ST. ELIE LEFT.
4th July, 1917. 23rd Nov., 1917.
We stayed for three weeks at Monchy Breton and enjoyed ourselves
immensely, with good weather, good billets and plenty of games. The
Headquarters lived and messed at M. le Curé's, where they consumed a
disgraceful amount of strawberries and cream, while the other officers
under Captain Burnett messed together in another house. But the chief
feature of this period of rest was the Divisional Rifle meeting, a
regular Bisley meeting, which took place at the end of it. It was a
triumph for the 5th Leicestershires, for we carried off amongst other
trophies the G.O.C.'s Cup. R.S.M. Small, D.C.M., had one "first" and two
"seconds," Corporal F.H.J. Spencer, M.M., one "first" and one "second,"
in the individual competitions, while Serjt. Clancy and Pte. F. Bindley
won the assault course and individual "pools." On the second day "A" and
"B" Companies each got third place in the Company Assault Course and
Snap-shooting Competitions, and "C" was second in the Company
"Knock-out" and third in the "running man" competitions. In this last
Pte. Pepper won third place in the pool. Finally our officers' team won
the revolver shoot. The rifle shooting throughout both days was of a
very high order, but the same cannot be said for the revolver work, and
we only won this last competition by being not quite so terribly bad as
anybody else.
On the 20th of July we received orders to go into action again--this
time to a quiet sector near Hulluch--and the following day we moved to
Vaudricourt. The C.O. and most of the officers went by motor-'bus
through to Philosophe to reconnoitre the new line; the rest of the
Battalion set out under Captain Burnett to march. The previous evening
had been spent in celebrating our rifle-shooting victories and we felt
like anything rather than marching twenty miles under a blazing July
sun. Those who took part in it will never forget that march; it was
worse than "Luton to Ware" in 1914. Packs seemed heavier than ever
before, the hill at Houdain was too much for many, and the beer and
white wine of the previous evening proved stronger than march
discipline, and many fell out. We finally crawled into Vaudricourt at
4-0 p.m.--tired out.
The following evening our Transport lines and Quartermaster's Stores
moved to Labourse and we went into the line, relieving the 2nd York and
Lancaster Regiment in the Hulluch right sector. For six days we lived in
tunnels, with a front line which consisted of odd isolated posts at the
end of each passage. The old front line trench seemed to have
disappeared entirely. We were not much worried by the enemy, in fact,
except for one trench mortar near Hulluch, called the "Goose," he kept
very quiet. At the end of the tour we were relieved by the 4th Battalion
and went into billets at Noeux les Mines.
Noeux was not shelled during our stay, so we had a peaceful time, though
one officer was somewhat troubled on waking the first morning to find
attached to his house the following notice: "THIS CROSS ROADS IS
REGISTERED. NO PARTIES TO HALT HERE." We did not stay long,
however, for on the 30th July we were suddenly ordered to move to
Fouquières to prepare for a coming raid, and marched there during the
afternoon, Battalion Headquarters to the Chateau, Companies to the
village. For some reason best known to himself the billeting officer had
billeted all officers with the wrong companies, but this was soon
rectified, and we were very comfortable.
Our coming raid was to be carried out against the enemy's trenches West
of Hulluch on a frontage of 300 yards. The sector chosen was bounded on
the North by Hendon and on the South by Hicks Alley, while Herring Alley
was in the centre. There were three German lines, and on the left a
small extra line between the first and second, which we named Hinckley
Trench. The scheme was for two Companies to take and hold the German
third line, one Company to mop up behind them, and the fourth Company to
follow with some Engineers to demolish dug-outs. One of the forward
Companies would have to send a special party to deal with the "Goose"
trench mortar. All wire cutting would be done by the Artillery, who were
allowed a fortnight for it, so that they might not excite the enemy too
much by heavy shooting. During this time we were to detail an officer to
stay in the line, watch the shooting, and patrol the gaps at night. We
would also practise the attack over a flagged course.
The flagged course was set out very elaborately at Hesdigneul, and not
only was each trench shown, but small notice boards denoted the position
of every supposed machine gun, trench mortar, or deep dug-out. Practices
took place first by day and finally by night, for the raid was to be a
night attack, and various lamp signals were arranged to assist the
withdrawal. The position of Hulluch village was indicated on the
practice ground by a large notice board--HULLUCH--which
probably gave any spies there might be in Hesdigneul a very fair idea of
what was intended.
