Messines.
It was not long before those in authority discovered that the
neighbourhood of Morlancourt was peculiarly favourable for the carrying
out of manœuvres, with the result that a period of “intensive training”
set in. Drill orders took place four days a week, and batteries were
specially trained in the methods of open warfare, while many hours were
devoted to tactical schemes.
At this time units were reorganised, all batteries were increased to
six guns, and there was plenty of work to keep everyone busy. The
narrator of these rambling notes, after a period of two years’ service
with the Brigade, here transferred his allegiance to the sister
howitzer battery of the Division, known as “The Grey Battery,” from the
fact that all the horses were of that colour. Sentiment ran strong for
his “old love” and those he was obliged to leave, but he was already
well acquainted with both officers and men of his new unit, and soon
settled down happily amongst them.
All guns were carefully calibrated on a range due west of Peronne, and
the “hairies” picked up rapidly in condition, owing to the good care
and attention that was bestowed upon them. The big battles of Vimy
Ridge and Arras were now in full swing, and it seemed unlikely that we
would be called upon to take any part in them so late in the day.
Many forms of amusement were created for the men, and football matches,
both “rugger” and “soccer,” were freely indulged in between batteries
and brigades, while the full regimental band of one of the Guards’
regiments was kindly lent to the Divisional Artillery. It gave many a
fine entertainment in the evenings.
Time thus sped by at an amazing rate, and various visits of inspection
paid us by officers from the C.R.A. up to the Army Commander made it
very apparent that we were undoubtedly being “fattened up”—but for
what? The question was more than we could answer, but speculations were
rife as to our possible destination, for we knew that the Somme would
see us no more—in the meantime, at all events.
Six weeks had come and gone, and yet we remained inactive in this
peaceful village; then sudden orders were issued for us to be ready to
entrain at short notice, and, in the second week of May, the Battery
glided out of the station at Meulte prepared for anything. A long and
circuitous route was taken _via_ Amiens, Abbeville, Etaples, Boulogne,
Calais, St. Omer, and at length we arrived at Arques, near which we
remained, in billets, for some considerable time. It was while we were
there that we learnt that it was the intention of the British Commander
to gain possession of the great Messines Ridge, which towered over our
lines, and was a stronghold of inestimable value to the enemy.
As long as he held this ridge, which was the keystone of his armies in
Flanders, he was immune from any vulnerable attack on our part, and was
free to launch any offensive operation from it by using it as a
stepping-off place. Added to this, the northern end of the heights
afforded him an uninterrupted view of the southern portion of the Ypres
salient, which was a source of great annoyance to our forces on that
part of the front. It was vital, therefore, for the future operations
of the British Armies, that this important ridge should be captured and
kept in our hands.
Preparations were accordingly set on foot, and artillery of all calibre
was silently concentrated from all parts, and proceeded to dig itself
in for the coming fray. For a long time this sector had been free from
any serious operations, and was considered a kind of resting place for
exhausted troops, but soon the peace and quiet of the neighbourhood was
to receive a rude awakening, when the tide of battle broke out upon it
once more.
Proceeding through Hazebrouck and Bailleul, the Brigade arrived at its
wagon lines, a short distance west of Neuve Eglise, and immediately
each battery sent work parties to the scene of action, in order to
construct emplacements and make its position habitable. The spot
allotted to our battery was in a little hollow close to the cut roads,
near the small ruined village of Wulverghen. Our front line was placed
on the top of an undulating rise, with the ridge itself beyond.
Our principal business was to avoid attracting the attention of the
enemy to our preparations, and in this we were aided by the fact that
there was a considerable amount of cover beside us, in the form of
trees and undergrowth, the foliage of which was now in full leaf.
Row upon row of batteries were placed in position behind hedges, or
artificially concealed, the barrels of the pieces peeping out from all
imaginable lurking places. The Divisional Artillery was situated in the
most advanced position, the 18 pr. batteries ranging from within 600 to
1,000 yards of the front line, with the howitzer batteries immediately
behind them. On account of our proximity to the enemy, the two brigades
had orders to remain silent until the day of the show, and we were only
allowed to fire enough rounds to enable us to carefully register the
pieces, and this was completed without giving away any of the
positions.
All ammunition was conveyed to the guns by night, and was distributed
in small quantities near to them. Before long the enemy became alive to
the fact that we were contemplating some move, and consequently
increased his devastating fire by night, with the result that many
dumps in the vicinity were exploded by him. He was bound to hit
something, the countryside was so packed with all manner of ammunition.
