THE LAST FIGHT.
12th Oct., 1918. 11th Nov., 1918.
The following day--the 12th of October--our hopes of the long expected
rest were still further raised by the news that General Rowley was going
to England on leave, for we all knew that he would never be absent if
there were any prospect of a fight, and we accordingly began at once to
make ourselves comfortable. Fuel was plentiful, and baths were soon
fitted in "C" Company's factory, while in another part of the same
building we found and used an excellent concert room. R.S.M. Lovett also
went on leave, taking with him to Loughborough one or two small battle
trophies, including our Headquarter flag, which had seen so much
fighting during the past few weeks. Many of "B" Company's gassed men now
returned, and these, with a large draft of N.C.O.'s and men, proved a
welcome reinforcement, but we still had very few officers. The new draft
was composed mostly of young soldiers who had not seen service before,
but fortunately this did not matter, as we still had a number of our
experienced junior N.C.O.'s left, and some "new blood" was useful.
Meanwhile the Staffordshires stayed in the line, and, as by the 13th
there was no prospect of their being relieved, we were not surprised on
the 14th to receive some more battle orders, and consign our rest hopes,
like their predecessors, to an early grave. It appeared that all frontal
attacks on Riquerval Wood had proved disastrous, and, although the 6th
Division on the left had reached the outskirts of Vaux Andigny, our
Divisional front was still the same as we had left it on the 11th. The
new attack, to take place on the 17th, would therefore be directed
against the North West flank of the wood, and would be made by ourselves
and the 139th Brigade, while the Staffordshires made a frontal display.
The French, on the right, were making a similar movement, and there
would be a general attack North of us. It was hoped that by the end of
the day, or before if possible, the French and ourselves would meet on
the East side of the woods at Mennevret, and so cut off any Germans who
remained on the Staffordshires' front. The actual objective for the
Brigade was the same Regnicourt road up which the Left half Battalion
had advanced on the 11th; this was to be taken by the other two
Battalions, while we were kept in reserve near Vaux Andigny.
The usual reconnaissances were carried out on the 15th, and the
following morning the customary distribution of bombs, flares, rockets
and other warlike paraphernalia took place. This was done with great
regularity before every battle, and yet on reaching an objective we
could never find the required rockets. The men carrying them seemed
invariably to become casualties. It was the same with equipment and
other necessaries--we started the day with everything and ended with
nothing. A very welcome issue was the new map of Riquerval Woods, made
from the most recent aeroplane photographs, and accurate; the old one,
compiled from a pre-war survey, still showed as thick forest the ground
where the Boche had cut down every vestige of a tree, and its
inaccuracies in this respect had been one of our greatest difficulties
in the previous battle. With the map came an issue of officers, five
reporting during the afternoon, but as they were all new to the
Battalion, they remained with the Stores.
Our march to the Assembly position was tedious, but we were not worried
at all by the enemy, for, to avoid Bohain, which was at this time
frequently shelled, a track had been taped out across country. As we
were the first to use this, we escaped the usual slipping and ploughing
through mud, which are a bad feature of most tracks in autumn. Lewis Gun
limbers and Tool carts went by the road and reached the
Andigny-Becquigny Railway line--our assembly position--before us, so
that as each Platoon arrived it was able to collect its guns and tools
and move straight to its position. We rapidly dug ourselves some
excellent cover, and were able to take no notice of some four point twos
which arrived during the night, though the other two Battalions, who had
to assemble near the Andigny Road, suffered fairly heavily.
