JANUARY TO JUNE, 1916.
The earlier half of 1916 is the least eventful period of the
Battalion’s history. The months in the Ypres Salient had reduced its
strength to a very low figure, and reinforcements arrived very slowly,
until just before the Battle of the Somme. From January to June there
is not one dramatic incident to record. With the exception of one tour
in the trenches near Authuille, the Battalion never went into the line.
Instead, it was employed mainly on various forms of pioneer work which,
though very useful in themselves, are of little interest now.
When the Battalion was finally withdrawn from the Ypres front on
December 20th, 1915, it moved back to Elverdinghe Chateau for a few
days. There Christmas was spent. Everything possible was done to make
the occasion a successful one. Plenty of money was forthcoming and
supplies were obtained from Poperinghe--then a much better place for
shopping than in later years. Tables, with calico for table-cloths,
were set up in the canteen hut, and dinner was served in three
sittings. Everything went off splendidly. Plates and glass had been
borrowed in Poperinghe, and these were much appreciated by the men, few
of whom had had a meal for many months, except from a mess tin.
While at Elverdinghe the Battalion was in Brigade Reserve. On December
27th it was relieved and moved by short marches through Poperinghe,
where a night was spent in houses in and around the Square, to
Houtkerque, arriving there on New Year’s Day. The men were billeted in
farms about a mile out of the town and were fairly comfortably housed.
Practically no training was attempted. It was realised that the men
needed rest more than anything else, and so they were given little to
do during their fortnight’s stay at Houtkerque.
On January 15th the Battalion marched to Wormhoudt. A band, equipped
mainly with Italian horns, had recently been formed; this helped to
enliven the march, particularly when the Brigadier’s horse took fright
at the unusual sight and noise, and bolted. Near the entrance to the
town General Sir H. Plumer was waiting to see the Battalion march past.
Most of the men were lodged in farms just outside Wormhoudt. They had a
royal time. They thronged the estaminets. They enjoyed the Divisional
Band, which played in the Square. Officers’ messes vied with one
another in the elaborate dinners they gave. All did their best to make
up for the hard time they had had at Ypres. As at Houtkerque, very
little training was done. Officers’ classes in Lewis gun and bombing,
under Sec.-Lieuts. W. N. Everitt, M.C. and H. H. Aykroyd respectively,
were a feature. The latter, it is rumoured, often developed into
throwing contests between the instructor and his pupils. On January
23rd some Battalion sports were held, the most interesting item on the
programme being a mule race for officers. This race was of the usual
type, neither saddle nor stirrups being allowed. Within a few yards of
the starting point most of the mules were riderless, Sec.-Lieut. A. E.
Mander in particular taking a beautiful dive over his mule’s head and
landing on his own. The race was won by Sec.-Lieut. J. G. Mowat, with
Sec.-Lieut. E. C. Mee second; practically no one else finished.
About this time the 147th Infantry Brigade Machine Gun Company was
formed. Until then machine guns had been battalion weapons. In future
they were to be the arm of a separate unit. To form the Company certain
officers and other ranks were taken from each battalion of the Brigade.
Lieut. G. W. I. Learoyd, Sec.-Lieut. E. Chisnall, six N.C.O’s and
twenty privates were sent by the Battalion. To replace the machine guns
which were thus taken away, each battalion received four Lewis guns. It
was the first time any of these weapons had been issued but, in course
of time, the number was gradually increased until, by the summer of
1918, the Battalion was in possession of no less than 36.
Just before the Battalion left Wormhoudt the G.O.C. Second Army
presented medal ribbons to a number of officers and other ranks of the
49th Division, and he took the opportunity to say good-bye to the men
who were about to leave his army. His farewell speech shows clearly how
much the work of the 49th Division was appreciated in the Second Army,
and is worth quoting in full:--
“General Perceval, Officers, Non-commissioned Officers and Men
who are representatives of the 49th Division.
This is a very pleasant ceremony to me, and I hope to you, with
which to finish for the time being my connection, and that of
the Second Army, with this Division.
I have had the pleasure on two occasions lately--one some weeks
ago when you came out of the Line, and one the other day when I
gave ribbons representing decorations to Officers, N.C.O’s and
Men of the Division after the recent Gas Attack--and on those
two occasions I expressed briefly, but I hope quite distinctly,
my appreciation of the way in which the 49th Division has
carried out the duties entrusted to them during the last few
months; but now that it is settled for the time being the 49th
Division is to leave the Second Army, and go to another area,
while I have nothing to add as regards appreciation of the
work you have done, I should like to say to you how sorry I am
that you are leaving the Second Army. At the same time I fully
realise that when a Division or any other Unit has undergone
a long, arduous and strenuous time in a particular part of
the Line, as the 49th has done, it is very desirable that
they should have a change of scene, if the military situation
admits of it, and that is the sole reason why you are quitting
the Second Army. I cannot expect you to share my regret; no
one so far as I know has felt any deep regret at quitting the
Ypres Salient; but, while you will not regret your change of
scene, when you look back on the time you have spent here,
notwithstanding the arduous time that you have gone through,
notwithstanding the losses of your comrades--which we all
deplore--you will, I hope, have some pleasant recollections to
take away with you of the time you have spent up here, and at
any rate you will, I know, have some pleasant memories to carry
away with you of your comrades of the Second Army. We, I can
assure you, will follow your doings with the deepest interest;
we are quite confident that no matter where you go you will not
only sustain but add to the reputation that you have already
won, and we shall always feel a kind of reflected glory when we
hear of the gallant deeds which I am quite sure that you are
going to accomplish both individually and as a Unit.
On behalf of the Second Army, I say good-bye to you, and I wish
you all--Officers, N.C.O’s and Men--the very best of luck.
Good-bye.”
On February 2nd the Battalion left Wormhoudt and the Second Army,
and moved to the Somme Area. Transport and personnel entrained at
Esquelbecq in the morning and, after the usual tedious journey, arrived
late at night at Longueav, near Amiens. There one company was left
behind, to assist in unloading the transport, while the rest of the
Battalion set off on a long and weary march to Ailly, where motor buses
were waiting to convey it to billets at Camps en Amienois. The men were
very tired when they arrived about 3-0 a.m. After a few days they moved
by stages to Warloy Baillon.
About a fortnight was spent at Warloy. The rolling downs and open
country of the Somme district were a very welcome change from the flat
clay of Flanders. The men were billeted in barns which were moderately
comfortable, but the weather was very bad, snow falling frequently.
A little time was devoted to training, but more to organisation and
interior economy. Occasionally working parties had to be found. These
were employed digging shallow trenches for buried cables, to the west
of Martinsart Wood, and had a march of one and a half hours each way to
their work.
The Commanding Officer started an officers’ riding school. All officers
attended, and every available hack was turned out. Several officers
were thrown, much to the amusement of the transport sergeant, who
laughed uproariously. One inexperienced horseman was heard gravely to
explain that his “horse had pushed him in the face with its paw.”
On February 28th the Battalion relieved the 1/4th Battalion King’s
Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, in the right sector of the Authuille
trenches. This sector is of some interest as being the most southerly
one ever held by the Battalion. At that time the British line, which
lay practically north and south from Thiepval Wood to near Authuille,
made a right-angled turn due east of the latter place, in order to
enclose Authuille Wood. The re-entrant thus formed was occupied, on
the enemy side, by the famous Leipsig Redoubt, the southern defence
of Thiepval village. The sector held by the Battalion was about six
hundred yards in length; it lay along the north side of Authuille Wood,
facing the Leipsig Redoubt, with its left on Campbell Avenue. This part
of the line had been taken over from the French not very long before.
The sector was in an appalling condition. The communication trenches
were full of water, which often reached to the top of one’s thigh
boots; they were not gridded and the hard lumps of chalk, which
littered the bottom, were very painful to men wearing gum-boots.
Everywhere, the line was very wet; some parts of D Company’s front
were quite impassable, and were left unoccupied. Pumps had to be kept
going night and day. The trenches were not revetted and were falling
in badly, so that all work had to be concentrated on the front line.
The awful weather that prevailed during the tour did not improve the
conditions. Snow fell frequently.
The enemy was fairly active. He was credited with a desire to
straighten out his line by cutting off the north-east corner of
Authuille Wood. Perhaps the similar designs of the British, on the
Leipsig Redoubt, suggested the idea. The front line was not much
annoyed by shelling, though on one occasion it was pretty heavily
“whizz-banged”; the hostile artillery fired mostly on the north-east
corner of the wood and the vicinity of Battalion H.Q. Medium trench
mortars were much in evidence, particularly during the afternoons;
but luckily, nearly all of them fell a few yards behind the front
line. There was no sniping--the conditions were too miserable--and
the machine guns were not very active. The Battalion did not adopt a
very offensive attitude. A fair amount of patrolling was done, and the
enemy was found to be rather active in No Man’s Land too; but no actual
encounters are recorded. This was the first time that Lewis guns had
been taken into the line, but they were not much used.
With its Ypres experience behind it, the Battalion naturally did
all that was possible for the comfort of the troops. There were,
unfortunately, several cases of trench feet, for the means of
prevention had not yet been reduced to the science which they became
later in the war. The method of cooking in the line was a great advance
on anything that had been in existence before. Each company had its own
trench kitchen; to it rations were sent up in bulk, and hot meals were
served regularly, being carried up to the front line by orderly men.
The tour came to an end on March 4th. It had been most uncomfortable,
but very few casualties had been suffered; the only one of importance
was Sec.-Lieut. F. H. Kelsall wounded. The condition of the
communication trenches was so bad that some companies went out over the
open. D Company lost its way in Authuille Wood and got nearly to Albert
before anyone discovered it was on the wrong road. One night was spent
in Bouzincourt and a second in Authuille village, in Brigade Reserve.
At the latter place the billets were awful, and the men had to rig up
their ground sheets to prevent the water pouring in through the roofs.
On March 6th the whole Battalion moved back to Mailly-Maillet.
With the move to Mailly-Maillet began a period of nearly four months,
during which the Battalion never went into the line. Instead, it
was employed on various forms of work, and had comparatively few
opportunities for training. It is the longest period it ever spent out
of action, while hostilities lasted. The billets at Mailly-Maillet
were not at all bad. The village had been very little shelled, though,
while the Battalion was there, enemy planes dropped some bombs on the
outskirts. Practically all the men were in houses; the rooms were often
quite bare but there were always fires. Training was impossible. Only
very small drafts were arriving and so the strength of the Battalion
was still very low. Practically every available man was required for
the large working parties which had to be provided.
[Illustration: Brig.-Genl. E. G. St. AUBYN, D.S.O.]
These working parties were in connection with mining operations to the
north-west of Beaumont Hamel, and were very strenuous. The Battalion
shared the duty with the 5th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt.,
each having twenty-four hours on and twenty-four hours off. During
the twenty-four hours of duty, three shifts, each consisting of two
officers and one hundred other ranks, had to be found. Each shift was
supposed to do eight hours’ continuous work, but it was not allowed
to stop until the next shift was ready to take its place; so late
arrivals became very unpopular. To take a typical shift, say one which
was due at the mines at 8-0 a.m. The party paraded at 6-15 a.m. and
marched to Auchonvillers. From that point it had to carry timber,
sandbags and other R.E. material, required in the mines, up a long
communication trench. Arriving at the mine at 8-0 a.m., the men had to
work continuously until 4-0 p.m. The work was very hard. The men were
formed into a chain from the mine face, along a tunnel, and then up the
steps of the shaft. Their work consisted of throwing or passing the
sandbags of “spoil” from the mine face up to the open, where a further
party disposed of them. It can be imagined how monotonous the work was,
and how tired the men were at the end of a shift. Then they had another
one and a half hours of marching back to billets.
This work was not entirely free from danger. The enemy was known to be
counter-mining and, at any time, he might explode his mine. Every now
and then all work would be stopped, and there would be absolute silence
while experts listened for sounds of the enemy working. Fortunately,
there was no untoward incident while the Battalion was engaged on
the work. But once some casualties were suffered, though from a very
different cause. The trenches, in which the mining was being carried
on, were held by a battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles. One night, the
enemy put down a heavy artillery and trench mortar barrage, and raided
the line. The working party had to cease work and stand to. It did
not come into action, but one man was killed and three wounded by the
barrage.
