EARLY EXPERIENCES.
26th Feb., 1915. 16th June, 1915.
After spending the greater part of the day (the 26th February) lounging
about the Hangars at Southampton, we at length embarked late in the
afternoon--Headquarters and the right half battalion in S.S. Duchess of
Argyle, left half, under Major Martin, in S.S. Atalanta. The transport,
under Capt. Burnett, was due to sail later in S.S. Mazaran, since
torpedoed in the Channel, but they embarked at the same time as the
rest. Four other ships containing Divisional Headquarters and some of
the Sherwood Foresters were to sail with us, and at 9 p.m., to the
accompaniment of several syrens blowing "Farewell," we steamed out, S.S.
Duchess of Argyle leading. The Captain of the ship asked us to post a
signaller to read any signals, Serjt. Diggle was told to keep a look out
and assist the official signaller, a sort of nondescript Swede or other
neutral, like the rest of the crew. We soon sighted some war vessel, and
asked if they had any orders, the reply being, according to Serjt.
Diggle, "No go"--according to the Swede, "No no." The Captain preferred
to believe the latter, and as there were no orders continued his course,
though we could see the remainder of our little fleet turn round and
sail back. The weather was appalling, the sea very rough, and long
before we had reached half way we were all very ill. This was not
surprising, as our transport was built for pleasure work on the Clyde,
and, though fast, was never intended to face a Channel storm. Each time
a wave crashed into the ship's side we imagined we had been torpedoed;
in fact, it was one long night of concentrated misery.
We reached Le Havre in the early hours of the morning, and disembarked,
feeling, and probably looking, very bedraggled. From the quay we crawled
up a long and terribly steep hill to the rest camp--some lines of tents
in a muddy field. Here, while we waited 24 hours for our left half
Battalion, of whom we had no news, we were joined by our first
interpreter, M. Furby. M. Furby was very anxious to please, but
unfortunately failed to realise the terrible majesty of the Adjutant, a
fact which caused his almost immediate relegation to the Q.M. Stores,
where he always procured the best billets for Capt. Worley and himself.
On the morning of the 28th we received an issue of sheepskin coats and
extra socks, the latter a present from H.M. the Queen, and after dinners
moved down to the Railway Station, where we found Major Martin and the
left half. Their experiences in the Channel had been worse than ours.
Most of them, wishing to sleep, had started to do so before the ship
left Southampton on the 26th; they were almost all ill during the night,
so were glad to find a harbour wall outside their port-holes the
following morning, and at once went on deck "to look at France"--only to
find they were back in Southampton. They stayed there all day, and
eventually crossed the next night, arriving on the 28th, feeling as bad
as we did, and having had all the horrors of two voyages.
We were kept waiting many hours on the platform, while the French
Railway staff gradually built an enormous train, composed of those
wonderful wagons labelled "HOMMES 36-40, CHEVAUX EN LONG 8,"
which we now saw for the first time. Hot in summer, cold in winter,
always very hard and smelly, and full of refuse, they none the less
answered their purpose, and a French troop train undoubtedly carries the
maximum number of men in the minimum of accommodation. During this long
wait we should all have starved had it not been for the kindness of an
English lady, Mrs. Sidney Pitt, who, with other English ladies, served
out an unlimited supply of tea and buns to all. Eventually at 5 p.m. our
train was ready, and we entrained--all except two platoons, for whom
there was no room. The transport was loaded on to flats which were
hooked on behind our wagons, and we finally started up country at about
7 o'clock. The train moved slowly northwards all night, stopping for a
few minutes at Rouen, and reaching Abbeville just as dawn broke at 7
a.m. Here, amidst a desolation of railway lines and tin sheds, we stayed
for half an hour and stretched our cramped limbs, while six large
cauldrons provided enough hot tea for all. From this point our progress
became slower, and the waits between stations proportionally longer,
until at last we reached a small village, where, according to our train
orders, we should stop long enough to water horses. This we began to do,
when suddenly, without any whistling or other warning, the train moved
on, and Major Martin and Captain Burnett, who were with the horses, only
just managed to catch the train, and had to travel the next stage on a
flat with a limber. At St. Omer we were told where we should detrain, a
fact hitherto concealed from us, and eventually at 2-35 p.m. in a
blizzard and snow storm we reached Arneke, detrained at once, and
marched about five miles to the little village of Hardifort, where we
arrived in the dark.
