THE NEW TRENCH AND THE RAID
The spring of 1916 was slow in coming. The German attack at Verdun had
coincided with a long spell of deep snow and bitter cold. An officer
going on leave at the end of February vividly remembers his
experiences on the frozen roads, and the sight of a column of French
troops of all arms 20 miles long, making their way painfully along the
great 'Route Nationale' to Amiens to join in the defence of Verdun.
But towards the end of March the weather grew warm and genial and the
wild daffodils began to appear in all the fields around Sailly.
Meanwhile the preliminaries for the Somme offensive became
increasingly significant. The forward villages such as Sailly and
Bayencourt were cleared of the civil population, and handed over
entirely to the Army. Still more monstrous guns came crawling up, and
in place of the old battery of 60-pounders, the orchard at the western
outskirts of Sailly, in the angle of the Bayencourt road, harboured
two 15-inch howitzers. Gun-pits and enormous new dugouts were
constructed in Hébuterne. The single-line railway which served the
48th and 4th Division with railheads at Acheux and Louvaincourt was
supplemented by numbers of light lines. Troops grew thick upon the
ground; the 56th Division appeared upon our left, the 31st on the
right, and in May the front held by the Division scarcely exceeded
that allotted to a single battalion during the winter. A 4th Army had
been formed, of which the 48th Division was on the left in the 10th
Corps. Conferences were held by the G.O.C. with C.O.'s and Adjutants
two or three times a week, while parties were constantly detailed to
witness demonstrations of gas, smoke and flame throwers. At last,
also, the drafts so badly needed and so long overdue appeared in
fairly adequate numbers; in March alone 202 men joined the Battalion
for duty, which brought our total strength up to 874.
[Illustration: Map.]
Meanwhile the G.O.C. was planning for the execution of the 145th
Brigade a task, which sounds prosaic enough on paper, but which
demanded for its success minute organisation and a high state of
discipline in all concerned--namely, the digging of a forward trench
in front of our own wire. Our line between Hébuterne and Serre sagged
back in a westerly direction from Trench Hoche to Trench Bouillon,
thereby interposing 800-900 yards between ourselves and the Germans,
with an intervening rise in No Man's Land. This configuration of the
ground presented three obvious defects for offensive operations. It
was impossible for the gunners to get direct observation on the sector
of enemy trench opposite; it meant that troops deploying for the
attack would get out of trenches facing in three directions, and would
have to cross an unnecessary depth of shell-swept ground before
getting to the assault. It was, therefore, determined to straighten
out the line between the two points mentioned above. The battalions
concerned assiduously practised wire-cutting, filing silently through
the gaps, and night-digging. Our Battalion, which was to find the
covering parties, took over the part of the line affected (J Sector,
from Serre road to Trench Lassalle) a week beforehand, and every
effort was made by means of patrols, two or three of which went out
each night, to locate any forward posts or rifle pits from which the
enemy might get wind of or interfere with the digging of the new
trench. On the night of the 9th-10th April the scheme was carried out
under the direction of Major Clissold (1st/1st Field Company, South
Midland R.E.'s), an unfailing friend of the infantry, who was killed
in the autumn of 1917. About 1,500 men in all were engaged; the
digging was done by the 4th Oxfords and the 5th Gloucesters, while
covering parties and fatigues were provided by the Bucks Battalion and
ourselves. About six hours were allotted for the completion of the
work, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. The moon, which was near the full, shone
brilliantly, though at times obscured by clouds, so that there was no
fear of the confusion which arises from darkness, but rather of
detection by the enemy's posts. Soon after 8.30 p.m. A Company, who
were responsible for the protection from the right to the Puisieux
road, strung themselves out into groups of three, some 20 yards apart,
about 70 paces in front of the tape which marked the course of the
proposed trench. While Captain Crouch, of the Bucks, was similarly
employed on the left, some of his men, losing touch, ran into the
vision of Hun sentries at the Poplars and were received with shots and
bombs, which caused uneasy anticipations of discovery, happily
unfulfilled. The diggers got to work behind their screen, and ate into
the ground with remarkable speed, for stray rounds of shrapnel,
intermittent sniping, and the constant discharge of Verey lights
throughout the night, suggested that the Hun had some uneasy suspicion
that all was not quite as usual; and indeed it seems almost incredible
that the clash of the tools, the whispered orders, and the movements
of the wiring parties should have entirely failed to strike the ear of
a vigilant sentry at 250 yards. By 2 a.m. the work was almost
finished; nothing remained but to strengthen the parapet of the new
trench and to fill up the spaces between the knife-rests, which
defended it some 40 yards in front, with screw pickets and loose
strands of wire. By 3.20 a.m. all the diggers had returned to the old
line, and the weary covering party, who had lain out for seven tedious
hours, came home to get a hot drink, which they had well earned. Only
15 casualties were reported from the whole Brigade, none of which fell
to the share of our Battalion. The trench was held by a few posts
until dawn and then evacuated. About noon next day an enemy aeroplane
flew along it, and the observer could be plainly seen leaning out and
taking photographs of this mushroom growth. Almost immediately every
battery from La Brayelle to Serre began to register upon it, and for
weeks it was rendered unwholesome by the constant attention of
artillery and mine-throwers. A poem of Lieut. Downs' preserves the air
of mystery in which the whole scheme was so fortunately conceived and
executed.