Meanwhile, we received various reinforcements. Lieut. G.E. Russell
returned, 2nd Lieut. W.M. Cole came from the Artists' Rifles, 2nd
Lieuts. R.W. Edge, T.R.L. Gibson, R.B. Rawson, C.P. Shilton, R.W.
Sanders, L.W. Mandy, and J.S. Plumer came to us for the first time from
England. At the same time a large party of men, arriving at Monchy
Breton, had enabled us to reconstitute "C" Company, so that we now had
four Companies of three platoons each, and enough officers for two
Battalions. Lieut. Pearson went to Hospital and thence to England, and
Capt. Wollaston acted Adjutant. The Company Commanders were unchanged.
For the second week of our fortnight we slightly relaxed the vigour of
our practices, and devoted more time to musketry, bombing, and training
the demolition parties for their work. The officers to take part in the
raid were also chosen, and various tasks allotted to the others. Capt.
Shields with 2nd Lieut. Cole and "D" Company would make the right
attack; Capt. Petch with 2nd Lieut. Gibson and "A" Company, the left.
"B" Company (Capt. Marriott and 2nd Lieut. C.S. Allen) would be the
supports, and the two demolition parties would be found by "C" Company
under 2nd Lieuts. Lowe and Edge. 2nd Lieut. Plumer was detailed to take
a party of "D" Company to destroy the "Goose." Lieut. G.E. Russell was
"O.C. Searchlight," and various other officers were chosen to count the
raiding party when they returned.
Meanwhile, up in trenches the most wonderful work was being done by 2nd
Lieut. Brooke and six other ranks of "D" Company--L/Cpl. Clapham, Ptes.
Haines, Hanford, Johnson, Mason, and Rolls. This was the party left in
the line with the Staffordshires to observe the wire cutting and patrol
the gaps. At first, 2nd Lieut. Brooke spent his days with the F.O.O. and
confined his patrolling to the hours of darkness, but later he was out
in front both day and night. On two occasions he came into contact with
the enemy. First, on his very first patrol, he had just reached the
enemy's wire, and was trying to find a way through, when the enemy
opened a heavy fire at close range. L/Cpl. Clapham was killed, shot
through the head, and it was only with the utmost difficulty that the
rest of the party escaped with their lives. The second encounter was in
daylight. The Staffordshires had reported that they believed the German
front line to be unoccupied, so on the 13th August, in the middle of the
afternoon, 2nd Lieut. Brooke crossed No Man's Land, passed through the
wire and entered the Boche front line. He was just exploring it when a
very surprised German came round a corner and saw him. 2nd Lieut. Brooke
at once left the trench and took shelter as quickly as possible in a
shell hole outside. A perfect shower of bombs and rifle grenades were
thrown after him, but he was untouched, and regained our lines without a
scratch.
On the 14th August, after a very happy fortnight at Fouquières, we moved
to the huts at Noyelles, where the special stores for the coming raid
were issued. At the same time all pay books, badges, identity discs and
personal kits were handed in, and to each man was issued a small round
cardboard disc with a number on it. The following morning we paraded at
10 a.m., and marched through Vermelles to Lone Trench and Tenth Avenue,
where we were to wait until it was time to assemble. On the way, "B"
Company had a serious disaster. A shell, intended for one of our
batteries West of Vermelles, fell on the Company as they were passing
the Mansion House Dump. They were marching in fours and had practically
a whole platoon wiped out, for eleven were killed and fourteen wounded.
Amongst the killed was Freddie Chambers, self-appointed Company
humorist, and one of the best known and most cheerful soldiers in the
Battalion.
Our Patrol party was waiting for us in Lone Trench, but their report was
far from satisfactory. 2nd Lieut. Brooke declared that there were by no
means enough gaps, in fact none at all on the left, and Colonel Trimble
asked for the raid to be postponed. Meanwhile, 2nd Lieut. Brooke went
off to the front line, where he finally was able to convince the
Divisional Intelligence Officer that there were not sufficient gaps, and
at the last moment, as the Companies were preparing to move to their
assembly positions, the raid was postponed for 24 hours. Accordingly we
spent the night in our somewhat cramped surroundings in Lone Trench, and
the following day the Artillery continued to cut the wire, this time
with better success.
