Chapter XXXVIII: The End of It All 238 (3)

About September 6 I went with a party of officers from the Brigade to view the trenches we were to take over on the Somme battlefield. And as this was my first visit there it naturally made a great impression on me. We started off in the dark and rode through Hénencourt and Millencourt to Albert. Just before we reached Albert we passed through a cloud of lachrymatory gas, which made me weep copious tears for nearly half an hour. The great sight in Albert was of course the ruined cathedral, with its colossal statue of the Virgin and Child hanging downwards over the roadway. We rode on to where the front line had been at Fricourt then to Fricourt 'Circus,' Mametz, and then to the south of Mametz Wood, where we left our horses. First we went through the wood to B.H.Q., which were in some deep dugouts there. Having obtained guides and a rough sort of map, we went on to Battalion H.Q. at the Chalk Quarry east of Bazentin-le-Petit. This was about 1000 yards from the front line, which lay just below the ridge from Martinpuich to High Wood. A deep C.T. called 'Jutland Alley' took us up to the front line--'Clark's Trench.' So far we had little trouble from shelling, but we passed over the bodies of two unfortunate Highlanders in Jutland Alley who had been recently killed by a shell. The entrance to Intermediate Trench on the left was terrible, the smell being overpowering. As a matter of fact there were scores of dead men just out of sight on both sides of this trench, whom it had been impossible to bury. It was not unusual to see an arm or leg protruding out of the side of the C.T., so hastily had the Germans buried their dead. And there were swarms and swarms of flies everywhere. When we had finished looking round in the front line, which was a good trench and quite quiet, we turned back down Jutland Alley. The German 'heavies' were now shelling the supports and close to the C.T. One shell, which seemed not to explode, hit the edge of the C.T.; and when we got to the place we found the trench partially filled in and an unfortunate man buried up to his neck, much shaken but not much hurt. We left him to be extricated by his friends who had got spades. I then visited the trenches near the windmill and then returned to the south of Mametz Wood. Whilst waiting here I examined with interest the many curious little 'cubby holes' that our troops had made during the attack on Mametz Wood. I also watched the German 'heavies' shelling our field batteries near Bazentin-le-Grand, and sending up clouds of chalky dust. A few shrapnel shells were also fired near the road, and I believe our horses and orderlies were nearly hit, but escaped by galloping off when the first shell came. The countryside looked very desolate and knocked about till we got to Fricourt Circus, only the chalky roads were crammed with limbers and lorries taking up supplies. At the Circus there was a remarkable sight, a huge camping ground covering several square miles, every available spot on it packed with dumps and horse-lines, artillery parks, bivouacs, and tents. All the roads round here were full of troops on the move, and of lines and lines of lorries either coming or going. After passing Albert there was less of interest, but we saw one of our aeroplanes stranded in a ploughed field east of Millencourt. The pilot told us he had got his machine damaged over the German line, but had managed to get back thus far, when he had made a bad landing. Such was my first visit to the great battlefield, a dreary looking spot with a general aspect of chalk, broken stumps of trees, and crowded muddy roads.

Our stay at Hénencourt was drawing to a close, but before we left we had an inspection by the III Corps Commander. And on the last day, September 9, we held a grand sports day and had a band playing. The men looked splendidly fit and well after their month's rest, and they displayed a wonderful spirit, talking eagerly of their part in the coming attack. Alas and alas! At times I could have wept to see these splendid bronzed men go marching by, the very flower of our English race. For I knew that very soon I should see few of them again, or few indeed of their like.

XIV

MAMETZ WOOD

On Sunday September 10, the Brigade left Hénencourt, and B.H.Q. went to the deep dugouts in Mametz Wood. I travelled there with Sergts. Moffat and Hogg, and we were lucky enough to get good lifts, first in a Canadian Staff car and then on a motor-lorry. Capt. Bloomer (5th D.L.I. and attached to B.H.Q.) shared a deep dugout with me, and we had meals together.

It was the first deep dugout I had entered, and of course it was the work of the Germans. There were about twenty steps down at either end, the wooden sides of the stairway scarred with bullet holes and splinters. Inside there were just two narrow apartments, one for our bedroom and the other for meals. Though rather draughty it was comfortable enough and practically shell-proof. Capt. Bloomer had an unpleasant job, which kept him out late at nights, and I did not envy him. In order to make the attack, it was decided to dig a forward trench some way in front of Clark's Trench. The digging was done at night and cost us a number of casualties from shell and rifle fire. Capt. Bloomer used to go up every night to see the work done.

The second morning at Mametz Wood I was greatly shocked to hear that our Brigadier had been killed by a sniper from High Wood, as he was going out to inspect the forward trench just after dawn. It was nearly two days before his body could be brought in, owing to the shelling that went on at night. He was buried at Albert. A few days later Brigadier-General Ovens, an Irishman, came to take command of the 149th Infantry Brigade.

