TRENCH ROUTINE
The war establishment of an infantry battalion is about 1,046 men
divided into four companies. There are four platoons to a company, and
four sections to a platoon.
The platoon is the smallest unit in the field. It is often said that
this is a platoon or junior officers' war, and I believe this is quite
true. I must mention something about the organisation of this compact
little unit.
As previously stated, a platoon consists of four sections. Taking
for example an average strength of 49 O.R. (other ranks), a suitable
organisation would be as follows:
Platoon Headquarters: 1 Officer
1 Platoon Sergeant
1 Officer's Batman
1 Stretcher Bearer
1 Cook
No. 1 Section 1 N.C.O.
9 Riflemen
3 Snipers
1 Scout
No. 2 Section 1 N.C.O.
6 Rifle Grenadiers
3 Carriers
No. 3 Section 1 N.C.O.
2 Scouts
8 Lewis Gunners
No. 4 Section 1 N.C.O.
10 Bombers
Sometimes each section may wear a different coloured cloth armlet,
so that you can tell at a glance what section a man belongs to. The
platoon commander has at all times to look out for his men's comfort
first--is own comfort and safety being a second consideration.
EQUIPMENT OF AN INFANTRY SOLDIER WHEN GOING "OVER THE TOP"
1 Steel Helmet which seems to him to weigh a ton when he is marching
out of reach of shell fire, but when under shell fire, he thinks it is
as light as a feather and he wishes it were much heavier and bigger.
1 Iron Rations. A small, white bag containing 3 hardtack biscuits, a
tin of bully beef, sometimes a tin of mixed tea and sugar.
1 Small Box Respirator or gas mask, at the alert position. This is
lying flat on his chest.
1 P.H. or Smoke Helmet. This is a spare gas helmet, which is out of
use, but is perfectly effective, and may be used if the small box
respirator is damaged.
1 Haversack. This is fastened on the back of the man. D-shaped buckles
are provided on the Webb equipment to allow for this.
1 Rubber Sheet. Fastened on the outside of the haversack.
220 Rounds of Small Arm Ammunition.
2 Mills Bombs per man. Ten bombs to bombers and rifle grenadiers. The
latter have grenade cups, and copper rods about 12 inches long which
are screwed into the base of the Mills bomb and are fired from a rifle.
1 Ground Flare and Matches.
1 First Field Dressing.
2 Identification Discs.
1 Mess Tin.
2 Water Bottles, filled with water.
1 Jerkin.
1 Entrenching Tool and Handle.
1 Wire Cutter. Usually the riflemen have wire cutters attached to
their rifle. There are about seven men supplied with wire cutters in a
platoon.
1 Rifle and Bayonet.
Besides the above, during the cold and rainy weather each man takes a
turn to carry the jar of rum, extra rations and bombs. Tommy is pretty
well loaded down by the time he has all his equipment on him. Sometimes
he may have to carry two extra bandoliers of cartridges.
There are four battalions to an infantry brigade and, like the company
system, one of these four battalions in its turn is out for rest and
training behind the lines. During this time the other battalions are
taking their turn in the trenches.
The battalions may be in the trenches for ten days. No fixed time is
allotted as we have found out by experience that the Germans somehow
or other learn the night and time of our relief and they then open up
their artillery upon us. Consequently when we go into the trenches, we
never know how long we are going to remain there. We might make a tour
of say ten days, three days in the support line, two days in the front,
two days in the reserve, then back again for another three days in the
front line. It all depends upon brigade headquarters staff, who order
operations for relief before the battalion takes over the trenches from
another unit. The relief takes place under cover of darkness.
The battalion that is relieving the one that is in the trenches is met
by guides from the battalion to be relieved at a rendezvous point.
There is one guide for each platoon. He conducts them separately and in
single file to the part of the line that they have to occupy. Platoons
are widely separated if going over open ground. As the incoming
platoons enter the trench, they line up directly in the rear of the men
who are to be relieved, who are "standing to" on the fire step with all
their equipment on. On the command "stand down" the relief takes the
place of the outgoing party.
