The Story of the "9th King's" in France Part 4

Reveille was before six, and in the dim light of the early morning, the men had to wash and shave in icy cold water in the teeth of a bitter east wind. There followed a meagre breakfast cooked on an unsheltered field kitchen in the dark, and often in the rain. The men paraded at seven, and went out on a working party for the rest of the day. Their tasks were to load earth on railway trucks and then off-load it after a short train journey, to serve as ballast for another portion of line that was in course of construction. The earth was frozen several inches deep and it was necessary to loosen it by means of a pick before it could be shovelled on to the trucks. Towards the evening the men returned, cold, weary and tired, to a draughty barn, with the dismal prospect of a similar day on the morrow.

For the officers there was a lecture by the Commanding Officer on a pamphlet recently brought out called "The Division in the Attack." The lecture took place every evening at 5 p.m. in the village school, and this meant that in many cases the officers were on duty for twelve hours continuously. During the day time there was also a Lewis gun cla.s.s for the officers who were not on the working party, and they studied the weapon a.s.siduously. While at Proven the Battalion was visited, while working on the railway, by Lord Wavertree, then Colonel Hall Walker, the Honorary Colonel, to whom the officers were presented. It seemed a long time since they had seen him last at Sailly Labourse, and his presence was very welcome to all the old members.

An outbreak of scarlet fever prolonged the Battalion's stay for a few days, but on the 23rd February it left Proven, detrained at the Asylum at Ypres and moved into billets at the Prison, with two of the companies in the Magazine. While in the Prison one of the officers facetiously remarked that it was a much better gaol than he had been used to, and observed that it was built on the panopticon principle. The next day the Battalion moved to its old haunts at Potijze, and resumed duties as before. During this tour Lieutenant-Colonel F.W.M. Drew took over the command in succession to Lieutenant-Colonel Woodhouse. At this time so short was the Battalion of officers that "D" Company had only one officer, who was the Company Commander, and as his company was disposed partly in a sector of trench known as X3, Potijze Defences, St. James' Trench and the Garden of Eden, he had a good deal to do.

On the 4th March a successful raid took place on an enemy post opposite to Number 5 Crater, in the vicinity of the Railway. The sentry post was in a sap head around which the wire had been cut up by sh.e.l.l fire. A shrapnel barrage was directed against the post for a few minutes, while the raiding party was waiting in no man's land. The barrage lifted suddenly, and the small raiding party rushed in and, taking the sentries by surprise, secured them as prisoners. On the 19th March the enemy successfully raided the Battalion, and unfortunately captured about ten prisoners. The plan adopted was ingenious. The night had been exceptionally quiet, when suddenly about half an hour before dawn the enemy opened with a barrage of all calibres on the sector immediately on the left of the Battalion, with the intention of diverting the attention of the British artillery to that sector. The enemy raiding party meanwhile was lying in no man's land. The enemy suddenly opened with a devastating fire on the Battalion's trenches for a few minutes, lengthened the range, and under cover of this barrage the raiding party entered and surprised the men in the front line. Orders had lately been received that the officer on watch was not to fire the S.O.S. signal to the artillery until he was sure that the enemy had left their trenches. But as it was dark he could not ascertain this, and consequently the signal was not fired. The Company Commander sent back the S.O.S. signal, but the message was not delivered through the foolishness of a signaller who was afraid to use the power buzzer, fearing that the enemy might intercept the message. The Germans left one of their men dead in the trench and another just in front of the parapet. This was an incident which had to be avenged, and soon the Battalion by means of two successful raids secured enough prisoners to equalize.

Towards the end of the month another raid was expected. To frustrate this the Commanding Officer decided to have a body of about sixty men lying in the middle of no man's land, in such a position that they would escape the enemy barrage and intercept the raiding party and take them by surprise.

This was a sound scheme, but it was very exhausting for the men who had to lie for four or five hours on the frozen ground. Moreover, the antic.i.p.ated raid did not eventualise.

The 13th March was the anniversary of the advent of the Battalion to France, and as the Battalion was then at Brandhoek, the sergeants invited the Commanding Officer and the remaining original officers who had landed at Le Havre with the Battalion to attend a smoking concert. The officers spent a short time at the concert, during which the usual eulogistic speeches were made.

About this time the platoons were reorganised in accordance with a training pamphlet that had lately been issued. Henceforth they were to consist of a Lewis gun section, a section of bombers, another of rifle grenadiers, and a fourth of rifle-men, and the men were taught the new formation to be adopted for the attack which was known as the "Normal Formation," one consisting of lines and waves of attackers.