My job was now to prepare the Brigade bomb stores and to see that the grenades were properly packed into sandbag carriers for taking up the line. A special dugout had been prepared as a bomb store near the Chalk Quarry at Bazentin-le-Petit, but almost at the last moment the R.A.M.C. commandeered the place for their forward dressing-station. So the boxes of grenades had to lie in the open in large shell-holes, covered with German greatcoats, mackintosh sheets, or anything else we could get hold of. I spent hours and hours examining the grenades and packing them into sandbag carriers. One of our transport-wagons[10] had a lucky escape, whilst carrying a load of 2000 Mills grenades, all detonated, to one of our dumps. The safety-pin of one of the grenades broke with the jolting of the wagon, and the grenade went off, bursting its own and several other boxes, but not setting off any other of the grenades. I had an anxious time unpacking that wagon-load. The brass safety-pins of the Mills grenades were very unsatisfactory at this time; but I had collected a large number of steel pins from the bombing grounds, and I used to re-pin any that I thought had weak brass-pins. This examination of the grenades was rather wearisome, but it was time well spent, for we had no accident with them when the carrying-parties took them up the line. And other units were not so fortunate in that respect. About 24,000 grenades went through my hands, and of these perhaps 5000 went into the sandbags. On September 14 we first saw the mysterious tanks, which had arrived behind the quarry to take part in the great attack next day. We had two allotted to our Division. That night we moved from Mametz Wood to the Chalk Quarry at Bazentin-le-Petit. Here one of the Divisional Field Co. R.E. had prepared for us excellent H.Q. in the side of the Quarry. The offices were well down in the side of the Quarry, the mess room was a large shelter covered with sandbags a little higher up. We were fairly crowded that night, for a large number of 'liaison' officers arrived for duty next day. We were sleeping inside the mess shelter, practically shoulder to shoulder all over the floor. Officers were sleeping and feeding and working there all at the same time. A day and night mess was run for the benefit of all that came in.

For the last four or five days our artillery had kept up an almost continual fire on the enemy's lines. Now at the last moment the guns of the Field Artillery were taken out of their hiding places and brought forward into the open. Our chalk pit was practically under the muzzles of about a dozen field guns.

Later on that night we heard a curious whistling, puffing sound, it was the two tanks clambering up the hill to get into position near the front line.

FOOTNOTES:

[10] Lieut. F.C. Clayton was now Brigade Transport Officer.

XV

THE 15TH SEPTEMBER 1916

We were all up early next morning, and got some breakfast well before dawn. The air outside had a regular autumn chill. At first only an occasional gun fired in the distance. But about twenty minutes before dawn, our heavy guns opened their bombardment. To one standing in the quarry, below the level of the ground, they had the most weird of sounds. A dull rumbling in the rear and a continual whizz and hiss high overhead. Hardly a sound of the guns firing and no sound of the shells bursting. Only that terrible grinding swish in the air above. Twenty minutes of that, and then, with a terrific roar, all our field guns opened, and we knew that our comrades in front, the 4th N.F. on the right and the 7th N.F. on the left, had 'gone over the top.' The noise in front of the field batteries was pandemonium, excruciating to the nerves. The air shook and quivered with the sound, the quarry seemed to shake. You could only hear when the speaker shouted in your ear. And so it went on hour by hour all day. The rate of fire subsided, but the guns went on all day. I was standing with the Staff-Captain in the Quarry, when I got what felt like a stone in the face. It proved to be a piece of a shell, but happily for me it struck the ground first and caught me on the rebound. A small cut about the nose and chin, but I had to go and have it dressed. I got well chaffed afterwards on my rather comical appearance. It was an anxious time before the first news got back, but when it did it was good. Our men had taken the first German trench, and were waiting to go ahead again. Unfortunately High Wood was not taken by the 47th Division on our right till midday, and meanwhile we lost numerous casualties from having our right flank exposed to machine-gun fire. A report came in that a large party of Germans were starting a bombing attack on our right, so it was decided to send up a supply of grenades. I went, therefore, and found Lieut. Mackenzie, who was in charge of 100 men acting as carriers, and handed over 2400 grenades. This party went up to the front line and back without mishap. But shortly afterwards Lieut. Mackenzie was badly wounded by one of our own shells bursting prematurely. We had fifty casualties at the Quarry from premature bursts. It was not the fault of the gunners, but either the guns were worn or the shells were defective.

I lost two sergeant-instructors in the Quarry. Sergt. Moffat was badly hit in the thigh with a fragment from a premature and died a few days after. Sergt. Hogg was wounded in the chest by a bullet, but not fatally. The wounded and prisoners began to stream back past the Quarry. And as they came we began to get news of our friends in front. Though successful the Brigade had to pay a heavy price. The 4th N.F. were literally cut to pieces. I lost many friends killed, including Capt. J.W. Merivale, 2nd-Lieut. J. Robinson, and Sergt. Austin, and many more wounded, including Capt. G.F. Ball.[11] During the attack thirty-seven out of the eighty bombers of the 7th N.F. were killed or wounded, and the bombers of the 4th N.F. paid a still heavier price, including their gallant officer killed.