One of the original objects of the raid had been to detract attention
from a Canadian attack on "Hill 70" to be made at the same time. This
attack we watched from the back of Lone trench, and later in the day
were able to give material assistance. The German counter attack came
from behind Hulluch, near Wingles, and the troops for it assembled and
started their attack in view of our posts. Captain Ellwood and his
machine gunners at once got to work and did terrific execution, being
chiefly responsible for the failure of the enemy's efforts, and enabling
the Canadians to hold the Hill.
So successful was the wire cutting on the 16th, that our patrol reported
all ready for the raid, and accordingly we moved at dusk to our assembly
positions. One alteration in the plan of attack had to be made at the
last minute. It had originally been intended that the attacking
platoons, after passing in file through our wire, should spread out in
No Man's Land into lines. As the German wire was only cut into gaps and
not obliterated, it was now decided that platoons should keep in file
until through that belt also, and spread out on entering the front line.
Bridges were placed over our front line, all faces were blackened, and
by 10-30 p.m. all were ready for Zero, which was to be 10-58 p.m.
The barrage started promptly, and the advance began. The enemy's wire
was a little thick on both flanks, but all passed through fairly easily
and entered the front line, where, as arranged, each man shouted to show
he had arrived. Two enemy were found and killed, but much of the trench
was full of wire. The attackers passed on rapidly to the second and
third lines, finding the wire thicker in front of each line, but
finally reaching their objective and building bombing blocks. It was a
dark night, and to avoid losing touch, Captains Petch and Shields had
arranged to call each other's names as they went forward. Suddenly
Captain Shield's voice stopped with one last cry, and Captain Petch
hurrying to the spot found he had been hit by a shell and terribly
wounded in both legs. However, his Company reached the third line, and
the party under 2nd Lieut. Plumer set out to destroy the Goose.
Meanwhile, the mopping up and demolition continued behind the attack.
Several Germans were found and killed in the second line, but on the
whole very few enemy were seen, somehow they had managed to escape.
Probably there were many tunnels, and in the dark it was quite
impossible to tell what was a tunnel entrance and what merely a dug-out.
Many of the latter were destroyed by "C" Company, though they lost 2nd
Lieut. Lowe, who was slightly wounded, through being too keen to watch
the effect of one of his own Mills bombs. Corporal Tunks and Pte. Baker
did particularly good work with these demolition parties.
Back at Battalion Headquarters was a listening set, and this managed to
overhear the German Company Commander's telephone report to his
headquarters. "We are being attacked, ... front line penetrated, ...
second line wrecked ... third line entered ... send up two sections."
The two sections came in two parts. A strong bombing attack was made up
Hicks Alley which was held by our bombing party at the newly built
block; at the same time our left was attacked over the open. "A"
Company were ready for them, and Lilley, the Lewis Gunner, soon
accounted for many and broke up the attack. "D" Company also had some
fighting, in which both 2nd Lieut. Cole and Serjeant Growdridge
distinguished themselves.
The time finally came for the withdrawal, and the special flare lights
were fired. Unfortunately they failed to light, and messages had to be
sent at once to the raid area. The enemy were held off while the
withdrawal was carried out, and by 2-0 a.m. the 17th the majority of the
raiding party had returned. Captain Shields was carried in by C.S.M.
Passmore, who very gallantly stayed out some time after the others were
all back, but nothing could be found of Capt. Marriott or 2nd Lieut.
Plumer and the "Goose" party. Capt. Marriott had been last seen in the
second German line, but he had been missed in the withdrawal, and was
never seen again. We brought no prisoners and no identifications, though
one man brought back a rifle and another some papers from a dug-out.
Several of the enemy had undoubtedly been killed, but no one had thought
to cut off shoulder straps or search for pay books. At 3-0 a.m. we
returned to Noyelles, where we spent the day cleaning and repairing our
clothing.
The raid had not been a success. We lost Captain Marriott, 2nd Lieut.
