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Transcriber's note:
Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. All other
inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling
has been maintained.
The original book used for this file did not contain a table
of contents, and one has been added for the convenience of the
reader.
THE WAR SERVICE OF THE 1/4 ROYAL BERKSHIRE REGIMENT (T.F.)
by
C. R. M. F. CRUTTWELL
Late Captain 1/4 Royal Berks. Regt., Fellow Of Hertford
College, And Formerly Fellow Of All Souls College, Oxford
[Illustration: Colonel O. PEARCE-SEROCOLD, C.M.G., V.D.
Commanding On Mobilization 5 Aug. 1914 To 14 Feb. 1916.]
Oxford Basil Blackwell
MCMXXII
Oxford
Fox, Jones & Co.,
Kemp Hall Press,
High Street.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Preface.
Chapter I
Mobilisation and training.
Chapter II
First Days on Active Service.
Chapter III
Holding the Line at 'Plugstreet'.
Chapter IV
On the Move and in Corps Reserve.
Chapter V
Relieving the French at Hébuterne.
Chapter VI
Summer and Autumn in Artois.
Chapter VII
Winter in the Trenches.
Chapter VIII
The new Trench and the Raid.
Chapter IX
Before the Battle.
Chapter X
The July Fighting at Pozières.
Chapter XI
Rest and Battle.
Chapter XII
Uneventful Days.
Chapter XIII
In the Slough of Despond.
Chapter XIV
The Winter and the German Retreat.
Chapter XV
Ronssoy.
Chapter XVI
Towards the Hindenburg Line.
Chapter XVII
The Renewal of Trench Warfare.
Chapter XVIII
The Third Battle of Ypres.
Chapter XIX
Last Days in France and the Journey to Italy.
Chapter XX
The Italian Winter.
Chapter XXI
Mountain Warfare.
Chapter XXII
The Last Summer.
Chapter XXIII
Victory.
Appendix A.
Appendix B.
PREFACE.
This little work was undertaken at the request of Lieut.-Col. R. J.
Clarke, C.M.G., D.S.O., while the war was still in progress. The
Editor of the _Berkshire Chronicle_ kindly gave it the hospitality of
his columns in 1920. Its republication in book form is due to the
generous support of Berkshire people; and I have been very fortunate
in persuading Mr. Basil Blackwell to act as its publisher. The earlier
portion is based on my own personal recollections, the latter on the
war diary of the Battalion, which was admirably kept, and on
information supplied by officers and men.
I have to thank Lieut.-Col. Ewen and Capt. Goodenough, M.C., for the
trouble which they have taken to supply me with all available
documents: and, among many others, Major G. A. Battcock, Captains W.
E. H. Blandy, O. B. Challenor, M.C., G. H. W. Cruttwell, and Sergts.
Page and Riddell for giving me personal details, and thereby clearing
up many points which must otherwise have remained obscure.
The fortunes in battle of a small unit, like a Battalion, in the late
war, can never make easy reading, but I hope that with the aid of the
large-scale maps inserted in the text they may prove fairly
intelligible. The Appendices are due to the present Adjutant, Capt. L.
Goodenough, M.C.
CHAPTER I
MOBILISATION AND TRAINING
Late in the afternoon of August 2nd, 1914, the 4th Royal Berks
Regiment joined the remainder of the South Midland Infantry Brigade
for their annual camp on a hill above Marlow. War had broken out on
the previous day between Germany and Russia, and few expected that the
15 days' training would run its normal course. It was not, therefore,
a complete surprise when in the twilight of the next morning the
battalion re-entered the same trains which had brought them, and
returned to Reading. Soon after arrival, in accordance with orders
received, the battalion proceeded to disband; but many of the men,
unwilling to return to the distant parts of the county when further
developments were confidently expected, remained at their respective
armouries throughout that famous Bank Holiday. At last, at 7.20 p.m.
on the next day, August 4th, the order for mobilisation was received,
and conveyed throughout the county that night by the police and eager
parties of volunteers. The plan of mobilisation had been closely
studied in all its details, and worked with complete smoothness. By 2
p.m. on the 5th the assemblage at Reading was complete, and after a
laborious day spent in medical inspection, drawing of equipment and of
ammunition, 28 officers and 800 other ranks entrained in the evening
for their war station at Portsmouth, while 2 officers and 65 other
ranks remained at Reading to receive the transport from the remount
depôt. At Portsmouth three days were spent mainly in digging, until a
new move on the 9th brought the whole of the South Midland Division
together at Swindon. Here on the 14th the battalion was invited by
telegram from the War Office to volunteer immediately for foreign
service. At this date the formation of the new service units had
scarcely begun, and few realised how widely the common burden of
responsibility would be shouldered in the next few weeks. The
question, therefore, arose naturally in many minds, why those whose
patriotism had led them without encouragement and sometimes with
derision to qualify for the defence of the country in peace, should be
the first called upon to extend their statutory obligation when
emergency arose. None the less, within a few days a large majority of
the men, and practically all the officers, had volunteered. History
will, I believe, honour this prompt decision and recognise its value.
On August 16th, the division entrained for Leighton Buzzard, and the
battalion spent four days in billets at Dunstable, 8 miles away,
before setting out on the 20th on a 70-mile trek to its final
destination at Chelmsford. In spite of the heat, the dusty roads and
the small opportunities afforded since mobilisation for practice in
marching, the journey was successfully accomplished in four days. The
inhabitants of Stevenage, Hoddesden, Waltham Abbey and Fyfield, where
we billeted in succession, to whom the passage of troops was still a
pleasing novelty, and the provision of billets more than a business
transaction, received us with every kindness. Thus Chelmsford became
the adopted home and theatre of training for the battalion, except for
the period September 24th-October 16th, which was spent in three
adjacent villages, Broomfield and Great and Little Waltham. The relations
between the town and the soldiers were excellent throughout, and many
warm friendships were made; while in the surrounding country the
landowners and farmers made the troops free of their land, thereby
greatly assisting the field training, which was carried on uninterruptedly
through a fine autumn and a wet winter. We lost in September for duty
with the New Armies the permanent sergeant-instructors, one of whom had
been attached to each company in peace time, but were fortunately
allowed to retain our regular adjutant, Captain G. M. Sharpe, and the
R.S.-M. (afterwards Lieut. Hanney, M.C.). About the close of the year
the double-company system was adopted, under which the two headquarter
companies became 'A' Company, under the command of Major Hedges, while
Captain Battcock commanded B Company, composed of the men from
Wallingford, Wantage and Newbury, Captain Lewis C Company, from
Windsor and Maidenhead, and Captain Thorne D Company, from Abingdon
and Wokingham. Many memories will remain with us of the laborious days
and nights spent throughout those seven months, of company training in
Highlands, fights on Galleywood Common, route marches up the long
slope of Danbury Hill, journeys to Boreham Range in the darkness of a
winter dawn, returning after dusk with a day's firing behind, and long
hours spent in guarding the Marconi station in rain, snow and mist.
All ranks were very keen and eager, especially before illness, the
monotony of routine and disappointment at receiving no orders for
overseas, produced some inevitable reaction. Colonel Serocold has
indeed expressed his opinion that the battalion, while under his
command, was never better trained than at the end of November, 1914.
At last, however, on the evening of March 30th, 1915, amidst many
expressions of goodwill and regret from the townsfolk, who thronged
the streets, the battalion entrained for France, and left Folkestone
in the S.E.R. packet boat _Onward_ at 11 p.m.