At 4 P.M. the 151st Infantry Brigade took over the operations on our front and continued the attack at night. Next day B.H.Q. returned to Mametz Wood.[12] I had to pay a visit to the nearest large dressing-station to get the anti-tetanus inoculation. This proved more troublesome than the small cut I received, and it made me feel fairly weak for the next ten days. On September 20 I went with Capt. D. Hill to select a place for a dump near High Wood, and we passed over the first captured German trench. There were few of our men lying about, for the burial parties had been hard at work. But farther back around Intermediate Trench there were piles of British and German soldiers still lying where they had fallen weeks before. We had now to get a number of sandbag carriers made for taking more grenades up the line, and I was given a small party from the 5th N.F. to get this done.

About September 22 we returned to the line, and B.H.Q. to the Chalk Quarry at Bazentin-le-Petit. I have but a confused recollection of the period from now to the end of our stay in this locality. My servant had a lucky escape in the Quarry. He was sitting outside my dugout with two others making some tea, when a small shell fell right in the middle of their feet. All were thrown over by the explosion, but only one was really hurt--Capt. Bloomer's servant. We brought the poor fellow into the dugout, with his right arm almost severed at the elbow; and we spent the next ten minutes tying him up as best we could. He died about a week later. I also remember paying two visits to a most unpleasant spot selected as the Brigade ammunition dump, at the junction of Crescent Alley and Spence Trench. The German artillery never seemed to leave it alone.

About October 3 the 5th N.F., commanded by Lieut.-Col. N.I. Wright attacked the Flers Line, and took two trenches. Before this attack started a huge howitzer was brought up and placed on the west side of Mametz Wood. And during the one and a half hours preceding the attack, it fired sixty 15-inch shells into Le Sars, of which only two failed to burst. On October 5 the 50th Division was relieved, and B.H.Q. moved back to a doctor's house in Albert. That night General Ovens gave a dinner to the officers of the Staff at a restaurant in the town, where a good repast was served by some French civilians. Next day we moved farther back to Millencourt, and we were billeted in a nice house.

FOOTNOTES:

[11] The two other Company Commanders of the 7th N.F., Capt. V. Merivale, M.C., and Capt. E.F. Clennell, M.C., got safely through the action.

[12] At this place I first had the opportunity of speaking to our Divisional Commander, Major-General Sir P.S. Wilkinson, K.C.M.G., C.B., who was beloved by every one in the Division.

XVI

MILLENCOURT

I went off to Millencourt, on October 6, in front of the rest of Brigade in order to look for a bombing ground. I found one all right, but I cannot say that it was altogether safe or in very good condition. The firing-trench was a square emplacement cut into the ground and there was no easy exit in case of trouble; also our predecessors there obviously had had an accident on the spot, for I found a box of Mills grenades lying there, half buried, two or three of the grenades exploded and the rest more or less damaged and in a dangerous condition. However, the mess was cleared up at last, and I had to make the best of the place, such as it was. I had now only Sergt. P. Flannigan to help me, but Lieut.-Col. Scott Jackson, D.S.O., my colonel, kindly allowed L.-Sergt. Piercy of the 7th N.F. to come and assist in the training at the Brigade Bombing School. After the heavy fighting the Brigade was supplied with large drafts of new men. They came chiefly from the Fen country and were only partially trained. I found them far more difficult to instruct in bombing than the Northumberland miners. I had between forty and fifty of these men each day, and they had to throw two live grenades before they left. One exciting event happened during this training. One of the drafts was about to throw his grenade, when he dropped it and of course it started to burn. With great quickness and resolution Sergt. Flannigan picked it up and got it out of the trench before it burst--and his action undoubtedly averted a tragedy. Many men have received decorations for similar acts in the trenches, but the Brigade decided that nothing could be done in this case except mentioning it in Divisional Orders and recording it in the Sergeant's pay book. After this I arranged with the Sergeant to keep an undetonated grenade handy, and if any man seemed too nervous to throw his first grenade safely, we supplied him with this. He went through all the emotions of throwing a live grenade, and endangered neither himself nor us. The empty grenade was then picked up and treated as a 'dud,' i.e. one that had misfired. Between October 7 and October 21, 477 new men went through the bombing course, and nearly a thousand grenades were fired. Shortly after this Sergt. P. Flannigan went to the Corps School, first as a bomber and afterwards as a Lewis gun instructor; and I never had his services again.

Brigadier-General Ovens was a pleasant, genial Irishman, who tried to make us all feel at home in his mess. But I doubt whether the Irish really understand the Northumbrians or vice versa. At this time John Coates, the famous tenor singer, came out as a lieutenant in the Yorkshire Regiment. He was attached to us for a time. It was a sporting thing for him to do, but he was neither young enough nor hard enough to stand the severities of the campaign. He acted as General's Orderly-Officer for a time and afterwards became Town Major of Bécourt, not an easy or a very pleasant job. He sang several times for the men, once in the open air, and his singing was certainly top hole.

