A.M. when a very tired and draggled officer came in. He said he had
just ridden over from Bapaume on a motor-cycle and he told us a sorry
tale. He evidently thought that the Germans had broken right through
on the Fifth Army front (i.e. on our right), and that the British
forces were about to be surrounded. Bapaume was on fire, and the
British Army defeated and broken in the south. This was the first
definite news I had of the misfortunes in the Somme area. It was
disquieting enough and I determined to approach Logeast Wood with
caution and to keep a sharp look-out for unusual movement as we went
forward. Accompanied by Ptes. Fail and Ewart I went across country
towards Bucquoy as the light was beginning to break. We noticed that
the large trees on the road to Hannescamps had been prepared by the
R.E.'s for felling with gun cotton--the charges being ready and tied
to the trunks so as to throw them across the road. The roads were
already full, mostly horse transport pouring rapidly through
Bienvillers towards Souastre. Transport from the south-east coming in
our direction through Hannescamps appeared to be in a panic and
expecting pursuit by the German cavalry. Once we got away from the
road and reached Le Quesnoy Farm there was little movement to be seen.
A few small parties of our men moving towards us across the open and
here and there a limber. Nothing in a hurry, nothing at all to
indicate a retreat on our own front, though it was actually taking
place at the time. There was no sound of firing, and no shells. A
battery of field guns still lay in a hollow just west of Bucquoy, and
this sight rather reassured me; so I decided to push on a bit. Leaving
my two observers on the ridge west of Dierville Farm I approached the
ruined buildings of the farm which lie a little west of the road
between Bucquoy and Ayette. While I was here I saw some of our
infantry marching along this road out of Bucquoy and forming a line
along it. One of them asked me where they could get in touch with our
troops on the left. Though I had been told to expect them east of
Logeast Wood they had in fact fallen back during the night and were
even now about to leave Ablainzevelle. The troops I saw on the road
were in fact taking up a line of resistance, for they were the British
front line. After this I decided that Dierville Farm could be held as
an O.P. for the time being; and so sending my two observers on, I
returned to Bienvillers to get a little much needed rest. As I went
back there was still no shelling and no sound of rifle fire. Yet it
afterwards transpired that the enemy had already pushed his outposts
forward into Ablainzevelle and west of Logeast Wood. Surely it was on
this part of the front one of the most silent advances made in the
war. When they returned my observers reported all quiet at Dierville
Farm, but the two observers that relieved them at 10 A.M. found the
enemy guns more active. After midday a number of shells were sent into
the village of Bucquoy and not far from the farm.
When I got back the roads through Bienvillers became more crowded than
ever with horse transport, and many guns were being moved on the road
from Monchy-au-Bois. The sides of the road, too, became crowded with
infantry, who were apparently awaiting orders to move forward. In
spite of the congestion on the roads the enemy made only one attempt
that day to harass them. A 10-inch shell from a long-range gun fell in
an open field about 100 yards short of Bienvillers Church, but it did
no damage except to the field. The stream of traffic through the
village continued without ceasing all that day. At 4 P.M. I received
orders from the Division to join the 7th N.F. near Essarts and to come
under the command of the O.C. 7th N.F. It was found impossible to make
any direct use of the observers at the time owing to the
disorganisation and uncertainty that prevailed; so they were added
temporarily as a reinforcement to the battalion. It was indeed a
crisis in the fate of the right wing of the Third Army, though at the
time we did not realise it. At 6 p.m. the observers left Bienvillers
and went forward along the road to Hannescamps, meeting many wounded
on the road and a few other parties of troops returning. We found the
battalion in a hollow west of Essarts. They were just preparing to
move. On reporting to Major McLeod, who was in temporary command of
the battalion, I was told to attach the observers to the H.Q. Company.
The battalion had already had a brush with the enemy. On the preceding
day, March 25, about midday they had advanced in artillery formation
from Logeast Wood towards Achiet-le-Grand.