All were glad to leave Mailly-Maillet and the mines. On March 29th the
Battalion marched to Harponville, and the next day to Naours. This
second day’s march was a very long one, but the day was splendid, and a
hard frost had put the road in good condition. When the Battalion was
met by the Divisional Band near Naours, everyone freshened up, and the
last stage of the march was a great success. All who were there look
back on their stay at Naours with pleasure. The billets were good, the
surrounding country delightful, and beautiful spring weather continued
almost throughout. The “Tykes”--the recently-formed Divisional Concert
Party--were there the whole time. On April 14th, the first anniversary
of the Battalion’s landing in France, they gave a special performance
to the “old originals.” Of these, there were about 340 still serving
at that time. There was plenty of sport, particularly football. Above
all, there were no working parties. A good deal of training was done,
special attention being paid to instruction in the Lewis gun, and
to company and other close order drill. There was practice in the
assembly, the attack, and consolidation, over taped-out trenches;
for already preparations for the Somme Battle were in progress. But
all training was carried out during the morning; the afternoons were
entirely devoted to sport. Altogether, the Battalion had a “real good
time” at Naours, in spite of the Medical Officer, who insisted on
inoculating everyone.
On April 23rd the Battalion moved by motor bus to Hedauville, and then
followed two months of working parties in the area held by the 36th
Division. All this work was in preparation for the attack which was
soon to be launched, in conjunction with the French. The Battalion’s
first job was the digging of assembly trenches in Aveluy Wood. Daily
the men were taken up by motor bus as far as Bouzincourt, and marched
from thence to their work. It was all task work and the tasks were very
heavy. The ground was full of roots, which greatly hindered digging,
and, a foot or two below the surface, much flint was encountered. But
very good work was done in spite of these difficulties. There Capt.
C. Jones, C.F., first became prominent. He had not been long with the
Brigade, but he soon became very popular with the men, taking a shovel
himself and digging with the best of them, in all weathers.
The life in the woods was really quite enjoyable, in spite of
occasional spells of rain. Hedauville Wood was full of nightingales,
and many men sat out at night to listen to their song. Beetles also
abounded and were not so much appreciated; often it was necessary to
get up at night to catch enormous flying specimens of these insects.
Strange to say, the enemy artillery made little attempt to harass
troops in the area. The Germans must have had a good idea of the attack
which was impending. They had good ground observation and plenty of
aeroplanes. Martinsart village was crowded with troops and, in the
evenings, there were sometimes thousands in its streets. Yet it was
never shelled.
It is unnecessary to go into full details about this period. Most of
the work was much of the same type. Digging was done both in Aveluy and
Martinsart Woods; the Battalion was billeted first in one and then in
the other, in order to be near its work. Once it had to carry up gas
cylinders for an operation of the 32nd Division. Perhaps this job was
the indirect cause of a gas alarm which occurred two nights later. At
any rate, someone thought he heard a Strombos horn, and there was great
confusion for a time as few could find their gas helmets.
About the middle of June the Battalion started work in Thiepval Wood,
digging assembly trenches off Elgin Avenue. There it was sometimes
annoyed by shelling, and a few casualties were suffered. On June 24th
the work came to an end and the Battalion moved back, taking with it
the thanks and congratulations of the G.O.C., 36th Division, under whom
it had been working.
The time had almost come when the Battalion was again to take its
place in the line. For six months it had done little but pioneer
work, with occasional periods of training, and one trench tour.
During all that time its fighting, or perhaps it would be better to
say “working,” strength had been very low, for the wastage in the
Ypres Salient had never been made good. Now that it was destined
for battle, reinforcements were imperative. On June 24th a draft of
52 other ranks arrived; five days later a further draft, 258 other
ranks strong, joined. Many of these were experienced soldiers, who
had served earlier in the war with other regiments; among them was a
fair sprinkling of old Regulars, who had landed at St. Nazaire with
the 6th Division, during the Battle of the Marne. They were fine
material, but it was a pity they had not been sent earlier. Not only
would they have been of the greatest use in the pioneer work of the
last two months, but officers and N.C.O’s would not have had to lead
into battle so large a proportion of men of whose very names they were
ignorant. To incorporate such numbers of reinforcements, in the short
time available, meant much hard work. Thus, the two days which preceded
that fateful--and fatal--July 1st were very strenuous ones for the
Battalion.