais was over.

During February work at the concrete factory
continued, and after the snowfalls road-clearing parties
were sent out. Owing to the shortage of fuel and the
coldness of the billets, wood-collecting parties were
detailed from companies daily. Rather later in the
month the Pioneers put up about 600 wire beds
in tiers for the incoming R.F.A. and for the personnel
demobilising the artillery animals.

About this time the Battalion generally was
sounded as to their willingness to form an Old Com¬
rades’ Association, with occasional meetings in the
chief towns of the country. The idea was taken up
enthusiastically, and a large number of names registered.
It was hoped after the first preliminary meeting in
Durham to form a Committee and to formulate the
rules of the Association. Closely allied with this
Association is a plan to administer the residue of the
funds of the Battalion, augmented if possible by
donations, under a small executive committee, for the
benefit of those members of the Battalion who have
been seriously disabled by the war, either by repayable
loans without interest, or, in certain cases of extreme
need, by gifts.1

On February 19 the Colours of all the Battalions

1 The first General Meeting was held at Durham, on March 6, 1920, and the
Old Comrades’ Association was formed. For particulars of membership applica¬
tion should be made to Captain W. T. Richardson, 4.7 Old Bailey, Durham.

THE iBTH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

of the Brigade, together with the Colours of 12th
King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, were conse¬
crated. Captain R. A. Norris, C.F., consecrated the
Colours, and they were presented by Brigadier-General
G. B. Smyth, D.S.O., to Lieutenant W. Allbeury, M.C.,
who was in command of the Colour party. The drill
of the latter was exceedingly good after the rehearsals
of the previous days.

Early in March, except for a draft of approximately
300 all ranks due to join 2/6th Durham Light
Infantry, the Battalion was practically down to cadre.
On March 17 this draft, under command of Captain
A. Borrell, entrained at St. Omer for Dieppe to report
to their new unit. Lieut.-Colonel W. D. Lowe had
taken temporary command of the Brigade in the
previous week, and Major D. E. Ince, M.C., was in
command of the Battalion. During the latter part
of the month we were busy making preparations
for the cadre to proceed to England ; the horses
and mules had been handed in, and all stores were
made up to the mobilisation tables. Time now
began to hang very heavy on our hands, and cricket
material was obtained.

On April 24 we moved to Marlborough House
camp at Blendecques, a part of the old Second Army
School. This camp was a great improvement on
Arques, and the surroundings really pretty ; there
was also a very fair cricket ground, and we had a
number of sporting matches with outside units. At
last, on May 16, the Stores and Transport moved to
a field near Wizernes Station, and on 1 8th the cadre
entrained, with Major D. E. Ince, M.C., in command,
and started at 5.30 p.m. for Dunkerque, arriving
8.15 p.m. and proceeding to Hospice camp for the

148

THE LAST ADVANCE AND THE END, 1918

night. On the following day the cadre moved into
No. 3 Embarkation camp and sailed on s.s. Mogileff
at 5 p.m. on 2 1 st. The sea was dead calm, and they
had a very comfortable voyage to Southampton,
arriving there at 9.55 a.m. on 22nd. The cadre
entrained and reached Catterick Bridge 10.30 a.m.
on 23rd. The checking and handing over of the
mobilisation stores was very rapid, as our Stores’
personnel had everything cut and dried. On 25th
Major D. E. Ince, M.C., explained to the cadre the
procedure at Durham and the laying up of the Colours,
which he had arranged with the Dean and Mayor of
Durham, together with Colonel R. Burdon, V.D.,
M.P., and Lieut.-Colonel H. Bowes, T.D.

On May 27 the cadre entrained for Durham
and arrived at 11.45 A-M* > they stored kits in the
station and marched with Colours cased through the
decorated streets to the Market-place, where there was
a large crowd awaiting them. After the cadre had
had lunch, they formed up inside the Town Hall,
marched out with Colours uncased, and faced the
Town Hall, many old members of the Battalion form¬
ing up in rear of the cadre ; these were about 120
in number. Mrs. C. D. Shafto then fastened a
laurel wreath to the pole. The following speeches
were made from the balcony of the Town Hall :

The Mayor said that Durham was proud of the
opportunity to give a hearty welcome back to the men
of the 1 8th Durham Light Infantry. The name
‘ Pals ’ had been a household word, and no other
Battalion had been more in their thoughts. Their
glorious service in Egypt and France had been closely
followed, their successes admired, and their casualties
mourned by every citizen of Durham, and they felt

149

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

honoured that the Battalion had come to Durham to
deposit its Colours in their glorious Cathedral. To
the relatives of those who had made the great sacrifice
they extended sincere sympathy, and to those who had
been spared to return they wished good fortune and
the best of happiness for the remainder of their
lives.

Lord Durham said that they were all proud to wel¬
come the men back to the city and county of Durham,
and proud of the great services which they had rendered
their country during the war. Some of those present
knew from the very day the Battalion was raised, with
what zeal and energy the men devoted themselves to
make it one of the most efficient of their gallant
Army, which had saved the country from ruin and
devastation, and had rescued the world for civilisa¬
tion. The recruits of the Battalion came from all
trades and professions, and were representative of
almost all classes. He might almost say that the
united talents of the men would have enabled them
to build a battleship, or even to run a Government
Department economically. Having referred to the
Battalion’s splendid performances in Egypt and
France, his Lordship added that, whatever memorial
was erected for the county, none would be regarded
with more reverence, pride, and gratitude than the
Colours of the 1 8th Durham Light Infantry.

Alderman A. Pattison (Deputy- Mayor) also
addressed words of welcome to the men, and said
that he would mourn the loss of many a bright
fellow, whose acquaintance it had been his privilege
to make, and whose faces he would see no more.

Colonel Rowland Burdon, V.D., M.P., said that as
one who had perhaps more to do with sending the

*5°

THE LAST ADVANCE AND THE END, 1918

Battalion away than anybody, he was specially de¬
lighted to welcome the men home. If ever any one
of them wanted a friend, they had only to appeal to
the Lord Lieutenant or himself. In the early days,
soon after the Battalion was raised, the fact that
such an excellent Battalion had been formed so
affected the. War Office that Lord Kitchener sent
for him, and, through him and the Lord Lieutenant,
thanked the county for having added to His Majesty’s
Forces such a magnificent Battalion. He did not
think any other unit had received such a compliment.
After having served abroad he wanted the men of the
1 8th Battalion to help now at home, in order to make
sure that the country would not in the future be caught
in the condition in which she was in 1914. Although
the records of the Battalion were being compiled, he
was afraid it would not be sufficiently known that the
1 8th Durham Light Infantry had on more than one
occasion filled a gap, which no other Battalion in
similar circumstances could, perhaps, have filled, and
had thereby saved the country from very great disaster.
The records of the 1 8th Battalion would add honour
to those of their great County Regiment.

Major Ince, M.C., on behalf of the Battalion,
returned thanks for the hearty welcome accorded to
them, and for the kind treatment extended to the
men while on service. There were many institutions,
societies, and committees to which they were extremely
grateful for the supply of comforts, etc., which had
helped to make life worth living in Flanders and
elsewhere.

The cadre, Colour party, and former members of
the Battalion, followed by the Mayor’s bodyguard,
the Mayor, Lord Durham, and others, marched to

l5I

THE 1 8TH DURPIAM LIGHT INFANTRY

the Cathedral. At the close of the service the Dean
proceeded to the altar, and there Lieutenant C. C.
Priestman, the officer in charge of the Colours,
handed the Colours to Major D. E. Ince. The
Dean then gave a short address, saying :

‘ In the name of the Dean and Chapter of this
ancient Cathedral I accept these Colours of the Bat¬
talion, which is so near and dear to us. It is, in a
sense, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone. It
is associated with the very life of the county. Its
losses have been our personal bereavements, its
victories have been our glories. We know that in
the recent war, not in Egypt only, but at Neuve
Chapelle, at Gavrelle, at Armentieres, and on other
battlefields new honours were shed upon these Colours,
and now the i 8 th Battalion, with the religious senti¬
ment which is ever characteristic of the British Army,
has desired that this memorial should be laid up in
the house of God. We thank them for bringing it
here. With deep reverence we will guard it, and we
pray with confidence and hope that they who, in the
coming years and the coming generations, shall look
upon these Colours, may recall with feelings of in¬
expressible gratitude the men whose high privilege
it was by their lives, and still more by their deaths,
to serve and save their country, and with it to save
the world.’

After the address the Dean then received the
Colours from Major D. E. Ince, M.C., and laid
them on the altar, and the service concluded with
the National Anthem. Oh returning to the Market¬
place, the cadre proceeded to Old Elvet for dismissal,
and Major D. E. Ince received an ovation. The
cadre remained overnight in Durham, thoroughly

l52

THE LAST ADVANCE AND THE END, 1918

appreciating the home-coming and the warm-hearted
welcome of the North.

On May 28 the cadre proceeded to Ripon for
dispersal, the officers going to Larkhill on Salisbury
Plain ; and the Battalion, for which all its officers,
non-commissioned officers and men felt such sincere
affection, and in which one and all took such a whole¬
hearted and justifiable pride, was finally disbanded
after nearly five years of true and loyal labour in the
service of its King and country.

l53

APPENDIX I

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS

TO THE

i8th (S.) BATT. DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

(COUNTY)

The Earl of Durham, K.G., etc., Lambton Castle, Fence
Houses.

