AND
Q. 6. A
OTHER PLACES
RECOLLECTIONS OF
1916, 1917, 1918
ny
FRANCIS BUCKLEY
AND OTHER PLACES
AND
OTHER PLACES
RECOLLECTIONS OF
1916, 1917, 1918
BY
FRANCIS BUCKLEY
LONDON
SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & CO. LTD.
1 NEW-STREET SQUARE, E.C.
1920
INTRODUCTION
IN the following pages I have tried to set down
as faithfully as I ean some of the impressions
which relnain to me now of three years' service in
France and Flanders.
I have naturally suppressed much of the
grim and ghastly horrors that were shared by
all in the fighting arca. A narrative must be
written from somc point of view, and I have had
to select my own. I regrct that so much personal
and trivial incident should appear. Perhaps
some will be able to see through the gross
egotistical covering and get a glimpse, however
fain of the deeds of deathless heroism pcrfornmd
by my beloved comrades--the officcrs and mcn
of the 7th Northumbcrland Fusilicrs, the officers
and men of the l¢9th Infantry Brigade, the officers
and mcn of thc 50th Division.
The climax of the story is thc battle on the
Somme whcre so many dear friends have perished.
The naine is taken from a spot where a small
paloEy of the 7th N.F. did something long after-
wards to avenge thcir fallen comrades.
Finally no criticism of the Highcr Comlnand
is intended by anything that has been written.
If such can be read between the lines, itis un-
intentional and a marrer for sincere regret.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
CONTENTS
PAGE
WHEN IT BEGAN . 1
T{E MEN o TE NORTH CUNTRY 7
ALNWICK . 12
THE JOURNEY OUT 17
HILL 60 . . . 22
MOUNT SORREL AND CANNY HILL 31
KEMMEL 41
DIVlSIONAL IEST . 48
BRIGADE HEAD-QUARTERS 52
Trie BRIGADE BOMBING SCttOOL . 59
ST. ELOI AND NEUVE EGLISE 64
THE SOMME 68
HÉNENCOURT 72
3iAMETZ WOOD 76
THE 15TH SEPTEMBER, 1916 . 80
MILLENCOURT . 87
HOOK SAP . . 90
SECOND LEAvE--BRESLE 97
BUTTE OF WARLENCOURT --
TRENCH VARFARE . . . 102
vii
VIII
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXXI.
XXXII.
XXXIII.
XXXIV.
XXXV.
XXXVI.
XXXVII.
XXXVIII.
CONTENTS
pAGE
FtANCE AND TE FR'.NCH 107
SouT o" T SoE . 115
TE BATTL O ARAS . 122
WANCOURT TORCROISILLES 125
MoNcHY-Au-Bos 139
TRENCH WARFARE VIs-
CHERISY FRONT . 143
T HOUTHULST FOREST 153
DIVISIONAL REST NEAR ST. OMER 161
THE PASSCHENDAELE RIDGE . 15
GOOD-BYE TO THE50TH DVSON 173
DGOING TRENCHES ABOUT Loos 176
TH GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918
SECOND BATTLE OF ARS 182
TRENCH WARFARE- HÉBU-
TERNE 203
cArs RDGE 207
THE BRTSH OFrsvr 1918
--BAPAUME RETAKEN . 219
TH STO o TE H-
BURG LINE NEAR TRESCAULT 224
THE GERNS' LAST STAND 230
THE FINAL USH FORWARD 234
THE END OF IT ALL 238
NOTE
The following abbreviations are:used :
B.H.Q.
C.C.S. --
C.O.
C.T. -----
DAQMG
D.H.Q.
F.A. =
L-C. =
N.C.O. =
O.C. ----
0.I .
O.T.C. ----
Q.. =
R.T.O. =
¥.M.C.A.
Brigade:ttead-quarters.
Casualty Clearing Station.
Commanding Otïicer.
Communication Trench.
Deputy-Assist«nt-Quartermaster-General.
Divisional ttead-quarters.
Field Ambulance.
Head-quarters.
Lance-Corporal.
Non-commissioned Otïicer.
Officer Commnding.
Observatiin Post.
Otïicers' Training Corps.
Quartermaster.
Railway Transport Otïicer.
Young Men's Christian Association.
RECOLLECTIONS OF 1»16, 1917,
AND 1{,}18
VHEN IT BEGAN
BEFORE thc war I was living in London, with
chambers at Lincoln's Im.
I was hot surl)rised whcn-thc trou])le started.
Ever since 1904 it vas reasonab|v c|car to me
that our country would havc to fight the Germans
or go under.
Thc days bcforc wc dcclarcd war on Gcrmanv
werc spent in London. During the last fcw of
thcm i was as though a terrible thundcrstorm
was hanging overhead, ready to burst: gloom
and foreboding on the faces of ail. There is no
doubt that lnost of our pcople were takcn by
surprise and that they were aghast at the sudden
gathe:eng of the war cloud. But when the stroke
of fate fcll and we were committed fo the war,
there was a curious sense of relief in many hearts.
Better death and ruin than dishonour. A shameful
B
2 Q. 6..
pcace or neutrality is for most Englishmen
barder to bcar thaa all the horrors of war.
Besicles, this struggle for freedom had tobe fought
out, though few can ha.ve forctold the cost.
I had becn rcjcctcd for the Territorial Force
bv the .,rmy authol'itics in 1908 on acc,uut of
wcak eycsight. I had thcrcfore few hopcs of
bettcr luck in August 1914. At fir.t onlv trained
men wcrc enrollcd at thc Ilms of Court O.T.C.,
and this wcnt on for somc months--till thc nation
in fact beg'an to rcalisc the sizc ot' its task. So
after two or tbl'CC vain attcmpts to find mv way
iuto the scrviccs, I had to bc contcut witb thc
truuchcou and armlct of a spccial coustablc.
With this force I had no spccial advcnturcs, but I
lcarnt a good deal about the Vine Strcct Police
arca, and about .the clcctric power stations
of the Wcst End. Christmas Day was spcnt on
duty in thc strcets, and Easter Dav found me still
thcre. Thcn somcthing happcned which dccidcd
my own littlc fate, as well perhal»s a the fate of
Europe. This was tbe sinking of the good ship
Lusitania on Mav 7, 1915, under peeuliarly
barbarou.s and inhuman circumstances. Even-
tually it brought the Americans into the war,
when they came to understand tha.t the Gcrman
people gloried in tbe deed of shame. As for me,
it took me once again fo the doors of the O.T.C.
la Lincoln's hm. If I could hot go as an offieer
I would at least go into the ranks. But by this
rime the rush of officer recruits had died down,
nd they were hot so pmoEicular about eyesight.
WHEN IT BEGAN
So on May 10, 1915, I found myself in pos-
session of a suit of khaki. It was sccond- or third-
hand and an indifrerent fit, but if enclosed a glad
heart. The die was east, and one little boat fairly
launehed on its perilous passage. Never bave I
had cause to lainent this step. If it has brought
me great troubles and auguish, it has also given
pcaee of mind aud thc satisfaction of using to the
flfll sueh energy as I posscss. It took me out
of the stifling hcat of thc town and gave me at
lcast four years «,f a.n opeu-air lire. For wlfich
God be thanked! If it did hot |)ring mueh pro-
motion or honour, it brought the friendship of
real men, and a trcasure grcater than all the stars
and ribbons in the world.
A rccruit at the Inns of ('ourt O.T.C. had
nothing to fcar from those in chai'ge if he was
willing to do his best. Thcre was litt|c boisterous-
ness or horse-play among the recruits, the dark
shadow was too close for that; and the spirit
alnong my new eomradcs was one of great
earnestness. For the first two or thrce weeks
we were traincd in Town ncar thc :Il.Q. of the
Battalion iu Lineoln's Inn. Airer that rccruits
were sent on to the camp at Bcrkhamsted for
field trailfing. Ve were billeted on the local
inhabitants. I stayed at the house of Mr. Charles
Dipple, from whose family I rcccived mueh kind
hospitaIity. It was a suddcn chauge for one
who had spent the greater part of ten years in
London ehambers. And at Bcrkhamsted they
worked you hard, almost to the last degree of
$ Q. 6. A
physieal endurance. Save once, during a dark
two wccks in France, I bave ncver before or since
felt thc saine fatigue of bodv. Also the change
of food was a. littlc strange and startling at first.
The drill and (hscphne could do nothing but good
fo a hcalthv man. The cnthusiasm of ncarly
ail was great, our chier idca bcig fo gct ready
and out fo Frmce or clscwhere before the war
shouhl be over. Little did we know what the
future had in store.
There is nothing much to tell of this part of
one's expericnce. One of the most plcasant
incidcts was a fortnightly lcave of thirtv-six
hours at tbe week-end, vhieh I used fo spend
with mv friemls in Town. Night manuvres
on Wcdncsdavs and Fridavs and guard dutv were
perhaps the most unpleasant part of out lot.
Some would add the adjutant's parade on Saturdav
morning. But that was short, if hot alwavs sweet.
[ had the good luck to wiu an unpaid lance-
eorporal's stripe towards the end of mv stay,
chiefly, I think, on aecount of a certain aptitude
for drill, a elean rifle, and clean boots. Of this
small achievcment I was and still ara a little
proud.
I left the battalion on getting my commission
with respect for the ocers iu charge of the
training. The short experienee in the ranks was
to be of great value afterwards, when I came
to deal for the first time as an ocer with men
in the ranks. It gave a certain ympathy with
them and taught what to avoid. It was the
WIIEN IT BEGAN
5
custom of our ('.0., Lieut.-Col. Errington, to givc
a few words of adviee to thosc lcaving thc battali(m
to take up commissions. And I havc ncvcr
forgottcn two of thc principlcs vhich hc urgcd
Ul)OU us. Onc was thc constant ncccssity for a
soldicr to dcny himsclf in littlc things. Thc
othcr was thc idca that cvcry ofliccr iu his own
command, howcvcr small, had a ducl to face
vith anothcr olticcr iu a similiar positiou on thc
othcr side; and that in this duel tbc onc that
uscd his braiu best would win. And so this
cmbryo existence came to au cud--a carclcss,
hapl)y timc vith no particular thought for the
troubles ahcad. In thc lniddlc of July 1915 I
obtaincd a commission in thc 3rd line Battalion
of thc 7th Northumbcrland Fusilicrs, Tcrritorials,
supplyiug draïts to thc 1st liuc battalion in France.
I had no dcsirc to display my ignorance of things
military beïorc a group of ncighbours aud possibly
relations, so I applied for a commissiou, hot in
thc Territorials of thc Wcst Riding Rcgimcnt,
but in a north-country battalion of Territorials,
with thc 1st line fighting in France. Thc Terri-
torial Force scemcd to me most suitablc for one
who had no nfilitary carccr in vicw. And France,
thc land of old timc roumncc aud chivah'y, gave
a more urgent call than Egypt or thc East. The
choicc of a unit, if onc can bc said to choose it,
is ïraught with grcatcr conscqucnccs to oncsclï
than nfight bc supposed. I cannot say aïtcr
a laçsc of thrcc ycars that thc choicc has provcd
uafortunatc to me. It came about in this vay.
6 Q. 6oA
We wcrc doing a rifle parade one day at Bcrk-
hamsted, when Lieut. Reynolds (N.F.) appearcd
with our comloany commander, Calot. Carke,
and asked for the names of any men who would
like to join the 3rd liue of the ïth N.F. The 1st
line battalion, he said, had just bccu badly cut
up in France, aud wc should be out thcre i four
months locrhaps, certainly i six months. That
was all thc iformatiou we had, but it was enough
for inc. A north-country territorial battalion
and France in six months--those were the
attractions. I had never sloent morc than onc
night iu Northumbcrland and I kncw of Alnwick
only by namc. It was thereforc rathcr a stcp
lu thc dark; but to oe who was still iguorant
of thc mcaning of a 'Brigade' or a 'Division'
only gcaeral considerations could appea|. Aud so
on July 30, 1915, I set off for Alnwck to oin
my battalion, with a new uniform and kt, with
a somewhat nervous feeling inside, but with a
dctcrmination to do my best.
II
TllE MEN OF" TIlE IOR'I'II COUINTRY
I IlAVE oreat respect and adluil'atiol for thc
lllell of Northtmberland. Espeeially for those who
eome from thc country towns and villages, the
farm-lands and lnines in thc northern parts of
the eounty. As soldiers they ]mve gained a naine
the world over, of which it would be idle for me
to talk. A cold climate and a fighting" aneestry
that goes baek manv huldl'cds of vears have pro-
dueed some marked qualities in the raee of
Northulnbrians to-day. There are few of them
that are hot true to type, few that you would hot
eare to have as eomradcs in a tight corner. Their
stubborn courage and contelnpt for danger have
been proved again and again. The worse the out
look the more eheerful thcv seem to bccome.
Sturdy independenee is therc, and for this allow-
ance has tobe madeslow to like and slow to
change ; if you are known as 'Mister' So-and-so,
whatever vour rank, you have von thcir respect.
No better soldiers in the land tan be round to hold
or fo forti[y a position. But I doubt whether
they bave quite the saine genius for the attaek.
This criticism cn of course bc mde of any tro¢.ps of English
nionafity.
8 Q. 6. A
A certain lack of imagination, a certain want of
forethought, have ahvays, as it seems to me, bcen
a handicap to thcsc brave men whcn thcy attack.
Again and again during an assault they have
fallcn in lmndrcds, thcy have shown thcmsclves
as willing to die in the open as in the trenehes.
But bave they the wild ïurv that earries the Seot,
the Irishlnan, or the Frenehman over ' impossible'
obstaeles ? No, they are hot an enthusiastie
1)eople, nor a very imaginative one. And these
qualities are needed to press home a diflieult
attaek. They are hot as a whole a quiek or a
verv intelligent race. But for stark grim courage
under the most awful surroundings they stand
second to none. There is a streak of ruthlessness,
teo, in their dealings with the enemy ; a legaey
froln the old Border wars with the Seots. They
are quite ready, if need be, to take no prisoners.
A hard and strong, but a verv lovable race of lllell.
Yes, I think all the world of the lllell of the north,
although I anl not blind to their ïaults. Taken
as a whole no more handsolne or manlv set of len
ean be round in the British Isles.
The Northumbrim dialeet is difl]eult to under-
stand until you get the trick of it. And the trick
of it is in the accent and intonation, and hot so
nmeh in any peeuliar form of words. Thev have
a peeuliar way of dropping their voiees, too, whieh
is sometimes diseoneerting. But it is a elean
wholesome language, undefiled by the disgusting
and ehildish obseenity whieh is too often a disgraee
to other distriets in England. It reminds me a
THE MEN OF THE NORTH COUNTRY 9
littlc of thc Scottish tonguc, bnt rathcr morc of thc
conntry sl)ccch in thc northcrn parts of ¥«»rkshirc,
but in somc ways it is ail its vcry own. It nmst
indccd bc onc of thc carlicst surviving types of
thc Anglo-Saxon spccch. I had no grcat ditfi-
cuit" in undcrstauding it, bnt to this dav I aih
sometimcs puzzlcd to pick up what is said owing
to that curious dr(q) in thc voice.
A word or two as wcll abc)ut thc olliccrs of thc
Northumbcrlands, mcaling, of course, the natives
of thc conutv. For thcm as wcll as for thc hardy
mincrs and farmcrs of thc north 1 havc a vcr3e
sinccre respect aad liking. Bctter comradcs on
thc ficld of battic no man could wish for, bcttcr
ofliccrs for a Territorial battalioa it would bc hard
to find. Thcir unbcnding courage, thcir gallant
bcaring in danger, thcir chccrïulncss and thcir
carc and thought for thcir mcn have bccn rcspon-
siblc in a grcat mcasurc for thc succcsses won by
thc Northumbcrland battalions and for thc lament-
able but noble sacrifices whcn succcss was dcnicd.
Gallant and dcvotcd sohlicrs thcy havc bccn, and
wcll thcy have carncd the love and admiration of
thcir mcn. Alwavs cheerful whatcvcr was on
foot, rcadicst of all to turn a danger passed into a
jest. Thcrc could not be a bcttcr spirit in which to
face thc long delays and the bitter disappointmcnts
of the war. Two outstanding fcaturcs in thcir
charactcr are, to my mind, practically universal,
whatever form they hal)pen to takc. An iuherent
pugnacity, and a xxholc-hcartcd bclicf in and love
of their county, which amounts to somcthing more
10 Q. 6..
than clalmishness. Thev know everything about
,every one in Northulnberland, and with others
they do hot trouble thelnselves lnueh. They do
hot talk about if like the Seots, but if is there ail
the saine ; and if has a profound influence on their
actions and judglncnt. Vithin this saered eirele,
into which no outlan<lish nlall eall break, thcir
lmgnaeity dcvelops eountless local feuds, xnd
these feu<ls ean be bitter choux'h, and I do hot
think I ever met a lmrth-eouutrylnan without
one. GenerMlv there are two or three on foot
at a rime. One tOVll against anothcr, the nlen
who did against the lllçll VllO did llOt.
tilnes I have thought that these queer hercditary
instinets, for sueh thev undoubtedlv are, bave led
the men of the north astrav. The house has been
divided against itself, justice has hot been done,
or if bas been delayed, ineolnpetenee has been
allowed fo spread its blighting influence. In
other words the love of thcir eountv and the
strength of thcir local feuds have at rimes blinded
the lllen of the north to the real interests of their
country, when a united front and a concentra-
tion of the best effort available were absolutelv
neeessary fo get on with the war. To me the
Northmnbrian oeer has been universally kind,
and I bave never had the least diseourtesv or
injustice froln any of them, but mmy aets of kind-
ness. But I have seen with regret on several
oeeasions a ]oss of effort and strength through the
divisions eaused by prejudiee. Thoroughly eheer-
ful and a generous and eharming COlnrade, lnueh
THE MEN OF THE NORTH COUNTRY 11
given to hospitality, I do hot think the Northum-
brian oflïcer is always a verv brilliant person
intellectually. There arc lnany notablc exccp-
tions, but they arc notable enough to establish
thc imprcssiola.
Bcyond thcsc gcncral obscrvati(ms it w()uld bc
UlWisc--an(i I do hot intcnd--to enter into thc
dolnestie history of any battalion Or brigade.
Better eomrades one eould hot have, and a
nobler and more (lcvoted body of lllell I bave
yet to meet.
III
ALNI,'ICK
A SlIOItT skcteh of my stav af Alnwick may lmt bc
out of place. For though it did hot scem vcry
a(lvcnturous af the time if had a great influence
on my subsequent career, both in France and
afterwards. It is a most romantie spot, with one
of thc finest castles in England. Thc hcathcr
hills run down through corn-land towards thc sea-
shore ; and the gencral features of the countryside
relninded me much of my own home in the West
Yorkshire hills. The curious battlemcnts and
gares in the town and the monuments outside
tcll of a rime when it was one o1" England's front
line posts against the raiding Scots. It seemed fo
me to be a fitting spot to train lllell for the
wars.
lqen I arrived af the end of July 1915 the
H.Q. of the 3rd line battalion were at the Star Hotcl
in Fenkle Street---very comfortable but rather
expensive quaoEers. Only a few of the oflîcers
had arrived as yet. Just a few new-comers
like myself, vcry gree and raw, and about four
or rive oIÏicers of the 1st line battalion who had
returned wouuded from France. These latter
ALNWICK 13
had for the most part been wounded at the
battlc of St. Julien in April 1915, during the
2nd Battle of Yprcs. They vere nov discharged
from hospital and attached to the draït battalion
for training befl)re going out once more. They
were vcrv-fricn(llv and nicc to thc ncw-comcrs ;
and indccd we lookcd upon thcm quite as vctcrans,
although thcir activc servicc in Francc had hot
cxcccded a fcw days. ('apt. 3. Welch, Licuts.
.1. W. Mcrivalc, E. Nixon. and E. Fcnwickc Clennell
becamc special fricnds of minc, and I ara gratcflfl
for manv acts of kindness ïrom them both then
and later on abroad. Thc mcn of thc battaliou,
also raw recruits and wotmdcd mcn returned from
hospital, werc quartcred in the houses in the town.
The O.C. battalion was Major (afterwards Lieut.-
Coloncl and Brevet Colonel) 3. 3. (illespie, T.D.,
and the Adjutant Capt. W. A. C. Darlington. The
C.O. was a man of great persnality, so much so
that he is one of the best known and most talkcd
of persons in the Northumberlands. A great
organiser and a hard worker, who generally got
his own wa), with small and great, he has doue
much to make the drafts efficient. I was lucky to
find favour in his eyes, and our relations were
always friendly.
We had as near ncighbours in Alnwick the
Brigade of Tyneside Scottish, who were encampcd
in the Pastures near the Castle, as fine a body
of men as you could wish to see. After staying
for a while at the Star out battalion moved
out to Moorlaws Camp and we remained there
1 Q. 6. A
under canvas till the middle of October. In
the ncantime I was lent for about rive da.vs to
the 21st Provisional Battalion N.F., a home
service battalion, who wcrc cncampcd at Cambois
(' Cammis') on thc sca-coast. This was likc a
picnic for me, for all the ofliccrs thcre trcatcd
me kindly and did hot work me hard. Ont
night I w,hmtccred for night duty and had thc
experience of visiting the sentries (ail with loa(led
rifles) at the various posts a]onff the shore.
Shortly after rcturning to Alnwick I was sent,
on Septcmber 2, to thc Army School of Signalling
and Bombing at Tyncmouth, and wcnt through
thc Bolubing course, which la.sied al»out a weck.
So primitive were the al'rangeuwuts, even at this
date, that we wcre ouly taught how to improvise
grenades out of old jam tins, and how to tire them
out of iron pipes as trench-lnortar lmmbs. We
were indced allowed to handlc precious specimens
of the falnous No. (Hales) and No. 5 (Mills),
but therc were not enough availablc for li'e
practice. The West Spring Thrower had hot
arrived, but I saw a trench catapult in action;
and some dummy Stokes bombs were fired off for
us to sec. At this course there was an examilm-
tion, and I got a first-class certifica.te as a grenade
instructor, an event which lmd considerable
influence on my career in France, as will appear
later on. When I got back to Alnwick I round
the battalion under canvas at Moorlaws. ere
I became ' grenadier officer ' to the battalion, and
I lmd daily clases of men who had volunteered
ALNWICK 15
to becolne bombers, or ' grcnadiers' as they were
then callcd.
Lire practiec was carricd out entircly with
improvised bombs, old jam tins and black powder.
But we procurcd a certain number of dummies
of Nos. 1 and 5 to practisc throwing. Major
N. I. Wright (who had rcturned woundcd) took a
great interest in our proceedings a.nd had somc
dummy grenades ruade flw us. A gallant soldier
wiHa hard service in South Afriea and the Great
War, he lins alwavs been a good friend to me.
I wcnt on with thc bomlfing till about Oetober 20,
when the battalion returned to Alnwick and went
into wooden huis in the Pastures. The oteers
were billeted at a house ea.lled 'Alnbank,' a
mansion some little distance from the naela'S
quarters. Af ter liais move I was appointed
Company Commander to C Company, a newly
formed eompany wilb onlv raw reeruits in it.
My second in eommand was Lieut. 3oseph
Robinson, a dear friend, who had eome all the
wav froln the Argentine, and whom I first met
at the O.T.C. at Bcrkhamsted. tIe was known
as ' Strafer Robinson ' on aeeount of being physieal
drill instruetor, and a pretty exaeting one. I
round the reeruits in C Company most willing
and anxious to learn their job; and thev never
gave lne lnueh trouble either in orderly rooln
or on parade.
I was kindlv treated by every one at Alnwiek.
My stay there has only pleasant lnemories. Major
the on. Ahur Joieey, who had returned from
16 Q. 6. A
the 1st line, gave nie severa.1 glorious days after
partridges at Longhirst. The number of these
birds so far north fairlv astonishcd ne. The
doetors' familics in Aluwick werc also verv kind
and hospitablc to all our officers. Mrs. Scott
Jaekson, the wife of the Colonel of the 1st line
ba.ttlion, eould hOt do enough for us ; and lnauy
happy evenings bave been spent at ber house;
notably a g'reat New Year's Eve party for ail
the offieers, just before I left for the front.
took part il a Rugby football match, the first
rime for eleveu years. The ard line 7th
sueeeeded in defeating the reserve battalion of the
Tvneside Seottish, larg'ely through the prowess of
2nd-Lieut. MeNaug'ht at half-baek. There was
rather a pleasant institution towards the end of
mv stav--namely, a meeting of the senior offieers
for dilmer every Wednesdav evening at the Plough
Inn. They did vou well there, and if was
pleasant ehang'e from the mess diuner.
About January 8, 1916, I was warned to proeeed
with a small draft of oftieers to the front. Four
of us were to go, and I was delighted to final mvself
one of those seleeted. After a splendid farewell
dinner with the offieers of the battalion on
January 4, I left the saine night for Loudon to
spend my final leave.
IV
TIIE JOURNEY OUT
ON Monday, Januarv 10, 1916, I lcft England
with three other oIliccrs, bound for thc Base Calnp
at Ilavrc. Mv COml)anions werc 2nd-Licuts.
Pcters, O. Clarke, and Grcgson. Mv final purchases
at Southalnpton ineludcd an extra haversack
and some morphia pills. The latter had been
strongly reeommended for certain kinds of wounds
and thev were still sold without a prescription.
The journey aeross the Chalmcl vas done at
night. The transl)ort left port about 8 P.M. and
steaming slowlv without lights rcached Le Itavre
about 5 A... next morning.
My last viev of England was the drearv wet
dock, and later on a fev distant and reeeding
lights. Though we got into port at 5 _.M. we
were hot allowed to leave the vessel till 8
But, at last, as a eold and eheerless morning was
breaking, I stepped ashore and set foot for the
first time on foreign soil. 1Ve soon fomd an hotel
(? Hôtel de Norlnandy) whcrc thcy undcrstood
the English language and somc of our ways, and
we got breakfast in thc English fashion. After
Fortunately I nevcr had occasion o use them.
18 Q. 6.
a look round the shops and a shave in a Slnall
establishment in a side strect, we reported at a
large office in thc town. lIcrc wc signed out
namcs in a large rcgistcr, and wcrc given directions
to 1)rocced to a Camp, somc distance froln thc
town, whcrc rcinforccmcnts for thc 7th N.F.
wcrc collcctcd and accommodatcd till thcy couhl
bc sent 'up thc ]inc.' Our stay hcrc was a short
onc, for which I was thankful. Thcy did hot
sccm at all pleased to sec us; it SCClnS wc had
arrivcd a fcw days latcr than had bccn cxpectcd,
and thc Camp Commandant al)peared to think it
was our fault. We lcft Le Ha.vl'c next «las" without
having tastcd thc joys of the ' Bull Ring ' or any
othcr cducational entertainmcnt prcparcd for
those staying on at the Camp. Thc train started
about midnight, and like most troop trains in
France moved along in a leisurcly, dignified manner,
with frequent stops and long waits between the
stations. 'When we did arrive at Rouen, which
was about midday on Thursday, we had to change.
And feeling unrefreshed bv our night in the train,
we spent the rime resting at an hotel instcad
of sceing the sights. But it is a fine looking old
town and would be worth visiting in more peaeeful
times.
We left Pouell again at night and wandered
along in the saine dilatory fashion, arriving at
Itazebrouek and eventually at Poperinghe.
The latter was railhead for the Ypres Salient.
It was hOt surprising then to find the bouses near
the railway station looking shattered froln the
THE JOURNEY OUT
19
shells and bombs that had been aimed at the
station. We had tca vith the Y.SI.C.A., who
had with their usual dauntlessness selected a
house close to the station. ]t had been struck
by a bomb a ïew nights before, and there was
a hole in the roof and in the ceiling and floor of
one of the rooms; but l understood that no
one had been hurt bv the explosion. These
shattcrcd houscs and thc distant sound of gun
tire, which we first hcard about ïIazcbrouck, werc
the first signs of var that we noticed. Aftcr a
long wait a limbcr arrivcd af thc station to take
ourselves and our valises to tbc camp of the 7th
N.F. at Oudcrdom. It was hot rcally a very long
journcy, I believe, but it seemed so to us aïter
our long and wcarisome journey in thc train.
To makc matters worse thc military police
ruade us takc a roundabout road, and thc driver
lost his wav. Of course a limbcr is not quite
the vehicle you would select for comfort, espccially
over roads that arc stonv or pavé. Thc German
tiare lights could be clcarlv seen ail the way, and
they seemcd to be on threc sides of us. A most
brilliant and interesting sight the first rime vou
see it.
Eventually we reachcd the camp at Ouderdom.
It was called 'Canada Huts' and consistcd of a
cluster of woodcn huts erected just off a narrow
muddy road. At one rime ] ana told, the mud
was tbigh deep; but now duck boards had been
laid down, mad though dccidedly muddy the camp
was quite passable. When we arrived it was
20 Q. 6. ,
quite late, and wc round the camp in total darkness
and evcry one aslccp. But some of the barmen
(or ocers' servants) wcre roused, and they hot
only showed us a place to slecp in, but got us
somc tea aud a scratch mcal, very wclcome aftcr
our uncomfortablc ride from thc station. Vhat
wonderful peoplc these barmen are l Always
so chccrv a.nd good to thcir occrs. Insidc
the huts we found wooden bunks in two tiers
round three sides and also a wooden table and
forms in thc middlc. Not lnuch room to more
about pcrhaps, but fairlv drv and warm. Aftcr
two slecplcss nights in thc train we did hot ueed
rockiug.
We found that we had arrived just in time
to go with the battalion to the front line trenehes
next day. For the battalion had just spent
three days in the rest area and was due to take
over the line o the fourth dav. There was hot
mueh rime, therefore, to get acquainted with our
fellow olficers or to learn much about the platoons
to which we were assigned. Several of the ocers
we had known well at home in the 8rd liue battalion
at Aln'ick, and Major N. I. Vright and Capt.
J. Veleh and Lieuts. J. V. Mcrivale and Fenwicke
Clemell were ohl friends. Also we had alreadv
met our new battalion commander Lieut.-Col. G.
Scott Jackson at Alnwick when he was last on
lcave. It was nice to be greeted by fricndly faces
whcn our trials were so soon to begin.
The last few hours before going back to the
line are always rather dreary and unprofitable,
THE JOURNEY OUT
21
spent chiefly in packing up and deciding ,vhat
to lcavc bchind. Valises of course wcrc lcft
bchind with all ' sparc parts ' iii thc Q.M.'s stores.
But in wiltcr a fairly heavy load of things was
nccessary, and thc wcather was wct and storiny.
Wc had no stcel hchncts in these days and no gas
box-rcspirators, Olfly two cloth respirators of
littlc wcight. I round mysclf iii charge of No.
Platoou iii A Çompany, of which ('apt. II. R.
Smail was commaudcr. Thcre werc two other
2nd-Lieuts. in thc compauy bcsidcs mvsclf. Thc
fighting strength of a compauy did hot much
exceed 100 men, if as nlally.
Before we ]cft Cnada Htts, I was providcd
with a batnlali, conlillg of course froln A
Conpany. And a good fellow he was and much
I owe to him. I[c bas lookcd aftcr me cou-
tinuously from the day aftcr I arrivcd mtil he
was demobilised on Dccember 24, 1918--nearly
three vcars. A miner from AshingtOl, wouuded
at St. Julien in April 1915, he had rejoined the
battalion some months belote in France. At a
later stage I had to rcly nmeh on his skill as a
cook. A wondcrfullv chccrful person and a slnart
and handy man at improvising littlc eomforts for
lue. His naine was Yilliam ('ritchlow.
IIlLL 60
VIIEN it was begilming to get dark the battalion
formed up in the road and the roll was ealled
over. At last we set off slowly, squclching through
the lnud on thc wet roads, the rain pouring down
unceasingly. Ve soon struck the pave road
that runs through Dickcbusch, a long straggling
village, still fairly intact and occupicd by Bclgian
civilians. It was shelled now and again but hot
scvercly. Yhen we rcached this place, the
battalion opened out considerably, platoons
keeping 200 vards apart ; a precautioli necessary
on roads that werc periodically shelled at night.
After plodding along for some time wc reached
thc Café Belge, a lncrc ruin lIOW, but a well-known
hMting place for troops on the match, tIcrc wc
turned off to the right and lcft the pavé road
which runs on to Ypres, and aftcr this the roads
were lnuch more diflicult to travel. Shell holes
were frequcat and gencrally full of water, so that
in the dark it was onlv too easv to stumblc into
them. 'Shell-holc on the right,' 'Shell-hole on
the lcft,' 'Shell-hole in the middle,' 'Keep to
your right' were being passed back continually.
IIILL 60 23
Progress was slov of course undcr these conditions
and with thc hcavy loa(Is that we ail carricd.
But iL was ail so novcl to me that I had hot a
moment to fccl dull or dcpresscd. Aftcr a time
wc rcachcd thc notorious 'Shral>nel ('orner'
and turucd towards 'Transport Farm,' for we
Hill 60.--Official Mal), 5[nrch 1916.
were bound for tronches aL ]Iill 60. This place
was of course famous for thc British attack in
1915, and for thc German cotmter-attack with
gas a little later on whieh was all too suecessful.
It was also uotorious for being one of the hottest
corners of the British front. Owing fo their
vantage ground on the hill the enenly ]lad little
difficulty in sniping and shclling out trenches
effectively.
As we approached Transport Farm I came
for the first rime under indirect rite tire. A
number of bullets fired at our trenches carried
over and landed hot far from the roads at the
bacl« Though rather alarming in the dark to
ouc unaccustomed to thcln, thcy scldom did lnuch
damagc. Occasionally a nlall or two got woumlcd
during thcse rclicfs. Out company turncd to
thc lcft again near Zillcbeke railway station, and
then struck off the road and reached thc mouth
(»f a C.T. whieh led aftcr about a huu(lrcd vards
to the sui)port trcnchcs.
A glaucc af thc oflicial 1)hm of thc trcnchcs
at IIill 60 will give somc idca. of the extraor(linarv
place it was. Vhilst thc German linc ran solid
along thc top of the ridgc, therc wcre two complcte
gal)s in thc British firc trcnches betwec Hill
and Mourut Sorrel on the ]eft. On paper it looks
as if thcre were nothing to stop thc Gcrman fron
walking across and bchind our lines whencver ho
chose. But I imagine that these cmpty spaccs
wcre covcrcd by machine-gun posts, and that the
artillcry were rcady to deal with any attcmpt of
that sort. Another feature of the place was the
awful naturc of the ground outsidc the trenches.
It was a morass filled with partially buried bodies
that is, paloEially buried by nature in the ooze
and lnud. During a dense luist about seventy
dcntity discs wcre recovercd from the ground
bchind out support lines. And it was worse in
front between the opposing trenches. It was
hot ]ikely, then, that the German would wish to
press us farther down the hill, at any rate for
tactical purposes.
HILL 60 25
A Colnpany had two platoons in the front
line trend 41, sonle 100 yar(Is [1"O111 flic ellellly,
and two platoons in a sui)port line ealled '41
support.' The trenehcs thelnselves wcre well-
built and rcvctted with sand bags, and dry enough
even during the wettest weather. We had in
these days only small sheltersthe deep dugout
was ullkllOWll. The three subalterls in A Con>
l)any took turns at dutv il the tronches, lotir
hours on and eight hours off, night and dav. The
duty eonsisted ehiefly of visiting thc scntries everv
hour, and keeping a general look-out, and seeing
that the treneh rules were obeved. A good deal
of rifle tire went on at night. Scntries on eithcr
side ould exchange shots, and ail oeeasional
lnaehine-gun would ol)en out. At close range the
bullcts make a eurious crack as they pass overhcad.
Being tall and having been XVal'llc of the elticiency
of the Gerlnan sniper, I had to walk in lnost of
the trenehes with a bond in the baek, whieh soon
beeame tiring.
On Sunday, January 16, I had a. deeidedly
lively rime for mv first day in the trenehes. It
was ahvays said that the Gernmns got a fresh
supply of amlnunition at the week-end, and
Sundav was seareely en-er a dav of test.. Iowever
that may be, this Sunday was the worst day I
had for sonle rime. After sending over a few
Slnall howitzer shells, the German field-guns sent
periodieal showers of shells, 'whizz-bangs' we
ealled theln, on to the support treneh and C.3'.
This wellt on ail lnorning, and whilst the shoot
26 Q. 6. A
lasted they came over in a perfcct stream. After
a quieter afternoon a regular tren«h battle opened
out at night, rifle grenades and bolnbs being freely
cxchangcd, and a lmmber of trench-lnortar bombs
--' sausages and rum jars '--coming over from the
cnclny's trcnchcs. Eventually our heavy guns
opcncd out with lively retaliation and thc encrer
quictcncd down. Rathcr a big dose to gct thc
first day in thc trcnchcs, whcn cvcrything was so
strangc and new. Iowcver I was assured that it
was hot an 'avcragc' day cvcn on Hill 60, but
something likc an organised shoot. Onc of thc
features of thc place was thc lmmber and size of
thc rats; they lookcd thc sizc of rat)bits as thcy
scuttcrcd along thc trcnches at night. Anothcr was
thc awful tast.c of thc water wc got to drink. It
was boiled and it was turncd into strong tca, but it
had a most indcscribably horrible taste. Thc food,
on thc other hand, was excellent and plcnty of it.
In thc light of subsequcnt rations thcsc wcrc indecd
thc davs of plcnty. Owing fo the kindncss of some
fricnds of thc battalion in England, both oflicers
and men were supplied with sheep-skin eoats or
jackcts which wcre wondcrfully good in kceping
out the cold at night. 'Stand-to' was a rcgular
institution of trench warfarc, both an hour beforc
dark and an hour beforc dawn. Naturallv thc
latter was thc more trying, but at this timc thc
rum ration was servcd out; and it ccrtainly prc-
ventcd you from bcing frozcn stiff and cnabled you
to gct to slccp again if your dutics did hOt kccp you
to the trcnchcs. A very curious lifc in the trenchcs,
I-IILL 6o 27
a vcry small world but cvcry bit of it packcd full
of intcrcst and novdty to roc. From thc trcnchcs,
if you lookcd backwards, thcrc was a splcndid
vicw of Vprcs, with its shattcrcd spircs and houscs,
still a bcautiïul grcy ruin, cvcn iu dcath. I was
dcstincd to havc a much closcr acquaintancc with
it latcr. Bcyond thc usual rounds of shclling
on both sidcs nothing of particular intercst
happcncd during thc ucxt thrcc days.. On thc
cvcning of January 19 wc wcre rclicvcd by a
company of thc 5th N.F. (Cpt. North M.C.), and
movcd out aftcr dark for a short rcst in close
support.
My eareer as a platoon contmander in the
trenehes was a short ont, for as it happened {hat
was my first and last experienee as sueh.
moved out and baek for about a toile, eventually
reaehing a bouse eallcd Blauwpoorle Farm.
was uot a bad plaee then, and was hot shclled.
though at night the bullets used to rattle round
i you walked abroad. I-Iere on the second day
I took a small party o[ men, as a working pmoEy,
to the shelters at the 'Sunken Road,' rather
ncarcr thc linc. I think wc wcrc cngagcd in clcar-
ing thc road of mud and gcncrally clcaning up.
On thc wav thcre I saw some rathcr lmmourous
notices stuck up at various points. 'This is a
dangcrous spot.' It was kindly mcant no doubt,
but on thc vhole no part of lhe Salicnt afforded
much of a rcst-curc, and it vas practically all
x Lieu. F. 13. Cowen, very cheery machine-gun officer, a]so
7th I.lq'., had his ¢luarers here.
