GORRE AND ESSARS
_April 21st, 1918._ _September 6th, 1918._
Two days after our return to Vaudricourt, the 46th Division was called
upon to relieve the 3rd Division in the area North of the La Bassée
Canal, afterwards known as Gorre and Essars sectors, where they had
recently held up the German attack. This front extended from the 55th
Division boundary on the right, near Givenchy, where the line bent now
almost at a right angle, to Mesplaux Farm on the Lawe Canal, on the
left, this line being more or less parallel with the La Bassée Canal,
and at the nearest point about two and-a-half miles from Béthune.
Leaving Vaudricourt on the evening of April 23rd, we marched the short
journey to Béthune, where after some rearrangement, we were eventually
allotted billets in one of the French Barracks. How changed was our
favourite old town of Béthune! From the earliest days of the war a
resting place for the traveller, the chief shopping centre for a very
wide area, probably the most popular and best known town to British
Troops on the whole of the Western Front, full of life, and to a
certain extent gaiety, although within such a short distance of the
line, she had now been deserted by all her inhabitants, and was like a
city of the dead. Previously only hit by a few stray shells on odd
occasions, she was now being bombarded regularly, as the enemy had
brought up his guns much closer, and they had already made their
presence known in no uncertain manner. Everywhere notices had been put
up warning troops against the crime of looting, but is it not more
than human nature can stand to see houses, as they were here, often
open for anyone to walk straight into, filled with all kinds of
valuables, many quite easy to carry away, and all liable at any
instant to be destroyed by shell or fire?
At the moment, however, we had little time to trouble about the town
ourselves, as on April 24th, we moved out again. After a novel and
amusing cricket match--if such it could be called--in the Barrack
Square in the afternoon, we relieved at night the 2nd Royal Scots in
the right sub-sector of the Essars sector, with two Companies in the
front line and two in support, Battalion Headquarters being at Le
Hamel, in the cellar of a farmhouse. Company Commanders at this time
were: A, Capt. Andrews; B, Capt. C. P. Elliott; C, 2nd Lieut. Kent,
who had taken over command when Major Cursham went to hospital; D,
Capt. Simonet. It was fortunate that they had been up to reconnoitre
the day before, for when platoons reached the appointed rendezvous,
the guides were not there. We had had sufficient experience by this
time to know that, although all possible precautions were taken, it
was a most difficult problem to make certain that every guide was a
picked man, knew exactly where he was to meet his party, what that
party was, and where it was to be guided to, and to be able to do all
this by night without a hitch. Ian Hay has classified guides in two
grades (a) the guide who doesn't know the way and tells you so; (b)
the guide who doesn't know the way and doesn't tell you so until he
has lost both you and himself. We might add to this (c) the guide who
doesn't turn up! In this case however, nothing desperate happened, and
in due course the relief was carried out.
The conditions here were indeed novel, and more like those of "open
warfare" than any we had yet experienced. It might almost be said that
we had now bidden farewell to real trenches, for, though the line in
the Gorre and Essars sectors, remained stationary for nearly four
months and trenches certainly were dug, from now onwards we never had
quite the same type of front line as we had hitherto been accustomed
to. The German rush had been brought to a halt, not many days before
we took over, so that there were practically no defences of any kind.
The outpost line consisted of a few shell-holes, and small slits dug
in the ground at intervals with a very small amount of barbed wire in
front. The support line, known as the "Liverpool Line," consisted
mainly of a few slits, but was protected for a great portion of its
length by the Beuvry River, and a fair barbed wire entanglement. A few
shelters had already been made in both lines, by putting sheets of
corrugated iron over some of the small trenches which had been dug,
and camouflaging them with earth. Some distance behind the Liverpool
Line there were some old breastworks, forming part of a reserve line,
which some of us remembered seeing the French constructing in the
Autumn of 1915, when we were in the Vieille Chapelle area, just North
of this. In some of these there were small concrete shelters very much
like old-fashioned pigsties, which on the left of the Essars sector,
were used for Battalion Headquarters. There were of course no
communication trenches whatever, all communication to the front posts
being over the top, mostly by tracks through the growing crops.