Plumer, and seven men missing, whom we never heard of again. Three more
men were known to be killed, and three others were afterwards reported
prisoners, while no less than fifty-one were wounded. Capt. Shields, the
most cheerful, strenuous, and popular of Company Commanders, would never
fight again. He reached Chocques hospital with one leg almost blown off
and the other badly shattered, and the Doctors decided to amputate the
one at once. It is still recorded as a unique feat, that throughout the
operation neither the patient's pulse nor temperature altered, thanks to
his wonderful constitution. The other leg soon healed, and within a few
months he was hopping over fences in England in the best of spirits. "B"
Company had lost their second Company Commander in two months. Like his
friend Capt. Wynne, Captain Marriott had soon won his way to the hearts
of his Company, with whom he rose from Platoon Commander, while in the
Mess he was one of the merriest of companions and the friend of all.
There is no doubt that the enemy had been prepared for us. The rapidity
with which his barrage started, the partly wired trenches, empty
dug-outs and absence of garrison all pointed to this. He probably waited
for us at his tunnel entrances, and hurried away as soon as we arrived;
the few we found were those who had been too slow in getting away. As
far as we ourselves were concerned, we only made one mistake--failing to
bring back any identification. Apart from this all ranks had worked
well, and we were congratulated by General Thwaites on our efforts.
Five days after the raid we relieved the 4th Leicestershires in a new
trench sector, the "St. Elie left," and for nearly three months the
Brigade remained in this same part of the line. The sector had its name
from a much battered coal mine, the Cité St. Elie, which stood just
inside the German lines opposite. About five hundred yards on our right,
the Vermelles-Hulluch road crossed No Man's Land, while a similar
distance on our left, Fosse 8 and its slag heaps formed the chief
feature. All through 1916 active mining operations had been carried out
along the whole front, and though there was now a deadlock underground,
the craters still remained a bone of contention; each side tried to
retain its hold on the near lip. Our right Company held a line of six of
these craters, joined together, called "Hairpin" on account of their
shape on the aeroplane photographs. The centre Company held another
group called Border Redoubt, consisting amongst other things of two
enormous craters, the Northern and Southern. Between these two groups
lay "Rats' Creek," a short length of trench, 200 yards from the enemy,
and without a crater. The left Company held another isolated
post--"Russian Sap"--500 yards from the centre and not connected with it
by any usable trench. The old front line between Border and Hairpin, via
Rats' Creek, a distance of 400 yards, could be used by liaison patrols
at night, but was impossible by day.
The various posts in "Hairpin" were connected by an underground tunnel
with four exits to the trench, while another with two exits did the same
for Border Redoubt. From each of these, a 300-yard tunnel ran Westwards
to what had been the old support line, where they were connected
underground by another long passage--Feetham Tunnel. A branch of the
Border tunnel led to "Rats' Creek." At various points along these
tunnels exits were built up to fortified shell holes, occupied by Lewis
gun teams; these were our only supports. Down below lived Company
Headquarters, the garrison, one or two tunnelling experts and the
specialists, stokes mortars, machine gunners and others. It was a
dreadful existence. The passages were damp and slippery, the walls
covered in evil-looking red and yellow spongey fungus, the roof too low
to allow one to walk upright, the ventilation practically non existent,
the atmosphere, always bad, became in the early mornings intolerable,
all combined to ruin the health of those who had to live there. But not
only was one's health ruined, one's "nerves" were seriously impaired,
and the tunnels had a bad effect on one's moral. Knowing we could always
slip down a staircase to safety, we lost the art of walking on top, we
fancied the dangers of the open air much greater than they really were,
in every way we got into bad condition.
The entrance to this tunnel system was at the end of our only
communication trench, Stansfield Road, a deep well-gridded trench
running all the way from Vermelles. Battalion Headquarters lived in it,
in a small deep dug-out, 200 yards from the tunnel entrance, and at its
junction with the only real fire trench, O.B.1, the reserve line. In
this trench the reserve Company lived in a group of dug-outs, near the
Dump, called Exeter Castle. The left Company, with one platoon in
Russian Sap and the remainder back in O.B.1, alone had no tunnels. But
after our first few tours, the system was altered, and the support
Company, living in tunnels, provided the Russian Sap garrison. Battalion
Headquarters had a private tunnel, part of the mining system, leading to
Feetham, which could be used in emergency, but as this was unlit, it was
quicker to use the trench. The main tunnel system was lit, or rather
supposed to be lit, with electric light. This often failed, and produced
of course indescribable chaos.