28 Q. 6. A
undcr direct obscrvatio of the enclny. SYe
cxistcd simply through lais ïorbcarance.
On Jalmarv 22, 196, I bccalnc bombing
occr to thc batta]iol), or, as it was thcn callcd,
'grcnadicr occr.' Mv prcdcccssor had had bad
luck, gctting his hand shattcrcd by the accidcntal
explosion of a dctonator. Accordingly I was sent
to sec Scrgt. V. Moffat, thc battalion bombing
scrgeant, iii ordcr to pick up what I couhl of thc
routine at so short a notice. Sergt. Moffat was
a short withcrcd man with sandy hair, a quict
llalllCr, but a chccry twinklc in his cvc. ]Ic had
servcd in thc South African war; and had bcen
lncntiollcd in despatchcs for good bombing work
during a Gcrman attack at Hoogc. A most con-
scicntious and hard«vorking fcl]ow, with a passion
for all sorts of bolnbs. I coul(l llOt have fallcn
into botter hands. He was ail admirable instruetor
and assistant, and kncw all there was to be known
about treneh routine. I eould sec he was mil-
versallv respceted in the battalion. He was a
Salvation Arlnv man at home, and wore thcir red
woollen jcrsey under his tunie. 3lueh do l owe
him and much do I still lainent his untimelv end.
Cal)t. Slnail rcturned to England about this
tilne, leaving lllC his woolly eoat, a priecless part-
ing gift. Capt. J. Veleh ealne fo colnllmnd A
Colnpany and a eheerier fellow surely never
existed. I was glad to aeeept his offer of messing
with A Company. There never was a dull
moment at mess when Veleh presided.
We went baek to ill 60 for tour days on
HILL 60 29
January 23. I cannot remember much of this
stay in thc linc, and nothing special happcncd. I
was too busy lcarlùng all I could of thc routine of
thc trenchcs and locating and chccking bOln])
stores. I bad to visit all thc trcnchcs held by the
battalion, and thus got thc clmnce of making the
aequaintanee of thc other Colllpally commanders,
Capt. H. Liddcll (B Cov.), Capt. C. Davics
(C Cov.) and Capt. G. F. Ball, M.C., (D Coy.).
I rcmenbcr bcing askcd by our Brigadicr-(;encral
Clifford to explain somc part of a dereliet Wcst
Spring Throwcr in thc cutting at Hill 60 (I had
never even seen one befiwe) and 1)citg saved bv the
timely intervention of Scrgt. Moffat.
On Jalmary 27 we were relieved and wcnt
baek to Canada IIuts for a rcst of four davs.
Oh, that fil'St rcst out of the trcnches The
aceomlnodation was 1)oor cnough secn in the light
of home e)mfi)rts, but wbat a palaee of test and
rcfreshment it seemed to me then, and how quickly
the rime passe& I had to praetise the boml)crs
(nineteen frolu each eompany) in throwing dummy
grenades eaeh morning on the lnud fiat (it was
once a field) outside the huts. In ordcr to stimu-
late keeness I organiscd a eompetitiolt and gave
one franc eaeh day as a prize for thc best score.
I soon found out wbo wcrc thc most expert
throwers.
Vc had a Y.M.C.A. hut close to the camp, and
it was intercsting to drop in and havc a chat with
thc mcn in chargc and a cup of coeoa. There was
an old gcntleman thcre, in conmmnd, who was
30 Q. 6. A
rightly proud of being the civilian nearcst fo the
front line. Ho displayed to us with great pride
a souvenir found in Ypres. the huge base of a
17-inch shell--it was ahnost too heavy for one
man to lift. We had our Chureh Service and out
concerts in the nmrquee attaebed to the Y.M.C.A.
hut.
Most of the olfieers got leave to go to Poperingbe
dnring these tests out of the line, but [ never went
there myself. There was rot attraction there in
the ' Faneies,' a fine eolmert party, lnany of wbose
songs I learnt at seeond hand.
VI
MOUNT SORREL AND ('ANN:" IIILL
Wnt:n we wellt up thc line agaiu ou .Jamtary 31,
it was to Mourir S«»rrcl, (m thc north of Hill 60.
litre we had a good set of trenehcs, but they were
practically eut off from out trcnches at Hill 60 by
a swamp. Through the swamp rail a watery sort
of drain about four foot. d(,ep. It was the old
ff(rot line, now watcrloggcd and quite untenable.
Alth«)ugh the drain was hot hcld by day, a patrol
of b()mbcrs used to pass along it at intervals
during ¢hc night. And it was part of my duties
fo wadc through if evcrv night. This was hOt a
plcasaut job, bccause you could hOt show a light
and the lnud smelt ab()lailml)ly. We were pro-
vidcd, howevcr, with rubber 1)oots reaching up fo
the thigh, so we did hot gct very wet. Theofficers
of A Company occupied an 'elephant' shelter
just behind the support liue. Ail ifs occupants
were killed bv a shell bursting in the doorway,
just two days aftcr wc had lcft these trenches.
I first met Lieu¢. W. Keene ]acre. He was the
Brigade Grenadier otTicer and had the supervision
of ail bombing arralgements in the Brigade area,
besidcs beiug responsible for thc supply of grenades.
32 Q. 6. A
I a|wavs fimnd him fricndly and encouraging, and
I was gla.d to lcarn anyt]fing hc could tell me. He
asked me to send h a dailv rcport fo B.H.Q. ; and
I havc kcpt thc copics of thcsc reports to this dav.
S
During h]s stav h tlm trcnchcs thc German."
stuck up a notice bord with the fo]lowing lcgend :
,4tcio G«t/«m«, and bclow in (crman, 'If
you send over one more tl.ench-mortar boml) vou
will get strafed in the neek.'
()n Februavv 3 we were relieved and
(ompany stayed four days in the railway eutting
at tlill t;0 in close support. Thc scc»nd dav
wcnt wilh ('apt. V¢lch and I,icut. Grccnc to thc
trcnchcs ml'th of Mount Sorrcl which wcrc callcd
('mmv IIill. That journey was full of incidcnt,
we sccmcd to bc shclled or bombed ail thc wav to
BI,tant Srrcl and back, and (îapt. çelch has oflen
humourously suggested that I was lhc J«mah.
It also meant crossing the dismal swamp in day-
light, and how we did it without being sccn and
shot I rcally do hot kmw. During our star in
the cutting I cxplored thc old broken trcnches
bchind our support linc at Hill 60. and round a
fine dump of English bombs of early typcs. I
spcnt quite a long timc drawing lheir lccth. One
little incident I remember at, this spot. About
1 A.M. an elderly R.E. ocer came into our shelter,
and told us in a voice shaking with joyful emotion
that he had just blown up a German counter-mine
which had bccn thrcatening our lninc galleries at
Hill 6O.
On Febnmry 8 wc marched back to ('anada
MOUNT SORREL AND CANNY IIILL 88
Huts, and had auothcr four days' rcst. This
timc thc bombcrs carricd out a good dcal of lire
practice with Mill. bombs at somc bOllbing-pits
about hall a milc froln ('auada IIuts. If was
my fil'st expcricucc of thc sort; 1)ut Scrgt. Moffat
kcpt me u l) to thc proccdurc at thc firing-pit.
Also it was the first timc I had thc ch.ancc of throw-
ing a livc 51ills bomb mvsclf. On Fcbruary 12
we wcrc duc to take over tbc trellehcs at Canuy
ttill, ami I WCllt u l) carly and i)x" mysclt', riding
to Café Belge and thence Oll foot to Hill 60,
Mount Sorrcl, and so (m to Sanctuary Wood.
It was a ltmg wav round l)ut I knew 11o other
way. My dugout was in the wood, rathcr far
ïrom thc front line and froln th.e II.Q. of A
COlnl)any il l)avison Strcct. ()ur t'r(mt line
trenchcs were about quartcr of a milc awav ïrom
the German front line, but there were signs that
the (;erluans were digging a flwward tl'ench along
a hedge about 200 vards tlwav from our front.
Tlfis activitv gave the Staff some uneasiltcss, and
considcrablc intcrest was takcn il these forvard
workings. I wcnt out with ('apt. Wclcb for a
short visit in that direction the fil'st night, but
we saw nothing of interest. The next night
Capt. Velch brought 1)ack a re-etting stake from
the nexv Gerlnan trench. I believe it was on
February 13 that the Gerlnans attacked and
took the 'Bluff,' some trenches soutl-west of
Hill 60. About 3.30 .. out own trenches
were bombarded for about two hours continuously
with field artillery, and a lot of pieces wcre blown
8 Q. 6. A
out of the top of our trenehcs, but no infaltry
attaek developed. After his a small naine was
blown up undcr our old trcnches at Hill 60 and
a platoon was wiped out there. But an attempt
by the Gcrmans to occupy thc crater was frustrated
through thc initiative ol'a ma«hinc-gun ocer.
I saw and felt thc shock of this mine going up,
and a wondcrful sight it was in the cvening light.
Thc shelling wcnt on for some rime after dark,
whilst to out right out artillcry thundercd away
in support of several fruitless attcmpts to re-
capture thc lost tronches at the ' Bluff.'
01 Fcbruary 14 I was tt,ld to organise a series
of bombing parties, onc from cach company,
to visit thc Gcrman advanced treneh at differcnt
timcs during thc night and if possible to bomb
German parties working there. I dccidcd to
accompany thc first paoEy, from A Company,
betwccn 8 and 10 r.t. Scrgt. Dorgan, an
expericnced patroller, went vith me, also L.-C.
Lowes, Ptes. Austin and Gibson, and two other
bombcrs. As it was very we% I bad a sandbag
taken by each man tolie down on. Thc scheme
was to crccp right up to the new trcnch near the
hedgc, and await the arrival of the German working-
party. So we crept out along the wet ground
and got to the trench, whieh was about two feet
deep. We round no ont there, and Pte. Austin
went on into the hedge to keep a look-out. In
the hedge were round a Gernmn snipcr's plate,
a steel shicld with a loop-hole in it, and a German
entrenching tool, like a small spade. These were
MOUNT SORREL AND CANNY HILL 3.
at once annexcd. Thcn we lay clown again on
the sandbags and waitcd with cyes and ears
straining for about an hour. But no Gcrmans
came, though we had onc warning from our sentrv
to get rcady to tire. Aftcr that, cold aud
thoroughly soakcd, we rcturncd in triumph with
the sandbags and our spoils, which we placed in
our ovn trench. The other parties went out
later but found no Germms at work. Possiblv
the wet night or the battlc on out right prcvcntcd
thcm from coming out to work that night. Thc
objcct of thcsc forward trcnches was aftcrwards
apparent, whcn four months latcr the Germans
attackcd md took Mourir Sorrcl. On February 16
we wcre relievcd and went back into support for
four days. [ havc forgotten whcre we went,
but I think it was to the ('anal Dugouts hot far
from Swan Château.
On Fcbruary 20 we rcturned to thc samc
trenches at Cmmv Hill and hcld them for rive days.
The first night in, Cal)t. Wclch was badly wounded
through the shouldcr whilst bringing in a wounded
man who had been hit whilst outside wiring. IIe
was a great loss to the battalion, and was sadlv
nlissed by the men as well as by the oflieers. It now
turned very eold, and we had a fall of suow several
inehes deep. This ruade it diffieult for parties to
work in the trenehes without being spotted. I
had an unpleasant experienee of this. I was
looking for an emplacement for a grenade-rifle
stand, and I seleeted a likely-looking spot just
behind the front line. Then I brought a party
86 Q. 6. A
of bombers to dig the place out. Wc had hot
thrown out rive shovelfuls of earth before a shell
came whistling just over our heads. Fortuna.tely
I dispersed the party at once along the trench.
Then the fun began. Shells came whizzing in all
round the unlucky spot, till a direct hit right in
the middle of it apparently satisfied the German
gunners and the storm eeased. After that I chose
another place farthcr along the trench whcre no
digging was rcquircd.
On Fcbruarv 25 wc lcft Canny Iiill and went
back to Canada Huts. On this occasion wc had
to make rathcr a dctour fo allow thc troops of the
3rd Division to use thc roads ; and in so doing we
passed Ypres railway station.
On Nareh 1 we moved into the support dug-
ours at Transport Fann, ealled Railway Dugouts.
V(e were told to expeet a bombardlnent by our
guns that night, as the ' Bluff ' was fo be attaeked
and retaken early next da)'. The 1)ombers of the
7th N.F. spent SOllIe time detonating grenades
by eandlelight iu the bomb store at Transport
Farm. Sure enough there was a terrifie bolnbard-
ment for hall an hour. It was the first of the
kind that I had seen, and I bclicve that at least
500 guns of all calibres were eolleeted for the
oeeasion. The whole of the landseape seemed
to be alight, everv hedge flickering with flame;
vhilst avay towards the ' Bluff ' t.here vas a sullen
red glare where out shells vere bursting. Nothing
further happened that night. But at dawn next
morning the 8rd Division attaeked the 'Bluff'
MOUNT SORREL AND CANN¥ HILL 87
without bombardment and surpriscd the garrison,
taking manv 1)risoncrs and rccat)turing the lost
trenches and some more ground bcsides. I saw
one or two drovcs of prisoners coming back past
Bed[ord IIouse, thc first tilne I had seen anv live
Boches. The bombardmclt bv onr guns started
again soon after thc attack, and out guns k('pt up
a slow ra.te of tire ail dav. In rcply the Gevman
heavy guns shcllcd thc back arcas frccly, espccially
the road past Transport Farm, and wc got a few
shells ncar thc railwav. Wc got ordcrs to take
ovcr the trcnchcs at Mount Sorrcl thc samc night.
I left with a party of bombcrs soon aftcr :1 P.M.,
going along a ('.T. to Sanctuarv Wood and then
ba.ck through the trcnchcs to Mount Sorrel.
We ïound the trcnchcs in a sad mess. That
morning therc had been a dcmonstration with ail
arms along this part of thc front, and thc enemv
had naturallv rctaliatcd and done a lot of damagc.
To increase our troubles it bccame very cold, and
the ShOW fell inches decp. But thcre was no
more shelling on eithcr side for the next weck.
Apart from sniping, which was assisted bv the
snow, we wcre left in peace to balc out the mud
and repair thc trenchcs. This cold snap caused a
lot of sickness, and it was not improved bv our
having to hold these trenches for over a weeka
long rime under such wintrv conditions. At last.
on March 9, we were relieved and moved back
to some dugouts ncar Bedford House. Here we
staved for SOlUe da.vs, ta.king working-parties up
to IIill 60 at night, froln 7 v.., to 1 .,,.x. One
ss Q.
night wc wcrc shcllcd off the roads, and had to
corne back vith nothing donc. Another rime I
took a party to menti a brcach in thc front line
af tti]l 60. I think we wcnt back to Canada
Huts abont Ma.rch 16--at my rate we had a longer
rest than nsual. Sir Dou'las ltaig came over to
Canada tInts to inspeet the battalion. Amongst
other things he inspeeted A Company who were
drawn up in their hut, 2nd-Lieut. Clregson and
myself being the subalterls there in charge. The
Cleneral spoke to Gregson first, and asked him how
long he llad bcen out. lIe rcplied: ' Janum'y 14,
sir'--meaniug Jammry 14, 1916. Ilis reply was,
however, taken fo mean ' Jammry 1914,' and quite
a little disenssion took place, whieh amused me
mueh, as (l'egson stuek to his point. Afterwards
the General came round to nlv end of the hut and
asked me how long I had been out. ' Jmmary 1 »,
sir,' I replie& ' That's all right,' he said, ' well, I
vish you the best of luek.' There was an amused
twinkle in his kind sympathetie faee, as I was still
half-smiling over his little eontroversv with Clregson.
After this we moved off to another test eamp
hot far away, for a few days. O11 Match 2 we
were due to take over the trenehes at Hill 60 again
for three davs. I went up early in the dav and 'took
over' the various bombing arrangements The
trenehes now inelnded some on the south side of
the Railway Cntting, and I had mv dugont there
in the top of a small hilloek ealled the ' 3Iound.'
From 7.30 I.M. to 10 1.. that night the trenehes
and Cutting were heavily bombarded, but the
MOUNT SORREL AND CANNY ItILL 89
relief was not much dc]aycd. The 7th N.F.,
however, had great luck in having only two men
wounded whilst coming in. Thcy wcre unfortunate
casualtics, if is true, 2nd-Licut. J. II. C. Swinney 1
and Scrgt. Dorgan, both good mon and a loss fo
thc battalion. The ncxt thrce days were bad days
for us. Thc battalion had over fifty casualties,
much above the average. Four days in the line
gcnerally gave about scven or eight casualties.
On March 25 British mines wcre exploded af St.
Eloi, and the mine craters wcre occupied by the
3rd Division. Thc explosion took place just before
dawn, about a milc or more fo the south, but if
vokc me ail of a shake. I thought af first that
I vas going fo tumble dovn into the Cutting the
ground heaved and rocked so much. The German
heavy artillery took the precaution of bombarding
out part of the front, and caused many casualties
and much damage in the front line. The whole
of C Company barmen were killed by a shell, and
2nd-Lieut. Burt, a new arrival but an old friend,
was also killed. Poor lad, he was always certain
that he would be killed as soon as he got out fo
France ! I saw in the trenches a pile o out dead,
three or four deep, waitiug for removal fo the rear.
The shelling was severe af rimes during the next
two days. Lieut. Platt, a ïorward observing
officer of the 50th Divisional Artillery and a well
knovn and welcome figure in the trenches, was
killed by a shell just below my own dugout. We
lmd cause, indeed, fo rememher out last visit to
A special friend,who unhappily was lfilled a Wancour in 1917.
40 Q. 6. A
Hill 60. During this visit I first met some
Canadian oflicers who wcre looking over the line
beïore taking it over from the 50th Division.
On :5larch 27 we were relieved md I went back
with A Company to some dugouts near Bedford
House. Our first dav thcrc wc werc shclled out
of thcse dugouts and had to takc refuge for a rime
in Bcdford lIonsc. A Bclo'iau batterv lmd just
arrivcd close to us, and unfortunately thev gave
the position awav. In hc afternoon I went a
long round to various rcscrve bomb stores to check
the stores. Next nig'ht I paid a last visit to the
Cutting at Hill 60 with a workilag-pa.rty. Second-
Lieut. E. V. Styles was also there on a similar job.
llc lmd just comc out ; and bcing anxious to see
somcthing of the famous Hill 60 trcnches he went
off by himself into thc front line, and. I suppose,
asked various questions of the sentries. Anyway,
whcn ncxt I sav him he was coming back down
the Cutting followcd af an intcrval bv a scntry
with a fixcd bayonct, who askcd me if I knew who
he was. Mv rcply was no doubt disappointing to
the soldicr, who thought he had reallv captured a
spy this rime, and earned lais two weeks' lcavc--
the reward for arresting a sl)y.
On March 29, bcfore leaving tbe area, I aeted
as guide to some Canadian troops, from Café Belge
to the Canal Dugouts. They seemed to be fine
fellows and well up to strength in all their eolll-
parties. The saine night out battalion went baelç
to Seottish Lines at Ouderdom, but we moved
baek to Canad, Huts leXt day.
VII
KEIMEL
ON Match 31 1 rode over with various company
otlieers lo Kcmmcl, and we lo»kcd over the trenehes
II2---K1 bclow Wytsehaete Ridée. We were to
take over lhis part of lhe line from the Canadians
in two days' rime. It was once a quiet spot, and
I think we wcrc sent thcre for that reason. But
wc soon found lhat we had eome out of lhe frying-
pan only to go into lhe tire. The battle that was
still r,qgin at St. Eoi about a toile te» lhe nooEh
was desfined o alter the character of the once
peaeefu! Kemlnel area. I had now ehanged mv
mess. All the old olieers of A Company had
disappeared sinee I first joined the battalion ; so
I aeeepted n invitation from Capt. G. F. Ball to
join D Company mess. I was glad to do this, for
not only w,qs Capt. Ball the kindest and best of
fellows, but lhere were old friends there--2nd-
Lieuls. Peters and J. t/obinson--whom I knew well
at Alnwiek.
On April I the battalion .set out for the new
area, marehing tiret to Loere and halting lhere
for the midday lnCa|. Later on, towards night,
D Company proeeeded to R.E. Farm, a support
42 Q. 6. A
billet just vacatcd by Canadians, and staycd thc
night thcre. The Canadians lcft a lot of excellent
ration tobacco bchind thcm both hcrc and in thc
trcnchcs.
Ncxt day wc wcnt forward to thc new trenchcs.
Thcy wcrc a change indccd ïrom thosc in the Salicnt,
W)%schuctc Ridge--Trench lIup, April 1916.
and it was cvident that there had hot been much
heavy sbelling there. Instcad of the high narrow
trenches at Hill 60, thcy were mostly lncrc breast-
works with little or no back protection. .nd the
C.T.s were lmrdly decp enough to afford protection
from sniping or indirect rifie tire. FooEunately
the Germans did hot snipe these trenchcs. Therc
were three gaps in the front line, and two small
posts in No Man's Land. A long vinding C.T.
brought you from Battalion H.Q., which were at
KEMMEI, 43
I{ossignol Farm about a toile from the front line
trcnches. The main features of the landscal»e vere
the Wytschacte Ridge and Petit Bois--a thick wood
on our lcft front. Thc Gcrman trcnches were hot
at first at all close to ours; and both thcir wirc
and ours was thick and solid. Wc had a big mine
shaft in the supports,but a good way back from
thc front line. Thc Cana.diaus told ns that thcre
had bcen littlc fighting thcrc exccpt bctwcen
patrols and duriug raids. And it was cvidcut that
thcy had spent lllorc tiluc and labour in drainiug
thc tronches than in fortifyilg thcm. I had
quartcrs with nlost of thc |)oml)crs in a support.
trench, H.5, about 250 yards from our front lile.
We had thc trench all to ourselvcs and during my
first visit to these trenches, vhich lastcd six days,
it was a quiet, happy home, with a grcen ficld behind
and an occasiolal t)hcasaut crowing in the hcdgcs.
UnfooEunately for the bombers, en, placements
for 60-pounder trcnch-mooEars (wotked by the
R.F.A.) were already being dug at eithcr end of
out trench, and I knew thcre would soon be trou})le
for tt.5. We had a curions little bonlbing-post
outside the front line at H., vhich was only hcld
at night. It was inside out wirc, but you could
only reach it by clambering over the top of the
parapet after dark. The post vas connccted by
a string to a sentry-post in the front line. And
rations signals vere arranged to warn the scntry in
thc front line as to what was going on. for example,
two jcrks on thc string : ' Man rcturning to trench.'
three jcrks : ' Enemy patrol ou right.' and so on.
44 Q. 6. A
A similar bombing-post was also hcld at night for
the first Cime during this visit. This was in an
old brokcn-down trcnch ouCsidc out wirc, callcd
'J.3 Right.' If was more dicult of approach
owing to Che mud and fo iCs distance from Che
front line, and of course more dangerous because
if miht be attackcd by the cncmy's patrols. Capt.
Hugh Liddcll ol'B ('ompany found this old treneh
whilst l)atrolling No Man's Land. It was prol,ably
once ])art of ihc ff'ont line whieh had beeome
waterh,gged and ihen almnd, nwd. ('al)t. Liddell
had his Il.Q. in 3.4 af this rime. The first night
he wcat with me to this treneh with a party of
1)onibcrs, and wc staycd froni 2 A.M. till dawn was
breakin. Cal»t. Liddcll was a great tower of
strength to us in these trenches, ont of the most
fearless and pugnaeious of luen. with a faste for
wandcring about No Man's Land o' nights. It
did you good nierely to look ai him.
On April 8 we were rclicved by the 6th N.F.,
and D Company moved to a billet at R.C. Farm.
One of the buildings had reccntly been fired bv a
shell, and the bodies of several horses that had
been crematcd inside niade thc air rather pungcnt.
Whilst we were out of the line, the Gcrioan artillcry
started shclling thc tronches sevcrely, inflieting
heavy casualties on the 6th N.F., and punishing
espccially thc support trcnch at J.4 and the bombers
retrcat at II.5. During our rcst I went with Capt.
I,iddell md a working party of B Company to
dig and fill in somc cal»le trcnches behind thc
supports of the 'L' Trenches. During the work
KEMMEL 45
I first ruade the acquaintanee of Lieut. A. E. Odell,
the Brigade Signalling O{ficer, who later an became
a great friend. We went back to the old tronches
on April 13. and I fimnd thc bombcrs of the 6thN.F.
had moved thcir quarters from H.5 to Turuer
Town (lcft), two rows of small splintcr-proof dug-
ours hchind thc mine shaft. The tronches wcre
badlv knocked about, and thc German artillcry
and trench-mortars vcrc still causing trouble.
I now messcd with 1) Company at their I[.Q. in
K.l.a. On the cvening of April 16, I had to patrol
thc ground ncar the minc shaft with a party of
bombers, to look out for a Gcrman spy who was
thought to Ie making back this wav. We saw
nothiug of him, but I bclieve that 2nd-Lieut.
J. Robinsm arrested a Cnadian Mining Oflieer,
who iu the dark was tllklloWli t« him.
On April lS we wcre rclicvcd bv the 6th N.F.
thcir Bombing Ollicer, 2nd-I,ieut. A. Toou, taking
over froln me. This tiule we moved baek to Locre.
But I was sent to B.H.Q. at Bruloose with lny
servant, as Lieut. W. Keene was awav on lcave,
and it was intended that I should act for him till
he came baek. However I was not long at B.H.Q.
belote it appeared that Lieut. Keene would be
returniltg that night. Belote going off to Loere,
however, I was asked to star to dira,er with the
oeers of B.H.Q. whieh I did; raid it was a
pleasant experienee. The battalion had good
quarters in Loere in the Cnvent Sehool, and we
soon round that a good lunch or dinner was served
by the Nuns at the eonvent to weary offieers.
46 Q. 6. A
Thcy al.o lct you use the convent baths. On
April 20 we held a battalion dinner there il com-
memoration of the Battlc of St. Julien.
On Good Friday ve had an Easter service, as
we wcre to bc in the trenches again on Easter Day.
Our padrc was Çapt. Rev. J. 0. Aglionby, C.F.,
whom we came to know and like very well. Thc
bombers had a day's training at Bruloose, and we
were asked to bring out steel hclmets, which had
just bcch issucd. So I worc minc for the first
fimc. Aftcr the practice was ovcr, I was asked
to corne and sce the Brigade Bombing Ofiicer firc
off some Mills rifle-grenades, which were a novelt.y
then. Whilst this was going on a grenade burst
prematurcly soon al'ter leaving the rifle, and a
piece came back and struek my hchnet, cutting
the lining and scratching the mctal. After that
I vould noyer part with that helmet, though newer
ones were issued later on. Our last visit to the
trenchcs was tobe shorter, and we were tobe
relieved by the 3rd Division iii three davs. Ye
set off' on Saturday, April 22, and arrived in the
C.T. all right, for the Germans seldom shelled the
roads in this area. But vhcn we got thcre we
found things rathcr lively. A shcll killcd two or
three mcn of D Company as they wcre approaching
K.l.a; and Capt. Liddell and I had a splinter
from another shell between us as we passed up
Rossignol C.T. On arriving I got a message from
the Adjutant saying, 'The G.O.C. orders that
you use the greatest vigilance by day and by night.'
The next day, Easter Day, the enemy shelled the
KEMMEL 47
trcnchcs all dav. Cal)t. G. F. l,'all and I had an
unpleasant experience in K.l.a, after lunch. For
nearly two hours a howitzer battcry shelled thc
place slowly and mcthodically, working up and
dowu the littlc trcnch. Maay timcs dirt and
rubbish came flying into our shelter, but the only
direct hit was on a minor structure which of course
disappeared. Next day out cook-house was blown
in and the crockery all smashed, but ïortunately
it was empty oïnae at thc rime. In thcse trcnehes
it was diflicult to gct artillcry rctaliation, for thc
fighting at St. Eloi swallowcd up most of thc spare
anmmnition, and thc allowance of she]ls for the
batteries was small; so the enemv had a free
hand in shelling our deïences. Early on the
Monday morning the enemy fircd a shallow mine
betwecn his trenches and out own. It was a
method of gaining ground, for the craters were
fortified and turncd into a trcnch. In this way
the Germans began to approach fairly close to us
at K.1 and J.3. I had to registcr with Newton
rifle-grclmdcs on the crater, but as we were short
of cartridges it was hot possible to tire at night.
OnApri125 we were relieved by the 4th Battalion
of the Royal Fusiliers, and I got away from the
trenches with the last of the bombers about mid-
night. Therc was a big bombardmelat of thesc
trenches next day, causing eighty casualtics to the
new-comers. My own little shclter was blown to
pieces by a howitzer shell and the occupants killed.
Nearly two years elapsed before I was again living
in front line trenches.
VIII
DIV[S[ONAL REST
IN thc cm'Iv hours of Al)vil 26 the I)attalion
rcachcd Locre and spcnt thc rcst of thc uight in
billcts. Bv 8 A.t. wc rcsumcd our match, and
wcnt through Baillcul to Mctcrcn. It was plcasant
indccd to sce tho isi¢lo of a town again, and to
gct awav from thc area that was brokcn to bits.
We werc to be out of thc line, wc hol)cd, for at
lcast a month, so naturally evcrv onc was fccling
light-hcartcd. Thc I)ombcrs of thc battalion wcrc
collcctcd iti a company about cighty strong, and
thcy wcrc billctcd together undcr inv charge.
Out quartcrs wcrc af a large Frcnch farm, called
on thc ma 1 ) 'Fcvcr Farm,' and ncar ¢o if was a
fine set of I)oml)ing trcnchcs. Licut. XV. Keenc
was also living at this farm, in order t¢) bc ncar
thc bombing ground. And wc had ¢,ur littlc mess
togcthcr in thc fa'm parlour, and out bedroom
in a nicc drv attic. No bcmbing ork was donc
for thc first thrcc days, in ordcr to gi'c rime for
thc mcn to gct rcstcd and to elcan thcir cquipmcnt.
Thc bombcrs wcrc billctcd in a large barn just
across thc yard, with plcnty of clcan straw inside.
Thc Frcnch farmcr aud his wifc wcrc olcasant bodics.
DIVISIONAL REST 49
nice and fricndly to us, and glad no doubt to be
ablc to scll thcir light bccr and cggs to thc English
soldicr-man. Thc othcr companies of the bat¢alion
wcrc billcted in farm-houscs ncar Mctcrcn. In
case of an attack by thc Germans on thc Corps
front the battalion had ordcrs to go forward and
lllall lhe trcnches on Kcmmcl tIill. I rcccivcd a
papcr of instructions a.s fo what to do in case of
alarm. SVc could tcl[ that thc (;crmans wcre
causing troublc up thc linc, for wc hcard a hcavy
b)mbardmcnt g,ing ,n bcy(,nd Kcmmcl. About
1.30 ..M. on Stmday, April 30, thc bombcrs' scntry
came and wokc roc up, and I wcnt downstairs to
tind a mcssenger had arrivcd with thc code warning
'Kcmmcl Dcfcnccs.' So I quickly roused thc
lnCn and warncd thcm to bc rcady to start in hall
an hour. We hurricd into our war kit and formcd
up in thc dark outsidc, and soon marchcd off to
join thc rcst of thc battalion outsidc Mctercn.
Wc lcarncd that thc cncmy had looscd off a lot of
gas beyond Kemmel. and we were to man the
the defenccs as soon as possible. The battalion
marched along as far as thc entrance to Bailleul,
when just as dav was breaking a cyclist orderly
rode up with ordcrs for us t,» rcturn to our billets.
No infantrv attack had followed the gas cloud,
and we were ïrce to rcturn to test. The Brigade
had anothcr alarm next day, but it was quickly
cancelled ; and af ter that we were hot called out
again. Evcry morning was given to bombing
practice, and I offered a small prize each day for
a competition in throwing. If it was wet the
50 Q. 6. A
mon stoppcd in thc barn, and had a lecture on
English or Gcrnmn grenades. Ont ,ftcrnoon 1
walkcd over to Bai||cul and had a bath at tire Corps
bathso Thcy wcre rathcr primitive but the watcr
was hot.
It ruade a nicc change to gct back to civilisation
once more and to havc a mcal at a restaurant ; and
thc shops of course wcrc a grcat attraction.
About May 5, just a» I was about to set out
a second i:ilnC tbr Bailleul, a lcttcr ealne iii for me
ïrom my brothcr George. It was datcd the previous
day ami said that he was billctcd with his unit
close to Mcteren. So I set off at once to find him,
and had thc good luek fo meet him as he was
cycling rotmd on some mcdical inspection duties.
1Ils uuit had just eome out to France and he had
no idea I was so near at hand; and I think he
nearly fell off his bieyele with surprise when I first
appeared in that country lane. He eould hot wait
long then, so I asked him to eome to tca with us
at Fever Fann ncxt day. And two da.ys after
that I dined with the H.Q. Mess of his trait, the
15th Hants Rcgilncnt, whieh I enjoyed very
lnueh. Unfortunatcly I saw no nmre of hiln at
this rime; as I lcït Fever Farm about May 11.
It was now decided that I should hand over
the bombing fo end-Lieut. E. G. Lawson, a most
eheery and encrgetie bonber, and return to
eompany work. So I was put in eommand of
C Company and returned with them fo Loere,
where I stayed for about a week. I had hot nmeh
to do here, exeept the daily inspection of the
DIVISIONAL REST 51
company and orderly room. The men of the
company included mauy of my old recruits of
C Compny tt Alnwick whom I ws glad to see
again. About Muy 19 I got my first leave, it xvas
for scvcn clear days. And I suppose there was no
happicr lnall in France just then. The train
startcd from Baillcul station about 6 A.L so [ lmd
to lcave Loerc thc night belote and stay thc night
at an hotcl at Bailleul. I had a eomparatively
quiek journcy to thc coast, for wc rcaehed Boulogne
at 10.5 A». ju,t in timc to catch the 11 o'clock
boat. I arrived in Folkcstonc ubout 1.45
and in London about 3.30 1,.L thc saine day.
Though shol% it was a happy rime, md I rcturncd
on May 26, stuying onc night in Boulogne and
reaching ]3aillcul about midnight on Saturday,
May 27. I found that the battalion was still at
Locre, but thc Brigade had gonc baek to the line,
holding thc samc trcnehes on Wytschacte Ridge.
An unfortmmte accident had just happcned in
our old trcnchcs. Lieut. W. Kecnc and 2nd-Lieut.
Toon wcrc both badlv injurcd and an N.C.O. killed
in thc trenchcs by a Mills riflc-grcnadc, which,
through u dcfcctivc cartridge, fell out of the rifle
and burst iu the treneh. So wheu I got baek to
thc battalion I was told I had to procecd to B.H.Q.
at Bruloose and take over the ofice of :Brigade
Bombing Officcr in place of Lieut. Kecne. This
closcd my immcdiatc conucction ith the 7th N.F.
for twenty months.
IX
131R IGDE HEAD-QUARTERS
AIr lnïantry Brigade Ilcad-quartcrs in France
could bc a happy borne ; but only if the Bt'igadier
was likcd and rcspcctcd by thc rcst of the Staff,
and tricd to nmke them fcel at home. It secms
almost an impertinence even at this date for me
fo say anything whether in praise or in b]ame of
the man who eontrollcd the imlnediate destinies
of the 149th Infantry Brigade when I first joined
it. But as I beeame much attached to Brigadier-
General Clifford I may perhaps be forgivcn for
deseribing him rather elosclv. Tall and dignified,
with a eold exterior and a pcnctrating grcy eye,
he had the power of emnmlding the respect and
obedience of all. His fatalistie eontempt of danger
took him into the trenches wherever shelling was
hottest; and if is difficult to imagine how he
eseaped being snipcd at Hill 60 or on the Wytschaete
Ridge.
He was loved by the men of the 7th N.F. as
one who was willing to slmre their dangers, and
always ready with a word of eheer in tbe hottest
corner. ' We eould have gone anywhere and donc
anything for him, if only he had becn there to
BRIGADE HEAD-QUARTERS 53
sec it.' Such vas the cpital)h that the gallant
Northumberlands gave him whcn he fcll. I round
his old«vorld courtcsv of manncr and aristocratic
bcaring most inspiring. And hc knev the right
wav of gctting a thing donc without being cross
or overbcaring. A splcndid type of chivalrous
soldicr, hc stands out in my memory as a beacon
of light whcn I have fclt inclincd to grumble ai
the Arlnv system. I ean eall to mind a score of
acts fo inc, whieh rcvealcd thc kindly, generous
heart bcneath that cohl exterior. Ont of the first
things he said to me when I joincd the Brigade
was this : ' Bueklcy, mind 3-ou make your authority
felt with these adjutants. Remember, for the
purposes of lmmbing, you are the Gcneral.' How
eould he have shown more generous confidence
or eneouraged me more for the nesv rôle I had to
play ?
Major Rowan, out" Brigade-Major, was another
typieal officer of the old Rcgular Army, who was
gencrally liked. I did not get to know him so
well, as hc left us for higher Staff dutics bcfore two
months had passed. I ahvavs round hiln kin(i
and considerate.
Cal)t. D. Hili had been Staff-Captain ever since
the Brigade came out to France, and what he did
not know al)out the job was not worth knowing.
He often astonishcd me by his knowledge of what
could be donc, and by his screnc confidence whcn
things were looking difficult. Never ruffled, the
kindest and most gcnial of lnen, he oïten proved
a good friend and counsellor.
5 Q. 6. A
Capt. G. E. Wilkinson staycd with us a short
timc and thcn lcft to join a mcss of his own Machine-
Gun Oflicers. A man of the brightest good-
hunmur and gaicty, lac always kept us lively and
anmsed. He wcnt far iu the war--from 2nd-Licut.
to Colonel of a battalion in cightecn months.
I necd say nothing floEhcr of ]ris qualities as a
so]dicr. IIe was at Oxford whcn I was there, and
I rcmcmbcrcd sccing him at out Law Lectures.
I,icut. G. S. Haggic, the bcst of fellows too,
was ahvays kind fl'icnd to me, and nmde me feel
at homc in my ncw surroundings. I sav a lot
of him both lOW and latcr on whcn we did many
a strange hunt togethcr for ammunition dumps
in the lnost impossible of placcs, tic was a
trcmcndous walkcr and could get over really bad
lnuddy ground at an amazing speed.
I was destincd also to see much of the Brigade
Signaller, Lieut. A. E. 0dell, who vas quite
remarkable character. He vas a lion in the guise of
a dove, an autocrat in the guise of a radical, a rigid
disciplinarian in the guise of an army reforlîacr. He
won the M.C. and Bar and earned them both.
He worked his men hard but himself barder still.
He had the eurious faculty of being able to work
for hours by day and to spend the whole night in
some muddy ditch up in the front line. ttis
kindness to and eonsideration for his signallers,
were only exeeeded by his eonscientious devotion
to duty. tte ruade me respect and like and envy
him, even if he occasionally ruade me smile.