The whole area was perfectly flat, and almost entirely under
observation, so that by day no movement was possible, and no work
could be done, and as the nights were now getting shorter and shorter,
very few hours in every 24 could be utilised for doing the work we
were so anxious to get on with. There was nothing to be done by day,
apart from ordinary sentry duty, except to keep out of sight and make
ourselves as comfortable as very cramped quarters would allow.
A further disadvantage was that the water level in the ground was very
near the surface, so that dug-outs were impossible, and the most we
could do was to put up small corrugated iron shelters, mainly in
T-shaped saps running back from the trenches. These we pushed on with
as rapidly as possible, in order to afford some protection in case of
bad weather. In this respect we were extremely lucky, and for a very
great part of our stay the weather was delightful, days and sometimes
weeks together passing without a single drop of rain.
The first tour of four days was quiet, except for some gas shelling,
which the Boche was doing much more extensively now, especially about
sunrise and sunset, when he was particularly fond of dosing Battalion
Headquarters at Le Hamel, and Essars and Gorre. At the latter place
the château and the wood were the favourite targets, and on several
occasions were absolutely drenched with gas. At this time it was
mainly "yellow cross" or "mustard" gas that was used, a very deadly
gas, affecting any part of the body exposed to it, and particularly
dangerous when the sun was up. A certain amount of "green cross" or
"phosgene" which was decidedly dangerous, was also used, as well as a
little "blue cross," which apart from making one sneeze had no very
ill effect, unless inhaled in large quantities. During this tour we
did little except get used to the new conditions, and try to find our
way about. It was the simplest thing in the world to get in front of
the outpost line without knowing you were there, and on occasions
people were even discovered in No Man's Land asking for the support
line! Visiting the posts in the front line was also at first more or
less a matter of conjecture, but in course of time most of them were
joined up by a continuous trench. At first the novelty of it all
amused us, and after all it was a very welcome change from ordinary
trench life.
It was during the first tour that we had the great misfortune to lose
a very gallant Officer and sportsman--H. K. Simonet. He had moved his
Company Headquarters from an unprotected shell-hole to a cottage at
Les Façons, in the outpost line itself, only to get a direct hit on it
almost immediately which resulted in Simonet and his runner, Pvte.
Garratt, one of the most reliable and gallant men in the Battalion,
being badly wounded. Neither recovered, and they were buried near each
other in the Cemetery at Lapugnoy. A most capable Officer, of fine
leadership and magnificent character, "Simmy" was liked by all and his
loss was felt most keenly throughout the Battalion. He was succeeded
in command of D Company by Lieut. Warner, whose place as Signalling
Officer was taken by 2nd Lieut. Stephenson.
On April 28th, we were relieved by the 5th Leicesters, and moved back
into Divisional Reserve at Fouquières, where we stayed four days,
during which the chief excitement was that we had to stand to in the
early hours of May 1st, as there were rumours of another German
attack, which fortunately did not mature.
We took over from the 6th South Staffords in support in the Gorre
sector, on May 2nd, and had something of a shock on finding that they
had lost nearly 50 per cent. of their numbers during their tour by
mustard gas poisoning, with which the Boche had literally drenched the
whole of Gorre Wood and château, and most of the village. It was not a
comfortable introduction to the sector! Fortunately most of the
casualties proved to be slight, and the greater part were able to
rejoin a few days later.
[Illustration: GORRE BREWERY AND BRIDGE, 1918. _Reproduced by
permission of the Imperial War Museum._]
There was nothing fresh about the kind of work required of us in
support. It was as ever, and was for several more months, the carrying
of Royal Engineers' and other material to front line Battalions, and
the provision of working parties for Royal Engineers. How we blessed
them and their working parties! It would fill a book much larger than
the present one to attempt to put down half what one thought, and what
one heard and said about them, but this shall be our last uncivil
remark! They had a splendid dump at Le Quesnoy, known as "Kantara."
Situated next door to the station and canal, almost adjoining the
road, and having a branch from the tramline running into it, this dump
could not very well have been in a more suitable position, though the
same advantages made it a most convenient target for the Hun gunners.
Almost next door to it was Gorre Brewery, also very well situated, and
having the additional attraction of a tall chimney which gave the
Boche the line of the bridge over the canal a few yards behind it.