Although the tunnels had all these disadvantages, it is only fair to say
that they reduced our casualties enormously, for during the three
months we lost only three officers slightly wounded and eighteen men; of
these at least four were hit out on patrol. We also managed to live far
more comfortably as regards food than we should otherwise have been
able. Elaborate kitchens were built in Stansfield Road, and hot tea,
soup, the inevitable stew, biscuit pudding, and other "luxuries," were
carried up in hot food containers to the most forward posts. The only
difficulty was with Russian Sap, for its approach, Gordon Alley, was in
a bad state; but as the garrison was there at night only, they needed
nothing more than "midnight tea," and this could be taken to them over
the top.
A light railway ran all the way from Sailly Labourse to Vermelles, and
thence to the various forward dumps, ours at Exeter Castle. Rations and
R.E. material were loaded at Sailly, taken by train to the Mansion House
Dump at Vermelles, and then by mule-drawn trucks to the front. The
Exeter Dump was lively at times, especially when a machine gunner on
Fosse 8 slag heap, popularly known as Ludendorf, was pointing his gun in
that direction. But beyond a mule falling on its back into O.B.1, we had
no serious troubles, and got our rations every night with great
regularity.
The enemy were not very active, although they were reported to be the
6th Bavarians, "Prince Rupprecht's Specials." An occasional patrol was
met, and our parties were sometimes bombed, but on the whole the Boche
confined his energies to machine gun fire at night, scattered shelling
at any time, and heavy trench mortaring, mostly by day. Fortunately
there was not much mortaring at night, and what there was we managed to
avoid by carefully watching the line of flight, as betrayed by the
burning fuse. These heavy mortar shells with their terrific explosion
and enormous crater were very terrifying, and few soldiers could face
them with the indifference shown to other missiles. One exception was
them with the utmost scorn, and used to fire "rapid" with a rifle at
them, as they came through the air.
All this time the system of holding the Brigade sector was to have two
Battalions in the line, one in Brigade support, and one resting at
Fouquières. Thus, one rested every eighteen days for six days, while
one's trench tour was broken by six days in the middle in Brigade
support. This last meant Battalion Headquarters and two Companies in
Philosophe, the remainder in Curly Crescent, a support trench several
hundred yards behind O.B.1. Philosophe was a dirty place, but had the
advantage of being much less shelled than the neighbouring Vermelles,
and we were not much molested.
Fouquières was always pleasant. The Chateau and its tennis court and
grounds made a delightful Battalion Headquarters, and the Companies had
very comfortable billets in the village. We played plenty of football,
and were within easy reach of Béthune, at this time a very fashionable
town. The 25th Divisional Pierrots occupied the theatre which was packed
nightly, and the Club, the "Union Jack" Shop, and other famous
establishments, not to mention the "Oyster Shop," provided excellent
fare at wonderfully exorbitant prices.
During these three months we received many new officers, some of them
staying for a few days before passing on to Tank Corps, Flying Corps, or
Machine Gun Corps, others proving themselves worthy of our best
traditions. One party in particular, 2nd. Lieuts. F.G. Taylor, H.C.
Davies, G.K. Dunlop, and W.R. Todd, provided four who came to stay, a
very valuable asset, when so many merely looked in for tea and then went
away. Others who came to fight were 2nd Lieuts. W. Norman, A.J. Mace,
J.S. Argyle, C.D. Boarland, J.G. Christy, A. Asher, A.M. Edwards, and,
later, Lieut. P. Measures, who had been with us in 1916 for a few weeks.
Col. Trimble and Capt. Moore each had a month's leave, and Major
Griffiths, after commanding during the Colonel's absence, went to
Aldershot for a three months' course. Capt. Burnett became 2nd in
Command with the acting rank of Major. Capt. Hills, the Adjutant,
returned from England and resumed his duties, while Captain Wollaston
took charge of "B" Company for a short time, and then went to the Army
School, where he stayed as an Instructor and was lost to us. Captain
Barrowcliffe came to us for a short time in command of "D" Company, but
then went to the Army School, and handed the Company over to Lieut.
Brooke, who had been granted an M.C. and three weeks' leave for his
Hulluch patrols. 2nd Lieut. Campbell went to Hospital with the results
of gas poisoning and had to go to England, whither also went 2nd Lieuts.
