WAR SERVICES OF THE 62ND DIVISIONAL ARTILLERY.
WAR SERVICES
OF THE
62ND WEST RIDING
DIVISIONAL ARTILLERY
BY
Colonel A. T. ANDERSON, C.M.G.
(_C.R.H. 62nd Division, 1916-1919_),
Author of "The Field Gunner's Catechism," "A Short History
of Lucknow,"
With a Preface by
Lieut.-General SIR W. P. BRAITHWAITE, K.C.B.
W. HEFFER & SONS LTD.
CAMBRIDGE
1920
TO THE MEMORY OF OUR FALLEN COMRADES.
"_As fighters with unequal lance we met,
Broken I lie,
And yet,
O Death, art thou the victor or am I?_"
MARY BYRON.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE vii
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST ADVANCE 1
CHAPTER II.
JUNE TO OCTOBER 1917. TRENCH WARFARE 20
CHAPTER III.
THE BATTLE OF CAMBRAI 40
CHAPTER IV.
THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE 56
CHAPTER V.
WITH THE 5TH FRENCH ARMY 80
CHAPTER VI.
THE FINAL TRIUMPH 92
CHAPTER VII.
THE LAST PHASE 114
APPENDIX A.
SUBSEQUENT SERVICES OF THE 311TH BRIGADE 120
APPENDIX B.
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF OFFICERS 123
APPENDIX C.
LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEN AWARDED DECORATIONS
OR MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES 127
INDEX 137
PREFACE
BY LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR WALTER BRAITHWAITE, K.C.B.
Colonel Anderson has commenced his interesting record of the war
services of the 62nd Divisional Artillery in January, 1917. He has,
therefore, no word to say as to how the instrument he commanded so ably
and with such distinction during two strenuous years of war came to
attain the standard of excellence which the following pages attest.
It was in February, 1916, that Brig.-General Anderson and Capt.
Lindsell, then serving at the Front, were selected to take over the
Command and Brigade-Majorship respectively of the 62nd Divisional
Artillery.
The Division was then at Salisbury Plain, and, without going into
details, I would like to tender my tribute to the untiring devoted work
accomplished by these two officers in training and fitting for war the
Artillery of the Division I had the honour to command.
They had their reward when the time came that the instrument they had
created was put to the test of war. It never failed to respond to their
touch. The proud record it established is the best testimony to their
teaching and training.
In the early part of 1917 I was asked to write a foreword for the
Divisional Magazine, and in it I wrote that, given grit and discipline,
there was nothing the Division could not accomplish. Grit the
Yorkshireman has always possessed, discipline he learnt. I might have
added a third desideratum--co-operation.
The event proved, however, that this virtue was not lacking. It is to
these three great qualities I attribute the success of the Division.
The Divisional Artillery knew that they existed for the purpose of
helping the Infantry. The Infantry knew that they could depend on the
Artillery in all circumstances and under all conditions.
There are many glorious episodes described in the following pages, many
plain unvarnished tales of heroism, and much record of what, to the
casual reader unacquainted with the conditions of life "out there," may
appear to be commonplace drudgery.
All had their place in building up the reputation of the 62nd
Divisional Artillery, and none were more important than others, or less.
The strain on the horses, the toil of the men in the never-ceasing
"packing" of the ammunition to Miraumont, up the shell-swept road,
past Shrapnel Corner, to the fire-desolated village, had its result
and compensation in the advance to Bapaume and the capture of
Achiet-le-Petit and Achiet-le-Grand.
The daily digging, the unceasing work on dug-outs and gun-positions
in Ecoust, and in the Noreuil Valley, saved many a life and rendered
possible the accurate service of the guns in the Battle of Bullecourt,
and in the subsequent period of holding that much-strafed line.
The practice in driving and the training in open warfare found their
consummation in that glorious advance of the batteries to Graincourt.
And then, after a year's hard work, came the first rest. In December,
1917, the gunners came out of the line for the first time, and hardly
knew themselves!
January, 1918, saw the Division back in the line again in a
comparatively peaceful sector with, however, as always, one bad
spot--Bailleul, through which one never loitered.
But peaceful bits of the line were not the lot of the 62nd Divisional
Artillery for long, and in March we were hurried down to Bucquoy. Here
was no line, peaceful or otherwise, no prepared positions to take over,
but the hurly-burly of battle, and positions to be chosen where they
could be found. But what splendid targets!