Though they did some quite good shooting at these targets and damaged
the canal bridge, the chimney in the end was blown up by our own
Sappers. In view of these facts it seemed at first rather curious that
this spot should have been chosen for the Headquarters of the support
Battalion and the Aid Post. Perhaps the first people went there to
find the beer; if so they certainly took it all, for there was none
left when we got there!
On May 4th, we relieved the 6th Battalion in the right or "Route A
Keep" sub-sector, undoubtedly the unhealthiest part of the whole
Divisional front. The so-called "Keep" was merely the highest ground
in the locality, overlooking the Boche to a certain extent, and so an
important tactical feature, though having nothing in the way of
defences to warrant the term "Keep." There had been considerable
fighting over its possession during the time the 55th Division held
this area, and counter-attacks were made time and again by the enemy
to get them out. Eventually they got tired, and in the end, after its
capture by the Stafford Brigade on April 29th, they made no further
efforts to retake it. Corpses lay on all sides, both of our own troops
and of the enemy, and made the place distinctly offensive. Life was
made still more unpleasant by constant trench mortaring and shelling,
whilst protection was of the scantiest. We tried to improve this
during our first tour by digging an advanced trench well in front of
the outpost line, and so as to conform with the front lines of flank
battalions. Though the trench was dug with little interruption on the
part of the enemy, we did not exactly look upon it as a masterpiece,
nor by any means our best piece of work in France, but it served its
purpose very well, and in time was considerably improved.
On May 10th, we went back to bivouacs in Vaudricourt Park, in
Divisional Reserve. These bivouacs and the villages of Fouquières and
Verquin, were from now onwards allotted in rotation to the three
Battalions of the Brigade out at rest.
The atmosphere during the greater part of May was again very "breezy."
From various sources, including prisoners' statements, our
Intelligence Department were led to believe that another big attack
was going to be made, and might begin at any moment, with the object
of getting Béthune, and the rest of the coalfield. In fact, so great
was the general anxiety on the occasion of our relief on May 10th,
that we had to remain in the Béthune "Locality" all night. The attack
passed off without happening, as did several others! The bridges over
the La Bassée Canal were mined and guarded by Sapper and Infantry
sentries, with instructions as to blowing them up in case a further
withdrawal became necessary. We felt quite certain that they would be
blown up alright should the occasion arise, but had grave doubts as to
what might befall those who happened to be on the wrong side of the
Canal! That well-known landmark, Béthune Church Tower, which commanded
views for miles in all directions, had also had a powerful charge laid
at its base, so that it might be blown up in the event of our
retirement. Ultimately it was blown up, not on account of any
retirement on our part, but by the enemy shelling the town. Having
brought up numbers of guns into the newly-formed Merville salient,
they shelled Béthune daily, until on May 17th, a shell landed near
enough to the base of the Church Tower to explode the charge, and the
remnants of the tower disappeared with the most appalling explosion,
followed by an enormous cloud of dust and débris, bricks and stones
being thrown for hundreds of yards. Numerous incendiary shells were
also fired into the town, and with the delightful weather we were then
having it did not take long to set fire to the whole of the central
congested part, which blazed away for days. It was a glorious sight to
watch the flames and the smoke rolling away, but sad to see so much
useless destruction.
The constant fear of further enemy attacks, coupled with the absolute
impossibility of our thinking of any offensive action for some
considerable time, decided the authorities that a really strong line
of resistance was of first importance. Work of Battalions holding the
line was, therefore, concentrated on strengthening the Liverpool Line,
whilst Divisional troops, Royal Engineers, Monmouths, and special
working parties found by the Brigade in reserve, were engaged in
building lines behind, known as the "Manchester" and "Newcastle"
lines. To build a double line of breastworks protected by barbed wire
entanglements along the whole Divisional front was a colossal task.
The wire was put up, and long sections of breastwork were more or less
completed, but by that time things had fortunately so altered that no
further defensive work was necessary. The other important work was
the improvement of billets in the forward area, which was destitute of
buildings, except for a few farm houses and cottages, mostly knocked
about by shell fire. With the possible prospect of having to winter
here, efforts were made to improve these buildings, by putting inside
them "Elephant" shelters, covered with concrete. The Royal Engineers
made considerable progress with this work, and before we left, several
comfortable billets had been thus improvised.