It is usual to have one officer per company accompanied by some
N.C.O.'s. One day before the relief takes place the actual conditions
and situation must be ascertained. If the communication trenches are
good this is often done in daylight. The trench stores are taken over
by an officer who checks them up, but does not sign a receipt until the
relief actually takes place.
All information of value such as the name of the opposing force,
whether they are Prussians, Saxons or Bavarians, the whereabouts of
their machine guns and if there was much activity shown on the part of
the enemy, description of their S.O.S. signal, if known, is passed on
to the relieving force.
If the enemy trenches are close to ours we may run a little narrow sap
extending from our fire trench in the direction of the enemy. Great
pains are taken to conceal this sap. The excavated earth is placed in
sand bags and carried some distance away. At the end of this sap, which
may be 3 x 4 feet, we make a cutting sufficiently large to accommodate
two men. As a rule the men in this sap, or listening post, as it is
commonly called, are connected with the sentry in the fire trench by a
long, strong cord. Signals are pre-arranged to give silent warning of
any movements on the part of the enemy.
The duties of these men are very exacting and great caution must be
observed. They must listen for any underground mining or hammering on
the faucet of gas drums. Consequently this is very important work and
a great deal depends upon the coolness and intelligence of the men in
the listening post. As the work is very nerve racking, reliefs usually
take place every hour. A platoon officer may accompany such relief.
The platoon officers on duty have to make up several reports such
as: weather report, showing strength and direction of the wind, and
situation report, stating particulars of what may have been seen of the
enemy, the number of shells fired in our direction, also any results
noted from the firing of the German rocket signals. There is also
a casualty report showing the number of casualties during the day.
Another report is made out for the shortage of equipment, ammunition,
bombs, etc.
TRENCH ORDERS
1. Duties--(a) One officer per company and one N.C.O. per platoon will
always be on duty.
(b) By night the officer and N.C.O. on duty will frequently patrol the
trench line, to see that the sentries are alert and to inquire whether
they have any information to report about the enemy.
(c) The N.C.O. coming on duty will go around and post new sentries with
the N.C.O. coming off duty.
(d) The length of each tour of duty will depend on the number of
officers and N.C.O.'s available in the company. Normally, each tour
should be, by night 2 hours, by day 4 hours, day commencing at morning
"stand to" and night commencing at evening "stand to." In inclement
weather it may be advisable to reduce the tour to 1 hour.
(e) N.C.O.'s after posting sentries will report "All correct" or
otherwise to the officer on duty.
(f) The officer on duty will be responsible for sending in the reports
required by battalion headquarters, unless there is anything unusual to
report, when this duty will be performed by the company commander.
(g) Men will be warned for duty by the platoon N.C.O. on duty. This
will be done at evening "stand to."
(h) On being detailed for duty, a man will be informed at which hours
he will come on duty.
(i) When possible to do so, notice boards will be placed in each
platoon's trench, on which will be pinned, daily, all orders regarding
working parties, and a list of the men in the platoon, giving the time
at which they will come on sentry and other duty.
(j) Except under special circumstances, such, for instance, as a sentry
being killed or wounded, no sentry will be relieved by another man
unless the relief is properly carried out in the presence of a N.C.O.
2. Sentries--_By Night_--(a) Sentries will be posted every 2 hours,
except under bad weather conditions, when the length of the tour of
sentry may be reduced.
(b) From evening "stand to" till morning "stand to" one sentry to every
three or four bays in the fire trench will be posted. If wiring or
digging parties are out in front, or listening posts are numerous, this
number may be reduced.
(c) The next relief will remain within reach of the sentry.
(d) Every sentry is to be regularly posted by a N.C.O., who will
explain to him his duties and the front to be watched, and ascertain
that the sentry and his relief are aware of the position of the section
and platoon commanders, the sentries on either side, and whether there
are any patrols or working parties out in front. Should there be
salients in the line, the sentry will be carefully instructed, so as to
avoid any possibility of him firing toward his own trenches.
(e) By night or in places which have the reputation of being
_dangerous_, _i.e_., where enemy are suspected of mining, advanced
posts, etc., no man should ever be posted alone. There should be either
a double sentry post, or the next relief should rest within kicking
distance of the sentry.