After the battle came a period of holding the line again, in, I think,
the most unpleasant sector we occupied, of which Essarts was the most
unhealthy spot.
Then came a change. A quick train journey to the South and a rush into
battle without time for proper reconnaissance, but with the willing and
ready help of French and Italian comrades.
A quick change also to open warfare, and fighting in dense woods! But
these variations affected not at all the Divisional Artillery except in
so far as it stimulated the interest of officers and men.
The fighting in the Ardre Valley was indeed an experience we shall all
look back upon with pride and with pleasure.
It was in the thick woods bordering the main road from Epernay to
Rheims that the D.A.C. lost their show team of roans who fell victims
to a bomb in that much bombed area. I can see now the distress on
Fraser's face when he told me of the casualty. There were many other
gallant four-footed friends who paid the toll of war there. If "the
men both good and wise" are right we may yet hope "to give them joyous
greeting when we pass the Golden Gate."
And so we come to the return journey, back again to the 4th Army Corps.
I am glad to say my own especial pets, a very handsome pair of blacks
in "A" Battery 310 Brigade, survived the bombs, and before long another
battle and the beginning of the glorious end.
Indeed, had we but realised it at the time, the beginning had come, and
we had participated in it, one of the only four British Divisions which
had had the luck of that honour.
It was shortly after our return from Rheims that I left the 62nd
Division for the 9th Army Corps, so I cannot speak from actual
experience of the thrilling excitement and glorious successes which the
Division achieved in the 2nd taking of Havrincourt, and in the other
great battles which brought this long war to a triumphant conclusion.
(I left just after the York and Lancasters made that thrilling bayonet
charge in company with the King's Company of the Grenadier Guards on
the heights near Mory.)
But the story of these culminating triumphs is told in the pages of
this book, and it only remains for me to offer one or two remarks.
Three things, among others, seem to me to be especially worthy of note:
the endurance of the personnel, the youth of the officers in command of
batteries, the efficiency of the Territorial gunner and driver.
How often do we see the phrase, "The Infantry were withdrawn for a
rest, the Artillery remaining, as usual, in the line covering the --th
Division."
The periodical reliefs of Divisions hardly affected the gunner at all.
It was a marvel to me how the various Divisional Artilleries managed
to "stick it out." A day or two in the wagon lines now and then seemed
all that was necessary to restore officers and men to full vigour and
activity again. It was a triumph of endurance.
As the war progressed battery commanders became younger and younger. I
remember once congratulating an officer on gaining command of a six-gun
battery--he had just "put up" his crowns--and making some remark on his
age, to be met with the retort, "I'm not so very young, Sir, I'm nearly
21."
I wonder what would have been thought of the prophet who, in 1913, had
predicted that batteries would be commanded in the greatest of all wars
by men of "nearly 21"!
I well remember, some years before the war, when the Territorial Force
was first evolved, the utter scepticism expressed of the Territorial
ever being able to be made into a gunner. Infantry yes, but gunners--!
And a distinguished Colonel Commandant R.A., of the old school, told
me, during 1916, that Territorial Force gunners might be all right
during trench warfare, but that it was absurd to think that Territorial
Force drivers would ever be able to bring the guns into position in
a war of movement. The advance of the batteries to Graincourt at the
Battle of Cambrai, the changes of position on the Ardre, and 100 other
instances prove the fallacy of such gloomy prognostications.
Properly trained and instructed--and the 62nd Divisional Artillery was
that--Territorial Force gunners and drivers proved themselves equal to
all tasks set them. Higher praise it is impossible to bestow.
In the concluding paragraph of his book, Colonel Anderson writes of
"the brotherhood of officers and men" and of "steadfast and loyal
comradeship."
It was these virtues fostered and encouraged by men like the writer
of this book, David Sherlock, Bedwell, Gadie, Woodcock, Lindsell,
FitzGibbon, and many others, which enabled the 62nd Divisional
Artillery to triumph over all obstacles, to achieve its deeds of
valour, and to gain its brilliant successes for the glory of England
and to the eternal honour of Yorkshiremen.
WALTER BRAITHWAITE,
_Lieut.-General_.
(A former Commander of the
62nd (West Riding) Division, T.F.)
_February 7th, 1920._
CHAPTER I
THE FIRST ADVANCE
"_Come, join in the only battle
Wherein no man can fail,
Where whoso fadeth and dieth
Yet his deed shall still prevail._"
WILLIAM MORRIS.