Near that village they had come under direct fire from the enemy's
field artillery and they had been shelled also with 5.9-inch
howitzers. One company suffered rather severe casualties, but the
battalion succeeded in passing through the village and filling a gap
in the line. Later on in the day they had been relieved by the
neighbouring Brigade and received orders to fall back first to Logeast
Wood and later on to Ablainzevelle. The latter place they were ordered
to leave at 8 A.M. that morning. Eventually they reached the place
where I found them. The men were all in good spirits and evidently
pleased with their part in the rearguard action. Very soon after I
joined them the battalion was moved again, this time about a quarter
of a mile to the south across the Bucquoy-Bienvillers Road. Here we
waited till further orders should arrive, and meantime some hot soup
and rum were served out. Then we all lay down in the open, with
blankets it is true, but the air was so frosty that little sleep was
possible. About midnight we got orders to go to some trenches just
east of the village of Essarts. We marched forward to this place,
about a mile, without any interference from the enemy. H.Q. were
established in a small tin hut in the village. Although there were
still many trees about the place, all trace of the buildings had
disappeared except one or two cellars and some piles of rubbish. We
found our field batteries stationed quite close to us, to the west and
north of Essarts, and one in a small hollow to the east. These
batteries kept up a pretty constant fire during the night; but so far
the enemy did not reply. All our heavy guns seem to have been taken
away, except possibly one battery of 60-pounder guns near Hannescamps.
The two following days, March 27 and 28, were memorable for a
continuous series of attacks by the enemy along the whole of our
front.
On the morning of the 27th I went to the east side of the Essarts Wood
to note what was going on, and I sent a party of observers farther
north to the high ground at Le Quesnoy Farm. About 10.30 A.M. the
enemy's artillery opened a scattered fire on the neighbourhood of
Essarts, apparently searching the hollows for our battery positions.
But it was not until 11 A.M. that the enemy started to shell our
forward positions. From 11 A.M. to 11.25 A.M. a heavy barrage of
flame-shells was put down about Dierville Farm and along the road
leading from Bucquoy to Ayette. I am told that they did not do much
damage, but they were certainly a terrible sight. The flames that
burst from these shells when they reached the ground rose up thirty or
forty feet in the air, flared on for a few moments, and then
disappeared into a dirty black smoke. For twenty-five minutes they
came over fast, and they did not finally cease till 11.45 A.M. At the
same time Biez Wood on our right was heavily shelled and the area to
the south of Bucquoy. Our field batteries at Essarts made a gallant
reply, pouring in an unceasing rain of shrapnel wherever the enemy was
suspected to be concentrating. This in turn drew a very unpleasant
fire on to Essarts, which went on without break till 2 P.M. After that
the enemy's counter-battery guns must have run out of ammunition, for
they gave little more trouble for the rest of the day. Our field guns
however continued to fire all that day and through the greater part of
the night; their fire did not slacken whether shells were bursting
around them or not. And great credit must be given to these gunners
for their share in dispersing five enemy attacks. The battery on the
east side of the wood, belonging to the 41st Division, came in for
some very severe shelling, but the gunners never ceased to fire or to
carry ammunition forward to the guns in full view of the enemy. As
things had become rather hot around our tin hut, H.Q. were moved to a
cellar, used as a dressing-station, where the doctor, Capt. C.F.
Lidderdale, made room for us.
During the evening the battalion got orders to be prepared to form a
defensive flank between Le Quesnoy Farm and Adinfer Wood. The enemy's
attacks had made progress on our left towards Ayette, and it was
feared that he might break through in that direction. Next morning,
however, March 28, still found us at Essarts. The battalion was
ordered to leave the trenches and to fall back behind the line of
batteries on the west of the wood. In order to get a view of what was
going on in front, I was sent by the Adjutant with two observers[17]
to a point east of the wood, and we dug ourselves in in some
partly-formed trenches there. In these trenches we stayed till well
on into the afternoon, sending in reports every half-hour of what we
could see to the H.Q. of the Infantry Brigade in Essarts. Evidently
the enemy had renewed his attacks, for there was heavy shelling all
along the front, and a number of shells again came in amongst the
batteries about Essarts. During the afternoon the 7th N.F. moved
forward to some trenches in support, on the ridge east of Essarts. And
there the observers joined them after dark. The firing had been hot
all day, but it now died down. And it really looked as if the enemy's
attacks had become exhausted for the time being.
This forward move by the battalion was, I found, preliminary to taking
over the front line trenches to the north and east of Bucquoy. And
shortly before midnight we moved out through the darkness and took
over these trenches.[18] The front line lay on the high ground beyond
the village. The H.Q. which we took over were in a mined dugout to the
west of the village. This dugout had been made by the Germans before
the end of 1916, and it was small but very deep. It soon became
unconscionably stuffy, as there was only one entrance. But it was
better than being in the open.
Next day the enemy kept fairly quiet, but the village was shelled
occasionally with heavy howitzers. I went out with two observers to
the high ground west of Dierville Farm. But we saw no movement by the
enemy's troops. Later on the enemy's guns became more active on the
roads, and the road leading back to Essarts received salvoes all day.
Orders came for our relief which was to start after dark. It was not
until 10 P.M. that the companies in the front line were relieved and
the H.Q. Company was free to move off. The journey to Fonquevillers,
where we were going, was not without interference from the enemy.
Hitherto I had had great luck in escaping being shelled on the roads
at night, but to-night my luck was out. As we moved back along the
road to Essarts--the doctor and I at the end of the column--a number
of gas-shells were dropped on the windward side of the road. They were
not thick enough to stop us, but they smelt very bad. As we approached
the cross-roads east of Essarts a 5.9-inch shell fell close by the
roadside. We had a shower of mud thrown over us by this shell, and
three more came in quick succession, but not quite so unpleasantly
close.
An incident also of a disagreeable kind occurred near the end of our
journey. Between Gommecourt and Fonquevillers we had to halt, until
the trenches allotted to us had been located. At this point the road
was packed with troops returning from the line; and some battalions
brought their cookers here, so that the road was crammed almost tight
with men and transport. For a long time nothing happened, but
eventually a German field battery fired several rapid salvoes of
shells enfilading the road. Fortunately the greater number fell
slightly wide of the road, but a few men in one of the Manchester
battalions were hit. It was however a lucky escape. After this the
road cleared quickly and we moved on into Fonquevillers. This village
had been badly knocked about in the early days of the war, and few
houses were in anything but ruins.
But there were still many cellars intact, and also a number of tin
huts built for the French refugees in 1917. Officers of Battalion H.Q.
were billeted in a cellar, and this was improved by mattresses,
tables, and chairs brought in from the huts outside. Here in spite of
intermittent shelling we got a much needed rest. But Fonquevillers was
no place for a permanent rest cure. The village was shelled on and off
all day, and several of our men were hit. I assisted the Adjutant,
Capt. S.P. Brook-Booth, M.C., to collect a supply of early vegetables
from the little gardens; and the officers in our reserve camp at
Souastre thoughtfully sent up a couple of cooked chickens and a few
other luxuries, so that evening we had something in the nature of a
feast. Next morning, March 31, Lieut. Johnston, temporarily in command
of A Company got a shell splinter through his hand and had to be sent
back. I was then put in command of A Company and left Battalion H.Q.,
so that for some days the observers were not under my charge. About
this time L.-C. Flynn, one of the observers, was seriously wounded by
a shell, and we learnt later on that he died of his wounds. It was an
unlucky affair, for he was one of the best observers. But I had no
further casualties for a long time. I found A Company quartered in a
line of old trenches between Gommecourt Wood and Fonquevillers. I
believe they were part of the old British front line before the Somme
battle started. Accommodation was very limited, and I found the other
officers of A Company,[19] four in number, with their batmen and cook
all crowded together in a small shelter. It was as may be imagined
uncomfortably hot at times, especially during the night, part of which
I spent in the trench outside. We only got a few shells from the enemy
here, his attention was directed more to the village behind us and
Gommecourt Wood in front.
On April 1 we got orders to proceed after dark to the front line
trenches at Bucquoy--A Company was to hold those on the left, with B
Company to their right. We were also given a route, but in the
darkness it was difficult to find and it led to a curious incident on
our journey forward. We assembled the company on the road outside
Gommecourt and made towards the village as fast as the crowded state
of the road would allow. Happily we were not shelled here, but there
were signs on the road that others had not been so fortunate. When we
reached Gommecourt, a mere ruin now of broken trees and buildings, we
were clear of the press of transport and troops. We turned south-east
hoping to strike a tramway running towards Biez Wood. Nothing,
however, could we see of the tramway, and we could only push on,
hoping to find it. After going on awhile we certainly seemed to be
reaching a rather queer place, for we saw our men setting out wire,
and a rather scared little man appeared out of the darkness and told
us that 'Jerry was over there,' pointing down the road. We did not
stop for this, but when a German Verey light shot up almost under our
noses, we decided that we had indeed come too far and that it was time
to turn back. This we did without waste of time and retraced our steps
to Gommecourt. I was expecting any minute to hear a machine-gun open
on us down the road. But if 'Jerry' was there in any force he had
decided to keep quiet, and we got safely back to Gommecourt. After
this experience we took a way that we knew, although it was not the
one laid down for us. And after a long march in the dark we struck the
Essarts-Bucquoy Road, and found our guides awaiting us on the road
near Bucquoy. Whilst this relief was going on our field batteries kept
up a hot fire on the enemy's front, but he made no reply.