Colonel R. Burdon, V.D., M.P., J.P., Castle Eden.

Mrs. Matthew Gray.

Sir Lindsay Wood, Bart., The Hermitage, Chester-le-Street.
The Executors of the late Sir Stephen Furness, Baltic
Chambers, West Hartlepool.

Colonel H. Doughty, J.P., Seaton Carew.

C. E. Hunter, Esq., Wemmergill, Middleton-in-Teesdale.
Colonel Sir Robert Ropner, Bart., Preston Hall, near
Stockton-on-T ees.

A. F. Pease, Esq., J.P., Middleton Lodge, Middleton Tyas.
The Right Hon. H. Pike Pease, M.P., House of Commons.
Colonel J. H. Ropner, V.D., J.P., Ragworth, Norton-on-Tees.
Colonel C. W. Darwin, C.B., J.P., Dryburn, Durham.

R. Hutton Wilson, Esq., Egglescliffe S.O.

F. Fenwick, Esq., J.P., Forester’s Lodge, Wolsingham.

W. O. Wood, Esq., J.P., South Hetton.

Colonel Roberts, Hollingside, Durham.

W. Sewell, Esq., Manor House, North Bridge Street,
Sunderland.

John Feetham, Esq., Whinfield, Darlington.

r55

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

S. T. Coulson, Esq., Church Street, West Hartlepool.
Gerard Salvin, Esq., Croxdale Hall, Durham.

J. T. Scott, Esq., Thornley.

Jonathan Angus, Esq., J.P., Castle Eden.

J. A. Hildyard, Esq., J. P., Hutton Bonville Hall, North¬
allerton.

Sir Thomas Wrightson, Bart., J. P., Neasham Hall, Darling¬
ton.

Sir William Cresswell Gray, Bart., D.L. , J.P., Thorp
Perrow, Bedale.

Viscount Boyne, Brancepeth Castle, Durham.

J. Westoll, Esq., J.P., The Cloisters, Sunderland.

H. H. Clark, Esq., Southwick Engine Works, Sunderland.
Anthony Wilkinson, Esq., J.P., Sheraton, Castle Eden.

Lord Barnard, Raby Castle, Darlington.

F. Stobart, Esq., Selaby Hall, Gainford.

Sir Hugh Bell, Bart., J.P., Rounton Grange, Northallerton.
M. H. Horsley, Esq., J.P., Brinkburn, West Hartlepool.

Sir H. Williamson, Bart., J.P., Whitburn Hall, Sunderland.
J. E. Rogerson, Esq., J.P., Mount Oswald, Durham.

George Jones, Esq., Meadowcroft, West Hartlepool.

Henry Salvin, Esq., Burn Hall, Durham.

A. R. G. Thompson, Esq., Walworth Hall, Darlington.

His Honour Judge Greenwell, Greenwell Ford, Lanchester.
Miss B. Baker, Elemore Hall, Durham.

Sir F. Brown, J.P., Norton-on-Tees.

Miss Allgood, The Hermitage, Hexham.

J. M. Watson, Esq., Gisburn House, Hartlepool.

J. H. B. Forster, Esq., J.P., Whitworth House, Spennymoor.
C. Wynn Tilly, Esq., Snape Castle, Bedale.

B. M. Brough, Esq., Seaton, Sunderland.

J. H. H. Clarke, Esq., J.P., Redhill, Whitburn, Sunderland.

C. R. Barrett, Esq., J.P., Whitehill Hall, Pelton Fell.

J. Harrison, c/o Seaham Harbour Engine Works.

W. Clarke & Son, Chester-le-Street.

Colonel W. H. Challoner, J.P., Warden Law, Houghton-
le-Spring.

A. B. Horsley, Esq., Hurworth Grange, Croft.

156

APPENDIX II

The following telegrams and messages of congratulation were
received at different dates. A few extracts from Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle’s History of the War and also from the
Times are included.

(i) Page 42. From G.O.C. Fourth Army, 1.7.16 :

‘ In wishing all ranks good luck, the Army Commander
desires to impress on all infantry units the supreme importance
of helping one another and holding on tight to every yard of
ground gained. The accurate and sustained fire of the artillery
during the bombardment should greatly assist the task of the
infantry.’

From G.O.C. Eighth Corps, 1.7.16 :

‘ My greetings to every officer, non-commissioned officer
and man of Thirty-first Division. Yours is a glorious task
in the battle. Stick it out, push on each to his objective,
and you will win a glorious victory and a name in history.
I rejoice to be associated with you as your Corps Commander.’

From G.O.C. R.A., Thirty-first Division, 1.7.16 :

‘ The G.O.C. R.A. and all gunners in Thirty-first Division
wish you good luck and intend to back you up with all their
power to-day.’

From G.O.C. Eighth Corps, 2.7.16 :

‘ Well done, my comrades of Thirty-first Division. Your
discipline and determination were magnificent, and it was bad
luck that temporarily robbed you of success.’

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Eighth Corps Bulletin, noon, 3.7.16 :

‘ Now that reports from the whole attacking fronts of the
French and British have been collected and collated, it is
abundantly clear that the Eighth Corps contributed very
materially to the success of the offensive as a whole, by its close
engagement of the large enemy forces that had been concen¬
trated against it.

‘ The enemy had evidently marked down the Eighth Corps
front as the sector on which a special thrust was to be feared,
and had reinforced their line both in men and material in
preparation for the threatened attack.

‘ To the Eighth Corps, therefore, fell the honourable though
costly task of holding a large enemy force immobilised whilst
other Corps, both French and English, profited by the diversion
to the full, and were able to drive in the enemy lines to the
very satisfactory extent shown on the sketch map.1

‘ That the Eighth Corps stands where it did on the map is
the natural outcome of the special duty that fell to its lot, and
gives a measure of the magnitude of its task and the sacrifices
made to fulfil it.

‘Train, troop and other movements, since reported in rear
of the enemy on our front, would seem to show that they still
regard themselves threatened, and that they have been forced
to bring up heavy reinforcements to make good the losses
inflicted by the Eighth Corps attack.

‘The prisoners taken on and since July 1st by the French
and British now total upwards of 10,000, whilst a number of
guns have also been secured.

‘ This, considered together with the ground won and the
heavy casualties inflicted on the enemy, points to a very sub¬
stantial Allied success even at this early stage of the operations.’

From G.O.C. Eighth Corps, 4.7.16. To all ranks in
Eighth Corps :

‘ In so big a command as an Army Corps of four Divisions
it is impossible for me to come round all the front line trenches
and all billets to see every man as I wish to do. You must

1 Not included in this book.

158

APPENDIX II

take the will for the deed and accept this message in place of
the spoken word.

‘ It is difficult for me to express my admiration for the
splendid courage, determination, and discipline displayed by the
Battalions that took part in the great attack on Beaumont
Hamel-Serre position on July ist. All observers agree in
stating that the various waves of men issued from their trenches
and moved forward at the appointed time in perfect order,
undismayed by the heavy artillery fire and deadly machine-gun
fire. There were no cowards, no waverers, and not a man
fell out. It was a magnificent display of disciplined courage
worthy of the best traditions of the British race.

‘Thirty-first “New Army” Division and Forty-eighth
Territorial Division, by the heroism and discipline displayed
in this battle, have proved themselves worthy to fight by the
side of such Regular Divisions as Fourth and Twenty-ninth.
There can be no higher praise.

‘ We had the most difficult part of the line to attack. The
Germans had fortified it with skill and immense labour for
many months. They had kept their best troops there and
had assembled north, east, and south-east of it a formidable
collection of artillery and machine-guns.

‘ By your splendid attack you held these enemy forces here
in the north and so enabled our friends in the south, both
British and French, to achieve the brilliant success they have
had. Therefore, though we did not do all we hoped to do,
you have more than pulled your weight, and you and our even
more glorious comrades, who have preceded us across the
Great Divide, have nobly done their duty.

‘ We have got to stick it out and go on hammering. Next
time we attack, if it please God, we will not only pull our weight
but pull off a big thing. With such troops as you, who are
determined to succeed, we are certain of winning through to
a glorious victory.

‘ I salute each officer, non-commissioned officer and man of
Fourth, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-first, Forty-eighth as a comrade
in arms, and I rejoice to have the privilege of commanding such
a band of heroes as Eighth Corps have proved themselves to be.’

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

From G.O.C. Eighth Corps, 5.7.16 :

‘ Sir Aylmer Hunter- Weston desires all ranks to know
that General Joffre has expressed his appreciation of the hard
fighting carried out by the troops on the British left. “ It is
greatly due to the fact that the Germans were so strong and
so well provided with guns in front of Seventh and Eighth
Corps, that the French and British troops, in touch with them
on the right of the Fourth Army, were able to make their
brilliant and successful advance.” Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston
concurs most heartily in these appreciative words of General
Joffre.’

From a 'Northern Newspaper :

‘North-Countrymen on the Somme, July i, 1916

‘ In the recent volume of Sir A. Conan Doyle’s History of the
JVar , the detailed description of the Somme offensive of 1916
is of particular interest. Sir Arthur’s story of the advance of
the Thirty-first Division on July 1, 1916, is one that may be
elaborated with advantage later. But for the moment it lifts
the veil on a scene, which hitherto has been hidden from the
people at home most intimately concerned with it. . . .