[Sidenote: Jan. 1917.]
On the 23rd December, 1916, the 62nd Division received orders to embark
for France. The artillery, which was billeted in Northampton, was
conveyed from Southampton to Havre on the 6th and 7th January, 1917,
and thence railed to the concentration area at and around Wavans,
near Auxi-le-Chateau. The weather was of the worst type that January
can give, alternate frost and thaw and bitterly cold, and we began to
experience at once the distressing conditions of mud and slush, which
were to be so normal a feature in this and the two following winters in
France and Belgium.
On the 17th January the 310th and 312th Brigades sent off one section
per battery by motor lorry to be attached to the 19th Division, then in
the firing line, for training preliminary to taking over finally their
part of the line. It was a snowy, uncomfortable sort of day, and the
lorries were, as so often happened, late in arriving, with the result
that the detachments did not get started on their journey till about 3
p.m., and arrived at their destination after dark. Sections from the
311th Brigade followed the next day.
On the 23rd the Divisional Artillery marched to Auteuil and Amplieu,
and remained in billets there for the next few days, the headquarters
being at Bus-les-Artois. The first gunner casualty took place on the
24th, a gunner of the 312th Brigade being wounded on that day while
attached to the 19th Division.
The next few days were spent by the Staffs of Headquarters and
Brigades in inspecting the positions to be occupied by batteries
in the neighbourhood of Courcelles, Mailly-mailly, Colincamps, and
Engelbelmer, and in reconnoitring the observation posts on the high
ground north of Beaumont Hamel. This village, like so many that we were
now to become acquainted with, had been so thoroughly destroyed by
shell fire, our own and that of the enemy, that one might easily have
passed through it without realising that there had ever been a village
there. All the ground in its neighbourhood was so deeply pitted with
shell craters that it was almost impossible for a foot passenger even
to find a pathway through them, there being rarely more than an inch
or two of the original ground between each. The mud was, moreover,
indescribable, and there was not only a risk of being badly bogged, but
cases even occurred of men being engulphed and drowned in the viscous
mud of a shell crater, and two of our artillery horses lost their lives
in this way.
[Sidenote: Feb. 1917.]
On the night of the 1st February the 310th Brigade, and one battery of
the 311th, went into action near Auchonvillers and Engelbelmer, and a
few days later helped to support an attack by the 63rd Division, when
the enemy was driven out of a part of the Pusieux trench and thereby
forced to evacuate Grandcourt.
On the 10th the same batteries supported the 32nd Division in a
successful assault on Ten Tree Alley; on this occasion we had the first
casualty among our officers, Capt. H. C. Lasbrey being severely wounded.
The remainder of the batteries took over their positions in action
from the 7th Division on the 11th and 12th February, as did our
infantry during the following two days; and on the 15th I took over the
artillery command. After a period of intense cold, during which the
temperature fell below zero one night, a thaw set in this day, and the
mud difficulty again became acute. Early on the 17th the 63rd Division
on our immediate right attacked and captured the Swan trench north of
Grandcourt, taking about 100 prisoners. The 311th Brigade did good work
in this successful little operation, and I got a special message of
thanks for their help from the G.O.C. 2nd Corps.
Arrangements were now in progress for a fresh attack, and, new
positions having being selected on the western outskirts of Beaumont
Hamel, the first sections of all the batteries moved into them on the
21st. The remainder was preparing to follow when, on the morning of
Saturday, the 24th February, our patrols discovered that the enemy had
vacated his line. The 5th Corps, to which we belonged, at once began
a cautious advance, and on the 25th had occupied Serre and Miraumont,
while the Division on our right pressed on into Pys. Strenuous efforts,
which none who took part in them are likely to forget, were now made
to push forward the guns, although the one road through Beaucourt to
Miraumont was all but impassable. Officers and men worked with a will,
and by the 28th all batteries were in action at the Bois d'Hollande and
Baillescourt, while one section of the Ammunition Column was advanced
to the neighbourhood of Hamel. Major R. C. Williams was wounded on this
date, and had to leave us, a great loss to the Divisional Artillery.
[Sidenote: March 1917.]