_By Day_--(f) The number of sentries required depends on the proximity
of the enemy's trench line and whether a good view to the front can be
obtained, _normally one to every four bays is sufficient_.
(g) Every sentry will be provided with a periscope.
(h) Well protected "look out" posts for sentries will be built along
the front trench line.
(i) Sending Out of Patrols--Patrols will never be sent out without
definite orders as to what is required of them. Patrols will go via a
listening post (if such exist). All listening posts will be warned of
the strength of the patrol and the approximate hour of departure and
return. Word will be passed quietly along the line of sentries that a
patrol is out in front.
(j) As little challenging as possible will be done by sentries, and
then only in a low tone of voice.
The battalion quartermaster, who usually holds the honorary rank of
captain, has charge of all rations and equipment for his battalion.
He is assisted in this duty by the battalion quartermaster sergeant,
who in turn very often goes to battalion advance headquarters with the
rations. During the daytime at battalion rear headquarters or horse
lines the quartermaster supervises the distribution of the allotted
quantity of rations that is required for each company. All company
quartermaster sergeants being present, they in their turn see that
their company's amount of rations is safely delivered to the transport
officer. The transport officer at night has his small ammunition carts
or transports take the rations as near to the support line as is
possible, the company quartermaster sergeants going with him. From that
point ration parties from the respective companies meet the company
quartermaster sergeant, who sees to the proper delivery of the ration.
In addition the party may have the mail, ammunition, or any shortages
of equipment that may be required, after which each quartermaster
sergeant reports to his company headquarters for orders.
In the trenches we often have papers only two or three days old, and
the news from them is literally devoured. As this is the only means
by which we can find out how the war is going on, all newspapers and
periodicals are looked on with great favour in the trenches.
My sergeant reported to me when we were in the front line trench that
Private Johnston had swollen feet. I went over to a shallow dugout
where I found Johnston with his boots off. One foot in particular was
very much swollen and blue. It had been raining hard since we were in
the trenches. As we would stand down off the fire step, we would be in
mud almost up to our knees. Trench knees were very prevalent at the
early stages of the war. At present it is almost a crime for a man to
allow himself to get it. Trench feet are caused by the extreme cold due
to dampness; and not only dampness and cold, but to the inaction of
the feet brought about by the heavy claying nature of the ground and
the weight of the water surrounding the man's boots and legs. It was
found that a warm layer of air between the foot and the outer covering
was absolutely necessary if trench feet were to be avoided. An oiled
silk stocking has been recommended to be placed next to the skin and
looser boots and loosened puttees are considered necessary when in the
trenches. At present we have long rubber boots that the boys wear when
they occupy the trenches. They are considered trench stores and remain
there.
A batman is chosen by an officer to act as his orderly; his duties are
many, and wherever the officer goes while in the trenches his batman
accompanies him. The higher the rank of the officer the easier the work
for the batman and the less the risk, although there are exceptional
occasions when a commanding officer takes as much risk as the junior
Lieutenant under him. When a platoon officer leads his platoon "over
the top" his batman goes with him; he therefore takes the same risk as
the other men in the platoon, but he has several privileges that the
private has not, such as: after he has attended to the requirements of
his officer when out of the line he may spend the balance of his time
as he deems fit, he is exempt from sentry and fatigue duties, and as a
rule he has a good standing with the boys.
Whilst in the trenches, we receive reports giving us information
regarding the movements on the part of the enemy, and also describing
the number of shells that the enemy has fired at us and the number
that we have fired in return. We also receive a communique that gives
us information as to what has happened on the various sectors of the
line, and also the result of any battles or raids that we have been
participating in. By this we learn how we have been progressing along
the whole of the frontage we have fought along.
[Illustration: A Tank in Action]
The splendid attack on April 9th gave us possession of the entire Vimy
Ridge with the exception of its extreme northwest point. This the
Germans held on to stubbornly and were not finally ejected until
April 11th. Southward the British passed on down the backward slope
of the ridge and seized Farbus and its woods. On April 12th, our army
being fairly established on the ridge Sir Douglas Haig pressed home
the attack upon Lens. On that day and the following day, despite bad
weather, the advance was steadily continued. The villages behind the
ridge, Vimy, Givenchy, Angres, Bailleul, Willerval, were taken one
after the other and our lines began to close in upon Lens from the
northwest. One factor which contributed to our success was undoubtedly
the co-operation of the tanks which accompanied the advance. The first
appearance of the tanks caused great excitement amongst us, as it also
caused consternation and dismay amongst the Germans.
