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HUNTING THE HUN
[Illustration: Roadside Scene on the British Section of the Western
Front]
HUNTING THE HUN
by
CAPTAIN JAMES BELTON
Late of the British and Canadian Forces
and
LIEUTENANT E. G. ODELL
Late of the 24th Canadian Battalion, B.E.F.
[Illustration]
Illustrated
D. Appleton and Company
New York London
1918
Copyright, 1918, by
D. Appleton and Company
Printed in the United States of America
FOREWORD
Captain Belton and Lieutenant Odell's book of the war will be read
with deep and sustained interest by everyone who wants to understand
"the real thing." For myself I confess to being thrilled by the
simple, direct, conversational style of the chapters describing the
preparations for the attack on and ultimate capture of Vimy Ridge. The
complete absence of any attempt at word-painting, the little touches of
actuality, such as the pattern of white tapes on the practice ground
which showed the conformation of the German trenches, and the method of
signalling to the contact aeroplane during an advance--these features
are at once novel and arresting. The story is told with the terseness
of a despatch. You see the battalion gathering for its deadly work
after the training is done; you plod with it in Indian file along the
Aux Reitz communication trench; you sprawl with the officers and men
in the "jumping-off" trench; you wonder whether the missing jar of
rum will turn up in time, and, finally, you go "over the top" with
what amounts to a sigh of relief that the ghastly period of waiting
has ended and that the "Zero Hour" will mark either the end or the
beginning of a strangely heroic experience. It is quite remarkable
that a plain soldier should be able to give such life to his story. The
achievement is a tribute to realism. Here is the truth, and nothing but
the truth, so you accept every word for what it is worth, and are even
glad to be spared the fine touches of the skilled literary hand.
I am sure Captain Belton and Lieutenant Odell's book will be
appreciated by a wide circle of readers in this country. A Canadian
battalion and an American battalion must be close akin whether on the
parade ground or in the battlefield. As these boys from Montreal,
Toronto, and Winnipeg have done in France so will the boys do who hail
from New York, Chicago, and the Far West. For that reason, and for
many others quite as obvious, the appearance of this personal record
of scenes and events in the Great War is peculiarly timely just now. I
read the proofs at a sitting, and that, I know, is a certain test of
the value of any book, be it grim fact or enticing fiction.
Louis Tracy.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. How We Prepare for an Attack 13
II. The Attack 31
III. The Call of the Motherland 72
IV. We Move Forward 86
V. Hunting the Hun 101
VI. Trench Routine 127
VII. Behind the Lines 157
VIII. The Bull Ring 171
IX. The Red Cross and the Y.M.C.A. 190
X. Some Trench Songs 204
XI. Bits of War 214
XII. Towards a Bomb-Proof Job 247
XIII. Tips for Recruits 263
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Roadside scene on the British section of the
Western front _Frontispiece_
Bringing up wire for a night working party 39
Going his last round at night. All is well in the
support line 65
A dog used to carry messages in the trenches 121
A tank in action 143
Bayonet exercise at a training ground Somewhere
in France 181
Releasing a pigeon with a message for help 243
How the tanks are parked in the tankdromes 255
HUNTING THE HUN
CHAPTER I
HOW WE PREPARE FOR AN ATTACK
When we make an attack on the Boche, we don't double over No Man's Land
with bayonets fixed, shouting and cheering and making a terrible din.
To be sure, the bayonet plays an important part in this great war as a
weapon of warfare, but it is only used when you get to close quarters.
While a man has any cartridges left in his magazine, he is not likely
to use the bayonet.
A successful attack requires a great deal of preparation. Every detail
has to be gone over very minutely, and every officer and man must know
exactly what he has to do and be prepared to take all the chances and
risks that go to make an attack successful.
A great deal of the enemy's barbed-wire entanglements must be cut down
by means of constant artillery fire, which for days shells their wire
and trenches. When the artillery has completed its work the infantry is
told to be prepared to go "over the top."
Each arm of the service is assigned a share in the work in the "Big
Push." The engineers have various duties to perform, such as the
planning and building of roads to allow the guns to move up with the
advance of the infantry. In this work they are assisted by the pioneer
and labour battalions.