It was now established that the Boche was holding the line
Bucquoy--Achiet-le-Petit--Loupart, and it became necessary to advance
the guns to closer range. Positions were accordingly reconnoitred in
and around Miraumont, and every endeavour was made to occupy them as
quickly as possible. By the 3rd of March most of the batteries were in
their new positions, and the front infantry line on that date ran along
the dry ditch from the East of Pusieux to the railway line about a mile
N.E. of Miraumont. During the next week the forward move was completed
in the face of indescribable difficulties. On the 3rd March, Lieut. H.
A. Sabelli, and on the 5th Lieut. E. W. Jephson, were wounded, and two
more officers were hit on the 6th, Lieuts. R. Holburn and J. MacIlroy.
Major Swain had a fortunate escape; when his battery got into Miraumont
he took up his quarters in a German dug-out, which boasted the luxury
of a fireplace. His servant was about to light a fire, when Swain told
him that he needn't bother about it that night. Next morning the man
was laying the fire when he noticed a bit of wire; closer investigation
showed a length of quick-match fastened to the wire and leading to
a hole under the dug-out, in which was packed sufficient explosive
to have blown the whole place sky-high. On the 5th, Divisional
Headquarters moved to Engelsart, a hutted camp between Engelbelmer and
Martinsart.
Miraumont was a particularly dangerous and unpleasant spot; the Bosche
kept it continually under shell-fire, and also bespattered freely the
one road which formed our communication with it. This road ran for
over half-a-mile in full view of the enemy, and was in such a shocking
state of disrepair that all ammunition had to be brought up on pack
saddles, each horse or mule carrying eight rounds. The country on each
side was such a slough of despond that it was generally impossible for
pack animals to leave the road, and as all movements had to take place
at night, the ammunition supply was a very serious problem. At least
4000 rounds were required for daily consumption, and I find in my diary
that 1600 horse loads were sent up on the night of the 4th, in batches
of 25 animals at ten minutes interval, and that only one man was hit
in the process, although the road was constantly under fire. There was
very little rest for any of the drivers, whether of the D.A.C. or of
the batteries, and their zeal, endurance, and good temper were beyond
all praise.
Just before the road enters Miraumont a sunken road runs to the
left, honeycombed with dug-outs and occupied by one of our Infantry
Brigade Headquarters; and on the right a steep path leads down into
the valley. Here the three Colonels have their precarious shelters;
sometimes things may be quiet for a short breathing space--more
often they are just the reverse. On the 11th, all through the
afternoon, and right on through the night, shells were exploding
in this part of the valley on an average of one every two minutes.
Not much damage was done, but the strain of it may be imagined on
the nerves of those who have to live there without any adequate
cover. The village is utterly destroyed, but has not disappeared.
Walls and ruins still stand, sometimes as high as ten feet or so,
and the streets are distinguishable. But it is not good to linger
in them. Almost unceasingly in one part or another of the skeleton
village shells scream and crash, raking the streets with bullets
and splinters, and hurling bricks and beams in every direction.
Here are to be found Swain's, Foot's, Bigg's, Arnold Forster's,
Hudson's, and Robinson's batteries, the others being outside in the
scarcely less dangerous outskirts of the village.
During the fighting in Miraumont, the losses in the Artillery amounted
to 6 officers (Capt. F. H. Seeman gassed, in addition to those already
mentioned) and about 70 other ranks, while a great many horses and
mules were killed; nine guns were knocked out by Artillery fire. The
strain on officers and men was very great; and although the latter
were able to get some slight respite from danger, though not from
hard work, by taking an occasional spell at the wagon lines, it was
difficult to give any relief to the officers. I therefore started an
experiment which was a great success for the short time in which it was
possible for it to remain in operation. One of the less ruined houses
in Mailly-mailly was commandeered and roughly fitted up as a rest house
in charge of one of the trench mortar officers, the mortars not yet
having been brought into action. It was arranged that three officers at
a time should be accommodated here for a clear three days and nights,
during which they would have nothing to do but take it easy and recoup
themselves, away from the noise and stress of battle. The change
was greatly appreciated by the few officers who were able to avail
themselves of it before a further advance put an end to the scheme.
