Occupied by the Battalion in support.
]
On November 3 Lieut.-Col. J. C. Parker proceeded to England for a six
months’ tour of duty, and, as events turned out, this concluded his
appointment, held for over two years, as our Battalion Commander. Col.
Parker joined us from the 6th Battalion at the time of chaos just after
Loos. His work in the muddy trenches at The Bluff, Canal Bank, and St.
Eloi in October and November 1915 will never be forgotten. During the
months at Ypres in 1916 the Colonel was really very ill, but he stuck it
out then and right through the summer, until he was carried away at
Fricourt with a very severe attack of malaria and trench fever. During
the Ypres fighting of 1917 he was again very ill and very weak, but he
refused to admit that anything was wrong. In the autumn of 1917 he had
to go down for an operation, and when he returned in November he still
looked so ill that the Brigade Commander insisted on his having a rest.
And so in a quiet manner he left the Battalion which he had worked for
with infinite bravery, and which he had loved so well for two long and
arduous years. Col. Parker had led the Battalion successfully through
very many of its most difficult experiences. All those who were
intimately associated with him in his work knew and will always remember
the great things he did for the 8th Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment.
[Illustration:
“LEICESTER LOUNGE.”
Front line Battalion Headquarters, showing the “Leave Train.”
]
In the absence of Maj. Whitty, Maj. Wenyon took over command
temporarily, when Col. Parker left us.
During the winter we concentrated on work on and in front of the front
line. Organised wiring on an extensive scale was taken up, and we
started digging a new trench in front of Pond Trench in order to cut off
the awkward and water-logged Fish Lane positions recently taken over. On
November 20 the 9th East Surreys did a raid in the early morning.
Demonstrations and raids were taking place all along the front that
morning in conjunction with the great surprise attack on Cambrai. In the
afternoon we relieved the East Surreys in the front line, and every
night we kept the closest possible touch with the enemy by continuous
patrolling on a large scale, in order to find out if he was showing any
signs of retiring opposite us as a result of Cambrai.
In the early hours of November 26, Lieut. H. J. Dunn, the Battalion
Intelligence Officer, was shot dead when he was out with a party digging
our new advanced trench. It was really too bright a moonlight night to
go out in such an exposed position, but, knowing how urgent the work
was, Dunn went out with two men to see if he could possibly get the
party out to their work in safety. He was shot through the head almost
immediately. Dunn was a splendid fellow. He took the most devoted
interest in his work, first as Platoon Commander at Hulluch, and later
until his death as Battalion Intelligence Officer. In this capacity he
was to be seen at all hours of the day and night wandering round in the
front line with compasses, field glasses, map cases, sniping rifles, and
every modern device for accurately surveying and killing unwary Huns. He
was a very talented musician, and withal he was such a cheery, lovable
man. When he went, everyone in the Battalion felt he had lost a great
personal friend. He was buried at Hargicourt cemetery in the afternoon.
Major Whitty rejoined the Battalion, and took over command that day, and
his first duty was to attend Dunn’s funeral.
The position of Battalion Intelligence Officer was taken over by Lieut.
G. S. Bowen, of A Company. To take over and carry on Dunn’s work was no
easy job, but Bowen tackled the job well, and he was still I.O. when the
Armistice was signed.
The Division was to have been relieved at the end of November, but on
the 30th the counter-attack at Cambrai took place, the relief was
cancelled, and it looked as though we might be in action with the Hun at
any minute. One battalion of our Brigade was hurriedly sent out to
Ronssoy to protect our flank in the direction of Epèhy, and for a few
hours the situation was decidedly obscure. Things blew over later, and
on December 1 we relieved the East Surreys again in the front line,
resuming normal trench life. Things were beginning to wake up a bit,
however, and the discussion of detailed defence schemes—which was later
in other sectors to become the mania of the higher command—started to
take prominence.
During December the newly dug support line was strongly wired. Gas
projector attacks by the Special Company R.E. took place on a biggish
scale. On December 8 2nd Lieut. Carville and 2nd Lieut. Holliday made a
great effort to get through the enemy wire with a small party. They blew
up the wire to a depth of fifteen feet with a Bangalore torpedo, but
there was another fifteen feet to blow. Holliday was nearly blown up
himself in setting off the torpedo. They struggled hard to get through,
but the Hun had been very good with his wiring here, and after getting
their clothes very badly torn, the party had to come back. After a spell
at Vendelles again, when most of the Battalion were out daily on road
making at Jeancourt, we were back in the line again on the 14th. 2nd
Lieut. Holliday was wounded on the 16th when out with a wiring party.