Rawson and Gibson who were invalided. A great loss to us was our Doctor,
Captain Morgan, who had been with us for many months and was now sent to
Mesopotamia, and was replaced by a succession of stop-gaps until we
finally got the invaluable W.B. Jack. There were changes, too, in the
ranks. Most important was the departure of R.S.M. Small, D.C.M., our
Serjeant Major since mobilization. He had been unwell for some time and
at length had to go to Hospital and home to England. Debarred by his age
from taking a Commission, for which he was so well suited, he had
rendered three years' very faithful service to the Battalion, untiring
alike in action and on the parade ground, and popular with all,
officers, N.C.O.'s and men. He was succeeded by C.S.M. H.G. Lovett,
formerly of "B" Company, and latterly serving with the 2nd/5th
Battalion. At the same time, Serjt. N. Yeabsley, a very capable horseman
and horse master, came to us from the 4th Battalion as Transport
Serjeant.
This long tour of trench warfare was not entirely devoid of interest,
and several little incidents occurred to break the monotony. The first
was a big "strafe" on the 25th of August, when for some unknown reason
the enemy shelled Stansfield Road very vigorously, and obtained a direct
hit on "C" Company Headquarters. Lieuts. Banwell and Edge were occupying
the dug-out at the time, and were both shaken, though the former as
usual did not take long to recover. Lieut. Edge, however, was sent to
the Stores for a time and for some months acted as Transport Officer. On
another occasion, 2nd Lieut. Norman was firing rifle grenades from
"Hairpin" craters, when he received one in reply, and had to go to
England with one or two pieces in him.
Except for these two incidents, all other excitement occurred in No
Man's Land, where we had patrols every night in the hopes of catching a
Boche. The first to meet the enemy was 2nd Lieut. Mandy, who was almost
surrounded by a large party of them just North of Northern crater. He
managed to fight his way out, though for a time he lost one of his
party, Pte. Brotheridge, who did some fighting on his own and returned
to us at dawn. After a time, tired of finding no one, our patrols became
more venturesome, and most nights entered the German lines at some point
or other. "A" and "C" Companies worked mostly round the Hairpin craters,
and Lieuts. Banwell and Russell, 2nd Lieuts. Dunlop and Norman, all
explored the enemy's front line. On one occasion Capt. Petch himself
accompanied Lieut. Russell and Serjeant Toon to look at the enemy, and
for a change found his front line held. They were caught peering over
the parapet, and got a warm reception. Both officers were slightly
wounded and had to go to England. Meanwhile, Lieut. Banwell took command
of "A" Company. He, too, on another occasion explored the same piece of
trench and found it empty, nor could he attract any enemy, though he and
his party shouted, whistled and made noises of every description.
Border Redoubt and Rats' Creek were the hunting ground of "B" and "D"
Companies, and here Lieuts. Ball and Measures more than once nearly
captured a Boche post. But the enemy was too alert, and slipped away
always down some tunnel or deep dug-out. But the best patrolling was
done from Russian Sap, by 2nd Lieut. Cole and his gang from "D" Company,
including Serjt. Burbidge, Cpl. Foster, L/Cpl. Haynes, Ptes. Thurman,
Oldham and others. They had very bad luck, for on two occasions they lay
in wait for the enemy in his own front line and he never came, though he
had occupied the post the previous night, and the party, wet through and
frozen, had to return empty handed except for a bomb or two.
There was one other unusual occurrence before we left the St. Elie
sector. We were visited one day by a local newspaper reporter, Mr.
Wilkes of the "Leicester Mail," who came to see us in trenches, and was
introduced to the tunnels and all the "grim horrors" of trench warfare.
It seemed curious to see a civilian in a grey suit, adorned with a steel
helmet and box respirator, wandering about the communication trenches.