Irles was captured by the 18th Division, supported by our artillery, on
the 10th March, and on the 14th the enemy was driven out of Grevillers
and Loupart Wood. A plan of attack on Achiet-le-Petit was now drawn
up, to take place at dawn on the 18th. Our preliminary bombardment,
however, which began on the 16th and went on through the night, was too
much for the Boche, and on the morning of Saturday the 17th March our
infantry patrols entered the village and found it unoccupied. News came
through the day of further successes. Bapaume had fallen, and Bucquoy,
Biefvillers and Bihucourt were all in our possession. Hopes ran high,
and there was general excitement and delight. Once more the batteries
were ordered to push on as quickly as possible, and they moved forward
into positions close to Achiet-le-Petit. The 7th Division now passed
through us, and for a short time the 62nd Division ceased to take
an active part in the fighting, though still continuing to advance.
Advanced guards occupied Courcelles and Gomiecourt on the 18th, and the
Lucknow Cavalry Brigade pressed on further and hung on to the heels of
the retreating enemy. On the 21st, D/312 advanced at dawn and joined
the 7th Division advanced guard at Ervillers, to help them in an attack
on Croisilles, which the Boche was still holding. On this occasion we
had our first officer killed, Lieut. C. W. Pullan; a shell burst in the
observation post near St. Leger, from which he was gallantly directing
the fire of his battery. A/312 and C/312 went into action the same day
between Ervillers and St. Leger, also with the 7th Division, while the
310th Brigade remained in positions of readiness near Logeast Wood.
The 311th Brigade was withdrawn from the line on the 22nd March, on
being converted into an Army Brigade, and marched from Engelbelmer on
the 24th, en route for an area in the North. It was with great regret
that I said farewell to this most efficient brigade, which, under the
able command of Lieut.-Colonel A. Gadie, had done consistently good
service, and had always given evidence of the finest fighting spirit
under the most trying conditions.
On the 27th March the 310th Brigade moved up into action in support of
the 7th Division before Croisilles, and were followed four days later
by B/312, so that all batteries were then again active.
[Sidenote: April 1917.]
On the 1st April, Divisional Headquarters moved to Achiet-le-Grand,
and next day, to the accompaniment of a blizzard of snow, the 7th
Division captured the villages of Croisilles and Ecoust, supported by
the 62nd Divisional Artillery in addition to their own guns. In this
fight Lieut. E. W. F. Jephson was awarded the Military Cross for the
following act of gallantry:--
"On the 2nd April, 1917, during an attack on Ecoust, this officer
was sent forward with an orderly to reconnoitre for an O.P. On his
way forward two runners of the Gordon Highlanders were fired at by a
German sniper in a post. One was shot dead. The other runner, Lieut.
Jephson, and orderly procured bombs from some wounded men, and crept
up to the post from behind some fallen trees, and bombed the sniper,
severely wounding him. Lieut. Jephson then went on through Ecoust with
the orderly, when he discovered sniping from his right rear. He then
returned another way and saw three Germans running into a cellar, which
he approached. After he had fired some revolver shots into the cellar,
they came out when ordered. One of these prisoners was taken off as
a guide to the infantry, the other two being brought back by Lieut.
Jephson. He did good work at the O.P. previous to moving forward out
of Ecoust."
The enemy was now firmly posted in his much advertised Hindenburg Line,
and as he showed every intention of holding on to it after his long
retreat, it became necessary to get all batteries forward to within
about 2500 yards range, in order to start wire cutting. The Ecoust
valley area was apportioned to my artillery, and the batteries began
to occupy positions there on the 3rd April. This was a work of great
difficulty and danger as the approaches were in view of the enemy, and
the positions themselves were barely concealed. As the first section of
B/312 were coming into action a shell completely knocked out one of the
detachments, killing five men and wounding three.
On the 5th our infantry again went into the line, and I took over
command of the artillery, which included, in addition to my own
brigades, the 7th D.A., the 16th R.H.A. Brigade, and an Anzac Brigade.
That afternoon a mine exploded in Mory, killing one and wounding two
of my men, and also wounding some artillery mules. In the evening a
similar mine went off in Ervillers with disastrous effect, killing
five and wounding seven men of D/312. These mines, which we often met
with later, were worked by a corrosive acid, acting on a wire holding
a spring hammer; when the acid had eaten through the wire, which might
be within a period ranging from a few hours to several weeks, according
to the relative strengths of the acid and the wire, the hammer struck a
detonator, and the mine exploded; a typically Hunnish method of warfare.
For the next few days guns were actively employed in wire cutting, and
the enemy responded by a vigorous shelling of the valley. Capt. J.
Willey and 14 men of B/310 were wounded on the 7th, and between the 6th
and the 9th three other officers were hit, Major F. A. Arnold Forster,
and Lieuts. P. K. B. Reynolds and H. C. Ashby. Five Military Medals
were awarded for gallant work on these days.