At 5-20 a.m. on the 17th the barrage opened and the battle began in a
mist, which was thicker even than usual. Many Tanks accompanied by the
Highlanders of the 1st Division, came through our position and passed
down the hill towards Andigny, but of our own Brigade we could see
nothing, and could only judge by the lessening of the enemy's machine
gun fire, that the attack was successful. It must be admitted that our
attention was somewhat distracted by the appearance of a hare, rather
frightened by a Tank, and we forgot the battle to give chase. It was a
short but exciting run, and the victim was finally done to death by "D"
Company and provided the Serjeants with a good dinner. It was not until
10-0 a.m. that we first learnt how the attackers had fared. On the right
our Brigade had taken their Regnicourt road objective, but in the fog
several posts of the German front line had been missed and were still
causing trouble, preventing the complete capture of the village of
Andigny les Fermes, the left of our objective. In the same way the 6th
Division had missed posts in the two farms Gobelets and Bellevue on
their front, and we were ordered to send two companies to clean up these
places and generally assist with the left of the attack. A few minutes
later, however, this order was cancelled, as the 5th Lincolnshires and
6th Division both reported that they now held all objectives. Instead,
"B" Company (Pierrepont) and "C" Company (Banwell) were placed at the
disposal of Colonel Wilson of the 5th Lincolnshires, to exploit his
success and patrol the Mennevret road to meet the French, and at 11-30
a.m. these two Companies moved off to the old German front line and
waited there for instructions. Col. Wilson decided to use one Company
only, and at 2-0 p.m. Capt. Pierrepont moved his Headquarters into
Andigny les Fermes and sent off a strong patrol under 2nd Lieut. Davies
towards Mennevret. As the enemy was still holding the woods in
considerable strength, and the first mile of the road was under direct
observation, the patrol met with heavy machine-gun fire at once, and 2nd
Lieut. Davies returned for the time, preparing to make another attempt
when the advance of the Divisions on our left had made it impossible for
the Boche to remain in his positions near the E. edge of the village.
Half "A" Company had already been attached to the 4th Leicestershires
for carrying work, so that we had now only "D" Company (Hawley) and the
remainder of "A" Company with Battalion Headquarters. No more orders
came for us, and during the afternoon, as the sounds of war had become
more and more distant, Cavalry and Whippets had disappeared Eastwards
and there was nothing to do, we lay and basked in the sun, which was
very hot and pleasant.
At 6-0 p.m., just as the Boche started to fire gas shells into the
valley up which all troops had to pass to reach Andigny les Fermes,
orders came that we should take over the Brigade front. Accordingly, "A"
and "D" Companies were sent to relieve the 4th Battalion on the right,
"C" Company was made responsible for Andigny les Fermes, and the extreme
left was held by "B" Company, whose duty it still was to find the
French. The relief in the village might have been a very lengthy and
difficult proceeding had not Capt. Nichols, of the Lincolnshires, taken
great trouble to co-ordinate the work of all their three Companies, and
so been able to hand over to Captain Banwell a single complete scheme of
defence. Our Headquarters moved into the sunken road between Regnicourt
and Vaux Andigny. It was a dark, foggy and bitterly cold night, and,
experts as we had now become in the art of living in banks and sunken
roads, still it was impossible to be comfortable, and German waterproof
sheets spread over slots cut in the banks, failed most miserably to keep
us warm. Transport arrived before midnight and the drivers, as usual,
saved us endless carrying parties by taking the limbers right up to
Company Headquarters in the village. They were unmolested by the enemy,
and 2nd Lieut. Davies, seeing this, made another attempt to reach
Mennevret. His patrol made much more progress, and was only held up at
La Nation, a cross-roads a few hundred yards from his goal, but here he
met with bombs and more machine guns and had once more to fall back.
At 1-0 a.m., the 18th, we were ordered to take over the line on the East
side of the village from a Battalion of the 1st Division, who had
relieved the 6th Division and were now on our left flank. For this
purpose the luckless "D" Company, who had just settled down after
relieving the 4th Battalion, had to move across our front and take over
the new line, which consisted of four large shell holes and a shallow
sunken lane. In spite of the difficulties of darkness and fog, relief
was complete before dawn when the 1st Division moved forward towards
Wassigny, and we were able to look round our new sector. We found a
ghastly relic in the sunken lane where a German cooks' wagon had been
hit by one of our shells as it tried to escape, and now, in the early
morning light, the scattered remains of wagon, horses and cooks, all
smashed up, were a horrible sight.