We were, of course, entirely inexperienced at this time, and in the
light of subsequent events, this, our first attempt at billeting, was a
most ludicrous performance. The Battalion halted on the road in fours
outside the village, at the entrance to which stood a group headed by
the C.O. with a note-book; behind him was the Mayor--small, intoxicated
and supremely happy, the Brigade Interpreter, M. Löst, with a list of
billets, and the Adjutant, angry at having caught a corporal in the act
of taking a sly drink. Around them was a group of some dozen small boys
who were to act as guides. The Interpreter read out a name followed by a
number of officers and men; the C.O. made a note of it and called up the
next platoon; the Mayor shouted the name at the top of his voice, waved
his arms, staggered, smacked a small boy, and again shouted, at which
from three to five small boys would step out and offer to guide the
platoon, each choosing a different direction. How we ever found our
homes is still a mystery, and yet by 10 p.m. we were all comfortably
settled in quarters. We were joined the next morning by the two
remaining platoons, 2nd Lieuts. Mould and Farrer.
The billets were slightly re-arranged as soon as daylight enabled us to
see where we were, and we soon settled down and made ourselves
comfortable, being told that we should remain at Hardifort until the 4th
March, when we should go into trenches for a week's instruction with
some Regular Division. We had nothing much to do except recover from
the effects of our journey, and this, with good billets and not too bad
weather, we soon did. The remainder of our Brigade had not yet arrived,
so we were attached temporarily to the Sherwood Foresters, whose 8th
Battalion was also absent, and with them on the 4th moved off Eastwards,
having the previous day received some preliminary instructions in trench
warfare from General Montagu-Stuart-Wortley, who spoke to all the
officers.
Preceded by our billeting party, which left at 5 a.m., we marched from
Hardifort at 9 a.m., and, passing through Terdeghen, reached the main
road at St. Sylvestre Capel, and went along it to Caestre. On the way we
met General Smith-Dorrien, our Army Commander, and while the Battalion
halted he talked to all the officers, gave us some very valuable hints,
and then watched the Battalion march past, having impressed us all with
his wonderful kindness and charm of manner. At Caestre we found motor
buses waiting for us, and we were glad to see them, for though no one
had fallen out, we were somewhat tired after marching nine miles,
carrying, in addition to full marching order, blankets, sheepskin coats
and some extra warm clothing. The buses took us through Bailleul and
Nieppe to Armentières, at that time a town infested with the most
appalling stinks and very full of inhabitants, although the front line
trenches ran through the eastern suburbs. Having "debussed," we marched
to le Bizet, a little village a mile north of the town, and stayed there
in billets for the night. During the evening we stood outside our
billets, gazed at the continuous line of flares and listened to the
rifle fire, imagining in our innocence that there must be a terrific
battle with so many lights.
The next day our instruction started, and for four days we worked hard,
trying to learn all we could about trench warfare from the 12th Brigade,
to whom we were attached. While some went off to learn grenade throwing,
a skilled science in those days when there was no Mills but only the
"stick" grenades, others helped dig back lines of defence and learned
the mysteries of revetting under the Engineers. Each platoon spent 24
hours in the line with a platoon either of the Essex Regt., King's Own
or Lancashire Fusiliers, who were holding the sector from "Plugstreet"
to Le Touquet Station. It was a quiet sector except for rifle fire at
night, and it was very bad luck that during our first few hours in
trenches we lost 2nd Lieut. G. Aked, who was killed by a stray bullet in
the front line. There was some slight shelling of back areas with
"Little Willies," German field gun shells, but these did no damage, and
gave us in consequence a useful contempt for this kind of projectile.
Trench mortars were not yet invented, and we were spared all heavy
shells, so that, when on the 9th we left Armentières, we felt confident
that trenches, though wet and uncomfortable, were not after all so very
dreadful, and that, if at any time we should be asked to hold the line,
we should acquit ourselves with credit.