Another work in which all could help--no matter what their rank--and
which took a prominent part in our daily life in these days, was
"Salvage." Undoubtedly there was apt to be great waste by allowing
material to be left lying about, and at this time there was a pressing
need to retrieve everything that could possibly be found. We did our
best and endeavoured to rescue such articles as 18-pounder guns and
limbers, which we thought might come in useful, but judging from the
screeds that were received as to "the true spirit of salvage" we were
wrong, and found that the returns of salvage that got the most marks
were those containing such items as "socks 200" (got generally from
derelict Quarter-Master's Stores found in the forward area, and packed
into a limber in about half-a-minute), but the work entailed in
hauling 18-pounders and limbers out of dangerous parts of the front,
apparently counted for little. Towards the end of our stay, when we
moved into the XIII Corps (Lieut.-General Morland) and Fifth Army
(General Birdwood), even greater attention was paid to salvage, and
every scrap of paper had to be returned to the Paper Dump, bottles to
the Bottle Dump, tins to special incinerators, to have the solder
melted out and collected, and so on, all no doubt of vital necessity,
though seeming at the time rather a bore to carry out.
By the end of May several changes had taken place in the personnel of
the Battalion, not the least important being that of the
Quarter-Master. Torrance, who had not been well for some time, went to
England for a tour of home duty at the end of April. Lieut. Dale, who
acted in his place for a few days, managed to get wounded, and then
Regimental Quarter-Master Sergt. Pritchard carried on until May 26th,
when Lieut. J. Brewer from the "Pool" of Quarter-Masters at the Base
joined for duty. Kent, in command of C Company, had a very brief
period in which to enjoy the Company Commander's well-earned privilege
of being granted the rank and pay of Captain, for he got badly wounded
by a machine gun bullet on May 31st, in the Gorre sector, and was
succeeded by Capt. Miners. We also lost 2nd Lieuts. Christian, Judd,
Jewel, and Fairbrother--all wounded--and 2nd Lieut. Russell, sick.
Reinforcement Officers who joined were 2nd Lieuts. A. D. H. Dunkin and
H. Hallam.
Trench reliefs continued more or less according to schedule, 12 days
being spent in the line to six out at rest, and though there were
minor excitements now and then, nothing exceptional happened on our
part of the front for many weeks, although on May 27th, the enemy
renewed his attacks near Rheims in the South, and Locre in the North,
and made some further progress. Of the Brigade sectors, Essars was
looked upon as the more preferable, if only on account of the
excellent vegetables which grew there in large quantities, and
needless to say, found their way to the messes of Officers and men
alike, where they were a most welcome addition to rations. There were
also numbers of livestock left behind by the French, which owing to
the rapid onrush of the Boche they had been unable to take with them.
It is reported that two pigs found at "Tank" or "Portuguese" farm, by
a certain Company Commander were not unconnected with a noticeable
improvement in the rations the next time we were out at rest! A cow
which was kept at Battalion Headquarters for a few days, came to an
unfortunate end by dying of gas poisoning!
In order that the men might do a little cooking for themselves in the
trenches, as it was impossible to take hot meals up to them by day,
special issues of "Tommies' Cookers" were made, with which they were
able to make hot drinks, and warm their savoury "Maconochies," "Meat
and Vegetables," "Pork and Beans," and other delicacies, whilst during
the night hot porridge and tea were made at Battalion Headquarters,
and sent round in food containers.
Rations were taken up each night in the early days by our own
Transport, which had been provided with lines in a rather low lying
field at Fouquières, but later moved to the back of Divisional
Headquarters at Gosnay, where timber and corrugated iron brought back
from derelict horse lines in the forward area, made useful huts and
shelters. There was little to choose between the sectors so far as
transport was concerned, for the shelling of roads was a regular
feature of the enemy's offensive action, particularly during the
night. It seemed of little use trying to avoid it by going earlier or
later, for at whatever time transport was about, there were sure to be
shells, mostly gas. The most lively spots were Gorre and Le Quesnoy
villages on the right, and the road between Béthune Cemetery Corner
and Le Hamel on the left, and it was always advisable to "get a move
on" at night along these particular roads. Later on the trench tramway
system, which already existed on the right, was improved and extended
to the Essars sector, and eventually stores of all kinds were taken up
each night to both sectors in that way, the trains being loaded up at
"Speedwell Spur," near Fouquières. The engine was taken off at Essars
on the left, and at Le Quesnoy on the right, and from there the trucks
were man-handled forward to Battalion Headquarters, or other points.
During the first three and a half months of this period we were not
called upon to carry out a raid or attack of any kind. Gunners and
Trench Mortar people carried out shoots on various occasions, and our
machine gunners, who were now formed into one Battalion for the
Division, made the most horrible noise every night with their
"barrages," but we were let off with nothing more serious than
patrolling. The country was admirably adapted to this form of
reconnaissance, and patrols were out by day almost as much as by
night. The corn crops which covered much of the area, were of course
left untouched (except just in front of our lines, where they were cut
so as to afford a field of fire), and provided excellent cover, as did
also the hedges and ditches, which were fairly frequent, and by these
means it was possible to get right up to the German outpost line by
daylight, and at times even past it. The enemy, of course, played the
same game, and unfortunately on one occasion managed to snaffle the
N.C.O. and two men from one of our posts. Sometimes patrols went out
just before dawn, and remained out the whole of the day, observing
from some ditch or other place of concealment, returning to our lines
again when darkness fell. Of the many splendid patrols carried out,
probably the most daring were those by Capt. Andrews, who had
previously got a good "chit" from the Corps and Divisional Commanders,
for an excellent daylight patrol at "Hairpin Craters," in the St. Elie
sector. It is reported that on one occasion, when trying to get back
to our line he was mistaken for an enemy patrol, and fired on by his
own Lewis gunners, and that when he did eventually get safely back,
the No. 1 of the team got severely straffed for his poor shooting!
Others who did most excellent work in connection with patrolling were
Lieuts. Elphick and G. G. Elliott; 2nd Lieuts. Spinney, C. M. Bedford,
Hallam, Seymour, Sellis, and Fairbrother; Comp. Sergt.-Major Rawding;
Sergts. Brett, Teece and Sharrock; Corpls. T. H. Johnson, Foster,
Brooks and Hurt; L.-Corpl. Beech, and Pvtes. Stanley and Hinton (A
Company), Curley, Walker and Elliott (B Company), Green (a Stretcher
Bearer), and Miller (C Company), and Huckerby, Wildsmith, and
Stubbings (D Company).
[Illustration: THE CLOCK TOWER, BÉTHUNE, 1918. _Reproduced by
permission of the Imperial War Museum._]
So far as training was concerned, an important change was made during
this period by the formation of the "Battle Details," into what became
known as the "Divisional Wing." As the periods out of the line, were
too short for any satisfactory Battalion training, to be carried out,
a number of Officers and men selected from each Battalion were left
out of the line at regular intervals, to undergo a short course of
general training. These courses usually lasted for twelve days. The
first assembly was at Bruay, but later more permanent quarters were
found at the aerodrome at Hesdigneul. Each Brigade had its own "Wing,"
and each Battalion had a Senior Officer on the spot to supervise the
training. Lieut. C. H. Powell of our Battalion was for some time a
most efficient Adjutant of the 139th Brigade Wing. Lewis gun training
and instruction in the meaning of "Chain of Command" were at this time
perhaps the most important points. Every man in the Battalion had to
be taught to load and fire the Lewis gun, and to know not only who his
commanders were, but how the command might descend to him in case of
casualties. Fresh issues of Lewis guns, which were made from time to
time, allowed each Company to have eight. Their transport was provided
by the allotment of two limbered wagons per Company, which carried, in
addition to the guns, their ammunition "drums," spare parts, some
boxed ammunition, and other paraphernalia. Lieut. Bradish, a most
conscientious Lewis gun Officer, both in and out of the line, was
responsible for the Lewis gun work, in which he was ably helped by
Sergts. King, Teece, and Milne.