The tank is a factor of the great war and is emblematic of Britain's
purpose, slow but relentlessly sure. It lumbers out over the waste of
No Man's Land toward the German line, mowing down the enemy with its
deadly machine guns and is undeterred by the rifle or machine gun fire
of the enemy. It goes crashing on to and over the enemy trenches, going
down one side of the shell or mine craters, and up the other, trampling
down the strongest of barbed wire entanglements, trees, etc.
As this monster goes on, few Germans are brave enough to face an
advancing force. In our advance on Lens the artillery preparation was
so perfect that the wire barriers were everywhere swept aside. The
German high command made a desperate attempt to divert our advance on
Lens by a heavy counterattack along the Cambrai-Bapaume Road, which was
delivered by about four divisions. We repulsed it, taking 300 prisoners
and inflicting a casualty of some 10,000 of which 1500 were killed; our
success was largely due to the artillery.
All officers and men look forward to the delivery of the mail. In
the early stages of the war, it was a very common practice for both
officers and men that had no lady relatives to write to the "Agony or
Personal Column" of one of the London daily papers, asking for some
lady to correspond with them. The ads would read, "Lonely Officer,
or Lonely Soldier, would like to correspond with some Young Lady
for period of War." Invariably a _nom de plume_ and designation of
battalion were used, and the result was that a large number of letters
were received.
I remember a young officer who put an ad in the paper, and for some
days there was no result. The officers all began to tease him and I
think he regretted having informed us what he had done. However, one
day the mail corporal brought three full mail bags all for the "Lonely
Officer." Things began to look lively. He was now in a dilemma. Could
he read and answer them all before he would have to go in to the front
line? It seemed a stupendous task. He had a few volunteers to help him
to read his correspondence, but no one was willing to answer it. For
three weeks afterwards there were no letters, then one day Brigade
Headquarters post office sent word that there was a transport car
coming along with Lieutenant K.'s mail. The car was completely loaded
down with his correspondence, so they wished to know what he wanted
done with the balance. It was not long afterwards that correspondence
from the Agony Column ceased.
The censoring of the mail is sometimes very amusing. Yet it has its
pathetic side. I censored a letter from a boy to his mother. He had run
away from home, and enlisted under an assumed name. He just had begun
to realise that if he was killed in action, his mother would never
know, so it was a very penitent son that sent a very loving letter to
his mother at home. The war brings out all that is best in the "boys,"
though some of them are sad rogues as they vow eternal love to many
girls at the same time. No harm is meant, I am sure, it is probably to
break the monotony of the life in the trenches. Some of the letters
have quite a number of crosses on them, like this xxxxxxx, denoting
kisses, and probably stuck away in one corner we will see one small x
with "For the Censor," marked above it.
The reason why all letters in France are censored is to prevent any
information of military importance reaching the enemy.
While out at rest our battalion received orders from brigade
headquarters to prepare a small raiding party with the object of
putting out of action a German machine gun that had given the troops
that were then holding the line considerable trouble.
Aerial photographs and map location of the small sector of the German
line where the machine gun emplacement was located had been sent us. I
was detailed to take charge of the party and was given instructions to
destroy this machine gun emplacement and if possible to bring back some
prisoners for purpose of information.
I selected ten men including one sergeant and one corporal and for
three days we practiced for this raid by going over the tapes and also
making use of some previously dug trenches, so that every man would
know exactly what part he would take when the actual raid would be
pulled off.
These men were equipped just as they would be when the actual raid
would take place, four men were armed with rifles and bayonets, the
others were armed with bombs and knobkerries and in addition all had
their wire cutters.
It is usual for us and also the enemy to have a narrow zig-zag
passageway through the barbed wire entanglements to afford us an
exit for a party going out into No Man's Land. Our battalion scout
officer the night previous to the raid had been out doing special
reconnaissance along the sector of the German line that we had to raid,
and while he was crawling along the edge of their barbed-wire he had
discovered the opening. This very valuable information I had received
from him.
