Front line Battalion Headquarters.
]
“Immediately the Bangalore torpedo exploded the enemy put up two green
lights, and within a few seconds he opened up with trench mortars on No
Man’s Land and his own wire. Several trench mortars fell almost in the
gap made by the torpedo and divided our patrol into two parts,
inflicting two casualties on the rear section. 2nd Lieut. Binney, with
the leading section, remained in the enemy trenches for some minutes and
thoroughly investigated it.
“The trench still looks quite new, but is only about three feet deep,
and there are no dug-outs in this vicinity. About 1.25 a.m. the order
was given to return to our lines. This was done successfully without
further casualties, although trench mortars were bursting freely in No
Man’s Land. From the speed and accuracy with which the enemy’s barrage
was brought down it would appear that the exact locality of the raid had
been discovered. Probably the tape-laying and Bangalore parties had been
spotted. 2nd Lieuts. Michie and Binney both did good work.”
By the end of June, profiting from the experience in the recent German
offensive, the principle of depth in the holding of the line was taken
up thoroughly. This necessitated a further change in the defence scheme.
By this time we were getting a little accustomed to the constant
changes. In general terms the line was held now by one company only in
the outpost zone, and three companies back in the main forward battle
positions known as the Black Line, about 1,500 yards behind the front
line. The object of this arrangement was that the large majority of the
garrison should be beyond the range of the enemy’s trench-mortar fire,
which he had used in the opening stages of his offensive on so many
fronts during the spring and early summer with annihilatory effect.
Battalion Headquarters was moved from Cameron Castle to some new
dug-outs on high ground in Cité St. Pierre behind the Black Line.
On one memorable occasion, when we were in the front line, a practice
“stand to” was ordered by Brigade. Gen. Morgan came up, and had gone
round the Left Black Line company’s front, when the enemy elected to put
down a thick gas bombardment of the Black Line area. The inspection was
abandoned, and the General and his party started to grope their way back
in gas-masks. Each communication trench which was tried seemed to be a
particular mark for the enemy’s guns. Finally, by a very circuitous
route, the party arrived at St. Pierre Church. Here all seemed quiet,
but as soon as the General and the Brigade Major started to climb the
hill to Morgan Mansion, Brigade Headquarters, gas shells began to follow
them again, and continued in their tracks all the way home, the final
insult being a perfectly good shell which landed at the entrance to
their dug-out just as they were going to enter. In retrospect it looks
to have been a very amusing evening. At the time it had its comic
moments, but not many.
During July everyone was very busy. When we were out of the line we were
training hard. Several days were spent at the training-ground at
Marqueffles Farm, where there was a good rifle range, and where we had
opportunities to practise with tanks and contact aeroplanes. When in
support, large parties were out every day making concrete Lewis-gun and
rifle posts in the Blue Line, where the support platoons of the outpost
company had their battle positions.
In the front line we were patrolling with exceptional vigour, keeping
touch with the enemy in every way possible. Several times we encountered
the enemy in No Man’s Land and drove him off, and he on his part made
one or two attempts to get into our lines without success.
On July 20 the Corps Commander, Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston, visited us and
went round the Black Line. The enemy honoured the day with a very heavy
bombardment of the area round Counter Alley from which our gas
projectors were usually released. The inspection of the Black Line was a
vigorous affair; few who took part in the race will ever forget it. The
distinguished general kept up his habitual pace of six miles per hour
without turning a hair, and by the end of the afternoon his staff and
following were stretched over at least a mile of trench. Many of them
had succumbed into one or other of our Company Headquarters for liquid
refreshment very early in the contest. Of twenty starters in the
Marathon, only four were in sight when the favourite flashed past the
post at Battalion Headquarters at 5.30 p.m.
The reader will have taken for granted on reading the name of our Corps
Commander, that in addition to the other strenuous work of these days,
activity with the whitewash brush and other fly-proof devices was to be
seen on all sides at all times.
On July 21 the first performance of the new Brigade Concert Party, “The
Dragonflies,” took place. It had been in the rehearsal stage for a long
time, but the results fully justified the care which had been given to
it. The Party continued to entertain us until long after the Armistice.
The Divisional artillery had a forward section of guns at the Opera
House in St. Pierre at this time, and the enemy carried out several
protracted shoots on the Opera House area. He never succeeded in hitting
the guns, but parts of the village were very unpleasant at times. On the
night of August 4/5, Battalion Headquarters was shelled heavily with
high-explosive and sneezing gas, direct hits being obtained on the mess
and Commanding Officer’s dug-out. On August 5 a particularly heavy shoot
on the Opera House made a nasty mess of that part of the village. Lieut.
Walker, an R.E. officer, who had done a lot of work with the Battalion,
was killed. In the front line patrolling activity was very great, and
the enemy was given no chance in No Man’s Land. Only on one or two
occasions was the enemy encountered, and he invariably made off
immediately he saw any of our men.