A whisper wandered round
Of a plan of the G.O.C's,
And figures surveyed the ground
In stealthy groups of threes;
But the whole Brigade were there,
Or pretty well all the lot,
When we dug the trench at Never-mind-where,
On April the Never mind-what.
The What's-a-names dug the trench,
The Who-is-its found the screen,
And we mustn't forget to mench
The Thingumies in between;
The Tothermies built the fence,
And the R.E.'s "also ran,"
For we didn't spare any expense,
With labour a shilling a man.
There isn't much else to tell,
Though the enemy made a song.
And tried to blow it to Hell,
But got the address all wrong;
For you'll find it's still out there
In the bally old self-same spot,
That trench which we built at Never-mind-where,
On April the Never-mind-what.
After these excitements the Battalion moved back on the 12th, half to
Sailly, half to the huts in the park of Couin Château, which were
leaky and surrounded by a pathless morass of mud several inches deep.
Here the Battalion was reinoculated, as 18 months had elapsed since
the original dose was injected in the autumn of 1914, and spent its
mornings in Platoon and Company Drill, until its return to J Sector on
the 20th. There was plenty of work and little comfort in the line that
tour. The conditions resembled those of the winter at their worst; in
the new trench, hastily dug and unrevetted, water and mud engulfed the
passer-by to the waist. One afternoon a German was reported to have
got in, and the Adjutant (Lieut. Ridley) who happened to be on the
spot, at once organised a bombing party to deal with him, but after
wading laboriously to the point indicated, found that the bird had
flown. Meanwhile, the Huns showed their displeasure by sending into
the sector 500-1,000 shells every day, and casualties were naturally
higher than the normal, including Lieut. Duff seriously wounded, and
Lieut. Calder shell-shock. No one was therefore sorry when on the 25th
we returned to Authie, after an interval of three months, to the great
delight of the inhabitants, and enjoyed the spring for a short while
in that pleasant valley. Before returning to the line the battalion
spent a few days at Sailly and Couin, furnishing working parties for
Hébuterne each night and day. On May 8th we relieved the 4th Oxfords
in G Sector on the extreme right of the Brigade front. This tour was
destined to be memorable in the history of the Battalion. The ground
was entirely new to us, and extremely difficult. All rations and
supplies had to be brought up from Hébuterne by communication trenches
more than a mile long and in bad repair. The whole sector had been the
scene of a fierce battle in June 1915, for the possession of Touvent
Farm and the outskirts of Serre, and was everywhere cut up by old
disused trenches, French and German, and shell holes, and was still
littered with bones and skulls. Nor was the front line more
attractive; it formed a sharp salient projecting towards Serre, held
by disconnected posts, ill defended, close to the enemy, and joined to
the support line by only two communication trenches, one at each side
of the salient. So vague and difficult of identification was this line
of posts that Captain Cruttwell, when visiting them for the first
time, nearly walked into the German lines while trying to establish
connection with D Company, until warned of his mistake by a shower of
rifle-grenades. The whole sector, indeed, closely resembled the crater
areas, which the experiences of the Somme were to render familiar. The
first week in this dreary spot passed uneventfully; the enemy guns and
_minenwerfer_, the latter of the largest calibre, whose explosion was
deafening, were active, but not unusually so, and up to the 15th the
Battalion could congratulate themselves on an absence of casualties
during the tour. They were to be relieved next day, and it seemed that
the trouble always expected here would be reserved for others. During
the 15th, however, the usual shelling seemed to the two Company
Commanders in the front line--Captain Cruttwell, of B, and Captain
Attride, of D, to be more methodical and to suggest a registration on
all tactical points. Still this impression was not definite enough to
arouse serious foreboding. Up to midnight all was quiet. Then a heavy
bombardment opened upon the 56th Division on the left; our divisional
guns, who were helping to cover that sector, opened at once in
response to the S.O.S. The two anxious Company Commanders felt
convinced that if a raid was intended they would not be the victims of
it. But as soon as our guns were securely switched off on to a false
target, the enemy showed his hand. His guns ceased to play on the 56th
Division and were directed with extreme violence against our front. It
was then 12.30 a.m. on the morning of May 16th; the raid had begun.
