THE WINTER AND THE GERMAN RETREAT
Christmas was spent in the huts at Bécourt with a wild gale blowing;
the festivities and feastings of the previous year at Authie were not
possible, but at least the men could congratulate themselves that they
were not in the trenches. On the 28th we moved back through Albert to
the village of Bresle, which lies just north of the great straight
highway from Amiens to Albert. Here some houses yet remained, and
contact was re-established with the vestiges of civilisation. The
Brigade, drawn up in a hollow square, was inspected by Lieut.-General
Sir W. P. Pulteney, the Corps Commander, and earned his praise. Boxing
competitions, concerts and football matches reappeared in the
intervals of work. A train journey on January 9th took us to Citerne,
a quiet, comfortable village, intact of war, in the French area south
of the Somme. The inhabitants were most friendly, accommodation good,
and each officer found a bed at his disposal. The three weeks' respite
from the rigours of the line was the more appreciated as the great
cold had now set in, which was to continue with almost unmitigated
intensity until the middle of April. There was much to be done in the
way of training, for the new platoon organisation had now come into
force. Its object was to make the platoon a self-contained unit of
specialists, with its four sections divided into riflemen, Lewis
gunners, bombers and rifle-bombers. This was obviously to require from
the average man a higher standard of specialisation than before, and
consequently threw greater responsibility on the platoon and section
commanders. It was, in fact, found impossible during the course of the
1917 campaign fully to attain this ideal, as the time available for
the training of new drafts was not generally sufficient. Another train
journey on January 28th took the Battalion by a circuitous route
through Amiens, past Villars-Brettoneaux to Hamel, two names destined
next year to become famous in the fighting history of the Australians.
Hamel was soon exchanged for Cappy, a village high above the southern
bank of the Somme, overlooking its great loops, and the widespread
marshes and pools all frozen stiff. Although only about 2,000 yards
behind the trenches from which the French started to the assault of
Frise on July 1st, it was not badly knocked about. Houses and barns
were available for billets, but the men suffered considerably from the
cold, as fuel was very scarce, and the frost was now at its height,
the thermometer marking 20 or more degrees of frost every night. Then
followed a few days in the great French Adrian Huts, each holding a
Company, in a camp by the edge of the Somme Canal a few hundred yards
further east.
The month of February passed uneventfully, though unpleasantly, in
alternatives between the trenches west of Peronne and Cappy. Until the
16th the extreme cold continued unabated, so that all the water which
was brought up in petrol tins each night from Cappy froze solidly in
transit. Another result of the severe weather more appreciated by the
men was the hardness of the trenches, which made most of the ordinary
trench fatigues impossible. A thaw, however, set in on the 16th, and a
mist arose over all the country, which lasted for many days, and made
it possible for the enemy to carry out unobserved his plans for the
great retirement. Though further north throughout this very bitter
weather fighting was incessant round Miraumont and the approaches of
Bapaume, here inactivity prevailed, and the month cost the Battalion
no more than nine casualties. There was also little sickness, and
strength and fitness were well maintained.
March came in with a return of frost and snow, but the front was
gradually waking into life. It was obviously the German policy to mask
the moment of their withdrawal by lively activity, and their artillery
and machine guns showed considerable vigour. On the other hand, though
the British had not yet realised that the front was about to give
along a stretch of 80 miles it was clear from the events round Bapaume
that the enemy had for the first time begun to entertain the idea of
ceding ground voluntarily. Hence raids for purposes of identification
again became frequent. One of these was most successfully carried out
by the Battalion on the night of 7th-8th March without any loss to
themselves. The raiders were under the command of 2nd Lieut.
Hampshire, and were divided into three small parties, each of 8 men.
The portion of trench to be entered was shut off by a 'box barrage,'
which, falling on both flanks and on the support line, enclosed it, so
to speak, in a frame of shells. The wire was fully cut, and no
difficulty was found in penetrating the enemy's line, but all the
birds had flown beyond the limits of the barrages on either side.