Our next home was the dirty little village of Strazeele, which we
reached by march route, and where we found Lieut. E.G. Langdale who
rejoined us, having finished his disembarkation duties. Here we occupied
five large farm houses, all very scattered and very smelly, the
smelliest being Battalion Headquarters, called by Major Martin "La Ferme
de L'Odeur affreuse." The Signalling officer attempted to link up the
farms by telephone, but his lines, which consisted of the thin
enamelled wire issued at the time, were constantly broken by the
farmers' manure carts, and the signallers will always remember the place
with considerable disgust. One farmer was very pleased with himself,
having rolled up some 200 yards of our line under the impression that
all thin wire must be German. The rest of the Brigade had now arrived,
and the other three Battalions were much annoyed to find that we were
already experienced soldiers--a fact which we took care to point out to
them on every possible occasion. Our only other amusement was the
leg-pulling of some newspaper correspondents, who, as the result of an
interview, made Major Martin a "quarry official," and Lieut. Vincent a
poultry farmer of considerable repute!
On the 11th March we marched to Sailly sur la Lys, better known as
"Sally on the loose," where with the Canadian Division we should be in
reserve, though we did not know it, for the battle of Neuve Chapelle.
The little town was crowded before even our billeting party arrived, and
it was only by some most brazen billet stealing, which lost us for ever
the friendship of the Divisional Cyclists, that we were able to find
cover for all, while many of the Lincolnshires had to bivouac in the
fields. Here we remained during the battle, but though the Canadians
moved up to the line, we were not used, and spent our time standing by
and listening to the gun fire. A 15" Howitzer, commanded by Admiral
Bacon and manned by Marine Artillery, gave us something to look at, and
it was indeed a remarkable sight to watch the houses in the
neighbourhood gradually falling down as each shell went off. There was
also an armoured train which mounted three guns, and gave us much
pleasure to watch, though whether it did any damage to the enemy we
never discovered. Finally, on the 16th, having taken no part in the
battle, we marched to some farms near Doulieu, and thence on the 19th to
a new area near Bailleul, including the hamlets of Nooteboom, Steent-je
(pronounced Stench), and Blanche Maison, where we stayed until the end
of the month, while the rest of the Brigade went to Armentières for
their tours of instruction.
Our new area contained some excellent farm houses, and we were very
comfortably billeted though somewhat scattered. The time was mostly
spent in training, which consisted then of trench digging and
occasionally practising a "trench to trench" attack, with the assistance
of gunners and telephonists, about whose duties we had learnt almost
nothing in England. General Smith Dorrien came to watch one of these
practices, and, though he passed one or two criticisms, seemed very
pleased with our efforts. We also carried out some extraordinarily
dangerous experiments with bombs, under Captain Ellwood of the
Lincolnshires and Lieut. A.G. de A. Moore, who was our first bomb
officer. It was just about this time that the Staff came to the
conclusion that something simpler in the way of grenades was required
than the "Hales" and other long handled types, and to meet this demand
someone had invented the "jam tin"--an ordinary small tin filled with a
few nails and some explosive, into the top of which was wired a
detonator and friction lighter. For practice purposes the explosive was
left out, and the detonator wired into an empty tin. Each day lines of
men could be seen about the country standing behind a hedge, over which
they threw jam tins at imaginary trenches, the aim and object of all
being to make the tin burst as soon as possible after hitting the
ground. We were given five seconds fuses, and our orders were, "turn the
handle, count four slowly, and then throw." Most soldiers wisely counted
four fairly rapidly, but Pte. G. Kelly, of "D" Company, greatly
distinguished himself by holding on well past "five," with the result
that the infernal machine exploded within a yard of his head,
fortunately doing no damage.
All this time we were about nine miles from the line, and were left in
peace by the Boche, except for a single night visit from one of his
aeroplanes, which dropped two bombs near Bailleul Station and woke us
all up. We did not know what they were at the time, so were not as
alarmed as we might otherwise have been. In fact "B" Company had a much
more trying time when, a few nights later, one of the cows at their
billet calved shortly after midnight. The sentry on duty woke Captain
Griffiths, who in turn woke the farmer and tried to explain what had
happened. All to no purpose, for the farmer was quite unable to
understand, and in the end was only made to realise the gravity of the
situation by the more general and less scientific explanation that "La
vache est malade."
