WARVILLERS.

Some of the billets occupied by the Battalion.

]

We had had practically no rest, and the mental strain of the day before,

added to the cold and physical weariness, left us particularly limp at

dawn on March 26. We got a hurried breakfast, which improved matters

considerably, and it was clear that we were soon to be at it again. At 6

a.m. the empty village of Fonches was being shelled to extinction, and

the positions we were in at Hallu did not inspire us with a great deal

of hope.

Col. Wenyon was ordered to take up Headquarters at Hallu in a dug-out

with a direct telephone to Divisional Headquarters. We managed by this

means to get some artillery fire to bear on the advancing Hun, but the

shooting was wild, and many shells fell in our trenches. At 8 a.m. we

received information from Brigade that the enemy had broken through the

entrenching battalion on the right of the 9th East Surreys, and we were

to withdraw fighting in echelon from the right. Capt. Thompson, who was

commanding in our forward trenches, was accordingly ordered to conform

with other units. Shortly after this the left broke also, and the 73rd

Brigade withdrew. This left the remnants of the 72nd Brigade with both

flanks in the air once more. The advanced enemy were within 200 yards of

our trenches, and were advancing in vast numbers. Capt. Thompson

informed the East Surreys that he proposed to withdraw by platoons from

the left. The enemy was now very near our trenches, but was being well

held by our fire. An orderly retirement commenced. Maj. Clark, with part

of the East Surrey Regiment, still hung on to his position, and their

battalion headquarters and a considerable proportion of their men were

overwhelmed and captured.

We can well imagine Clark, dogged old soldier that he was, hanging on

like grim death to that bit of trench. It was not till long afterwards

that we heard he was wounded and a prisoner, and we all missed him

greatly in the Brigade for the rest of the war. There can be no question

of the gallantry of himself and his officers and men.

After the Battalion left Hallu, they were harassed from all sides by

machine-gun fire, and some half a mile back they were stopped by a

senior officer, who attempted to form a line in shell-holes. It seemed

that he on this morning had more or less lost his reason, and by his

action he placed a large body of men in great danger of capture. Capt.

Thompson finally withdrew, and most of the men succeeded in getting

back.

The Division now concentrated for the defence of Rouvroy. Our men were

utterly exhausted, and were kept in reserve at Warvillers, where they

got a clean up and a night’s rest. Here the Battalion was reorganised,

and from now onwards was composed of the remnants of the whole brigade.

A number of new Lewis guns were issued to the Battalion on that day. The

72nd Brigade now consisted of the Composite Battalion under Col. Wenyon,

the 15th and 19th Entrenching Battalions, and a battalion formed from

the officers and men of the 18th Corps School.

After close observation by low-flying enemy aeroplanes, the battle for

Rouvroy and a Copse known as “Eight Trees” commenced about 10 a.m. on

March 27, and continued throughout the day. C Company were disposed in

trenches north-east of Rouvroy; A Company and the North Staffordshires

in the outskirts of Rouvroy. The East Surrey remnant were with Battalion

Headquarters in Warvillers. After ding-dong fighting all the morning,

the enemy took Rouvroy from the Entrenching Battalion at about 2 p.m.,

the locality about “Eight Trees” having been forced by the enemy some

time earlier.

Dispositions were then made for the defence of Warvillers after the

North Staffordshires had made an attempt to re-establish the position in

the south-west part of Rouvroy with the bayonet. A strong line was

selected defending the villages of Beaufort, Warvillers, and Vrély. In

this line were the two Entrenching Battalions and the 18th Corps School.

After dark the Composite Battalion was withdrawn into reserve in

Warvillers.

Throughout the afternoon and evening parties of the enemy frequently

attempted to debouch from the south-west of Rouvroy towards the trenches

held by A Company and the North Staffordshires. Many casualties were

inflicted on the enemy by our fire, and any serious attempt to advance

was stopped. The new dispositions were completed early in the morning of

March 28, the 72nd Brigade, reinforced by the Machine-gun Battalion,

being in the line defending Warvillers, the 73rd Brigade being on our

left, and the 17th Brigade in front of Vrély on their left. The enemy

attacked at 8.30 a.m. in large numbers. The line on our Brigade front

held firm, and great loss was inflicted on the enemy by rifle and

machine-gun fire. In front of Vrély, however, our troops were beaten

back, and on the right south of Beaufort a break also occurred.

Warvillers had been shelled very heavily during the infantry attack, but

we held on to the last possible moment. When the order was finally given

to withdraw, there were a number of the enemy established in the village

with us. We had several men sniped at very close quarters, a German post

being in one corner of the Château grounds before we left.

The company commander in the front line, when he received the message to

withdraw, did so reluctantly after manning his parapet all along the

line, and giving the enemy ten rounds rapid fire.

Altogether the Hun had a pretty bad time in this attack on Warvillers.