It is now necessary, in order to understand its course, to describe
minutely, with the aid of the map, the dispositions of the two
Companies affected. The length of the line was approximately 1,200
yards; on the right B Company had two platoons in the front line
strung out into seven posts between Nairne and Wrangel, each
containing from six to nine men. Two sections and a Lewis gun team
were in Jones Street, which had been chosen as the main defensive line
in case of attack. The remaining two sections with another Lewis gun
were in Caber, and the fourth platoon in Worcester Street. Company
Headquarters were established some 800 yards behind the front line, at
Pimlico, where a platoon of A Company was placed in dugouts at the
disposal of O.C. Company. The line of D Company on the left stretched
from Wrangel to Jena, and was similarly held by two platoons
furnishing eight posts. The supporting platoon on the right was
equally divided between Trench Dominique and Oxford Street; that on
the left was located in the forward end of Jena. Company Headquarters
were in Vauban, and Captain Attride disposed of a reserve platoon of C
Company in Vercingetorix. Further two platoons of C Company which were
returning from a working party in Wrangel when the bombardment
started, were placed in dugouts near Pimlico.
[Illustration: 16 May 1916]
The plan of the bombardment, which was a masterpiece of method, was as
follows:--From 12.30 to 1 a.m. the whole of our front and supervision
line was bombarded with field guns, 5.9-inch howitzers and
mine-throwers; but the chief intensity of fire was directed at B
Company between Nairne and Chasseur Hedge, with the object, which was
practically accomplished, of destroying or burying all the posts
included therein. At 1 a.m. a red rocket was shot up from the enemy
lines, and the fire from Nairne to Wrangel lifted, but fell with
redoubled fury on the support and reserve lines, where every
communication trench and dugout was deluged with shells. At Pimlico,
in particular, 5.9-inch shells were thrown at the rate of 100 a
minute, enveloping it in a dense fog of smoke and fumes, and the
supporting platoon of A Company lost nearly half its strength.
Meanwhile the fire on either flank covered both front line and
support, rendering lateral communication impossible. Thus B Company
was isolated, and the enemy infantry immediately entered. Post No. 7
opposed their entry, but was overpowered--none of the nine men who
composed it were ever seen again, but the ground about was afterwards
found littered with exploded and unexploded German bombs, showing
that they had fought a good fight. The Germans then divided into two
parties with separate tasks. One party worked along Jones Street
towards the right, some moving in the trench, some along the parados.