On the 1st April we received a warning order to the effect that the
Division would take over shortly a sector of the line South of St. Eloi
from the 28th Division, and two days later we marched through Bailleul
to some huts on the Dranoutre-Locre road, where we relieved the
Northumberland Fusiliers in Brigade support. The same evening the
Company Commanders went with the C.O. and Adjutant to reconnoitre the
sector of trenches we were to occupy. It rained hard all night, and was
consequently pitch dark, so that the reconnoitring party could see very
little and had a most unpleasant journey, returning to the huts at 2
o'clock the next morning (Easter Day), tired out and soaked to the skin.
During the day the weather improved, and it was a fine night when at 10
p.m., the Battalion paraded and marched in fours though Dranoutre and
along the road to within half a mile of Wulverghem. Here, at "Packhorse"
Farm, we were met by guides of the Welsh Regiment (Col. Marden) and
taken into the line.
Our first sector of trenches consisted of two disconnected lengths of
front line, called trenches 14 and 15, behind each of which a few
shelters, which were neither organised for defence nor even
splinter-proof, were known as 14 S and 15 S--the S presumably meaning
Support. On the left some 150 yards from the front line a little
circular sandbag keep, about 40 yards in diameter and known as S.P. 1,
formed a Company Headquarters and fortified post, while a series of
holes covered by sheets of iron and called E4 dug-outs provided some
more accommodation--of a very inferior order, since the slightest
movement by day drew fire from the snipers' posts on "Hill 76." As this
hill, Spanbroek Molen on the map, which lies between Wulverghem and
Wytschaete was held by the Boche, our trenches which were on its slopes
were overlooked, and we had to be most careful not to expose ourselves
anywhere near the front line, for to do so meant immediate death at the
hands of his snipers, who were far more accurate than any others we have
met since. To add to our difficulties our trench parapets, which owing
to the wet were entirely above ground, were composed only of sandbags,
and were in many places not bullet proof. There were large numbers of
small farm houses all over the country (surrounded by their five-months'
dead live stock), and as the war had not yet been in progress many
months these houses were still recognizable as such. Those actually in
the line were roofless, but the others, wonderfully preserved, were
inhabited by support Companies, who, thanks to the inactivity of the
enemy's artillery, were able to live in peace though under direct
observation. In our present sector we found six such farms; "Cookers,"
the most famous, stood 500 yards behind S.P. 1, and was the centre of
attraction for most of the bullets at night. It contained a Company
Headquarters, signal office, and the platoon on the ground floor, and
one platoon in the attic! Behind this, and partly screened from view,
were "Frenchman's" occupied by Battalion Headquarters, "Pond" where half
the Reserve Company lived, and "Packhorse" containing the other half
Reserve and Regimental Aid Post. This last was also the burying ground
for the sector, and rendezvous for transport and working parties. Two
other farms--"Cob" and "T"--lay on the Wulverghem Road and were not used
until our second tour, when Battalion Headquarters moved into "Cob" as
being pleasanter than "Frenchman's," and "Pond" also had to be
evacuated, as the Lincolnshires had had heavy casualties there.
The enemy opposite to us, popularly supposed to be Bavarians, seemed
content to leave everything by day to his snipers. These certainly were
exceptionally good, as we learnt by bitter experience. By night there
was greater activity, and rifle bullets fell thickly round Cookers Farm
and the surrounding country. There were also fixed rifles at intervals
along the enemy's lines aimed at our communication tracks, and these,
fired frequently during the early part of the night, made life very
unpleasant for the carrying parties. There were no communication
trenches and no light railways, so that all stores and rations, which
could be taken by limbers as far as Packhorse Farm only, had to be
carried by hand to the front line. This was done by platoons of the
support and reserve companies who had frequently to make two or three
journeys during the night, along the slippery track past Pond Farm and
Cookers Corner--the last a famous and much loathed spot. There were
grids to walk on, but these more resembled greasy poles, for the slabs
had been placed longitudinally on cross runners, and many of us used to
slide off the end into some swampy hole. One of "B" Company's officers
was a particular adept at this, and fell into some hole or other almost
every night. These parties often managed to add to our general
excitement by discovering some real or supposed spy along their route,
and on one occasion there was quite a small stir round Cookers Farm by
"something which moved, was fired at, and dropped into a trench with a
splash, making its escape." A subsequent telephone conversation between
"Cracker" Bass and his friend Stokes revealed the truth that the
"something" was "a ----y great cat with white eyes."