A spell of very cold weather set in, thick snow alternated with hard
frost for nearly a month. About this time the Division held the line
with two brigades, and one brigade was out.
On December 21 we were relieved by the 8th Buffs, 17th Brigade, and
moved out to Hancourt. Here Christmas Day was spent. The accommodation
at Hancourt was not the best in the world, but each company had its
Christmas dinner, and the whole Battalion had a happy but quiet
Christmas. On the 26th Lieut.-Col. N. I. Whitty, D.S.O., was suddenly
ordered to proceed to England to take over command of one of the newly
formed Divisional Machine-gun Battalions. When he returned to France a
few weeks later he was posted to our Division, and we often saw him, and
frequently did stunts together in which he assisted us with his guns.
He had been with us for two years. He was 2nd-in-Command under Col.
Parker, and he commanded the Battalion for about seven months when Col.
Parker was away. His energy while he was in command of the Battalion was
tremendous. At all times of the day and night he was up inspecting the
work in the trenches, planning and building dug-outs, organising
artillery shoots and raids, salving material, opening canteens in the
trenches, and a hundred-and-one other things. He was a great worker for
the 8th Battalion. His direct forceful way of speaking and acting
appealed very strongly to everyone. The Battalion owes a very great deal
to the work of Col. Whitty.
He was awarded the D.S.O. in 1917, in recognition of his splendid work
on the Somme, and in the command of the Battalion at Hulluch during the
winter of 1916–17.
About this time our medical officer, Captain G. A. McLarty, left us. He
is one who will always be remembered in the life of our Battalion.
Joining us at Wulverghem in March 1916, almost his first experience was
the bombardment of Tea Farm. On this occasion he worked magnificently
amongst the shells until the last wounded man was got away. Under fire
he was always splendid. His great work on the Somme in 1916 and in the
Ypres fighting of 1917 has been described elsewhere. Long afterwards he
was awarded the D.S.O. for his consistently gallant and thorough work,
but particularly for his superhuman efforts at Guillemont and Delville
Wood. There was no more popular visitor at any of the company messes. He
knew every officer, N.C.O., and man in the Battalion individually, and
he was the friend of them all.
Major H. J. Wenyon took over command of the Battalion on the departure
of Col. Whitty, and Capt. R. P. Baker, the adjutant, acted as
2nd-in-Command temporarily, 2nd Lieut. J. B. Cryer taking over the
duties of adjutant.
In December, Brig.-Gen. W. F. Sweny, D.S.O., the popular commander of
the 72nd Brigade, left for six months’ duty in England, much to the
regret of everyone in the Brigade. Brig.-Gen. R. W. Morgan, D.S.O.,
South Staffordshire Regiment, took over command, and remained with the
Brigade until the end of the war. The early months of 1918 were marked
by increased activity in the trenches, hard training, and digging of
trenches in reserve battle zones, and a largely increased leave
allotment. The last of these was popular, but there is some doubt about
the others.
On January 1 the Battalion was inspected by Gen. Morgan at Hancourt, and
on the 2nd we moved to Vendelles. The system of holding the forward
positions in depth was beginning to be adopted, and when we took over
the line on January 5 from the 2nd Leinsters, we had one company only
(B) in the front line, two in support, and one in reserve at “L.10 A.”
This was the map reference of the ration dump where the forward light
railway started. Our transport used to come up to this spot each day.
The frost held until the 10th, and was so hard that no digging was
possible, so instead we concentrated on carrying up enormous quantities
of R.E. material to cope with the inevitable collapse of the trenches
when the thaw should come.
In the war-diary for January 11 there appears a note: “Our trench
mortars conducted a shoot on Ruby Wood.” A word might be said about this
wonderful wood. It was in the enemy front line a little on our left, and
consisted of a number of straggling tall trees. Some said there were
six—some seven. Some ingenious people used to report that the number
changed from day to day. The Divisional Pioneer Battalion sent us up a
serious message one day that they had distinctly seen one tree added to
the number. Knowing the habits of the pioneer mess, we could only
conclude they were gifted once more with second or double sight. Every
tree in the wood was at one time or another accused of being artificial,
made of tempered steel, and containing a battalion of Boche snipers and
observers. The universal opinion of those in front was that it was just
an ordinary battered old copse, and the Hun hated it as much as we were
supposed to do. It was visited in 1919 with a view of photographing it
and finally settling how many trees there were, but the wood had
completely disappeared.
[Illustration:
_Photo by_] [_Thomas Fall, London._