The Division moved from here to the line between the villages of Caix

and Le Quesnel, which was manned by about 1 p.m. Masses of artillery,

including the first groups of French 75s we had seen were congregated

just behind this line. The artillery horses had had a bad time from

aeroplane bombs shortly before we arrived. The position was a good one,

and we had a splendid view of the country and a good field of fire from

some old trenches. But there were ominous-looking woods some 600 yards

in front, and our flanks were very heavily wooded. It took some time for

the enemy to move from Warvillers on to our front, but by about 2

o’clock he had got machine-gun posts in the edge of the wood in front,

and one or two in some isolated orchards nearer to us.

Our ammunition was, as may be imagined, very limited, and we could not

afford to do any continuous shooting at long range. Not so the enemy,

who kept an almost continuous machine-gun fire across our trenches all

the afternoon. Several times attempts were made to advance against us,

but these were all easily frustrated. Our friend, Col. Spiller of the

Divisional Artillery, was doing great work with direct shooting of his

18-pounder batteries on this afternoon. He hit the enemy very hard in

the orchards where they were trying to collect, and no doubt in the edge

of the wood also.

The break which had occurred further on the right early in the morning

was, however, the danger point, and it became very evident during the

afternoon that the enemy was executing an encircling movement some two

miles on our right. So little regard had the Hun at this stage for

hiding his positions, that he had adopted the practice of making his

forward troops fire Verey lights as they advanced to show his own

gunners where they had reached. These lights at about 5 p.m. were going

up well behind us on the right; the enemy was evidently approaching Le

Quesnel from the south, and there was grave danger of a very large force

being cut off. A hurried council of war was held, and the order to

withdraw from the right of the Division was given. It seemed that it was

none too soon. The whole Division had to get back through a bottle-neck,

harassed all the way by machine-gun and artillery fire. The withdrawal

was orderly, and by great good chance rain set in and made observation

difficult for the enemy. Our own aeroplanes were also getting more in

evidence.

Through the rain on this day we had a long and weary march to the Bois

de Sencat, west of Castel, where the Brigade was ordered to concentrate.

The last five miles of the march was across heavy country. The fatigue

on that night after the strain of the day was almost the worst of the

whole retreat. Scores of men were dead asleep as they stumbled along.

We arrived at the rendezvous at about 3 a.m., where we found our

transport, had a hot meal, and lay down in the rain for the rest of the

night. In the morning our Colonel was visited by the Divisional

Commander, Maj. Gen. Daly, who thanked the whole Battalion for the work

of the past eight days. This was the morning of March 29, and as there

was no sound of battle very close to us, we felt we were in for a bit of

a rest.

It appeared later that the enemy had taken Montdidier away south, and

was thrusting on in front of us at a great pace. The Division was to go

up in the evening to take up a position in front of Thezy from

Berteaucourt to the Domart-Amiens road—the main road from Villers

Brettoneux to Amiens. The 73rd Brigade were to be on the right, 72nd

Brigade on the left, 17th Brigade in reserve. We moved up just before

dark. The Entrenching Battalion took up positions in the line, which

consisted of a series of disconnected posts, just dug by army engineers.

We took up a position in the Copse behind them, where we proceeded to

dig in. By 10 a.m. we had formed a series of posts just in front of the

copse on a front of 1,200 yards, our left resting on the Amiens road.

The enemy was reported to have advanced through Mezières, and was

proceeding towards Moreuil and Castel.

There were now a considerable number of troops—French and

British—between our positions and the enemy, and as there was no

immediate threat to Thezy, the Battalion—less the East Surreys, who

remained in the Copse manning a few of the posts—moved back to the

village. We got good billets in Thezy, and we were able to get a feed

and some rest.

At dawn on March 31 we relieved the Entrenching Battalions in the

forward posts. In the afternoon considerable activity commenced. The

enemy had got into very difficult country now, and his lines of

communication with his rapid advance must have been stretched near to

bursting point, but he was making strenuous efforts for Amiens, the

spires and towers of which he could now see in the distance.

The lines in front appeared to be wavering, but a series of

counter-attacks was carried out between 4 and 7 p.m., and the position

was more than re-established. The night was quiet and very cold, and we

remained in position in the posts. Our artillery pounded the enemy’s

positions very severely all night.

At dawn on April 1 we were relieved by two companies of the Entrenching

Battalion, and moved back to Thezy. The men rested most of the day and

did all they could to clean up. There were a few civilians in the

village and plenty of food. The day passed quietly and uneventfully.

On April 2 we were again at rest in Thezy. We were beginning to feel

much fitter, and the past ten days felt like some horrible nightmare

that is past. The Commanding Officer inspected all the companies during

the morning. The day was quiet—hardly a shell had fallen in Thezy. Our

own artillery cheerfully enough provided all the fireworks, and

continued to shoot incessantly. Clean underclothing and socks—a very

welcome event—were issued to the men during the day.