Like the enemy's, our artillery was comparatively inactive. Our gunners,
though from their Observation Posts, "O.P.'s," on Kemmel Hill they could
see many excellent targets, were unable to fire more than a few rounds
daily owing to lack of ammunition; what little they had was all of the
"pip-squeak" variety, and not very formidable. Our snipers were quite
incapable of dealing with the Bavarians, and except for Lieut. A.P.
Marsh, who went about smashing Boche loophole plates with General
Clifford's elephant gun, we did nothing in this respect.
In one sphere, however, we were masters--namely, patrolling. At
Armentières we had had no practice in this art, and our first venture
into No Man's Land was consequently a distinctly hazardous enterprise
for those who undertook it--2nd Lieut. J.W. Tomson, Corpl. Staniforth,
Ptes. Biddles, Tebbutt, and Tailby, all of "A" Company (Toller). Their
second night in the line, in 15 trench, this little party crawled
between the two halves of a dead cow, and, scrambling over our wire,
explored No Man's Land, returning some half hour later. Others followed
their lead, and during the whole of our stay in this sector, though our
patrols were out almost every night, they never met a German.
We stayed in these trenches for a month, taking alternate tours of four
days each with the 4th Lincolnshires (Col. Jessop). We lost about two
killed and ten wounded each tour, mostly from snipers and stray bullets,
for we did not come into actual conflict with the enemy at all. Amongst
the wounded was C.S.M. J. Kernick, of "B" Company, whose place was taken
by H.G. Lovett. This company also lost Serjt. Nadin, who was killed a
few weeks later.
Although we fought no pitched battles, the month included several little
excitements of a minor sort, both in trenches and when out at rest. The
first of these was the appearance of a Zeppelin over Dranoutre, where we
were billeted. Fortunately only one bomb dropped anywhere near us, and
this did no damage; the rest were all aimed at Bailleul and its
aerodromes. We all turned out of bed, and stood in the streets to look
at it, while many sentries blazed away with their rifles, forgetting
that it was many hundred feet beyond the range of any rifle.
By the middle of April the Staff began to expect a possible German
attack, and we "stood to" all night the 15/16th, having been warned that
it would be made on our front and that asphyxiating gases would be
used--we had, of course, no respirators. Two nights later the 5th
Division attacked Hill 60, and for four hours and a quarter, from 4 p.m.
to 8-15 p.m., we fired our rifles, three rounds a minute, with sights at
2,500 yards and rifles set on a bearing of 59°, in order to harass the
enemy's back areas behind the Hill--a task which later was always given
to the machine gunners. In those days it was a rare thing to hear a
machine gun at all, and ours scarcely ever fired. A week afterwards,
when out at rest, we heard that the second battle of Ypres had begun,
and learnt with horror and disgust of the famous first gas attack and
its ghastly results. Within a few days the first primitive respirators
arrived and were issued; they were nothing but a pad of wool and some
gauze, and would have been little use; fortunately we did not know this,
and our confidence in them was quite complete. On the 10th May, just
before we left the sector, we had a little excitement in the front line.
A German bombing party suddenly rushed "E1 Left," a rotten little
"grouse-butt" trench only 37 yards from the enemy, and held by the 4th
Leicestershires, and succeeded in inflicting several casualties before
they made off, leaving one dead behind them. This in itself was not
much, but both sides opened rapid rifle fire, and the din was so
terrific that supports were rushed up, reserves "stood to" to
counter-attack, and it was nearly an hour before we were able to resume
normal conditions. The following day we returned to the huts, where we
were joined by 2nd Lieut. L.H. Pearson who was posted to "A" Company;
2nd Lieut. Aked's place had already been filled by Lieut. C.F. Shields
from the Reserve Battalion. 2nd Lieut. G.W. Allen, who had been away
with measles, also returned to us during April.