On the 9th April the Third and First Armies on our left began a big
forward movement, to be known as the Battle of Arras, and by the
evening of the 13th they were in possession of the Vimy Ridge and the
whole of the Wancourt branch of the Hindenburg Line, and had taken
about 16,000 prisoners, together with a large number of guns and
mortars. Our share in the operations was to make holding attacks and to
keep as many of the enemy as possible glued to our front. One of the
trench mortar batteries, V/62, was lent to the 51st Division, and took
part in the capture of the Vimy Ridge. On the last day of the battle
C/312 suffered heavily, losing the Sergeant-Major, three Sergeants, and
four other ranks killed, eight men wounded and four guns knocked out.
Capt. G. L. C. Hudson was wounded on the 13th, and Lieut. K. B.
Nicholson on the 14th; the latter officer was awarded the Military
Cross for the following services:
"On the 13th April, 1917, Lieut. K. B. Nicholson entered a dug-out
in which both a gas shell and a high explosive shell had burst, and
bravely attempted to save the men inside. Later on in the day, though
suffering from the effects of the gas, he went to the O.P. with the
Battery Commander, and while under heavy shell fire volunteered to go
back over the wire, thereby keeping up communication with the battery.
The following day, while still suffering from the gas, he again
repaired to the O.P. under heavy gas fire, remaining there until he was
finally wounded in the head by a fragment of high explosive shell. By
his actions on the days under review this gallant officer showed a fine
example of devotion to duty."
Our casualties in the artillery up to this date amounted to 14 officers
and about 150 other ranks.
My command was now largely increased, with a view to further
operations, by the addition of the 11th and the 58th Divisional
Artilleries, which went into action near St. Leger and Ecoust
respectively. This brought the artillery with the 62nd Division to a
strength of 180 18-pounder guns and 48 howitzers.
Early on the 15th the Huns made a determined counter-attack against
the Australian Division on our right. At first it was completely
successful; the enemy broke through as far as Noreuil and Lagnicourt,
and for a short time was actually in possession of two brigades of
the Australian artillery. At about 8 a.m., however, the Anzacs made a
magnificent recovery, and hurled the enemy back to his original line,
retaking their guns and capturing about 400 prisoners. Over a thousand
German corpses were left on the field. While all this was going on
my batteries were subjected to heavy shell fire, and suffered many
casualties. In one of the batteries of the 58th Division the losses
were particularly severe, three officers being killed and one wounded.
I sent one of the brigades of the 11th Division to reinforce the Anzacs
directly the attack commenced, and this was retained after the battle,
and therefore left my command.
On the 16th Lieut.-Colonel F. A. Woodcock arrived to command the
D.A.C. vice Lieut.-Colonel F. Mitchell, who had gone to England.
For some time past the weather had been very inclement, and the
unvarying cold and damp, added to the strain of heavy work and constant
danger night and day, was having its inevitable effect on the physical
powers, though not on the fighting spirit, of the officers and men
behind the guns; and, it should be added, of the officers and men of
the D.A.C., whose work in these operations had been of a most strenuous
and perilous nature.
The men fall asleep while working at the guns. For nine or ten
weeks now they have worked without a rest, and it is a question
whether human endurance can go much further. They fire day and
night, and when not firing they are staggering through the mud
carrying up ammunition; they have no shelter except what they can
dig in the ground, and no sooner have they dug a resting place than
the batteries have to move to a fresh position. And the weather
is beyond words abominable. If it isn't raining it's snowing, and
it's impossible to keep anything dry; nothing but cold, squalor,
and hideous discomfort. And yet they stick it out with the utmost
courage and cheerfulness, and fight splendidly.
It was impossible to relieve the artillery as a whole, but as it was
now decided to make no serious attack for at least a fortnight, I
obtained authority to keep 50 per cent. of my command at rest in the
wagon lines during this period, and this measure did something to
relieve the strain. The horses, too, had suffered severely; about five
per cent. had been killed, and ten per cent. had died of over work and
debility, twenty per cent. having been sent away for the same reason.