The second night we were in the front line trenches I received orders
that I was to make the raid that night.
I gave the sergeant the necessary instructions to have the men prepared
and ready to leave our line at one A.M. Part of the instructions were
that the men were to have their faces blackened and a small white chalk
mark on the front of their steel helmets. On the back of each man was
a small piece of bright tin about two inches in diameter, fastened on
their tunic.
Notices had been sent to the units on our flanks that a raiding party
was going out at one A.M.
Two hours' time was allowed us to accomplish this. I took my compass
bearings and at one A.M. led the boys in single file through our
barbed-wire entanglements into No Man's Land.
The German barbed-wire entanglements were about two hundred and fifty
yards away from us. I headed right for where I estimated the opening
in the German wire entanglements would be.
As the German flares went up we would try to get into shell holes if
possible before they burst. We were not very conspicuous as long as
they were bursting ahead of us. The great danger of being observed was
when the flares burst behind us.
Our progress over No Man's Land was very slow. Not a word was spoken.
I signalled back as pre-arranged to my boys by throwing small clods of
earth to the man in rear who passed back the signals to those behind
him.
In a previous counterattack the Huns had lost this part of No Man's
Land. The result was that quite a number of German dead lay on this
particular sector unburied. This was due to the continual artillery
activity on both sides.
As we reached the middle of No Man's Land, I raised my head carefully
above the lip of a shell hole while a German white flare was up. To my
consternation I saw what was evidently a German battle patrol coming
crouching through their barbed-wire. I counted in all twenty-five men.
Things looked ominous for my party, as they outnumbered us over two
to one. I had no desire to go back, without accomplishing my mission.
Neither did I wish to engage my men in personal conflict with such odds
against them. So I sent my scout with a message to the officer who was
on duty in our sector of the line and informed him what I had observed.
At the same time I asked him to pass the word along to open up a
machine gun fire at a point that would get the approaching Hun battle
patrol.
It was with mixed feelings of pleasure that I heard our Lewis guns
open fire in the required direction, and I had the satisfaction of
seeing the approaching Huns beat a hasty retreat, leaving a number of
dead and wounded behind them. We waited for what seemed to be hours,
in reality it was only fifteen minutes, and then we crawled carefully
forward towards the German barbed-wire entanglements. The Huns in
their somewhat hasty retreat had forgotten to haul in their white tape
line and this was the means that guided us through their barbed-wire.
As soon as I got almost through the barbed-wire, I immediately jumped
up, my boys doing likewise, and made a rush for the German trench.
Here I discovered a German sentry in the act of loading a pistol
to send up a flare. He was so taken by surprise and fear that he
immediately held up his hands, mumbling "_Kamerad_." We at once gagged
him. As previously arranged my party divided in two, one-half going to
the right under my command and the other to the left in charge of the
sergeant. We had no time to lose as their trench mortars might open up
at any moment.
I surprised a machine-gun crew and quickly put them out of business
with a few Mills bombs. On the left my sergeant surprised and captured
two prisoners. We then quickly got out of the trench, pushing our
prisoners ahead of us as we crawled back over No Man's Land. By this
time the Germans had discovered the result of our raid and began at
once to send up their white flares with great rapidity. In addition
their "flying-pigs," "fish-tails," "rum-jars" and "Minenwerfers" made
things very lively for us in No Man's Land. Our prisoners were just as
keen to reach our trenches safely as we were. However, we had to remain
out on our stomachs in No Man's Land until the white flares had ceased
to go up with such rapidity. It seemed a lifetime for me since I had
left our trenches, and I began to wonder if I would ever get back to
them again. As I heard some of my men moan, I knew that they had been
hit, but I knew that our stretcher bearers would soon be out to give
them their required attention once we got safely back to our line.
We slowly wormed our way back, and it was very sweet music to my ears
to be challenged by our own sentry as we approached the trench. I made
myself known, and very soon we were all in and gave the necessary
information for stretcher bearers to be sent out. Our casualties were
one killed and two slightly wounded.
The information gained from the prisoners was of great importance.