At last, at 5-30 a.m., 2nd Lieut. Davies and Serjt. Whitworth met the
French near Mennevret, and after an enthusiastic exchange of greetings,
accompanied by much handshaking, arrangements were made for establishing
a line along the Nation road, and so cutting out the other two Brigades,
who for some time past had been arguing vigorously as to whose duty it
was to fill the gap between ourselves and the French. At the same time
a single weak-looking Boche came out of the now completely surrounded
Riquerval Wood and surrendered to "C" Company, into whose cellar
Headquarters he was at once escorted. Here, while being questioned by
two officers, neither of whom could speak German, he absent-mindedly
picked up a German grenade which was lying on the floor, creating, of
course, an immediate disturbance. Revolvers appeared on all sides, and
the visitor's life was nearly ended, but as it was really
absent-mindedness and not the fighting spirit which prompted him, peace
was soon restored, and he explained that there were 24 others who wished
to surrender. He wanted to go back and fetch them, and seemed in fact
quite pained when we would not let him and sent him down instead. A few
minutes later a battery of 8in. howitzers with tractors and motor
lorries came along the main road as far as the end of the village,
having been told that the road was clear up to Andigny les Fermes. The
Colonel of R.G.A. who commanded was surprised to hear of the 24 Boche,
who for all we knew might be within 100 yards of his lorries, but
instead of withdrawing for the time, he set off with Capt. Banwell into
the woods to look for them, happy as a schoolboy engaged in some
forbidden adventure. They found no one, but probably, if there were any
at all, they had by this time surrendered to the Staffordshires.
From dawn until 10-30 a.m. the enemy bombarded our village with gas and
H.E., and the Brigade Major (Capt. D. Hill, M.C.) who tried to go round
the front line posts at this time had an unpleasant journey, while,
shortly after him, the C.O. and Adjutant were similarly treated and had
to hurry in a most undignified manner through an orchard. However, no
damage was done, and, when at midday we were relieved by the
Staffordshires, we had had no casualties. As we marched out past the
little group of houses on the Regnicourt Road, where "D" Company had
fought so gallantly on the 11th, the Burial Party were just burying
Serjeants Bradshaw, Dimmocks and the others in a little cemetery which
had been made in one of the cottage gardens, and they lie now within a
few yards of where they fell. The rest of the march was a cheerful
affair, for it was a bright afternoon and we were not as tired as usual
after a battle. Drums and Band came out to meet us, the people of Bohain
greeted us on the way, and our old friends in Fresnoy gave us their
customary warm welcome. Here we were a little more crowded than before,
but still had plenty of room, and could look forward to a comfortable
rest. The following day, after a full Divisional Church Parade to return
thanks for our victories, we were definitely promised a fortnight's
rest, and General Boyd and many others went home on leave.
For the rest of the month the Battalion remained in Fresnoy le Grand,
training, refitting, and playing games. Here, Lt.-Col. A.J. Digan,
D.S.O., of the Connaught Rangers came to command us, and Major R.N.
Holmes, M.C., of the Lincolnshires to be 2nd in Command. As we had
already Major Dyer Bennet and the Adjutant, who had "put up" crowns
before going on leave, as aspirants for this position, Major Holmes was
transferred to the 137th Brigade. Lieut. T.H. Ball returned from leave,
and in addition to the five, nine other officers arrived, including
Capt. E.G. Snaith, M.C., from the 2/4th Battalion, and the two "old
hands" Lieut. C.S. Allen and 2nd Lieut. J.A. Hewson. Capt. Snaith went
to "A" Company, and the other two became Signalling and Intelligence
officers respectively as soon as active operations began again. Our work
consisted of steady drill, musketry and, in the evenings, lectures, the
best of which were Col. Jerram's on the "Royal Navy," and the Brigade
Interpreter M. Dovet's on "French Army Life," the latter was
particularly interesting. The Drums now under Serjt. Drummer Price
performed on every possible occasion, and made an excellent display with
the two new Tenor Drums which had arrived during the fighting, and now
appeared in public for the first time. The weather throughout the
fortnight was not perfect, but might have been far worse, and we were
able to play games almost every afternoon. Our fixtures included two
football matches against the French. The first, at Seboncourt, was
against the 55th Infantry, whose liaison platoon had done such splendid
work at Riquerval, and the game, thanks to the efforts of Start and
Corporal Shirley Hubbard, ended in a victory, 5-1--a fact which merely
increased the fervour of the welcome we received from our opponents. A
few days later some French sappers came to play us at Fresnoy, and they,
too, were defeated, 5-0, in an excellent game watched by many people.