During this stay at Millencourt I paid a flying visit to Amiens with Lieut. A.E. Odell. We went there and back in a Divisional Signal car and stopped only a few hours, in fact for dinner.

About October 24 we went to Albert, stopping one night at the same house as before, and next day we went back to the line.

XVII

HOOK SAP

On October 25, 1916, we took over from a brigade of the 1st Division at the ruined sugar factory at Bazentin-le-Grand. The sleeping apartments were in a dugout below ground, but the mess room and offices were in the building on the ground floor. After arriving I went with a bombing sergeant of the Black Watch to have a look at the Brigade Dump, which was a good way from B.H.Q. You got at it by walking across country to the west end of High Wood, and then along a trench tramway till it ended rather abruptly at the Flers Switch. Like most dumps, it was at the end of the tramway and none too healthy a spot. It was afterwards moved forward to a sunken road called 'Hexham Road,' where the boxes of ammunition were just piled in the open.

The position in front was now as follows. The 1st Division had pushed the enemy back to a line along the top of a ridge running from the Butte of Warlencourt practically due east. This ridge prevented our seeing the enemy's approaches and support positions in Le Barque. On the other hand from Loupart Wood the whole of our approaches and support trenches were in full view of the enemy, as far back as High Wood. Across those two miles no one could move in daylight without being seen by the enemy, and there was practically no position to put our field guns forward of High Wood. The enemy's front line consisted of two trenches--Gird Line and Gird Support--with a forward trench on the top of the ridge, called on the left 'Butte Trench' on the right 'Hook Sap.' Our front line Snag Trench and Maxwell Trench lay this side the ridge and about two hundred yards away from the German forward trench.

The Butte of Warlencourt, an old Gallic burial place, was a round chalk hill, rising about 100 feet above ground level; and had been mined with deep dugouts and made into a formidable strong point. From the Butte machine-guns defended the approaches to Hook Sap, and from Hook Sap and the Gird Line machine-guns defended the approaches to the Butte. The ground between and around the opposing trenches had been ploughed up with innumerable shells, some of huge calibre, and it was now a spongy morass, difficult to cross at a walk and impossible at a run. As events proved, unless both the Butte and the Gird Line could be taken at the same time, the one would render the other impossible to hold. This then was the problem that faced the 50th Division, a problem that would have been difficult enough in the driest of weather, but rendered four times more so by the rain which fell in deluges on three days out of four during the whole of October and November. I have dealt with these details rather fully, because this phase of the Somme battle has been passed over as a thing of no account. The eyes of the public have been directed to the successful operations at Beaumont Hamel and Beaucourt. They have not been directed to the misery and horror that were endured heroically but unavailingly on the slopes between Eaucourt L'Abbaye and Le Barque. Never have the soldiers of the 50th Division deserved more and won less praise than they did during the operations between October 25 and November 15. I have no pen to describe the conditions that were faced by the brave men, who, after labouring unceasingly in the slimy horrors and rain for three weeks without rest or relief, stormed and took Hook Sap, only to be cut off and killed to the last man by successive counter-attacks. It is a sorrowful page in the history of the 7th N.F., but for stark grim courage and devotion to duty it cannot be surpassed by anything in the history of the battalion.

The first attack on the Butte and Butte Trench took place about the beginning of November and was made by the 151st Infantry Brigade. On the right the attack did not succeed; but on the left the troops reached the Butte and took or killed many Germans. Unfortunately the machine-guns behind the Butte prevented the Brigade from consolidating the ground won, and the troops eventually retired to their original line. During this operation the men of the 149th Infantry Brigade were employed in carrying up stores and as stretcher parties. Eventually, about November 12, the Brigade took over the front line, with a view to renewing the attack whenever the weather should permit. Our H.Q. were established at Seven Elms, about a mile from the front line, with rear H.Q. at the sugar factory. At dawn on November 14 the Brigade attacked the Hook Sap and Gird Line, the 5th N.F. on the right, the 7th N.F. on the left opposite the sap. At the same time an Australian Corps attacked farther to the right, but no attack was made on the Butte itself. An officer, who was in the trenches south-west of the Butte and saw the Northumberlands go forward, told me that he had never seen such a strange sight. The men staggered forward a few yards, tumbled into shell-holes or stopped to pull out less fortunate comrades, forward a few more yards, and the same again and again. All the while the machine-guns from the German trenches poured a pitiless hail into the slowly advancing line; and the German guns opened out a heavy barrage on the trenches and on the ground outside. In spite of mud, in spite of heavy casualties, the survivors of two companies of the 7th N.F. struggled across that spongy swamp and gained the German line. What happened after that can only be conjectured, for they never kept touch with the 5th N.F., who reached and took the Gird Line. But it is known that the 7th N.F. got a footing both in Hook Sap and in the Gird Line behind. The Germans barraged the captured trenches twice or three times during the day, and are thought to have attacked them in force with fresh reserves each time. Owing to the heavy and continuous barrage across No Man's Land no news could be got back and no supports could be sent forward. Finally, at night, the remnants of the shattered brigade were collected, and another attempt made to reach the trenches; but the Germans had evidently now got back to their old position and in the mud and darkness the fresh attack had little chance of success. Nothing more has been seen or heard of the two companies that reached Hook Sap. It is believed that they perished to the last man, overwhelmed by successive German counter-attacks. Second-Lieut. E.G. Lawson fell at Hook Sap, also 2nd-Lieut. R.H.F. Woods, both Bombing Officers of the 7th N.F.; also Bombing Sergts. J.R. Richardson and J. Piercy.