Major Rowan left us, I think, at La Clytte er
BRIGADE IIEAD-QUARTERS 55
Dranou'cre, and Capt. W. Andcrson bccamc Brigade-
Major in his place. Hc had joincd the 6¢h N.F.
at the outbrcak of war and go¢ his company and
the M.C. at ¢he Ba¢tle of St. Julien. In January
1916 he 3vas appointcd G.S.O. III af 50th Division
H.Q. 'Bill' Andcrson was a grcat man, and
combincd thc fcarlcssness of thc NotoEhumbrian
xvith a grea'c brain. He was prol)al)ly "clae best
'civilian' tactician in the Arluy, and had he
decidcd to join the Rcgular Army I should have
expcctcd him ço risc very high indccd. I know
what the lt9th Ilffantry Brigade owcd ço hiln;
but I doubt whether many o'ehers klaoxv qui'ce as
vell. And I have always "dmught that he xvas
never given fill seope for exereising lais wonderful
ability. A tall soldicrly figure, with noble features
and picreing blue eyes that eould harden ahnost
to ru'ehlesslaess, I earry hiln in my mind as my
ideal of a Staff Oflïccr. He eould get men to do
anything for hiln; his kindly tact and sympathy,
lais rare appreeiation of your efforts, hmvever
elumsy, lnade you ready to xvork for him like a
slave. He has been a good friend to me throughout,
and he has done more for me than any othcr man
in France. '
At Bruloose the officers of the Brigade had
small wooden huis of the Armstrong type for offices
and sleeping rooms. The mess room was in the
farm-house. Naturally it was a grcat change
from the rude accommodation of a Company Mess.
M. Bunge, the French interpretcr, looked after out
comforts well.
Next to B.H.Q. vas a large and fairly uscful
bombing ground, where the Brigade Bombing
School was ca.rricd on ; and I spent a good deal of
rime there, as I was in charge of the sehool. On
two days out o1" ex'erv four I spent the morning
there, and in thc aftcrnoon I was frcc to visit the
tronches, some tirer nfilcs awax'. On the othcr
two da.vs I eould go up to ihe trenehes in the
morfing.
I did hot iss a dav's visit to thc trenehc%
and once or twiee I went u 1) twiee in the da.v.
The jom-ney was donc on fo«t, so I had quite
a good day's exereise. Mv (iuties in the trenehes
were to sec that thc battalion in the line had a
proper SUl)l)ly of grenades; these were taken up
by the battalion transport af night. Also that
the grenades in the trenehes and all bomb stores
were properly stored and eleaned. I had also
to see that sueicnt rifle-grenades were fired at
night to harass the enemy's working-parties, and
that our bombing-posts were properly mamed.
During out stay at Bruloose I had nearly 2000
grenades taken out of the trenehes and replaced
bv new ones ; this was hard work fl)r the transport.
But thc transport offieers were 'ery obliging;
and I flmnd on firing these old grenades at the
sehool that about 30 to 40 per cent did hot burst
prope-ly or even at all. The situation in the
trenehes was getting very bad. Shelling by the
x Brigade Transport, Cpt. KinseH ; 7th N.F., Cpt. B. Nele ;
6th N.F., Lieut.. F. ('layton ; 5.h N.F., Lieut. M. G. Ppe ; 4th N.F.,
Lieut.. W. M. Turuer.
BRIGADE IIEAD-QUARTERS 57
enemy's artillerv was now lcss frequent, but the
a]llOVanee fronl cnelny trench-mortars was some-
thingcruel. Not onlylarge oil-cans, full of explosives,
came over both by da.v and ])v night, but a horrible
9-inch trench-mortar now madc its appcarance
and blew large cratcrs in the C.Ts. and supports.
I had two of lhe oil-cans prctty close to me at
dif[ercnt rimes, and lhey were not pleasant.
Eventuallv the trcneh-mortaring got so sevcrc,
that lhc V ('orps had a ]2-inch howitzer
I)]'ught up on hc railway, and several of these
hugc shclls werc fircd into Petit Bois whcn thc
Gcrman trcnch-mortars startcd. Anothcr fcaturc
to bc rcckowd wih was the approach of the encmy
towards K.1 and J.3 by means of a scrics of
fortificd mine cracrs. These craters were workcd
on at night, and by the General's orders they ]md
to I)e kept under constant tire from rifle-grenades.
Several nights I wcnt up to the trcnchcs to sec this
carricd out, once accompanied by the General
himsclf. I had at thc Bruloose bomb store a
fairly good sock of smokc and inccndiary bombs,
like large cocoa tins, only containing red or white
phosphorus. It occurrêd fo me that thcy might
be used with effcct against the Gcrmans working
in the cratcrs. So I ca'icd a numbcr of thcse
bombs up to thc trenches, and they were duly
fired from thc Vest spring-throwcr or from the
trench-catapult. The Gcrmans did not seem to
likc thcm, as thcir discharge always drew a lot of
machine-gun tire in reply. We also tried to get
some more noxious bombs (e.g. 'M.S.K.'), but
58 Q. 6. A
no supply could be obtained from the Base. The
Bombing Officers 1 of the 6th and 7th N.F. carried
on the harassing tire with such eï[ect that eventua|ly
the (;ermans took to sending showcrs of ' fishtails '
whencver a rifle-grcnade was loosed off. The
" fishtail ' was a small trench-mortar bomb, which
the Ccrmans substituted for the riflc-grenade and
used with great effect. Needless to say out
dcmonstrations were hot vcry popular with the
infantry in the front line. But Capt. Vernon
Mcrivalc, M.C., appcarcd to take a special dclight
in these harassng shoots.
2nd-Lieuts. Toon and Thoml»son (6th N.F.) and Lawson nd
Woods (7th N.F.).
X
TIIE BRIGADE ]30MBING SCIIOOL
TIIE staff of instructors at the Bombing Sehool
consisted of three highly trained scrgeants-two
of these had bcen instructors at the 50th Divisional
Bombing School which was nov given up. Sergt.
Hogg of the 5th N.F. and Scrgt. P. Flamfigan of
the 4th. N.F. took it in turns to be at the school
and at the Brigadc Bolnb Storc. So with Scrgt.
Moffat, who was nov appointed Brigade Bomb-
ing Sergeant, I had always two to hclp nie at the
school.
On the tvo bombing days sixteen untrained
men came from the battalion resting at Locre and
sixteen others fronl the battalion restiug at R.C.
Farm.
During the two davs these men had fo be
sufficiently instructed to throv three lire Mills
grenades. Generally they threv one live grenade
apiece after the first day's instruction, and the
two others the second day. The first thing was
to give a lecture to the men, explaining the nature
of the Mills grenade and the proper vay to hold
it and throv it.
Aftcr this a part)- of sixteen men were lined
60 Q. 6. A
up in two liues, about forty yards apart and cach
of the eight men iu turn threxv a dummy greuade
towards the mal opposite him. Thc instructor
had to be careful that the nmn threw ia the correct
way and he]d his grenade right. The action of
throwiag the gremde was more like bowling over-
hand than throwing. ,fter about ail hour of this
the first party of men, eight in number, weut doxvn
to the firig-trcueh, whieh had to be 200 vards
clear of anv troops. There wcre two sandbag
walls, brea.t.workç about rive feet high--the
one in frot xith a smal! travcrsc wall. At the
front wall stood the recruit, the scrgeaut-instructor,
and the Brigade Bombilg Otticer. In front about
thirtv yards awav was a dcep pit, mostlv full of
wate¢, which had been excavated bv inlumerable
grenadcs thrown iuto it. The other seven men
took refuge behiud the second wall, ultil it was
their tutu to throw. Before the grenade was
throwu the officer had to blow two blasts on his
whistle. The first meat ' Get readv to fire'i.e.
draw the safety-pin, the second meaut 'lire. '
Some ncu of course were more confideut than
others; but on the whole the Northumberlands
were easy to teach, for many xvere miners and ac-
customed to explosives--il fact, it was sometimes
diflïcult to make them take cover properly. Vhen
the grenade was thrown, every one ducked down
behind the wall and waited for tle explosion. If
it went off ail right, ail xvas xvell ; and the next man
cme along for his turn. If, however, the grenade
did hOt go off, if had if possible fo be retrieved
THE BRIGADE BOMBING S('IIOOL 61
and the detonator taken out. This was the Inost
exciting work I had to do. Gencrally the sergeant
and I took it in turns to piek up these 'dud'
grenades as they were callcd. Aftcr some experi-
cnee it was possible to tell thc moment the grenade
was thrown whv it did hot go off, for example
the fuse might be damp and never light; or the
cap might missfire; or, WOl'St o[ ail 'duds,' the
striker might stick ïast through rust or dirt.
Beïore I gained the expericnee of pieking up
these 'duds' and drawing their teeth, I had one
lueky eseape. The grenade in question had a
' hanging striker ' and burst on the ground within
rive vards of nie. It was hot, I t]dnk, a vers"
good explosion, but one of the lfieees eaught me
on the thigh- happily it eut iato the semn of my
breeches and then turned, ïollowing the sealn out
and ]caving lne with a bruise and two holcs in my
elothes. I never liked pieking up these 'duds,'
but late on I got to know from the sound what
was the marrer with theln ; and then it was just a
marrer of experienee getting theln to pieces safely.
The lire grenades when thev burst in the pit,
sometilnes threw out old 'dud' grenades lying in
the nmd. One of these latter burst in raid-air,
but hurt no one; and another rime the grenade
dl'opped right into the firilg-treneh but did hot
go off. Another nastv thing was when the grenade
burst too quiek]y; lnany lllell have been killed
by premature bursts during praetiee. But though
some grenades went off too quiekly, I never had
one burst iii less than a second, by whieh rime the
62 Q. 6. A
grenade was fairly wcll away from the trench.
Bcsides thcsc thirty-two untraincd mon, thc
bombcrs from thc batta|ion at Locrc used fo corne
and practise on the ground under their ow Bombing
Olficer. But if auv of these mcn vished to pass
the lire firing tcst, to qualify thcm to wcar the
Bombcrs badge (a rcd grcuade on the right arm),
I had to tcst them with six live grcnadcs. Three
out o[ thc six had to fall vithin a narrow trcnch
about twcnty-five yards from thc firing point.
Of coursc I had to watch thc grenadc till it
rcachcd thc ground--and pray that it would not
burst prcmaturcly. What a blessing thosc steel
hclmcts vcrc during lire bombing practicc ! They
vcrc proof against bomb splintcrs and gave you
a fccling of confidencc.
The battalion bombers were also trained at
the school to tire live rifle-grenadcs. No risks
vere taken vith the Newton rifle-grenade ; during
firing ail mcn had to bc bchind a barricade and
thc rifle was fircd of[ vith a string and hcld in
position by an iron stand. But ve used to think
the tlalcs riflc-grcnadc quite sale, so that mcn
vere trained to tire off these grcnadcs holding the
rifle to the grouud in thc knceling position. On
one occasion sevcral o[ us had a luckv escape.
The grenade burst at the end of the rifle, instead
of bursting 120 yards axvay on contact with the
ground. Scrgt. Hogg and another bomber of the
5th N.F. were holding the rifle and both got
knocked over, Sergt. Hogg with a slight eut on
the head, the latter shaken but unhurt. The
THE BRIGADE BOMBING SCHOOL 63
Bombig Ofliccr of tle 5th N.F. and I both got
scratchcd on the face vith spliltcrs.
Durilg our star at Bruloose about 420 men
went through the rccruits' course ald over 1700
grenades wcrc fircd.
Latcr on I had to be content with mucb less
claborate bombing grounds. Somctincs they had
to bc improviscd from notlilg, at othcr times a
bombig-pit of a sort was round, ad we had to
makc the best of it. Aftcr tlc battlc o the Somme
far lcss attc,tion was paid to bombbg; but for
a rime it vas tlought dcsirablc to have cverv man
traicd i bombing, eve at the expclse of the
riflc.
XI
ST. ELOI AND NEUVE F.GLI.qE
AI3OUT July 2 thc Brigade came out »f the line
ftl" a .short time, and B.II.Q. movcd to a camp
bctwccn Mont H»ugc and Wcstoutrc. During this
star I was able to carry on thc training aL thc
Bruloose Bombing School. Therc was a fine viexv
of thc trenchcs from Mont Rouge, Wc could of
course hcar the sound o1" thc bombardment on thc
Somme, but at this distance it as more distinct
some davs than others.
On July 14 the Brigade wcnt into thc line again,
south of St. Eoi, the support trcnchcs bcing in
Ridgc Wood. B.II.Q. movcd to a camp at La
Clyttc, farther than evcr fr»m thc front line
tronches.
At La ('lvtte there was a small I»nubing grt«md,
but it was hot vcry sale for livc pra«ticc, and I
was glad when we h.ft it. Wc did 11o Stfly long
in thesc trcnchcs; but bct'orc wc lcft thcm the
bolubers of thc 6th N.F. killcd a Gcrman and hc
was brought back to out trenchcs. It was the first
dead Gernmn that I had seen.
Our next more was fo a quieter part of the line,
namely to Wulverghem, below the Messines Ridge.
ST. ELOI AND NEUVE EGLISE 65
B.H.Q. went to a canvas camp at Neuve Eglise,
but movcd soon after to Dranoutre, where we
were billcted in houses. Lieut.-Col. Turner, O.C.
the 5th N.F., cmne to command thc Brigade for
about a week, in the absence of General Clifford,
who went to England on leave. He was a regular
officer, with a keen sense of humour and with
an extraordinary dislike of parsons. Thcse new
trcnches were quiet enough, but the sniping of
thc encrer was far too good. I was nearly caught
out beforc I rcalised that fact. I was looking
over the parapet the first day with L.-C. Austin,
when a bullct caught the cdge of the parapet
just in front of us, tearing the sandbag along
the top and stopping within a few inches of our
head.. Of course we dropped down quickly into
the trcnch, but L.-C. Austin waved his cap
over the top to signal a 'miss.' He told me it
would never do to let the German sniper think
he had scored a hit. The'flying pig,' our large
trench-mortar, was first used in a bombardment
of the German trenches here, and I believe our
Stokes mortar battery did a record rate of tire on
the saine occasion. We had a lot of gas cylinders
stored in the front line trenches ready for use.
But they were hot required and we had the pleasant
job of removing them. They were ahvavs talked
about as ' rum jars.'
There was no bombing ground at Dranoutre,
and I had to nmke a place for live practice in a
farmer's field, much to his disgust. 'C'est la
guerre, monsieur!' was all we could say to his
66 Q. 6. A
expostulations. We could now hear the great
cannonade on the Somme going on to the south
ahnost day and night.
A largc numbcr of wooden ammunition huts
wcrc crcctcd along thc roads ncar Dranoutre, and
heavy gun emplacements were being madc about
Kcmmel. Pcrhaps it was intended that the Fifth
Army should make a big push herc, if the battle
on thc Sommc had been more successful at the
start.
About August 7 we wcre relicved by two
shattcrcd divisions from the Somme, one of them
bcing the Ulstcr Division that had secn hard
fighting south of Serre. We had a good idca
whither we were bound. But at first we moved off
fo the Meteren area, where B.H.Q. were quartered
in a camp of wooden buts for about rive days.
The censorship now became verv strict, no inkling
of our movements was to be given to anyone at
home. Valises too had tobe lightened by sending
home all spare kit; and all papers and maps
rclating to the Kcmmel area had tobe destroycd
or returncd. Amongst othcr things :I sent home
my ' slacks,' and nevcr wore thcm again in France.
About August 11 ve moved off to Baillcul railway
station and entrained there, leaving about mid-
night. Next morning we reached Doullens, wherc
we left the train. The R.T.O. at Doullens vas
Capt. Rearden, whom I knew as a boy at Wellington
College and had not seen for sixteen years. But
he recognised me and claimed acquaintance.
We marchcd that day to Fienvillers, and stayed
ST. ELOI AND NEUVE EGLISE 67
there two days in a French house. The next more
was to Naours where we spcnt one night ; and the
ncxt night we staved at Picrrcgot. On August 17
we nmrched to thc wood ai Héncncourt.
The whole Brigade vas encampcd in thc
neighbom-hood of the wood. We had af last
arrived iu the rest area of the Somme front, and
it couhl oulv be a mattcr of davs belote we wcrc
involvcd in the grcat battlc. But bcforc that
could happcn thcrc was a great dcal to do to 1)rel)arc
thc men for their ordeal, and pcrhaps hot a great
dca] of timc in which to doit. Thc Division was
scrved out with the short rifle for the first rime.
ttithcrto we had onlv had the long rifle such as
was uscd in the South Africaa lVar.
XII
TIIE SOMME 1
T[[E battle on thc Somnle was to me thc great
trgcdy of thc war. A glorious noble tragcdy,
but still a tragcdy. Both sides of course havc
claimcd the victory, the British a tactical one,
thc Gcrmans a stratcgic ont. Thc net result to
the Allies from a material pgint of view was thc
rccapture of somc hundreds of square toiles of
France, for the most part battered to bits and as
desolate and useless as a wilderncss; aud the
capture or destruction of so mauy thousands of
the enemv ata cost altogether out of proportion
to their numbers. The Germans claire, and claire
quite rightly, that thev flastrated our attempt to
break through their line. On the other haud it
ean be little consolation for them to know tlmt
a nation of amateur soldiers 9 drove thcm out of
the strongest fortress in the world; drove them
out so completely that they were glad to take
refuge, morally as well as physically, behind their
famous Hindeuburg Line.
No doubt out grand attack lastirtg from July
x Sec Illustration, p. 81.
"- I allude of course fo the New Armies.
THE SOMME 69
fo November 1916 cemented the Alliance vith
France and saved Verdun from falling. No doubt
it pavcd the way, in knowledge and moralc, for
furthcr attacks at a later date. The fact renlains
that bcfore its lessons were learnt the slopcs of
the Ancre and the Somlne were sown with thc
bodics of thousands of the finest specimens of the
British race. What a eost was paid for the exalnple
and the lesson ! Never again during the war had
Britain sueh fine athletie men, sueh gallant and
heroie sons to fight her battles. No horror or
hardship eould subdue their spirit. Again and
again, through shattered ranks and over ground
eovered with the fallen, they went forward to the
supreme saerifiee as eheerflflly and as light-heartedly
as if they were out for a holiday. They knew
they eould beat the enelny in front of them, and
they went on and did it again and again, in spire
of the wire, in spire of the mud, in spire of thousands
of maehine-gun bullets and shells. The tragedy of
it all is written in one word. ll'aste--waste of
lives, waste of effort, waste of amlmmition. The
faet is now elear that in 1916 the resourees of
the British Nation were hot suffieiently developed
to smash the German war machine. That was
undoubtedly the hope of every one vho t«ok part
in the battle, to deliver a final knock-out blow.
But this hope failed, even if it failed by a little.
Our artillery, mighty as it undoubtedlv was, was
not lnighty enough 3"et to destroy the enemy's
defenees and to shatter his power of resist-
anee. Alas, it was a blow that eould never be
70
repeaCed again wiCh such magnificcn¢ human
resourees !
After tbe supreme effort l)y ail ranks a terrible
wave of deprcssi<m natura]ly fo]lowed. And can
this bc wondercd at ? For a timc tbcrc was lack
of confidence which madc itself ail too al)parent
in 1917, a ycar of unparallc]cd disastcrs. No one
who has hot set out with sueh high hopes can
know bow awful that depression ean be.
The effort (f the British Army was never so
united, never so intense as if was in thc battlc on
thc Somme. Later on reverses brought knowlcdgc
and knowlcdgc at last brougbt victory. But for
somc that victory had ifs sad side too ; for thousands
upon thousands of tbose gay and ça.liant comrades
in the Great Endeavour were hot there fo share if.
Tbe 1)art of the 50th Division in the battle was
hot a small one. Briefly the Division wcnt into
thc Somme area on August 17, 1916, and left it
about Mareh 10, 1917. Thcir tirst attaek was
]aunchcd on Scptcmber 15, 1916, in company with
thc Guards and some of thc finest divisions in tbe
British Armv. After almost c(mtinuous fighting
they were with(h'awn about ()ctol)er 5, and went
back fo thc test area ar()und llénenc(mrt till
Octobcr 2-t--aftcr having advanced thcir line
from High Wood Ridge to the edge of Le Sars.
On October 25 they returncd to the saine front
and ruade two gallant but fruitlcss attacks on the
These ,¢iews of the batt.le, I ara told, are undu]y pessimistic.
But I let them stand as record of personal feelings aroused as a
result) of the bat¢le.
TItE SOMME 71
Butte of Warlcncourt, in support of larger opera-
tions about Beaulnont IIamel. The hardship of
the fighting between Oetober 25 and November 16
eannot be realised by those who did not aetually
experienee the conditions. Froln Deeember 28
fo January 23 the Division hcld the line south of
Le Barque and Ligny-Thilloy. After that thev
moved farther south and held the line in front of
Belloy and Estrées, trenehes that had been eaptured
by the Freneh. No wonder, after this hard work,
t.hat the 50th Division gained the reputation of
a hard fighting division.
I tan give no very aeeurate idea of the easualties
suffered by the Division; but some idea of the
losses may be drawn ri'oto the easualties among
the bombers of the 7th N.F. Of these I bave
fairly aeeurate details. The bolnbers of the
7th N.F. went into action on September 15, 1916,
about eighty strong--ten N.C.O.s and seventy
men. When the roll was ealled at Bresle on
November 20, 1916, eleven men alone answered.
Of the N.C.O.'s two xvere wounded and the rest
were killed. The bombers of the 4th N.F. suffered
ahnost as heavily, but I have now no details.
XIII
HÉNENCOURT
BRIGADE :[[EAD-QUARTERS were accomlnodated in
woodcn huts, but thc battalions wcre mostly uudcr
canvas. Strenuous efforts had now to be madc to
complcte the training of the men, and to initiate
them fo a stylc of warfare that was quite new and
strange to them.
My own task was to train as many men as
possible in the use of the Mills grenade. Each
day I had fifty men fo traiu, and they wcre kept
at it all morning and again in thc evening, until
they had each thrown two live grcnades. I bad
the services of thrce scrgeant-instructors, who
were invaluable in gctting the men past the first
stage. Ail the live firing I had to supervise mvself ;
that being the rule of thc Army, tlmt an officer
should always be prcsent during live practicc.
All my sparc time vas spcnt in going over and
tcsting the grenades to be fired ncxt day, or lu
baling out the bombing trench, which fillcd very
rapidly in wet weather. And so it went on day
after day. Thirteen officers and 671 men who
had never previously thrown a live grenade went
.through the course at Hénencourt ; and about
1400 live grenades were fired. The battalion
HÉNENCOURT 73
bombcrs uscd thc ground in thc aftcrnoon in charge
of thcir ovn officcrs ; and they got through anothcr
1000 grcnades. On Scptcmber 2 I was able to
tcll the Gcncral that cvcry man in thc Brigade,
including machinc-gunncrs and trcnch-mortar
mcn, had bcen through thc course, with which hc
exprcsscd himsclf vcry plcascd. Towards thc end
of out stay the Gencral camc to sec thc lire tht-owing
scvcral timcs in thc evenings, and hc always spoke
vcry encouragingly to thc men.
About Scptcmbcr 6 I vcnt with a party of
officcrs from the Brigade to vicw thc trcuchcs
we wcrc to take over on thc Somme battlcficld.
And as this was my first visit therc it naturally
madc a great impression on me. Wc startcd off
i thc dark and rode through Héncucourt and
Millcncourt to Albert. Just 1)cforc wc reachcd
Albert wc passcd through a cloud of lachrymatory
gas, which madc roc wcep copious tears for nearly
hall an hour. Thc great sight in Albert was of
course thc ruincd cathcdral, with its colossal statue
of thc Virgin and ('hild hanging downwards over
thc roadway. Vc rode o to whcrc thc front line
had bcen at Fricourt thcn to Fricourt '(ïrcus,'
Mametz, and then to thc south of Mamctz Wood,
whcrc we lcft our horscs. First we went through
the wood to B.tt.Q., which wcre in somc dcep
dugouts thcrc. Ha'ing obtaincd guides and a
rough sort of map, we wcnt on to Battalion H.Q.
at the Chalk Quarry east of Bazcntin-lc-Pctit.
This was about 1000 yards from thc iront line,
which lay just bclow thc ridgc from Martinpuich
to Hih Wood. A decp C.T. callcd ' Jutland Allcy
74 Q. 6. t
took us up to thc front line--'Clark's Trench.'
So far wc had littlc trouble from shclling, but we
passed over thc bodies of two unfortunate I-Iigh-
landcrs in Jutland Alley who had bcen reccntly
killcd by a shcll. Thc cntrance to Intermediatc
Trcnch on the left was terrible, thc smell bcing
ovcrpowcring. As a mattcr of fact thcrc were
scores of dcad mon just out o[ sight on both sidcs
this trcnch, whom it had bcen ilnpossiblc to burv.
It was hot unusual to see au arm or leg protruding
crut of thc side of the t',.T., so hastily had the
Gcrluans buricd their dcad. And thcrc wcrc
swarms and swarms of flics everywherc. ¥en
wc had finishcd looking round in the front line,
whieh was a R'ood trcnch and quite quiet, we turned
back down Jutland Aller. The Gcrman ' hcavics '
were now shelling the supports and close to thc
C.T. One shcll, which scemcd hot to explodc,
hit the cdgc of the C.T. ; and whcn wc got to thc
place we round thc trcuch partially filled in and
an un[ortunatc nlau buried up to his neek, lllueh
shaken but hot mueh hurt. We left him to be
extrieated bv his friends who had got spades. I
then visited the trenehes near the windmill aud
then rcturned to the soutl of lIametz Wood.
Whilst waiting here I examined with interest the
mauy eurious little ' eubbv holes ' that out troops
had ruade during the attaek on Mametz Wood.
I also watehed the Gernmn ' heavies' shelling out
field batteries near Bazentin-le-Grand, and sending
up elouds of ehalky dust. A few shrapnel shells
were also fired near the road, and I believe our
horses and orderlies were nearlv hit, but eseaped
HÉNENCOURT
75
by galloping off vhen the first shcll came. The
countrvsidc lookcd vcry dcsolatc and kuockcd
about till wc g()t to Fricǻurt Circus, ouly thc
chalky roads 'crc crumucd with limbcrs an«!
lorrics takiug up sui)plies. At thc ('ircus thcrc
was a rcmarkablc sight, a hugc camping grouud
covering scveral square toiles, cvcrv availablc spot
on it packed with dumps and horsc-lincs, artillcrv
parks, bivouacs, and tcnts. All thc roads round
hcrc werc full of troops (»u thc mÇ»vc, a(l of lines
anti ]incs of l(»rrics cithcr c()milg ()r g«»ilg. Aftcr
passing Albcrt thcrc was lcss of intercst, but we
saw ()le of Olll" 8el'ol)ltlleS stral(led il 8 1)loughed
ticld cast. of Millcncourt. Thc pilot told us hc
ha(l got his machine damaged over thc German
line, but had lmnagc(! to g('t back thus far, whcu
hc had madc a bad lan(lig. Such x'as my first
visit to thc grcat battlcficld, a dl'cary looking spot
with a gcneral aspect of cbalk, broken stumps of
trees, and Cl'ow(lc(! mu(ldy roa(ls.
Our stav at Ilélmncourt xvas dl'awing to a close,
but before wc lcft wc had ait inspectiou bv thc
III Corps ('Olmmldcl'. And Ol lhc last day,
S('l)tclubcr 9, wc held a grand sports dav and had
a ba(! playing. Thc mCla lookcd splcndidly fit
and wcll after thcir ltonth's test, and thev displayc(!
a won(lerful spirit, talking eagcrly of thcir part
iu the coming attack. Alas and alast At rimes
I coul(l havc VCl)t t() sce thcsc splcndid bronzed
lnOll go marchilg b3", the vcrv flovcr of our English
race. For I kncw that vcrv soon I should sce
fcw of thcm again, or fcw iudced of their like.
XIV
MAMETZ VOOD
ON Sunday Scptember 10, the Brigade left
Héncncom% and B.H.Q. went to the deep dugouts
iu Mamctz XVood. I travclled there with Scrgts.
Moffat and IIogg, and we werc luckv enough to
gct good lifts, first in a Canadian Staff car and
thcn on a motor-lorrv. Capt. Bloomcr (Sth D.L.I.
and attachcd to B.H.Q.) sharcd a dccp dugout
with nie, and wc had meals togcthcr.
It was thc first dccp dugout I had cntcrcd,
and of course it was the work of thc Gcnnans.
Thcre were about twenty stcps down at either end,
the woodcn sides of the sta.irwav scarred with
bullet holcs and splintcrs. Inside thcre were just
two narrow apartmcnts, ont for our bcdroom and
the othcr for lneals. Though rather draughty
it was comfoloEablc cnough and practically shell-
proof. Capt. Bloomer had an unpleasant job,
which kept him out late at nights, and I did hot
envy hinl. In ordcr to lnake the attack, it was
decided to dig a forward trench somc way in front
of Clark's Trench. The digging was done at night
and cost us a nmnbcr of casualties from shcll and
rifle tire. Capt. Bloomer used to go up every night
to see the work done.
MAMETZ WOOD 77
The second moïning af Mametz Wood I was
greatly shocked to hear that our Brigadier had
been killed by a sniper from High Wood, as he
was going out to inspect thc forward trench just
after dawn. It was nearlv two days bcfore his
body could be brought in, owing to the shelling
that went on at night. He was buried at Albert.
A fcw days latcr Brigadier-Gencral Ovens, an
Irishman, came to take command of thc l¢9th
Iufantry Brigade.
My job was now to prcparc thc Brigade bomb
stores at(1 to sec that thc grenades were propcrly
packed into sandbag carriers for taking up the
line. A special dugout had becn prcpared as
a bomb store near thc Chalk Quarry at Bazentin-
le-Petit, but almost af thc last moment the
R.A.M.C. COlnlnandeercd the place for their forward
dressing-station. So the boxes of grenades had to
fie in the open in large shcll-holes, covered with
German greatcoats, mackintosh sheets, or any-
thing else we could get hold of. I spent hours and
hours examining the grenades and packing them
into sandbag carriers. One of our transport-
wagons had a lucky escape, whilst calying a
load of 2000 Mills grenades, all detonated, to one
of our dumps. The safety-pin of one of the grenades
broke with the jolting of the wagon, and the grenade
went off, bursting_ itsown and 7several other
boxes, but hot setting off any other of the grenades.
I had an anxious time unpacking that wagon-load.
The brass safety-pins of the Mills grenades were
Lieut. F. C. Clayton was now Brigade Transport Otïlcer.
78 Q. 6. A
vcry unsatisïactory at this rime; but I had
collected a large number of stcel pins ïrom the
bombing grounds, and I uscd to re-pin anv that
I th(mght had wcak brass-pins. This cxamination
of thc grenades was rathcr wcarisomc, but it was
timc wcll spcnt, for wc had no accident with thc, n
when thc carrying-partics took thcm up thc line.
And othcr units wcre hot so ïorttmate in .that
l'cspect. About 24,000 grenades wcnt through
my hands, and of thcsc 1)crhal)s 5000 wcnt into
the sandbags. On Scl)tcmbcr 14 wc first saw the
mysterious tanks, xhich had arrivcd bchild thc
quarry to take part in thc great attack ncxt dav.
Wc had two allottcd to our Division. That night
we llloved froln Mametz Vood to thc ('halk Quarry
at Bazentin-le-Petit. Here one of the the Divisional
Field Co. R.E. had prepared for us excellent H.Q.
in the side of the Quarry. The offices were vell
down in thc side of thc Quarry, the mess room was
a large shelter eovered with sandbags a little higher
up. We were fairly erowded that night, for a
large number of ' liaison ' oflieers arrived for dutv
next dav. We were sleeping inside the mess
shelter, praetieally shouIder to shoulder all over
the floor. Offieers were sleeping and feeding and
working there all at the saine rime. A dav and
night mess was run for the benefit of ail that
eame in.
For the last four or rive days out artillery had
kept up an almost continual tire on the enemv's
lines. Now at the last moment the guns of £he
Field Artillery were taken out of their hiding plaees
5IAMETZ WOOD 79
and brought forward into thc open. Our chalk
pit was practically undcr thc muzzlcs of about a
dozcn field guns.
Latcr Ol1 that night we heard a curie)us whistling,
puffing souud, it was the two tanks clambcring ri D
the hill to gct into position ear the front line.
XV
THE 15TII SI,;PTEMBER. 1916
WE wcrc ail up carlv ncxt morning, and got somc
brcakfast well bcforc dawn. The air outside had
a rcgular autumn chill. At first only an occasiona]
gun fircd in thc distance. But about twenty
miroites before dawn, our heavy guns opened their
bombardment. To one standing in the quarry,
bclow the love! of the ground, they had the most
weird of sounds. A dull rumbling in the rcar and
a contilmal whizz and hiss high overhead. Hardly
a sound of the guns firing and no sound of the
shells bursting. Only that terrible grinding swish
in the ait- above. Tventy minutes of that, and
then, vith a terrific roar, all our field guns opened,
and we knev that our comrades in front, the th
N.F. on the right and the 7th N.F. Oll the left, had
'gone over the top.' The noise in front of the
ficld batteries was pandemonium, excruciating
to the nerves. The air shook and quivered with
the sound, the quarry seemed to shake. You
could only hear when the speaker shouted in your
ear. And soit went on hour bv hour all day.
The rate of tire subsided, but the guns went on
all day. I was standing with thc Staff-Captain
THE 15TH SEPTEMBER 1916 83
in ¢he Quarry, when I go wha fclt like a stone
in the face.
happily for me it struck the gromd first and caught
me on the rcbound. A small cut ab()ut the nose
and chin, but I had to go and havc it dresse& I
got well chaffcd aftcrwards on my rathcr comical
appcarancc. It was an anxious timc bcorc thc
first ncws got back, but whcn it did it was good.
Our men had takeu thc tiret Gcrman trcnch, and
wcrc waitilg to go ahcad again. Unf«)rtulmtely
High Wood was hot takcn by ihc 47th Division
on our right till mi(lday, and mealnvhilc xve lost
numerous casualtics from ha.viu out right tank
exl)oscd to maehine-gun tire. A report ca.nie in
that a large party of Gcnnans werc starting a
bolnbing attack on out right, so if was decided to
send up a supply o grcuades. I went, therefore,
and round Lieut.. Mackenzie, who was in charge of
100 mcn acting as carricrs, and handed over 2¢00
grenadcs. This party went up to the front line
and back without mishap, But shortly aftenvards
Lieut. Mackenzic was badly wounded bv one of out
own shells bursting prematurely. We had fifty
casualties at the Quarry from premature bursts.
It was not the fault of the gunners, but either the
guns were worn or the shells were defeetire.
I lost two sergeant-instruetors in the Quarry.
Sergt. Moffat was badly hit in the thigh with a
fragment from a premature and died a few davs
af ter. Sergt. Hogg was wounded in the ehest by
a bullet, but not fatallv. The wounded and
prisoners began to stream baek past the Quarry.
84 Q. 6.,
And as they came we began fo get news of our
friends in fron¢. Though successful the Brigade
had to pay a hcavy price. The 4th N.F. were
|iterally eut to pieces. I |ost many friends killed,
including ('apt. J. W. Meriva]e, 2nd-Licut. J.
Robinson, and Scrgt. Austin, and many more
woundcd, ineluding ('apt. G. F. Ball. During the
attack thirty-scvcn out of the eighty bolnbers of
thc 7th N.I,'. were killed or wounded, and the
1)ombers of the 4th N.F. paid a still heavier priee,
includilg their gallant olfieer killcd.
Ai l.r, the 151st Infantry Brigade took over
the ol)erati(ms oli «mr fnnt ;md eontinued the
attaek at night. Ncxt (lay B.H.Q. rcturned to
Mametz Wood. 2 I /lad to pay a visit to the
nearest large dressing-station to get the anti-
tetanus inoeulation. This proved more trouble-
somc than the small eut I reeeived, and if nmde
me fcel fairly weak for the next ten days. On
Septcmber 20 I went with Capt. D. Hill to select
a place flr a dump near High Vood, and we passed
over the first captured German trcxch. There
vere fev of out lnen lying about, for the burial
parties had been hard af work. But farther back
around Intermediate Treneh there were piles of
British and German soldiers still lying where they
had fallen weeks bcfore. We had now to get a
x Th wo oher Company Commanders of he 7bh N.F.,
V. V[erivale, M.C., and Capç. E. '. Clennell, M.C., gob safely hrough
he action.
-" A his 1)lac I firs had he opportmiby of speaking o
our ])ivisional Commander, Major-General Sir P. S. Wilkinso,
K.C.M.G., C.B., who wtrs beloved by very on in $h ])ivision. a
THE 15TII SEPTEMBER 191(; 85
lmmber of sandbag carricrs ruade for taking more
grclmdcs up the line, and I was giron a small party
from thc 5th N.F. to gct this donc.
About Scptember 22 we returned t, thc line,
and B.H.Q. fo the Chalk Quarry at Bazentin-lc
Petit. I have but a confused recollection of the
period from now fo the end of our stay in this
locality. My servant had a lucky escape in the
Quarry. He was sitting outside my dugout with
two others making some tea, when a small shcll
fcll right in the middlc of thcir fcet. Ail wcrc
thrown over by the explosion, but only one was
really hmoE--Capt. Bloomer's servant. We brought
the poor fellow into the dugout, with his right
arm ahnost severed af the elbow; and we spent
the next ten minutes tying him up as best we
could. Ite died about a weck latcr. I also
remember paying two visits fo a most unpleasant
spot selected as the Brigade ammunition dump,
at the junction of Crescent Alley and Spence Trench.
The German artillery never scelned fo leave if
alone.
About October 8 the 5th N.F., commanded by
Lieut.-Col. N. I. Wright attacked the Fiers Line,
and took two trenehes. Beïore this attaek started
a huge howitzer was brought up and plaeed on
the west side of Mametz Wood. And during the
one and a hall hours preeeding the a.ttaek, it fired
sixty 15-ineh shells into Le Sars, of whieh only
two failed fo burst. On Oetober 5 the 50th
Division was relieved, and B.H.Q. lnoved baek to
a doctor's house in Albert. That night General
86 Q. 6. A
Ovens oda.vc a dira,er to the officers of the Staff at
a restaurant in the town, where a good repast was
served by some }'reneh eivilians. Next day we
luoved farther baek to Milleneourt, and we werc
billeted in a niee house.
XVI
511LLENCOURT
I VENT Off to Millencourt, on Octol)er 6, in
front of the rest of Brigade in ordcr to look for
a bombing ground. I round onc all right, but I
cannot say that it was altogcthcr safe or in vcry
good condition. The firing-trcnch was a square
emplacement eut into thc ground and there
was no casy cxit in casc or" trouble; also out
prcdcccssors there ol)viously had had an accident
on the spot, fl, r I round a bÇ,x of Mill. grenades
lying therc, hall buricd, two or three of the
grenades cx[)lo(lcd and thc rcst more or lcss
damagcd and in
ever, the mess was clcared up at last, and I had
to make the best of the place, such as it was.
I had now only Scrgt. P. Flmtnigan to hclp me,
but Lieut.-Col. Scott Jackson, D.S.O., my colonel,
kindly allowed L.-Sergt. Piercy of the 7th
N.F. to corne and assist in the training at the
Brigade Bombing School. Aftcr the heavy fight-
ing the Brigade was supplicd with large drafts
of new mcn. They came chiefly from the Fen
country and werc only partially traiued. I found
them far more diflïcult to instruc in bombing
88 Q. 6. A
than the Northumbcrland lnincrs. I had between
forty and fifty of these men each day, and ¢ley
had o throw two live grenades before they left.
One exci¢ing event happcned during this training.
One of the drafts vas about o throw his grenade,
when he dropped it and of course it startcd to
burn. With great quickness and resolution Scrgt.