There were two Brigade Ceremonial parades during this period, both of
which were held at Gosnay. On May 28th, the Divisional Commander
inspected us and presented medals, and on June 10th, General Horne,
commanding the First Army, honoured us in a similar way. Both
inspections went off well, and without any adverse criticisms.
For entertainments we had the "Whizz-bangs," who seldom gave better
shows than we got almost every night in the hut in Vaudricourt Wood,
and the Cinema at Divisional Headquarters at Gosnay. There were the
additional attractions of estaminets and shops in the neighbouring
villages, especially Verquin, where we had many a good dinner, and
drank many bottles of Veuve Cliquot at the estaminet of a great
favourite of the Battalion, Mlle. Bertha.
On July 18th, a whole day was given up to Battalion Sports, on the
aerodrome at Hesdigneul. Beginning at 9 a.m. they were not over until
7.30 p.m., after a most successful day, which was mainly due to the
excellent arrangements made by Major Gingell, and Sergt. Major
Mounteney. At the Brigade Horse Show and Sports held two days later,
we won first prize for a good type of Officer's Charger, a
chestnut, at one time ridden by Capt. Whitton, and later by the
Second-in-Command (this horse won again a little later at the
Divisional Show), whilst the first three places in the Cross-country
Run also fell to the Battalion, and firsts in the 100 yards and
quarter mile races. Whilst we were not quite so successful at these
shows with Transport turnouts, their smartness reflected great credit
on the Transport Officer, Lieut. Tomlinson, and that veteran N.C.O.
Sergt. Blunt. As they had got the Transport satisfactorily through one
of Major-General Thwaites's critical inspections early in June, we
felt sure there could be little cause for complaint.
What was, perhaps, from a rather selfish point of view, a drawback to
the long spells of fine weather and brilliant moonlight nights that we
had during this period, was that it enabled the enemy to make frequent
night bombing raids. Our own bombing squadrons of course, did
precisely the same thing, but it was not pleasant to be disturbed at
night when out at rest, by aeroplanes, cruising around and dropping
bombs. Fortunately we escaped with little harm, but the billets and
Transport Lines of many Units suffered severely. For our better
protection in this respect, a regular system of anti-aircraft defence
was devised, and a special allotment of Lewis guns made for the
purpose. These were mounted on poles, fixed at various points in the
trenches, at the Transport Lines, and in the vicinity of the more
important villages behind the line. Though perhaps in a general way
they added to our protection against aeroplanes, for which we had
hitherto relied almost entirely on our anti-aircraft guns, known as
"Archies," we seldom saw them bring anything down, and were inclined
to look upon them as likely to give away the positions they were
supposed to be protecting.
As the months went by several changes took place in personnel. We lost
Capt. Whitton, who after being Adjutant for 14 months, went for duty
to the First Army Rest Camp at the end of June, and was succeeded by
2nd Lieut. Martin. Capt. Warner went to the Divisional Signal Company
early in July, and D Company was then taken over by Capt. White.
Second Lieuts. Bromham and Russell went down sick, and 2nd Lieut.
Elphick to the Machine Gun Corps. New Officers who joined were 2nd
Lieuts. E. J. Taylor, James Howard Smith, T. J. Sellis, H. M. Toyne,
F. L. Harrap, J. F. Shackleton, F. T. W. Saunders, W. Pennington, S.
A. Tebbutt, and S. Bradwell, D.C.M., and we were given a new Padre in
the person of D. E. Sturt. Sergt. Bescoby, who had done excellent work
in charge of the Stretcher Bearers, became Comp. Quarter-Master Sergt.
of A Company, in place of Godfrey, who left to train for a commission.
Our strength was kept fairly level by drafts, and we averaged
throughout this period about 40 Officers, and 920 other ranks.