The 5th N.F. did well indeed, for they succeeded in holding their ground in the Gird Line and handed it over next day to the troops that relieved them. But that also had to be abandoned at last, owing to its isolated position.

The only consolation that can be drawn from this heroic but tragic affair is that it may have created a diversion to our successful operations at Beaucourt. As an isolated operation it was doomed from the start owing to the state of the ground and the exhaustion of the men who took part in it.

My own part in the sufferings of the Brigade at this time was so insignificant that it is not worth giving many details of my experiences. I found walking over the muddy ground most terribly exhausting, especially in a trench coat dripping with rain and mud. And it was a long way, over three miles, from rear H.Q. to the dump at Hexham Road. One morning I went with Major Anderson to the ruins of Eaucourt L'Abbaye on a visit of inspection. For months this was a terribly shelled place, and it was now nothing but a pile of broken sticks and brickdust. We were lucky to get clear of it before the morning hate began. There were still large numbers of British and German dead lying in heaps round the Flers Line; and two broken down tanks completed the picture of muddy desolation. On November 14, the day of the battle, I went up to advanced B.H.Q. at Seven Elms, where quarters were very crowded. I remember being so tired out that night that I fell asleep standing in one of the passages, propped against one of the walls. Next day I returned to the sugar factory. And on November 17 B.H.Q. moved back to a billet in Albert. Here, on November 19, I attended the Battalion Church Parade in a barn. A mere handful of men, gaunt, hollow-cheeked, and exhausted, their faces dead white and their clothes almost in rags, it was one of the saddest parades I can remember.

During this visit to the line I first had the services of Pte. Fairclough of the 5th N.F. as my Brigade Bombing Orderly, and he remained with me in that capacity till I left the Brigade in 1918. I found him a most useful, willing man, and he soon gained his lance stripe. On November 19, owing to the kindness of Major Anderson, I was granted leave to England for ten days. He told the General that I was looking rather war-worn and that I should be needed for further grenade training on my return.

It was during this visit to Bazentin-le-Grand that I first started studying Intelligence work. The Brigade-Major asked me to spend my spare time in assisting him with some aeroplane photographs. I had to go over the daily series that came in from the Corps, and note anything new on our own part of the front. Major Anderson was an expert reader of these photographs, and he taught me all I know about the subject. I found it an interesting subject, and it was to have a great influence over my future career.

XVIII

SECOND LEAVE--BRESLE

My journey from Albert to England was remarkable for the hardships that occurred. It should be remembered that every one was desperately tired and worn out already. We were told to appear at Albert station at midnight. When we got there we were told to expect the train at 2.15 A.M. This meant walking about the platform to keep warm, for there was no shelter for officers at the station. Capt. J.O. Aglionby, C.F., our padre, and Capt. Lidderdale, R.A.M.C, our battalion doctor, were both going by the same train, so I was not without company. When 2.15 A.M. came there was no train, and we kept walking about till dawn broke, but still no train. The R.T.O. then told us that there had been a breakdown and that the train could not be expected for a long time. So we decided to go and get breakfast at our billets and then to go to Amiens by motor-lorry, and catch the train there. At least there would be less chance of being shelled there, and some food and shelter.

So we set off about 10 o'clock and eventually got to Amiens, where we had a decent lunch. We had to keep hanging about the station, however, inquiring for the train. It arrived about 9 P.M., about eighteen hours late, and we were glad enough to get on board. It is difficult enough to sleep sitting in a train, but I think I managed a few hours of troubled sleep. And next morning we arrived in Le Havre. The first thing there was to march the men down to a rest camp a long way from the town, and a good way from the docks. We were told to report back at the same place at 2.30 P.M. So we trudged back to Le Havre and got shaved and fed. On returning to the Rest Camp we were told that the boat would leave in twenty minutes and that, as it was a good thirty minutes walk, we had better be quick. Fortunately we got hold of a motor-car and got a lift part of the way and hurried along after that as fast as we could. When we reached the dock we found the boat would not leave for another two hours. The organisation here was rotten just at this time, but it improved later. _The Viper_, a fast packet-boat, took us across to Southampton. And next morning I proceeded to Weston-super-Mare, having taken nearly three days on the journey. Most of that leave I spent in bed in the hands of the doctor. I was utterly worn out, not only with exhaustion, but with the depression naturally caused by losing so many friends and comrades in a manner apparently so fruitless.