The army service corps looks after the rations, supplies, etc., working
in conjunction with the ammunition columns and other branches of the
service. We have, therefore, a true cooperative spirit, each branch
doing its share of duty in its own particular way.
The infantry is the queen arm of the service and the most important
one. All other arms of the service are aids to assist it. In this great
war, good artillery support is essential. On March 15, 1917, I arrived
back to my battalion from a course of instruction that I had been
attending at Pernes, which is one of the many schools of instruction
where officers and men are sent for special courses. I located my
battalion after considerable trouble at Masnil Bouche, a small village.
I reported to the commanding officer of the battalion who assigned me
to No. 2 Platoon of "A" Company. It was raining as usual--it seems
to rain in the northern part of France every day from the middle of
October until the early part of April. My company commander brought me
over to my billet, which was an old-fashioned, low roof stone house.
It was occupied by an old woman and two of her daughters who kept an
_estaminet_ for the benefit of the troops, and incidentally a source of
income for themselves.
We entered the doorway and passed along a passageway to the rear of the
house leading to a room about ten feet square. Until the morning of
April 8th six officers slept in this small place. It also served the
purpose of officers' company mess room, and some of the junior officers
of "B" Company joined our mess on account of lack of accommodations, as
there were only a few available houses in Masnil Bouche.
The room had one double bed, which the company commander and second in
command of "A" Company occupied. The junior officers slept on the stone
floor. Our kitchen was outside in what might have once been a chicken
coop, adjoining the house, not many yards from the window of our room,
through which our meals were served. The kitchen could not even boast
of a stone floor--underfoot was nothing but MUD, MUD, MUD!
I was very glad to meet my brother officers as they came in for dinner
that night. It is usual in France to have individual company mess, but
as previously mentioned, being cramped for accommodation, "B" Company's
junior officers had joined our mess.
We were a very merry group, everyone in excellent spirits, which
reminded me of a little song that we all hum in France: "A Merry Life,
but a Short One." Two of the very officers who dined at our mess were
killed at Vimy Ridge on April 9th.
The following morning at 9 A.M., "A" Company was drawn up in close
column of platoons, in fighting order, ready for company inspection. It
was raining slightly and very muddy underfoot. The men were equipped as
they would be to go "over the top."
Only three platoons were drawn up for company inspection. It is
customary for one platoon per company, each in its turn, to remain out
of the line. These platoons with their officers form the nucleus of
a new battalion in case the battalion meets with heavy losses while
in the trenches. They may also be called upon to reinforce their
respective companies in the line.
After each platoon had been carefully inspected by their respective
platoon commanders, and then by the company commander, we were marched
off to our training ground, a distance of one kilometre, where there
was an extensive stretch of open ground.
When we reached our training area, we saw hundreds of yards of white
tapes two inches wide, stretched out before us. These tapes represented
to us the outline of the German trenches which we were to attack and
capture on Vimy Ridge. They lay on the ground in exactly the same
position that we would later find the German trenches.
A tape was laid to represent our battalion jumping-off trench. When I
reached my platoon's position in the jumping-off trench I halted and
formed line. We were then supposed to be in a shallow trench, two and
one-half feet wide by four feet deep. For practice purposes the "Zero
Hour" was ten A.M. A few minutes before ten o'clock, a runner (this is
a man whose special duty is to carry messages) gave me a message from
my company commander that we would make the practice attack and go
"over the top" at two minutes past "Zero Hour"--that is, two minutes
past ten o'clock.
Our artillery was to lay a barrage on the first line of presumed German
trenches at the same moment. A barrage is simply a moving wall of shell
fire, which precedes the troops, who advance beneath the trajectory
of the shells. We were to keep within fifty yards of our barrage in
diamond formation. This barrage was indicated by men on the right and
left flanks of our battalion frontage, which was a lateral distance of
335 yards.
Our battalion furnished four waves, each wave having its own mission to
accomplish--the whole battalion having one final objective.
Men with flags would continue waving them until the barrage was
supposed to lift, then they would double forward and indicate by their
flags where the barrage was then falling.
