The Duke’s had already heard the news of the desperate German onslaught
on the Somme where much ground had been lost by the Third and Fifth
Armies, and as they marched to Reninghelst the rumbling of artillery
could be clearly heard from the direction of Armentieres, which lay
only some ten miles to the south, on the far side of the ridge running
from Mont des Cats to Kemmel Hill and dividing the plain of Ypres from
France. But no news of any offensive in that area had reached them, and
the men took off their clothes and went to bed in comfort for the first
time for several weeks.
But the battalion was not to enjoy an undisturbed night. Shortly after
midnight (April 9-10) everyone was awakened and dressed hurriedly.
Ammunition was made up to fighting scale, Lewis guns taken off the
limbers, and two days’ rations served out. By 2 a.m. the battalion was
on the road in motor buses. Crossing the ridge they descended at Trois
Rois cross roads, north of the town of Nieppe, where the whole of the
147th Brigade (¼th, ⅙th and ⅐th Duke of Wellington’s) was concentrated.
After a hasty breakfast the whole Brigade moved forward across the
open fields and took up a line in front of the town of Nieppe, facing
Armentieres and astride the main road leading from that city to St.
Omer and the Channel ports. After working some hours on defences, at 1
p.m. bullets began to enfilade the line from the south, and the brigade
fell back a short distance to an old trench line from which they could
more securely watch the threatened flank.
Only now did the battalion learn more or less what had happened. On
the morning of the 9th after a heavy bombardment the Germans had
attacked and driven back the Portuguese, who were still holding the
Neuve-Chapelle-Fleurbaix sector; following up their success they had
crossed the river Lys near Bac St. Maur and had thus turned the flank
of this valuable line of defence. When the 6th Battalion took up its
line at Nieppe, the Germans were at no great distance from their right
flank and later in the day captured Steenwerck, which was actually
behind them. So far as was known a British division still held
Armentieres but they were weak in numbers and hard pressed. The task of
the 147th Brigade was therefore twofold: (1) to check any advance of
new German forces from Armentieres; and (2) to prevent the enemy from
continuing his enveloping movement from the south and capturing the
valuable line of hills behind them.
The battalion remained in its new line all night, on the extreme
right of the Brigade. Troops kept coming back from Armentieres and
it was impossible to know whether there was any continuous line in
front. Next morning the question was answered, for the Germans were in
close touch all along our front and the trenches were subjected to a
terrific machine gun fire. A German aeroplane which came over dropping
stickbombs was successfully brought down; a few minutes later one of
our planes was also brought down close behind the 6th, but luckily the
pilot and observer escaped little hurt into the West Riding trenches.
The position of the brigade was now a difficult one for the enemy
was behind them on either flank--at Neuve Eglise to the north and at
Steenwerck to the south--and their line was assuming a horseshoe shape.
C company, on the extreme right, found Germans advancing against them
up a trench leading into their own. Lieut.-Col. Bateman, D.S.O., who
was making one of his frequent tours of inspection, at once gathered a
small party of B and C Coy. men with a few machine gunners, and himself
led a very successful little charge, accompanied by Captain Ogston,
Lieut. Baker and 2nd Lieut. Whitehead. Many Germans were killed and
one prisoner was taken. The ⅙th still stuck to their ground and barred
the main road, till at 7 p.m. the order came to retire. It was none
too soon, for the leading company had to bayonet Germans on the road
behind them, and Very lights from either side were falling in their
path. Passing through another division which was to take up the task of
defence, the battalion moved to La Creche and bivouacked.
At noon next day they were roused by shelling and at once moved out to
take up a new line a short distance in front of the town of Bailleul.
During this advance A Coy. had to drive off a party of some thirty
Germans with machine guns. In their new line they were attacked next
day from two sides; the 7th battalion facing down the Armentieres road
while the 6th faced south. C company, of the 6th, holding the angle,
bore the brunt of the attack and inflicted heavy losses on the baffled
enemy, but they suffered a serious loss in the death of the gallant
Capt. K. Ogston, who had commanded them for many months.