The company of recruits I had at Alnwick, was practically wiped out, I found about two of them with the battalion when I returned. Only eleven were left of the battalion bombers, my good comrades of the Salient. The Bombing Officers of the four battalions were all casualties, four of them killed. There were few trained bombers left in the whole brigade. I went back to France on December 2 in anything but buoyant spirits.

On returning to Albert I found that the Brigade were billeted at the small village of Bresle. And I got there without much difficulty. The weather was wet and cold, as it generally is in December; but active preparations were soon started for getting the Bombing School open. We found a fairly good bombing-pit for the Brigade School, but we had to make one for the battalions. I was now without trained instructors and I had no Brigade Bombing Sergeant, but I was lent Corp. Munro, a bomber from the 6th N.F., and I made what use I could of Pte. Fairclough, my orderly. The result was that I had not only to attend to all the live firing, but I had to do the sergeants' work as well. Afterwards there were the grenades to be sorted out for next day and a friendly hand given to the Bombing Officers of the battalions, most of whom were new to their work.

During our stay at Bresle 477 fresh men went through the recruits' bombing course. And on December 26 and 27 the tests were carried out with the battalion bombers, for the purpose of granting the Bombers' Badge. These tests were now made much more difficult to pass, and only seven men passed the throwing and firing tests. After this period I never carried out any further instruction in the hand-grenade. The drafts later on came out more fully trained and the Battalion Bombing Officers carried on any further instruction that was required. During and in preparation for the operations on the Somme 16 officers and 2106 men went through the course; and at least 5000 live grenades were thrown. I was lucky to have no accident with the Mills grenade, and no fatal ones even with the rifle-grenade.

General Ovens went on leave at Bresle, and Lieut.-Col. G. Scott Jackson, O.C. 7th N.F., came as Brigade Commander to our H.Q. We had him several times again in that capacity, and he was always a favourite in our mess. His fine record and services are well known; a D.S.O. and Bar, he probably commanded a fighting battalion as long as any officer in France. From the time when the battalion landed in France in April 1915 till he left the battalion for the R.A.M.C. at the latter end of 1917, he was only off duty for about three days, in a quiet part of the line. He always looked a picture of robust strength, never missed his cold bath even with the temperature near zero, and was one of the most optimistic men in the whole Brigade. He was a most pleasant kindly Brigade Commander, with the supreme virtue of leaving the specialists to do their work in their own way.

Before we left Bresle I got a Brigade Bombing Sergeant--Sergeant T. Matthewson of the 5th N.F., who had had long experience as Battalion Bombing Sergeant, and was a thoroughly trained and reliable man. I found him most useful in his new office and I am glad to know that he got safely through the war. Amongst other accomplishments he was a good wicket-keeper, as I found later on.

On Christmas Day I went to dinner with the 7th N.F. at their H.Q., and was very hospitably entertained. The Brigade moved from Bresle to a camp at Bécourt on November 28, and stayed there two days; and then took over from a Brigade of the 1st Division at Bazentin-le-Petit.

XIX

BUTTE OF WARLENCOURT--TRENCH WARFARE

On December 30, 1916, the Brigade was in the reserve area about Bazentin-le-Petit, and ready to take over the line of trenches running eastwards from a point south of the Butte of Warlencourt. No material change had taken place on this part of the front since the fruitless attack of November 11. The 1st Division, however, had done a good deal of work in the back areas, and had laid duck-board tracks from High Wood to the front line, and increased the number of light railways. B.H.Q. were at some dugouts at the 'Cough Drop,' a place about a mile north of High Wood. The 149th Infantry Brigade had now decided to make use of a party of 'Observers,' and Major Anderson asked me to take charge of them. I was a little diffident about this as I had never had any experience as a Battalion Intelligence Officer and really knew nothing at all about observation. But I was glad to take on the job, and I soon got to like it. On December 30, therefore, two trained observers from each of the four battalions of the Brigade reported to me. And I had two N.C.Os. with this party--a corporal of the 4th N.F., who soon left to take a commission, and L.-C. Amos of the 7th N.F., who afterwards became N.C.O. in charge. On the same day I met the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Brigade who took me over the line and showed me the two O.P.s. I was lucky to meet at the start an officer who understood the business so well. He gave me many useful hints, and handed over an excellent panoramic sketch map of the view from one O.P., as well as the Log Book. The latter was a notebook containing reports of every movement of the enemy seen from the O.P.s. On December 31 I took the party of observers up to the Cough Drop where they had a shelter near B.H.Q. I had also supervision of the two Brigade dumps, one at Hexham Road and the other at the Flers Line about half a mile north of B.H.Q. Both places came in for heavy shelling at intervals all day and night, for both were situated about the end of a trench tramway, an obvious place for dumping stores. However I had the latter dump moved to a better place, some distance from the tramway, where there was less scrap iron lying about. During this tour in the line which lasted eight days, I was employed in looking after the observers and the two Brigade bomb stores. Towards the close of our stay I started to make a new bomb store in Hexham Road. Capt. H. Liddell gave me the general design of it and told me what materials I should require. But I had no more time than to get the emplacement dug out and the wooden framework erected.[13] I remember that we struck two buried Germans in excavating the emplacement and had to treat them with some very powerful corrosive before the work could be continued.