Our somewhat humdrum existence eventually came to an end about the
middle of August. By this time the German offensive had finally
ceased, having received its knock-out blow in the fruitless attack
made against the French near Rheims on July 15th. On this occasion the
French had received ample warning of the attack, and were consequently
able to dispose their forces in such a manner as to inflict appalling
casualties on the enemy with insignificant losses to themselves. This
was followed up by a series of attacks by French, Americans, British,
and Italians, which began on July 18th and finally drove the enemy out
of the Marne Valley. Even before that time it had been realised that
the Germans were not likely to make any further attacks on our part of
the front, and about the middle of July we had gone so far as to
contemplate an offensive in the Merville salient. Preliminary plans
were actually made for the attack to be made on July 15th, by the
Canadians and our own Division, but eventually the scheme was
cancelled.
The offensive in the South met with extraordinary success at all
points, and soon extended to the Third Army area, nearly as far North
as Lens, with the result that in the end the Boche decided that he
must take steps to withdraw from the Merville salient. His offensive
on this front was, undoubtedly, from the first a serious strategic
error. The unexpected ease with which the enemy had advanced on the
Portugese front had induced him to push forward further than had been
the first intention. Consequently, in holding the inner portion of a
most pronounced salient on flat ground, overlooked from the high land
south of the La Bassée Canal, he had at last experienced some of those
difficulties and losses which had been for so long our experience in
the Ypres salient. The many destroyed guns which we ultimately found
on our subsequent advance bore witness, not only to the remarkable
accuracy and efficiency of our own artillery, but to the folly of
attempting to hold the salient when once the possibility of capturing
Béthune and the area South of the Canal had disappeared. Owing to this
mistake of tactics and strategy there is no question that the enemy's
losses had been extremely heavy since his advance in April.
During the second week in August, whilst we were in the Gorre sector,
we heard that the enemy were carrying out extensive demolitions behind
the line, and our patrols were constantly out, so as to ensure keeping
touch, should he begin to move back. He had already begun to do so on
our left, but we were not actually affected until August 19th, by
which time we had moved across to the Essars right sub-sector. About
noon on that day, our left Company reported that the enemy had
evacuated several of the front line posts astride the Rue-du-Bois. A
and D Companies, which were in the front line, accordingly sent out
strong patrols to keep touch, the remainder moving forward to the old
German front line. Some 600 yards in front of our old line, lay the
hamlet of Le Touret. This was cleared by the leading Companies with
little opposition, except for a few snipers left to harass our
advance, and by evening the line ran East of that place, a total
advance of about 1,000 yards. The same night we handed over to the 6th
North Staffords. On August 26th, the Battalion moved up to support in
the Gorre sector, and was disposed about the Tuning Fork Breastworks,
with Battalion Headquarters by the canal side, near Le Préol. Lieut.
G. G. Elliott was badly wounded here during a bombardment of the
position held by A Company, of which he was then in command. A battery
of guns had been put in the orchard adjoining his Headquarters, in
spite of many protests, and naturally drew a considerable amount of
shelling. Several men were wounded at the same time. "G.G." had
succeeded Capt. Andrews, who had recently been appointed
Second-in-Command on Major Gingell's departure for a tour of duty at
home, and the command of A Company now passed to Lieut. Thomas.
Re-adjustments of the Divisional front became necessary, owing to the
continued withdrawal of the enemy, and on September 1st, we crossed
over to relieve our 6th Battalion in the left Brigade sector. Here the
withdrawal had been fairly rapid, Lacouture and Vieille Chapelle both
having been evacuated, and the enemy were now holding a line roughly
running from Richebourg St. Vaast through "Windy Corner" to Richebourg
L'Avoué, the general direction of our advance being North-East. At the
time we relieved them, the 6th Battalion were engaged in sharp
encounters trying to dislodge the enemy from a number of posts just
West of Windy Corner. We continued this hole and corner fighting, and
on September 3rd, C Company occupied "Hens Post," Windy Corner, and
"Edward's Post," after some sharp scrapping, taking one wounded
prisoner, whilst B Company occupied "Dogs Post" without opposition.
Very gallant work was done during this fighting by Corpl. Mosgrove,
who in spite of heavy fire established liaison with the Company on his
right which was held up, thereby enabling the advance to continue; by
Pvte. Stamford, a Stretcher Bearer, who on two separate occasions went
forward into the open, in full view of enemy snipers at close range to
help wounded comrades, and by L.-Corpl. Beech, who did exceptionally
good work in charge of a Lewis gun team.