On August 8 the officers beat the rest of the Battalion at cricket by
120-odd to 60-odd, Col. Wenyon being top scorer with some 60 runs to his
credit. This was by way of revenge, as on the previous tour at Bully the
other ranks had been successful by 110–102. On the 13th we played the
Sherwood Foresters, and were rather badly beaten.
On August 9 the Divisional Horse Show took place. We took second prize
in transport turn-out, and “Diana,” the veteran C Company mount, won
second prize in the officers’ chargers competition.
A few weeks later in the Corps Commanders’ Transport Cup Competition,
when the entire transport of all units were inspected for efficiency and
turn out, we were placed first in the Division.
Our Transport Section was justly proud of this result, and it was a
well-merited reward for the splendid work of Capt. Arnaud, Sergt.
Shepherd, and all ranks of the Transport Section.
It has been difficult in these notes to mention the work of our
Transport from month to month, but this has not been because it did not
deserve mention. Everyone intimately acquainted with the Battalion would
agree that the work of the Transport Section was always one of the great
features of our life. Capt. Arnaud joined the Battalion on the Somme in
1916, and remained Transport Officer till the end of the war. He was
associated first with Sergt. Wood, M.S.M., and later with Sergt.
Shepherd, M.S.M. The whole section pulled together magnificently, and
their loyalty to the Battalion was always most marked. During the very
difficult days in the Salient in 1917, throughout the winter at
Hargicourt in 1917 and 1918, and at Lens during the summer of 1918, the
men in the line had ample reason for thankfulness to Capt. Arnaud and
his splendid section. But the greatest work was during the retreat in
March and April 1918, and during the final advance from Cambrai in
October and November 1918. During both these times of trial everyone was
fed and supplied every day; and during the March retreat especially, the
fight the Battalion was able to put up day after day was only made
possible by the indefatigable zeal of our Transport Section so gallantly
led by Capt. Arnaud. By hook or by crook he succeeded every day in
getting hot meals up to the men who were fighting, and supplies of
ammunition were rushed up at a moment’s notice wherever they were
needed.
The Military Cross awarded to Capt. Arnaud and the M.S.M.s awarded to
Sergt. Shepherd and Cpl. Verrall were among the very best earned rewards
gained during the whole history of the Battalion.
During August the Hun commenced to shell Fosse 10, where up to that time
the Transport and Quartermaster Stores had spent a very peaceful summer.
It had previously been subject to night bombing raids, and a few
long-range shells every now and then, but at the end of August he was
shelling there daily and making things very unpleasant. On the 23rd he
got a direct hit on the Quartermaster’s Mess, and on the 24th the
Transport moved, followed on the 28th by the Quartermaster’s Stores, to
Aix-Noulette. Unfortunately the Hun then turned his attention to
Aix-Noulette, and it became nearly as uncomfortable as Fosse 10.
Some time before this, during one of the bombing raids on Fosse 10, we
lost Regt.-Quartermaster-Sergt. Ifould, who was most unluckily hit by a
splinter, which came through his window. He had succeeded
Regt.-Quartermaster-Sergt. Dadd in the previous summer, after being
Coy.-Quartermaster-Sergt. of B Company for a long period. He was very
popular, and was a most valuable warrant officer, and we were all very
sorry to hear of his departure to England. Coy.-Sergt.-Maj. W. Dunk,
D.C.M., was his successor.
Bully-Grenay was also getting quite uncomfortable, and was frequently
either bombed or shelled, mostly at night.
On the 27th, when we were at Bully, we suddenly had orders to go into
the line to the right of our Brigade front for one night. The front was
being rearranged, and the 73rd Brigade was moving round to take over
from the left brigade of the 20th Division in front of Lievin. The enemy
shelled Lievin heavily at night with mustard gas, and the reserve
company had a few casualties. We returned to Bully the following night.
On the 29th a special performance of the Brigade Concert Party was held
in aid of our Regimental Prisoners of War Fund, the proceeds of which,
903 francs, were duly sent to the Depot.
On the 30th a most successful Sergeants’ Mess Concert was held, with
Regt.-Sergt.-Maj. Greenaway in the chair, to celebrate the close of the
Battalion’s 3rd year in France.
Towards the end of August there was a distinct feeling that if anyone
was going to do a push at Lens, it would not be the Boche. On September
1 the system of “peaceful” penetration commenced. 2nd Lieut. R. N.
Killick, with a platoon of C Company, pushed forward at about 3 o’clock
in the afternoon into the ruined streets of Lens. This small party were
the first British troops to enter Lens, and once there they established
positions for D Company, who relieved C Company at night, to take up and
hold.
We had a busy time from now onwards. Although our line had been advanced
only a few hundred yards, it was decided that working parties could show
themselves in hitherto forbidden places by day. With a view to a
possible advance, all work was concentrated on the clearing of the two
main roads in Lens, the making of forward tracks, and the formation of
large forward dumps of ammunition and rations.