In April, when the Battalion's turn came for a period in reserve, two companies had to remain in Ypres to a.s.sist the Royal Engineers with working parties, so that the personnel of these companies missed their period of rest. At this time one of these companies had its headquarters in a house in a terrace called the Place d'Amour. In the gardens of the houses a battery of field guns was installed, and there was another just close by. The headquarters of these two batteries were also in the Place d'Amour--one on each side of the infantry company headquarters. One morning the enemy decided to annihilate one of the batteries and commenced to fire ranging shots over the terrace. The artillerymen knew what was coming, and told everyone to leave the billets, but to uphold the honour of the infantry, the men refused to leave the billets until after the gunners had evacuated the position. They got away just in time.

On the 17th April the Battalion moved to the Ecole, a place outside the city on the east, which had apparently been a large technical school, and after a few days here it moved to Railway Wood sector where things were very active. After a tour here and a few days in reserve it returned to Potijze sector once more. On the 11th May a very successful night raid was carried out by two officers and forty other ranks on Oskar Farm. Under cover of a barrage two parties entered the enemy positions. Some Germans were found in a dugout, which was then bombed and six Germans surrendered.

A small bombing party was counter-attacked by six Germans, and the sergeant in command shot three and bayoneted one, while the other two escaped. The War Diary states that on the way back some of the prisoners became unruly and were effectively dealt with, which means that they were killed. At least ten Germans were killed besides those in the dugout that was bombed. The prisoners belonged to the 1st Matrosen Regiment of the German Naval Division.

On the 17th May the Battalion went to Bollezeele, where it remained for a month. This was a clean, well-built village, where the men were very comfortable. The training ground was about an hour's march away, and so the Battalion paraded in the main street every morning with the drummers in the centre, and marched to the training ground where the companies were placed at the disposal of their commanders for drill and instruction. A meal was taken at noon and when the afternoon's work was done the Battalion reformed and marched back to billets. The weather at this time was very fine. Never had the men witnessed such beautiful blue skies, and scarcely a drop of rain marred the stay in the village. The Brigade sports were held early in June, and the Battalion did very well in the military contests, winning three out of four events, but unfortunately not quite so well in the others.

On the 11th June the Battalion left Bollezeele, and early the next morning arrived at Ypres, and immediately went to the usual sector at Potijze. As the sh.e.l.l fire in this area had become much more severe of late, to move troops through Ypres or even around it was done at great risk, and all were glad when the move was over.

By a chain of unfortunate circ.u.mstances, leave for officers had been very slow. In January it had been stopped as it was considered necessary for the officers to be with their men during training while out of line.

Difficulties of transport brought about the closing of leave from January to June. It opened again in June, but as all could not go at once it happened that some officers did not get leave for nine or ten months.

After a few days in Potijze sector the Battalion sidestepped to the Wieltje sector. The tour here was characterised by intense enemy artillery activity. Heavy batteries constantly countered each other, and day and night were punctuated by cannonades of varying intensity. Ypres itself was sh.e.l.led by the celebrated 420 m.m. Skoda howitzer. The enemy drenched the area with the old lachrymatory gas sh.e.l.ls, as well as a new gas he had lately introduced known as "Yellow Cross" or "Mustard" gas. Bilge Trench came in for special attention, and on one day it was estimated that 1,200 heavy sh.e.l.ls fell in its vicinity.

It was a time of great aerial activity also. Richthoven and his squadron visited the sector quite frequently--generally in the early morning--and fired machine guns at the men in the trenches. His squadron could be easily distinguished, as the bodies of the aeroplanes were painted red.

Also they flew very low, and the anti-aircraft gunners did not dare to fire, leaving it to the infantrymen to defend themselves with Lewis guns as best they could.

During the tour in Wieltje the Battalion dug Hopkin's Trench in no man's land, under machine gun, granatenwerfer and rifle-grenade fire, which were the cause of several casualties. Fortunately there was a very good mined dugout at Wieltje containing many rooms which were lighted by electricity.

The shelter it afforded reduced considerably the number of casualties that would otherwise have taken place, and it was a pity that there were not more like it.

Though very good work was done by the companies during these months of trench duty, it should be remembered that perhaps the most dangerous task was the bringing up of rations and water. Ypres was approachable from Poperinghe by one road only, along which came almost all the supplies for the troops in the Salient. From a point on the road called Shrapnel Crossing to the city it was within convenient range of the enemy artillery, and being well aware that the road was much used at night, the enemy subjected it to considerable fire, and caused casualties nightly.

Once arrived in Ypres the Battalion transport had to pa.s.s the Square and the Menin Gate, which were well known danger points, where there was no cover, and then proceed to Potijze along a road that could easily be enfiladed by the enemy gunners. No matter how heavy was the enemy sh.e.l.ling there was no night on which the transport section failed to deliver the rations.