‘ “ The Thirty-first Division,” he says, “ was on the left of
the Eighth Corps, and had Serre for its objective. Of this
Division, two Brigades, the 93rd and 94th, were in the line
with the 92nd in reserve.

* “ How the Pals went over

‘“The 93rd, which consisted of 15th, 16th, 1 8th West
Yorkshires and the 18th Durhams, was on the right, and the
advance was made upon a front of two companies, each company
with a front of two platoons, the men extended to three paces
interval. . . .

‘ “ These grand North-countrymen swept across No Man’s
Land, dressed as if on parade, followed in succession by the
remaining Battalions. ‘ I have never seen, and could not have
imagined, such a magnificent display of gallantry, discipline,
and determination,’ said a General who was present.

160

APPENDIX II

‘ “ The men fell in lines, but the survivors, with backs bent,
heads bowed, and rifles at the port, neither quickened nor
slackened their advance, but went forward as though it was
rain and not lead which lashed them. Here and elsewhere
the German machine-gunners not only lined the parapet, but
actually rushed forward into the open, partly to get a flank
fire and partly to come in front of the British barrage.
Before the blasts of bullets the lines melted away, and the ever-
decreasing waves only reached the parapet here and there,
lapping over the spot where the German front lines had been,
and sinking for ever on the farther side.” ’

(2) Page 46. From G.O.C. Eleventh Corps, 29.7.16 :

‘ Please convey to all ranks of 1 8th Durham Light Infantry
my appreciation of their steady conduct in repelling the German
raid on the night 27th-28th.’

From G.O.C. Thirty-first Division, 29.7.16 :

‘ In forwarding the Corps Commander’s congratulations
to 1 8th Durham Light Infantry, the G.O.C. Division wishes
to add his own on their fine performance. The number of
dead Germans lying in front of their line is a practical proof
of their fighting powers.’

From G.O.C. 93rd Infantry Brigade, 29.7.16 :

‘ I congratulate all ranks of the Battalion on the fine
fight put up after such a severe bombardment, and on the way
in which they drove off the enemy without his being able to
obtain a single identification.’

(3 a) Page 64. Attack on Serre, 13.11.16.

The following gracious telegram was received from His
Majesty the King by General Sir Douglas Haig :

‘ I heartily congratulate you upon the great success achieved
by my gallant troops during the past three days in the advance
on both sides of the Ancre. This further capture of the
enemy’s front line trenches, under special difficulties owing to
the recent wet weather, redounds to the credit of all ranks.’

161

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

From G.O.C. Fifth Army to Thirty-first Division,

13.11.16 :

‘ The Army Commander wishes to thank all officers and
men of Thirty-first Division for the gallant way in which they
held their position in the German lines throughout the day.
No troops could have done more to ensure success.’

From G.O.C. Fifth Corps to Thirty - first Division,

14. 1 1. 16 :

‘ Please assure Thirty- first Division that their gallant
attack yesterday is more than appreciated by the Corps Com¬
mander and all ranks of Fifth Corps.’

From G.O.C. Fifth Army to Thirty - first Division,

1 5. 1 1 . 1 6 :

‘ The Army Commander wishes to thank all ranks for
their splendid efforts under the most difficult circumstances.
The great victory which was won will have very far-reaching
effects. To this success all the troops engaged have contributed
to the utmost of their power. Great results have been achieved,
and the Army Commander’s confidence in the leaders and
troops under his command has been more than justified.’

From Commander-in-Chief to Thirty -first Division,

1 5. 1 1. 16 :

‘The Commander-in-Chief warmly congratulates you
and your troops on the great results of your operations of the
last few days. Under such difficulties of ground the achieve¬
ment is all the greater. The accuracy and rapidity of the
artillery fire, and the full advantage taken of it by the infantry
were admirable.’

Following message received from General Gough com¬
manding Fifth Army :

* Please congratulate Thirty-first Division upon its excellent
work during the past week, and especially upon the capture of
the Garde Stellung.’

162

APPENDIX II

The following received from Thirty-first Division and
93rd Infantry Brigade :

Divisional Commander wishes to convey his congratu¬
lations to the 1 8th Durham Light Infantry and 1 8th West
Yorks Regiment for the good work these Battalions did
yesterday.’

‘The Brigadier- General wishes to endorse the above
message and add his very best thanks to all ranks.’

The following is an extract of a letter from an officer of
the County Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry :

‘ Many thanks for the cigarettes and sweets, which have
arrived and are much appreciated by the men, who have just
come out after a week’s hard fighting. We took the famous
salient mentioned in the Times about March 2. This was
handed over after consolidation of the village to another Brigade.
We then took a famous ridge running between the village and
a wood named after a bird (Bois de Rossignol), which caused
many hours of hard fighting. This ridge commands all the
country, both on the Boche side and on our own, and renders
all our side out of view for transport, and has made him retreat
far more rapidly than he ever meant to, as is shown by his heavy
bombardments and burning of war material, dug-outs, etc.

‘ We are only out, I expect, for a day or two.’

‘ Brigade, Division, Corps, Army. These have all sent
the Colonel most pleasing messages about the regiment.’

Extract from the Times, dated Headquarters, Feb. 2 7, 1917 :

‘ There was, for example, some hard fighting between
Gommecourt and Puisieux. In every case the enemy was
forced to continue his retreat. Nightingale Wood, south-east
of Gommecourt, was the scene of the heaviest engagement.
We now occupy part of it. It was a clever and successful little
action.’

The following is an extract from the Times , March 1 , 1917:

‘ Headquarters, Wednesday. — Our men who died last July

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

in the attempt to carry Gommecourt now have their sacrifice
justified, and that famous salient, which includes the historic
chateau and park of Gommecourt, has fallen, and it fell to the
logic of circumstances last night, and was acquired by peaceful
penetration.

‘ Puisieux is also ours, but for that we had some stiff street
fighting. We are now beyond that town, and the positions of
outposts are at present on an approximate north-west and south¬
east line running from Gommecourt by Nightingale Wood,
and on eastwards by the north of Puisieux. The Gommecourt
salient is also clear to the north. The Germans hang on boldly
to Nightingale Wood while their troops retreat from the salient.
There is a great deal of obscure fighting in that copse, where
men fight each other from tree to tree, and where the greater
initiative and resource of some active and crafty North-Country¬
men cause serious losses to the enemy. The Boche, though
he fought well, proved inferior in the street fighting of Puisieux.’

(. From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ‘ History ’)

1 By a pleasing coincidence 31st Division which occupied
Serre was the same brave North Country Division which had
lost so heavily upon July 1 and November 13 on the same
front. On entering the village, they actually found the bodies
of some of their own brave comrades who had got as far forward
seven months before.’

Records of messages of congratulation received 15.11.16
to 2.4. 1 8 cannot be traced.

(3^) Page 77. Gavrelle
[From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ‘ History ')

‘ On May 3, 93rd Infantry Brigade got off well and had
reached its objective, but the successful German attack to the
north exposed their flank to pressure upon their left rear. . . .
For a time things were very critical, and the Windmill which
commanded the village was retaken by the enemy. . . . One
Company of 1 8th Durham Light Infantry under Lieutenant
Hitchin was sent to retake the Windmill, which they did, but

164

APPENDIX II

were driven out by the shattering fire of the enemy. I hey
re-formed at the foot of the slope and attacked and recaptured
the Windmill once more, only to be driven out for the second
time. Again they took the mill and this time they drove back
the German counter-attack and held on to the position. Sixty
out of the hundred in the British ranks had fallen, but when
the battle painter of the future is in search for a subject, he
will find none better than that of the forty survivors under
their boy leader, wearied and blood-stained, but victorious in
their shot-torn mill.’

(4) Page no. Ayette Ridge, March 1918
[From the ‘ Times ’)

■ * SOME FAMOUS DIVISIONS

‘ In the last two days the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-
Chief has mentioned a number of new Divisions as having
particularly distinguished themselves in the battle. In my
despatches I have already told something of the story of the
fighting of each of these Divisions, though without giving their
identity. The Eighth Division had two days’ extremely hard
work and had to bear the brunt of one of the heaviest German
attacks. The Thirty-first had to stand against three1 German
divisions, and held and beat them back again and again.

‘ These incidents have already had their place in the general
narrative of the battle as I have tried to tell it, and all deserve
to be immortal. And again I would say, what I have said
before, that these things are only samples of what it is no shade
of exaggeration to call the absolutely heroic behaviour of our
men everywhere. You already know how fierce a struggle
has gone on for days in the theatre of Ervillers and Mory,
north of Bapaume, and the Germans have made almost infini¬
tesimal progress. With three divisions the Germans failed to
make any headway against one British Division, and against
that same Division elements of at least two others have been
put in during the last thirty-six hours.

* After having lost and retaken, and again lost and retaken.

1 Actually Jive,

165

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Mory, we had finally fallen back to a line behind it. On
Sunday night the Germans began attacking from Ervillers
with new troops. Two attacks were delivered on Sunday
night by battalions of the 91st Reserve Regiment, and both
were thrown back with very heavy losses. Then, on Monday
morning, troops of the 2nd Guards Reserve Division came in,
and there was a time when it looked as if they would get through.
But our men fought like tigers, or, even more, like men, and
this attack was no more successful than its predecessors.