I was in the first wave, commanding No. 2 Platoon. The first and second
waves, composed of "A" and "B" Companies, went through until they
reached the final objective. The "moppers up" came next and stopped and
mopped up each trench in succession. We advanced in diamond formation,
then extended as we arrived within 50 yards of our barrage. When the
barrage had lifted, we advanced in extended order, and made a rush for
the presumed German trenches, with the idea of surprising the Germans
before they could get out of their dugouts. Each succeeding wave acted
in a like manner, until our battalion obtained its final objective.
We had four trenches to capture. The fourth German trench was our
battalion's final objective and was named the _Zwischen Stellung_
Trench.
As the waves went "over the top" they were accompanied a short distance
in the rear by some Stokes guns under the command of the brigade Stokes
gun officer. These Stokes guns were trench mortars, of short range, but
very fast firing guns. The shells are simply dropped down the muzzle
of the gun and are discharged as they strike the base. They can do
very good work, but to satisfy their appetite when they start going in
earnest, it requires a great number of shells.
Our first objective was a trench called the "Fringe Trench," and after
we had captured this we then moved forward under our barrage. When
it lifted we took our second objective, which was the Furze Trench.
Our barrage lifting again, we advanced from the furze trench end
captured a German support trench which had been dug by them recently.
After capturing this trench, we then proceeded and captured our
final objective, the _Zwischen Stellung_. On reaching the _Zwischen
Stellung_ trench I was detailed with my platoon to bomb and to clean
out any Germans I would find in part of a trench called the _Grenadier
Graben_, which was from the intersection at the _Zwischen Stellung_ to
the Lens-Arras road at right angles, which, of course, was beyond our
battalion's final objective by 150 yards. Then I had to retire and dig
in with my company some distance in front of the _Zwischen Stellung_.
As each objective was gained by us, men were detailed to mark it with a
signpost that was driven into the ground on top of the parapet. On this
signpost was a yellow coloured tin square decorated with the Maple Leaf
in black.
A contact patrol aeroplane was assigned to our brigade for the purpose
of reporting successes to General Headquarters some distance in the
rear. Our signallers had red shutters on a white cloth background,
and by means of cord and elastic bands they signalled to our contact
aeroplane.
Our aeroplane hovered over us at a comparatively low elevation. Its
work was certainly very dangerous as it was liable to get in the way
of the trajectory of the shells both from the enemy and ourselves.
Our signallers had instructions not to delay an instant sending the
required signals. The contact patrol aeroplanes are slow-going machines
as a rule. Ours was distinguished by two long streamers attached to
struts of the wings of the machine. The observer is seen hanging over
the side of the fuselage, tooting a Claxton horn in a series of dots
and dashes, and watching every movement we make. He must circle around
continually, as he cannot stop his aeroplane.
For three weeks we practised going over the tapes. On the night of the
6th of April, the officers were informed that our Brigadier General
would be over to inspect the battalion on the morning of the 7th. We
were pleased to inform our boys of this news, as we all knew that the
visit of the Brigadier General meant we were to go in the line for
attack very soon. Every officer and man was keyed up to concert pitch
with excitement. We had no thoughts of death--we were to do a man's
work in a man's way, and we were all eager for the fray. Many times
we had observed the German front line trenches through our periscopes
in daylight. At times we had raided small sectors of their front line
trench at night, and this front line and the other trenches in the
rear were soon to be captured and occupied by us.
That night, three officers and one hundred men were sent up the line to
dig the jumping-off trench for our battalion. This trench was to be dug
in No Man's Land a short distance in front of our front line trenches
and well clear of our barbed-wire entanglements. The night before the
attack we had to crawl out of our front line trenches, through our
barbed wire, and then into this jumping-off trench and lie there until
the "Zero Hour." The Germans did not dream we would be so near to them.