Flannigan pickcd it up and got it out of l-he ¢rench
before it burst--and lfis action undoubtcdly
avertcd a tragcdy. Many lnen have received
decorations for similar acts in the trenches, but
the Brigade decided that notbing could be donc
in this case except mentioning it in Divisional
Ordcrs and recording it i the Scrgeant's pay book.
Aftcr this I arranged with tbc Scrgcant to keep
an undetonatcd grenade handy, and if any man
seemed too nervous to throw his first greuade
safely, we supplied him with this. He went
through all the emotions of throwing a lire
grenade, and endangered neither himself nor ns.
The empty grenade was then picked up and
treated as a 'dud,' i.e. one that had misfired.
Between October 7 and October 21, t77 new men
went through the bombing course, and nearly a
thousand grenades were fired. Shortly after this
Sergt. P. Flannigan went fo the Corps School,
first as a bomber and afterwards as a Lewis gun
instructor ; and I never had his services again.
Brigadier-General Ovens was a pleasant, genial
Irishman, who tried to make us all feel at home
in his mess. But I doubt whcther the Irish
really mxderstand the Northumbrians or vice
MII,LENCOURT 89
versa. At this tilne John Coates, thc fimous
tenor singer, came out as a licutena.nt in the
Yorkshire legiment. He was attached to us
for rime. It was a Sl)orting thing for him to
do, but he was neithcr young enough nor hard
cnough to stand the severities of thc campai.
He acted as General's Ordcrly-Oflcer for a rime
and afterwards bccame Town Major of Bécourt,
hot an easy or a very pleasaut job. Hc sang
scvcral rimes for thc mcn, once in thc open air,
aml his singing was ccrtainly top hole.
During this stav af Millencourt I paid a flying
visit fo Amiens with Lieut. A. E. Odell. We
wcnt there and back ia a Divisional Signal car
and stoppcd only a fcw hours, in fact for dinner.
About Octobcr 2 we went to Albcrt, stopping
one night at the smne bouse as bcfore, aml
next day we went back to the line.
XVII
HOOK SAP
Otc October 25, 1916, ve took over l'rom a
brigade of thc 1st Division at the ruimd sugar
factory at Bazentin-lc-Grad. Thc slceping
apartments wcrc in a dugout below ground, but
the mess room and otticcs were in the building
on the ground floor. Aftcr arriving I wcnt with
a bombing sergcant of the Black Watch to have
a look at the Brigade Dump, which was a good
way from B.H.Q. ¥ou got at it by walking
aeross eomfl:rv :o the west end of High Vood, and
then along a treneh tramway till it ended rather
abruptly at the Fiers Switch. Like mos dulnps,
it was at the end of the tralnway mM none too
healthy a spot. It was afterwards moved forward
to a sunken road ealled 'Hexham Hoad,' where
the boxes of ammunition were just piled in the
open.
The position iu front was now as follows. The
1st Division had pushed the enemv baek to a
line along the top of a ridge rumfing from the
Butte of Warlerteourt praetieally due east. This
ridge prevented out seeing the enemy's approaehes
and support positions in Le Barque. On the
HOOK SAP 91
other hand from Loupart Wood the whole of
our approaehes and support trenehes were in
full view of the enemy, as far |),ek as High Vood.
Aeross those two mlles no one eould move in
daylight without being seen by the enemy, and
there was praetieally no positiol to put our field
guns forward of High Wood. The enelny's front
line eonsisted of two trenehes--Gird Line and
Gird Support-with a forward treneh on the top
of thc ridge, called on thc lt'l't 'Butte Trcnch'
on the right 'llook Sap.' Out t'l'Ont line Slmg
Trelwh and Maxwell Trench lay this side the
ridg'e and al»out two lmndred vards axvay froln
the Gerluan forward trt.ueh.
The Butte of Warlcneourt. au old Gallie burial
place, was a rotmd ehalk hill, rising about 100
feet above ground level; and had bccn mined
with deep dugouts ald ruade into a formidable
strong point. 'roln the Butte maehile-gtms
defended the approaehes to Hook Sap, and tk'oln
Hook Sap and the Gird Line laehine-guns de-
fcndcd the apl»roaehes to the Butte. The ground
between and arotmd the opposing tronches had
been ploughed up with innumerable shclls, some of
huge calibre, and it was now a spongy morass,
diffieult fo cross at a walk and impossible at a
run. As events proved, unless both the Butte
and the Gird I,ine could be taken af the saine
rime, the one would tender the other impossible
fo hold. This then was the problent that faeed
the 50th Division, a probleln that would have
been ditfieult enough in the dries of weather,
92 Q. 6..
but rendered four times lnore so by thc rain
whieh fell in deluges on three days out of fi»ur
during the vhole of Oetober and November.
I lmve dealt with these details rather fidly,
beeause this phase of the Somme battle has been
passed over as a thing of no aeeouut. The eyes
«»f the lmblie have becn direct«d to the sueeessful
operations at BeaulnOnt Ilamel and BeaueouloE.
They have hot been directed to the misery and
horror that were eudured heroieally but unavail-
ingly on the slopes between Eaueourt l,'Allmve
and I,e Barque. Never have the sohliers of the
50th Division deserved more aud won less 1)raise
than they did during the operations between
Oetoler 25 and November 15. I have no pen
to deseribe the eonditions tlm were faeed by
thc brave men, who, aRer labouring tmeeasingly
in the slimy horrors and tain for three weeks
ithout rest or relief, stormed and took Hook
Sap, onlv to be eut off and killed to the last man
by successive eounter-attaeks. It is a sorrowful
page in the history of the 7th N.F., bue for stark
grim courage and devotion fo dutv it emmot
be surpassed by auything in the history of the
battalion.
The first attaek on the Butte and Butte Treneh
took place al»out the beginning of November and
was nmde by the 151st Infantry Brigade. On
the right the attaek did hot sueeeed; but on
the left the troops reaehed the Butte and took
or killed many Germans. Unfortunately the
maehine-guns behind the Butte prevented the
HOOK SAP 93
Brigade from consolidating the ground won, and
thc troops eventually retired to their original
line. During this operation the mcn of the
149th In$hntry Brigade wcre cmployed in carrying
up stores and as stretcher parties. Evcntually,
about Novcmbcr 12, the Brigade took (»ver the
front line, vith a vicw to rcncwiug the attack
whcnevcr thc weathcr should permit. Our II.Q.
wcrc established af Scvca Elms, about n milc
ïrïm the front line, witb. rcar H.Q. at thc sugar
factory. At dawn on November 1 the Brigade
attacked thc Hook Sap and Gird I,ine, the 5th
N.F. on thc right, the 7th N.F. on the lcft oppo.ite
thc sal). At thc smnc timc an Aust.ralian Corps
a¢¢ackcd farthcr to thc right, but no attack
wa madc on thc Butte itsclf. An ofiïccr, who
was in the trcnches south-west of ¢he Butte and
saw the Northumbcrlands go forward, told me
that hc had ncvcr seen such a strangc sight.
The men staggcred forward a few yards, tumbled
into shcll-holcs or stoppcd to pull out Icss fortunate
comrades, forward a few more yards, and the
saine again and again. All thc while the machine-
guns from the German trenches poured a pitiless
hail into the slowly advancing line; and the
(lcrma guns opened out a heavy barrage on
the trenches and on the ground outside.
spire of mud, in spite of heavy casualties, the
survivors of two companies of the 7th N.F.
struggled across that spongy swamp and gained
the German line. What happened after that
tan only be conjectured, for they never kepç
9a. Q. 6. A
touch with the 5th N.F., who rcached and took
the Gird Line. But it is known that thc 7th
N.F. got a footing both in Hook Sap and in thc
Gird Linc bchind. The Gcrlnans barragcd thc
capturcd trcnchcs twice or three tilncs during
the day, and are thought to ha.ve attacked theln
in force with frcsh rcservcs each tilnc. Owing
to thc hcavy and COlltinuotls barrage across No
5lan's Land no ncws could bc got back and no
supports could be sent fl)rwal'd. Finally, at night,
thc renmants of thc shattcrcd brigadc werc
collcctcd, and a.nothcr attempt madc to rcach
Hic trcnehes; but the Germans had evidently
now got baek to their 1¢1 position and in lhe nlud
aJd darknes.s thc fresh attack had littlc chance of
success. Nothing more has been seen or heard of
the two colnpalaics that reached Hook Sap. It is
bclievcd that they perished to the last nmn, over-
whellncd by successive Gerlnan counter-attacks.
Sccond-Lieut. E. G. Lawson fcll at Hook Sap,
al.o 2nd-I,icut. R. H. F. Woods, both Bombing
Oficer. of the 7th N.F. ; also Bombing Sergts.
J. 1R. t/ichardson and J. Piercy.
The 5th N.F. did well indeed, for they succeedcd
in lolding their ground in the Gird Line and
handcd it over next day to the troops that rc-
licvcd ihcm. But that also had to be abandoned
at last, owing to its isolated position.
The only consolation that tan be dravn from
this hcroic but tragic affair is that it may have
created a divcrsion o out successfid operations
at Beaucourt. As an isolated operation it vas
H00K SAP 95
doomed from the st.art owing to the state of the
ground and the exhaustion of the men who took
part il i t.
My own part in the sufferings of tbe Brigade
at this rime was so iusignificant that it is hOt worth
giving many dctails of my experienees. I round
walking over the muddv ground most terribly
exhausting, espeeially in a treneh eoat dripping
with rai and mud. And it was a long way, over
three toiles, from rear H.Q. fo the dump at Hexham
Road. Onc monling I went with Major Anderson
to the ruins of Ea.ueomoE. L'Abbaye on a visit of
inspeetion. For months this was a terribly shelled
place, and if was now nothing but a. pile of broken
stieks raid briekdust.. XVe were lueky to get elear
of it bcfore the morning hate began. There were
still large numbers of British and German dead
lying in heaps round the Flers Line; and two
brokendown tanks eomplcted the 1)ieture of nmddy
desolation. On November lk the dav of the
lmtt.le, I went up fo advaneed B.II.Q. at Seven
Ehns, where quarters were very erowded. 1
remember being so tired out that night that I
fell asleep standing in one of the passages, propped
against one of the walls. Next day I returned
to the sugar faetorv. And on November 17
B.H.Q. moved baek to a billet in Albert. Here,
on November 19, I attended the Battalion Chureh
Parade in a barn. A mere handful of men, gaunt,
hollow-eheeked, and exhausted, their faees dead
white and their elothes almost in rags, if was one
of the saddest parades I ean remember.
96 Q. 6. A
During this visit to the linc I first had the
services of Pte. Fairclough of the 5th N.F. as my
Brigade Bombing Ordcrly, md he remained with
me in fhat eapacity till I lcft the Brigadc in 1918.
I found hiln a mosf useful, willing mach, and hc
soon gaincd his lancc stripc. Ou Novcml)cr 19,
owing ¢o ¢hc kindness of Major Andcrson, I was
grantcd lcave fo England fl»r ten days. IIc told
thc (encl'M that I was looking rather war-worn and
that I should be needed for further grenade training
on my retm-n.
It wns during this visit fo Bazentin-l«-Graud
that I lirst started studying Intelligence work.
The lh'igade-Major sked inc to si)end mv spare
rime in assisting hiln with some aerol)lane photo-
gral)hs. I had to go over the daily series that
came in from the Corps, and note anything new
on out own palet of the front. Major Anderson
was an expert reder of these photographs, and
he taught me all I know about the subjeet. I
folmd if an interesting subjeet, and it ws to have
a great ilfluenee over lny future eareer.
XVI[I
SECOND LEAVEBRESLE
Mv journey from Albcrt fo l,:nglau(l was rcmarkal)le
for the hardshil)s that oceurre(i. If should be
remembered that ev('rv one was desperately tired
and worn out already. We were hld fo appear
af Albert station at lniduight. When we got there
we were ¢old to expeet the train at 2.15 a.. This
meant walking al)out the p!afform to keep warm,
for there was no shelter for offieers at the station.
Capt. J. O. Aglionby, C.F., out padre, and Capt.
Lidderdale, R.A.M.C., odr battalion doetor, were
both going by the saine trai), so I was hot without
eompany. When 2.15 A._. came there was no
train, and we kept walking about till dawu broke,
but still no train. The R.T.O. then told ils ¢hat
thcre had been a breakdown and that the train
eould hot be expeeted for a long rime. So we
deeided fo go and get breakfast af out billets and
tben fo go fo Amiens bv motor-lorrv, and catch the
train there. A least there would be lëss chance
of being shelled there, and some food and shelter.
So we set off abou 10 o'cloek and eventuallv
got to Amiens, where we had a deeent lunch. We
had to keep hanging about the sation, however,
98 (.
inquiring for tbe train.
about cightccn hours
cnough fo gct on board.
6. A
It arrived about 9 P..,
late, and wc were glad
It is digicult cnough to
slcep sitting in a train, bnt I think I managcd a
few hours of troul)led slecp. And ncxt morning
we arrived in Le Ilavre. The first thing thcre was
t,) match thc mon d(,wn to a rcst camp a long wav
l'fore thc town, and a good wav from the docks.
We wcrc told to rcport back at the smne place at
2.30 r.. So wc trudgcd baek to Le Havre and got
shavcd and fcd. On rcturning to the Rcst Camp
we were told that the l)oat would lcave in twenty
minutes and that, as it was a good thirty minutes
walk, we had better be quiek, l,'ortunately we
gt h«dd of a motor-ear and got a lift part of the
wax" and hurried along af ter that as fast as we
eould. Vhen we reaehed the dock we found the
boat xould hot leax'e for another tu o hours. The
organisation here was rottcn just af this rime,
but if improved later. Th« l'@er, a fast paeket-
boat, tcok us aeross to Southampton. And ncxt
mornin I proeeeded to Wcston-super-Mare, having
taken nearlr tbree davs on the journey. Most
of that lcave I spent in bed in the hands of the
doetor. I was uttc'ly worn out, hot only with
exhaustion, but with the depression naturally
eaused by losing so manv friends and eomrades
in a manner apparently so fl'uitless.
The eompany of reeruits I bad at Alnwiek, was
praetieally xiped ont, I round about two of them
with the attalion when I returned. Only eleven
were left of the battalion bombers, my good
SECOND LEAVE--BRESLE
99
comrades of the Salient. The Bombing Officers
of the four battalions werc ail casualties, four of
them killed. There wcre few traincd bombcrs left
in the wh(-le brigade. I went back to France on
Deeember 2 in anything but bnovant spirits.
On rcturning to Albert I round that thc Brigade
were billeted at the small village of Bresle. And
I got there ithout lO.leh diflieulty. Tbe weather
was wet and eold, as it generally is iii December ;
but active pr(,pa.rati(ms were soon started
g(.tting thc BOlnl)ing School open. We ïound a
IZirly good boml)ing-pit fr thc Erigadc School,
but wc had to lnake one for thc battalions. I was
now without trained intructors and I had no
Brigade Boml)ing Scrgeant, but I was lent Corp.
Munro, a bond)er i'l'Om the 6th N.F., and I ruade
xxhat use I could of Pte. Fairelough. my ordcrly.
The result was that I had hot only to attend to
all thc lire firing, but I had to do thc sergcants"
work as wcll. Aftcrwards therc wcre the grenades
to be sortcd out for ncxt da)" and a fricndly hand
givcn t,o the Bombing Officers of the battalions,
most of xvhom were new fo their work.
During our stay at Brcsle 477 ïresh men went
throngh the rceruits' bolnbing course. And on
Deeember 26 and 27 the tests were earried out
with the battalion bombers, for the purpose of
granting the Bolnbers' Badge. These tests were
now nmde mueh more diffieult to pass, and ouly
seven men passed the throwing and firing tests.
After this period I never earried out any further
instruction in the hand-grenade. The drafts later
100 Q. 6. A
on came out morc {'u]ly traincd and the Battalion
Bombing Oflïccrs carricd on a.ny ftuoEhcr instruction
that was requircd. During and in prcparation
for the opcrations on thc Sonune 16 ofticcrs and
2106 mcn went through the course; and at least
5000 lire grcnadcs wcre thrown. I was lucky
to bave uo accident with the Mills grenade, and
no 5ttal ones cvcn with the rifle-grenade.
Gcncra] Ovcns wcnt on lcave at Brcslc, and
Lieut.-Col. G. Scott Ja.ekson, O.C. 7th N.F., camc
as Brigade Commander to our H.Q. We had him
several rimes again in that eapaeity, and he was
always a favourite in out mess. tlis fine record
and services are well known; a D.S.O. and Bar,
he prolably COlnmandcd a fighting battali«»n as
long as any oflieer in France. Froln tle rime
when the battalion landed in France in April 1915
till he left the battalion for the .A.M.C. at the
latter end of 1917, he va.s onlv off dutv for about
three days, in a quiet part of the line. He alwavs
looked a pieture of robust strength, never lnissed
his eold bath even with the telnperature near zero,
and was one of the most optimistic men in the whole
Brigade. He was a most pleasant kind]y Brigade
Commander, with he supreme virtue o leaving the
speeialists to do their work in their own way.
Beflre we left Bresle I got a Brigade ombing
SergeantSergeant T. Matthewson of the 5th N.F.,
who had had long experienee as Battalion Bombing
Sergeant, and was a thorougbly trained and reliable
man. I round him most useful in his new office
and I ara glad to know that he got safely through
SECOND LEAVE--BRESLE 101
the war. Amongst othcr ac«omplishments lac was
a good vieket-keeper, as I found later on.
On Christmas Day I went to dinner with the
ïth N.F. at their H.Q., and was very hospitably
entertained. The Brigade moved from Bresle
fo a camp af Béeourt on November 28, and stayed
there two days ; and then took over from a Brigade
of the 1st Division af Bazentin-le-I)etit.
XIX
BUTTE OF VARLENCOURT TRENCII VARFARE
ON Deccmber 0, 191.6, the Brigade vas in the
rescrvc area al»out Bazcntin-le-Pctit, and rcady
to take over hc line of trenches running eastwards
fi'OlU a point south of he Butte of Warlencourt.
,'No material change had taken place on ¢his part of
lhe front sinee the fruitless a¢¢aek of November 1 .
The 1st Division, however, had donc a good deal of
work in the baek areas, and had laid duek-board
traeks from High lVood to the front lie. and
inereased the number of light railways. B.I[.Q.
were at some dugouts at the ' Cough Drop,' a place
about a mi]e norh of High Wood. The lg9th
Infantry Brigade had now deeided fo make use of a
party of' Observers,' and Major Anderson asked me
to take charge of them. I xvs a little diffident about
this as I had never had any experienee as a Battalion
Intelligence Oflïeer and really knew nothing af all
about observation. But I was glad to take on
the job, and I soon got fo like it. On Deeember 30,
therefore, two trained observers from eaeh of the
four battalions of t.he Brigade reported to me.
And I had two N.C.Os. with this party--a eorporal
of the 4th N.F., who soon left to .ake a commission,
and L.-C. Amos of the 7th N.F., who afterwards
BUTTE OF WARLENCOURT 103
bccamc N.C.O. in charge. On thc saine day I
met the Intelligence Oflicer of thc 1st Brigade
who took me over the line and shmved me thc two
O.P.s. I was lueky to meet at the start an oflieer
who understood the business so well. He gave me
many useful hints, and handed over an excellent
panoralnie sketeh map of the view front one O.P.,
as well as the Log Book. The latter xvas a notel)ook
eontaining reports of cvery movement of the
enenly seen fr(lll the O.P.s. On Dceember 31
I took the party of observers up to the Cough
Drop where they had a shelter near BAI.Q. I had
also supervision of the two Brigade dumps, one
at Itexham ltoad and the other at the Fiers Line
about half a mlle nmoEh of B.H.Q. Both places emne
lu for heavy shclling at intervals all day and night,
for both were situated about the end of a treneh
tralnway, an obvious plaee for dumping stores.
However I had the latter dulnp nloved to a better
plaee, some distanee from the tramway, where
there was less serap iron llying about. During
this tour in the line whieh lasted eight days, I was
employed in looking after the observers and the
two Brigade bomb stores. Towards the close of
out stav I started to make a ltew bomb store in
Hexham Road. Capt. II. Liddell gave me the
general design of it and told me what mateïials
I should require. But I had no more time than
to get the emplaeement dug out and the wooden
frmnework ereeted, x I remember that we struek
two buried Gernmns in exeavating the emplaee-
Pe. Slaek (7th N.F.), a Brigade 1oioneer, helloed me greatly
with the carloenter's work.
10 Q. 6. h
ment and had to trcat them vith some very
powerful corrosive bcfore the work could be
continucd.
Also if was rathcr a warm corner in Hcxham
Road, and I eaught a shell spliutcr on thc lcg;
his, howcvcr, struck thc stcel bucklc on my trench
boot and only raiscd a bruise. The wcather bccamc
vcry cold towards thc end of our stay, with suow
and frost. Thc Germans opposite our trenches
erc hot disposed tobe unfriendly about the New
Year. On the lcft ncar the Butte they signalled
to our men in the trenehes before a treneh-mortar
bonbardnwnt started, as if to warn theln to take
eovcr. On the right they were still more inelincd
to fraternise. Ilere both sidcs were holding
trenehes that would bave beeome impossible il'
any sniping had been done. So both our men
and the Gernlans worked away at deepening their
own tronches without lnolesting their oppoucnts ;
although sonlctilUeS a erowd of men were exposed
from the waist upwards at a range of about 200
yards.
It was one of those eurious ulders{audings
whieh arise when no violent operations are in
progress. Ilowever, on New Year's Dav it went
even further. A sohlier of the 5th N.F., after
signais from the Germans, went out into No Man's
Laud and had a.drink with a party of theln. After
this a sluall party of the enclny approaehed out
tronches without arms and with evideutly friendly
intentions. But thcv were warned off and hot
allowed to enter out trenehes. This little affair,
BUTTE OF WARLENCOURT 105
I believe, led to the soldier being eourt-maloEialled
for holding intereourse with the enemy. After
eight days in the line the Brigade returned to a
camp at the north end of Mametz Wood. B.H.Q.
were dose fo a battery of 9-ineh howitzers, and
when these heavy guns fired a salvo, whieh they
did oeeasionally both day and night, it fairly
lifted the things off the table. We got shelled
here one night, but beyond getting a shower or
two of sl)lintcrs and stones on to thc buts no damage
was donc. I had now timc to ramblc round, and
cxaminc various things of intcrest. I found a
rcgular dump of German bombs at Bazcntin-lc-
Grand, and somc of thesc wcrc collcctcd for traiuing
purposes.
Thcre were some Divisional baths at Bazentin-
le-Petit, and I remember having a lnost cold and
miserablc bath there one night ; but it was better
than none at all. It was surl)rising how quiekly
the heavy railway had been brought along. If
now reaehed High Wood, but of course did not
cross the ridge, whieh would bave been in view
of the enemy. About Jmmary 1.5 we went baek
to thc line in very eold weather, and B.H.Q. stayed
at the ('ough Drop a.gain for eight days. During
this rime I set to work eompleting the bomb store
at Hexham Road, and filling it with grenades.
Eaeh morning I got a party of about sixteen men,
and we eolleeted a lot of fillcd sandbags to paek
round the framework and shed whieh were soon
finished. The Brigade observers held a post in
the old Flers Line, from whieh good observation
106 Q. 6. A
was obtained on the ground between LoupaloE Wood
and Grevi||ers. It was hot difficu|t to get the
heavy gunners to tire on Gcrman working-pmoEies
that wcre spotted by the observers; and several
parties werc duly dispcrscd by out shells. Bcfore
we left thc line tlfis rime, the :Brigade bomb store
t Hexham Road was complcted a.nd fillcd. And
when I visit.ed the district again in June 1917 it
was still standing. I also bcgau now to write out
the Brigade Intelligence l{epooEs which were sent
in each da.y, and contaiued a summary of thc cvents
that had happencd »r had bccn obscrvcd on our
front. (}il Janum'y 23 we went back fo thc camp
north of Mamctz Wood.
Aftcr a fcw days c movcd off to Albcrt, and
staycd two or thrce days in a housc ncar the railway
line. Thc town got both bombcd and shcllcd at
rimes, though hot vcrv sevcrcly. Aftcr this wc
movcd off to thc village of Dcl'nancomoE for a short
rcst.
Major C. G. Johnson, M.C., who was a.djutant
of thc 7th N.F. whcn I joincd thc battalion, was
now attachcd to B.tI.Q. as Assistant-Staff-Captain.
Ho was an exccedingly a.blc nm.n, and had a good
knowlcdgc of military law. We M1 likcd him well
as adjurant of the battalion, a.nd our relations at
B.II.Q. wcrc ahvays fricndly. IIe lcft us eventually
to become D.A.Q.M.G. in a highcr Staff formation.
XX
FRANCE AND TIIE FRENCI[
TIIE war has d,nc at lcast onc thing for me.
has opcned my cyes and changed my vicws with
rcgard to the French. I confcss that once [ had
no liking tbr them and a certain measurc of
contcmpt. [ supposc thc avcragc Englishman
has startcd with vicws likc thcsc. Thcrc has
bccn bad blood bctwecn the two races, and that
at no vcry distant date. lndccd thc Alliance or
Entente started much lie a marriage of con-
VClaiencc. The two partncrs wcrc joilmd in intercst
togcthcr against a common foc and a COlnmon
danger.
Personally, I do hot think thcrc was much
lovc lost bctwcen the two nations for somc rime
aftcr the war started. The bond of mnual
admiration and respect, and I hope of affection,
was fl»rged in the Battle of the Somme and in
the heroic defcnce of Verdun. This bond
been strengthcncd since on manv a stricken
field. The clouds of muhml mistrust and jealousy
lmve been largely dispelled. We have learnt
nmch about the French since the early days
of the war, and they nmch about us; otherwise
108 Q. 6. A
it would bave been impossible for a French General
to be in supreme COmlnand of the eampaign.
I have often corne in contact with the Freneh
eivilian in town and country, but onlv rarely
with Freneh troops. Also I have corne to know
and like a series of Freneh interpreters attaehed
to battalions or brigade. The deeds of the Freueh
Army speak I»r themselves, and their Staff work
bas been offert beyond In'aise. lVhen we remem-
ber t.he cruel rate that befcll the north-eastern
corner of Fra.nee and ifs unhappy eitizens, ve
mav sympathise with the fury of the Freneh
lla.ioll agaillS[ their old oppressors. No one
living in England ean realise the hideous wounds
inflieted on this fair eountry-side. It may explain
to some extent af least the heroie resistanee of
the Freneh for over four yearsa resistanee that
eould seareely have been predieted before the war.
In eonsidering our relations with the Freneh
af different tillleS, if iS well fo have a deep sym-
pathy for the eruel wrongs she has suffered. Thus
they must have regarded with very mixed feelings
their harbours, railways, and towns being taken
over by an alien though friendly people.
Ail things eonsidered the Frenehman mav well
have said at the first, 'These English, they are
everywhereI' At least, this I notieed when I
arrived in ]e Havre in January 1916, there was
no enthusiasm for us there. There was no rude-
ness, itis true, but the atmosphere of the p/aee
was rather ehilly and aloof. The country folk
about 5eteren seemed pleased fo see us; I think
FRANCE AND THE FRENCIt 109
they had got used fo the ways of the British
soldier and foulld him hot such a ba.d fellow after
all. If was plcasant fo see the couutry folks
round hcre af ter our stay in Flandcrs, COlllely and
straight, membcrs of a thoroughbrcd race. Thc
contrast was rather foreiblc perhaps.
Thc Brigadc Iuterprcter lu 1916, Monsieur
Bunge, a nativc of Le Havre, was a plcasant, livcly
sort of pers(m, always rcady for a jokc and an
admirer of the British. With him I got (>n very
wcll ; and I lcarnt one or two things of the Freuch
from him. Oue of thcm was how sensitive they
are in sma]l matters of conversation. If in vour
heavy English way you did hot respond a once
with animation to his remarks, M. Bunge thought
he had offcnded vou.
Thcy are a very scnsitive race, cspccially in
matters of courtesv. The colder luamer and bear-
ing of the British musc bave been a sore trial to
them till they got fo undcrstand them--especially
if they were laying themseL:es out to be friendly.
It is worth while to let yourself go a bit in the
marrer of speech and bearing vhen talking fo
them. And, above all things, if vou want fo please
thein, try to talk to them iu Freneh, hovever
badly, for they ail take it as a great compliment.
Another thing I discovercd was the unwillingness
of the French officers to takc the initiative in
saluting ; yet they would never fail to return such
a courtcsy. Perhaps their earlier experiences in
this little marrer had been discouraging. It is
much the saine with the poilus and fariner folk.
110 Q. 6. A
I you wish thcm ' Bonjour ' thcy would invariably
respond and also salure.
Later Oll I had a day or tvo in Alniens which
provided some impressions of the Freneh soldiers.
The oflieers there eontrasted rather foreibly with
out own, I remember. They were very SlnmoEly
dressed in home-parade unif(rms, wore their
medals, and em'ried thelnselves with ftll admirable
pride and spirit. Out offieers, Oll the other hand,
dressed in the homely khaki, o['tCll the worse for
wear, had generally an air of war-weariness. No
doubt most ()t' our 1111211 had COllle ahnost straight
from the battle-field and were enj()ying only a few
hours' relaxation in this fine eity. Still it ruade
«me refleet that tl)e Freneh are indeed a nation ()f
soldiers whieh we are llot. ¥e obviously have
hot the saine pride in the paraphernalia of war,
and that shows whieh way the wind blows. I
also saw a lmmber of poilus going Oll leave and
returning to the line. They looked very quiet
and patient, but without a great dea.l of enthusiasm
shmving Oll the surface. Latcr Oll I sav French
soldiers on the lnareh several rimes. They get
over the ground very fast; but it is more go a.
you please with them tlmn with us. I have often
notieed how grave these poilus look, even af ter
the war was over. Nothing of the reekless fun
and explosive good humour of the British soldier.
If the latter is hot having a rotten rime he is
wonderfully eheerful and often light-hearted.
I bave also seen the Freneh soldiers holding the
line iii a quiet part; and indeed we'took over
FRANCE AND THE :FRENCH 111
from them there. They do nt)t expose t.hemselves
ncarly so much as wc do near the trenchcs. Evcry-
thing sccmed to bc donc with scicntific mcthod and
every one seemed to know exactly what fo do on
all occasions. They hold their front line thinly,
trtsting in case of accidents to recovcr if by a
countcr-attack. And if thc Frcnch are hot fighting
a battle thcy gcncrally kccp ¢hcir front as quiet as
they eau. This of conrse is ail vcry diffcrcnt from
our ¢)wn systcm. If wc had a qniet part of thc
line, it was gencrally bccausc wc had silcuccd thc
encmy's guns and trench-mortars 1)y fighting.
I had onc grcat chatcc of studying thc Frcnch
otficcr af home in thcsc trcuchcs. Shortly bcforc
takiug over lhe Frcnch Rcgimcntal ('(mmandcr
tu thc line askcd our Brigadier, lh'igadc-Ma¢r, and
'onc other (,ccr ' ¢o visit thc trenchcs, but to bc
sure and call in af Rcgimcntal tt.Q. beforc procccd-
ing up thc line. This was rcallv an invitation of
goodwill md ccrcmony ra¢hcr than an invitation
to examine thc line. But as this was hot quite
understood at (hc timc I was iwludcd in thc
part)" as Brigade Bambing Occr, rathcr tha thc
Sta.ff-Captain or Machinc-Gun Otficcr, cithcr of
whom should havc gone in my 1)lace. So on a
¢crribly cohl day at thc end of Jamary 1917 wc
set off, and aftcr a long ride from Dcrnancotrt to
Fontainc-lcs-Cappy in a motor-car, wc arrivcd
ncar Rcgimental tI.Q. and procccded thcre on
foot. Thc Brigadier was a fait Frcnch linguist,
I had about two words of Frcnch, and thc Brigade-
Major had nonc. So it was just as wcll that the
112 Q. 6. A
junior État-Major happened tobe a fluent English
speaker. Indeed, he had spent a good rime in
Newcastle and knew hot onlv England but the
north. We werc welcomed by the French Brigadier
vith every mark of eouloEesy and goodvill. Itis
the custom fol" a French offieer to salute his superior
and thon fo shake hands with him. Thc salute
is given evcil if vou do hot bal)port to be wearing
a. ca}).
Thcsc worthy and hospitab]c warriors werc in
charge ol'a regiment (or as we shou]d sav a brigade)
l'rom the south of France about Bordeaux. I
believe thev had WOl fi»r themselves a good
reputatiou as fightinff luth. Thev knew, however,
as well how to takc tare of themselves ; and I fancv
they had a first-class chef amongst their servants.
It was a great affair, that lneal, whieh had been
prepared to do us honour, especially considering
that it was served actually in the trenehes. Quite
a lmmber of dishes succceded one another, and
were washcd down with some excellent rcd wine.
These wcre followed by scveral sweets and a glass
of swcet ehampagne--the latter to drink to our
good luck in the nev trenchcs--glasses were
solenmly clinked at this stage of the proceedings ;
afterwards cognac, coffee aud eigars. The French
officers expressed considerable iterest in the
Territorial ' T.'s ' OlX mv tuuic, asking what they
stood for. The French 'Territorial' is of course
a diffcrent type to ours, being in the nature of the
last reserve, elderly men hot used as ' storm' or
' shock' troops. The meal passed pleasantly
FRANCE AND TItE FRENCH 113
indeed; and at the end, a photograph must 1)e
takcn as a souvcnir of the mecting, and that was
duly donc in thc winter sunlight outsidc. Thc
Frcnch soldicrs use small camcras in the trcnchcs,
a i»rivilcge denied to us. I have ncver bcfore or
since bcen in such clal)orate trcnchcs as thcse that
ve took ovcr from thc Frcnch. Vast communi-
cation trcnchcs, six totcn fcct (lccp, ra ])ack for
milcs bchind thc fro,tt liuc. Thc samc with thc
forward arca. thc mmal)cr of dccp trctchcs was
simply extrao'(linary. Thcir idca may havc bee
to makc so manv trenchcs that the cncmv would
hot |(llOXV which to shcll. Unfortunatcly the
trenchcs were hot revette<l, and wheu the
brokc we camc to thiuk lcss of thcm and travcllcd
as much as possil)Ic «mross thc opcu. Thc insidc
of the trcnchcs was very clcan--tot a tin or a
scra I) of papcr to hc scen. Thc rcfl.se was all
duml)Cd just ovcr thc parapct or in thc shcll-holes
outside. Thc Frcch arc accustomcd to au easy
system of sanitation. During thc day few Frcnch
soldiers arc sccu outsidc their dugouts, exccpt
partics clcauiug the trcnchcs. In the frott line
onlv a few sentrics wcrc kcpt on duty, and thcv
wcre relievcd cvcrv two hours. Thc French spcak
with grcat confidencc of their ficld artillery, thc
terril)lc 75's. A hattery of these g¢ms handlcd
by French gmmers crut tire almost like a machine-
gun, a.nd the noise is dcafcning.
As a nation thc French have thcir faults. They
are cxccediugly proud and quick to take offencc,
thcy are hot vcry stable or constant (obstinatc
114 Q. 6. A
shall we say ?), and they are about the hardest
bargainers in the world.
Thrift and making use of the shining hour have
been driven to thcir last conclusions. The Brit.ish
soldiers bave bçCll ruade to pay very sweetly for
their visit to France. I de, hot think thc French
cvcr gave thc lh'itish such a warm wc]comc as the
Belians did.
But whcn ail is said and done we ail bave out
OWll l'auits, and thc Fl'cnehman's llOSt shining
virtuc is patl'iotisn.
XXI
SOUTII OF TIIE SOMME
Ar'TEn stayiug for about a wcek or more af Derlau-
court, thc Brigade reccived ordcrs to go south of
the Somme, and t- take over part of the line von
by the French this side of Pcronae. We marched,
ther«.fore, through Brav and staved two nights at
Mericourt and two af Fontainc-les-Cappy. At
the lattcr placc I was surprised to find some graves
of British soldiers who had fallcn therc in thc carlier
part of the war. Also I had onc exciting expericnce
at Fontaine-les-Cappy. There was a large grelmde
dump ncar our camp, and, just as I was passing it,
au explosio took place. A party of men had been
dctonating grenadcs, and two or thrce grenades
had gom off in the box, killing two of the party
and hurling thc grenades in a shower all round the
place. One fell close, and I was luckv not tobe
riddlcd by it. For the safcty-pin was blown out
and the lever of the grenade held dow bv a piece
of wood from the side of the box, which was jammed
by thc explosion into the shouhter of the grenade.
I spcnt a little rime picking up such grenades as
I could find, and two or three of them were i a
dangerous conditiom
116 Q. 6. A
When we got into the line near Belloy I lived
for a rime at advaneed B.H.Q. ealled ' P.C. Hede-
vaux' (' Post Colmnalldant' tIedevau). The dut-
ours were deep and proof against ordinary shells.
The General, Brigade-Major, and Staff-Captain
resided farther baek at 'P.C. Buelow.' I was
showll over the trenches by the ojT«ier bombardier
(Bombing Ocer) of Freneh unit. And I found
it fairly esy to talk to him without the aid of an
interpreter. I told him two English expressions
whieh seemed to please him greatly. One was
' dugout,' the other ' dump' ; the equivalent
for the latter in Frmmh being ' Depôt de Munitions.'
I ruade an entirely new Brigade bomb store
in these trenches, using the little shelters in a line
of disused trenches. After a week in the trenches
the frost broke, and the trcnches which had been
hard aud dry now beeame notlfing but muddy
drains. To wade along them even in daylight
and in gum boots involved the greatest physieal
exertion. One unfortmmte man stuek in the
nmd. and before they got him out he ws pulled
out of his boots nd breeehes and had lais eoat
torn off lais baek. Filmlly he was sent to the
dressing-station with only his shirt on. We stayed
about sixteen dys in the line, and during the last
rive or six days I retired to P.C Buelow to assist
iu the Intelligence Work.
This paoE of the line was quiet and out stay
maeventful; but two things of interest might-
be noted. The Brigade observers reported that
the Germans were employilg ','eneh prisoners on
SOUTH OF THE SOMME 117
the roads about a milc bchiud their front line, a
cowardly and disgraceful proceeding. The Gerlnans
vere seen working hard on their dugouts behind
the linePthis was ot' course a 'blind' for out
bencfit, for the Gcrman retreat startcd the day
aller the 50th Division was relieved.
Aller out sixtecn days in the line B.H.Q. mo'ed
back to Foucaucourt and remailaed thcre till about
Match 7. Theu the 50th Division finally left thc
Somme front and lnoved back for a test. B.H.Q.
weut to Warfusée and we had good billets there.
Brigadier-Gcueral Ovens, C.M.G., left us al Fouc-
aucourt and Lieut.-Col. B. D. Gibson, D.S.O., of
thc 4th N.F., COlnmaudcd thc Brigade for a ïev
days, being succeedcd as Brigade Conunaldcr by
Lieut.-Col. G. Scott Jacksou, D.S.O., of the 7th N.F.
Two vcry startling thiugs were doue al this
lime. Ail the lnen ot' the Brigade werc told that
they were about to be trained for open varfare,
and they would hot have to go into thc trenches
again. Thcy werc to bc uscd as part of a Corps
de (_'liasse during the next offensive. This was
hOt borne out by events, but il throws some light
on the expectations of the British Staff. Il was
also decided al this juncture to change the orgaui-
sation of the ]3ritish Infantry Coupala)'. Each
company was in future fo consist of four sections
--one riflemen pure and simple, another Lewis
gunners, another bombers, and the fourth rifle-
bombers.
Il was perhaps an unfortunate lime to spring
this change on the ]3.E.F., just on the eve of a
1ls Q. 6. A
new offensive. The idea appears to lmve been
souud en, mgh. but the attempt to rush it through
iii thrcc wccks' ¢ilue was hardly likcly fo have good
results. To convert a riflelnan into a riflc-bolnbcr in
a week's tl'ailfing was of course out of the question.
Hithcrto onlv the most expert and steadiest
bombcrs had bcen employcd on riflc-grenadc work.
But now thc ordiuary infantry wcre expcctcd to
bccomc riflc-1)(,mbers, although their knowledge
of b()mbs was (,f thc most cl(.nmlitary dcseril)ti(m.
Two 1)roblclus thcrctbrc faced thosc rcsponsiblc
for thc tl'ainiug and cqnipmcut of thc riflc-bombcrs.
First how te) gct thcm cvcn partially traincd in
thc timc, and second fo invcnt somc appal:atus
fin" carrying the rifle-grcnades. Af first it was only
l)ossiblc fo train the N.C.O.s in charge of thc rifle-
bombing scctions--lcaving them to iustruct their
scctions as wcll as they could.
It is hard to rcalise thc c()mpletc inadcquacy
of this am'angclnClt, without knowing SOlncthing
of thc riflc-grclmdc, and without knowing thc
cxtraordilmry diculty of trainiug a lllan to becolnc
an instructor of others. Howcver that was thc
best that could bc nmdc (,f the uew orders at the
lllOlllCllt. .lld so it fcll te) tue to take a elass for
a wcck of N.('.O'.s drawn fr(ml the four I)attalions.
I had hot only to teach thcm to tire the riflc-grenade
themselves, of which they knew lmthing, but to
teach them fo hand their knowledge ou fo others.
The training went on from Mareh 12 to 17, and
thirty-four section leaders attended the course.
About 1150 rounds were fired. I did hot attempt
SOUTII OF THE SOMME 119
any live firing--in faet, I have never thought if
serves any uscful purp..»se to tire lire riflc-grenades
in practice.
If is or" course llltteh nlore dangerous than
throwing a lire hand-grenade, and «»uc accident
in practiec is enough fo discouragc ail thc rccruits
who'sec it from firing live riflc-grcnadcs in actual
watt%re. On tllc other hatld, evcu whcre thc rifle-
grenades are only uscd as dummics, thc wastc of
valuable ammunition is simply appalling. A
Hales rifle-grenade used to eost 25s. and if came
d«wn to 1Ss. a little later, but Oltee fired as a
dunlmy it was 11o lllueh use to tire again. Dumnlies
could have becn ruade for about l s. af thc most,
but of course uo one in England thought al)out
a trifle like that; and so the coh»ssal waste wcnt
cm ail the rime I had flic training in hand. I did
what I could by straighteniug tlle rods fo use the
grelladcs again, 1)ut. I could hot save nluch in this
way. Thousands of pouuds in rifle-grcuadcs must
have been uscd whcre tllousands of shillings should
have been spcnt.
At Warflts6e Brigadicr-General H. C. Rees,
D.S.()., came fo take «»ver command «»f thc Brigade.
He had seen vcrv heavy fighting in the early part
of the war, aud had since comnlanded two Brigades
belote he came fo tllc l9th Iufautry Brigade. He
was liked and respected bv cvcry ont in thc Brigade.
Very tall and well built, and a soldicr who gave
you the greatest confidence in his ability and
leadership, the Brigade owcd much to him,
especially ata tinle when the trench fighting was
120 (. 6. A
giving vay (as it seemed) to open warfare. He
was a first-class rifle-shot himself, and never eeased
to iml)ress the necessity of developing this weapon
to ihe utmo.t. For the hand-grenade he had the
greatcst contcmpt, which hc was rather fond of
exl)rcssing. Fortunatclv for me, bombing work
was giving way to Intelligence, although for some
rime to corne I had to ri'aih the men in rifle grenades
and to look aftcr the Brigade amlnunitiol stores.
After finishing the rifle-grenade work I aeted
as A.ssistant-Stal'f-Cal)tain for about a wcek. It was
chicflv otlice work as far as I was conccrncd, the
rtlulns heing v(.ry volumilmus. Vork as I could
thcrc SCClued to be no get¢ing to thc end of these
r(turns ti]l 9 or l0 o'clock at night. There were
also onc or t o lninor court-lnartial cases, in which
my lcgal training proved some assistance. On
Match 27 I got my third lcave gra.ntcd, for ten
days. It was 1)erbal)s rathcr quick af ter my last
lcave, but the fact of my being ill on that occasion
was takcn into considcration. This rime I went
to Andcns by motor-lorry and thence to Boulogne,
reaching Manchester on the saine day that I sailed
l'r()ln ]france.
On April 6 I left Folkestonc and got to Boulogne
about 4 o'clock, tlere no ont could say where
thc 5(;tl Iï)ivisioL,. was, and I was directcd to leave
hy a midnight train and to report to the II.T.O.
at Abbéville. I got thcre about 2 a.M. and was
told to go back to Étaples by an 8 o'clock train that
moning. I nmnagçd to get a few hours' sleep
and breakfast at the Offieers Club at Abbéville, and
SOUTH OF THE SOMME 121
rcached Étaplcs about midday t)n April 7. On
April 9 I was told to procccd to St. Pol and gct
furthcr dircctions thcrc. I arrivcd thcrc in timc
for lunch, and thcn rcachcd Frévcnt by anot.lier
train. Hcrc I was told to go by thc ]ight railway
towards Wanquctin and to makc inquirics for
the 50th Division on the way. At F'évcnt I saw
a lot of slightly woundcd soldicrs coming back
from Arras; .thcy had bccn ovcr thc top that
mOl'lfing on thc first, day of thc grcat battlc which
had just startcd. Just bcfore rcaching Avesncs-
]c-Compte I spottcd somc Divisional transport
1 thc roads, and, Oli making inquirics at Avcsnes,
I learnt that thc 149th Infantry B'igadc were
quartcrcd at Manil a]out two milcs away. So
I lcft thc traili and rcachcd our H.Q. just in timc
for dimcr.
Thc 50th Division had marchcd from Varfusée,
and wcre nov proceeding towards Arras to take
part in thc battlc which had startcd on April 9.
XXII
TIIE 1RATTLE OF ARRAS
TI[E Hattlc of Arras starcd wih a grcat succcss.
Thc Vimy Hidgc was rccapurcd and the vast ïort-
ress 1)cwccn Tclcgraph Hill and Ncuvillc Vinasse,
ineludfng a sul»stantial part of thc famous Hin-
dcnl)urg Line, 1'(.11 in on(. day. The high ground at
5lonclty-lc-l)rcux was soon st()rmed and sccurcd.
But aftcr this progress bccame vcry slow, nothing
sccmed to ce,me «)f thcse great ta(.tical succcsses.
Thc fighting, instead of deveh,ping into open war-
fart as wc had expccted, 1)ecamc again verv similar
in ('harac¢cr to thc great trench to trench battlcs
on the Somme.
Thc Frcnch waitcd a wcck bcrorc startig their
offensive in Champagne, and when it did start
it failed completcly. Thc wcathcr brokc down
on April 10, as it gcncrally did in 1917 whenever
the Brit.ish commenced offensive operations. It
became very cold and if raincd or snowed almost
inccssantly for over a week. It is hard for one
who saw only a small scctor of this great battle
to understand what prevcnted us from taking
greater advantage of out great initial success,
which ccrtaifly surprised and disorganised the
THE BATTLE OF ARRAS 123
enemy. But it was llot lnerely the weather which
broke dovn at a critical moment. There were
other causes at work to dclav and impedc success.
I strongly suspect that the British infantrv units
were still suffering ri'oin their trelncndous excrtions
in 1916 ; and they certainly had not the confident
assurance of victory which inspired the terrible
sacrifices on thc Somme. Hitl,erto out artillerv
had never been so str,ng nor had thc mcchanical
aids fo victorv bccn so numcrous or se) varied.
Gas-projcctors and »il-drums wcrc first uscd in
this battlc, ncw acrol)lanes wcre tir.st launchcd
out in public; the British hcid the mastcry of
the air, and the Germans had hot yet devised any
effective rcmedv f(w thc British tanks. But the
British tr(»ol)s were ll(»t thc trool)s of the S(»llllne.
Thc old tyl)c (»f v»luntc(.r had largcly disal)pearcd ,
and thc samc rcso]uti«»n and confidcnce wcre hot
displayed by somc of thc British divisions. Thc
verv strcngth of out artillcrv was sapping thc old
reliance on thc riflc, and whcn thc barrage stoppcd
the infantrv often Seellled fo ])e l)»wcrless to defend
the eaptured positions.
On the other hand the superior and more
lcnhy training of the Gerlna.lt rcscrves now began
to tcll. Personally, I never admired the German
as a fighting lnan until he was now for the first
rime driven out of lais vast defenees. On the
Sotnme the Germans had artillery support nearly
equal to out own, and they were defending superb
trenehes with unbroken roads and eonntry behind
them. Now, when thev were thrust out of their
124 Q.ô. ,
famous stronghold and plastered with every sort
of projectile, t!ey held up repeated attacks, backed
by enormous artillcry preparation and support,
hcld thcm up by shcer dogged fighting and supcrior
knowlcdge of war. Thcir Staff work nlus have
been good, and the training and morale of the
troops cqually good to have donc if. After the
first grcat success, we gained only small local
successes, costing thousands of casualties and vast
cxpenditurc of ammunition. Eventually, after
al»out rive wccks of ficrce lhrusts, thc Battle of
Arras camc to an end, giving us, itis truc, a much
improved position in h'ont of Arras, but leaving
thc main objcct of the attack unaccomplished.
Thc flrther offensives of 1917 werc carried on
more to the north and south, and the Arras area
saw no more big fighting till the beginning of
1918.
Thc 50th Division camc in¢o action on April 11,
and wÇwkcd alicrnatelv wi¢h Che ll¢h Division.
Thc cncmy wcre pushed across thc Cojcul Vallcy
and in¢o the outskir¢s of Vis-en-Ar¢ois and Cherisy.
Thc advance of thcsc ¢wo Divisions would have
bccn undoubtedly greater, but Guemappc on ¢hc
left and ¢hc uncap¢urcd part of ¢hc Hindenburg
Line on ¢hc right for a Cime hcld up ¢he divisions
a¢¢acking on cither flank. Thus bo¢h thc 50¢h
Division and the ll¢h Division cap¢urcd Cherisy
in turn, but had fo abandon ¢hc place Chrough
having ¢heir flanks cxposed. By thcir opera¢ions
in ¢his area both Divisions maintained thcir alreadv
worthy reputation.
XXIII
VANCOURT TOIVER--CROISILLES
TE 149th Ilffantry Brigade left Manin Oll the morn-
ing of April 10, and marchcd to Wanquetin, where
the troops were billeted in houses. On the following
dav it begau to ShOW heavilv about lnidday and
this continued far into the night. The Brigade
were intended to attack on April 12, but, owing
to the exhaustion and exposure of the troops, the
151st Brigade wcre substituted when thc attack
recommenccd on April 18. We started our nmrch
in the show just as thc light was beginning
to fMI, and tl'udged along through the muddv
slush till we rcached Arras. titre there was a
de]av of several houl'S bcfore guides arrived to
lcad the various units to thcir stations. B.H.Q.
mavched through the town and eventuallv arrived
at thc ruincd sugar tçoEetol'y Faubourg Ronville,
wherc thcre were deep dugouts below the ruins.
We could hot ste much of the eity but it ppeared
to be badlv knocked about bv the ellemy's shells.
Not many bouses, perhaps, had fallen to bits, but
there vas hardly a house that had hOt becn hit.
A great luany small shclls must have been fired
126 Q. 6. A
into the town. The place of course xvas full of
underground passages---t.hough I never had the
chance of entering them. When morning came
I was able to take stock of my surroundilgs. The
sugar faetory was one of the last buildings af
the S.E. end of thc eity, and a treneh tramway
lcd to what had once been the ff-ont line tronches
about a quarter of a toile from these It.Q.
Mv job that morning vas to Iront round for
the dumps of grenades &c. whi«h had bcen ruade
l»v out predcccssors bcfore thcir advancc.
rcmcmlwr finding two of thesc in fairlv good
e,»ndition in the laci:hboul'ho»d of Tclcgraph Hill
only of course on the Arras side. Thc col<! night
on which we arrivcd had takcn hcavv toll of thc
eava.lrv horscs, and many «»f thcse sl»lcndid
aninmls could bc scen scattered about on the
round, some already dead and others dying.
Thcy were too fine bred to stand that wintrv night
in an open bivouac. As far as I could lnakc out
out lighter siegc guns ]md moved up towards the
Tclegraph Itill ridge and our ficld guus towards
Neuville Vitasse; there were still howitzcrs of
hcavv calilre in the environs of thc citv itsclf.
I bclieve thc 151st lnintrv Brigade attacked on
April 13, and pushed across llc Cojcul Vallcy north
of Héninel, and dug in just west. of the Wancourt
Towcr ridge. Wancourt was captured but hot
Gucmappc, and Marlière was in our hands. On
tlmt day I was instructed to nmke a dump af
Tclegraph Hill, which I had no diculty in doing
as the place was quite quiet.
IVANCOURT TOWER--CROISILLES 129
The next dav this dura 1) was removed to
the region of the Ehn Trees at Wanc»urt behind
the ' Brown Line ' ; and the Brigade relieved the
151st Infantrv Brigade. B.II.Q. were at the Ehn
Trees, and eonsisted of some fine deep dugouts,
whieh the Germms had used as an ammunition
store. The entranee to them was in a small
mmken road. The amlmmition wa. mostlv stored
in large wooden boxes, and we had fo lmll it out
and get rid of it. This vas ch,ne by elnptying
the boxes into the nearest shell-holes; so that
the ground outside was littered with Gerlnan
alnlnunitiom In one of these shell-holes, alnonst
a lot of rubbish of this kind, I found ïour old
pewter dishes and two pewter spoons. Thev had
been heaved out of the dugout ahmg with the
test of its eontents. Olle of the plates was dated
173, and ail were marked with the foreign nmker's
stalnp. They afforded, when eleaned, a rather
unusual deeoration for the walls of the mess room.
This little eolleetion was disposed of 'under
Divi.ional and Brigade arrangements,' but I
managed to seeure the spoons.
The po.ition ill frollt was now as follows. A
battalion held the trenehes across the Cojeul Valley,
supported by three battalions in the Brown Line
and in Waneourt itself. The enemy was in
Guenmppe and also in some trenehes just over
the ridge of Waneourt Tower Hill. It was the
business of the Brigade to hold the trenehes and
to make sueh improvement in them as opportunity
might offer. General Rees was hot the man fo
130 Q. 6. A
let auv such opportunity slip. Nothing happened
duriag the first fcw days, beyond thc usual heavy
shclling of thc roads and battcrics and forwm'd
positions.
But a patrol of the 5th N.F. pushcd out towards
Guemappc, and carricd out a uscful daylight
reconnaissance.
Also about April 16, 1917, Lieut.-Col. F.
Robinsoa ofthc 6th N.F. discovcrcd thc cncmy
apl»roaching thc ruincd buildings on thc Vancourt
Towcr Hill, and promptly ordcrcd a platoon to
attack thcm. This plan succecdcd admimblv and
the Towcr and bouse wcre capurcd. Thc place
was of vital ]mpooEance to us as it commandcd
direct observation on all the roads lcading to our
part of the front. On Al»ri! 17 thc cncmy shcllcd
the Towcr with 8-inch howitzcrs--gcncrally a sign
that ho amant to attack sooncr or later. The
Towcr conained a formidable concrcte machine-
gun emplaccncnt, facing of course our way, but
by Gcncral Rces' ordcrs it was blown up by the
Enginccrs. Sure cnough the encmv attackcd
the Tower that night, and at an unfortunate time
for us, for the 7th N.F. were in the process of
rclieviug thc 6th N.F. in the front line, and it
vas a vile night, xvith a blizzard of SHOW.
The Gcrman attack succccdcd in driving our
men out of the Towcr and buildings, and thongh
several bombing attacks were ruade that night to
reeover the position it eould not be done. General
I/ees at onee prepared to storm the position at
the earliest opportunity next da3,, the 7th N.F.
WANCOURT TOER- -('ROISILLES ]31
having completed Che relief of the trenches during
¢le night. It is dicul¢ o dcscribe the confidence
which out Gcncral inspircd at this cri¢ical Cime;
he was raflwr gravcr and more floughthfi Chan
usual, perhaps, bu¢ he ¢rca¢cd ¢lc ma¢¢cr wifl
great confidence and ruade every one feel that the
misfortune could and would 1,e rctricved at the
first attcmpt. IIis plans wcre madc in conjunction
with Major.Johnson of the 50th Divisional Artillery ;
and as a rcsult if was arranged to attaek aeross
thc Ol)Cn upp(n'tcd bv a barrage from rive brigades
of ficld artillerv. Thc hour was fixed for twelve
noon ((erluan tilne) just whel the enemv is
thinking about his dilmer. Without anv pre-
l!minarv l)ombardlClt, the barrage opcncd out
ai thc app()intcd hour, and fairlv drovc thc cncmy
off the hill top. The 7th N.F. advanccd ila pcrfcct
ordcr and with little opposition rccapturcd the
Towcr and the neighbouring trcnchcs. Two or
thrce prisoners were sent down, who had been
unable fo get awav before the attackcrs reached
thcm. It was a little attack, but carricd out with
admirable prccision and practically without loss,
and evcry crcdit must be givcn fo Gcneral Rees
for the wav he handlcd thc problcm. As this
operation was carricd out in fifll »new of all the
surrounding country if attracted considerable
attention, and congratulations soon pourcd in
from all sidcs. I was kept indoors or rather undcr-
ground a good deal during this stay in the line,
as if was my business fo record in a log-book cvery
note or message that came in to the Brigade Oce,
132 Q. 6. A
cither by day or night. I had thc chance, too, of
hearing the Divisional Intelligence Officer examin-
ing a few German prisoners who were eaptured
on out ff'ont. He brought with him three large
books contining no doubt the previous historv
of the German Brigades ; and with the aid of these
he was able to check the accuracy of thc prisoners'
statcmcnts.
One dav I wcnt xvith Gcncral Rces to Marlière,
and we went somc distance down Southern Avenue,
whieh was then betwecn the Gcrman outpost line
ami out own. Anothcr dav ve weut to some high
rouml N.V. of Wancourt for the purposes of
olservation. I renember that on this occasion we
had t« hurr" as the Germans were shelling rather
close, and Gencral Rces got a sp]inter on the
hehnet. We werc relieved bv the 150th Infantry
Bl'igde on April 21, and I rode baek fo Arras wih
Capt. Haggie. I was now billeted fin" two days
in house in Arras, where the Brigade Staff-
Captin's oee was locted. The first night was
quiet enough, but the following night was hot so
pleasant. For our heavy guns were now bom-
barding the German positions and their long-range
guns threv a lot of shclls in reply into various parts
of the eity. On April 23, St. George's Day, the
British resumed the attack and the 150th InMntry
Brigade ttcked from the top of WncomoE Tower
Hill. A good number of prisoners were ruade,
but Guemappe still held out and the Germans
launehed a heavy eounter-attack along this part
of the frot. In the morning I went forward to
WANCOURT TOWER- CROISILLES 188
somc dugouts cast of Tclcgra.ph Hill whcrc thc
Gcncral, Brigadc-Major, and Si,ualling Ofliccr wcrc
sta.tioncd for this battlc. Out Brigadc of course
was in rcscrve, cxccpt thc 4th N.F. who vcrc
attachcd to thc 151st lnfautry Brig-adc. From
this [)lace ncar Tclcgral)h Hill I got a good vicw
of thc 1)a.ttlc around (;ucmal)pc. Al)out midday
Brigadicr-(;cncral Ca.mcron of thc 151st hffantry
Brigade took over eommand of thc 50th Divisioual
fr(,nt, ami ai once ma(le 1)rcpa.rati(,ns fo rcnew
thc attack i the aftcrnoon. I was scnt ovcr fo
thc Elln Trces dugouts fo final out cxactlv what
hc proposcd to do xvith thc th N.F., and he xvas
thcn I)usilv engagcd with thc Artillcrv occrs
a.rrauging thc 1)arragcs. Bcfore thc attack was
l'CSltlled. (;ucma.l)l)e was hcavily shelled i)y out
sicgc guns, a w(»mlcrful sight. Thc wholc 1)lacc
sccmcd to disal)pea.r in dcnsc clouds of dust and
smokc. If had 1)ccn a ding-dong battl« all day,
attack and countcr-a.ttack, and at this poiut
neither sidc had ga.incd much advantagc. The
(;crmans had hot Olfiy rcl)ellcd thc attack on our
right, 1)ul had attcmptcd to lmsh through into
Héninel, in the Cojcul Vallcv. Fol'¢unatcly, how-
cver, thc 149ih M.-G. Company, commandcd b"
Major Morris, stopped this lnovcmcut bv a well-
dircctcd tire to our right flauk. When, howcvcr,
thc attacl¢ was rcncwcd in thc aftcrnoon things
went bctter for us. Thc GCl'mans wcrc pm,hed
down thc hill from Wancourt Towcr and Gucmal)pe
was takcn. Thc 4th N.F. did vcll, gctting to a
place callcd Buck Trench. And thc Divisional
184 Q. 6. ,
front was advanccd to a point not far from the
outskirts of Cherisx'. It was lmfortunate that
we had no fresh troops at this juneture to press
home the attaek. Aecording to German state-
ments, the German troops were praetically l)rokcn
up at the end of the day and they ha(l at the
lnomelt no rcserx-es available. Our small party
rcmaincd at the II.Q. ou Telcgral)h IIill till the
morning ol" Al)fil 25, when we returned te) the
Ronvillc sugar faetory, being rclicved l)y a
Brigadc oç thc 14th Division.
On Al)cil 26 a largc Corps dump about a quarter
of a milc from thc factory got on firc, and wcnt on
flaring and exploding ail dav. A good many picccs
oç shclls and fragmcnts ff'oto this dmnp came
rattling against the walls of the sugar factory,
nmking it no place fo loiter about. I lcarnt that
the ¢2nd F.A., to which mv brothcr George was
attached, was due fo take over ff'oto out F.A. in
Ronville ; but I did not gct in touch with him.
On April 26 B.H.Q. moved to a fine chatcau
at the wcst end of Arras, whcre wc wcre much
more comfortable than at the sugar factorv.
That night I went to a battalion dinncr oç the
7th N.F., and it was wondcrçul what a good dinncr
thcy managcd to procure tmder the circumstanccs.
The ncxt day, April 27, we marchcd back to a rest
arca ncar Pommera, going along the Arras-
Doullcns road. B.H.Q. wcrc billctcd in a farm
at the south cnd of the village. I shared a billet
with Lieut. Odell and found the place very com-
fooEable.
WANCOURT TOWER--CROISILLES 185
We vcre hot left long here. A fresh attack
was to be ruade, and the 50th Division was to be
moved tbrward, to be readv to press home the
attaek if it succcedcd. We left Pommera Oll May 1
and lnarched to Souastre, whcre B.H.Q. werc
billeted in a French château with a nice gardcn.
Next day we marched forward again to a barc
looking spot at Mercatcl, where the accolmnodation
was vcry lilnited. We lnanagcd to rig up a fcw
wooden shclters and 1)ivouacs alnongst thc l'uins
of thc houses. This had 1)C(,l a lfiCC village, but
thc Gcrmans had blown down cvery house and
eut down every tree before they left it. They
had even destroyed the small fruit bushes in the
gardens, an UlmCCessarily wanton act.
Thc big attack was al'rangcd for May 3 and it
was precedcd by the usual hcavy bombardment.
But nothing calne of it but hcavy casualties, and
it was decidcd to scnd the Division back to the
rest area again. On thc evcning of May 3 I met a
Colonel of the R.A.M.(., 14th Division, who told
me that he had scen lny brother Gcorge at Neuville
Vitassc just two hours before, and that he was
quitc wcll. I got this inforlnation, just too late,
as we were now undcr orders to more 1)ack to the
test area. And on May 4 I marchcd back with
the B.H.Q. transport to Souastre, and on May 5
to Pommera.
For the next ten davs the Brigade carried out
various tactical exercises under the directions
of General Rees. One da 3 - was given to field
firing practicc, on which occasion I actcd as one
186 Q. 6. A
of the ' easualty' offieers--that is to say, I had
to select various lnen during the sham attaek and
order them to drop out as easualties. Lire
ammunition was used in rifles and Lewis gnns as
well as lire rifle-grenades ; and I remelnber there
were seven slight easualties from aeeideuts with
the rifle-grcndes. Thcse 'lire' ficld days in
France wcre hot without their own little excite-
ments, espee[ally for those who had to keep np
with the liring line.
After ten days the Brigade was dctaehed from
the 50th Division and attaehed to the 88rd Division,
holding the line about Croisilles. Thc idea was
to assist the rd Division by holding the line for
them for three days, in the interval between two
attaeks. So on Iay 17 the Brigade moved from
Polnlnera to Souastre, H.Q. being again at the
Freneh château. Here, through the good services
of our Freneh int.erpreter, we had for dinner a piece
of the falnOUS sanglier which lives in the woods
af Pommera. Ole of these ereatures had l)een
shot, and the huntslnen presented a pieee of it
to B.H.Q. Mess. If tasted mueh like pork, with
a more gamy flavour.
On May 18 we moved from Souastre to Boiry
St. IIal'tin, where B.H.Q. were in SOlne wooden
huts, alnongst the ruins of the village. On 3Iay 19
I went over to Ayette, a neighbourilag village, and
spent the morning training men of the 7th N.F.
in rifle-grenades. Ncxt day I went with Capt.
Haggie to inspeet a Brigade anamunitiol dump
at Coisilles, and on May 21 I went to a eanvas
WANCOURT TOWER--CROISILLES 137
eam 1) at Hamlincourt and sl)ent the night there
I did hot get a good night as the enemy shcllcd
the vicinity of thc camp at intcrvals during thc
night. Ncxt da)" I went forward to B.II.Q. which
wcre in some shclters in a sunken road just west
of Croisilles. We hcld the line till May 25 and
nothing vcry startling happcncd. But two or
thrce incidents occurrcd hcre which I relnem|)cr
with intcrest. The visit of thrce War Col're-
Sl)oldcnt.s, including Mcssrs. Bca(.h Thomas and
Philip Gibbs. Thcy spcnt about hall an hour at
out II.Q. and wcre put in m- charge to sec thc
sights. We did not go far fl'(»nl H.Q. as the high
ground thcrc affordcd thc hcst gcncral view of
the countrv round.
Both of thc English War ('()rresl)OlUl('ltS intcr-
cstcd me nmch, Beach Thomas, tall and dignificd
and grave; 1)hilip Gibbs, short and bright and
chcery: both very Sylnpathctic to and apprecia-
tire of thc Brigade. Thc othcr was a Dutch
gelltlelllall who told me with a flash of inspiration
that I should hot reeollcet his naine.
Another striking personality al)pcarc(l in the
shape of the Brigade Commander of olle of the
Divisional Artillerv Brigades. Cl. Fitzgerahl ealne
to eall on us to inquire whether the artillerv
arrangements were fo our satisfaction and to know
if he eould do anything to help us. A tall lllall
with glasses and a kindly, gentle lace. ()ne lnorning
he |)rought in a great buneh of flowers for our mess
room that he had gathered near ('roisilles. The
fo]lowing story was brought to us by the Artillery
188 Q. 6. ,¢
Liaison Officer. Col. Fitzgcrald vcnt fo the front
line and out into thc brokcn trcnchcs in No Man's
Land in ordcr to inspcct thc registration of the
ficld guns. Sccing a (crlnall snipcr at work, hc
borrowcd a rifle and COmlncnced a ducl with the
Bochc in which sevcral shots wcrc cxchangcd.
Having killcd his m,q.ll lac rcturncd with great
satisfaction, fccling lhc day had bccn wcll spcnt.
This oceurred ncar thc 'Hump' whilst we wcrc
holding thcsc ¢rcnchcs. Hc told us "dmt his guns
had !lad a wondcrful target Oll the Somme i July
1916. They wcre somewherc on thc high ground
south «,f ]3azentin-le-(rand when the (;crnml,
Guard had lnassed for an attaek on Conta.hnai.son.
Thesc guns had the extrmwdinary chance of firing
with open sights on the dense Gcrlnn lnasses
bchild Bazcnth-le-Petit and they lmd inflieted
terrible losses on thc Braladenburghers.
It was from out O.P. r, ear B.H.Q. that I first
tried l:o make a panoramic sketch of the country
in ri'ont. It was a cru(le attempt, no doubt, but
Gcneral Rces was kind enough to speak eneourag-
ingly of it, and to tcll me fo try and develop
this side of h,telligenee.
That adviee bore ri'uit, for in 1918 my observers
were trained fo sketch, and their sketches did more
damage to thc enemy than any rcl)orts that were sent
in. For he heavy artillery got interested in them
and fired on the targets with great effeet.
About May 25 we ealne out of the line and
stayed one night at Moyelmeville, returning next
day to out Divisional test area ai Monehy-au-Bois.
XXI¥
MONCHY-AU-]30IS
WE vere now able to settle dovn to training and
manoeuvres. The country round Monehy was
well suited for this, for there were lnany old
Gerlnan trenches about, and the villages were all
slnashed to bits, giving a realistie toueh fo field
training. B.H.Q. were under eanvas, but 1
seleeted an old German dugout whieh I thmght
would be drier when the ra.ins set in. It was also
eooler in the hot weather, and ifs onlv drawback
was rats. I kept them iii check, however, with a
slnall trap that the (,el'lnallS left behind; they
were ahvays good at inventing killing luaehines.
My ovn job was now to train as lllally infantry
lncn as possible in the use of the rifle-grelmde.
And between Mav 29 and June 16, 190 men went
through the course. Also Lient. Odcll brought
his signal eompany of twentv-nine lnen one evêning
to be shown the working of the riflc-grenade, as
it was thought that the rifle-grenadç (elnpty) lnight
be used as a message carrier.
The course of instruction was SOlnewhat as
follows. In the first place I ça.ve a short lecture
on the meehanism of the grenade and lnethods
140 Q. 6.
of firing it. Thcn the pmoEy of ten was split in¢o
two squads and firing practicc took placc. Thc
mcn wcrc traincd to tire knccling and lying, bchind
covcr and without, and also out of a dccp firc-
trcach. I wa grcatly assistcd by Scrgt. T.
Matthcwson, who was a rcallv expert boml)cr, and
by my ordcrly--L.-C. Fairelough. This training
took all morning, and as far as I eould judge thc
lllell were interested in the course and did their
best to learn the intrieaeies of this new weapon.
In the al'terlmon I was free to wander round and
examine the surrounding eountry. It was of
considerable interest, for if was part of tb.e ground
cvacuated by the enellly when he retreated to
thc Ilindelt|mrg Line. The tronches were lnagnifi-
eently built, and revetted with wood or wattle-
work, and provided with deep dugouts and et»n-
erete maehine-gun elnplaeelnents. The latter verc
hot only wonderfullv strong, the forerunners of
the (erman ' pill-box '--but sometilnes wonderflflly
deeorated with eoats of arms and mottoes.
Very little equipment was left behind, and
many of the dugouts were blown in bet'ore leaving.
Solne of the gun elnplaeelnelts, too, were very
eleverly eoneealed. The guns were kept in shelters
in a line of reserve trenehes and a set of dunnny
emplaeenlents was dug out a little distanee away
for the benefit of our aeroplane observers.
If was an edueation iii military engineering
and fortification to walk round these wonderful
defenees. The wiring too was most ingenious
and often earefully eoneealed in the hedges or
MONCHY-AU-BOIS 141
ditehes. Inside the gun shelters, you fimnd that
the gun was fixed on a central pivot and worked
romld a wooden platform with every degree eare-
fullv marked. Whilst on the walls stood a painted
board with everv barrage line and target earefullv
worked out, and the range and code eall set out
as well. The O.P. was sometinles in a high tree,
with the ladders to get up and the telephone wires
still remaining. It had been a quiet part of the
line, and eonsequently the patient industrv of the
German ]lad had full seope.
The 50th Division begml to take over the line
west of Cherisv an(1 Vis al)out the middle of Jtme ;
lmt onlv two brigades were in the front trenches
toether, and it was out turn to remain behind.
On Julle 18 the Brigade moved from Monehy-au-
Bois to Boisleux-au-Mont. where B.H.Q. were in
a eanvas emnp. From June 20 to 28 I eontinued
the rifle-grenade training. The reeruit training
was now practieally over and these days were
given to showing the handling of a rifle-grenade
section in open warfare. Forty-one offieers, nine
N.C.O.'s and sixtv-two men took part in these
sehemes. I had also two or three rather important
court-martial eases to attend to during the evenings.
Before going baek into the line I was given
nine men to aet as Brigade observers; the 6th
N.I. sent L.-C. Chappell and Ptes. Wright and
Hume; the 7th N.F. Ptes. Fail and Ewart; the
4th N.I. Pte. Brook and another; the 5th N.I.
L.-C. Roxlmrgh, who had onee been in the 7th N.I.
and Pte. Garnett. Pte. Brook I round ealne from
142 Q. 6. A
Mcltham, only seven or eight mlles from my own
home. tIe was a typical lad from these paoEs,
with the bright rcd face and the speech that I
knew so wcll. Naturally I took an interest in
bim and I was sorry whcn he left us about the
end of November 1917. He has corne through
tbe war safely, I ara glad to say. l'tes. Fail and
Ewart wêrc dcstincd to act as lny obscrvcrs both
with this brigadc and in the 42n,1 Division in 1918.
Anti I cannot spcak too highly of tbc cxccllcnt
work dt»ne by Ptc. Fail. Owing fo exccptional
cyêsight he was a fit'.st-class countcr-battcry
obscrver, and later on his skill xvith the pêncil did
tlm (;ermans a lot of damage. On this frott be
spottcd thc flash of a 4-inch gun battct'y tbat
uscd to shcll B.H.Q., with thc rcsult tbat bc bcavv
gulmcrs fired on this battcry and silcnccd it
completcly.
I had also the services of L.-C. J. Cowen and
Pte. J. King (both 7th N.F.) whcn the 50th
Divisional obscrvers were ¢lisbandcd. Pte. King
went shortly afterwards back to the battalion.
But both thesc mcn did lnagnificent service in
c«fllccting intclligcnce during thc rcmaindcr
thc war.
XXV
TRENCII VARFAREVI,-('IIF.II.Y "RONT
Ft:OM .lune till Oct«bc'r 1917 the 50th Division
held the line of trcwhcs rmming front the Hinde-
burg Line west of Fontaine-lcz-Cr«,isilles to Cavalry
Farm on the Arras-Cambrai Road. With heavy
fighting going on in Flanders this was a eom-
paratively quiet part of the fi'ort. Our trewhcs
were goo(l and ge)t. better every week, and the
high ground al)out Wanconrt Tower tIill gave
us excellent (bservation on the enemv's country,
espeeially towards the left. This part of the front
was divided into two seetors, and tl'.ev were held
by two out of the hree brigades. So that eaeh
brigade spet sixteen days in the line, and the
eight days in the test area about Neuville Vitasse.
Also eaeh brigade held in turn the trenehes on
the right, know as the Cherisy seetor, and then
the trenehes on the left, known as the Vis seetor.
My time was given to Intelligence in the line
and to Salvage when out of the line.
Intelligence work ineluded, seleeting a eon-
venient O.P. for the Brigade observers and arranging
and supervising the method of holding it ; making
panoramie sketehes for the observers; writing
144 Q. 6. A
out the Brigade Intelligence Report between 10 A.I.
and noon every day; supervising the work of
the Battalion Intelligenee Offieers ; marking the
Brigade Intelligence maps with all features of
interest; studying and eataloguing the aeroplane
l»hotographs which came in large numbers evcry few
davs; destroying obsolete and useless documents
(hot a small part of my job either ) ; and sending
to the Maehine-Gun Offieer, Major Morris, every
week the targcts for indirect machine-gun tire af
nights. Fickl work, i.e. aetual observation and
skctehiug, formed really a eomparatively small
part o[" my duties, though I tried fo get. up to the
observation post once every dav. The most
important part was office Wol-kand I had a thir-
sized shelter af eaeh Head-quarters, the walls
eovered with maps and the table loaded with
aeroplane photographs and reports of all kinds.
Besides the Corps and Divisional Intelligenee
eports whieh came in daily, there were Daily
Rcp«rts from the two adjoinitg brigades, and
generally a goodly sheaf of miseellaneous papers
from the Army Intelligenee Department. In this
way a great deal of interesting information eame
into my hands, as to how things were going on;
and I have never before or since been so well
supplied with information as to what was going
on and what was intended to take plaee. SVhen
out of the line, in a eamp near Neuville Vitasse,
I had to ve the observers a eertain amount of
t Lieuts. O. Young (5th .F.), Jessop (6th .F.), and Richardson
(7th N.F.).
VIS-CHERIS¥ FRONT 145
practical training in the use of the compass and
l)rotraetor, and mal) reading. But after that I
was free to do what I |iked within reason, and I
generally devoted my spare tilne to salvage. The
observers ofl;en turned out to assist lne iii this,
and Lieut. Odell on several occasions gave me
most va|uable assistanee with his signallers and
orderlies.
Salvage was left verv nmeh at this rime fo the
diseretion of the eolmnanders of infantry units.
Naturallv when the soldier man got out of the
line, he was not mueh inclined to do nmeh salvaging
on Army Aeeount. Some of the transport offieers
ruade a speeialty of it, and Cal)t. B. Neville of the
7th N.F., the l)riuee of quartermasters, reseued
tons of salvage of all kiuds. I date say, however,
a good many things round their way into his ow
stores as well, for I never knew a quartermaster
so well supplied as he. There were eertain small
l)arties of men employed at Divisional and Crl)s
Salvage dulnpS, bu they never seemed to me to
take the job very seriously. Perhal)s the officers
in charge wçe hot exaetly the sort of men to
hustle, or to see that their men got busy. Every
one knows that there was a vast amount of waste,
and that the Germans had this marrer nmeh better
organised than we.
The Germans were l)artieularly aetive against
out field artillery on this ri'ont. Although we
had the advantage of ground for most purposes,
and eould earry out ilffantry reliefs in daylight,
there were few plaees satisfaetory for eoneealing
16 Q. 6. A
out field gun. They were mostlv eoteentrated
al)out Vancourt and Iténinel, and these two places
consequently reecivcd çcquent and hcavy punish-
ment from the Gcrman lcavies. It was wcll to
kcep your eycs a.d cars open xvhcn paqsing through
thcse villages and n«»t fo linger thcrc UlmeCessarilv.
The pieces from the (h.rman 8-iuch shell carried a
hm wa.y, and I had L.-C. Chai»poli woundcd through
thc haad and sent doxn to hospital through a
spliutcr tlmt carricd over a quartcr of a lnilc. We
saw a lot of thc 50th Divisional R.F.A. about this
rime and a fine h»t of fclh»ws tlley were. On thc
lcft out Il.Q. were ncxt door to the B.It.Q. of thc
251st Artillcry Brigade, commandcd bv Lieut.-Col.
Moss Bhmdell. I got to know and like bim wcll.
and lac did everything ho could to a.ssist out brigade,
and espccially iu matters of intelli'encc. Anv
news that he got he sent on to us at once and vice
versa. I bave never known the liaison bctwecn
Fiehl Aliilcrv and Infmatry more close or more
effective thaa at this time.
One of the most imp»l'tant opcrations carried
out by the 50th Divisiou was a double raid and
gas projection o Scptcmber 15, 1917, and the
fi,llowing night. If was carricd out bv thc 151st
Infantrv Bl'iadc in the ri'ht sector, aud at the rime
thc 14.gth Itdntry Brigade was holding the trenchcs
on the left. I belicve the 9th D.L.I. supplied
the raiding paies. It was sueh a novel and
effective raid that some account ought fo be given
of it. The schelne was fo deccive the enemy as
to thc exact cxtcnt ald nature of the attaek.
VIS-CHERISY FRONT 147
For this purposc a grcat manv smokc-shclls were
fired fo scrcen the oI)erations ri'oin the elwnv's
observation. Also a.long the flanks of thc actual
raid a numbcr of dumlny figures wcre arrangcd
to rcpresent ail attaeking force and so to draw
the enemy's tire awav from the actual raiding
parties. The dulnmics were l)ut out in No Man's
Land thc night l)cforc, face downwards, and at
the right mommt ¢hcy eould be raised or lowered
I)v means of ropes worked I)v the lnen in thc
trenehes. Also a dummv tank was prepared and
hauled forward 200 yards bv means of ropes.
The eombination of smoke-shclls and dummies
was wondcrfullv effective, and the enemv repor¢ed
that he had been attaeked in great force and with
tanks along a large part of this front.
What reallv hapl)ened was this. After a
preliminary bombardment of great intensity bv
out guns and treneh-mortars (ineluding many
thermite or flame-shells), about 2 e.z. three eom-
panies of the 9th D.L.I. dashed aeross and eaptured
the German front and support lines eovering
Cherisv. They killed and eaptured a uumber of
Germans without suffering manv easualties them-
selves, and then returned af once to out own
trenehes. At the saine rime the dulnmies in No
Man's Land were lowered again. After waiting
rive or six hours, another short bonlbardment
started, the dummies were again raised and one
eolnpany of the 9th D.L.I. dashed aeross into the
saine trenehes and killed or eaptured more Germans.
They thenreturned to out trenehes and the dulnmies
148 Q. 6. A
were again ]owered. After dark out men went
out and removed the dummies, so ¢hat the Gerlnans
nevcr had a chance of diseovering the ruse. The
saine night at'3 h.. fif¢y eylinders of gas were
projccted over the German lines. This gas attack
eos¢ the Germas dear, probab]y more thon the
two raids, for the next dav Chey were secn
bnrying or rcmoving lae (umbers of the men
etught in ¢he gas cloud. My own observers
rcported .200 gas casnalties ald the total nnmber
rcporfcd rcaehed a figure between 300 and 400.
(;as ea.sualties were easily distinguished, as the
Germans removed then il blankets shmg between
two men ou a pole. Besides, as it happened, the
gas cloud drifted nOloEh and caught the Gertnans
during relief nearly Imlf a mlle away from the
scene of the two raids. For example, the Germans
wcrc bnrying dead all dav ia the neighbourhood of
St. loharts Fa.etory, which is somc distance from
Chcrisy. The German report of this operation
showed that thev had failed entirelv to realise the
nature of the a.ttaek. And simi]ar raid was
repeatcd shortly afterwards near Monehy-le-Preux
with rea.t sneeess. Out a.eroplanes swooped down
to 800 fect and took photographs of the first ra.id
frot that hcight. And I was luekv enough to
sceptre some vcry interesting copies of these photo-
graphs, whieh showed out lnen erossing No 3Ian's
Land and entering the Germn trenehes.
I got mv fouoEh le,ve, ten days, about August 80
and travellcd home vi Bonlogne and Folkestone.
It ws the first leave that took me out of the line,
VIS-CHERISY FRONT 149
which it did for about four days. All the previous
lcaves had occurred during Divisional rests.
We were relicved in hese trcnches bv the
51st Division about the beginning of October,
and the 50th Division moved out of thc line to
the neighbourhood of Courcelles-le-Compte for a
short rest.
Before the relief took place Brigadier-(;cncral
Rccs had to leave us mucb to cverv onc's regret.
He was takcn ill with a distrcssilg iutcrml com-
plait, vhich ncccssitatcd his retut't for a whilc to
England. IIe was succcedcd by Brigadicr-Gclmral
E. P. A. l{idd(.ll, C.M.(;., D.S.O.
General Riddcll bad at OllC rime becn A(ljutalt
of thc 7th N.F., that is to sa)', long bcforc the v,q" ;
and hc kncw all about Ah).vick and thc peoplc
thcre. During the war he had bcen instructiug
ofl]ccrs at Saldhurst for a rime, and ltter o1 hc
COlmuandcd a battalion of thc Cambridgeshircs
at the Battle of thc Somme. This battaliou
succcedcd in capturilg thc Schwabcn Rcd(»ubt,
ncar Thiepval. Latcr on he had secn service in
the bat!le still rag'ing il Flanders. Whcn he Calne
o COllllllalld the l9th Inïantrv Brigade at thc end
of Septcmbcr 1917 he had ah-eadv won the D.S.O.
and Bal'. To this he subsequently adde(1 another
Bar during the Gerlnan offensive in March 1918.
Hc was said to be a typical Northumbriala. A
leader, gallant and var-vise, of whom No'th-
umberland is justly proud.
Whcn we lcft thc line at Cherisy we had a good
idca what out destination was to bc. But first
15o Q. 6. A
of ail we lnoved a short wav baek in the direction
of 3Iiraumont. The 149th Ifantry Brigade was
quartered at Coureelles-le-Comte, a shattered
village in the area vaeated by the Germans after
the battle on the Somme. tIere we stayed for
about ten days, and the battalions resumed
training their men for offehsive operations. One
field dav was partieularly remarkable for demon-
stration bv the Air Squadron stationed aL Moyenne-
ville. We eommeueed operations belote dawn,
and I was in charge of the messages ata spot
representing battle H.Q. Just before I left at
the conclusion of the operations, about 9 ..,
an aeroplane swooped dowll over otr improvised
Il.Q. and left a message saying 'Expect a report
at BAl.Q. in an hour's timc.' We rcturned to
BAI.Q. and, sure enough, about 9.40 A.. an
aeroplane again swoopcd down and dropped a
small packet. On opening it I was amazed to
find aroll of about a dozcn plotographs, taken
about an hour before, of the final position rcached
by the Infantry during the sham attaek. Hov
thev luanaged to develop and print these photo-
graphs in the short spaee of time is ahnost a mystery.
But I imagine they nust have had ome eleetrieal
machine for drying the negatives aud prints.
During this short stay out of the line I paid two
visits to the old Solnme battlefiehl. The first in
eompany with Capt. H. Liddell, ho had for SOlne
rime beën aeting as Assistant-Brigade-Major.
We rode to Grevillers and went on from there on
foot to Hexham oad and Eaueourt L'Abbaye.
VIS-CHERISY FRONT 151
I had visited thc ground bcfore vith Lieut. Odcll
iii June, whcn we were staying at Moneh -au-lois.
A good deal of salvage had been doue sinee thon,
and thcre were fewer dead men ]ying about. But
the seene of the fighting at Hook Sap and round
the Butte of Yarlcneourt was sti|l littered with
hehnets, rifles, aud brokeu eqfipment of ail so,'ts.
Of course bv this time the tl'clmhes had largcly
fallcn in and sverc covcrc(1 with l'ough rm;k h(,rbage.
But the wirc belts and the duek-b(mrd tracks cre
still there. $-hcn e approaeh('d the mtranee
to the eellars under the ruilted abbev at Eaueourt,
we noticcd traces of men livi:g thcre. Su ol_e
was rising out of the ruins aud there xcre l'ecm.t
footmarks about, and some tins of soapy xxatcr.
The store was, au(! I believe it was quite tl'ue,
that slnall parties of dcsertel's dwelt iii these old
deep eellars and dugouts, living on the bulle bc(f
whieh still eovered the battleficld and on the
money reeeived for' Souvenirs" soldat lmighbouring
eanteens. I know of ole desertcr xho lived there
froln November 1916 to June or July 1917. Apart
from these slight traces of occupation, the battle-
field seemed quite deserted ïrom one end to the
other.
On another occasion I went with General Riddell
by car to Thiepval and we rode back through
Buequoy. This was a very interesting visit, for
the General explained on the spot exaetly how
the Sehwaben Redoubt was stormed, and how the
¢roops were brought forward aud disposed for
the attaek. We went over a lot oï the neigh-
bouring ground, and I was able fo sec hov the
Germans were ïoreed out of St. Pierre I)ivion,
Miraumont, and Beamnont Hamel. I little thought
as I rode home that night through Buequoy that
I should in little more than rive months' rime be
commaudiug a company in the front line in a
muddv ditch outside Buequoy. However this
stay at Coureelles was invaluable later on, for
if gave me a gcneral idea of the ]ie of the land on
tbc enemy side, when we were pressed back to
G ommecom't and Colincamps.
We lcft Courccllcs about October 18, and
entrained at Miraumont station. We left the
train near Casscl and marched to the village of
Arneke, where I spent two nights at the bouse of
thc curé--a kind hospitable old man. After that
we marched out of France and arrived ata camp
about a toile wcst of Proven, in Belgium.
XXVI
THE HOUTtIULST FOREST
I wsa I could omit ail refcrence to the opcrations
in Flandcrs 1917. Surely no one tan be found to
take much pride in the results of this part of the
campaign. Judged by the map alone betweeu
May 1, 1917, and May 1, 1918, it will bc found
that we actually lost ground in Flandcrs, and that
we were at the la.st hard put to it to retain any
footing there at all.
It is diffmult to know what lnotives, political
or military, led to our pressing an attack vith such
colossal fury on this part of the line. Perhaps the
Chaunel ports at Ostend and Zccbrugge wcrc
the prize we hoped to gain. Bc that as it may,
the result of our attack was to bring about a
conflict of unparallcled intensity. The bulk of
the Eng]ish heavy artillery seemed to be cou-
centratcd on the one side and the bulk of the
enemy's heavy artillcry on the other. In a country
like Flanders the ground is bad euough in foul
weather; but where it is churned up for toiles
with the heaviest of shells, it becomes impossible
to use tanks and next to impossible to use infantry.
Moreover, the Gernlans had superiority in the
]54 Q. 6. A
air. Thcy had conccntratcd oaa aircraft tlle effort
which we had cxpcnded on pcrfccting thc tank.
The one ean be used eff(,ctively in wet weathcr,
but the otber cmmot. The German ]lad anothcr
defensive surprise for us. Owing to tle nature
of the gl'ound t]le deep dugout was praetically"
an impossibility. In the place, t]lercfore, of this
thc German devised the concrete blockhouse
t,l" ' pill-box' as it was callcd. For mlles bchind
their front line the country was dottcd with pill-
bc)xes, which could defy the tank and ail but the
largcst kinds of shells. As soon as ouv ol)erations
startcd the rain stremned doxvn, lnakillg COla-
ditions ten rimes worse for the attaeking force.
Ail honorer to thosc that o'allantlv stol'lned the
muddv slopes of Passehendaele ; to the womterful
engineers that eonquered the squalid quagmires
of LangenÆarek and Zolmebeke; to the glmnel's
that stuck to their guns under a rain of bombs and
shells, raid to the translmrt drivers that fed tlÆem.
Itis a raie of ondel'ful gallantry and heroie
endeavour. But when all is said and donc, one
is bound fo look at the result.
On reaching the area round Proven the 50th
Division was alloeated to the Fifth Arlny (General
Gough), and reeeived orders to prepare to take
part in an attaek on the ellenlv's line bctween
the Houthulst Fore.st and Passehendaele. On
Oetober 1, the da 3" after out arrival at Proven,
I went to the Fifth Army H.Q. to get all the lnaps
and information I eould relating fo the lleW front.
The Arlily H.Q. were iii a large château north of
THE IIOUTIIULST FOREST 155
Poperinghe, and when I got there I was received
by the Colonel in charge of Intelligence with every
kindness. He got me several maps, gave me the
files of intelligence to glanee over, and advised me
to visit the Air Squadron at Proven for aeroplane
photographs. Ho also offered to turn out a Staff
car to take me baek, but this kind offer I deelined.
Mv next visit was to the oftiee of the Air Squadron,
where they had a file of all photogral»hs l'elating
to out front. I was able to seeure several use[ul
copies, and the promise of some more. After
this I returned to out camp to work on tbe ail"
photos. On Oetober 28 we lnarehcd to Proven
and entrained there, getting out at Elverdinghe.
A short match took us to a camp of wooden In/fs
a little south o[ the ehâleau, where the 50th
Division had their battle H.Q. Vhen we arrived
the buts were quite elnpty of ail furniture; but
iii a short rime the Brigade pioneers had ruade a
table and forlns to use ill the nless. It was deeided
that onlv the Gencral, Brigade-Major, and Signalling
Offieer should go forward to battle il.Q., an old
Gerlnan pill-box eallcd Martin's Mill, between
Widjendrift and Langelnarek. The test of the
Brigade Star[ were to renmin at rear il.Q. at
iluddersfield Dugouts on the Yser Canal dose
to Bard's Causeway. At this rime I was nmeh
worried by what appeared to me to be an attempt
to tap the information of the Brigade as to the
details of the fortheoming attack. Naturally an
Intelligenee Offieer has to be disereet at ail tilnes,
but espeeially so at rimes like this. 1 simply
156 Q. 6. A
record my impression although I cannot give any
details.
On October 24 I went to the rear B.H.Q. at
Huddersfield Dugouts. They were in the northern
bank of the Yser Canal about half a toile south of
Boesinghe. The front was approached by means
of several long duck-board tracks, in places more
like wooden bridges than the ordinary treneh
ïootboards. In the morning I did lny best to in-
vcstigatc hcrc these tracks started, hot altogether
an casy marrer in ail entirely strange country.
In the aftcrnoon I was askcd by the Staff-('aptaii
to sec that the hot food and tea and rum for the
use of the troops ncxt morning were ready for
dc]ivcry to the earrying-partics, and that the O.C.
earrying-party kuew exactlv what to do: I round
that the food &c. was ready packed up in the hot
food eontainers by the four transport oflïcers, but
I had great difliculty in fiuding the officcr in charge
of the earrying-parties. After wa!ting about for
over two hours I did get in toueh with him. And
by nightfall I had the satisfaction of seeing the
hot food set off with this earrying-party up one
of the traeks leading to the front. We obtained
guides for this party from the 50th Divisional
Signals, who gave us every assistance in their
power.
The attack took place next lnorning about
dawn, after a heavy artillery bombardment, and
in the rain. Of this attack the Brigade bas no
need to be ashamed, although by the afternoon
of the saine day the renmants of its brave soldiers
THE HOUTHULST FOREST 157
were vithdravn to thc starting point. The 7th
N.F. on the left had a shooEcr distaaec to go than
the rest, but on thcir lcft flank was the Forest of
Houthulst full of German snipers. On the right
were the 4th N.F. and in the eentre the 5th N.F.
Each battalion had to attack aeross a treaeh-
erous swamp, and each was eonfronted by a r,,w
o[ unbrokcn concrete pill-boxes, carefully eoneealed
fron aerial observation. Each battalion ruade
ground, but eaeh battalio was m«)wed (h)wn in
heaps by thc machine-guns in the pill-boxes. I
bave nothing now to give as an estimate of the
casualties, except the officer casualties of the 7th
N.F. Twelve oflieers of the 7th N.F. went over
thc top that mornin', and onc returned alive,
Lieur Affleek. T]m others were ail killed. It gives
some idea of the spirit of these gallant fe]lows,
when I relate that Lieur Afflcek was preparing a
further attaek on the German pill-boxes at the
rime lac was ordercd to return with the remnants
of the shattered brio'ade. The threc battalions
ail suffered the heaviest h)sses, but I bave now
no details except those I have given above. Lieut.
Odcll, the Brigade Signalling Oflàcer, and his men
did xvonders in keeping the battalions in toueh
with B.H.Q. during the battle, and for his great
personal gallantry o this occasion he received
a Bar to his M.C. The shattered remnants of the
battalions were drawn out of the fighting zone
and givea billets hot far from the Yser Canal.
Even herc bad luek followed the 5th :N.F., forma
long-ra,age shcll crashed into one of the lmts at
158 Q. 6. A
Rose (am 1 and caused fortv more easualties. In
the transport lines on the vest side of the Yser
Canal Capt. Neville, the Q.M. of the ïth N.F., was
killed bv a bolnb next day. An old soldier with
a wonderfu] record of service, he had preferred to
stick t« his battalion instead of taking" promotion.
I bave ah'cadv ealled him thc prince of quarter
masters. I had also to lainent him as a verv kind
and gencrous friend.
We now reeeived orders to retire 1-o the rest
arca about Ondank, and on Oetober 26 I was sent to
take ,vcr a camp for B.II.Q. On the wav I callcd
at D.II.Q. at Elverdinghe Château, wlere I was
verv eourteouslv reeeived bv the ' Q ' StalT---Col.
CartwriRht and Major 3IeCraekcnwho nmde manv
symlmthetie inquiries after tbe offieers in the
Brigade.
We were nov quartcred in some ohl wooden
huts, possibly eonstrueted bv the French; and
though Vel'V eomfortable inside th.v were hardlv
bonib-proof. At niR'lts ail the baek areas round
'pl'es werc heavily bonbed and a lot of horses
were killed everv niR'ht and a certain number of
nlen as well.
On Oetober 27 the poor shattcred remnants
of mv battalion passed B.H.Q., verv wearv and
very few in nunlbcrs. Besidcs the Battalion H.Q.
Company there were just enough mcn to make
one deeent-sized eompany. Lieut.-Col. G. Seott
Jaekson stopped to speak to me, and the tears
trieklcd down his weather-beaten faee, as he said
'Buekley, this has fairly donc me.' Onlv those
THE HOUTHULST FOREST 159
who have had a fine battalion eut to pieces ean
realise the fcclings of their e«)nmaldcr at sueh a
moment.
I set to work with my observers paeking a
wall of sandbags round the wooden buts, as a
1;rotecti(m against bolub plinters. It was n(it
possible to protcct the roof, but thcse sandbags
wcrc effective against anythilg but a direct hit.
I have lmver knowll Gernall night boltbilg
nOl'C persistent or more heavv than it xvas in the
Salicnt just at this tillC And althogh we noyer
g«lt a bomb in the saine field as o111" camp thev
(ll'«q)l)ed close enough to be (listuvbing. A camp
with SOlC of the Divisional details was struek s(»me
little wav from IlS, and the saille night D.H.Q. at
Elvel'dinghe Château were bombcd, several lut»tt»r-
hlrries being set on tire.
It was too far baek for us to be tr(mbled with
mueh shelling, and the Gerlnan long-range guns
fired luostlv over out heads at the more attrac-
tive targets of Poperinghe al(l Proven. Oipc (la3"
(hlring this sh«lrt rest, Oetober '-)9, I had a ride round
with Lieut. Odell in seareh of a field-eashier's office
where monev eoul(l be drawn to pay Brigade dctails.
After a long ride to different places we landed up
at a Calmdian Cashier's Oflàee lmar Poperinghe;
at this tilue the Clmdians were (111 Passehend«mle
Ridge. A1)Olt November 5 the Brigade returned
t(» the line f«»r a few davs before the Divisi«m was
taken out. On that dav I rcturned with the Staff-
Captain and Capt. G. Bell (6th N.F., Assistant-
Staff-Cal)tain ) to Huddersfield Dugouts. On the
160 Q. 6. A
following day I walked nearly as far as the Stecn-
beke at Martin's Mill, and the ground around
Langemarck was about as dreary and shattered
as any that I bave ever seen. It was wcll dcscribcd
to me once as ' uttcr squalor.' Next day I went
to thc cam 1) of the 4th N.F. south of Langemarck
and to 3'[arsouinc camp, to arrange certain details
of the relief. The saine night thc Brigade was
rclieved, but I was left in charge at IIuddersficld
Dugouts till thÇ cveuing of Novembcr 8 wheu I
rcturned to thc camp at Ondank. On Novembcr 12
the Brigade cntrained at Elverdinghe station and
were taken through St.. Orner to Vatten station.
We marchcd from there in the dark to the little
village of Serques. We were now to bave about
a month's test and training before returning again
to the Salient.
XXVII
DIVISIONAL REST NEAR ST. OMER
SERQUES was quite a plcasant littlc village to stay
at, but the arrangements for traihing were vcry
scantv. I had to scarch round for st, itablc spots
fol" rifle-ranges, and to agt'ee with thc owncrs for
suitable comI)ensation. Also I had to make some
of the arrangements for a ferry boat to convey
thc troops across the Canal 1)c L'Aa to a good
training-groulad bctwcen Vattcn and St. Momelin.
On Novembcr 14 I paid my first visit to St. Orner,
which is a nicc town with plcnty of good shops.
Lieut.-Col. G. R. B. Spain, C.M.G., of the 6th
N.F. came to COlmnaud the Brigade during the
absence of Brigadier-Gcneral Riddcll on leave. He
was a man of remarkable cruditiol and a collcctor
of prints and other things. And I soon round that
we had manv things in comlnon and many
interesting talks I had with him on a variety of
subjects.
We discovered together several early flint
implcments and arrow-heads about Scrques, and
he told me a lot about the earlv Stone Age, which
interested me greatly and set me looking for thcse
interesting rclics wherever we bappened to bc
162 Q. 6. A
quartercd. 1 Shortlv after this rime Lieut.-Col. Scott
3aekson ]eft the 7th N.F. to join the R.A.M.C.
and to take command of a base hospital, tte was
succccdcd by Capt. II. LiddclI, M.C., who now
becamc Lieut.-('ol. lu eommand of the battalion.
Aftcr staying at Serques for about two weeks
thc Briade moved to the area around Tournehem.
This was hOt sueh a fiat watery eouutrv; and
we had better quarters in the house of the curé
of thc p|ace.
It was dccidcd to hold Brigade Sports hcre,
and I was scnt off to Boulogue to buy the prizes.
I wcnt therc aud back in a Divisional Staff car. I
had lunch at the Oflïcers' Club, where the V.A.A.C.'s
were serving as waitresses ; and verv nice it was
to see their fresh English faces again. A visit
to Boulogne wheu vou are hot going ou leave
brings back rather melancbolv feelings, aud I was
glad to leave the place.
An incident happened at Nortleulinghem, which
was rather unfortunate for it spoilt an unbroken
record. The 7th N.F., who were statioued at this
place, were ordered to provide a field-firing demon-
tration for the Divisional Staff. The demon-
stration was to include the firing of a number of
smoke-bombs--rifle-grenades with a small can of
phosphorus at the end. Their successful discharge
requircd considerable practice and nerve.
As Lieut. H. Richardson, the Bombing Officer
of the 7th N.F., was away I was asked to corne
At Coineux I round , series of early implements in which
the British Museum took considerable interest.
DIVISIONAL REST NEAR ST. OMER 168
over and instruct the men how to tire these new
weapons off. There were only two mornings in
which to instruct them before the dcmonstration
came off. Of course it was a very hurried pro-
cceding, and I was rather horrified to find that
the men kncw practically nothing about rifle-
grenades. (Most of the trained rifle-bombcrs had
bccome casualties in the battle at Houthulst.)
I did what I eonld to explain the working of the
smoke rifle-bolnb ; but on the first practice taking
place one of the men succccdcd in blowing off the
forefinger of another man, through firing too soou.
Of course that was hot a fatal accidcnt, but it put
the man out of action for the rcst of the war--my
only serious accident in bombing of anv kind.
Whcn the dcmonstration came off, thcre were to
my great rclief no further regrettable incidents of
that sort.
On December 9 we began to prepare to return
to the Salicnt, and I went with certain advanced
dctails to Wattcn, where I spent thc night in one
of the houscs. I managcd to gct a very passable
dinner at the best local inn. We entrained next
day at Wattcn station and were takcn by rail to
]3randhoek; marching to a camp quite close to
the station.
I had sccn in some of our Intelligence papers
that the 14th Division was in a Corps immcdiately
on our lcft, and I thcrefore kncw that I might
have a chance of getting in touch with my brother
George. Accordingly I walked to Vlamertinghe
next day and heard that his battalion was stationed
164 Q. 6..
in a camp af St. Jean. On December 12 I was
sent forward fo take over B.H.Q. in Ypres, at a
convent af thc N.E. corner of the city. The
higher floors of the convent vere all in ruins, but
the ground floors were more or less intact, and
in these ve had out rooms and offices. The mess
room was under a pile of rubbish outside. Having
made the arrangements with the 150th Infantry
Brigade, whom wc were relicving, I had still an
hour to si»are bcfore B.H.Q. would arrive. So
I dccidcd to walk over to St. Jcan and inquire
for mv brother's battalion. If took me about
twenty minutes to get thcre, but there was no
difficulty in finding the battalion or their tI.Q.
So I marched up fo the H.Q. but and asked to
see Capt. Buckley. He came out af once and was
very surprised to see me, for he had no ide where
I was at this time. If was hurried but exccedingly
pleasant meeting. I had only twentv minutes
to spare, aad he was just going fovard to the
front line that night. So we had to ' swop yarns '
very quickly. And he walked back paoE of the
way with me towards Ypres. I thought he looked
very worn out and depressed. He had had a verv
hard time in the Salient, and in a few days he ws
back-in hospital with influenza.
XXVIII
THE PASSCHENDA]LLE RIDGE
THE 50tb Division were holding the line in front
of Passehendaele Village and a little to the south.
On our right vere the West Riding Territorials,
the 49th Division, eommanded by Major-General
Calneron (once one of our brigadiers); on the
left the 14th Division. Onlv one brigade was in
the line a.t a tilne--another relnaining in suppoloE
around Ypres and the other back at rest about
Brandhoek. Thus a brigade went to close support
for four days, to the front line for four days, and
then back to the rest area for four days. This
seems to be an easv lnethod of holding the line;
but, owing to the nature of the ground and to the
heavv shelling that went on most of the day and
night in the forward areas, it was ilnpossible to
keep a brigade verv long in the front line. The
battle on the ridge had been over for SOlne rime,
"but neither side was yet prepared to disperse its
heavv concentration of gulls. But the heavy firing
was gradually, very gradually, beeoming less severe.
Ypres itself had been badlv knoeked about
during tbe great battle. Most of the troops billeted
in Ypres lived undergrould, but whilst I was living
166 Q. 6. A
there if was never severe]y shelled. Shrapnel
was fired occasiona]ly at the balloons over the
city, and also about the ]Ienin Gare and the roads
leading towards the east end of the city. But
thcre wcre no heavy guns in Ypres itself, and
there was af present no particular rcason for
shclling it. We thcrcforc had hot an unpleasant
timc oursclvcs in thc city. I bclicve that the
H.Q. af the convcnt werc shcllcd whilst we
vcrc in the front line, but that only happened
ouce.
0 Deccmbcr 13 1 went for a valk of inspection
as far as Dan Cottages, somc old Gcrman pill-boxcs,
whcrc thc forward brigade had their H.Q. For
thc first milc or so from Yprcs the ground seemcd
to bc recovering from the heavy shelling if had
received, and there was a good deal of grass nov
growing about the old British front line trenches.
But as vou got fmoEher forvard fo the area of the
heavy guns, the ground was badly shattered and
every shcll-hole ïull of water. Betveen this point
and B.H.Q. the conditions vere simply avful.
A vast swamp of yellow-brovn mud divided into
craters of large size--all full of watery slime. And
so it went on as far as the eye could see.
Here and there there vere oases of dry ground,
generally holding several heavy guns and dulnps
of amlnunition. Whilst at intervals the svalnp
was intersected by a xvoodcn road, used by the
lorries to bring up ammulfition, and by two or three
duck-board tracks whicb ran winding through the
awful lnCSS of mud and xvater. These tracks were
THE PASSCHENDAELE 1RIDGE 167
supported on wooden piles driven into the mud,
a.mt were more like wooden bridges tha tracks.
Sometimes they rested on firm 'romd. but mostly
they wcre held up in the air by the wo¢len pilcs.
Again right through the dcvastatcd area ran a
good paved road from Ypres towards Zonncbeke.
IIere ad there in some of the drier spots you eouhl
sce queer white momdsthc conercte pill-boxes,
some of whieh were still sound cnough, but others
broken in and watcrloggcd. The pill-boxcs ad
the road and the wooden traeks vcrc of course
well known to the Gcrman artillery, who la.vishcd
a great deal of ammunition every dav on each of
these targets. But owing to the methodieal way
in whieh the Germans fired on the traeks, it was
always possible to mend them whcrever they vere
smashed. Between 2 A.z. and 8 A.Z. practically
no shells came over on to tbe traeks, and during
this time eaeh day gangs of men went out and
mended the damage donc to them.
SYhen the frost eame and solidified the mud,
travelling beeame saler if hot so easy; for it vas
then possible to leave the traeks and go aeross
country by walking round the edges of the shell
craters. All along the road there svas eeaseless
aetivitv day and night. Lines and lines of lorries
going baekwards or forwards, limbers, wagons,
men. SYhen the enemy shelled the road, generally
some damage was done, and it was not uneommot
to see pools of blood in the road and the litter of
broken vehieles. At intervals along the road
there vere vast dumps of ammunition and stores,
168 Q. 6..
and on the side tracks huge piles of every sort of
salvage.
Forward again of B.H.Q. the couutry was
perhaps ot so badly snlashed, except in the spots
most exposed to shell tire. But the shell-holes were
often full of German dead--I eoulted nearly 100
withi a quarter of a toile of Dan Cottages. And
on the forward wooden traeks used by our transport,
the ground rceked like a slaughter-house. Frag-
ulellts of everything just swept off the tracks. The
limbs and bodies of the paek-mules ly[ng sometimes
in hcaps sometimes af intervals ail alolg the route.
Of course the uearer you approaehed to Passchcn-
daele llidge the drier and firmer was the ground.
But that avful swamp behind has probably no
parallel in the history of war. How the Engileers
overcame if is really a marvel. And great credit
indeed must be given to this very eflîeient braneh
of the Army, and to the nen who laboured there
under the terrible conditions around them. I
have mentioned the German dead; there was o
doubt little rime fo give to thcm. But I hardly
saw oue body of a British soldier who had bee
left without burial.
0 Deecmber 15 I went with General liddcll
to visit the 5th N.F. Battalion tI.Q. at Tyne
Cottages, some pill-boxes about half-way between
ïorward B.II.Q. and Passehendaele. It was a
long walk, and we went up the Zonnebcke load
till we were in the neighbourhood of that village,
then along the mule traek to Tyne Cottages.
Whilst we were talking with Major A. Irvin at
THE PASSCHENDAELE RIDGE 169
the pill-box a fexv light shells came over and
sprinklcd us xvith earth. It xvas best to be cithcr
insidc or xvell away from a pill-box : but as thc
entrancc to this pill-box was like a rabbit-holc and
close to thc ground t3cncral Riddcll prcfcrrcd to
staud outsidc. Aftcr that wc paid a visit to Dan
Cottagcs, and rcturncd back along the woodcn
tracks to Yprcs.
Plan of B.H.Q. (Judh House), Dan Cottagcs.
Next day B.H.Q. went forward to Dan Cottages
and staycd therc for four days. The Brigade
obscrvers wcrc cmploycd in two vays, 1)artly as
obscrvcrs and partly as a gas guard for the B.H.Q.
pill-box. This pill-box had alrcadv stood one or
two strong blosvs from shclls, but it still appearcd
to be prctty sound. Thc door of course faced
the encmy, but svas protectcd bv a stout concrcte
svall and a bank of carth outside that.
It will bc sccn from thc above plan that the
quartcrs were very confincd--thc bunks bcing
170 Q. 6. A
roughly six feet long and thc room rathcr over
six feet high.
Ont observer stood in the narrow passage out-
side thc door as sentry aud gas guard. IIc was
of course relicvcd cvcry four hours, and at night
there were generally two on duty. The other
obscrvers who wcrc hot on this duty hcld a post
about Hillsidc Farm about a toile forward of Dan
C»ttages. This was hot altogether a bealthy spot,
but a good vicw was obtained towards Moorslcde.
In this arca observers were asked to pay spccial
attention to tbe cncmv's shelling, noticing thc
direction from whieh the sound of the firing came
and the arcas shclled and approximately the
number of rounds..I had of course to writc out
the Brigade Intelligence Report cach morning.
The last night we were in thcse quarters a number
of gas-sbells were fired round the batteries and
B.H.Q. They ruade thc atmosphcrc verv un-
plcasant ; and though thcy werc not thick enough
to neccssitatc wearing thc respirator, I suffercd,
especially the following night, from thcir cffccts.
On Dccember 20 we wel'e rclicved and moved
back to the rest arca at Brandhoek, wherc wc wcre
glad to have four days' test. On Cbristmas Eve
we moved to our old quarters at Ypres, and the
following night wc had an excellent Christmas
dinner thanks to the good services of Lieut. Behrens,
our Frcnch interprcter, an old machinc-gunner of
Vcrdun. On Deccmber 28 we again went to the
front arca and held the line for four days. It
was always the custom for one of the officers of
THE PASSCHENDAELE RIDGE 171
thc Brigadc to kecp awake on duty during part
of the night. We took it in turns and did two-
hour shifts. On thc morning of Dccember 31 it
happcncd to bc mv turn to bc awake on duty just
about dawn. An(l this savcd me from a vcry
rude awakcning. That morning thc enemy had
dccidcd on a bolnbardmcnt of out Divisional front
and lac c'ommcnccd procccdings by shclling Dan
Cottages with a battcry of 4-inch naval guns,
a vcry accuratc wcapon. Wc got a shcl| on the
roof of tlm pill-box which gave a nastv concussion
and put all the lights out. That woke the rest
of the Staff up exccpt the Artillcrv Otficcr. I ha(1
hardly got thc lights on again whea we got another
shcll on the roof. Agaiu thc lights wcnt out, and
this time a picce of concrcte fcll out of thc roof
and crashcd ou to the floor, knocking over some
of our bclongings, but fortunatcly missing the
officers insidc.
A few slnall fragments of conerete also dropped
on the face of the Artillcry Liaison Officer who had
slcpt pcacefully through the first concussion. He
woke up thcn with a comical h)ok of surprise, as
if SOlUe one were pla.ving a joke on him. Although
another shcll struck the bank at the doorway wc
had no more ou the roof, and no casualtics--only
we round that al our telcphone wircs had bccn
cut. I wonder whethcr our roof would havc stood
another direct lait! Later on in the dav I fillcd
the holes in the roof outside with blocks of ice
and frozen earth, in fact anything I could find to
act as a 'burster' in case of further shelling. At
2 Q. 6.
12 o'clock midnight, being the beginnilg of New
Year's Day, out artillery fired their usual reminder
at the enemy. It bas been a point of honour with
us to tire off all out guns as soon as possible after
the Nev Year came in. On the evening of
January 1 we vere relicved and moved back to
Brandhoek. On January 3 the Division vas
takcn farther back for a rest, and the Brigade
marched to the district about Watou on the French
border.
Ilaviug servcd for two years abroad I applied
for a month's lcaveit was a privilcge grantcd
to Staff Officers who nccdcd a res/. Mv lcave
warrant rcachcd-roc on Januarv 5, and ncxt day
I lcft Watou and cntraincd at Popcriughc for
Boulogne.
XXIX
GOOD-BYE TO THE 50TH DIVISION
VIEN I rcturncd to Ypres on Fcbruarv 8, 1918,
I round that some very drastic changes had taken
plaee in the groupiug of battalions. Instead of
four battalions to a brigade, there were now to
be three ; and everv division was to be provided
with a Pioneer battalion. This meaut that the
50th Division, who already possessed a battalion
of pioneers, had to part with a battalion from eaeh
brigade. And these battalions would have to be
attaehed as pioneer battalions to other divisions
who possessed no pioneer battalion. As the junior
battalion in the Northumberlands, the 7th N.F.
were seleeted to go from the lgth Infantry Brigade ;
and their eompanions in misfortune were the
9th D.L.I. and the 5th Border Regiment. 3Iajor-
General Sir P. S. Wilkinson, K.C.3I.G., out Divisional
Commander, was good enough to say that he was
parting with three of his best battalions.
Although I had been attaehed to the Staff of
the 149th Infantry Brigade sinee lIay 1916 I was
ineluded in the General Order that all detaehed
oflïeers should j oin their respective battalions before
they left the Division. At the rime this looked very
174 Q. 6. A
hard. I had been a specialist for over two years
and had got completely out of touch with company
work. But I have no doubt now that in the events
which happened I was very lucky to leave the 50th
Division at this juncture. In six weeks' tlme I
was, through the good officcs of the Battalion
H.Q., given an Intelligence job with our new
Division; and thc cxpcrience I had gained with
thc 50th Division was hot wa.sted as I had feared
it might be. Also thcre went vith lne fronl the
149th Inïantry Brigadc four highly-trained ob-
scrvers who formcd thc nuclcus and backbone of the
*2nd Divisional observcrs. On returning to the 7th
N.F. I lost lny acting-captaincy and becalne second
iu command to C Company. Also I had fo part
with lnany good friends in the old Brigade : some
of thcm I was destined never to lneet again. Lieut.
E. W. Styles who was attached to the 149th Trench-
Mortar Battery was unhappily killed during the
German offensive; a great friend wholn I shall
alwavs miss. My bombbg ordcrly, L.-C. Fair-
clough, was also killed during the salnc operations.
When I joined the 7th N.F. they were statioaed
at St. Jean--in Alnwick Camp. And here the
battalion said good-bye to the Brigade.
It was a singular turn of rate that this should
occur hcre. The 7th N.F. had fought their first
battlc with the Brigade on this spot in April 1915,
and the naine of the camp was of course taken
from the town where their tI.Q. were stationed
at home. When he came to sav farewe]l to the
battalion, General Riddell referred to this curious
GOOD-BYE TO THE 50TH DIVISION 175
coincidence and also bade ns renlember the
regilnenta,1 lnotto 'Quo Fata Voca,nt' (' Whither
the Fates call '). So we left the Ypres Salient for
thc last tilne. And although I went into Belgiuln
again with thc Arlny of Occupation, I have nevcr
set foot in Flandcrs again. Of all countries on earth
it is surely the most dismal and unhappy. At
lcast so it appeared to inc.
XXX
DIGGING TRENCIIES ABOUT LOOS
B.Fo we left the 50th Division we learnt that
we were to join the 2nd (East Lancashire)
Territorial Division, conmmndcd at this rime by
Ma.jor-Gcneral A. Solly-Flood, C.M.G., D.S.O. The
latter Division had seen service in Egypt and
Gallipoli belote coming to France, and thev were
nov resting in thc Bethune area, having just left
the trenches between Cambrin and Loos. This
was in the I Corps area of the First Army. As
pioneers to the $2nd Division the 7th N.F. became
Divisional troops, directlv under the command of
the Divisional Staff and no longer in a brigade.
The three brigades of out new division were the
125th (Lancs. Fusiliers), 126th (East Lancashire),
and 127th (Manchester)all Territorial brigades.
The Staff of the $2nd Division treated their new
pioneer battalion vith kindness and consideration ;
and I believe we were callcd on occasion ' Solly-
Flood's Pets.' On the other hand there was
friction at rimes between the men of the 2nd
Division and the men of the 7th
The whole Division had hitherto been drawn
from the East Lancashire area--Manchester, Old-
I)IGGING TlENCHES ABOUT LOOS 177
haro, Bury, &e., aud they lookcd upon us rathcr as
intruders. The Northumbcrlands vere of course
nol the people to let s|ip so admirable an oppor-
tunity of aecepting a. feud: aud in Oetobcr 1918
they committed the uuforgivable sin of viming
the Divisional Assoeiatiou Football Cup, vhich
eompleted their unpopularity.