The language on both these occasions would sound as foreign in London as
in Paris, but this did not in the least diminish the cordiality of the
Entente. In this way the fortnight soon passed, and on November 1st we
left Fresnoy.
Our first move was to Becquigny, where we arrived soon after midday, and
found good billets with plenty of accommodation. In the evening, orders
came that at an early date the IXth. Corps, with 1st and 32nd Divisions
in front and 46th in Reserve, would attack the German positions on the
Sambre-Oise Canal, which had been holding out for the past ten days. The
next day the officers rode through Molain to Ribeauville and, leaving
horses there, reconnoitred an assembly position North of Mazinghien. The
C.O. and Company Commanders then went forward and reconnoitred a second
position near Rejet de Beaulieu, about 1,000 yards West of the Canal. On
the 3rd, orders arrived for the attack to take place the following
morning, and at 5-0 p.m. we moved off in pouring rain through Vaux
Andigny to a bivouac position near the Railway North of Molain--a bad
march, for the roads were very muddy and hopelessly congested with
traffic, and the men heavily laden. It rained hard all night, but a
small house for Headquarters, and the usual tents and "bivvie" sheets
kept out some of the wet, and we should have been far worse in the open.
Unfortunately, 2nd Lieut. J.A. Hewson, who had never really recovered
from his gassing in May and had returned before he was fit, had to leave
us, unable to stand the exposure in such weather. It was very bad luck,
for there was never a keener officer.
At 5-45 a.m., the 4th, the battle began, and we fell in outside
Headquarters, having previously had hot breakfasts and distributed large
numbers of bombs and flares, also a generous supply of sickles and bill
hooks, as the country was reported to be full of hedges. We marched at
once to our first assembly position, Mazinghien, and at midday, as the
battle reports were good, moved forward again, passing the Brigadier in
the village; he seemed very cheerful, and we saw several droves of
German prisoners, so concluded that everything must be satisfactory. In
order to avoid the main roads, the C.O. led us round to Beaulieu by a
field track which he had reconnoitred; unfortunately the night's rain
had made the going very heavy, and this not only tired the men, who were
heavily laden, but also proved difficult for the limbers, several of
which stuck and had to be man-handled. At Beaulieu we had dinners and
rested while parties reconnoitred the Canal crossings and discovered
various pontoon bridges built by the Engineers soon after the attack. As
no orders came, we waited here until soon after 3-0 p.m., when we were
sent forward to support the 2nd Brigade on the right flank of the
advance.
The C.O. with the right half Battalion crossed the Canal opposite Bois
L'Abbaye, and pushed on into the village untroubled by shell fire, which
was at the time mostly directed against the left half Battalion, which,
with Battalion Headquarters, crossed further South. The country beyond
was very thick, and by the time the left Companies reached L'Ermitage it
was almost dark, and consequently communications were difficult between
the two half Battalions, more particularly as the C.O. was separated
from his runners and signallers. The Companies at L'Ermitage dug
themselves in and were fairly comfortable, but they were not destined to
remain so for long, for orders soon came that they would relieve the 2nd
Brigade. These orders, however, were cancelled before being sent out,
and instead the Brigade was ordered to relieve the 1st Brigade, who were
on the left. The reason for this was that the 32nd Division, who were on
the left of the Corps attack, had not yet reported the capture of all
objectives, and it was consequently necessary to secure the 1st
Division's left flank. While, therefore, the other two Battalions took
over the line facing East, we found a defensive flank facing North--the
Battalion being organized in depth on a single Company front. "A"
Company (Snaith), with "B" Company (Pierrepont) in close support, was a
few yards South of the main Catillon-La Groise Road; behind them came
"C" Company (Banwell), while Battalion Headquarters and "D" Company (T.