At the beginning of July the Battalion went to Moringhem to prepare for the great battle. This was a very small hamlet, and there must have been a great concentration of troops in the Pas de Calais, as this little place had to accommodate two battalions. The men were placed under canvas, and some of the officers lived in tents, while the remainder were accommodated in billets. The training was mainly devoted to the attack.

The British and the enemy trenches were taped out on some cornfields, in propinquity to the hamlet, and the forthcoming attack was rehea.r.s.ed time and time again by all the battalions in the Brigade. Great attention was paid to synchronisation of watches, and the immediate reporting of all information. Maps and aeroplane photographs of the ground were studied with meticulous care, and a model of the Battalion's sector over which it was to attack, showing Uhlan Farm, Jasper and Plum Farms, Pommern Castle, and Pommern Redoubt, was constructed outside the camp to explain the lie of the ground to the men. Tanks were represented by half limbers during these practices, and the shrapnel barrage by drums.

During the stay at Moringhem the officers were able to ride into St. Omer on one or two occasions, and there dine at the restaurants, where a welcome change in their usual menu was obtainable.

THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES.

On the 21st July the Battalion left Moringhem, and once more found itself at "B" Camp at Brandhoek. This was a very different place from what it had been during the winter, and being full of troops, the Battalion had only one-third of its former area in which to accommodate itself. Anti-aircraft batteries, tunnelling companies, transport lines, field hospitals, and observation balloons were everywhere.

The training was complete. Everyone knew the orders and it was merely a case of waiting for "Z" day, the day of the attack. On the 29th July, which turned out to be "X" day, the fighting personnel left Brandhoek, and moved to Durham Redoubt, an area just west of Ypres, where the men bivouacked for the night. The next day illuminating flares, iron rations, spare water-bottles, bombs, and maps were given to the men.

Though all knew the role of the Battalion and its allotted objectives, no one in the Battalion knew the extent of the attack, or which divisions were attacking, or what was to happen if all objectives were captured. It was believed that if the attack succeeded, there were other divisions in rear ready to exploit the success. Wild rumours began to filter through.

One of the most prevalent was that eighty mines would be sprung at zero, and this was inspiring to all, and infused new courage into the men.

Towards evening the companies left the area, and slowly in the darkness moved via the Plaine d'Amour past the Dixmude Gate and the Dead End to Oxford Trench, where they took up a position and waited. This waiting was very unpleasant, as the enemy was obviously expecting an attack and sh.e.l.led the whole area almost all night. There was little shelter, as the trench was shallow and wide, and several were wounded before the fight commenced.

The objective allotted to the Battalion consisted of a section of the enemy second line called the "Stutzpunkt" Line, comprising Pommern Redoubt (called "Gartenhof" by the Germans) to Bank Farm, known to the enemy as "Blucher." The distance of the objective from the Battalion's zero position was approximately a mile and a half, which was at that period of the war a big distance to be called upon to cover in one day.

Two hours before zero it became known that the artillery was firing gas sh.e.l.ls on the enemy batteries, so that at zero the enemy would not be able to work their guns. The drone of the gas sh.e.l.ls pa.s.sing overhead, and the knowledge of this device on the part of the British artillery, was very rea.s.suring to the waiting troops.

For a few minutes before zero all was tranquil, and the men were quietly waiting. Zero was at 3-50 a.m., at which hour it was quite dark. Suddenly there was heard the firing of an 18-pounder battery. It was a battery firing just a second or two early. There followed a deafening roar. All the guns had fired together, and their sh.e.l.ls were racing across the sky.

A sheet of flame covered the enemy trenches. The fight had begun. The men rose from their positions slowly and went over the top to the front line, where according to plan they waited twenty-five minutes. The advance then continued. They should have advanced in waves, but that was impossible over the sh.e.l.l-cratered ground, as the going over the churned-up earth was very difficult, particularly in view of the heavy loads the men carried.

All cohesion was soon lost, and the men sauntered forward in little groups endeavouring as best they could to keep the proper direction. No one knew what was happening. After pa.s.sing the enemy front line all danger from his barrage was over, but his machine guns were active, and every now and then a man dropped--in many cases not to rise again. At length the river Steenbeek was reached. Numbers were few and hopes of success were rapidly vanishing. How the fight had progressed on the right or left no one knew.

In front was a strong position on the other side of the Steenbeek Valley, which turned out ultimately to be Bank Farm.