At dawn on April 3 the East Surreys and the North Staffordshires

relieved the two companies of the Entrenching Battalions in the forward

posts. C Company were detailed for making an advanced Brigade

Headquarters, and our indefatigable Staff-Captain and staunch friend,

Capt. Ward, who had just returned that day from a course in England,

organised baths, if you please, at the Château. We were getting entirely

civilised.

The next morning, April 4, we did another side-slip northwards, to take

up a position in support to the Australians behind Villers Brettoneux.

At 4.30 a.m. we left Thezy and marched across the Amiens road through

Gentelles to the Bois l’Abbé, where the Brigade concentrated. The

Divisional Reinforcement Battalion, which had been with the 17th

Brigade, relieved our forward posts in front of Thezy, and the

concentration of the Brigade in the new positions was completed by 6.30

a.m.

The march through Gentelles was unpleasant. The enemy was just beginning

his first big attack on Villers Brettoneux, and was shelling everything

within reach which might be a billet. Thezy received a few just as we

left, and as we marched through Gentelles several shells were about. One

fell in the road as a platoon of A Company was passing, and we had eight

casualties.

The forward part of the Bois l’Abbé received a lot of attention during

the morning, and our old friend the gas shell was much in evidence.

Fairly heavy rain set in, however, and the gas did little damage. The

bombardment throughout the day was directed mainly against our batteries

all along the front. The posts in front of Thezy—which were fairly in

the midst of guns—had a bad time after we had left them.

In the course of the day it transpired that the enemy had attacked

opposite Villers Brettoneux and Marcelcave and further south. He had

made some progress, but the ground was very heavy, and in places he had

been driven back. In the afternoon the 72nd Brigade, which was in

support to the northern half of the 17th Brigade (Gentelles to Bois

l’Abbé), moved back about 3,000 yards to a copse a mile or so east of

Boves, where Brigade Headquarters was established. The weather had now

properly broken, and the rain streamed down. C Company moved up during

the night to a position in the Bois l’Abbé in touch with the 7th

Londons, and the rest of the Battalion dug in in front of the copse. A

number of cavalry officers and others dropped in to Battalion

Headquarters during the night. There had evidently been some heavy

fighting at Villers Brettoneux, but the result was good, and everyone

seemed cheerful. They were all surprised to find us still in the line.

Numbers of our visitors told us they had heard of the 24th Division on

all sides, and had imagined that we were all killed long ago.

The next morning, April 5, broke chilly, but quiet. We were so soaked

that it did not matter how much it rained. We had dug some very fair

positions, and the cookers gave us quite a good breakfast.

During the morning we got the breath of a rumour that we were to be

relieved. We paid not much attention to it, because we had heard the

same thing at least three times before, and we were beginning to think

we were in this business for the rest of our lives.

But this time it was true. Orders were issued from Brigade during the

afternoon. We were to move off after dusk, and motor-lorries were to

take us away back behind Amiens and then to goodness knew where. A

significant thing, however, was that during the afternoon maps were sent

up to us with Dieppe and St. Valerie and expanses of blue sea on them.

Even then we were doubtful, and longed for 8 o’clock to come before the

orders were cancelled. We wonder if the reader can imagine what our

feelings were. On March 21 we were at the end of a long term—ten days in

the line. Since then we had been fighting almost continuously—at most

times in desperately tight corners. We were reduced in numbers to about

100 men and five officers. Our boots were worn through, our clothes were

torn; mentally and physically we were as tired as men could well be. Up

and down the line there were cases of men losing their reason during

these fiendish days—and small wonder. So it was a very quiet, but yet a

very triumphant little band that finally reached an old town miles west

of Amiens in the small hours of April 6. It had not taken many lorries

to convey our Battalion home that night.

About midday we entrained and were taken down to St. Valerie. From there

we had a ten-mile march—who minded that?—to billets in the village of

St. Blimont. The deathly stillness of the place was almost uncanny. We

were splendidly received by the villagers. Although it was 2 o’clock in

the morning, they tumbled out of bed to give us a welcome. Amiens had

been saved—the Royal West Kents had arrived!

Many messages of congratulation were received by the 24th Division for

their conduct during the March Retreat, notably from Lieut.-Gen. Sir H.

E. Watts, commanding the Corps, from Lieut.-Gen. Sir C. T. McM.

Kavanagh, commanding the Cavalry Corps, and from our two late Divisional

Commanders, Maj.-Gen. Sir J. E. Capper and Maj.-Gen. Sir L. J. Bols.

The following honours were awarded to the Battalion for service between

March 21 and April 5, 1918:

BAR TO THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER

Lieut.-Col. H. J. Wenyon, D.S.O.