Accordingly, as no prisoner had been caught, a second attempt was made
at 2.45 a.m. Again an entry was easily effected on the left; the party
worked further down towards the south owing to the enlargement of the
barrage, and finally found a small dugout, which was bombed. This had
the effect of producing two Germans, who were carried off. The object
of the raid thus happily accomplished, Hampshire and his men returned.
The flanks throughout had been strongly held by the enemy, who fired
rapidly but inaccurately, and caused no casualties whatever. The only
effect of this action was to prevent the entry into their trench of
our right-hand party towards La Maisonnette, which could not get
through the hostile wire, but returned undamaged. The two
prisoners were found, on examination, to belong to King Constantine's
Own 88th Infantry Regiment, and had their shoulder-straps adorned with
a crown and the letter K beneath. The G.O.C. of the Division sent
special congratulations on the success of the whole operation. For
their conspicuous share in this success, 2nd Lieut. Hampshire received
the M.C., Sergt. A. C. Evans, Corpl. H. Hart, Lance-Corpls. J. Mazey
and G. W. Hutchings the M.M.
Shortly after this the results of the weary and bloody months on the
Somme battlefields became manifest. On March 17th-18th the enemy began
his general retreat. The 48th Division was in the forefront of the
pursuit south of the Somme. The 1st/7th Royal Warwicks were the first
British troops to enter Peronne, and the flag which they planted on
the ruined towers is now carefully preserved and treasured in the
Imperial War Museum. Our Battalion was in reserve at Cappy practising
Advance Guards. Open warfare was no longer relegated to the dim and
uncertain future, but became the certainty of the moment. On the
morning of the 20th operation orders were issued which began: 'The
Battalion will move to Peronne at 11 a.m.' For the first time since
they went abroad, they could advance unmolested over enemy country.
The weather at last showed a delusive promise of spring, and the sun
shone. Hopes ran high and all were pleased beyond measure to be
leaving the mire and clay for the green untouched country beyond. They
went over the forsaken trenches, crossed the Somme by a bridge thrown
over at Bézancourt Farm and entered Peronne. The little town, after
its long history as a French fortress, after the battle of Mont St.
Quentin and the German occupation of 1870, had now been laid utterly
waste. Few houses had been previously damaged from shell-fire, since
the French gunners had purposely spared the place, but now the
destruction by the hand of the enemy was complete; it had been
organised with the greatest care to make impossible military and civil
occupation. In the suburbs the fruit trees had been felled; children's
toys and all manner of debris, wantonly destroyed, lay about the
streets. The Battalion was billeted in the remains of the barracks,
and was joined during the evening and night by the rest of the
Brigade.
Next day a march was made south-east along the Cologne Brook, which
was crossed at Doignt. The roads were being everywhere busily
repaired, the tall poplar trees which had been felled across them were
being dragged out of the way, the great mine-craters at the crossroads
were being filled up; the whole countryside was alive with labour
repairing the damage for the advancing army. For some days the time
was spent in outpost duty in the old style between Peronne and Roisel,
and working on the defences which were being provisionally dug, till
touch was fully restored with the Hun, and the limits of his retreat
became clear. On March 24th the 5th Cavalry Division passed by, riding
eastward, a sign of the new conditions of warfare. At Flamicourt, one
of the adjacent villages used as billets for the Battalion for several
days, were several interesting signs both of the carefulness of the
enemy and of his hasty departure. In the street outside almost every
house were great heaps of tin and zinc ready to be carted away; at
another court was a pile of copper stripped from our shells. Here,
too, for the first time was seen that inspiring yet most pitiful
spectacle, a number of the civil population released from German
captivity. The proof of victory, they were also an incitement to
vengeance; their faces, from which all life and hope seemed to have
departed, were a testimony to the misery which they had endured for
the last 30 months. Among them were the inhabitants of Tincourt, whom
the Germans, by a refinement of cruelty compelled to halt on the rise
overlooking their homes and there to witness the destruction.
Meanwhile, in the bitter weather that had returned, incessant pressure
was being exerted against the stubborn German rearguards, who were
being gradually pushed eastward towards the much-vaunted defences of
the Hindenburg Line.
[Illustration: Map.]