Ball) remained in Bois L'Abbaye. These positions we occupied all night.
At dawn the following day the advance was continued by the 137th and
139th Brigades who passed through us, but, as the 32nd Division had
still no definite information, we maintained our defensive flank
position--a ludicrous performance in view of the streams of unmolested
traffic which passed along the road in front of us. Later in the
morning, however, "B" and "C" Companies were sent forward to occupy the
line that the Lincolnshires had held during the night, where they found
no cover except one large farm house which the Boche was shelling
heavily. It was raining hard, and for some time they sat in the fields
hoping for the rain or the shelling to stop; the latter did eventually
cease, but not until a large shell had gone through the roof of the farm
house, making it uninhabitable. During the afternoon the weather became
so appalling that they all moved into houses in Mezières and spent the
night there, while the remainder of the Battalion concentrated in Bois
L'Abbaye.
The battle still went on the next day in the pouring rain, and our
Brigade moved slowly forward in Divisional support, halting for dinners
at Erruart, and reaching Prisches late in the afternoon; our only
excitement throughout the day was to watch a battery of 60 pounders get
into difficulties in a muddy field. At Prisches we learnt that
Cartignies had been cleared by the other Brigades, and we were
accordingly ordered to move up at once and take over the outpost line
which was now just West of the Petite Helpe river. We moved off in fours
along the road, and in the same formation marched into Cartignies, a
village full of civilians and blazing with lights, although a German
machine gun less than 400 yards away kept sending bullets over the main
street. No one seemed very certain where the outposts were, nor who was
responsible, so we mounted some sentries in the best positions we could
find, and soon after midnight Colonel Digan, who had been to Brigade
Headquarters, held a conference and explained the next day's plan of
attack. It was now obvious that the Boche was in full retreat.
The weather the next day, the 7th of November, was fortunately much
better, and we moved down to the Petite Helpe soon after dawn. Patrols
had been out during the night to look for crossings, but beyond
reporting that the main road bridge had been blown up, which we already
knew, they gathered no information of importance, so "C" Company, who
were leading, had to make use of tree trunks and cross as best they
could. However, the Engineers soon appeared, and the rest of the
Battalion crossed by a pontoon bridge. With the French on the right and
Lincolnshires on the left, "D" Company (T. Ball) and "C" Company
(Banwell) now pushed forward rapidly, and in spite of a thick mist had
soon gained the first two objectives and reached the road running North
and South through a group of houses called Cheval Blanc. Battalion
Headquarters and the right half followed, and at midday were quartered
in a group of farm houses about 600 yards West of Cheval Blanc, where
they were joined by Capt. Hills, who returned from leave and resumed his
duties as Adjutant. As soon as they had had dinners, "A" Company
(Snaith) and "B" Company (Pierrepont) moved forward so as to be in
closer support to "C" and "D" Companies respectively.
After passing the second objective, the leading Companies soon began to
meet with opposition, and a machine gun cleverly concealed at the next
cross-roads made further advance by "C" Company impossible. As the
Lincolnshires were similarly held up on their left, the flank could not
be turned. "D" Company, however, pushed forward further in the mist,
and, though there was plenty of machine gun fire, it was unaimed and did
no damage. The leading Platoon, under 2nd Lieut. Bettles, crossed a
valley and started to climb the rise beyond, on the top of which they
expected to find the main Avesnes Road. Suddenly, as they burst through
a hedge almost on the road, they came upon a German four gun field
battery--officers and men standing round their guns, apparently not
expecting any attack, and horses tethered near by. The platoon rushed in
with bayonets, captured or killed all they could find and, led by 2nd
Lieut. Bettles, dashed across the road into some houses on the far side,
where they saw some enemy. 2nd Lieut. Bettles was killed with a pistol
bullet, but the Boche were driven out, and Lieut. Ball came up and
started at once to consolidate his captured position. One officer, 29
men and eight horses were sent down as prisoners.
"D" Company's position was precarious. Right and left, German machine
gunners held the main road, and shooting along it made crossing
impossible, while at the same time they took care to prevent any attempt
on our part to move the captured guns. This we found impossible, so set
about rendering them useless, and had already removed breach block and
sights from one when a counter attack was launched from the South East.
This was beaten off, but Lieut. Ball, unable to find troops on either
flank and already short of ammunition, sent back 2nd Lieut. S.D. Lamming
on a captured horse to ask for help. Before, however, he could return,
the enemy, intent on recapturing his guns, made two more counter attacks
in rapid succession, in the second of which, after losing several men,
including Bolton, who had never left his Platoon during four years'
service, killed and L/Cpl. Thurman wounded, the little isolated party
fired the last of its ammunition and had to withdraw. The Boche
recaptured his battery, and, after firing one or two rounds into Cheval
Blanc, took away the guns.
At 2-0 p.m., Battalion Headquarters moved up to Cheval Blanc, but the
attacking Companies still reported that they were unable to advance,
and, to add to our difficulties, we were not in touch with the French on
our right nor could our patrols find any trace of them. On the whole of
our front the enemy had probably not more than eight machine guns, but
so cleverly were they placed and so well were they served that we found
it impossible to dislodge them with our weapons. Artillery or better
still Stokes mortars would no doubt have cleared the country very
quickly, but these were not for the time obtainable, so, until they
arrived, Col. Digan determined to make every effort to find the French
and protect the right flank. Capt. Pierrepont was ordered to send out
frequent patrols towards Etroeungt, and, as we now had no Battalion
reserve, Col. Digan asked for two Companies of the 4th Battalion to help
us. These soon arrived, and while one, Capt. Holden's, remained with us
at Cheval Blanc, the other, Capt. Scaramowicz's, took up a defensive
flank position along the Brigade Southern boundary. At last, just as it
was getting dark, Capt. Pierrepont reported having found the French in
Etroeungt, and so this flank was now secure, though it had cost us the
loss of 2nd Lieut. Byles and Serjt. Stretton who were both wounded. In
spite of this, the forward Companies were still unable to advance, and
we remained in these positions all night.
In view of the fact that the Boche was now running away, our casualties
during the day had been heavy, and the Staff therefore decided on a
different plan for the next morning. The Cavalry were to come up at dawn
and we were not to move until they had reconnoitred the country, so that
if they reported the enemy still holding out, the Artillery would be
ordered to cover our advance with a small barrage. There was no doubt
that the German retreat was continuing and that this was only a
temporary check, for all night long the sky Eastwards was lit up with
enormous flashes, as dumps, railways, cross-roads and bridges were blown
up. This demolition was one of the most remarkable features of the Boche
retreat, for hardly a road junction in the country was left untouched,
while Railways were so cunningly mined that every single line had to be
relaid. The consequent delay to our communications was appalling, and
though, thanks to the Engineers and Pioneers, our 1st line Transport
always reached us by the evening, and field batteries advanced almost as
quickly as we did, yet our heavy Artillery was days behind us, and there
was always a shortage of ammunition.
As ordered, the Scots Greys' patrols rode through our lines at dawn the
next day, November 8th, and found the enemy's machine guns still very
active in the same positions. The barrage was therefore arranged, and,
covered by these very few shells, "A" and "B" Companies pushed forward,
only to find that the Boche took as little notice of the barrage as he
did of our rifle fire. On the left, as before, the attack was soon held
up, this time with considerable loss to us, for the Boche allowed "A"
Company to come close to his guns before opening fire. When he did, 2nd
Lieut. Coleman and ten men were wounded and three men killed, and though
the others made a most gallant attempt to rush the enemy with the
bayonet, they were held up by hedges, and compelled to dig in once more
and wait. On the right, however, we had better fortune. 2nd Lieut.
Davies and the leading platoon of "B" Company reached the Avesnes main
road, and in spite of very heavy machine gun fire managed one by one to
make their way across. Once on the far side, this Platoon Commander,
ably helped by L/Cpl. Sharpe, Pte. Beaver and others, soon worked his
way from house to house until at 11-0 a.m. the Boche, finding we had a
firm hold on the main road, withdrew all his guns. While this took
place, Colonel Jerram from Divisional Headquarters visited us, bringing
the news that the German envoys asking for an Armistice had been taken
through the French lines.
As soon as they found the Germans had gone, the leading Companies pushed
rapidly forward, with orders to establish an outpost line along the
Zorees-Semeries road as soon as possible, in which position we were told
we would be relieved by the 137th Brigade. At the same time, "D" Company
moved into the houses on the Avesnes road near where they had captured
and lost their battery, and "C" Company occupied the farm house which
had held them up so long, being welcomed with coffee and cognac by the
inhabitants, who had remained in the cellar. A troop of Scots Greys was
also attached to us to act as mounted orderlies, a task which up to the
present had been very efficiently performed by our grooms--Huntington,
Dennis, Rogers and others. At dusk, as the leading Companies were within
a few hundred yards of the Zorees road, Battalion Headquarters and "C"
Company moved to the cross roads on the Avesnes road, and occupied a
large farm, where the two attached 4th Leicestershire Companies were
also billeted. Except for distant explosions in the East, it was a quiet
night, and the M.O., Capt. Aylward, to prove we were really winning the
war, solemnly went to bed in pyjamas regardless of the proximity of the
enemy. Soon after midnight, "B" Company reached their outpost line, and
at 7-0 a.m. the following morning, "A" Company were also in position,
and we sent off Lieut. Ashdowne to billet for us in the area to which we
were told we should go as soon as relieved.
The country here was in a pitiable state, for the Germans as they
retired carried off everything--livestock, vehicles, all food, and most
of the male population. The civilians that were left behind took refuge
in the cellars during the fighting, coming out as soon as the Boche had
gone, and bestowing kisses and cups of coffee with great liberality on
the leading platoons as they entered each farm house or hamlet. The
feeding of all these people had to be undertaken by the British Army,
and as our advance continued the French Mission were kept very busily
employed.
The Brigade relief was already in progress when, at 10-0 a.m., November
9th, it was cancelled, and instead we were ordered to push forward at
once and establish a new outpost line East of Sains du Nord--a small
town through which the Cavalry had passed in the morning. The right half
Battalion was ordered to concentrate in Zorees, while the rest of us
with the two Companies of the 4th Battalion formed up near Battalion
Headquarters, had dinners, and at 2-15 p.m. moved off. As we did so, an
amusing incident occurred. A certain Company Commander, picking up his
box respirator, found that he had thrown it off into a patch of filth;
copious oaths followed, and he vowed that he would murder the next Boche
he saw. Some half hour later, as we entered Zorees, a cyclist patrol met
us, escorting one undersized little prisoner, splay footed and
bespectacled. The Company was delighted, and with one accord hailed
their Commander with cries of "Now's your chance, Sir." No other enemy
were seen, and we marched straight into Sains by the Railway station, to
receive a welcome from the civilians which rivalled even Fresnoy in
cordiality. They thronged the streets with flags and great bunches of
chrysanthemums which they showered upon us, so that by the time we
reached the Mairie we looked like a walking flower show--every man
having a flower in his hat. The 4th Battalion Companies found the
outposts, and we billeted in a large factory which had been used as a
Hospital, while Battalion and Company Headquarters occupied various
magnificent Chateaux.
Throughout the following day, November 10th, we remained inactive,
unable to move because our supplies and rear communications could not
move at our pace owing to the German demolitions. All day long reports
came in from the East showing the hopeless state of confusion to which
the German Army had come. Civilians told us of Artillery drawn by cows,
airmen reported roads congested with traffic and columns of troops, it
really looked as though at last we should have a chance of delivering a
crushing blow. Late that night came the telegram ending hostilities, and
the chance was gone for ever.