The guides took us by a winding route through the north end of Bucquoy
to the trenches, which consisted of an old German drain, very straight
and about six feet deep. It ran parallel to the east side of the
village and about 200 yards from its outskirts. The Company H.Q. lay a
little way behind the front line and consisted of a short narrow slit
in the ground, roofed over with tin--one of the smallest shelters I
have ever been in. It was possible to sit down, but not to lie down,
and the floor was inches deep in cold mud. Here I found two very
disconsolate officers awaiting relief. They seemed to be nearly
perished with the cold and wet, and quite worn out by their cheerless
sojourn in the trenches. The trench lay on the slope of a slight hill,
the crest being about 200 yards away. The enemy were not close, their
position was out of sight and unknown. But to the left Logeast Wood
was clearly visible, and the enemy were known to be there. Our trench
ended abruptly on the left, and the nearest British troops on this
flank were some way off and more to the east, so that there was a
considerable gap in the line here. On the right of course we were in
touch with B Company, who were commanded by Lieut. Affleck, M.C., a
veteran of the Houthulst Forest battle, and one of our most
redoubtable warriors in the 7th N.F. I knew that I need not worry
about my right flank! No smoke from fires could be allowed in the
trenches, and cooking had to be done over small fires of fine wood
splinters. When morning came it was possible to have a better look
round. All the reserve ammunition, about 5000 rounds, had been pulled
out of the boxes, and the bandoliers were mostly buried in the mud. It
was a great business clearing the trench of mud and salvaging and
cleaning the ammunition. The enemy did not know where we were. All
morning three of his aeroplanes, flying low, hovered about our little
trench, occasionally firing bursts at us with their machine-guns. We
only replied with an occasional shot, and of course they could not
tell where that came from. At any rate the German guns let the trench
alone and poured a stream of heavy shells all day and night into the
village behind us and into the hedges at the east end. The fact
appeared quite clearly later on that the enemy could not locate our
front line. A messenger dog, belonging to the enemy, was captured at
this time near Bucquoy, bearing a message in German as follows: 'The
affair of Bucquoy is off for the present, as we don't know where Tommy
is.' It was well indeed for our two companies that the drain trench
was not suspected by the enemy. There were no traverses in it from one
end to the other, and a very few well-aimed shells would have blown us
to pieces.
That night (April 2) the British forces made a counter-attack at
Ayette and drove the enemy as far back as the old hangars at
Moyenneville. Seen from the trenches at Bucquoy it was a fine sight.
The enemy put up all kinds of coloured lights, including silhouette
lights and 'flaming onions' both orange and mauve.
Meanwhile we of the 7th N.F. undertook a small venture against certain
parties of the enemy that had been seen and sniped at from B Company's
trench. These parties were busy digging trenches about 400 yards away
to our front. Soon after dark 2nd-Lieuts. J. Dodds and J.H. Edmunds
took out a raiding party of over twenty men in order to secure a
prisoner if possible. As it turned out this was done quickly enough
and without firing a shot.
For on the party creeping forward to the wire belt at the top of the
hill, a German N.C.O. walked towards them, was surprised by 2nd-Lieut.
Dodds, and surrendered without a struggle. He was already slightly
wounded, and had come forward perhaps to have a look at the wire. He
was brought back at once to the trench, and it fell to me to examine
the man and to remove all papers from him except his pay-book and
identity disc. I went out and examined him in a mixture of such broken
French and German as I could summon at so short a notice. I also went
through his papers with the aid of lighted matches. After this he was
sent down under escort to Battalion H.Q., and thence to D.H.Q.
It proved to be a useful capture, for it showed that a fresh German
division had arrived opposite our front. Later on 2nd-Lieut. Dodds was
awarded the Military Cross for the capture. Early next morning (April
3) the Division sent orders that I should return with the Divisional
observers to the rear. So I left the trench in charge of 2nd-Lieut. N.