And for a battaliou vbich had scen the hard
service of tbc 7th N.F., tlc stock jcsts gccrally
lcvclled at a piotcer battalion vcrc a littlc out of
place. Thc 42nd Division provcd thcmselvcs a
hard fighting division in 1918, and lived up to
thcir motto ' Go one botter.'
Thc 7th N.F. left thc Ypres area aboul
Fcbruarv 11, 1918, aud after spending a few da'es aL
Braudhock the" wcrc conve'ed lu motor-buses to
tbe snmll villag'c of Fouqucreuil, sest of Bcthune.
Hcre the battalion was instructed to help the
pionee.rs of the 6th Division, who were holding
the front lbe trenches belweeu Cambrin and Loos.
Accordingly three companies of the 7th N.F. were
detached ïrom the battaliou and sent to the ïorward
area. I weut svith C Compaty (Capt. Herriott)
to Philosophe, a small eollierv village still partly
inhabited by civilias, though fairly close to the
front liue.
Out daily work was making reserve defences,
trenches, deep dugouts, and machine-gm emplaee-
lnets betveen Vermelles aud Loos. Durbg our
stav of about a week al Philosophe the village
was quiet. But one nio'ht thc enemv's guns sent
a perfeet stream of shells just over thc tops of the
178 Q. 6. +,
cottagcs for about twentv minutes. About a week
after we left the village it was complctely kuocked
fo bits by the enemy's 10-inch howitzcr shells.
Our next visit was to some reserve trenches
at Cambrin, where we stavcd for about a week,
improving thc dcfenccs. It was a quict, easy time,
though hot far behind the front line. Aftcr this
thc four companies of the 7th N.F. were rcduced
fo threc, and I was transferred to A Company st
Saillv-Laboursc. IIcre e wcrc some distance
bchiud thc front line, but workiug-pmies were
takcn up to the forward arca, and I uscd fo go
aml inspcct thcm. Shortly aftcr our arrival at
Saillv the cnemy began to shcll the back arcas,
causin 'rcat annovance and some casua]ties to
thc civi]ian population, 'cnel'ally fo children.
Thev had been al]owed to live hcre lnany luonths
in peacc, although hOt rive toiles awav from the
eucmv's trcnchcs. Even Saillv-Laboursc receivcd
ahuost dailv salvoes from long-range guns.
I had a vcry unpleasant experience mvself in my
billet, a brick cottage, onc nigbt about March 12.
I was in bed on the first floor--the only person in
the cottage except monsieur and nmdame who
slcpt in the ccllar. About midnigbt the enelnv's
t-inch naval guns startcd shclling thc place.
Three shclls in succession passed just over thc
roof of mv cottage, oue smashed the next bouse
fo pieces ; the next fell into our littlc back gardcn,
ei'ht yards from the cottage ; and the third struck
thc road on the other side. After tlmt I o, ot up
and joincd mOllSicur and madame for ten minutes
DIGGING TREN('HES ABOUT LOOS 179
in the cellar, until the shelling had ceased. Theu
back to bed. But next day I took the precaution
of changing mv billet--going to the cellar of the
broken house next door.
It was a piteous sight fo see the poor Frcnch
folk as thev fled from thcir bornes, with their most
cherished belongings 1)ackcd on to slnall carts.
About this rime the 42ad Division dccided to
forn a party of »bscrvers, known as ' Divisiolml
Obscrvers,' who were intended to keep a wateh
ou the enemy during a battle and to report ail
sudden movements to the Division. Thev were
rcally intendcd to eollcct inforlnatiou for D.H.(.
at rimes when the ordinary avenues of infonnatiou
had broken down. At first the party eonsisted of
one offieer and aine trained observers : but later
on it was inereased by the inelusion of signallers
and one or two additional lllell.
Ou March 15, 1918, I was instrueted to return
to Lapuguoy to Battalion H.(. in order to organise
and eolnnland this new party of lllell. I obtained
this job through thc kind rccolnlnendation of the
Colonel and Adjutaut of thc 7th N.F. Although
this side of Intelligence was hot perhaps the one
that I had most experience of, yet I hailed my
return to an Intelligence job with delight.
When I reached Lapugnoy no observers had
yet arrived, but next dav I went to interview Capt.
E. C. B. Kirsopp, M.C., the G.S.O. III, who was
the ofiàcer on the Staff directlv responsible for
the equipment and movements of the observers.
Capt. Kirsopp was, I believc, the father of the
180 Q. 6. A
observers, i.e. responsible for their formation, and
he showed at ail rimes an interest and a kindness
which were fully appreciated. His faith in the
possibilities of the party never wavered, although
for some rime if was difficult to know how to make
their information quick and effective. However,
he never lost hope in us, and he never ceased
to try to improve the means of eomnunieation
between the observers and D.H.Q. Amongst
other things he got for the observers two very
powerful tclescopes, with a magnification of forty-
rive timcs. And although these glasses could hot,
owing to thcir sizc and the veight of their fittings,
be used during the moving warfare, ata later stage
they proved simply invaluable for making target
skctches of the enemy's defences. Another officer
vho did us good service was Lieut. C. R. Stride,
thc Q.M. of the 7th N.F. Without lais aid the
heavy telcscopes would never have gone into
action, and the obse-¢ers would often have been
without rations. He ahvays took an iuterest in
the little party, and provided us with many
welcome comforts from his store.
On March 19 the following observers reported
to me. From the 7th N.F.L.-C. J. Cowen and
Ptes. J. Kiug, W. Fail, aad R. Ewart---all of whom
wcre ohl friends and observcrs of the 1 ¢gth Infantry
Brigade; ff-oto the 125th Infantry Brigade L.-C.
J. Flynn ; from the 126th Infantry Brigade Ptes. F.
Lieut.-Col. H. Liddell, D.S.O., M.C., was most generous in pro-
viding men fo replace casult.ies and iu sending us four signallers
from tho 7th N.. H.Q.
DIGGING TRENCtIES ABOUT LOOS 181
Dunkerley and F. Turner ; from the 127th Infantry
Brigade Corp. Valker and Pte. A. Morris. Owing
to easualties and to the observers beiug recalled
to their battalions the personnel of the part 3" was
alwavs ehauging. But of the abo-e, the four
men of the 7th N.F. and Pte. F. Turner praetically
remained with the observers front first to last.
For about a week I stayed at Lapuguoy, giving
lectures to the observcrs and carryiug out some
field training vith thc compass and protractor.
But. our pcaccful cxistencc in thc back area was
hOt dcstined to last loug. On Friday, Match
I was instructed to take thc observers to the 42nd
Division Signal School at Bcthune, in ordcr that
the men ufight go through a course of sigualliug.
Wc rcachcd thc Sigual School at 4 '.M. ou Friday,
and at 10 e.[. the saine uight, we rcceivcd orders
that all ofliccrs and men at the school were to be
readv to move at 6 .¢.. next morning. The long
expected blow had fallen at last. The enemy
had already lauuchcd the first wave of his great
offensive.
XXXI
TIIE GERMAN OFFENSIVE I!18--SE('OND
BATTLE OF ARRAS
MXRCIt 23, 1918 was a fie day: aud that was
hcky f(w us, for we had a long da3" in the open
befol'c us. Wc got a hurricd brcakfast about six
o'clock, and wcrc soon marching by road to thc
placc of asscmbly ou thc road from Bcthune to
Hcsdigncul. Herc wc had a wait of several hours
on the roadside, whilst an unendiug strcam o[
motor-buses hurricd past all going southwards.
It vas rumoured that our destination was Basseux,
tire toiles S.V. of Arras ; and I hol)ed it was truc,
for I kncw the district bcttcr than anv other in
France. At last the buses allotted to the Divisioual
troops drev up and we got aboard and set off on
our journey to thc south. Wc weut through
Labuissière to St. Pol, and thenee through Frévent
to Doullens, and then north-east along the road
towards Arras. Exeept for a few large and reeent
shell-holes by the roadside we sav little unusual
until we began to get uear Arras. We stopped
for a ïew minutes near the C.C.S. at Laherlière,
and I got off aud asked one of the hospital orderlies
hov things were going on. We were told that
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 183
our fellows had had a bad day on the 22nd, but
that to-day far fewer casualtics had passed through
the station. Soon aftcr that we met a. nulnber
of Frcnch civilians with carts strcaming back from
Arras, guardcd by Frcnch soldicrs. We kncw then
that things were hOt going too wcll in front.
Whcn we reachcd ]3asscux about 6 r.. the
buses were turncd round and xvc wcnt on in an
casterly direction till we rcachcd Avette. Flere
wc got down and lnarchcd in thc dal'kness to the
ruincd village of Adinfcr. Continual flashes in
the dircction of 5Ionchy-lc-Prcux and an inter-
mittent roar from our lolg'lrange gulS near at
hand showed that fighting was still going on.
13ut no shells arrived to add to out diseon_fort.
The observel's had to bivouae in Adinfer ood,
a eheerless proeeeding after out long journey down,
for we had no blankets and no chance of getting
a hot meal. Some artillervlnen gave me a drink
o water, whieh I remelnber vith gratitude, for
I had had no ehanee o a drink sinee 6 a.., and
the roads had been ehoked with dust. There was
a. keen frost that night, and I eould not sleep for
long. Vhen daylight eame I managed to light a
slnall tire and to heat up a tin o ' Maehonehie ' ;
and this put a little more life into me. Aïter that
I went to Adinfer where the Divisional Staff vere
quartered in wooden buts. tIere I got a eup of
eoffee and had a ehat with the Divisonal Intelligenee
Offieer, Lieut. G. F. Doble, M.C. I round that
D.H.Q. were moving baek to Monehy-au-Bois.
lIy instruetions were to reconnoitre the roads fmm
18 14. 6. A
Ayette towards Buequoy, &laitizevelle, and Cour-
celles-le-Comte. So a[ter getting quarters for
my party at a ruined cottage in the wood, I set
out ith most of my mon and spent the whole
afternoon traulping the roads as far as Ablainzevelle
and baek again t9wards Moyenneville. Unfortu-
natclv as events proved this was rime and labour
lost. For when I reported to Capt. Kirsopp af
Monehy-au-Bois I round that the 4nd Division
had reeeived orders from the IV Corps to hold
the litre farther south, towards Behagnies and
Sapignies. D.II.Q. were to move next day to a
camp between Logeast Wood and Buequoy. I
was told fo send a party of observers to the east
end of Logeast Wood and fo pay a visit myself
to the H.Q. near Buequoy. The lfight was again
spent in Adinfer Wood ; but if was more eomfort-
able for we had eolleeted some rations and blankets
and were less exposed fo the weather.
Next morning (Match gS) I moved aeross
eountry with L.-C. Flynn to the eamp between
Logcast XVood and Bucquoy. The country-side
seemed deserted and no sound of firitg eould be
heard. L.-C. Cowen took two observers fo the
east end of Logcast XVood and spent the day there,
but nothing of importance eould be seen. They
wcre, however, shelled by thc euemy for a rime in
the afternoon. Later on in the day there were
more signs of the enemy's aetivity. A large dump
exploded af Coureelles, but if may bave been done
by our own .E.'s. And if was reported that the
Germans were advancing towards &chier-le-Grand.
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 185
I round out that evening that D.H.Q. had movcd
baek to the village of Fonquevillers; so I deeided
to move ny nen more in that direction; and
after nightfall the observers marehed along the
road through Monehy-au-Bois to Bienvillers.
On this road we saw guns aud transport in
large numbers, mostly going south. It was fairly
evident to my mind that the enemv had ruade
anothcr advance during thc day, but (lefinitc news
was hard to get. I[undreds of shclls from thc
German J-ineh naval guns fcll al)out the roads
all night, but I heard hot one of them explode.
They lnUSt have been a rotten lot of anmmnition.
On arriving af Bienvillers the observers got a billet
in the eellars of a shattercd house at the nooEh
end of the village. A little later I went to Fonque-
villers to get news from D.H.Q.--and instructions
for next day. The I)ivisional Staff were quartered
in some Nissen huts. When I arrived they had
no pmieular news, but I was asked to send a post
of observers again, if possible, to the east end of
Logeast Wood, whieh was thought to be still in
out hands. After this I returned to Biçnvillers
about midnight and arranged for an early start
next day.
In the morning (Mareh 26) we were eooking
tea and baeon about 3.45 a.. when a very tired
and draggled oflïeer came in. He said he had just
ridden over from Bapaume on a motor-eyele and
he told us a sorry tale. He evidently thought
that the Gemans had broken right through on
the Fifth Army front (i.e. on our right), and that
186 Q. 6. A
the British forces vere about tobe surrounded.
Bapaume was on tire, and the British Army
defeated and broken in the south. This was the
fil'St definite news I had of the misfortunes in the
Solllllle area. It was disquieting enough and I
detcrmined to approach Logeast "Vood with
caution and to keep a sharp look-out for unusual
movement as wc went forward. Accompanied
by Ptes. Fail and Ewart I went across countr3r
towards Bucquoy as the light was begianing to
brcal« Wc noticed that the large trees on the
road to I[anncseamps had bccn preparcd by the
R.E.'s for felling with gun cotton--the chargcs
bcing rcady and tied to thc trunks so as to throv
thcm across the road. T]le roads were already
full, mostly horse transport pouring rapidly through
Bienvillers towards Souastre. Tl'anspooE ïrom the
south-east comiug in our direction through Hau-
nescamps appearcd tobe in a panic and expect-
ing pursuit bv thc German cavah'v. Once we got
awav from the road and reachcd Le Qucsnoy Farm
thcre was little movement to be seen. A fev
small parties of our men moving towards us across
the open and here and there a lilnbcr. Nothing
i a hurry, nothing at all to imlicate a retreat on
out own front, though it was actually taking place
at the rime. There was no sound of firing, and
no shells. A battery of field guns still lav in a
hollov just west of Bucquoy, and this sight rather
reassured me; so I decided to push on a bit.
Leaving rny two observers on the ridge west of
Dierville Farm I approached the ruined buildings
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 187
of the ïarm which lie a little west of the road
bctwcen Bucquoy and Ayctte. Whilc I was hcre
I saw somc of out iuïantry marching along this
road out of Bucquoy and forming a line along it.
Onc of thcm asked me where thcy could gct in
touch with out troop.s on the lcft, Though I had
becn told to expect them cast of Logeast Wood
they had in ïact ïallcn back during the night and
wcrc even now about to l(.avc Ablainzcvcllc. Thc
troops I saw on the road wcrc in fact taking up
a linc of resistaucc, for thcv wcrc thc British front
linc. After this I dccidcd that Dicrvillc Farm
could be held as an O.P. for thc rime bcing; and
so sendiug luy two ol)scrvcrs on, I rcturned to
Bienvillcrs to get a littlc nmch necdcd rcst. As
I went back there was still no shclling and no
sound of rite tire. Yet it afterwards transpired
that the cnemy had alrcady pusbcd his outposts
forward iuto Ablainzcvelle and wcst of Logeast
Wood. Surcly it was on this part of thc front
onc of thc most silent advances madc in the war.
Vhcn thev rcturncd mv observers reported all
quict at Dierville Farln, but the two observers
that relieved them at 10 ». ïound thc enclny
guns more active. Aïtcr midday a number of
shells werc sent into the village of Bucquoy and
hot far froln the farm.
When I got back the roads through Bienvillers
became more crowded than ever with horse trans-
port, and many guns were being moved on the
road from Monchy-au-Bois. The sides of the
road, too, became crowded with infantry, who were
188 Q. 6. A
apparently awaiting orders to move ïorward.
In spitc of the congestion on thc roads thc enemy
ruade only one attempt that day fo harass them.
A 10-inch shcll ïrom a long-range gun fell in an
open field about 100 yards short oï Bienvillers
Church, but it did no daluage except to the field.
The stream oï traffic through thc village continued
without ceasing ail tiret da)'. At e.. I rcceived
ordcrs from thc Division to join thc 7th N.F. ncar
Essarts and fo conte under the conlmand of the
O.C. 7th N.F. It was round impossible fo nmke
anv direct use of the observcrs at the rime owing
to the disorgalfisation and ulmertainty that pre-
vailed; so they were addcd tcmporarily as a
rcinforeclncnt to the battalion. It was indced
a crisis in thc rate of the right wing of the Third
Army, though at the rime we did hot realise it.
At 6 Pe.M. the observers left Bienvillers and went
forward along the road to Hannescamps, meeting
many wounded on the road and a few other parties
of troops returning. We found the battalion in
a hollov west of Essarts. They were just preparing
to move. On reporting to Major McLeod, who
was in temporary command of the battalion, I
was told to attach the observers fo the H.Q.
Compa.ly.
The battalion had already had a brush with
the enemy. On the preceding day, Mareh 25,
about midday they had advanced in artillery
formation from Logeast Wood towards Aehiet-le-
Grand.
Near that village they had corne under direct
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 189
tire from the cncmys field artillcry and thcy had
bccn shcllcd also with 5"9-inch howitzcrs. One
company suffcrcd rathcr scvcre casualties, but
the battalion succccdcd in passing through the
village and filling a gap in thc ]inc. Latcr oaa in
the day thcy had bccn rclicvcd bv thc ncighbouring
Brigade and rcccived ordcrs to fall back first ¢o
Logeast Wood and latcr on to Ablainzcvcllc.
The latter placc thcy wcre ordcrcd to lcave at
8 A.r. that morning. Eventually thcy rcachcd
the place whcre I ïound thcm. The men were
all in good spirits and evidcntly pleased with their
part in the rearguard action. Very soon aftcr
I joined thcm the battaliou was mored again, this
rime about a quarter of a toile to thc south across
the Bucquoy-Bicnvillcrs Road. Ilcrc ve waited till
ïurther orders should arrive, and meantime SOlUe
hot soup and rum were served out. Tloen we all
lay down in the open, with blankets it is truc, but
thc air was so frosty that little sleep was possible.
About midnight xve got ordcrs to go to some
tronches just east of thc village of Essarts. We
marched forward to this place, about a toile, without
any interference ïrom the enemy. H.Q. were
established in a small tin hut in the village.
Althongh there werc still manv trees about the
place, all trace of the bnildings had disappeared
except one or two cel]ars and some piles of rubbish.
We round out ficld batteries stationed quitc close
to us, to the west and north of EssaoE.s, and one
in a small hollow to the east. Thesc batteries
kept up a prctty constant tire during thc night ;
190 Q.ô.s.
but so far the enemy did hot reply. Ail our heavy
guns seem to have beeu taken away, exeept
possibly ont battcry of 60-pounder guns near
IIanneseanq»s.
The two following days, 3Iareh 27 and 28; were
memorable for a eontinuous series of attaeks by
the encrer along the whole of our front.
On thc morning of the 27th I went to the east
side of thc Essarts Vood to note what vas going
on, and I sent a l)arty of observcrs farther north
to the high ground af Le Qucsnoy Farm. About
10.:0 .t.. thc eucmv's artillcry opcned a scattcrcd
tire ou the neighl)our]ood of Essarts, apparcntly
scarching thc h»lh)ws for out batterv positions.
But it was hot until 11 A.X[. that. the cnemv started
t(» shcll out forward positions. From 11 .t. to
11.25 A.'i. a heavy barrage of flame-shclls was put
clown about, Diervillc Farm and along the road
leading from Bucquoy to Ayctte. I ana told that
tlw¥ did hot do much damagc, but thcv werc
cert.aiuly a terrible sight. The flames that burst
from these shclls when they reaehed the ground
rose up thirty or forty fect in the air, flared on
for a fcw monents, and theu disal)pearcd into a
dirty black smoke. For twentv-fivc milautcs thcv
came over fast, and they did hot finally ccase till
11.45 .I. At the saine time iez Vood on our
right was heavily shelled and the area to the south
of Bucquoy. Out field batteries at Essarts ruade
a gallant reply, pouring in an unceasing tain of
shraplael wherever the enemv was suspected to
be couccntrating. This in turn drew a very
TttE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 191
uupleasant tire on to Essa.rts, which went on
without brcak till 2 1".. Aftcr tha.t thc encmy's
countcr-battcry gUllS ll/lSt bave run out of
anllllUllil:iOll, for thcy gavc littlc morc trouble for
the rcst of thc dav. Out ficld guns howevcr
contimmd to firc all that dav and through the
grcater 1)art of thc night ; thci" tire did hot sla.ckcl
whcthcr shclls wcrc bursting a.rouud thcm or ot.
A(I grcat crcdit must bc givcu to thcse gmmcrs
for thcir sharc in disl)Cl'sing fivc cncmy atacks.
Thc battcrv on thc cast si(lc of thc wood, bcl(»uging
to thc 41st Division, cac in ï(»r somc vcry scvcrc
shclliug, but thc gulCl'S llcvcr ccasc(1 to tire or
t(» ca.rry ammunition ïorward to thc guns lu full
view of the cucm-. As things had bccomc rathcr
hot arould out tin hut, H.Q. wcre move(| to a
cclll', uscd as a dressing-statiou, vhcre thc doctor,
Cal)t. C. F. Liddcrdale, madc room for us.
During thc evening the battalion got ordcrs
to bc 1)rcl)arcd to forll a dcïcnsive flank bctween
Le Quesnoy Farm and A(linïcr Vood. The
ccmv's attacks had madc progress on our lcït
towa.rds Ayctte, and it wa.s fcarcd tha.t he lnight
brcak through in that direction. Ncxt morning,
howcvcr, March 28, still ïOulld us at Essarts. The
battalion was ordercd to lcave thc trelches and
to ïall back bchind the line of batterics ou thc
wcst of the wood. Iii ordcr to gct a view of what
was going on iii front, I 'as sent by thc Adjurant
with two o|)scrvers 1 to a point ea.st of the wood,
al(1 we dug ()ursclves iii in somc 1)artly-ïormed
1 l'tes, Fail and Ewart.
192 Q. 6.
trenchcs there. In thcse trcnchcs wc staycd till
wcll on into the aïternoon, scnding in rcports
cvcrv hall-bout of wlmt wc could see to thc H.Q.
of the Infantry Brigade in Essarts. Evidcntly
the encmy had rencwed his attacks, for thcre was
bcavy shclling all along the front, and a numbcr
of shclls again camc in amongst thc battcrics about
Essarts. During thc aftcrnoon the 7th N.F.
movcd forward to some trenehes in support, on
thc rid'c cast of Essarts. And tbcre tbc observcrs
joined thcm aftcr dark. The firing had bcen hot
all day, but it now dicd down. And it rcally
lookcd as if thc encmv's attacks had bccolne
cxbaustcd for thc timc bcing.
This forward movc bv the battalion was,
ïound, prcliminary to taking over thc front line
trcnches to thc north and east of Bucquoy. And
shortlv beïore midnight wc moved out tbrough
the darkness and took over these trenches. Tbe
front line lav on the hig'h ground bcvond the
villa'e. The tt.Q. which wc took ovcr wcre in
a lnincd dugout to the wcst of the village. This
dugout had been ruade bv the Germans beïore
the end of 1916, and it was small but verv deep.
It soon beeame uneonscionablv stuffy, as tlwre
was only one entranee. But it was better than
being in the open.
Next dav the CllelllV kcpt fairly quiet, but
the village was shclled occasionallv with heavy
1 ]Iajor V. Merivale, M.C. (C Corapany), Capt. Herriott (B
Company), and Lieut. P. Cole (A Compa.ny) were, I think, in
charge of the three coml0nies.
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 193
howitzers. I went out with two obscrvers to the
high ground west of Dierville larlll. But we sas
no movelnent by the enemy's troops. Later on
the enemy's gllns beeame more active on the roads,
and the road leading baek to Essarts reeeived
salvoes all dav. Orders ealne for out relief whieh
was to start after dark. It was hot until 10 P.M.
that the COlnpanies in thc front line wcre relicved
and the H.Q. Colnpany was free to nlove off. The
journey to ]onque-llers, where we werc going,
wa.s not without interferenee ïroln the enelny.
Hitherto I had had great luek in eseal)ing being
shelled on the roads at night, but to-night my
luek was out. As we moved baek along the road
to Essarts---the doetor and Iat the end oï the
eolulnn--a lmmber oï gas-shells were dropped on
the windward side of the road. They were hot
thiek enough te) stop us, but they smelt verv bad.
As we approaehed the eross-roads east of Esarts
a 5.9-ineh shell ïell close by the roadsidc. We had
a shower of mud thrown over us by this shell, and
three more came in quiek sueeession, but hot quite
so unpleasantly close.
An incident a|so of a disagreeable kind oeeurred
near the end of out journey. Between GOlnlueeourt
and Fonquevillers we had to halt, until the trenehes
allotted to us had been loeated. At this point
the road was paeked with troops returning from
the line; and some battalions brought their
eookers here, so that the road was eramlned ahnost
tight with lnen and transport. For a long rime
nothilg happened, but eventually a German field
O
194 Q. 6.
batterv fircd scvcral ral)id salvoes of shclls cnfiladhg
thc road. Fortunatcly thc grcatcr number fcll
slightly widc of thc road, but a fcw mcn in one of
thc Manchcstcr battalions wcrc hit. It was how-
cvcr a luckv cscpc. Aftcr this thc road clcnrcd
quiclçly and we moved on into Fonqueviilers.
This village lmd bcen ba(lly knocked about in the
carly days of thc war, aa(1 fcw bouses were in
anything but ruins.
But thcrc verc stiil nmuy cellrs intact, and
aise» a numbcr of tiu huts built f«w the Frcnch
rcfu'c'cs lu 1917. Oflic.crs of Blttlion H.Q. were
billctc.d iu a cc.llar, and this vs improved by
mattrcsses, tablc.s, nd c.hairs brought in from the
huts outsidc. Hcre in spire of intermittent shelling
we got a much needed rest. But Fonquevillers
was no plc.e for permznent rcst cure. The
villgc was shelled on md off il day, and sevc.ral
f out men were hit. I assisted the Adjutant,
Cal)t. S. P. Brook-Booth M.C., to c.ollcct a supply
of early vegctables from thc littlc grdens; md
the ocers in out reserve cmp at Soustre thought-
fuily sent up a couple of c.ooked chickens and
fcw othcr luxuries, so tlmt evening we had some-
thing in the nature of a le,st. 'ext morning,
Mrc.h 1, Lieut. Jhnstm, temporarily in comnmnd
of A Company got a shcll splinter through his hand
ac! had to bc sent bc.k. I was thon put in
c.omnmud of A Company and lef Bttalion Il.Q.,
so tlmt for some davs thc observers were hot under
my charge. About this time L.-C. Flynn; one of
the observers, vas seriously woundcd by a shcll,
TIIE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 195
and we learnt later on that he died of his wounds.
It was an unlucky affair, for hc was one of thc
best observcrs. But I had no furthcr casualtics
for a long tilne. I found A Colnpany quatoEcred
in a line of old trcnches between Gomlnccourt
Wood and Fonquevillers. I believe they wcrc
part of the old British front line before thc Somme
battlc started. Accommodatiol was vcrv limited,
and I fonnd the other officers of A Companv, 1
four in number, with their barmen and eook ail
erowded togcthcr in a small .helter. It was as
lnav be imagined uneomfÇwtabh" hot at times,
espeeially during the night, part of hieh I spent
in the treneh outside. We only got a few shells
froln the enemy here, his attention was direeted
lnore to the village behind us ad Golnmeeourt
Wood in front.
On April 1 we got ordcrs to proceed a[ter dark
to the front line trenehes at Buequoy--A Colnpany
was to hold those on the left, with B Colnpany
to their right. We -vere also given a route, but
in the darkness it was diffieult to find ad it led
to a eurious incident on out journey forward. We
assembled the eompany on the road outside
Gomlneeourt and lnade towards the village as
fast as the erowded state of the road wonld allow.
Happily we were hot shelled here, but there were
signs on the road that others had not been so
fortunate. When we reaehed Gommeconrt, a
mere ruin now of broken trees and buildings, we
were elear of the press of transport and troops.
a Seecrd-lAêuts. N. lïIolt ., C. R. King, J. Dodds, and J. Lassey.
196 Q 6. A
We turned south-cast hoping to strike a trainway
running towards Biez Vood. Nothing, howevcr,
could we sce of the tramway, and we could only
push on, hoping to find it. Aftcr going on awhile
we ccrtaiuly sccmed to be reaching a rathcr quecr
place, for we saw our men setting out wire, and
a rathcr scared little man appearcd out of the
darkness and told us that ' Jcrry was over therc,'
pointing down the road. We did hot stop for
this, but whcn a Gcrman Vcrcv light shot up
almost undcr our noscs, wc dccidcd that wc had
indec(l comc too far and that it.was rime to turn
back. This we did without waste of time and
rctraccd our stcps to Gommecourt. I was cxpccting
any minute to hear a lnachine-gul open on us down
the road. But if 'Jerry' was there in any force
he had deeided to keep quiet, and we got safely
baek to Gommeeourt. After this experienee we
took a wav that we knew, alth(mgh it was hot thc
one laid down for us. And after a long nareh
iii the dark we struek the Essarts-Buequoy Road;
and fouud our guides awaiting us on the road near
Buequoy. 'hilst this relief was going on our
field batteries kept up a hot tire on the enemy's
front, but he ruade no reply.
The guides took us by a winding route through
the north end of Buequoy to the trenehes, whieh
eonsisted of an old Gerlnan drain, verv straight
and about six feet deep. It tan parallel to the
east side of the village and about 200 yards from
its outskirts. The Company I-I.Q. lay a little way
behind the front line and eonsisted of a short
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 197
narrow slit in the ground, roofcd over with tin--
onc of the smallest shcltcrs I have cvcr becn in.
It was possible to sit down, but hot to lie down,
and the floor was inches deep in cold mud. Hcre
I round two vcry disconsolate officcrs awaiting
relief. Thcy secm.cd to bc nearly perished with
the cold and wet, and quite worll out by their
eheerless sojourn in the trenehes. Tlle trelmh
lay on the slope of a slight hill, the erest being
about 200 yards away. Thc eucmy vcre hot close,
their position was out of sight and mknown. But
to thc lcft Logcast. Vood was clcarly visible, and
the cncmy were kuown to bc thcrc. Out trcnch
ended abrnptly ou the left) and the nearcst British
troops on this flank wcre some wav off and more
to the east, so that there was a considcrable gap
in the line here. On the right of course we were
in toueh with 13 Colupany, who were eommanded
by Lieut. Affleek, M.C., a vetcran of the Houthulst
Fol'est battle, and one of out most rcdoubtable
warriors in the 7th N.F. I knew that I need hot
worry about my ïight flauk [ No smoke from rires
eould be allowed in the trenches, and eooking had
to be done over small rires of fine wood splinters.
When morning came it vas possible to have a
bcttcr look round. Ail thc rescrvc alnmunition,
abont 5000 ronnds, had becn pulled out of the
boxes, and the bandolicrs xvcre mostlv buried in
thc mud. It was a great business cleariug the
trench of ln,,ld and salvaging and clcaniug the
anmmnition. Thc enemy did hOt know whcrc
we werc. All morlfing thrcc of his acroplancs,
]98 Q. 6. ,
flying low, hovered about our little trench, occasion-
ally firing bursts at us with their machine-guns.
Wc only replicd with an occasional shot, and of
course they eould hot tell where that came from.
At anv rate the German g'uns let the trench alonc
and poured a stream of heavv shells ail day and
night into the village behind us and into the hedges
at thc ca.st cnd. The fact appeared quite clcarlv
latcr Oll that thc cncmv could hot locate our front
line. A mcsscngcr dog, be!onging to the enemy,
was capturcd at this timc near Bucquoy, bearing
a message in German as follows: 'The affair of
Bucquoy is off for the prescrit, as we don't know
xhere Tommy is.' It as well iudeed for our two
companics that the drain trench was not suspectcd
bv thc enemy. There were no traverses in it from
onc end to the other, and a very few well-aimcd
shells would have blown us to pieces.
That night (April 2) the British forces ruade
a counter-attack at Ayette and drove the enemv
as far back as the old hangars at Moyenneville.
Seen from the trenchcs at Bucquoy it was a fine
sig'ht. The cnenlv put up all kinds of coloured
lights, including silhouette lights and 'flaming
ollions ' both orange and mauve.
Mcanwhile we of the 7th N.F. undertook a
small venture against certain parties of the enemv
that had beeu seen and sniped at from B ('ompany's
treneh. These parties were busv digging trenchcs
about 400 vards awav to our front. Soon aftcr
dark 2nd-Lieuts. J. Dodds and J. H. Edmunds
took out a raiding party of over twenty men in
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 199
ordcr to sccurc a prisoncr if possible. As it turncd
out this was donc quickly cnough and without
firing a shot.
For on the party creei)ing forward to thc
wire belt at the top of the hill, a GerluaU N.C.O.
walked towards them, was surprised by 2nd-Lieut.
Dodds, and surremlered without a struggle. He
was already slightly wounded, aud had eolue for-
ward perhal)s to bave a h)ok at the wire. IIe was
brought back at (,nee to the trench, and it fell to
me to examiue the man and to remove all papers
from him exeept his pay-book and identity dise.
I went out aud examined him in a mixture of such
broken French and Germau as I eould SUmlnon
at so short a notice. I also went through his
papers with the aid of lighted matches. After
this he was sent down under eseort to Batta]ion
H.Q., and theuee to I).H.Q.
It proved to be a useful capture, for it showed
that a fresh German division had arrived opposite
out front. Later on 2nd-Lieut. Dodds was awarded
the Militarv Cross for the capture. Early next
morning (April 3) the Division sent orders that
I should return with the 1)ivisional observers to
the rear. So I left the treneh lu charge of 2nd-
Lieut. N. Holt and went back with my servaut
through Bucquoy, taking carc to avoid certain
large shclls whieh were falling evcrv now and then
about thc village. Cal]iug at Battalion Il.Q. I
round that thc obscrvcrs werc now in solnc trcnches
about hall a milc farthcr back lu the direction of
Essarts. I soon found them, however, and whilst
200 Q. 6. A
waiting for thcm to get ready I vas hospitably
supl)licd with some whisky and soda by the officers
of one of thc Lancashirc Regimcnts.
Af last wc sct off in small partics towards
Gonmweoul't, our (lestination being Souastre, a long
lnarch fol" tircd mon. Whilst pa.ssing Bicz Wood
we came in for some rather unpleasant attention
from thc encmv's artillery, whose ol)servers eouhl
sec movcmnt at. this spot all too well. However
we got awav af last without mishap and eollceted
ngain short ()f Gommeeourt, whcre ve haltcd for
a meal of 1)ully and biscuit. Ecntuallv aftcr
passing through Gommeeourt and Fonquevillers
we stru'gled on fo Souastrc, very footsorc and
c(,ml)lctely worn out.
Fl'olU Mal'ch 23 onwards it had been one long
strain, hcavv marching most davs and, with few
cxcel)tions, slccplcss nights. For mvself I was a
vcry tramp, boots vorn to pieccs, clothes ]mnging
with mud, and thick with nmd up to thc eves.
Undoubtcdlv it was thc most trying cxperience
physically that :I have cver becn through. At
Souastre :I called af rear Battalion H.Q., wherc
Cal)t. Hcrriott of ]3 Company kindly lent me his
rubbcr boots and somc clean socks, a great luxurv
and COlnfort. Then I went on to thc Ofl]ccrs' Hut
af thc batta[ion rcservc camp, and was able to lic
(low and slcep till wcll on into thc ncxt dav.
Souastrc was hot a bad place to rcst, for it was
shclled only vcrv occasionally with long-range
guns.
Thc following afternoon (April ) Capt. Kirsopp
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE 1918 201
came t.o see me and he brought a motor-ear. He
wished t.o recommitre a 'battle O.P.,' i.e. a place
in the back area ïrom which to observe enemy
shelling of thc ïorward areas or encmy attacks on
our line. I was told that things were cxpcctcd
to happen next day ; and I was instructed t.o fiud
a post whcre I could see what was going on, some-
where in the neighbourhood of the Châtean de
la Haic.
In thc morning (April 5) I wcut with Corp.
lValker and L.-C.. Cowcn to thc Bavcncourt Ridgc,
south of thc châtcau, and wc got into a small
trcnch. Things ccrtainly wcrc happening, for
the CUClnV was scattering his.heavy high-velocity
she]ls broadcast over t.hc country. ]te scemcd
to direct them chiefly against out bat.t.cry positions
and thc roads and trcnchcs in rear of Fonqucvillcrs
and Sailly-au-Bois. Thc nmnbcr of these shells
was unusually large ; but later on towards 10 .M.
things began to quicten down in the baek area.
lVhat had happcncd was this. The 37th Division
with the assistance of tanks ruade a eounterattaek
on Rossignol Wood. The Germans had prepared
to nmke another of their grand attaeks that saine
morning. But it was antieipated by about halï
an hour. The result was a tierce struggle in whieh
we gained a little ground and a certain number
of prisoners. The German attaek therefore eante
fo nothing, and this proved fo be his last attempt
of a seri(ms kind on our part of the frollt. Anxiety
was hot, however, at an end for nIanv davs to corne.
During the next few davs the observers held
202 Q. 6...
a battle O.P. near thc orchard in Fonquevillers.
It was a, long walk from Souastre and back, but
fairly quiet, for it could be reaehed by going aeross
country and avoiding the sorelv harassed roads.
On April 8 the 42d Division was taken back
for a short test to the area round Authie.
XXXII
TRENCH VARFARE---H]BUTERNE
DURING Divisional re,st the observers were attaehed
for rations and accommodation to thc H.Q. Com-
pany of thc 7th N.F. We marchcd back, thercfore,
with the battaliou througb Couin and St. Leger
to Authie. We round nice billcts awaiting us in
this pleasant French village, which was too far
from the euemv to be aieted with shell tire.
IL was full of Freuch civilians, and the small sh(,l)S
had various littlc luxurics to which we had been
unuscd for some time. From Authie IVoods to
Bavencourt ran the 'Red Line' trenches, a sort
of ' last-but-one ' reserve line, which had been
hastilv dug by Chinese labourers and were still
onlv about four feet deep. We did hOt stay long at
Authic, for the billets wcre wantcd to accommodatc
French troops who were bcing hurried northwards
to thc battle now raging about Kcmmel.
On April 12 the 7th N.F. lnoved forward to
the village of Coigneux and H.Q. were establishcd
in a French estaminet. There were civilians here
too, but the village was liable to be shelled and
half of thelu had gone awav. A distressing attack
of tooth-ache took me twice to the-C.C.S, near
20J Q. 6. A
Doullens. I found that town more descrted than it
uscd to bc, for thc (ermaus had shelled and bombed
it vigorously sincc their offensive staoEed.
On April 16, after a week's test, the 2nd
Division took over the trenches ruuniug froul
Gommecourt to Hébuterue. The saine dav thc
obscrvers moved to some old trcnchcs north of
thc Château de la Haie. It was a cold place in
wct wcathcr, and we wcre occasiona||y shel|cd.
But aftcr a few davs through the kiuducss of Col.
Guy, thc G.S.O. I billets wcrc fouud for us i a
cottage at Bayencourt, whieh lics about half a toile
south of the château. It was iudeed a pleasant
oasis in a bad]v shel]ed area. Whv the enemy
left the place alone I eannot sav. But when we
got there there were still pleuty of old Freneh folk,
who lived quietly on anfid the surroundiug strife,
aud eontinued to keep their eows in the fields and
to eultivate the laud. The ehureh had uot been
shelled, for a wonder, aud the eloek was sti]l going
aud striking the hours.