Also it was rather a warm corner in Hexham Road, and I caught a shell splinter on the leg; this, however, struck the steel buckle on my trench boot and only raised a bruise. The weather became very cold towards the end of our stay, with snow and frost. The Germans opposite our trenches were not disposed to be unfriendly about the New Year. On the left near the Butte they signalled to our men in the trenches before a trench-mortar bombardment started, as if to warn them to take cover. On the right they were still more inclined to fraternise. Here both sides were holding trenches that would have become impossible if any sniping had been done. So both our men and the Germans worked away at deepening their own trenches without molesting their opponents; although sometimes a crowd of men were exposed from the waist upwards at a range of about 200 yards.

It was one of those curious understandings which arise when no violent operations are in progress. However, on New Year's Day it went even further. A soldier of the 5th N.F., after signals from the Germans, went out into No Man's Land and had a drink with a party of them. After this a small party of the enemy approached our trenches without arms and with evidently friendly intentions. But they were warned off and not allowed to enter our trenches. This little affair, I believe, led to the soldier being court-martialled for holding intercourse with the enemy. After eight days in the line the Brigade returned to a camp at the north end of Mametz Wood. B.H.Q. were close to a battery of 9-inch howitzers, and when these heavy guns fired a salvo, which they did occasionally both day and night, it fairly lifted the things off the table. We got shelled here one night, but beyond getting a shower or two of splinters and stones on to the huts no damage was done. I had now time to ramble round, and examine various things of interest. I found a regular dump of German bombs at Bazentin-le-Grand, and some of these were collected for training purposes.

There were some Divisional baths at Bazentin-le-Petit, and I remember having a most cold and miserable bath there one night; but it was better than none at all. It was surprising how quickly the heavy railway had been brought along. It now reached High Wood, but of course did not cross the ridge, which would have been in view of the enemy. About January 15 we went back to the line in very cold weather, and B.H.Q. stayed at the Cough Drop again for eight days. During this time I set to work completing the bomb store at Hexham Road, and filling it with grenades. Each morning I got a party of about sixteen men, and we collected a lot of filled sandbags to pack round the framework and shed which were soon finished. The Brigade observers held a post in the old Flers Line, from which good observation was obtained on the ground between Loupart Wood and Grevillers. It was not difficult to get the heavy gunners to fire on German working-parties that were spotted by the observers; and several parties were duly dispersed by our shells. Before we left the line this time, the Brigade bomb store at Hexham Road was completed and filled. And when I visited the district again in June 1917 it was still standing. I also began now to write out the Brigade Intelligence Reports which were sent in each day, and contained a summary of the events that had happened or had been observed on our front. On January 23 we went back to the camp north of Mametz Wood.

After a few days we moved off to Albert, and stayed two or three days in a house near the railway line. The town got both bombed and shelled at times, though not very severely. After this we moved off to the village of Dernancourt for a short rest.

Major C.G. Johnson, M.C., who was adjutant of the 7th N.F. when I joined the battalion, was now attached to B.H.Q. as Assistant-Staff-Captain. He was an exceedingly able man, and had a good knowledge of military law. We all liked him well as adjutant of the battalion, and our relations at B.H.Q. were always friendly. He left us eventually to become D.A.Q.M.G. in a higher Staff formation.

FOOTNOTES:

[13] Pte. Slack (7th N.F.), a Brigade pioneer, helped me greatly with the carpenter's work.

XX

FRANCE AND THE FRENCH

The war has done at least one thing for me. It has opened my eyes and changed my views with regard to the French. I confess that once I had no liking for them and a certain measure of contempt. I suppose the average Englishman has started with views like these. There has been bad blood between the two races, and that at no very distant date. Indeed the Alliance or Entente started much like a marriage of convenience. The two partners were joined in interest together against a common foe and a common danger.

Personally, I do not think there was much love lost between the two nations for some time after the war started. The bond of mutual admiration and respect, and I hope of affection, was forged in the Battle of the Somme and in the heroic defence of Verdun. This bond has been strengthened since on many a stricken field. The clouds of mutual mistrust and jealousy have been largely dispelled. We have learnt much about the French since the early days of the war, and they much about us; otherwise it would have been impossible for a French General to be in supreme command of the campaign.