Holt and went back with my servant through Bucquoy, taking care to
avoid certain large shells which were falling every now and then about
the village. Calling at Battalion H.Q. I found that the observers were
now in some trenches about half a mile farther back in the direction
of Essarts. I soon found them, however, and whilst waiting for them
to get ready I was hospitably supplied with some whisky and soda by
the officers of one of the Lancashire Regiments.
At last we set off in small parties towards Gommecourt, our
destination being Souastre, a long march for tired men. Whilst passing
Biez Wood we came in for some rather unpleasant attention from the
enemy's artillery, whose observers could see movement at this spot all
too well. However we got away at last without mishap and collected
again short of Gommecourt, where we halted for a meal of bully and
biscuit. Eventually after passing through Gommecourt and Fonquevillers
we struggled on to Souastre, very footsore and completely worn out.
From March 23 onwards it had been one long strain, heavy marching most
days and, with few exceptions, sleepless nights. For myself I was a
very tramp, boots worn to pieces, clothes hanging with mud, and thick
with mud up to the eyes. Undoubtedly it was the most trying experience
physically that I have ever been through. At Souastre I called at rear
Battalion H.Q., where Capt. Herriott of B Company kindly lent me his
rubber boots and some clean socks, a great luxury and comfort. Then I
went on to the Officers' Hut at the battalion reserve camp, and was
able to lie down and sleep till well on into the next day. Souastre
was not a bad place to rest, for it was shelled only very occasionally
with long-range guns.
The following afternoon (April 4) Capt. Kirsopp came to see me and he
brought a motor-car. He wished to reconnoitre a 'battle O.P.,' i.e. a
place in the back area from which to observe enemy shelling of the
forward areas or enemy attacks on our line. I was told that things
were expected to happen next day; and I was instructed to find a post
where I could see what was going on, somewhere in the neighbourhood of
the Château de la Haie.
In the morning (April 5) I went with Corp. Walker and L.-C. Cowen to
the Bayencourt Ridge, south of the château, and we got into a small
trench. Things certainly were happening, for the enemy was scattering
his heavy high-velocity shells broadcast over the country. He seemed
to direct them chiefly against our battery positions and the roads and
trenches in rear of Fonquevillers and Sailly-au-Bois. The number of
these shells was unusually large; but later on towards 10 A.M. things
began to quieten down in the back area. What had happened was this.
The 37th Division with the assistance of tanks made a counter-attack
on Rossignol Wood. The Germans had prepared to make another of their
grand attacks that same morning. But it was anticipated by about half
an hour. The result was a fierce struggle in which we gained a little
ground and a certain number of prisoners. The German attack therefore
came to nothing, and this proved to be his last attempt of a serious
kind on our part of the front. Anxiety was not however, at an end for
many days to come.
During the next few days the observers held a battle O.P. near the
orchard in Fonquevillers. It was a long walk from Souastre and back,
but fairly quiet, for it could be reached by going across country and
avoiding the sorely harassed roads.
On April 8 the 42nd Division was taken back for a short rest to the
area round Authie.
FOOTNOTES:
[17] Ptes. Fail and Ewart.
[18] Major V. Merivale, M.C. (C Company), Capt. Herriott (B Company),
and Lieut. P. Cole (A Company) were, I think, in charge of the three
companies.
[19] Second-Lieuts. N. Holt, C.R. King, J. Dodds, and J. Lassey.
XXXII
TRENCH WARFARE--HÉBUTERNE
During Divisional rest the observers were attached for rations and
accommodation to the H.Q. Company of the 7th N.F. We marched back,
therefore, with the battalion through Couin and St. Leger to Authie.
We found nice billets awaiting us in this pleasant French village,
which was too far from the enemy to be afflicted with shell fire. It
was full of French civilians, and the small shops had various little
luxuries to which we had been unused for some time. From Authie Woods
to Bayencourt ran the 'Red Line' trenches, a sort of 'last-but-one'
reserve line, which had been hastily dug by Chinese labourers and were
still only about four feet deep. We did not stay long at Authie, for
the billets were wanted to accommodate French troops who were being
hurried northwards to the battle now raging about Kemmel.
On April 12 the 7th N.F. moved forward to the village of Coigneux and
H.Q. were established in a French estaminet. There were civilians here
too, but the village was liable to be shelled and half of them had
gone away. A distressing attack of tooth-ache took me twice to the
C.C.S. near Doullens. I found that town more deserted than it used to
be, for the Germans had shelled and bombed it vigorously since their
offensive started.