‘ Failing here, the enemy then threw his weight a little farther
south, and struck at Gomiecourt, which is still on the front of
the same British Division which had beaten off former attempts.
In this area some Lancashire and Yorkshire troops had hard
fighting. These fought like everybody else (it is a way our
men have), and this final thrust was also beaten off. Then,
tired (so tired that the officers could hardly stand or talk), and
diminished in numbers, but still full of fight and glory, these
units were given an opportunity to rest.

* Here, writing from the spot and finding words incapable
of expressing all one wants to say, one has an uncomfortable
feeling that perhaps you people at home will think that a
correspondent talks too much of the valour of our men when
that valour ends always in withdrawal. Yet history, I believe,
when all is known, will be amazed at what British troops have
done here in the last five days. I have yet to hear of a unit
which has not borne itself bravely, or to hear an officer speak
in terms other than those of the utmost gratitude and admiration
for his men. The mere physical strain has been enormous,
but men come out of the line clinging to the last to the one
definite notion that their business is to go on fighting and kill
Germans.

‘ In the north there has been extremely heavy fighting
round Boisleux, Boiry, Ablainzeville and Moyenneville ; and
it will be noticed that this is the area where we have been
fighting for three days now, so little progress has the enemy
made here.

‘ Between Ablainzeville and Moyenneville is some high
ground before Ayette, which the Germans have made repeated

1 66

APPENDIX II

and desperate attempts to capture. More than once they have
been in possession of part of the ground, and have been driven
out again. There is a similar local rise between Boyelles and
Boisleux which the Germans made a determined attempt to
take this morning, and were brilliantly driven back by a counter¬
attack. Yet a third attack by Boisleux was similarly hammered
and beaten back.’

‘ Sir Douglas Haig's Despatch : In addition to those British
Divisions which have already been mentioned, exceptional
gallantry has been shown also by the following : Eighth
Division, Eighteenth Division, Thirty-first Division, Forty-
first Division, Sixty-first Division, Sixty-third Division, and
Sixty-sixth Division.’

From G.O.C. Sixth Army Corps, 2.4.18 :

‘ The Sixth Corps Commander wishes to convey to all
ranks of Thirty-first Division on their leaving his Corps, his
appreciation of the work done by them whilst under his com¬
mand. The portion of the Corps front held by this Division
was a very important one. Its present satisfactory situation
is due to the tenacity with which this front was held.’

From G.O.C. Third Army to Thirty-first Division,
5.4.18:

‘ G.O.C. Third Army wishes to express to this Division
on their leaving his command, his appreciation of their conduct
in the battles near Arras. By their gallantry and determination
they helped to break up the most overwhelming attacks we
have been subjected to during this war, and have borne a very
noble share in preventing the enemy from obtaining a decisive
victory.’

From G.O.C. 93rd Infantry Brigade, 7.4.18 :

‘ The Brigadier-General in forwarding the attached message
wishes to join in the expression of admiration of the work of
the Battalion under your command during the recent operations.’

167

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Attached message addressed to the Commander-in-Chief:

‘ At the demonstration by the Mid Tyne Branches it
was resolved to telegraph to you conveying to our comrades
at the battle-front our profound admiration of their magnificent
heroism in resisting the onslaughts of the enemy, and desiring
to be kindly remembered to Durham Battalions.’

( From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ‘History')

‘At the beginning of the struggle 31st Division carried a
high reputation into this great battle, and at the end an even
higher one out of it. . . . On March 28 the battle was still
raging in front of 31st Division which had now been engaged
for four days without a break and had beaten off the attacks
of five separate German divisions. On this date two attacks
were made, one upon 93rd Infantry Brigade, the other upon
the Guards. Each attack got into the line and each was
pitchforked out again. So broken was the enemy that they
were seen retiring in crowds towards the north-east under a
canopy of shrapnel. The British barrage was particularly
good that day, and many assaulting units were beaten into
pieces by it. The Division was terribly worn and the men
could hardly stand for exhaustion, and yet it was a glad
thought that the last glimpse which their weary and bloodshot
eyes had of their enemy was his broken hordes as they
streamed away from the front which they had failed to
break. . . .

‘ Upon the 30th, 31st Division was able to withdraw, having
established a record which may have been equalled, but cannot
have been surpassed by any division in this great battle. Five
German divisions, mth German Division, 2nd Guards
Reserve, 239th and 16th Bavarian, and 1st Guards Reserve
had been wholly or partially engaged with 31st Division.
Both sides had lost heavily and were exhausted. It was here,
near Ervillers, that a German war correspondent has described
how he saw the long line of German and British wounded
lying upon either side of the main road.’

168

APPENDIX II

AYETTE RIDGE
Hope on, fight on,

The struggle unending, the battle long.

Hope on, fight on.

To raise the weak and abase the strong,

To stand for right and to right the wrong,

Freeing the slave from the tyrant’s thong.

Hope on, fight on.

As you pass along

Through the blood and mud of the battling throng,

Hope on, fight on.

This your slogan and deathless song,

Hope on, fight on.

To-morrow ? What is the mom to you ?

To-day be steadfast and brave and true.

And the living will give the dead their due.

Hope on, fight on.

The above was composed by a member of the Battalion
on the Ayette Ridge during the intervals between the enemy’s
attacks.

(5) Page 1 1 7. Battle of the Lys

Sir Douglas Haig’s Order of the Day during the Battle of
the Lys :

‘ Three weeks ago to-day the enemy began his terrific
attacks against us on a fifty-mile front. His objects are to
separate us from the French, to take the Cinque Ports and
destroy the British Army.

‘ In spite of throwing already 106 divisions into the battle
and enduring the most reckless sacrifice of human life, he has,
as yet, made little progress towards his goals. We owe this to
the determined fighting and self-sacrifice of our troops.

‘ Words fail me to express the admiration which I feel for
the splendid resistance offered by all ranks of our army under
the most trying circumstances.

c Many amongst us are now tired. To these I would say
that victory will belong to the side which holds out the
longest.

169

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

‘The French Army is moving rapidly and in great force to
our support.

‘ There is no other course open to us but to fight it out.
Every position must be held to the last man : there must be
no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in
the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight to the end.

‘ The safety of our homes and the freedom of mankind
depend alike upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical
moment.’

From G.O.C. First Army, 13.4.18 :

(5) 1 I wish to express my appreciation of the great bravery
and endurance with which all ranks have fought and held out
during the last five days against overwhelming numbers. It
has been necessary to call for great exertions and more must
still be asked for, but I am confident that at this critical period,
when the existence of the British Army is at stake, all ranks of
the First Army will do their very best.’

From G.O.C. Second Army, 14.4.18 :

‘ The Army Commander wishes to congratulate all the
troops that have been engaged in the recent heavy fighting
on their stubborn and determined resistance. He realises the
severe test that they have been put to, and the steadiness that
they have displayed reflects the greatest credit on them.’

From G.O.C. 19th Infantry Brigade, 14.4.18:

‘ I thank you most heartily for the invaluable assistance
which you so willingly gave me at a critical moment of the
fight, and ask you to tell the men how highly I rate their
gallant conduct and indefatigable work.’

From G.O.C. British Armies in France and Flanders to
General Plumer, G.O.C. Second Army :

‘ The magnificent performance of Thirty-first Division
in holding up the enemy’s advance at a critical stage of the
Lys battle has already been publicly acknowledged. I wish

170

APPENDIX II

to add my personal tribute to the fine fighting qualities displayed
by this Division, both on that occasion and also during the
opening battle south of Arras. Please convey my thanks to
the General Officer Commanding and to all ranks of his
command.’

From G.O.C. Second Army, 17.4.18 :

‘ The Army Commander wishes to place on record his
appreciation of the gallant conduct of the troops under your
command in the present fighting. It is worthy of all praise,
and he wishes all ranks to be informed.’

From G.O.C. Fifteenth Corps to Thirty-first Division,

17.4.18 :

‘ The Corps Commander wishes you to convey to the troops
of your Division his appreciation of their courage and resolution
during the period April 12-14 when opposed to greatly superior
numbers. The fine stand on April 13 by your Brigades when
much depleted had an important bearing on the course of the
operations.’

From G.O.C. Fifteenth Corps to Thirty-first Division,

23.4.18 :

‘ The Corps Commander at a meeting of Divisional
Commanders on April 18 expressed the Commander-in-Chief’s
congratulations on the fine work of Thirty-first Division,
especially on April 1 3, in saving a critical situation. He wishes
to thank this Division personally, as he considered the work
done really magnificent. The troops of Thirty-first Division
by their stout defence covered the detrainment of First
Australian Division and saved Hazebrouck. The history of
the British Army can contain nothing finer than the story of
the action April 12 and 13.’

General de Lisle commanding Fifteenth Corps: ‘The
history of the British Army can record nothing finer than the
story of 4th Guards Brigade on April 12 and 13.’

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adds : ‘ Whilst 4th Guards

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Brigade of 31st Division had made their firm stand to the
east of Hazebrouck, the rest of 31st Division covering a front
of 9000 yards had a most desperate battle with the German
storm troops. The fine North Country material which makes
up 92nd and 93rd Brigades had never been more highly tried,
for they were little more than a long line of skirmishers with
an occasional post. In some parts of the line they were absolutely
exterminated, but, like their comrades of the Guards, they
managed somehow or other to retain the positions and prevent
a penetration. It has been calculated that the line held by
31st Division upon these days was 5| miles long and that it
was attacked by 35th and 42nd German Divisions, 1st Bavarian
Reserve and 10th, nth, 81st Reserve Divisions.’

Thirty-first Division at Bailleul, Meteren and
Nieppe Forest, April 1918

[From the ‘ Times ’)

* The Commander-in-Chief, in a special despatch, has
mentioned fourteen divisions for their gallantry in the recent
fighting. There had already been fifteen such mentions, but
as two of those now named — namely, the Third and the
Thirty-first Divisions1 — had already appeared among the first
fifteen, the total now honoured in this way has been twenty-
seven Divisions. Of these, twenty-three are made up of troops
from the British Isles, three of Australians, and one of New
Zealanders.

‘ The Thirty-first had already been mentioned by the
Commander-in-Chief for their splendid fighting from March
24 onwards in the Ablainzeville - Moyenneville area and
about Mory and Ervillers. Hardly out of the battle here,
they were, as you have now been told, before the forest of
Nieppe, where the centre of our line gave way on April 9.
The Commander-in-Chief has given details of their achieve¬
ment, and it is worth remarking that our line still runs in front
of the forest of Nieppe.

1 Almost immediately afterwards the 31st Division was mentioned for the
third time.

172

APPENDIX II

‘ On April 13 the Thirty-first Division was holding a front
of some 9000 yards, east of the Foret de Nieppe. The
Division was already greatly reduced in strength as the result
of previous fighting, and the enemy was still pressing his advance.
The troops were informed that their line had to be held to the
last to cover the detraining of reinforcements, and all ranks
responded with the most magnificent courage and devotion to
the appeal made to them. Throughout a long day of incessant
fighting they beat off a succession of determined attacks. In
the evening the enemy made a last great effort, and by sheer
weight of numbers overran certain portions of our line, the
defenders of which died fighting, but would not give ground.
Those of the enemy who had broken through at these points
were, however, met and driven back beyond our line by the
reinforcing troops, which by this time had completed their
detrainment.

‘Since Friday the Thirty-first Division had held positions
behind Vieux Berquin towards Meteren, where the Germans
in repeated attacks have failed to gain any ground. These
troops came into battle tired and under adverse conditions,
and since then they have fought a difficult fight with great
stoutness and gallantry.

* The desperate attempts to break our defence before Bailleul
and Meteren were equally futile, and to-day we still hold all
the places mentioned and positions well to the east and south
of them.

‘ One post of Durhams especially is spoken of as holding up
the advance and killing great numbers of Germans, till at last
a mere remnant of them fought their way back through the
waves which already encircled them.

‘ In the area south of Meteren, from west of Bailleul towards
Strazeele, mixed English and Scottish troops, including Durham
Light Infantry and Scottish Rifles, held the Germans back
from noon on April 12 until mid-day yesterday without giving
a yard, though we know that the attacking Germans had
imperative orders three days ago to seize the line of the
Bailleul-Meteren road, and that Kemmel was to have fallen
long ago. In the fighting here at one time all sorts of mis-

173

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

cellaneous units were employed in the fighting line, and helped
doggedly to hold the enemy back. The whole country below
Meteren is one German cemetery, except that the dead are
still unburied, and one hears of machine-gun barrels having to
be again and again renewed as, day after day, the Germans
continued to come on over open ground.’

Meteren
[From the ‘ Times ’)

* Yesterday afternoon two more attacks were delivered on
the whole of this front from east of Neuve Fglise to south of
Meteren with the object, as already explained, of reaching the
heights west and north. The German soldiers, we know, had
definite orders to break through the line of the main road from
Fl£tre by Meteren to Bailleul, and to hold it at all cost. They
did their best, wave after wave of them, but they failed ; and
struggles of the most savage character took place at some
points, especially about the clump of ruined buildings known
as Steam Mill,1 1000 yards or so south of the road. No¬
where did they get any nearer, and their losses were very
heavy.

‘ Late last night they tried again, and for a moment it looked
as if in the confusion of the darkness they had turned our
positions in the Meteren area and got through ; but once
again they were driven back, and the line closed up.

‘ During the night the artillery fire was terrific all night
long, and throughout this morning there was tremendous
shelling of all this front. Our guns here, however, are splendid,
and the German has no advantage in this respect. Late this
forenoon the enemy concentrations massing for renewed attack
on the Bailleul- Meteren front were broken by our artillery,
and no attack followed.

* Bitter Fight at Bailleul

‘ Still north of here, I believe, the front is also in a blaze.
The essential fact, however, is that the Germans have, appar-

1 Just south-west of Bailleul,

174

APPENDIX II

ently, diverted the main weight of their attack to this northern
sector, and how heavy that attack has been here is, perhaps,
best illustrated by the fact that at Bailleul they threw last
night the mass of three divisions on the line held by us with
six battalions. Our men seem to have fought most stubbornly,
gradually falling back into the smoking ruins of the town of
Bailleul, where savage fighting went on through the night,
and only in the early hours of the morning, between midnight
and dawn, were they drawn back to the line north of the town,
where they have withstood further attacks to-day. Our
positions west of here, by Meteren, were involved in the
struggle, and hard fighting has been going on there this morn¬
ing, but so far without our yielding any ground.

‘ It has become trite and commonplace to say that, as a nation,
we believe ourselves to show to the best in adversity, but I
had no idea how true it was of the individuals of all classes and
kinds until I saw the bearing of our Army under its late experi¬
ences. The mere physical hardships that our men have been
through are almost incredible, but however tired each man
may be, and whatever may have happened to his own platoon
or company or battalion or battery, he remains, when he can
hardly stagger, full of pride and confidence that he is a better
man than the enemy, and that we are surely winning the
war.

‘ That those who are in high places and take the larger view
should think this is intelligible, but, with his necessarily limited
vision, that every individual soldier should have this same
unfailing cheeriness and immortal courage is a thing to
marvel at.

‘ The enemy in the course of yesterday continued his efforts
to get to Mont Kemmel. That he did not succeed I can
once more vouch for by the fact that it was from one of the
sister hills in that region that this morning I again watched
what it is possible to see of the battle. One really sees little,
but the flat land lies before you, cut up into farms, and the
villages of Bailleul and Meteren are in plain view beyond.
Our line this morning ran on this side of Bailleul and practically
through Meteren.

l75

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

‘ View of Bailleul

c Bailleul itself bears much less the appearance of being
ruined than might be supposed, in view of the shelling it has
undergone and the fires which have been burning in the town.
The mass of walls and roofs this morning presented a fairly
intact appearance, and the large, bell-shaped tower of the Town
Hall and the needle of the pointed spire of the church still
stand. On this side of Bailleul, close by where our lines ran,
though invisible to the eye, a large square farm building was on
fire, throwing up great sheets of flame, while from several
other lesser fires at various points columns of white smoke,
more continuous than the fumes of shell-bursts, drifted slowly
across the landscape. But for the smoke and noise there was
no evidence of a battle, for except when an attack is in progress
armies nowadays make themselves amazingly invisible.

‘ After the failure of his attacks yesterday, the enemy was
supposed to be just about to begin a new attack when we were
there, but no infantry advance took place. Shelling was only
moderately heavy on his side, and his shooting seemed to be
very dispersed and random over farmlands and village areas
alike. Our guns were more active than his, and their roar
and the whistle of the shells completely dominated any noise
of German shell-bursts.

* The German attacks on this front yesterday were really
heavy and pushed with determination. At least one new
division appeared in the line, and apparently two, while two
other divisions formerly withdrawn from the fighting have
been pushed in again. In all now sixteen German divisions,
and perhaps seventeen, have been used on this front from
Hollebeke to Merri:*, on which — that is, from Armentieres
northwards — the enemy had only three divisions in line when
the attack began on April 9. The attacks yesterday were
made in successive waves, and were less one operation on the
whole front than three separate drives, one being aimed west¬
ward towards Kemmel from the Wulverghem direction, one
north-westward between Bailleul and Dranoutre, and one

176

APPENDIX II

north round Meteren. All were beaten off without any loss
of ground.

* In some places the effort was much less determined than
some former attacks, and it is conjectured that the divisions
which have been put in a second time fought poorly. The
first of the three attacks, direct towards Kemmel, was made
in great strength, and our men are satisfied that the enemy
losses were very heavy. In the third attack round Meteren
also there was a bitter struggle. The Germans have been
in Meteren more than once now, but it is doubtful if any were
there this morning *, we had posts on the northern edge of
the place, but practically the whole village is No Man’s Land,
artillery fire from one side or the other making the ruins almost
untenable.’