As the Veterinary authorities, who naturally knew more of the condition
of the animals than of the circumstances which had brought them into
so low a state, showed a disposition to attribute the state of affairs
to indifferent horsemastership, I was glad when the Army Commander,
Sir H. de la P. Gough, inspected my wagon lines on the 21st April. He
expressed himself as perfectly satisfied with all he saw, and was most
cordial and pleasant. It was a great relief to Brigade and Battery
Commanders, who had been much harassed during a time of great anxiety
by the criticisms referred to above, to know that the Army Commander
had now seen for himself that everything possible was being done.
For the rest of the month little occurred of special interest;
preparations were being made for a further attack against the
Hindenburg Line, and meanwhile the now familiar form of trench warfare
was carried on from trenches about 200 yards apart. The Ecoust Valley
was still a far from healthy spot, though batteries improved their
cover day by day by incessant building and digging; and at times the
Boche turned his attention to the wagon lines as well. On the 18th the
310th lines were badly shelled, when two men were killed and seven
wounded, and several horses were lost. Lieut. G. P. Senior was wounded
(gassed) on the 24th, and on the 28th four more officers were hit,
Lieuts. C. T. Lutyens, S. C. Ball, R. Forrest, and J. W. Proctor. Five
Military Medals were awarded during this period, and the Military Cross
was gained by Lieut. J. C. F. Nowill.
"On the evening of the 26th April, 1917, near Ecoust, the camouflage
covering a large ammunition dump at the battery position was set
ablaze by hostile shell fire. Lieut. Nowill, single-handed, removed
the burning mass from the dump and extinguished it, at very great
personal danger from the burning ammunition which was exploding in
large quantities. By his gallantry and prompt action he undoubtedly
stopped the explosions from spreading through the whole dump."
On the 25th, Lieut.-Colonel G. R. V. Kinsman, D.S.O., left, much to
the regret of us all, to take up the duty of Artillery Instructor at
Shoeburyness; he was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel D. J. C. Sherlock,
D.S.O.
Now, and afterwards, efforts were constantly being made by which to
vary the monotony of trench warfare, and to make things more lively
for the Huns; as an example, I select the following instance. On the
27th April, at a given time, two howitzer batteries put "stops" on
selected portions of the enemy's support line about 200 yards apart.
Then on the trench thus enclosed three batteries opened a rapid fire
of gas and smoke shell, the object being to smoke the occupants out of
their dug-outs. After five minutes of this treatment two more batteries
opened with shrapnel on the only trench which could be used by the
enemy if he tried to escape to the rear--this, of course, in the hope
of getting some of them as they retired. The whole thing went off like
clockwork, and the fire was most accurate. As to the amount of damage
done, that must remain a matter of conjecture, as it was impossible to
see into the trenches. In this case, as always in such experiments, one
could but hope for the best.
[Sidenote: May 1917.]
All arrangements having been made for an attack on Bullecourt under
an artillery barrage, Divisional Headquarters moved up on the 2nd May
to an advanced position north of Ervillers. The attack was launched
early on the 3rd as part of a big operation in which altogether
fourteen divisions took part. Our infantry advanced under a barrage
at 3.45 a.m., and broke through the Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt.
The enemy was, however, in great strength, and his position was an
extraordinarily formidable one. Although our men managed to get through
and beyond the village, they were then checked by numerous machine guns
firing from concrete emplacements, and were finally forced back again
through Bullecourt by a strong counter-attack. The Division suffered
very heavy losses, and the results of the battle did not come up to
our high expectations; but, none the less, substantial progress had
been made, and at the end of the action we were able to hold on to and
consolidate a good slice of the village of Bullecourt, together with
about 2000 yards of the Hindenburg front line to the east of it. It
was hard that our first battle should have been so costly in life and
so apparently unfruitful in results, but our sorely tried infantry had
proved their mettle, and had shown that magnificent spirit in the face
of appalling odds which, in the Homeric battles which were still to
come, was so often to spur them on to victory.
Lieut. C. Punchard was wounded (gas) on the 7th, and Lieuts. G.
H. Kitson and C. V. Montgomery were wounded on the 12th and 13th
respectively.
On the 14th May there was a readjustment of the line, the 7th Division
taking over the Bullecourt front and the Hindenburg trench to the
South-East, while the 62nd Division became responsible for the sector
from Bullecourt for about 2400 yards to the North-West. This entailed
a general shuffle of the artillery, my own brigades coming under the
7th Division, while the guns of the 7th remained under my command.