Those who had been with the Battalion in the Autumn of 1915, were now
on familiar ground, as the fighting was taking place on what was then
the area just behind the line that we held in the Richebourg sector.
The capture of the posts about Windy Corner straightened out the line,
and enabled us to obtain suitable jumping-off positions for an attack
which was to take place the following day, as it had been decided to
speed up the enemy's retreat in this part, and drive him back far
enough to enable us to retake the old British front line near Neuve
Chapelle, the enemy being at this moment about 2,000 yards West of
that line.
Instructions for the attack were issued somewhat hurriedly during the
night. B and C were to be the leading Companies, with A and D in
support. The 5th Leicesters were attacking on our right, and the 19th
Division on the left. There was little or no time to make any
reconnaissance. Zero was 5.15 a.m. on September 4th, and the barrage
came down on the stroke 200 yards East of a line through "Haystack,"
"Orchard," "Albert," "Dogs" and "Edward's" Posts. Having remained on
this line four minutes it moved forward at the rate of 100 yards in
two minutes, closely followed by the leading troops. The enemy made
little resistance, and had evidently decided not to offer any serious
defence to operations on a large scale, but to get out of the way as
quickly as possible. The result was that within a couple of hours we
had regained possession of the old British front line, and the
"contact aeroplane" which cruised round a little later, saw our ground
flares burning in the identical trenches we held in November, 1915.
The 5th Leicesters met with equal success, and were abreast of us on
the same line. The 19th Division on our left had met with considerable
resistance at Neuve Chapelle, and did not get the whole of their
objective until later in the day. The enemy had decided for the moment
to stand on his old line running through the Bois-du-Biez, a strong
position, from which it would be difficult to dislodge him. The troops
on our left suffered several casualties in a fruitless endeavour to
push platoons forward into the wood. Our casualties were negligible
owing to the feeble resistance offered, and the weak counter-barrage
put down. Battalion Headquarters moved immediately after the attack to
"Lansdowne Post."
Communication had been well maintained during this and other recent
advances, and we were seldom out of touch by telephone, either with
advanced Companies or with Brigade Headquarters. In fact, on the
advance into Le Touret, there was so much cover available, on or near
the Rue du Bois that a forward Signalling Station, supplied by a South
and a North line, was established only a few hundred yards behind the
front line, within a few minutes of that line being consolidated, and
of these two lines the North line was not a mere ground line, but a
poled cable. We owed it to the untiring efforts of the Signal Section,
under Lieut. Stephenson, ably backed by Sergt. Templeman, Corpl.
Osborne and others, that communications were kept up so well.
The peace that we enjoyed for the rest of the day, was unfortunately
not maintained, for on September 5th, the Boche made things unpleasant
by shelling the various posts we were holding, which were nothing but
isolated shallow trenches with a few corrugated iron shelters covered
with earth. One of these, which was used as Battalion Headquarters,
got a direct hit with a 4.2 whilst the whole of the Headquarters'
staff, except the Medical Officer were in it. The result was
disastrous. Every Officer in it was wounded, though "Andy" escaped
with nothing worse than a few scratches. Col. Currin got a leg
damaged, Martin the Adjutant, and Elly, Intelligence Officer, both got
broken legs, and several other wounds. Stephenson and Taylor (Works
Officer) were also wounded in the leg, whilst Spinney (Assistant
Adjutant) and Salmon (Artillery Liaison Officer), sustained serious
head and face wounds. Elly died the following day at the Casualty
Clearing Station, at Pernes.
Owing to the continuance of the shelling, Battalion Headquarters moved
to Hens Post near Windy Corner, but again were not left alone, as the
enemy put over some eight-inch and gas shells in the vicinity.
Altogether it was a decidedly unpleasant day, and we were not sorry to
hear that the 19th Division were to relieve us the same night. The
relieving Battalion, the 9th Cheshires, fortunately for them did not
arrive until things had quietened down, and the relief, if somewhat
lengthy, was carried out more or less in peace. The lucky ones got a
ride from Le Touret on the light railway, but the trains for the rest
failed to turn up, and they had to foot it back to Beuvry, where the
Battalion was billeted, with Major Andrews in temporary command.