The following letter, written while in the line at Meteren,
was received by Lieut.-Colonel H. Bowes, T.D. :

‘ My dear Colonel — The Battalion has had very heavy
fighting during the days n— 15 April around Meteren. The
story was shortly as follows : On 1 1 th we were very suddenly
ordered to do a counter-attack in the evening together with
another battalion. The counter-attack was magnificent and
advanced 2000 yards deep on a front of 1600 yards, hamlets,
prisoners, and machine-guns being taken. The following
morning the Boche had his revenge in full and we had to give
up a series of defences on a two-Brigade front, though he
paid very heavily for all he gained. His cyclists, cyclist M.G.’s,
and mounted men all took part, and so he moved at a tremendous
pace, while his numbers were absolutely overwhelming, five
and a half divisions against our one Division. They enveloped
the right of the unit on our right and thus exposed our flank.
Well, our Brigade hung well together but was forced north-west,
while our other Brigade was driven west. There was a long
rearguard action throughout the day ; during this we were
the rear party and the Battalion fought stoutly. Finally, we
got into a good position on the Meteren- Bailleul line, but
especially defending Meteren. There was no trench, so we
at once dug rifle-pits and Boche funked coming on, so we

177

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

improved these and joined them into section posts. Next
day he had his guns and “ how’s ” up and gave us a bad time for
two or three hours — on the parapet, in the trenches, but com¬
paratively few casualties. We dug in and linked up most of
the posts, but in parts water prevented more than 3-inch
depth. Next morning he started early. We had heard from
prisoners the night before that two divisions had definite

orders that they were to capture M - n,1 so we knew there

would be a lively day. He really gave us a vile time, 9-5 p.m.,
with the heaviest stuff of all descriptions, but again with few
casualties. About 5 p.m. he tried coming over but got it
very hot indeed, and only succeeded in getting a far advanced

line of groups and was no nearer M - n. We were very

much pleased that night, and the previous night our men had
done some very valuable patrolling, got contact with the
enemy and sized up the situation. On one day our Brigade
amounted to little over 400, but along with two other skeleton
Battalions of 19th Infantry Brigade, kept back a two-division
attack of the enemy. Tilly, who was commanding 15th West
Yorkshire Regiment, was killed outright by a shell-splinter
in his heart, while gallantly commanding his Battalion. We
buried him in a farm-garden near. He had done splendid
work in trying to prevent his right flank being turned. 15th
West Yorks liked him very much and are most sorry about it
17.4.18. ‘ - .’

(6) Page 124. From G.O.C. Second Army, 27.6.18 :

‘ Please congratulate all troops concerned on ,the success of
operations last night.’

From G.O.C. Fifteenth Corps, 27.6.18 :

‘ Hearty congratulations on your successful operation.
Please convey my appreciation to the troops.’

From G.O.C. 93rd Infantry Brigade, 27.6.18 :

‘ The Brigadier-General wishes to send his hearty con¬
gratulations on the success of the operations last night. The

1 Meteren.

178

APPENDIX II

gallantry and skill with which they were carried out reflects
great credit on all ranks.’

Capture of La Becque
[From the ‘ Times ’)

‘ English troops have, by what Sir Douglas Haig describes
as “ a successful minor operation,” advanced our line east of
the forest of Nieppe to an average depth of nearly a mile on
a front of about three and a half miles. The hamlets of
L’Epinette, Verte Rue, and La Becque 1 were captured, together
with over 300 prisoners and 22 machine-guns. At the same
time Australian troops captured some hostile posts west of
Merris and took 43 prisoners and six machine-guns. . . .

* Attacking on a front of between three and four miles east¬
ward from the forest of Nieppe, at 6 o’clock this morning, we
pushed our line forward for a distance of about 1500 yards.
It was an altogether satisfactory operation, and netted us about
300 prisoners, with a good number of machine-guns.

‘For some time our line has rested immediately along the
eastern edge of the forest of Nieppe, with the little stream
Plate Becque running almost parallel to our front, about 1500
yards away. For various reasons it was decided to clear the
ground up to the stream and hold the line of the stream itself.
This is what we did, with light casualties.

* It was a fine morning, with the first southerly breeze
we have had for a long time. The attack was preceded by
a short bombardment, the troops engaged being chiefly men
from Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham, and the Northern
counties, with some Southern English units co-operating.

‘ The advance was equally successful at all points. The
enemy’s trench line in the ground before the stream was cleared
with the bayonet, and the machine-guns which were captured
in it were turned on the enemy. On the main front of attack
over 250 prisoners were taken, and about forty more fell into
the hands of the troops who attacked on the left.

‘ The prisoners taken were partly Saxons of the Thirty-second

1 These hamlets are near Vieux Berquin.

r79

THE 18TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

division and partly Prussians of the 44th, and from both we
got confirmation of the tales which we have heard of the
prevalence of influenza in the German Army. Reports have
been current for some time past that the malady was sufficiently
serious to have constituted one reason why the Germans
have been so slow in pushing the offensive, divisions intended
for the attack being so prostrated as to be unable to fight.
The information given by these prisoners supports this story.
They say that the disease is widespread in all departments of
the Army.’

(7) Page 125. From Commander-in-Chief to Thirty-first
Division, 29.6.19 :

‘ The Commander-in-Chief congratulates all ranks of
Thirty-first Division on the successful operations carried out
by them yesterday, which he considers reflect great credit on all
concerned.’

From G.O.C. Second Army, 29.6.18 :

‘ Hearty congratulations on your successful operations
which took place yesterday- Please communicate to all ranks
under your command.’

From G.O.C. Eleventh Corps, 29.6.18 :

‘ G.O.C.’s First and Second Armies have sent me messages
of congratulation on yesterday’s successful operations. The
Corps Commander has much pleasure in conveying these
congratulations.’

From G.O.C. Thirty-first Division, 29.6.18 :

‘ I wish to thank you and the officers, non-commissioned
officers, and men under your command for the splendid work
that has been done during the recent operations, and to con¬
gratulate all ranks on the success obtained. There were
difficulties which had to be contended with in the preparations
owing to the short time available, but they were overcome by
the keenness and goodwill of all ranks.

‘ I have not forgotten that, however well plans are made

I 80

APPENDIX II

by Commanders, it is upon the rank and file that the brunt
of the battle falls, and it is very largely due to the splendid
fighting qualities of the regimental officers, non-commissioned
officers, and men, that the Division has achieved the successes
of the last two days. Please convey to all ranks my thanks
and high appreciation of their splendid work, and let them
know that I am particularly gratified to feel that the first
operations in which I have had the honour to command the
Division have been so entirely successful.’

From G.O.C. 93rd Infantry Brigade, 29.6.18 :

‘ The Brigadier sends his heartiest congratulations.’

(8) Page 133. Bailleul and Meteren
[From the ‘ Times ’)

‘ Burning and Retreating

‘ I myself have been with the Northern Army during the
last twenty-four hours, and have been through Bailleul and
Meteren, and have seen the sky to the eastward ablaze all
night and to-day, the horizon wreathed in smoke from fires
which the enemy has started in village and town from Warneton
in the north to south of Armentieres. From end to end and
from a score of other points as well it rose till, as the smoke
drifted before the wind, the whole sector of the horizon was
hidden behind the veil. The Germans are at their old work
of destroying everything which they cannot hold, regardless
of military justification for their acts. They will leave behind
them in this northern country the same shameful wilderness
as they left in their retreat after their defeat on the Somme a
year and a half ago, and few things in this war have moved
me as did the ruins of the beautiful town of Bailleul to-day.

‘ What five months ago was a thriving and lively town,1
to-day is a ruin as complete as Ypres itself. There is no man
in the British armies in France who does not know the great
square of Bailleul, with the handsome Town Hall and its fine
tower, and the Cathedral behind. Entering the place by road

14,000 inhabitants.

l8l

THE iBTH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

from the north to-day, well as I have known it, I could not
be certain when I had reached that square. Where the wide-
paved Grande Place had been was now only an open space of
sand and tumbled stone and masonry. There is not enough
left of the Town Hall by which to recognise it, nor does any¬
thing stand of the Cathedral but a few jutting fragments.
So incredible did it seem that this was indeed Bailleul Square
that I had to ask one of the only other two figures moving in
the waste (two French official photographers) if it was the
Place, and between us we tried to identify the old locations
where once stood the officers’ club, the hotel, and so forth.
It was a solid, prosperous town, which has taken much destroy¬
ing. The houses were not like the village houses of lath and
plaster, but of stout brick and stone, and now there is nothing
but these acres of brick and stone broken and pounded into
fragments, piled up in formless heaps and piles like sand-dunes,
through which now wind littered, rock-strewn paths or tracks,
where once were wide streets flanked by good houses. Never
have I seen desolation more abominable.

‘ Meteren differs from Bailleul only in proportion as it was
a smaller place, and, therefore, the ruin, though as complete,
is less impressive. But Meteren is no longer even the skeleton
of a town, but only so much of the earth’s surface covered
with raw, broken building stuffs. So we shall find it in all
the area which the German is now evacuating with bitterness
in his savage and brutal heart, as the smoke columns I have
watched to-day and the fires which blazed all night sufficiently
testify.’

(9) Page 138. From G.O.C. 92nd Infantry Brigade,
29.9.18 :

‘G.O.C. Fifteenth Corps, who has been here to-day, has
asked me to convey his congratulations to the Battalions
engaged yesterday. He says: “It was the wedge we drove
in yesterday on his south flank which caused the enemy to
evacuate the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge this morning, and
the fighting here was as hard as anywhere along the whole

182

APPENDIX II

front.” G.O.C. Second Army has wired his very hearty
congratulations also.’