Our next stay in the Locre huts can hardly be called a rest. First, on
the 12th May, the enemy raided the 4th Lincolnshires in G1 and G2
trenches, where, at "Peckham Corner," they hoped to be able to destroy
one of our mine galleries. The raid was preceded by a strong trench
mortar bombardment, during which the Lincolnshire trenches were badly
smashed about, and several yards of them so completely destroyed that
our "A" Company were sent up the next evening to assist in their repair.
They stayed in the line for twenty-four hours, returning to the huts at
4 p.m. on the 14th, to find that the rest of the Battalion was about to
move to the Ypres neighbourhood. The previous day the German attacks had
increased in intensity, and the cavalry who had been sent up to fill the
gap had suffered very heavily, among them being the Leicestershire
Yeomanry, who had fought for many hours against overwhelming odds,
losing Col. Evans-Freke and many others. There was great danger that if
these attacks continued, the enemy would break through, and consequently
all available troops were being sent up to dig a new trench line of
resistance near Zillebeke--the line afterwards known as the "Zillebeke
switch." None of us had ever been to the "Salient," but it was a well
known and much dreaded name, and most of us imagined we were likely to
have a bad night, and gloomily looked forward to heavy casualties.
Starting at 6-40 p.m., we went by motor bus with four hundred Sherwood
Foresters through Reninghelst, Ouderdom, and Vlamertinghe to
Kruisstraat, which we reached in three hours. Hence guides of the 4th
Gordons led us by Bridge 16 over the Canal and along the track of the
Lille Road. It was a dark night, and as we stumbled along in single
file, we could see the Towers of Ypres smouldering with a dull red glow
to our left, while the salient front line was lit up by bursting shells
and trench mortars. Our route lay past Shrapnel Corner and along the
railway line to Zillebeke Station, and was rendered particularly
unpleasant by the rifle fire from "Hill 60" on our right. The railway
embankment was high and we seemed to be unnecessarily exposing ourselves
by walking along the top of it, but as the guides were supposed to know
the best route we could not interfere. At Zillebeke Church we found
Colonel Jones, who came earlier by car, waiting to show us our work
which we eventually started at midnight; as we had to leave the Church
again at 1 a.m., to be clear of the Salient before daylight, we had not
much time for work. However, so numerous were the bullets that all
digging records were broken, especially by the Signallers, whose one
desire, very wisely, was to get to ground with as little delay as
possible, and when we left our work, the trench was in places several
feet deep. The coming of daylight and several salvoes of Boche shells
dissuaded us from lingering in the Salient, and, after once more
stumbling along the Railway Line, we reached our motor buses and
returned to the huts, arriving at 5-30 a.m. A May night is so short,
that the little digging done seemed hardly worth the casualties, but
perhaps we were not in a position to judge.
Two days later we went into a new sector, trenches on the immediate left
of the last Brigade sector, and previously held by the Sherwood
Foresters. The front line consisting of trenches "F4, 5 and 6," "G1 and
2", was more or less continuous, though a gap between the "F's" and
"G's," across which one had to run, added a distinct element of risk to
a tour round the line. The worst part was Peckham Corner, where the
Lincolnshires had already suffered; for it was badly sighted, badly
built, and completely overlooked by the enemy's sniping redoubt on "Hill
76." In addition to this it contained a mine shaft running towards the
enemy's lines, some 40 yards away, and at this the Boche constantly
threw his "Sausages," small trench mortars made of lengths of stove
piping stopped at the ends. It was also suspected that he was
counter-mining. In this sector three Companies were in the front line,
the fourth lived with Battalion Headquarters, which were now at
Lindenhoek Châlet near the cross roads, a pretty little house on the
lower slopes of Mont Kemmel. Though the back area was better, the
trenches on the whole were not so comfortable as those we had left, and
during our first tour we had reason to regret the change. First, 2nd
Lieut. C.W. Selwyn, taking out a patrol in front of "F5," was shot
through both thighs, and, though wonderfully cheerful when carried in,
died a few days later at Bailleul. The next morning, while looking at
the enemy's snipers' redoubt, Captain J. Chapman, 2nd in Command of "D"
Company, was shot through the head, and though he lived for a few days,
died soon after reaching England. This place was taken by Lieut. J.D.A.
