THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE
I will make a humble attempt to relate the Battle of the Marne as it
was fought by the 1st Division. Our worst day--the one on which we did
the most fighting--was the tenth of September. On the morning of that
day we marched off particularly early, and we must have done close on
ten miles, as we were halted for rest on two occasions. On breasting a
hill about two miles from the last halt, we were again called to the
halt, and the Artillery, brought up from behind, opened out on each
side of the road and the crest of the hill. The word was then passed
down the ranks that a large German convoy was expected to leave this
village, and that we were to capture it. Every one was in high spirits,
as food had been none too plentiful, and we were all looking forward to
the capture of this convoy in the hopes of recompense.
The North Lancashires were the second regiment, with the 2nd Royal
Sussex leading, they and the King's Royal Rifles taking the left of
the road, and the North Lancashires and Northamptons taking the right.
We then commenced to advance in Artillery formation, three hundred
paces distant and fifty paces interval: this we did until reaching the
bottom of the hill and to the right of the village half a mile away.
In this village, by name Preiz, were the Germans, and running out
the other side, but up the hill, was the German convoy retiring, the
village itself being in a basin. On reaching the bottom of the hill, we
had to cross a stream: once on the other side we opened out in extended
order, our idea being to skirt the village and come up with the Germans
going over the other crest. Unfortunately it was a wet morning, and the
men had taken the advantage of putting their oil-sheets round their
shoulders to keep them dry, the oil-sheets when wet being of a similar
colour to the German uniform. In the distance our gunners bombarded us,
mistaking us for the retiring enemy; and we had no sooner come into
view of our gunners than they let go. However, we plodded on, going
up in short rushes by platoons. We had with us at the time a new man
who had volunteered for the front at the outbreak of war, offering to
enlist provided the authorities despatched him straight out. This they
had done, sending him to the particular platoon to which I belonged. To
our sorrow, he happened to be the end man, and should have given the
word when the other platoon had halted and got down, to enable us to
advance. That first platoon, having got down, opened fire, and instead
of our advancing under cover of that fire, that man failed to give the
word. I was second man, and, after lying still with our heads stuck
into the ground for ten minutes, I asked him if the other platoon had
stopped--to which he replied: "I do not know, as I cannot see them." So
I gave the order to advance. Consequently as soon as we got up we were
met with a heavy fire from the enemy, losing at once one or two men.
On crossing a narrow track of road near the crest of the hill we were
joined by the C.O., who had come up there by the road to give us final
instructions. He got hit by a piece of shell, which passed through his
horse's neck and entered his stomach: he died a few minutes afterwards.
[Illustration: MAP 1.]
We were now getting quite close to the enemy and bearing round on to
the main road; but, as the fire became too hot for us and as we had no
reinforcements, we had to fall back as far as the stream. A quarter of
an hour after that the Guards 1st Brigade came up on our right, and
the Major who was then in charge of us said he was very sorry that we
had not taken the position, but that we would try again: this time it
would be an easier task, as we had the Guards on our right to help us.
Once more we opened out into skirmishing order and recommenced our
task; meanwhile on the right the Sussex were doing well, and the King's
Royal Rifles and Northamptons had succeeded in driving the enemy from
the village. So by the time we had reached the crest again, the enemy
had flown and the Guards were not required. Coming back into the
village, we found the Artillery had advanced through the village and
from the top of the crest were shelling the departing Germans on the
other side of the hill.
We reorganized in the village, and when the roll was called we found we
were about fifty men short of the number we attacked with. Needless to
say, we did not capture the convoy, neither were our rations increased,
but we had the satisfaction of knowing that we had, at any rate, taken
the village and driven the Germans off one section of the Marne. Our
greatest loss was our C.O.; but we also lost the Captain of B Company,
who was reported missing and has never been heard of since.
In that battle my section was particularly fortunate, losing only one
man, and he the Sergeant in charge, who had been hit in the knee by a
bullet, but it was only a slight wound. Moreover, on our second advance
over the rise we did not get the shelling of our own gunners, as word
had been sent back to them informing them of their mistake.
During the next three days we had only running encounters with the
enemy.
On the afternoon of the thirteenth of September--a Sunday afternoon--we
took up position on the top of a large hill facing the valley of the
Aisne. Whilst there, one or two shells came over and we had a few
casualties, but the words of our Brigadier were: "They will not give
battle here, but over there," pointing to some big hills about four
miles away, behind which lay the town of Laon. On that morning we had
anticipated some street fighting at a place we had come through called
Bourge, yet, although they had had the streets well barricaded, they
did not show fight, but elected to fall back. That night we were taken
from our position on top of the hill nearer the enemy to a village
and there put into billets. At eight o'clock every one was fairly
comfortable, and we were settled in farm-buildings with plenty of good
straw; but how we managed to sleep so comfortably--with the Germans
only three miles off--I cannot say. Why they never blew us off the face
of the earth with the big guns they possessed we often wondered--anyhow
they didn't! and we got down, to dream of home, huddled into each other
the best way we could to keep warm.