(io) Page 139. From G.O.C. 92nd Infantry Brigade,
30.9.18 :

‘ G.O.C. Fifteenth Corps has sent me the following wire :
“ G.O.C. Fifteenth Corps wishes to congratulate Thirty-
first Division on the excellent work of the past two days, and
wishes his appreciation to be conveyed to the troops.” G.O.C.
Thirty-first Division adds his congratulation and thanks.’

From G.O.C. 92nd Infantry Brigade, 1. 10.18 :

‘ G.O.C. 92nd Infantry Brigade highly compliments
1 8th Durham Light Infantry on their fighting powers, endur¬
ance, and excellent work during the six days that they have
been attached to his Brigade, and to thank them heartily for
their co-operation.’

APPENDIX III

ROLL OF OFFICERS AND WARRANT OFFICERS
ON HEADQUARTERS

(f signifies killed or died of wounds.)

Commanding Officers.

Lieutenant-Colonel H. Bowes, T. D.
Lieutenant-Colonel H. F. G. Carter, M.C.
Lieutenant-Colonel R. E. Cheyne.
Lieutenant-Colonel W. D. Lowe, D.S.O., M.C.
Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Southampton.

Acting during Absence of Commanding Officers.

Major D. D. Anderson, M.C.

Major T. G. Gibson.

Major T. A. Headlam.

Major W. G. Hutchence.

Major D. E. Ince, M.C.

Major C. G. Killick, M.C.
fMajor C. W. Tilly.

Major W. B. Twist,

Lieutenant-Colonel F. Walton, M.C.

Second in Command.

Major G. Barry-Drew, D.S.O.

Major J. C. Hartley, D.S.O.

Major W. G. Hutchence (acting).

Major D. E. Ince, M.C.

APPENDIX III

Major C. G. Killick, M.C. (acting)

Major W. D. Lowe, M.C.

•(•Major G. C. Roberts.

•(•Major C. W. Tilly.

Major F. T. Tristram.

Major G. White, M.C.

Adjutants.

f Second Lieutenant A. M. Freer, M.C.

Captain W. D. Lowe, M.C.

Lieutenant A. A. McConnell, M.C.

■(•Captain G. C. Roberts.

Captain F. G. Stone.

Captain J. L. Thorman.

Captain R. R. Turnbull, M.C.

Quartermasters.

Lieutenant J. H. Chaplin.

Captain F. A. Flin.

Second Lieutenant W. L. Henderson, M.C.
Second Lieutenant J. Parke, D.F.C.

Captain W. T. Richardson.

Lieutenant R. Robson.

Lieutenant T. Wilson.

Transport Officers.

Captain F. S. Beadson, M.C.

Captain W. L. Oldfield.

Medical Officers.

Captain W. Bain, R.A.M.C.

Captain F. P. Evers, R.A.M.C.

Lieutenant J. W. Macfarlane, M.C., R.A.M.C
Lieutenant R. R. McHenry, M.C., M.O.R.C.
Lieutenant L. G. Moore, M.O.R.C.

•(•Lieutenant A. S. Taylor, R.A.M.C.

Captain E. A. Upcott Gill, R.A.M.C.

185

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Regimental Sergeant-Majors.

W. L. Allen (acting).

W. T. Benneworth, D.C.M.

F. J. Carnell.

J. H. Chaplin.

J. Lock.

G. H. Meakin (acting).

E. Oldridge, D.C.M.

Regimental Quartermaster- Sergeants.

J. H. Chaplin.

W. Hall, M.S.M.

T. A. Needham, M.M.

L. Oliphant, M.S.M.

A. Smith.

T. Wilson.

i 86

APPENDIX IV

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Second Lieutenant R. A. Appleton.

Second Lieutenant R. Armstrong . . Captain.

Second Lieutenant A. P. Ashley . . . Lieutenant. Signalling Officer.

Second Lieutenant R. H. Atkinson . . Special Brigade Royal Engineers.

APPENDIX IV — continued.

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

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1 88

fSecond Lieutenant J. B. Bradford, M.C.
Second Lieutenant H. Brostow, M.M.
Captain F. D. Brown.

* Second Lieutenant G. C. Brown.

■fSecond Lieutenant W. H. Brown.

Second Lieutenant E. R. Bryson.

Second Lieutenant C. H. Bulmer.

o. f Lieutenant R. Burdon . Captain. Royal Air Force.

APPENDIX IV

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189

Second Lieutenant W. R. Darwin . . Captain. Field Survey Company R.E.

Second Lieutenant W. J. M. Dennis.

Second Lieutenant L. A. Dick . . . Captain.

APPENDIX IV — continued.

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

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>. Major P. G. Nevile.

Second Lieutenant J. H. Nicholson.
^Second Lieutenant A. R. B. Noble, M.C.

APPENDIX IV

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Second Lieutenant H. E. Raine, M.C. . Lieutenant.

Second Lieutenant H. E. Ranson . . . Lieutenant, Royal Air Force.

Second Lieutenant R. C. Reay.

Second Lieutenant N. Richardson . . Captain.

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

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■fSecond Lieutenant G. Simpson . . . Lieutenant.

Second Lieutenant C. H. Skardon . . Lieutenant, General List.

* Second Lieutenant D. K. Smith.

0. Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Southampton. Cmdg. 4th Yorkshire Regt.

Captain G. B. Stafford

APPENDIX IV

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196

APPENDIX V

LIST OF NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND
MEN WHO LEFT THE BATTALION AFTER
SERVICE IN FRANCE TO PROCEED TO
ENGLAND FOR A COMMISSION

This list does not include those who left the Battalion for a
Commission before it proceeded overseas.

Lance-Sergeant J. W. Agar.
C.S.M. W. L. Allen.
Sergeant A. P. Ashley.
Sergeant M. H. Aubin.
C.S.M. P. Balmer.

Sergeant W. Barker.
Sergeant J. E. Bell.

Sergeant R. G. Bird.

Sergeant A. Bradley.
L.-Corporal W. C. Carling.
Sergt.-Major J. H. Chaplin.
Sergeant J. J. Christison.
Sergeant A. Crierie.
L.-Corporal T. Darling.
Sergeant W. Dickinson.
Corporal W. J. Dodsworth.
L.-Corporal G. V. Duckett.
Sergeant G. Dyer.

Sergeant D. E. Ellwood.
Private L. Ellwood.

Sergeant C. Farrar.

L. -Sergeant H. V. Ferrier.
Corporal A. Frazer.

C.S.M. A. M. Freer.
Sergeant J. C. Gill.

Private W. Hall.

Sergeant G. Hanson.

Sergeant E. M. Hart.

C.S.M. W. Hourie.

Private T. E. Howl.

Private C. W. Jackson.
Sergeant G. H. Jacob.
Lance-Corporal G. Kitching
Corporal A. H. Lake.

Private F. Lattimer.
Corporal W. H. Lawer.
L.-Sergeant G. C. Lawson.
Private J. Lindsay.
L.-Corporal G. R. Marshall.
L.-Corporal A. S. Merri-
weather.

Corporal R. Moses.

Corporal H. Murray.
L.-Corporal W. Osborne.
Sergeant J. Parke.

Sergeant D. L. Pearson.

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Corporal L. Peart.

Sergeant R. Picken.

C.S.M. M. R. Pinkney.
Sergeant J. G. Potter.
Corporal F. Proudfoot.
Sergeant R. Raieton.
L.-Corporal H. Routledge.
Sergeant N. Siddle.

Corporal J. H. Simmonds.
Sergeant J. A. Simpson.
Corporal F. H. Sinclair.
Private G. V. Smith.
Sergeant W. C. Speedy.
Sergeant H. Stanley.
Sergeant W. Stokoe.

Sergeant B. Stott.

Corporal J. Stubbs.

Private A. W. Summerbell.
Sergeant W. Tarran.
Sergeant C. Taylor.

Sergeant W. Taylor (B Coy.)-
Sergeant W. Taylor (C Coy.).
Sergeant R. N. Thompson.
L.-Sergeant F. E. Turnbull.
Sergeant J. M. Ward.
Sergeant W. Watkin.
Sergeant A. Wear.

Private J. A. Williams.
O.M.S. T. Wilson.

Sergeant S. R. Wyld.

198

APPENDIX VI

LIST OF DECORATIONS

Distinguished. Service Order.

Lieutenant-Colonel R. Barry-Drew.

Major J. C. Hartley.

Second Lieutenant H. E. Hitchin, M.C., M.M.
Major W. D. Lowe, M.C.

Major E. W. Ormston.

Captain G. Peirson, M.C.

Second Bar to Military Cross.
Captain J. W. Macfarlane, M.C., R.A.M.C.

Bar to Military Cross.

Captain J. W. Macfarlane, M C., R.A.M.C.
Captain A. W. Summerbell, M.C.

Military Cross.

Second Lieutenant W. Allbeury.
Captain F. S. Beadon.

Second Lieutenant F. Blenkinsop.
Second Lieutenant J. B. Bradford.
Lieutenant J. W. Carroll.
Lieutenant-Colonel H. F. G. Carter.
Second Lieutenant A. Everatt.

199

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Lieutenant H. Fawcett.

Lieutenant W. Forster.