Vincent, and at the same time Lieut. Langdale was appointed 2nd in
Command of "C." There were also other changes, for Major R.E. Martin was
given Command of the 4th Battalion, and was succeeded as 2nd in Command
by Major W.S.N. Toller, while Captain C. Bland became skipper of "A"
Company.
During this same tour, the Brigade suffered its first serious disaster,
when the enemy mined and blew up trench "E1 left," held at the time by
the 5th Lincolnshire Regiment. This regiment had many casualties, and
the trench was of course destroyed, while several men were buried or
half-buried in the débris, where they became a mark for German snipers.
To rescue one of these, Lieut. Gosling, R.E., who was working in the G
trenches, went across to E1, and with the utmost gallantry worked his
way to the mine crater. Finding a soldier half buried, he started to dig
him out, and had just completed his task when he fell to a sniper's
bullet and was killed outright. As at this time the Royal Engineers'
Tunnelling Companies were not sufficient to cover the whole British
front, none had been allotted to this, which was generally considered a
quiet sector. Gen. Clifford, therefore, decided to have his own Brigade
Tunnellers, and a company was at once formed, under Lieut. A.G. Moore,
to which we contributed 24 men, coalminers by profession. Lieut. Moore
soon got to work and, so well did the "amateurs" perform this new task,
that within a few days galleries had been started, and we were already
in touch with the Boche underground. In an incredibly short space of
time, thanks very largely to the personal efforts of Lieut. Moore, who
spent hours every day down below within a few feet of the enemy's
miners, two German mine-shafts and their occupants were blown in by a
"camouflet," and both E1 left and E1 right were completely protected
from further mining attacks by a defensive gallery along their front.
For this Lieut. Moore was awarded a very well deserved Military Cross.
[Illustration: R.S.M. R.E. Small, D.C.M.]
[Illustration: R.Q.M.S R. Gorse, M.S.M.
R.S.M. H.G. Lovett, M.C., D.C.M.]
After the second tour in this sector we again made a slight change in
the line, giving up the "F" trenches and taking instead "G3", "G4,"
"G4a," "H1," "H2" and "H5," again relieving the Sherwood Foresters, who
extended their line to the left. Unfortunately, they still retained the
Doctor's House in Kemmel as their Headquarters, and, as Lindenhoek
Châlet was now too far South, Colonel Jones had to find a new home in
the village, and chose a small shop in one of the lesser streets. We had
scarcely been 24 hours in the new billet when, at mid-day, the 4th June,
the Boche started to bombard the place with 5.9's, just when Colonel
Jessop, of the 4th Lincolnshires, was talking to Colonel Jones in the
road outside the house, while an orderly held the two horses close by.
The first shell fell almost on the party, killing Colonel Jessop, the
two orderlies, Bacchus and Blackham, and both horses. Colonel Jones was
wounded in the hand, neck and thigh, fortunately not very seriously,
though he had to be sent at once to England, having escaped death by
little short of a miracle. His loss was very keenly felt by all of us,
for ever since we had come to France, he had been the life and soul of
the Battalion, and it was hard to imagine trenches, where we should not
receive his daily cheerful visit. We had two reassuring thoughts, one
that the General had promised to keep his command open for him as soon
as he should return, the second that during his absence we should be
commanded by Major Toller, who had been with us all the time, and was
consequently well known to all of us.
[Illustration: Bomb Corner, Ypres 1915.]
[Illustration: Bomb Corner, Ypres 1915.]
[Illustration: Barracks, Ypres 1915.]