The observers sent up two parties of two men
everv day to au O.P. no]oEh-east of Hébuterne.
The other nen named a battle O.P. on the
Bayeueourt 1Ridge during the morniug.
April .03, Si. George's Day, provided a ]ittle
exeitemeut for three of as. We were told to try
to find an O.P. near the Quarries af Hébuterne,
hot o'eneral]y a very healthy spot. As we were
shelled ineessant]y all the finie we were near
the place, the idea of establishing a post here
was abaudoned. And eventually another post
TRENCH WARFARE--HÉBUTERNE 205
was fixed o11, Oll the north-east side oï Hébuterne.
Some useïul work was done here by the observers ;
they obtained some valuable information about
enemy movement and got the artillery to shell
a relief that was taking place. At the close
of out tour iu the line, whieh oeenrred about
May 4, the IV Corps direeted all Infantry ob-
servers to take sound bearings of enemv guns
and to wire theln at once to the Comltcr-Battery
Ofliee. This n'as gratifying, as we had lnade a
speeial effort to report these sound bcarings, a
system of whieh I had learnt somethilg in the
Salient.
Froln Mav 4 to June 9 the Division remained
in the rest area about Couin. The observers left
Bayeneourt and joined the 7th N.F. at Coigneux,
where we lived in tcnts on the high ehalky ground
south of lossignol Farm. I messed with the
offieers of A Company, and shared a tent with
Lieur V. H. Fisher and 2nd-Lieut Dodd. Owing
to the bombing and shelling iii the lxeighbourhood,
we were ordered t() fortifv our tents. So we had
a small treneh dug for each insi(ie the tent and in
these we put out valises. It was rather like a
shallow grave, but it gave )'ou a feeling of seeurity
when bits were flying about. During this month
the observers had a little mild training eaeh da)';
but the G.O.C. sent word to me to rest the nlel as
mueh as possible. I amused myself at the battle
O.P. on Bayeueourt Ridge and sent in daily reports
of sound bearings to the IV Corps Counter-Battery
Oftïee.
2o6 Q. 6..
On the wholc the enemy let our camp fairly
well alone. ;e had one large bomb dropped in
the camp, but it failed to do anv nmterial damage.
Latterly the 4-inch naval guns took to sending a
few shells over daily, but we had onlv a few men
wounded from splinters. Otber units near us came
off worse. During the rest at Coigneux we had
a visit from some Ameriean troops. I think thev
had corne to gain a little mild experience of our
methods. Aayway a small paoEy of thcir obscrvers
came to see how we held out posts. And thev
were taken to tbe battle O.P. and to the forward
O.P. at I|ébuternc.
XXXIII
TRENCH "vVARFAIE--TIIE COLINCAIIPS RIDGE
No offensive opel-ati,ns ,n a large scalc vere
undertaken against the enemv on the ;IV Corps
front, Buequoy to Auchouvillcrs, bcfore the lniddle
of August 1918. The lwriod fron: May onwards
was spent in strengthening the defenees and in
wearing down the enemv's strength and morale.
The latter object was aehieved by eontinual
harassing tire from out guns, strong eounter-battery,
periodieal gas projections, bmbing frolu our aero-
planes, and raids. It was still nceessarv to work
hard on out defenees, for the German offensive was
by no lneans over, and it was impossible to sav at
what moment the enemy might rcncv his attacks
on this part of the front.
The part played by the Divisional observers
during this period of treneh warïare was more
ilnportant and useful than at any other period
of their employment. This was partly due to
the excellent position for ground observation on
the ridge between Colineamps and Auehonvillers,
and partly to the ilnprovement in means of com-
munication with D.H.Q. and the artillery. Great
eredit is due fo Capt. Kirsopp for bis eontilmal
efforts fo lnake the information obtained more
rapid and effective. And also fo the nlen who
got the information by patiently stieking to their
job for ten long weeks, sometimes under trying
and discouraging conditions.
The observers were quartered in a number of
slnall shelters on tbe higb ground between Coigneux
and Bus, well baek ïronl the shelled and bombed
area. The shelters were in the side of a green
mound, llea.r the Bus waterworks ; and this place
was nsed as a battle O.P. and beeame known as
Eve ' O.P. FrOln here there was a splendid view
of the country just behind the British front line.
So that the observers stationed here eould say at
once where heavy shelling was going on, either
by day or by night. A telephone eolmeeted
' Eve ' O.P. witll D.H.Q. and also with the forward
O.P. The latter post was about four lniles away
in a small treneh on the ridge nortb of ,luehonvillers
near some apple trees, whieb perhaps suggested
the naine 'Adam' O.P. In lllany ways it was
an admirable place for an O.P. If eare was taken
it eould be approaehed without being seen by the
enemy. It was sereened by a thiek hedge and
also by a deep belt of wire about thirty yards in
front of the hedge. The O.P. itself was in tbe
hedge bank, and was roofed over with several
snmll 'elephant' shelters, with earth on top of
them. There xvas plenty of roonl for at least three
men to work inside. And observation was obtained
through a small opening iii the hedge bank. The
THE COLINCAMPS RIDGE 211
opening was always further screencd by sandbags,
so that only the end of the telescope was exposed
to the enelny and that was always in a deep
shadow. A few yards away outside the O.P. in
the trench was a small mined dugout. This was
hot very deep, about six feet down at the most;
but it vas undcr the roots of the hedge, a good
protection against the shells of field guns. In
this dugout tbc observers who cre not on duty
were able to sloop, and thc mon in thc O.P. could
take refuge in case of heavy shelling. The O.P.
was connected by telephone with D.H.Q. and also
with Eve O.P. Not far away in the sanie treneh
there were other O.P.'s, one held by the Lovat
Scouts (Corps Observers) and another, ' Rose ' O.P.,
by the heavy artillery.
Our mcthod of working thc two O.P.'s was as
follows. Thc N.C.O., L.-C. Cowen, rcmained at
Eve O.P. and assistcd me with various dutics
there, and with the duty of inspecting the working
of Adam O.P. The other observers, eight in
number, werc dividcd into two groups of four,
one in charge of l'te. J. King and the other in
in charge of l'te. W. O. S. Fail. Thrce observcrs
frolu No. 1 group went forward to Adaln O.P.
and stayed there for forty-eight hours, dra.wing
their rations each day froln the nearest Battalion
H.Q. After this they were relieved by three
observers from No 2 group and so on. By this
arrangement I was ,able to rest the men and to
carry on observation contilmously for ten weeks
without unduly tiring the men. Out of the four
212 Q. 6. A
observcrs in a group, only thrce wcrc at Adam
O.P. at the saine tiret, the fourth man rcnmining
back at Eve O.P. for a test. Thus during six-
teen days eacb observer had three tours of duty
at Adaln O.P. lasting two days each, two tests
of tvo days, and thcn a rcst of six days. This
kcpt all tbe mon ïrcsb, an important matter if you
wish for good observation.
At Adam O.P. two of tbe thrce observers
wcre ahvavs at thc tclescope during daylight, and
ont was rcsting in tbc dugout. And at night onc
had to rcnmin awake, to be able to report hcavy
shclling to D.II.Q. and to act as gas scntry for the
othcrs. It was of course ail donc in a system of
reliefs amongst thcmsclves. During thcsc summer
lnonths observation was possible in the lnost
favourable eircumstances froln .45A.. to 9.10 P.M.,
so thc night was comparatively short. Adaln
O.P. was visited on alternate days by L.('. Coven
and mysclf. I went invariably in the early
nol'ning, so as to arrive at the O.P. about an hour
or so aftcr observation had become possible. Thc
ellelllV exposed himself more frcely during the
two or three bours aïter davn than at a.ny other
rime during the dav. By going up early I was
able to see that the mon were at their post at this
ilnpOl'talt time, and to gct their earlv information,
tfften of ilnportanee, as soon as possible. It meant
starting in the dark, and oïten a eold wet journey
aeross country, but the good felloxvs at the O.P.
ahvays had a eup of tea fol" me---a little aet of
kindness vhieh illustrates out friendly relations.
THE COLINCAMPS RIDGE 213
The most interesting things 'e eould see from
Adani O.P. were the German front line trenehes
south and sonth-west, of Serre, two spots known
as ' L. 33. a. 0.9.' nnd ' Q. 6. a. 9. 8? where anvone
npproachilg these fomval'd treuches Imd to cross
a ridge an(1 so corne under our observation, the
German transport ronds about Achiet-le-Petit,
Ir]es, nnd Loupart Yood. The Gel'm,u front
liue wns within 2000 yards, Q. 6. a. within 4000
yards, L. 33. a. rathcr over 6000 y,rds, and the
roads wc]l over 10,000 yards awav. Ncar to
Pvs 'as a Gcrnmn ('.C.S., vhich wns narro-]y
watched, fol" any increasc iu its sizc would bave
probably luennt ln'cparati«m for au attack. And
behind Irlcs was a derclict British tank vhich
the Gernmns used as nn O.P., for it vas invariablv
visitcd by a number of mon just 1)clore one of their
reliefs took place, nnd at no ()ther rime.
Evcry dav two reports were sent in to D.H.Q.
of al] movement seen duriug the 1)reeeding twelve
hours. And everv novenlent seen was entered
into a I, og Book. This vas my special depart-
ment ; and after a rime it wns possible to compile
a fmher book ealled the Summarv Book, with
coloured charts of dai]y mo'ement, In a short
time we discovered the average or normal movement
for the twentv-four hours. And after that it vas
quite simple to warn the I3ivision at once when-
ever any novemelt of an abnormal character vas
taking place.
Owing to weak eyesight I eould hot do much
teleseope work myself--my part of the field work
21 Q. 6. A
was map reading, in whieh I had eonsiderable
assistance from aeroplane photographs at I).It.Q.
I asked tle observers to make teleseopie sketehes,
on every eolnpass bearing, of what thev eould see.
And then frolll thcse sketches and with my own
maps and protractor I was able to tell thcm what
they werc looking at on the map, and to prepare
a panoramie sketch for their use at Adam O.P.
Pte. King sent in an admirable series of sketehes
which were most useful in this work of discovery.
Later on thc lilore powerful telescopc was also
takcn up to Adam 0.I'., and with this Ptc. Fail
did some most uscful work. With his exceptional
cycsight and a gift for sketching he lnade a series
of excellent artiilcrv target sketches. These I
copied out and coloured and sent to D.II.Q. ; and
they were sent on to the IV Corps Heavy Artillerv.
l'hese targets were fired at with great suceess. For
example olle of the first sent in was of a eookhouse
and wircless station at L. 33. a. On July 11 the
heavy artillery carried out a sueeessful shoot on
the place, using Adam O.P. as their observing
station. In order to place on record some of the
work done by my observers at Admn O.P. I
will give some of the results of their svstematie
observation.
A Divisional relief 011 July 3 and 4 was spotted
by Capt. Kirsopp on information given by the
observers of exeeptional movement in the forward
area. Another Divisional relief was deteeted by
largely inereased movement on July 25. And a
battalion relief on August 6, witl disa.strous results
THE COLINCAMPS RIDGE 215
for the enelny. At least fiftv copies of different
telescopic sketches vere sent in to the Division,
including a series of eight showing new workings
bv the Gerlnans in thcir front line svstcln. Rcports
of nearly scventy gun-flashes were sent in as well
as 111allV SOulld bcaring reports. The following
nulnbers of Cerntan infantl'v and transi)ort vehieles
were reported from Adam O.P.
Month
June
Julv
August.
Total
Days
21
31
20
72
Days of
Bad Light
19
Effective
Days
13
2t
16
53
Infantry
Seen
2,100
5,00
4,650
12,1.50
T ransport
Vehicles
83
413
295
791
Our two best days occurred on August 6 and 12.
On the 6th a large movcment was observed in the
early hours, indicating a relief, which was reported
t() the Division at once bv wire. So that when
the relief was continued at lfight, out artillery
were prepared to deal with t]ie German parties
lnoving in or out of the trenches. 011 this da),
alone 1126 infantry and 55 transport vehicles were
seen Oll the move. The 42nd Division Intelligencc
Report of August 7 reported the nmtter as follows :
'Relief south of the Serre-Mailly Road
which conullenced Oll a large scale Oll the
216
lllorllillg of the 6th was continued during the
cvening; between 6.50 and 8.20 l.x. 197
men with packs in ninetecn pal'ries came
towards the front line past Q. 6. a. 93. 80.
These parties xvere enaged bv H.A. with
'rcat sucecss. ('nsualtics eaused being esti-
matcd fo be at least fiftv four direct bits were
«,btnincd on a party at 7.15 P.., and Oll one
occasion al out-oing party was seen to bave
a [rec fight with ail in-going party to gain
possession «,f a sunkcn track or treneh
Q. 6. a. Ttal hostile infaltrv
])ivisional O.P. on the 6th reached the high
lllllllb(ç of I ] 26.'
The observers had their share iii those fiftv
easualties, as Pte. F. Turner went fo Rose O.P.
and direeted the Sergeant Gunner in charge fo
the proper map referenee of the German troops.
That 6-inch batterv shot. superbl.v, and I wish I
knew the Scrgeant's naine. The G.O.C. sent lais
eongratulations fo the observers on the day's
work.
On August 12 at 6 .. the observers informed
me that the Germans had been seen going out of
their trenehes in lage numbers and ail earrying
paeks, l'ifles, and boxes as ell. On this I sent a
pigeon message to the Corps, saying that the
enemy might be retiring nov. As it happened
this was quite correct, as the Germans admitted
themselves a. few davs later iii their communiqué.
I a.lso wish to put on record an aet of kindness
THE COLINCAMPS RIDGE 217
to the observers by the Division alld Corps. On
August 8 the elemy began to shell the neigh-
bourhood of Adam O.P. rather sevevelv with a
5-9-ineh howitzer batterv. As this went on, I
rang up D.tI.Q. and asked if anything eould be
donc in retaliation aainst the enemv's O.P.'s in
L. 33. a. Col. Guy told me that he wouid sec what
the Corps would do for us; and rang up later to
tell me to ask the observers at Adam O.P. to
note l'esults ai 2.30 v.M. At the al)l)ointed tilne,
evcvv active hc«lvy gun in the Corps fired a sheil
silnultalwouslv against selcetcd tal'gets, ineluding
L. 33. a. Theve were ai least four brigades of
heavies in the ('ovps a(1 the noise w,qs colossal.
It must bave ,qstonished the enemv as mueh as it
did me.
On Au'ust 9, 2nd-Lieut. Edmunds of the 7th N.F.
came to assist me, and to take over eonnaand of
the observers during mv leave which was now
(h'awing near. I t(»ld him that we had never been
shelled ai Eve O.P. But as luek would have
it that verv aftel'nOou, about 2 e..[., a long-range
gun shelled the O.P. |'or about twenty minutes;
and I had t() clear the men off into the neighbouring
Red Line trenehes ti]l the annovanee eeased.
On Au'ust 1 the elemv wcre attaeked ail
along the IV Corps front and a eonsiderable advance
was ruade that dav. Pie. King remailed ai the
teleseope ail da3", al/d sellt iii a lunl])er O[ interesting
rel)«)rts about the enemv's movements.
AI this point I have to break off the narrative,
as mv leave warr£tnt arrived that night and I left
the observers till August 81 in charge of 2nd-
Lieut. J. H. Edmunds.
One word about the admirable services of mv
barman, Pte. Y. Critehlow. For ten weeks and
more, in addition to looking after mv own personal
coin forts, hc cooked for the whole party of observers
at Evc O.P. This mav seem a small matter, but
he ncvcr had a rcst like the other men, and his
hard work eontributcd nmteriallv to the comfort
and ellieienev of thc section.
XXXIV
THE BRITISH OFFENSIVE 1918--BAPAUME
RETAKEN
ON my return to l'rance, I reaehed Authieule
railway statiol on August 31, and wcnt on ncxt
morning, partly bv car and motor-bus and partly
on foot, to Miraum(mt. IIcre I found thc observcrs
with B Company (Capt. V. N. Craigs, M.C.) of the
7th N.F. ncar the railway station. It had bcen
strange passing over the smittcn ground on the
Serre Ridgc, and it was possible then to realise
the terrible effeets of our heavy shell tire. Gangs
of men wcrc now mending the road all the way to
Miraumont ; but it must have bccn in a shocking
statc. In one place part of a transport cart hung
suspended from thc shattcrcd branches of a trec;
and cvcryvhcrc the groun(l was absolutelv churncd
to pieces.
I lcarnt that D.H.Q. had moved forward to
Grcvillcrs, and on September 3 I decidcd to make
a more forward to Loupart Wood, in order to get
the observers more in touch with them.
We wcre badly handicapped in ail the succecding
stages oï the campaign by having no transport
to move our bclongings. Bcsidcs thc ordinary
220 Q. 6. A
infantrvman's equipmcnt, no light weight, we had
our blankcts, thrcc telescopes, compasses, and a
lot of maps, books, and stationery, and our dailv
ration to earrv as well. Bv good luek, however,
we foun(t an old Gcrlllau ha.nd-cart in vcrv fair
condition about thc station vard; and wc used
this hand-cart for gctting our gcar along for lllallv
a wearv toile. In fact wc finallv droppcd it at
Lc Qucsnoy on Noveml»er 5, hot bccause it was
w«,rn crut, but beeause other transport was round
for us. By the evening of Scl)tcmber 3 wc got
scttlcd into some dug(mts at the north end of
Loul)art W(,o(1. Thcrc werc a fcw dcad Gcrmans
scattercd about, but a lot morc dcad horscs than
mcn. And as the wcathcr was hot, thc air was
nonc too plcasant.
Ncxt dav I visited D.H.Q. vho werc in some
tcnts outsidc Grcvillcrs, and Cpt. Kirsopp told
me that the observers were urgently needed. It
was l)roposed to send a party of them forward on
bicvclcs to kccp in touch with the retreating
Gcnnans. And so the saine dav Ptes. Kin: and
Drake (7th N.F.) and F. Greenwood (10th 3I..)
wcnt forward towards Haw'incourt Vood to gct
such news as they could. It had been intended
at first that I should go with them, but it was
fomd impossible to provi(le me with a horse. The
British forces had alreadv taken Bapaume, Villers-
au-Flos, and Riencourt, and the enemv were
supposed to be retreatin. fast in the direction of
the old Hindenburg Line wlieh lav bevond Havrin-
court Wood. Pte. King's party did good work;
THE BRITIStI OFFENSIVE 1918 221
they went through Barastrc an(l Bus in front of
the advance guards of the infantry, and met with no
opposition beyond occasional long-range machine-
guu tire. Thcir first O.P. was just south of Bertin-
court, and thc following (lavs near Neuville-
Bourjonval. For this expedition Pte. King was
awardcd thc Military Mcdal. On Scptember 3
I wcnt with Pte. Turner to somc high ground just
south of Bal)aume and staved thcrc scvcral hours.
From hcre little shclling coul(t be seen, the main
body of the encrer must bave retired as far as
HavrincomoE Wood. Long-range shells fell near
Bapaume and the railwav during thc da3'. The
saine evening I reportcd at D.H.Q., and found
things pretty livcly during my visit ; for tvo or
three German 'planes dropped a nulnber of bombs
about the place, hot a pleasant expcrience for
those living in tents. Next dav (September 4)
the observers moved forward with the hand-cart
through Grevillcrs and thcu to Thillov and acl'oss
country to thc high ground south of Bapaulue.
Ilcrc thcre werc plenty of small German shelters
and dugouts partially 1)rotected by a shallov
trcneh. In thcse wc took up out quatoEers, whilst
D.H.Q. movcd to some anmtuuition dugouts on
the other side of the road from Bapaume to Perome.
Next dav (Septcmbcr 5) accoml)anicd by Pte.
Turner I recomoitrcd the high grotmd about Bus.
Therc wcre manv German dcad still lying about
near thc approachcs to Villers-au-Flos, where a
considerable stand must have beeu ruade by the
German machine-gunners to cover the retrcat.
222 Q. 6. A
Also we saw on our way back a party of the 7th
N.F. preparing to bury a number of our own lnen
who had fallen in the advance. The saine evening
I was told that the 2nd Division would be relicvcd
that night by thc New Zealand Division, and that
the observcrs should stand fast until further ordcrs,
Pte. King's party joined us the next day. 'e
staycd here for the next two weeks, in what provcd
tobe quite comfortable quarters. A German soda-
water factory was discovered at Beaulencourt, and
we wcre in rime to secure a few bottles. Training
was now resumed in the mornings, and the obscrvers
practiscd scnding and recciving lnessagcs with
four signallcrs of thc 7th N.F. who were attached
to us. In the afternoon we werc frec to roam over
thc recent battle-field, where many souvenirs of
thc enemy could be picked up. We now lay just
to the north of the old Sonmle battle-ground. And
on Septelnber 15 I went to Martinpuich by bus
dowll thc Albert-Bapaulnc Road and rcvisited the
scene of our attack on the High Wood Ridge, which
had taken place just two years bcfore. During
our stay at this place we had visits everv night
from Gerlnan aircraft. But they fared none too
wcll. 1 saw one aeroplane brought down in flames
at night near Villers-au-Flos by our anti-aircraft
guns ; and two others shared the sanie rate. This
was a great fcather in the cap of the anti-aircraft
gunners; for an aeroplane is particularly difiicult
to hit at night.
The 2nd Division was ordered to relieve the
37th Division on September 22. The latter Division
TIIE BtlITISH OFFENSIVE 1918 223
had now reachcd thc old British front line east
of HavrincouloE Wood. And the Germans werc
now in thc Hindcnburg Line, behind 'the walls of
b,'onze' which had ehcckcd us once and which
thcy hopcd would again stay thc purstfit of thcir
bcaten legions.
Onc pa,oEicularly disgusting featurc of our
journcy in pursuit of thc enemy was the drcadful
state of thc buts he had occupied. They all
appearcd tobe moving with lice and flcas, and it
was a most diflicult lnatter to keep oneself frce
from their unplcasant attentions. It was the
saine whercver we stopped.
XXXV
THE STORMING OF THE HINDENBURG LINE
NEAR T RESC..ULT
ON Scptcmbcr 20 I wcnt with Lieut. G. F. Doblc,
thc Divisi,mal Intelligence Officer, to visit the new
arca in [r()llt. We round D.H.Q. established in a
wondcrful scrics of huis south-wcst of Vélu Wood.
Thcse had bcen lhc H.Q. of somc Gcrman Corps,
and wondcrfullv well barricadcd thcy wcrc. Insidc
cach hut, which was panellcd with wood, thcre
was a sliding panel which admitlcd to a dccp shcllcr
dugout bcncath. Hcrc in case of bombing bv
out acroplancs, thc Gcrman officcr had beell able
to retire quickly and without loss of dignity to
a place of safcty. From hcrc we paid a short
visit by mo[or-car to thc B.H.Q. nor[h-west
of Havrincourt Wood. On rclurning lhrough
Bapaulne I had {ho grcat plcasurc of lncet-
ing Major V. Andcrson, D.S.O., M.C., mv old
Bl'igadc-Major, who was n()w (LS.O. II of {hc 37th
Division.
On Scptember 21 lhc obscrvcrs went forward
with lhcir han(|-cart lhrough Riencourt, Villcrs-
au-Flos, and Haplincourt to lhe oulskirls of
Bertincourt. Wc first sclectcd SOlne cmpty huts
STORMING THE HINDENBURG LINE 227
ncar Vélu Vood as our place of rcsidencc. But
as we wcrc shcllcd about rive minutes aïter arriving,
wc dccidcd to movc a little ïarthcr ïrom the wood.
Finally we found two useïul Nissen huts built into
the roadside and sheltered by somc tall clin trees,
just wcst of Bcrtincourt. It was hot a vcry quiet
or hcalthy spot anywhcrc near BcloEincourt; but
wc vere not damaged by thc cncmy's shells, though
occasiolmlly annoycd. Thc samc afternoon I
wcnt ïorward by mysclf to rcconnoitrc a position
for thc Divisiolml O.P. And I [»und a usc[ul
placc in thc noloEh of ]Iavrincourt Wood, or rathcr
in thc rough thornv scrub that had once ïormed
part of thc wood.
Observation was obtained through thc branches
of a trce, and a small shclter dugout was close at
hand. Thc ficld of vicw cxtcnded along the leït
flank of the Corps and Divisiolml front, and went
a long way baek to the high ground between
Nicrgnes and Enes. Flesquières, Ribéeourt,
Marcoing, Rumilly, and Masnières could all be seen.
The next few days xvere spent in loeating out
surroundings and in reporting the traflàe seen on
the baek roads. On September 27 I went with
L.-C. Cowen to inspeet an O.P. in the British front-
line system south-east of Treseault. We went
thl-ough the wood and then along a winding C.T.
whieh brought us to the front line. Here we ïound
a deep dugout with a ladder leading up to an O.P. on
ground level. The view in front was hot altogether
satisfaetory, but towards the leït it was good.
At dawn on September 28 the grand assault
on the Hindenburg Line began. It was quite
°-°-8 Q. 6. A
successful on our left and on the left of our front,
but the Division on out right had great diculty
in getting forward. By the following day, hovever,
the line was advanced along the vhole front, and
the N.Z. Division, taking over the pursuit from
us, ruade good captures of men and guns. L.-C.
Cowen and Pte. McGarrigle went fo the O.P. in
the front line on September 28 and had rather a
rough passage. Pte. Fail had a small party at
thc other O.P., a.ll(! obtained a fairly good view
of the 1)attlc. On Scl)tcmber 29 Pte. King went
with Ptc. Chal)pell in thc direction of Rib6court,
but this expcdition was brought to an end by a
shell which wounded Pte. Chappell badlv in the
face. This was the second and, as events turned
out, the last casualty amongst mv observers. I
spent a long rime the second day with the observers
at the O.P. in Havrineourt Wood and we saw
much German transport hurrying baek south of
Niergncs. On the night of Scptember 29 the 2nd
Division was relieved, and I reccived instructions
to remain af out quarters near BertincouoE. After
the battle we were no longer troubled with any
shells. Second-Lieut. Edmunds who had been on
leave since we left 5liraumont came back to assist
me, for about a.nother month. Great droves of
German prisoners now began fo pass us several
rimes a day, a cheering sight in one vay, but
not a pleasant one in another. They were truly
a desperate-looking collection of men, mostly of a
very low class.
This halt enabled me to get round the country
and make sketches oï the various battle-fields.
STORMING THE HINDENBURG LINE 229
One night I had dinner at D.H.Q. as the guest
of Capt. Kirsopp, and enjoyed the hospitality
of 'Z' Mess. I round a great euriositv in the
fields near Bertineourt. An old eannon-ball pitted
with rust and dating possibly from Marlborough's
days. As I eould hot take it away with me, I
gave it to Major ('larke, the G.S.O. II.
On Oetober 7 the (»bservers moved to some
dugouts near Tresemdt, where we remained two
days. On Oetober 8 I went on to Welsh R.idge,
but nothing mueh eouhl l)e sccn from therc. The
battle-field was strcw with Gcrmans vho had
fallen in thc battlc ton davs belote. On October 9
we had a long mm'ch which took all dav. We went
through Bcaucmnp and thcn towards Masnières,
finally rcaching thc shattcrcd village of C.rèvecoeur.
Ncxt lnorning we moved on again to Esnes, where
we had billets in a nice farm-house.
At last we had reached the land of vegetables,
and for the rest of thc cmnpaign we had a plentiful
supply. Wc had becn vcry short of this kind of
food since May.
On Octobcr 11 we moved on again and got a
billet in a small cottage in Fontaine-au-Pire.
Next day on again to the next town. Beauvois,
vhich was hot at all badly smashcd. We had
billets in a couple of small cotta.ges off the lnain
st.reet and wc were fairly comfortable here. The
plague of house-flies was verv bad at this place;
the whole place vas full of them.
The 4.2nd Division relicved the N.Z. Division
on October 12 on a front extending south of
Solesmes and covering Briastre.
XXXVI
TIIE GERMANS LAST STAND
ON- Oetober 12 I went with Pte. Firth to a ridge
south ol' Vieslv to look for an O.P., and sele«ted a.
spot in the Ol)Cn, but near a sunk road. Ih)wever,
thc G.O.C. rcquircd a post to be held on the high
ground north of the village. This was only hall
a toile from thc enemy's front line and in ïull vicw
of thc cncmy, so that I suspectcd we should hot
be allowcd to stop thcre very long. A regiment
of Hussars was attachcd to the Corps and stationed
at Caudrv.
It was arranged that an ocer and six observcrs
from this regimcnt should work in conjunction
with thc Divisional obscrvcrs. Thesc mounted
men were particular]y uscïul in gctting mcssagcs
back qnick].v from the O.P. to a rcport centrc.
for during this opcn warfare it was impossiblc to
connect the observcrs by telephone to ]).H.Q.
The first day at the O.P. north of Viesly passed
quietly enough, and Ptcs. King and McGarriglc
madc a uscful sketch of thc view in front. Next
day, when I wcnt up to the O.P. to make additious
to the sketch, conditions were hot verv good. Our
ouly cover was a shal]ow trcnch about onc foot
THE GERMANS' LAST STAND 231
deep ; and for an hour vhilst I was trying to sketch
the details of the landscape the encmy's 4"2-inch
hovitzers shelled the hill persistcntly. I told the
observers, when I went back, to leave this post if
things got no better and to man the post south
of Viesly. And this was done soon afterwards, as
the shells began to fall very close. Unfortulmtely
from now onvards the light was no good for long-
range observation. Day a[tcr dav thc cotmtry
was covcrcd with a thick whitc luist, a COmllOl
cxpcrience in Octobcr, which marie observatiou
quite out of the question, tlowcvcr, from the
sketches that had been ruade, I was able to make
a draxving of the panorama in front, which xvas
printed out for the use of the troops in the
line.
It vas decidcd to attack the Gcrman positions
at midight on October 19-20. Taking advan-
tage of the heavy mist the British field artillery
placed their guns in two log lines, tweuty-eight
guns in a line and almost wheel to wheel, behind
the ridges south of Viesly. This was an extra-
ordinary sight, for they had no cover whatever
except the thick white mist overhead. Behind
the second roxv, there was a battery of heavy
howitzers (8- or 9-inch calibre), and a little farthcr
back several batteries of 60-pouudcr guns. Thc
night attack was carried out bv the 126th Infantry
Brigade and was xvonderfullv successful.
At 10 a.t. on Octobcr 20 I called at B.H.Q.,
a house in Prayelle, to get the latest uews. Thon
I joined Ptes. Fail and Grcenwood at the O.P..
»8. Q. 6. A
whieh was now nader the muzzles of the field guns.
$$'e lcft this post and went towards Briastre, and,
crossing the road from Viesly, we finally selectcd a
position ncar the Briastre Cemctery. Just across
thc vallcy the enemv's guns were pounding the
positions vc had -on that morning. It was in
prcparation for a cotmtcr-attack, which, however,
was crushcd by the tire from out own artillery.
SVc scnt in scveral sittation reports to D.H.Q..
through the H.Q. of the 10th Manehester Regiment,
which werc now in a cutting hot far from the
ccmcterv.
On mv wav back to Beauvois I met a number
of tanks travelling slowly forwa.rd towards Vieslv ;
but I bclicve they wcre unable to gct across the
River Scllc that night. For the next two days
tlm observers held a post. on the nooEh side of
Vicslv; and o October 23 the 2nd Division
attackcd again, the N.Z. Division taking up the
pursuit o[ the enemy about midday. The nten of
the 42nd Division havc every reason to be proud
of their battle at Solesmes; the Germans were
vcry strongly entrenched and they were picked
troops, and a aight attack is, of course, one of
tire most difiïctdt of allto carry out smcessfully.
The observcrs were instructed to remain at
their quartcrs in Beauvois, and for the next eleven
days training was resumcd. I was told that great
advantages might be obtained from panoramic
sketches, if rapidly and accurately drawn by the
observers. And so I directed most of the training
hcre towards making these sket.ches. There was
THE GERMANS' LAST STAND 233
nothing in training that thc lncn likcd bctter than
that.
During our rest at Bcauvois thc Ncw Zcalandcrs
had pushcd thc Gcrmans farthcr back, to thc
outskirts of Le Qucsnoy, and towards thc end of
Octobcr wc vcrc warlmd that thc 42td Division
wou]d rclicve thcm aftcr a furthcr attack.
XXXVlI
TIIE :FINAL RUSH FORVARD
ON November 3 I moved with the observcrs to
the villagc o[ Vicsly and got a billct in a cottage.
Thc villagc had becn badly maulcd by the Gcrman
guns during the reccnt fighting. The German
does hot bchavc n icclv whcn his ncrves are shaken,
and ve heard stories of ill-treatment of womcn
in So]eslnes.
Next day wc wcnt towards Romerics to rccon-
noitrc the roads, and on November 5 we had a
long match in the rain. Hithcrto we had becn
luekv to have fille weather for trekking, but now
it began fo rain ahnost everv day. We went on
over erowdcd roads through Briastre, So]esmes,
Romeries, and Beaudignies. At the latter place
out heavy guns were still firing, for the Gerlnans
had onlv been pushcd out of Le Quesnoy that
morning, and their nmin body x,as retreating
through the Mormal Forest. Out advanec party,
L.-C. Cowen and Pte. Addinall, who had gone
forward on bieveles to find a billet in Le Quesnoy,
met wih a very warm reeeption from the Freneh
civilians in the town. After a little trouble I
nmnaged to get possession of a niee empty house
THE FINAL RUSH FORWARD 235
near the railwav station, where we were glad to
turn in and get our clothes dry. Next day I went
to D.H.Q. at Potelle, a moatcd farm or châtean.
There was somc idca of disbanding the observers
at this rime, for Capt. Kirsopp round difiïculty
in getting us forward fast emugh to bc of any use.
However the G.O.C. would hot hear of it, and said
the D.A.Q.M.G. must arrange to transt»ort our
things.
The saine dav I weut forward to thc adxanccd
B.II.Q. at Forcstcr's Point, on thc N.W. side of
thc forcst, east of ('arnov. And I arrangc(l with
the Brigade-Major of thc 126th Iffantry Brigade
to send some of tbc observcrs to help him next dav.
This, howcver, was caucclled, as thc Germans begau
to retreat towards the River Sambre. I saw some
French chihlren still about the cottagcs ncar the
Mormal Forest, though there was still shclling
going on. Comiug back I avoided thc village of
Carnoy, as it. was being hea;-ilv shcllcd bv the
enemy's long-range grues. This was the last rime
I came aywhere uear the cuemv's shell tire. The
(erman dca(1 lav in little chst(,rs i the fie]ds east
of Le Qucsnoy, and at varios 1)oiuts ah)n,,o," the
railway.
On Novcmbcr 7 I moved mv quartcrs to a
small house at Hcrbignics, out bclongings being
brought for us bv Divisional tra.port. Our
hand-cart was finallv duml)ed at Le Quesnoy. Thc
next day I sent a small party of obscrvcrs through
thc forest to Petit Bavay, and also dctachcd Ptes.
Fail, Ewart, and Austin for duty oa the f«)llowing
236 Q. 6. A
day, sending thcm with bicycles to the Q.M. of the
7th N.F. at Petit Bava.v. Also I walkcd through
the forcst to D.H.Q. at the saine place. It was
a long tramp in the mud, and I xvas thoroughly
tired out when I reacbed Herbignies again that
night.
On November 9 we had our final trek forward,
some fifteen toiles through the most glutinous
mud. As the observcrs had bcen overlooked
w]len the Divisional transport left Potelle, ve had
now to transport all out belongings as best ve
eould without the aid of the hand-eart. This
un[ortmately meant dumping all out stores exeept
sueh as were absolutely essential; and I lost a
mmber of interesting records, maps, &e., in
this way.
We loaded ourselves up then with cverything
we eould takevery full paeks and a blanket rolled
on top, about the heaviest nmrehing-order possible.
By lnidday we had got through the ïorest to Petit
Bavay, where ve halted for a meal on the road
side. Then we went on through Vieux Mesnil,
where we had to ford the river, as the bridge was
destroved. On through Neuf Mesnil and at last to
Ilautmont. I was glad to get a billet ill the first
cmpty house I came to, 135 ]uc (le Gambetta.
No bcds, but a moderatcly clean floor to sleep on.
1)te. Fail's party rejoincd me here. They had gone
right on to the firing line on the north bank of the
River Sambre, where the Guards werc advancing.
They brought baek useful information as to what
had been going on.
THE FINAL RUSH FORWARD 237
After dispu(ing the crossing of the Sambre
the Gernmns flcd rapidly for about cight toiles,
and gave no further trouble bcyond shclling thc
villages of Quievelon nard Fcrrière. CyclisCs and
cavalry wcre pushcd out [o kccp in touch with
hem, but owing to the al|ff|cuit|es of transport
the infantry could gct no farther. There was now
a general feeling that the end was hot far off.
On Novcmbcr 10 I was told a| D.H.Q. [hat
thcre was a ' holiday air' ni)out cvcry onc, and
that nothillg furt|mr need bc donc by thc obscrvcrs.
Early next lnorning I hcard two tl'altsport dr|vers
discussil)g the situation in thc road ours|de. Thcv
were quite convinced that the war was over. And
they wcrc right; a little latcr I got the message
front D.H.Q. ' hosilities will cease at 11 A.. to-
day.' IIcavy firing vas st|Il going on to the north,
about Morts, and this only ceascd at 11 o'clock.
Then the silcncc and stillness ours|de wcrc most
uncanny. It vas a silence that could be felt.
XXXVIII
From the nature oï thc organisation and equip-
ment of Inïantry observers, they were of more use
during trench warïare than moving xvarfare. ¥ou
cannot turn an observer into a scout ata moment's
THE END OF IT ALL 239
notice. Only a few of the men ever acquired any
real knowledge of nmp reading--thcy did hot
take the saine interest in it as in othcr parts of the
trainingand for moving warfare it is absolutely
esscntial. Another handicap was lack of transport,
we werc nobody's childrcl and lcft to fend for
ourselves. The Q.M. of the 7th N.F. adoptcd us
so far as rations wcre concerncd, but the coHectiol
of rations alonc prcveutcd us fr()l 1)cing a really
mobile force : wc couhl hot m(»vc far away frolu
thc source of food supplics.
Dul'ing thc ten weeks on thc Auchonvillel's
I/idge the men did wonders. But we never staycd
long enough at thc samc place after that to givc
them a real chance ; and thcy ncvcr scttlcd dowu
to moving warfarc.
On Dccember 6 I as attached to B (_'olupalay
of thc 7th N.F., comlualded by Major Smail, and
liviug at Boussières ; once morc I bccamc a platoon
commander, after nearly three years of coutinuous
warfare.
About Decentber 15 thc 42n(1 Division nove(!
into Bclgium, and D.H.Q. were establi.hed at Char-
leroi. After arriving here I becalue Deluobilisatiou
Ofliecr for the 7th N.F. and coutinued af that till
January 19. Then I went on leave to Egland.
On February 10 I got back fo çha.rleroi, and on
February 13 I left Charleroi for demobilisation
or rather 'disembodiment.' I reached home at
.30 I,.. on February 22, glad fo be back.
x I had the greatest assistance from Cpl. Seuls (7h I.F.), formerly
.C.O. in charge of Brigade Orderlies.
Printed by SPOTTISV'OODI% BALL^NrYNE Ç Co. L'rDo
Colchesler, London @ Elon, England.
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