On this same night the 310th Brigade was subjected to a more than
usually heavy bombardment; over two thousand gas shells fell among the
batteries, and we lost five gunners killed, and about 12 wounded. On
the 15th, Lieuts. A. J. Edwards and E. W. Jephson were wounded, the
latter for the second time.
On the 16th May, Lieut.-Colonel E. P. Bedwell left the Division,
invalided home. His services had been invaluable, and I fully shared
the sorrow which all ranks of his brigade felt at his departure. He
had trained and commanded this brigade, the 312th, from the earliest
days of its formation, and might fairly claim to have made it; it must
have been a great satisfaction to him to see how well its performances
in France had repaid his care. I am glad to say that he recovered his
health and was able to take his place again in the fighting line later
on, though not in the 62nd Division. Major F. H. Lister took over the
command of the brigade, with the acting rank of Lieut.-Colonel.
Both sides now settled down to deliberate trench warfare, a state
of things which entailed constant work of a dangerous and harassing
nature, but which furnished few outstanding incidents of sufficient
interest to be chronicled. On the 26th May a sad disaster occurred in
D/312 Howitzer Battery. The camouflage over one of the howitzers caught
fire and blazed up. It was merely a question of a few moments when the
flames should reach the ammunition and cause a terrible explosion,
but there was a slight chance of the fire being put out in time, and
Capt. H. B. Gallimore, who was temporarily commanding the battery, with
Lieut. G. Hardy and a party of N.C.O.'s and men, made a gallant attempt
to extinguish the flames. Unfortunately their efforts were vain, and
there was a tremendous explosion. Poor Gallimore was killed, and also
ten others (including all the six "Numbers One" of the battery), while
Hardy was dangerously wounded, and also five gunners more or less
severely. The loss of two such officers and six of the most valuable
N.C.O.'s was a very serious blow to D/312, but the splendid act of
devotion, in which they sacrificed their brave young lives, conferred
a lustre not only on their own battery, but on the whole of the
Divisional Artillery, and will not soon be forgotten. Hardy, unhappily,
died of his wounds on the 28th.
The casualties in the artillery up to this date had been:
3 officers and 72 other ranks killed.
23 officers and 256 other ranks wounded.
On the 29th May our infantry was withdrawn from the line for a rest,
and I therefore ceased to command the artillery tactically; it remained
in the line in support of the 58th Division.
It was a great disappointment to me that the artillery could not be
withdrawn for a rest after all its strenuous work since coming into
action. The promise of rest in the near future had long been dangled
before our eyes, but the plain fact was that guns _could_ not be
spared from the firing line, and although the Commander-in-Chief, in
a confidential circular issued about this time, showed that he "fully
realised the untiring energy of the artillery during the first half of
the year," still he was unable to hold out any hopes of relaxation,
and could only "rely upon all ranks to continue their good work
ungrudgingly." His reliance was well founded, for all ranks accepted
the situation loyally, and learned now, and I may add for the rest of
the war, to do without rest, and to "stick it" somehow or other even
when it might have been truly said that
"there was nothing in them
"Except the will that said to them, Hold on."
I think that all realised the impossibility of reducing the number
of guns in front of the enemy, and one scarcely ever heard a word of
grumbling, but it is well that the fact should be placed on record
that the artillery practically never got a rest. Their work was not
perhaps so much in the public eye as that of their gallant comrades
in the infantry, nor did they experience as a rule the same extremes
of danger, but it should be remembered that, while the latter were
periodically withdrawn from the danger zone after about eight days in
the trenches to rest billets miles behind the firing line, the men
behind the guns endured the dirt and discomfort of the trenches for
months at a time, were never safe day or night from hostile shell fire,
and were constantly hard at work. Only perhaps those who have actually
served in a battery in war-time can realise the amount of hard work and
nerve strain involved in keeping up even the normal programme of day
and night firing, the map readings and calculations to be worked out by
the officers in a damp dug-out by the light of a guttering candle, the
long spells of duty to be endured by the weak gun detachments always
under strength through sickness and casualties, the heart-breaking and
back-breaking labours of keeping up the ammunition supply, and with
it all the constant sense of an ever-brooding danger. That all sorts
and conditions of men should have endured this kind of existence for
several years, cheerfully and without a murmur, seems to me a more
wonderful phenomenon than even the most dramatic act of individual
gallantry.
The following honours were announced on the 30th May:--
Major G. Fleming, Legion of Honour.
Major G. A. Swain, Croix de Guerre.