On the 14th of November, while in Brigade Support at Philosophe, we were
ordered to reconnoitre the "Hill 70" sector, with a view to taking over
the line from the Sherwood Foresters. The same day we moved to some
particularly cold and uncomfortable huts at Mazingarbe, going to the
line the next night. Our route lay along the main Lens road past Fosse
III. and Fosse VII., then by tracks past Privet Castle to Railway Alley.
This endless communication trench led all the way past the famous Loos
Crucifix, still standing, to what had been the front line before the
Canadian attack. Thence various other alleys led to the front line. Our
new sector was by no means luxurious. There was a front line trench and
portions of a reserve line, all rather the worse for wear, while the
communication trenches, "Hurrah" and "Humbug" Alleys, were unspeakably
filthy. The whole area at the top of the hill was an appalling mess of
tangled machinery from Puits 14 bis, battered trenches, the remains of
two woods, Bois Hugo and Bois Razé, and shell holes of every size and
shape. There was mud and wet chalk everywhere, and a very poor water
supply for drinking purposes. What few dug-outs existed were the usual
small German front line post's funk holes, and all faced the wrong way.
It was a bad place. There was, however, one redeeming feature. From the
hill we could see everything, Hulluch, Wingles, Vendin and Cité St.
Auguste lay spread out before us; we could see the slightest movement.
Behind the hill, Support Companies were out of sight, and those not
actually in the front line could almost all wander about on top without
fear of being seen. Furthermore, there were no tunnels. We spent all our
time working, for there was much to be done. Our chief tasks were
clearing out existing trenches and digging new communication trenches
where they were wanted. Digging was both difficult, for the ground was
sodden, and dangerous on account of the number of "dud" shells and bombs
everywhere. Two men of "B" Company were injured by the explosion of a
grenade which one of them struck with a shovel, and the next day Captain
Moore had a miraculous escape. Clearing the trench outside his Company
Headquarters, at the junction of "Horse" and "Hell" Alleys, he put his
pick clean through a Mills bomb; fortunately it did not explode. Padre
Buck also had a busy time, for there were many unburied dead still lying
about. Hearing of one body some sixty yards out in No Man's Land, where
it had been found by a patrol, the Padre went out with his orderly,
Darby, to bury it. It was a misty morning, and they were unmolested
until suddenly the mist lifted and they were seen. Darby was wounded in
the head, and they were heavily fired on, but this did not worry the
Padre, who brought his orderly back to our lines, and came in without a
scratch.
We remained only seven days in this sector, and did not come into
contact with the enemy at all at close quarters. A few bombs were thrown
in the Bois Hugo trenches, and a raid by the 11th Division on our right
caused a considerable amount of retaliation to fall on our heads, but on
the whole the enemy was quiet, and we had practically no casualties.
There was not time to learn the ground well enough to do any extensive
patrolling, though Lieut. Watherstone earned the Divisional Commander's
praise for a bold reconnaissance from the Bois Razé. The transport had
as bad a time as anyone, bringing rations on the light railway through
Loos, which was never a pleasant spot. Once again a mule succeeded in
falling into a trench, and it took R.S.M. Lovett and a party of men more
than an hour to extricate it.
The 4th Battalion took our places at the end of the tour, and we marched
back to Mazingarbe. Our billets had been slightly improved, and
Headquarters now had a house in the Boulevard, commonly called "Snobs'
Alley." While here a new horse, a large chestnut, which arrived for the
Padre, caused considerable commotion in the Regiment. First he bolted
with the Padre half-way from Mazingarbe to Labourse, when he finally
pulled him up and dismounted. He then refused to move at all, and went
down on his knees to Padre Buck, who was most disconcerted, especially
when the animal moaned as though truly penitent. The next day the
Adjutant tried to ride him, and once more he bolted. This time his
career was short, for horse and rider came down on the Mazingarbe
cobbled high road, and the Adjutant had to go to Chocques hospital with
a broken head, and was away for a week.
During his absence we lost Colonel Trimble, who, much against his will,
was ordered to take command of his own Battalion, the 1st East
Yorkshires. He had been with us for seven months, and we were all very
fond of him and very sorry indeed when he had to go. Worse still, there
seemed no chance of Col. Jones returning to us. For six weeks, September
and October, he had been close to us in Noeux les Mines, attached to the
1st Battalion, and more than once had come over to see us, but now the
6th Division had moved away and we did not know their whereabouts. The
matter was finally settled by the arrival of a new Commanding Officer in
the same car which came to fetch Col. Trimble. Lieut. Colonel R.W.
Currin, D.S.O., of the York and Lancaster Regiment, had come to take
command.