I have often come in contact with the French civilian in town and country, but only rarely with French troops. Also I have come to know and like a series of French interpreters attached to battalions or brigade. The deeds of the French Army speak for themselves, and their Staff work has been often beyond praise. When we remember the cruel fate that befell the north-eastern corner of France and its unhappy citizens, we may sympathise with the fury of the French nation against their old oppressors. No one living in England can realise the hideous wounds inflicted on this fair country-side. It may explain to some extent at least the heroic resistance of the French for over four years--a resistance that could scarcely have been predicted before the war.

In considering our relations with the French at different times, it is well to have a deep sympathy for the cruel wrongs she has suffered. Thus they must have regarded with very mixed feelings their harbours, railways, and towns being taken over by an alien though friendly people.

All things considered the Frenchman may well have said at the first, 'These English, they are everywhere!' At least, this I noticed when I arrived in Le Havre in January 1916, there was no enthusiasm for us there. There was no rudeness, it is true, but the atmosphere of the place was rather chilly and aloof. The country folk about Meteren seemed pleased to see us; I think they had got used to the ways of the British soldier and found him not such a bad fellow after all. It was pleasant to see the country folks round here after our stay in Flanders, comely and straight, members of a thoroughbred race. The contrast was rather forcible perhaps.

The Brigade Interpreter in 1916, Monsieur Bunge, a native of Le Havre, was a pleasant, lively sort of person, always ready for a joke and an admirer of the British. With him I got on very well; and I learnt one or two things of the French from him. One of them was how sensitive they are in small matters of conversation. If in your heavy English way you did not respond at once with animation to his remarks, M. Bunge thought he had offended you.

They are a very sensitive race, especially in matters of courtesy. The colder manner and bearing of the British must have been a sore trial to them till they got to understand them--especially if they were laying themselves out to be friendly. It is worth while to let yourself go a bit in the matter of speech and bearing when talking to them. And, above all things, if you want to please them, try to talk to them in French, however badly, for they all take it as a great compliment. Another thing I discovered was the unwillingness of the French officers to take the initiative in saluting; yet they would never fail to return such a courtesy. Perhaps their earlier experiences in this little matter had been discouraging. It is much the same with the poilus and farmer folk. If you wish them 'Bonjour' they would invariably respond and also salute.

Later on I had a day or two in Amiens which provided some impressions of the French soldiers. The officers there contrasted rather forcibly with our own, I remember. They were very smartly dressed in home-parade uniforms, wore their medals, and carried themselves with an admirable pride and spirit. Our officers, on the other hand, dressed in the homely khaki, often the worse for wear, had generally an air of war-weariness. No doubt most of our men had come almost straight from the battle-field and were enjoying only a few hours' relaxation in this fine city. Still it made one reflect that the French are indeed a nation of soldiers which we are not. We obviously have not the same pride in the paraphernalia of war, and that shows which way the wind blows. I also saw a number of poilus going on leave and returning to the line. They looked very quiet and patient, but without a great deal of enthusiasm showing on the surface. Later on I saw French soldiers on the march several times. They get over the ground very fast; but it is more go as you please with them than with us. I have often noticed how grave these poilus look, even after the war was over. Nothing of the reckless fun and explosive good humour of the British soldier. If the latter is not having a rotten time he is wonderfully cheerful and often light-hearted.

I have also seen the French soldiers holding the line in a quiet part; and indeed we 'took over' from them there. They do not expose themselves nearly so much as we do near the trenches. Everything seemed to be done with scientific method and every one seemed to know exactly what to do on all occasions. They hold their front line thinly, trusting in case of accidents to recover it by a counter-attack. And if the French are not fighting a battle they generally keep their front as quiet as they can. This of course is all very different from our own system. If we had a quiet part of the line, it was generally because we had silenced the enemy's guns and trench-mortars by fighting.

I had one great chance of studying the French officer at home in these trenches. Shortly before taking over the French Regimental Commander in the line asked our Brigadier, Brigade-Major, and 'one other officer' to visit the trenches, but to be sure and call in at Regimental H.Q. before proceeding up the line. This was really an invitation of goodwill and ceremony rather than an invitation to examine the line. But as this was not quite understood at the time I was included in the party as Brigade Bombing Officer, rather than the Staff-Captain or Machine-Gun Officer, either of whom should have gone in my place. So on a terribly cold day at the end of January 1917 we set off, and after a long ride from Dernancourt to Fontaine-les-Cappy in a motor-car, we arrived near Regimental H.Q. and proceeded there on foot. The Brigadier was a fair French linguist, I had about two words of French, and the Brigade-Major had none. So it was just as well that the junior État-Major happened to be a fluent English speaker. Indeed, he had spent a good time in Newcastle and knew not only England but the north. We were welcomed by the French Brigadier with every mark of courtesy and goodwill. It is the custom for a French officer to salute his superior and then to shake hands with him. The salute is given even if you do not happen to be wearing a cap.