The morning of the seventh arrived, and with it our Brigadier General
McDonnel. He was an excellent soldier, well-liked and respected by both
the officers and men of his brigade. He took a great interest in the
planning of this attack and gave good advice to both officers, N.C.O.'s
and men. He then inspected the battalion which had been drawn up in
mass formation. After inspection, he complimented both officers and
men on their soldierly bearing and smart appearance. He then outlined
briefly the plan of attack and informed us that we would be going into
the line (when we go into the trenches, we always say we are going into
the line, whether it is the front, support or reserve trenches) the
following night, April 8th. He requested that both officers and men
should treat this information as confidential. Wishing every officer
and man who were to participate in the attack the "best of luck," he
told us that there was no doubt in his mind of our success in capturing
Vimy Ridge. The men were then given the balance of the morning to spend
as they saw fit around their billets.
In the afternoon the battalion fell in for church service, and most of
us took communion--some for the last time on this earth. The scene was
very impressive as our Padre or Chaplain read the service and rendered
a very appropriate sermon for the occasion. Can you imagine what this
sermon meant to those brave men out there on the battlefield? No
mother, wife, sister or sweetheart should ever think that their men
folk lose their religion when they go to war. Out there, we have a deep
sense of religion which is entirely different from the religion of the
folks at home. We all know what we have to face, and we strive to keep
our mind and thought on the highest ideas of religious belief. The
mothers, wives, sisters and sweethearts of the brave men who fell at
Vimy Ridge can be consoled by knowing that their men entered into the
Kingdom of Peace prepared to meet their Maker. Their epitaph is, "They
did their bit, and rest content."
Colonel, the Rev. Canon F.G. Scott, of the 1st Canadian Division, has
been in the fighting zone since the 1st contingent arrived in France.
Two of his own sons were fighting in the trenches, one of them was
killed and the other wounded. Colonel Scott is a poet of considerable
note and in April, 1917, he wrote "The Silent Toast," in remembrance
of the brave boys who fell in the attack on Vimy Ridge.
All the officers of the brigade who were to participate in the "Big
Push" were invited over to Brigade Headquarters that evening by the
Brigadier General. We were shown some aerial photographs of the German
trenches that had been very recently taken, and given more minute
details of the attack, with the information that the "Zero Hour" would
be 5.30 A.M., and that the first wave was to go "over the top" at one
minute past "Zero Hour." The reason that the first wave was to go over
at one minute past "Zero Hour" was to give time to the barrage to play
three minutes on the German front line. We thus had two minutes to work
under the barrage before it lifted to the next objective. As it lifted,
we would make a rush for our first objective and follow our barrage to
within 50 yards. The "Zero Hour" was to be kept secret.
The General then gave us a history of Vimy Ridge, again telling us he
was certain, on account of the wonderful artillery support we would
have, that we would gain all our objectives. How true his words were is
now history.
Between the city of Arras, held by the French and British, and the city
of Lens, held by the Germans, was Vimy Ridge which stretched north,
west and southwest in front of the village of Vimy. Since 1914, the
Germans had held it, resisting all Allied assaults. Its strategical
importance was fully recognized by both the Allies and the Germans.
Every artificial means had been taken to increase its natural strength,
the best scientific devices of fortifications had been made use of by
the Germans, and for two years it had defied all attacks.
The French vainly attacked it all through the month of December,
1914, and January, 1915. General Foch in May, 1915, delivered several
attacks known as the Battle of Souchez. He gained a little ground on
the lower slopes, but failed to weaken to any extent the Main Ridge.
In September, 1915, while the British were making an attack around
and near Loos, the French under General Foch once more attacked the
Ridge. Again they failed. As long as the Germans retained Vimy Ridge,
their line was secure in this quarter, so its retention allowed them to
contemplate with a certain degree of equanimity withdrawals of troops
from the line. On either side of the Ridge, it was flanked with Lens on
the north, and Arras on the south--both cities under distant artillery
fire.
The Canadian corps was working in conjunction with the Imperial troops,
and the attack by the British troops, including the Canadians, extended
from Givenchy-en-Gohelle to Henin-sur-Cojaul, an approximate distance
of fifteen miles. The actual assault upon Vimy Ridge which was four to
five miles long was entrusted to the Canadians. The forces engaged in
this advance were to be commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Edmund
Allenbury and Lieutenant-General H.S. Horne. The Canadians in the First
Army Corps were under the command of Major-General Byng. He is now in
command of the Third British Army with the rank of Lieutenant-General.