Second Lieutenant A. M. Freer.

Captain T. M. Harbottle.

Second Lieutenant W. L. Henderson.

Second Lieutenant H. E. Hitchin, D.S.O., M.M.
Lieutenant J. F. Hobson.

Captain J. B. Hughes-Games.

Major D. E. Ince.

Major C. G. Killick.

Major W. D. Lowe.

Lieutenant J. W. Macfarlane, R.A.M.C.
Lieutenant A. A. McConnell.

Lieutenant R. R. McHenry, M.O.R.C.

Second Lieutenant A. R. B. Noble.

Captain G. Peirson.

Second Lieutenant J. G. Perry.

Captain F. C. Prickett.

Lieutenant H. E. Raine,

Second Lieutenant E. W. Rowlands.

Captain A. W. Summerbell.

Second Lieutenant R. R. Turnbull.

Captain A. H. Waton.

Captain E. T. Weddell.

Major G. White.

Distinguished Flying Cross.
Lieutenant J. Parke, R.A.F.

Mentioned in Despatches.

Captain F. S. Beadon.

Lieutenant-Colonel H. Bowes.

Lieutenant and Quartermaster J. H. Chaplin
Lieutenant-Colonel R. E. Cheyne (twice).
Captain L. A. Dick.

Captain W. Fenwick.

Captain H. E. Hitchin.

200

APPENDIX VI

Lieutenant-Colonel W. D. Lowe (three times).
Captain L. C. Warmington.

Major A. H. Waton.

T erritorial Decoration.
Lieutenant-Colonel H. Bowes.

Foreign Decorations.

Lieutenant W. Allbeury, M.C., Croix de Guerre (Belgian).
Lieut.-Colonel H. Bowes, T.D., Chevalier Legion of Honour.
Captain L. A. Dick, Croix de Guerre (French).

Captain T. W. Dormand, Chevalier Legion of Honour.
Lieutenant A. Everatt, M.C., Croix de Guerre (French).
Major A. H. Waton, M.C., Croix de Guerre (French).

Thirty-first Divisional Decoration ( also awarded to all recipients
of British Decorations).

Captain R. Armstrong.

Lieutenant A. P. Ashley.

Captain A. Borrell.

Second Lieutenant A. Crierie.

Lieutenant F. A. Flin.

Captain W. L. Oldfield.

Captain W- T. Richardson.

Bar to Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Sergeant-Major E. Oldridge, D.C.M.

Distinguished Conduct Medal.

Private J. Atkinson.

Sergeant W. Barker.

C.S.M. W. T. Benneworth.
Private R. W. Cowling.
C.S.M. F. Curry.

C.S.M. B. Dolan.

Sergeant H. Goldsborough.
Sergeant I. Harbron.

Private W. Harper.

Corporal C. Lloyd.

Private H. Mitchell.
Captain A. Neal.
Sergt.-Major E. Oldridge.
Corporal M. R. Pinkney.
Sergeant E. C. Powell.
Sergeant W. Siddle.

Private A. A. Taylor.
Sergeant W. Teasdale.

Sec. Lieut. G. W. Tucker.
Corporal F. Wright.

201

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Second Bar to Military Medal.

Lance-Corporal T. Cook, M.M.

Bar to Military Medal.

Private T. Cook, M.M. Sergt. W. Dickinson, M.M.
Cpl. G. C. Lawson, M.M.

Military Medal.

Private W. Ainsley.

Private C. Anderson.
Corporal J. Aspin.

L.-Cpl. E. C. Bell.

Private H. Brailey.

Sec. Lieut. H. Brostow.
Sergeant O. Burdon.
Corporal W. Carrick.
Private O. Carroll.
Private T. Cook.

Private W. Curry.

L.-Cpl. T. Davison.
L.-Cpl. W. Dickinson.
L.-Cpl. J. Dunning.
Corporal C. G. Forster.
L.-Cpl. A. Frazer.

Private S. Gibson.

Private W. Grant.
Corporal G. E. Hawkins.
Sec. Lieut. H. E. Hitchin.
Private T. S. Hutchinson.
Private I. W. Iliffe.
Private G. H. Jacob.
Private J. W. Jobling.
L.-Cpl. J. Kennick.
Private F. King.

Private H. W. Lawer.
L.-Cpl. G. C. Lawson.
Sergeant E. R. Little.

L.-Cpl. J. Lockey.

Sec. Lieut. J. Long.

Private J. K. Mellor.

L. -Sergt. J. Milburn.
Private W. Nash.

C.O.S. T. A. Needham.
Private F. Nelson.

Private S. Nesbitt.

Private F. Newcombe.
Private N. Ogle.

L.-Cpl. J. Ord.

Private A. Porter.

Private J. J. Potts.

L.-Cpl. J. Rand.

Private T. Reavley.
Private T. Reed.

Private W. J. Rigby.
L.-Cpl. T. Rigg.

L.-Cpl. S. Ryder.

Sergeant C. H. Sainte.
Private C. Slater.

Sergeant J. D. Smith.
Private T. W. Stansfield.
L.-Cpl. A. Stokes.

Private H. Taylor.

L.-Cpl. W. Taylor.
Private W. A. Taylor.
L.-Cpl. H. W. Thompson.
Private F. B. Thorpe.

202

APPENDIX VI

Private R. Topping.
Private H. F. Towle.
L.-Cpl. J. H. Turnbull.
Private G. Turner.
Private T. R. Vockuich.

Private S. J. Walker.
Corporal F. G, White.
L.-Cpl. F. Willis.
Private J. Yoxall.

Meritorious Service Medal.

C.O.S. A. W. Austin.
Corporal E. T. Bell.
A.Q.S. C. B. Boyce.
L.-Cpl. A. Clarke.
L.-Cpl. S. Clarke.

A.O.S. A. G. Drummond.
O.ST W. Hall.

Sergeant J. D. Moscrop.
O.S. L. Oliphant.
L.-Sergt. L. H. Robinson.
Corporal T. W. Tindale.
Interpreter R. Toison.
C.O.S. G. Whitehead.

Mentioned in Despatches.

Sergeant A. E. Atkin.

C.S.M. W. T. Benneworth.
A.O.S. C. B. Boyce.

Sergeant O. Burdon.

Sergeant C. G. Dixon.
Sergeant W. C. Harrison.
Sergeant G. Horner.

Corporal J. Jackson.
Sergeant W. Mowbray.
C.S.M. W. A. Pearson.
Sergeant J. A. Simpson.
C.O.S. H. L. Taylor.
Sergeant R. Walton.

Foreign Decorations.

Lance-Sergeant F. G. Allison, Croix de Guerre (French).
Corporal J. As pin, Croix de Guerre (French).

Company Sergeant-Major W. T. Benneworth, Chevalier de
l’Ordre Leopold II.

Private H. Brailey, Croix de Guerre (Belgian).
Lance-Corporal T. Cook, Croix de Guerre (French).

Private G. H. Jacob, Russian Order of St. George, 4th Class.
Private N. Ogle, Croix de Guerre (Belgian).

Company Sergeant-Major W. A. Pearson, Croix de Guerre
(French).

203

THE 1 8TH DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY

Thirty-first Divisional Decoration ( also awarded to all recipients
of British Decorations).

Private T. Adams.

L.-Cpl. N. Bates.

L.-Cpl. J. W. Boyd.
Sergeant F. W. Bruce.
Private G. H. Buckley.
Private J. Carmody.
Private H. Carr.

L.-Cpl. F. Cartmell.
Private G. Chapman.
Private T. Cook.

Corporal B. Cornforth.
Sergeant G. Cummings.
Corporal J. B. Emmerson.
Corporal R. Gleadhill.
Private W. Goggins.
Private J. Hall.

Corporal W. J. P. Hall.
L.-Cpl. J. Harrison.
Private T. H. Harrison.
Sergeant W. C. Harrison.
Corporal W. Haw.

Sergeant F. Hunter.
Corporal W. Johnson.
Private W. Johnson.
Sergeant W. H. Johnson.
Corporal W. B. Linton.
Private S. Mas key.
Private J. Mitchell.
C.O.S. W. Morgan.
Private W. Nicholson.
C.S.M. W. A. Pearson.
Private S. Rawlings.
Private T. H. Renton.
Private J. Scott.

Corporal G. W. Sellars.
Private J. W. Smith.
Corporal A. Stott.
C.O.S, H. L. Taylor.
Private S. Weston.
Private W. Whitfield.
Corporal F. Wilson.
Sergeant T. Younger.

204

APPENDIX VII

CASUALTY LISTS
{As compiled from Infantry Records , York.)

Wounded (excluding all wounded who did not return
to England but were treated in hospital in France :
the numbers of the latter are not available : these
are estimated at about 1900 additional casualties) 991
Wounded before capture . 35s

1026

Killed .

• • • 495

Prisoners of War, died after capture .

. . . 1 ob

Later reported killed .

• • • 34c

Presumed killed .

• • • 74d

613

III

Prisoners of War (of whom at a minimum 3 5a had been
wounded before capture and iob died of wounds
after capture) . 90®

Reported Missing (including 90® as in III., also 34® later

reported killed in action and j/f presumed killed) 198

Escaped as Prisoner of War (included in III.) . . 2

Printed by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh.

/ t

S' 4

>*’

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