Early next morning (April 14th) another retirement was ordered and the
brigade fell back to a line on the outskirts of Bailleul. The Germans
continued their usual programme--a bombardment at 1-30 p.m. followed by
an attack from 3 p.m. till dark, and once again were driven off with
great loss. During this attack the British right flank was in the air,
and a party of Germans getting round it made straight for 6th Battalion
headquarters. They were soon driven off with considerable loss by
Lieut.-Col. Bateman, Lieut. A. S. Stewart and Regt. Sergeant-Major
Richardson, with the officers’ servants and orderly room staff. On this
day, too, Sergeant Whiteley, the medical sergeant, cycled to Steenmill,
a mile to the south, to fetch dressings from the transport, which had
been there the previous day. He found it occupied by Germans and had
some difficulty in escaping, leaving his bicycle in their hands.
That night the brigade was relieved by another division and, retiring
behind Bailleul, thought that their troubles were ended. But the
following day’s attack was too much for the troops in front, who
retired, and the 6th Battalion had to dig yet another line. On the
17th a fresh attack by strong forces was repulsed and in a gallant
counter-attack A company, under Major Tanner, captured three machine
guns and a few prisoners.
The following evening the brigade was relieved and retired slowly to
reorganise in Poperinghe.
After three quiet days the battalion passed a disturbed night on the
24th-25th April. Heavy shelling began about teatime, several billets
being hit, while all night long the town was bombed with gas bombs
by relays of aeroplanes. One fell right on the stores and inflicted
serious casualties, and several of the transport were killed and
wounded in stables near by. But at mid-day on the 25th, the ⅙th was
once more moving forward. Kemmel Hill, lately taken over by the French,
had been surprised in the early morning mist and captured, and upon the
new line running through Millekruise (which the 147th brigade now took
over from the battered 9th division) the safety of Ypres lay. Digging
their line under continual shell fire the battalion was not attacked
till the 29th, when the Germans made desperate efforts to break the
whole line from Dranoutre to Voormezeele. The shelling, mostly from big
guns, lasted incessantly from 3 a.m. till 4 p.m. and was the heaviest
ever experienced by the battalion. In the attack that followed, the
enemy forced their way into the lines of the 7th battalion on the left
and had to be driven out by bayonet charges; but the 6th had forward
posts commanding the valley in front and with accurate Lewis gun and
rifle fire stopped the attackers dead as they descended the lower
slopes of Kemmel Hill. The German onslaught had been stemmed, and the
⅙th Duke of Wellington’s, relieved by the 39th French Division, retired
to rest at Reninghelst, the village from which it had started on its
eventful journey twenty-four days before.
During all these operations the ⅙th had never once been driven back
by the enemy. All the retirements were made under orders from the
higher command and were carried out without confusion; enormous losses
had been inflicted on the enemy; and the whole brigade admitted that
Lieut.-Col. Bateman had been the life and soul of the defence. But a
sadly heavy toll had been paid for success. Besides Capt. Ogston, the
battalion had to mourn many of its best fighters who had come out in
the early days. Among these were Lieut. Norman Procter, M.C., who,
after a long spell of sterling work as battalion signalling officer,
had been promoted to the Brigade staff: Sergt. Bury, D.C.M., M.M., who
had signally distinguished himself in many a hard fight: Sergt. Gibson,
D.C.M., Sergt. Burrows and Sergt. Stott, of Skipton; Sergt. Harding,
M.M. of Keighley, Corporal Tillotson, M.M., of Oxenhope, and Corporal
Barton, M.M. of Hellifield, an admirable Lewis gun instructor. D
company had also lost their devoted commander, Capt. Buxton, M.C., who
was very seriously wounded.
The whole Division was now withdrawn from the line and spent some
weeks in the neighbourhood of Proven and St. Jans-ter-biezen, resting,
reorganizing, training, and working on reserve lines. It was at this
time that the 147th Brigade started its own particular concert party,
“The Ducks,” which became very popular. The general manager was Lieut.
J. S. Spencer, of Keighley, while Private Morgan, of B company, with
his wonderful soprano voice, made up into one of the most attractive
“leading ladies” in France.