(_Photos by Capt. C.R. Knighton._)
Meanwhile we had considerably advanced in our own esteem by having
become instructors to one of the first "New Army" Divisions to come to
France, the 14th Light Infantry Division, composed of three battalions
of Rifle Brigade and 60th, and a battalion of each of the British Light
Infantry Regiments. They were attached to us, just as we had been
attached to the 12th Brigade at Armentières, to learn the little details
of Trench warfare that cannot be taught at home, and their platoons were
with us during both our tours in the "G's" and "H's." They were composed
almost entirely of officers and men who had volunteered in August, 1914,
and their physique, drill and discipline were excellent--a fact which
they took care to point out to everybody, adding generally that they had
come to France "not to sit in trenches, but to capture woods, villages,
etc." We listened, of course, politely to all this, smiled, and went on
with our instructing. Many stories are told of the great pride and
assurance of our visitors, one of the most amusing being of an incident
which happened in trench "H2." Before marching to trenches the visiting
Platoon Commander had, in a small speech to his platoon, told them to
learn all they could from us about trenches, but that they must remember
that we were not regulars, and consequently our discipline was not the
same as theirs. All this and more he poured into the ears of his host in
the line, until he was interrupted by the entry of his Platoon Sergeant
to report the accidental wounding of Pte. X by Pte. Y, who fired a round
when cleaning his rifle. There was no need for the host to rub it in,
he heard no more about discipline.
Credit, however, must be given where credit is due, and the following
tour our visitors distinguished themselves. On the 15th June, at 9.10
p.m., when the night was comparatively quiet, the enemy suddenly blew up
a trench on our left, held by the Sherwood Foresters, at the same time
opening heavy rifle fire on our back areas and shelling our front line.
Captain Griffiths, who held our left flank with "B" Company, found that
his flank was in the air, so very promptly set about moving some of his
supports to cover this flank, and soon made all secure. Meanwhile Lieut.
Rosher, machine gun officer of the visiting Durham Light Infantry,
hearing the terrific din and gathering that something out of the
ordinary was happening, though he did not know what, slung a maxim
tripod over his shoulders, picked up a gun under each arm, and went
straightaway to the centre of activity--a feat not only of wonderful
physical strength, but considerable initiative and courage. We did not
suffer heavy casualties, but 2nd Lieut. Mould's platoon had their
parapet destroyed in one or two places, and had to re-build it under
heavy fire, in which Pte. J.H. Cramp, the Battalion hairdresser,
distinguished himself. Except for this one outburst on the part of the
Boche we had a quiet time, though Peckham Corner was always rather a
cause of anxiety, for neither R.E. nor the Brigade Tunnellers could
spare a permanent party on the mine shaft. Consequently, it was left to
the Company Commander to blow up the mine, and with it some of the
German trench, in case of emergency, and it was left to the infantry to
supply listeners down the shaft to listen for counter-mining. On one
occasion when Captain Bland took over the trench with "A" Company, he
found the pump out of order, the water rising in the shaft, and the
gallery full of foul air, all of which difficulties were overcome
without the R.E.'s help, by the courage and ingenuity of Serjeant
Garratt.
There was one remarkable feature of the whole of this period of the war
which cannot be passed over, and that was the very decided superiority
of our Flying Corps. During the whole of our three months in the Kemmel
area we never once saw a German aeroplane cross our lines without being
instantly attacked, and on one occasion we watched a most exciting
battle between two planes, which ended in the German falling in flames
into Messines, at which we cheered, and the Boche shelled us. Towards
the end of the war the air was often thick with aeroplanes of all
nationalities and descriptions, but in those days, before bombing
flights and battle squadrons had appeared, it was seldom one saw as many
as eight planes in the air at a time, and tactical formations either for
reconnaissance or attack seemed to be unknown; it was all "one man"
work, and each one man worked well.
On the night of the 16th June the Battalion came out of trenches and
marched to the Locre huts for the last time, looking forward to a few
days' rest in good weather before moving to the Salient, which we were
told was shortly to be our fate. We had been very fortunate in keeping
these huts as our rest billets throughout our stay in the sector, for
though a wooden floor is not so comfortable as a bed in a billet, the
camp was well sited and very convenient. The Stores and Transport were
lodged only a few yards away at Locrehof Farm, and Captain Worley used
to have everything ready for us when we came out of the line. During
the long march back from trenches, we could always look forward to hot
drinks and big fires waiting for us at the huts, while there was no more
inspiring sight for the officers than Mess Colour-Sergeant J. Collins'
cheery smile, as he stirred a cauldron of hot rum punch. Bailleul was
only two miles away, and officers and men used often to ride or walk
into the town to call on "Tina," buy lace, or have hot baths (a great
luxury) at the Lunatic Asylum. Dividing our time between this and
cricket, for which there was plenty of room around the huts, we
generally managed to pass a very pleasant four or six days' rest.