He had no idea, however, of the magnitude of our coming effort, and
firmly believed his position to be impregnable, and that it was beyond
our power to free ourselves from his grip.
He contented himself with drenching our little valley with chemical
shell whenever conditions were favourable, but so accustomed were the
men to their gas masks that no serious consequences resulted, although
it was distinctly unpleasant to have to pass each night enveloped in
these stuffy contrivances, especially as the weather remained hot and
oppressive.
The Battery had more than their average share of good fortune
throughout these operations, and it is worthy of putting on record that
the unit did not sustain a single casualty to either man or horse. This
was all the more remarkable as the engineers had constructed a wide
plank road, which passed through the centre of our position, and could
not be concealed from our foes, who lavishly besprinkled it with
shrapnel after dark. Many casualties were caused to the transport, and
the Officers’ Mess virtually became an aid-post, where every assistance
was rendered the wounded men.
Our sister howitzer battery was lined up alongside of us, and, when the
two positions were first inspected, much chaff ensued as to which had
the better place, and the men of our battery were certainly all of the
opinion that, had the selection devolved upon them, we would
unanimously have plumped for the other one. They had no landmarks
likely to attract hostile fire, and thus occasion them the unpleasant
sensation of living on top of a volcano, while we were slap-bang in the
middle of a conspicuous cross road, with a constant stream of traffic
coming and going through: yet, so strange and fickle are the fortunes
of war that, while we escaped unharmed, our comrades next door suffered
a heavy gruelling.
The preliminary bombardment commenced, and continued throughout five
days, but, in order to deceive the enemy as to our weight of artillery,
not more than fifty per cent. of the guns in the line were allowed to
take part at one time. A row of O.P.’s had been constructed on Hill 65,
which overlooked the valley and town of Messines. A fine sight was
witnessed as that stronghold was gradually reduced to a mere shell by
our heavies, which effected extraordinarily good work in smashing the
elaborate structures of the enemy’s defence.
The preparations were all that could be desired, and everything was
carefully worked out to the minutest detail: not a stone was left
unturned to render the operations a complete success. The labour and
expense was well rewarded too, for surely no battle ever ran so
smoothly from first to last, and it will always be looked back upon by
the British soldier as a model of triumphant organisation. The battle
only lasted a single day, but in that time the formidable network of
trenches was neatly and clearly shorn off, and the enemy, who relied so
much on the security of these positions, found himself suddenly pushed
down the slope into unsuitable ground, where he could no longer be a
menace to us.
The “feet” of our Division were not in the line, being held in reserve,
and, as it turned out, they were not called upon at all at this
juncture, so well did the course of the battle progress. We were
covering the infantry of an English Division, and, on the evening
previous to the attack, the troops passed us noiselessly and in perfect
order on their way to their various points of assembly. All were in
excellent spirits, which augured well for the next day, and a feeling
of calm confidence appeared to prevail amongst them. A stream of gas
and tear shells was maintained by the foe throughout the night, but it
was mostly directed on the zone which contained the battery positions,
consequently the infantry was caused little inconvenience.
Early the following morning, shortly before dawn, the attack was
heralded by the explosion of the mines, which had been in course of
preparation for months beforehand. This was the sign for the guns to
open out, and the assault was launched from north of St. Eloi in the
Salient to the neighbourhood of Ploegsterte in the south, the men
following close in the wake of the now familiar and popular creeping
barrage.
The force of the explosions was terrific, and the vibration was felt
far and wide; even strong concrete “pill-boxes” were swung to and fro,
and the occupants were tossed from side to side as if they were on
board ship in a rough sea. Some indication of the colossal nature of
these upheavals may be gauged from the fact that the craters were, in
some cases, more than 200 ft. in diameter, and that the earth thrown up
obliterated every hostile trench in the vicinity, completely burying
the unfortunate garrisons who manned them.
At the same moment the sky was lit up by all manner of S.O.S. lights
and the innumerable flashes from our guns, which were now showing their
maximum strength for the first time. They belched forth concentrated
death, the roar reached such a deafening crescendo that conversation
was entirely out of the question—indeed it was impossible to hear one’s
own voice. However, the scene was truly impressive, and the grandeur
was beyond anything hitherto seen.
As daylight crept in, the infantry were observed to be making rapid
progress, although, here and there, stiff opposition was encountered.
Soon the summit of the ridge was gained, and the men swept on and
disappeared over the crest, leaving the mopping-up parties to complete
their work. The Tanks bravely waddled up after them, in a vain effort
to keep up, for the attacking infantry went so fast, in the first
stages, that they easily outstripped those ponderous giants and left
them far behind.