They destroyed the left post in Jones Street, but were eventually
checked by Lance-Corpl. Cooke with his Lewis Gun team, which,
reflecting the coolness of its commander, kept up a steady rifle fire
when the gun jammed. The Huns then retired and left Jones Street at
the point of entry, after fulfilling what was presumably their job of
protecting their comrades from attack in the rear. For the other
party, working along the fire trench, attacked Posts 6-2 inclusive
from the rear. These posts were in sore straits. Their defences had
been blown to pieces, their rifles damaged, broken or buried, and
their bombs scattered; they had themselves been shaken or buried and
were left defenceless. The story of a survivor from Post 2, who
escaped, will serve as an example. As they endeavoured to extricate
themselves and their weapons from the wrecked post, Germans appeared
behind them and ordered them in English to mount the parapet or they
would be shot. Private Chapman at once tackled an officer with his
fists and, shot by the latter's revolver, died most bravely. Four men
were taken, and one alone escaped. However, 12 survivors in all
reached Post 1, which remained intact and resisted stoutly. Here
Lieut. Ward, who was on duty, took charge, and reorganised the 12,
only to find that some were wounded, and that the rifles of the
remainder were useless. Accordingly he withdrew towards Nairne, and
was fortunate to get them back safely, for at one point four Germans
peered into the trench, which was a very deep one, close to the party,
but made off when Ward loosed his revolver at them. Meanwhile, No. 1
Post, under Sergt. Holloway, a brave soldier from Abingdon, facing
both to front and rear, drove back all the enemy who approached them
with rifle and bombs, and effectively staved off their progress
towards Nairne, where the position was secured by a post of 13th West
Yorks (31st Division) which was promptly moved to the left in answer
to Lieut. Ward's request. The support platoon was organised for
defence in Caber by Lieut. Field, who remained with his men though
seriously wounded. Here he was found by Lieut. Gathorne-Hardy, who,
with his usual contempt for danger, had volunteered to go up from
Company Headquarters to re-establish connection, which had been broken
within five minutes of the commencement of the bombardment.
While B Company was being attacked, fire was still directed with
violence on the front line of the left Company, and continued until
1.40 a.m., when it also lifted on to the support and reserve areas.
The damage here had been mainly confined to Posts 1-3, where all the
men had been killed or buried; at Post 1 five men were saved by the
systematic and collected courage of Private Appleby (4749), who dug
them out one after the other. At Post 3, Captain Boyle and Sergt.
Pitman dug out Lance-Corpl. Sargeant and the other men, being
disturbed during the operation by the appearance of a German on the
parapet, whom they shot and wounded. Lance-Corpl. Sargeant was no
sooner extricated than he collected bombs, and returned to his post
only to find two wounded comrades being hauled off by a party of
Germans. They received his bombs into their midst and ran back into
the darkness behind Chasseur Hedge, where their supports were waiting.
Meanwhile, Posts 4 and 5 remained intact and full of fight. Singing in
the intervals between firing:--
'Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile,'
they held off the enemy, who could be dimly seen filing through their
wire and forming up outside in three lines, distinguished by white
armlets. Post 5 soon received a reinforcement of some 20 men under
Sergt. V. H. Taylor, who came up from Oxford Street. They had been
summoned by Corpl. Page, a most gallant Wokingham man, who volunteered
to go back through the fiery curtain of the barrage, which task he
accomplished without harm. No further attack was made upon D Company,
which escaped with comparatively light casualties. Captain Boyle was
afterwards awarded the M.C. for the skill and coolness with which he
organised the defence of his sector, and Corpl. Sargeant the Military
Medal. The bombardment continued unabated until 2.45, and then ceased
suddenly with the first light of dawn. The ruinous state of the
trenches made daylight movement difficult and dangerous, as the enemy
fired rifle grenades continually at broken points in the communication
trenches, causing several casualties among men who were not quick
enough in running the gauntlet. In spite of such difficulties all the
wounded were evacuated by 10 a.m., though in some cases it took four
hours to get the stretcher from the front line to the dressing station
in the village. The losses had been heavy, amounting in all to 98, of
whom 18 were killed and 29 missing; of these B Company supplied 60,
thus losing half of its fighting strength. Many hours were spent next
night by parties left behind after the relief of the Battalion in
search of the missing, who afterwards were almost without exception
reported as prisoners of war. This eventful night was the last spent
by the Battalion in the trenches for five weeks; the 48th Division,
which had established a record for an unbroken length of service in
the line, was being withdrawn into Army Reserve. Thus the Battalion
came through their first serious test, and were not found wanting. The
praise which Colonel Clarke bestowed next day at Couin on their
endurance, discipline and fighting spirit, was repeated by the
Divisional General and the Corps Commander.