The enemy in the dim light was firing his machine guns and causing casualties, but with a final rush the men were in the centre of a German strong point. The companies were weak, one consisting of only a dozen men or so, and the Germans were in occupation of the position as well, and fired coloured lights to encourage the support of their artillery. They were dealt with by the bombers, and one sensible private, who soon used up all his available bombs found a store of German bombs, which he employed to advantage. About the same time another party of the Battalion captured Pommern Redoubt, while the 7th King's on the right got into Pommern Castle. In all about eighty prisoners were taken, which considerably exceeded the numbers of the men that first dashed up to the objective. The prisoners belonged to the infantry regiments of the 235th Division, and a few of them were artillerists belonging to the 6th Feldartillerie Regiment.

The taking of Pommern Redoubt was specially commented upon in the Dispatch of Sir Douglas Haig dealing with this battle, though the Redoubt fell much earlier than was therein stated.

Among the dugouts several things were found, such as field gla.s.ses, medical apparatus, rifles, bombs, and so on. In one was a store of bottles of aerated water. In another there was a store of rations which were ultimately consumed, and strange to relate, in one dugout there was a copy of a recent number of the "Tatler."

The position was consolidated, trenches were dug and manned by the men. A captured German machine gun was turned round and got into action. Four or five hours after the capture of the Stutzpunkt position another brigade continued the attack, but though the efforts of its members were successful at first they had in consequence of their exposed flanks to retire at nightfall, and the Battalion was then holding the line without anyone in front. Rain commenced to fall, and the ground having been churned up by countless sh.e.l.ls, the whole area soon became dissolved into a mora.s.s of spongy earth pitted with innumerable sh.e.l.l craters half full of water. The trenches that had been dug soon filled, and the men were wet through. They were utterly exhausted, and some of them had to get what sleep they could, huddled up in these wet trenches, with their feet several inches deep in water.

Cooking was impossible, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that any food at all could be supplied to the men in the advanced positions.

Added to this was the fact that the enemy artillery was exceedingly active, and the sh.e.l.ls killed many in the exposed trenches. The British heavy artillery also fired short, which had a most demoralising effect on the men in front.

On the 2nd August it became known that the enemy intended definitely to recapture the Stutzpunkt line. The men were informed of this, and told to resist to the last. All available men were sent up from the transport lines to reinforce the men in front. These reinforcements suffered considerably from sh.e.l.l fire on the way up, but their advent inspired and cheered the weary men who had been through the whole fight, and whose rifles were in many cases so choked with mud as to be unserviceable.

Towards midday the enemy developed a heavy barrage. He was about to attack, and everyone was waiting for the antic.i.p.ated onslaught without fear, as all felt that any counter-attack would be repulsed with great loss. The S.O.S. signal and machine guns were ready, but the artillery observer saw the enemy first, and the artillery barrage of the British soon dispersed the attack.

Owing to the insufficiency of the number of surviving stretcher bearers, the evacuation of the wounded was exceedingly difficult. These were collected in a dugout at Bank Farm, where they lay for a long time after having received some slight attention. Two wounded Germans whom the stretcher bearers had been unable to clear were handed over to the relieving unit. The Battalion Aid Post was at Plum Farm, where the Medical Officer and his staff worked to the limit of their powers in attending and evacuating wounded.

Major E.G. h.o.a.re, who was in command of the Battalion during the operation, wrote a poem which describes the conditions of the Ypres battle, and it is here given in full:--

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW.

31ST JULY, 1917.

Down in the valley the Steenbeek flows, A brook you may cross with an easy stride, In death's own valley between the rows Of stunted willows on either side.

You may cross in the sunshine without a care, With a brow that is fanned by the summer's breath.

Though you cross with a laugh, yet pause with a prayer, For this is the Vale of the Shadow of Death.

Down in the valley was rain and rain, Endless rain from a dismal sky, But the valley was Liberty's land again, And the crest-line smoked like a Sinai.

Rain that beat on the tangled ma.s.s Of weeds and pickets and broken wire, And astride the stream was a brown mora.s.s, In the valley of water and mud and fire.

Down in the valley the barrage fell, Fountains of water and steel and smoke, Scream of demons and blast of h.e.l.l, The flash that blinds and the fumes that choke.

The mud and the wire have chained the feet, You are up to the knees in swamp and slime, There's a laugh when the crossing is once complete, But a setting of teeth for the second time.

Down in the valley the shambles lay With the sordid horrors of hate revealed, Tattered khaki and shattered grey And the splintered wrecks of a battlefield.

Thank G.o.d for the end that is sure and swift, For the fate that comes with a leap and bound, But what if G.o.d leaves you alone to drift To the lingering death in the pestilent ground?