Meanwhile the field batteries which had been in position farthest in
the rear, and so were already out of range, limbered up and dashed into
action in front of our Brigade. As soon as the next row was also out of
action, they too galloped past and took up their place again in “No
Man’s Land,” while the Engineers worked at their highest pressure to
pull down trenches and prepare the way for the gunners. Thus we were
able to give the fullest possible support to the infantry, and the fire
never ceased, while the men always found the creeping barrage laid down
in front of them.
Early on in the fray prisoners came dribbling back in a more or less
dazed condition, and, as they passed the array of guns, they paused and
gazed in evident wonder at the huge concentration—probably realising
how fortunate they were in escaping the fate of so many of their
comrades.
Now, the enemy, although he knew an attack was imminent, had failed to
anticipate the correct zero day, with the result that, on several
portions of this front, various reliefs were in process of taking place
at the actual time of the assault. The consequence was his defence was
thrown into a state of confusion, while the extra numbers in the trench
offered a double prey for the bayonets of our men, who were not slow in
seizing the chances thus afforded them.
The whole of the first objectives were quickly in our possession, as
well as the villages of Messines and Wytscheate, and there was a slight
pause to give a breathing space to the infantry, and to allow time for
the field guns to take up their allotted positions beyond the recently
captured enemy trenches, before entering upon the second and final
stage of the battle. When the creeping barrage, which had remained
stationary during this period, went forward once more, the infantry
encountered stronger opposition, but by this time the Tanks were well
up in support, and were instrumental in breaking up the machine-gun
nests and thus enabling the men to proceed up to schedule time.
The enemy lost a number of field artillery pieces, but had taken the
precaution to withdraw most of the heavy ones several days before, when
our bombardment commenced. His shooting, therefore, was rather wild and
erratic, as he evidently had not had sufficient time to register his
guns properly in the new positions. The result was that, fortunately
for us, most of his energy was misplaced, and, for a battle of this
magnitude, the casualties were not as heavy as might have been
expected.
By early afternoon the final objectives were everywhere in our hands,
and the work of consolidating the fruitful gains that the last few
hours had yielded was immediately begun.
Several counter-attacks were attempted by the enemy, but were not
pushed with much vigour, and no success was secured in that direction:
our infantry remained firm and could not be dislodged.
Trenches were swiftly constructed, the work proceeding without
intermission, and by evening the men were, more or less, securely “dug
in,” except in a few places where the line was slightly irregular, and
which was afterwards rectified by means of a small operation.
By the time the battle had finished we found ourselves the farthest
back Brigade in the line, the immense number of batteries which, at the
beginning, had been in our rear were now well in front of us, and on
this sector the Divisional Artillery were the only two Brigades who did
not move forward during the course of the fight. Moreover, by this time
we were firing almost at extreme range close to the enemy’s new front
line, which gives some idea of the distance our men covered.
The day had been an exhausting one for the gunners, and, in order to
give some indication of the work and labour they had been called upon
to do, our battery alone fired over 4000 rounds of ammunition. This was
by no means a bad performance when one takes into consideration that
each shell weighs 35 lbs., and necessitated a goodly amount of
manhandling, but the men all had their “peckers well up,” and displayed
much determination throughout.
For a few days following the battle there were a number of small
isolated scraps for positions, and one or two enemy counter-attacks,
before the new front settled down into something like normal conditions
again. Decca-ville and light railways were pushed up smartly by the
R.O.D., and the Engineers constructed new roads, while Labour
Battalions were busily employed repairing the old ones and clearing up
the litter of the battlefield.
Ever since we came into action it had been no secret that our stay in
this area would be of short duration, and that we were only to be
employed in the battle itself, and were only to remain as long as our
services were really required. It was no surprise when, five days
later, orders came through for us to withdraw from the line. We pulled
out back to our wagon line, and from there proceeded through Bailleul
to the little hamlet of Borre, a few miles east of Hazebrouck, where we
remained pending removal to our next destination. We all had the
feeling that our recent tour had been a great success, and were well
satisfied with the part we had taken in the operations, for this was
the first occasion on which we had witnessed a battle go smoothly,
without a hitch from start to finish, and was a great contrast to any
previous one in which we had participated.
A few days in rest sufficed to put the Brigade shipshape once more, and
we were now ready for the next bout. No delay was made in transferring
us to another neighbourhood, and we set out in a northerly direction,
which boded little good, for we knew that unpleasant events were
developing in that quarter.