The enemy strangely enough left these huge working parties almost
unmolested, and in a very few days we had the strange sight of almost
perfect _pavé_ roads running practically into the front line, and men
employed in the open in all directions in broad daylight.
In the front posts which we had taken, things were not so quiet. The
enemy would put down heavy bombardments on to place after place each
day. On September 3 he attacked the East Surrey posts at the junction of
Claud and Canary Trenches on our left, captured two days before, and
recaptured them. In rendering assistance in this fight, one of our
officers, 2nd Lieut. F. Carville, M.C., was badly wounded. We remained
in the front line until September 12, during which time inter-company
reliefs took place each forty-eight hours. A great deal of work had been
done, and we handed over a new organised front line to the 9th East
Surrey Regiment.
Our six days in reserve at Bully were busy ones. On the 15th the whole
Battalion attended a tank demonstration at Marqueffles. On the 16th we
carried out a battalion tactical exercise in the form of an advanced
guard march to Marqueffles and an attack in open country. Field guns,
machine guns, and Stokes mortars co-operated.
On the 18th we moved into the line again in relief of the 9th East
Surrey Regiment. The map references of the forward posts taken over did
not agree with the actual posts held, and after a few quiet days and
some nights of active patrolling it was decided to put this right. On
the night of the 23rd/24th, a party of C Company retook the enemy’s post
at the junction of Canary and Claud Trenches, which post had been
disputed several times during the past weeks. Up to now it had never
been held for more than a few hours, and it was now our turn to have a
shot at taking and keeping it. The full account of the events of the
night, and the first attempt of the enemy to recapture the post on the
morning of the 24th, are as follows:
When the position at the junction of Canary and Claud had been captured,
consolidation was carried on vigorously all night, and by 6.30 a.m.
considerable improvement had been made in the positions. At about 6.40
a.m. the enemy started to shell our old front line and communication
trenches heavily with 5·9s, and shortly afterwards the officers in this
area, 2nd Lieut. Davis and 2nd Lieut. Beynes, who were at the time
engaged in establishing a fresh post to connect up Mason’s House with
our new position, heard heavy bombing from the direction of the latter.
A party of the enemy, about forty strong, had entered the post from the
north-east, one lot coming straight down Canary and another entering
Claud at its junction with Twisted Alley. The post was occupied, and one
N.C.O. and five men were captured. 2nd Lieuts. Trenchard-Davis and
Beynes at once organised a counter-raid. A bombardment with rifle
grenades was commenced from a position in Canary, and the two officers
each led a party along either side of the trench, ejected the enemy, and
reoccupied the post. The Huns retreated hurriedly up Canary and over the
open, and were followed with Lewis-gun fire from the recaptured post and
Counter Sap. One German was killed just beyond the post, and it seems
probable that several other casualties were inflicted on the enemy in
his disorderly retirement. L.-Cpl. Binks and one of the men who had been
captured were left, with a wounded Hun, in the charge of another Hun.
When the attention of the latter was attracted by the commencement of
our counter-raid, L.-Cpl. Binks relieved him of his rifle and brought in
his escort and the wounded Hun as his prisoners.
The position was completely restored by 7.30 a.m. Our casualties were
four men missing and two slightly wounded, and the enemy is known to
have lost one killed and two prisoners and probably lost many more.
2nd Lieut. Trenchard-Davis and 2nd Lieut. Beynes acted with great
resource and courage in organising and carrying out the counter-raid,
and L.-Cpl. Binks showed great presence of mind and determination in
turning the tables on his captors.
On the evening of September 24 a platoon of D Company relieved the C
Company garrison in Canary Trench. The D Company platoon, No. 16, was
under the command of Lieut. D. J. Dean. Most of the men in the platoon
were young soldiers, as yet almost untried in the real rowdy-dow of a
fight. As they took up their posts in that battered trench, none of them
knew that in the next two days they were going to write the most
glorious page in the history of their Battalion. They were heavily
attacked almost immediately they had taken over the post, and for two
days and two nights after this they were constantly attacked by
overwhelming numbers, and with all the fury of shelling and trench
mortaring which a resolute and exasperated enemy could summon to his
command.
When No. 16 Platoon took over the post at 9 p.m. on September 24, it
still required a great deal of consolidation, and the trench was very
shallow. Within ten minutes of the arrival of the new platoon, the enemy
made his second attempt that day to recapture the post. Covered mainly
by machine-gun fire, the enemy advanced over the open from the
north-east, but were driven off by Lewis-gun and rifle fire from the
post. Lieut. Dean was in the most exposed positions, and moved about in
the heavy machine-gun fire with absolute fearlessness. Immediately this
attack had been dealt with, feverish work was put in to deepen the
trench and improve the blocks in Canary and Claud. The enemy kept up a
heavy machine-gun fire on the post, from which the trench, in most
places only two feet deep, offered very little cover.
[Illustration: