The 23rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (First Sportsman's) Part 7

PRESENTATION OF THE KING'S COLOUR--MAJOR-GENERAL SIR C.E. PEREIRA, K.C.B., C.M.G., AND HIS PRIDE IN THE BATTALION

His pride in the Battalion was expressed by Major-General C.E.

Pereira, C.B., C.M.G., on the occasion of the presentation of the King's Colour at Niederaussem, Germany, on January 24, 1919.

"First of all," said Major-General Pereira, "I will tell you how highly I esteem the privilege of presenting these colours to-day.

"For two years," he went on, "I have had the honour to command the 2nd Division, and I have been proud of your work in the Field and out of it, and of the fine spirit which you have always shown.

"These colours are given you as a mark of the magnificent service you have rendered in the campaign during the last four years.

"The record of the Regiment during the whole of its service will compare with the services of any battalion in the British Army, whether in the Somme fighting, 1916, Courcelette, Vimy Ridge, and Bourlon Wood in 1917, the retirement from the Cambrai salient in March, 1918, or the recent victorious advance which culminated in the overthrow of the Germans. In all these operations, in spite of mud, heat or cold, or desperate resistance, you have always shown the dogged determination to win.

"It is a fine tribute to the British race that a newly-raised battalion, without any previous traditions, which are such a.s.sets to regular battalions, should have outfought the German battalions, trained to war for generations.

"Perhaps your finest record is that of March, 1918, when along a great part of our front detached Divisions fought their way slowly back from position to position, facing overwhelming numbers, and an enemy drunk with the idea that the final victory was theirs; it was then, when short of food, without rest, short of men, that you showed what you were made of, and after successive days of retirement you turned and held the Germans.

"It is fitting that the work of this Battalion should be crowned by the victorious march to the Rhine, and that your colours should make their first appearance in a conquered country--a country which has taken us four and a half years to reach."

+-----------------------------------------------------+ | "GOOD-BYE, AND GOOD LUCK!"--BRIGADIER-GENERAL A.E. | | McNAMARA, C.M.G., D.S.O., AND HIS FAREWELL TO THE | | 23RD ROYAL FUSILIERS (FIRST SPORTSMAN'S BATTALION) | +-----------------------------------------------------+

"GOOD-BYE, AND GOOD LUCK!"--BRIGADIER-GENERAL A.E.

McNAMARA, C.M.G., D.S.O., AND HIS FAREWELL TO THE 23RD ROYAL FUSILIERS (FIRST SPORTSMAN'S BATTALION)

Appreciation of and admiration for the Battalion was also expressed by Brigadier-General A.E. McNamara, commanding the 99th Infantry Brigade, when he bade it "good-bye and good luck" on February 25, 1919, when it left the 2nd Division to join the London Division.

"Owing to the reorganization of the Army of Occupation," he said, "the 23rd Royal Fusiliers, the oldest member of the 99th Infantry Brigade, is leaving it.

"I wish to place on record my high appreciation and admiration of the magnificent services of the Battalion while in the 99th Infantry Brigade.

"The Battalion came out to France with the 99th Infantry Brigade in November, 1915. Since then it has taken a leading part in all the many and strenuous battles in which the Brigade has been engaged. In these eventful three years we have seen together good times and bad, but whether things were good or evil the 23rd Royal Fusiliers have ever shown the same high discipline, _esprit de corps_, and indomitable spirit which eventually beat down all resistance and won the war.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BATTALION HEADQUARTERS: HORNCHURCH.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BATTALION PIERROT TROUPE: GERMANY.

To face p. 80]

"The battles of Delville Wood, Bourlon Wood, Ayette, Behagnies, Mory Copse, Ca.n.a.l du Nord, Forenville, and Ruesnes stand out in history as a record of the achievements of the 23rd Royal Fusiliers--a record of which the Battalion may well be proud.

"The Battalion is now going to another Brigade and another Division. I wish it the best of luck, and know it will maintain the high reputation for discipline, efficiency, and, if need be, fighting, which it has built up since its formation.

"In bidding it farewell, I wish to thank officers, N.C.O.'s, and men (including the gallant comrades who have fallen in the fight), for their gallant services when in the 99th Infantry Brigade. It is they who have borne the brunt of the hardships and the fighting, and it is they who have won the war.

"I cannot express how sorry I am to lose the Battalion, or how proud I am of the honour I have had of having had it under my command.

"Good-bye, and good luck!"

+-----------------------------------------------------+ | THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD--AN ADVANCE IN FACE OF | | HUNDREDS OF MACHINE GUNS--A PERSONAL NARRATIVE | +-----------------------------------------------------+

THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD--AN ADVANCE IN FACE OF HUNDREDS OF MACHINE GUNS--A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

To the personal side of the late war we have, in a measure, been introduced by various war correspondents. But there has always been something actually lacking, and that something is the touch and the atmosphere which can only be introduced by those who have been through the baptism of blood and fire.

In the following pages the _real_ touch is introduced. Every incident is told by a man who has actually seen and experienced what he describes. These incidents are in the actual words of the writers.

Nothing is altered.

Here, then, is the story of the capture of Delville Wood by the 1st Sportsman's Battalion in 1916, told by Major N.A. Lewis, D.S.O., M.C.:

"For two days before the fight the Battalion occupied some trenches near Bernefay Wood, and sustained a number of casualties from sh.e.l.l-fire. Battalion headquarters was a shelter dug in a bank at the side of Bernefay Wood. This shelter was constructed by Albany, the sculler, and as he was killed in the fight it was his last job as dug-out constructor. Needless to say, he did this job excellently.

"For some hours before the Battalion moved off to take up its position, the Huns sh.e.l.led the area with gas sh.e.l.ls. Fortunately, however, just before 11 p.m., the time for starting, a breeze sprang up, and we were able to move without wearing gas masks.

"The move up was not pleasant. The area had been much fought over, it had been impossible to bury the dead for ten days, and it was a hot July!

"Our artillery was firing to cover our move up. Just after pa.s.sing Longueval one of our sh.e.l.ls dropped, unfortunately, near the platoon which, with the C.O., I was following. As luck would have it, though, only one man was badly wounded. The platoon, of course, went on, and the C.O. went over to the man who had been hit.

"'It's hard lines, sir,' said the man.

"'I know it is,' said the C.O., 'but you will soon be all right. The stretcher-bearers are coming.'

"'Oh, it's not that,' was the man's rejoinder. 'It's being hit now!

Here have I been all this time in France without having a real go at the b----s, and now the chance has come, here I go and get knocked out.'

"The C.O. made only one remark to me as we pa.s.sed on. It was: 'Well, if that's what the rest of the Battalion feels, I have no fears for to-morrow.'

"We took up our position in a trench at the edge of the wood. This was all that remained after the South Africans had been beaten back, and our attack was to start at dawn on the following morning. This attack was in two parts, two companies to take the first objective, a trench in the centre of the wood, and two companies to capture the far edge, and dig themselves in there. The 1/60th were on our right, each battalion having half the wood allotted to it.

"The waves formed up in position shortly before dawn, and it was our first experience of going over the top as a battalion. The men, however, were quite cool and cheerful; in fact, one, named Lewis Turner, asked me, 'How long to go?' I looked at my watch, and said, 'Five minutes.' His reply was, 'Oh, then I've time to finish my breakfast.' And he did.

"At zero our barrage started, and our first waves were off, the thing I noticed most being that most of the men were smoking as they went over. The whole wood was immediately full of machine-gun bullets.

There must have been hundreds of machine guns--up in trees, hidden in the undergrowth, in fact all over the place. The Hun artillery came down on all the approaches to the wood, but not on the wood itself so long as any of their own men were in it.

"Owing to the position of the wood, however, at the apex of a captured triangle of ground, we received fire from both flanks, and also from our right rear, as well as from the front.