Chapter III (2)

A pleasant addition to Bac St. Maur was the Divisional theatre bought by our Division from the Australians. It was a large army hut, suitably fitted with stage, etc., and here the Divisional Concert Party, "The Dons," used to perform with great skill.

We were much worried at this time with anti-gas instructions. Not only did the Divisional Gas Officer, whom we had not seen since our first arrival at Strazeele, begin to realize our existence once more and come to inspect respirators, but countless instructions came out containing a perfect maze of directions. The whole of the front was divided into zones--"Gas Alert," "Precautionary," etc.--and notice boards were posted on the roads warning the wayfarer as to which zone he was entering. Further, when the wind was "dangerous," boards revealed that fact to all and sundry, and harrowing accounts were circulated as to the swiftness with which the German gas penetrated into back areas.

The Quartermaster's stores and transport lines were quite pleasantly situated on a side road about ten minutes' walk from the battalion. The former consisted of two or three small Armstrong huts, where the Quartermaster and Transport Officer lived in considerable comfort and entertained freely. All the animals were in good covered standings, and the billets for the drivers and the grooms were conveniently adjacent. The transport section always distinguished themselves by their taste for beautifying their surroundings, and in their spare moments Lieutenant Hutchinson and Sergeant Lloyd had many an anxious discussion as to the most suitable site for a row of whitewashed stones, collected with great trouble from the neighbourhood.

One thing which impressed us during our stay in Bac St. Maur was the very pronounced salient in which we were living. At night this was very marked, as in whichever direction you turned Véry lights could be seen in your rear. So striking, in fact, was this that a soldier of another battalion, somewhat the worse for drink, came up to Lieutenant Sutherland one evening, and, pointing to those Véry lights rising well behind our backs, inquired in a confidential manner: "Can you tell me, sir, if that is the same war as we are taking part in?"

On March 17th our first draft of officers, three in number, arrived--2nd-Lieutenants McWilliam, Fell, and Hodgkinson. Of these McWilliam had been badly wounded in 1915 while serving as a sergeant in the 1/6th K.L.R. As against this access of strength we had to set the loss of a sergeant and a number of men who had to be sent as bridge guard to Estaires, and whose return, when we had ceased to be in Divisional Reserve for some months, was only effected after a very lengthy correspondence. Sergeant Webster was also dispatched on traffic control duty, at which work he remained till the end.

We had thought in England that we knew something about men being employed on extra-regimental duty, but the few we had so employed there was a trifle to the host supplied by us in France. Corps, Divisional and Brigade clerks, area sanitary men, Divisional Baths employees, cooks and servants at Formation Headquarters, traffic control, A.S.C. loaders, men loaned to trench-mortar and machine-gun companies, gum-boot store-keepers, tramway men, men employed at Corps Rest Camps, N.C.O. instructors at schools, and Heaven knows what else, continued to be a steady drain on the battalion. Vacancies for courses, too, came pouring in; and when you consider the number of cooks, transport drivers, clerks, police, storemen, etc., who are required for every battalion's own use, it will be clear enough that the number left in platoons and sections for ordinary duty was very small.

Our time in reserve was now drawing to a close, and it appeared that on March 29th we were due to relieve the 2/5th South Lancashire Regiment in the Rue du Bois sector north of (and next but one to) La Boutillerie, the Fleurbaix trenches. The usual procedure followed. We (_i.e._, the Commanding Officer and Adjutant) set off one morning and rode along the road to Erquinghem, where we turned off to the right and called at La Rolanderie, a pleasant farmhouse with some extra Nissen huts, the Headquarters of the 172nd Brigade, the present tenants of the sector. From there, after the usual discussion about the enemy and the disadvantages and peculiarities of our new sector, we proceeded viâ Gris Pot and La Vesée to a junction of roads a few hundred yards south of the latter place. Here the horses were left, and inadvertently our tin helmets, which were hanging from our saddles, and we proceeded on foot. The country was flat and depressing. Tattered screens stood here and there masking the roads. An occasional section of guns hidden in old houses; a runner or two riding along the _pavé_ on that invention of the devil an army cycle; an artillery officer and his signallers making for a forward observation post--those were the only signs of life. All the houses were untenanted, which was to be regretted, as piquant advertisements testified to the excellence of Pierre Les Cornez beer!

In the background behind the German front line the slopes of the famous Aubers Ridge, the barrier that blocked the road to Lille, rose steadily to a height of more than fifty metres, almost a mountain-range in this flat country, giving the enemy a very fine view of all our activities. Passing Billet and Ration Farms, which bristled with R.E. material and salvage, we crossed a duck-board bridge and struck the subsidiary line of the Bois Grenier sector on the immediate right of the Rue du Bois. We plodded steadily along the duck-board track till Desolanque Farm (or Deplanque Farm, as its real name is: the official map is wrong), the usual ruin surrounded by a rectangular moat, appeared in view. The subsidiary line ran about fifty yards in front of this, and close up against it, in a long concrete dug-out, were the Battalion Headquarters that we were seeking. Down the steps into this dug-out we descended with more haste than dignity, as the enemy selected this particular moment to send a shower of "whizz-bangs" into the farm, just skimming the top of the dug-out. In the narrow stairway we met the Commanding Officer, full of wrath. "Whizz-bangs" generally meant that too many people were wandering about in the vicinity of the farm, and strict orders had been issued to prevent this. It is extraordinary how insensible to danger the average man soon becomes, and the most reasonable orders for the protection of life are ignored or disregarded unless very strictly enforced.

The Headquarters consisted of a very long concrete passage with five small rooms opening on to it--the mess, two sleeping rooms, a signal office, and the Adjutant's office and sleeping room combined. All the rooms were small and required artificial light, and a general feeling of chilly damp prevailed everywhere. We arranged ourselves as best we could in the mess; but we were all crowded together in a space far too small for the number of occupants, and the table was covered with maps, defence schemes, aeroplane photographs, and the usual litter of a trench headquarters, not to mention box respirators, tin helmets, and other impedimenta which are hastily doffed on entering a dug-out.

It appeared that the artillery observers had decided that the Germans were registering, and a sketch map that was produced showed the area which it was presumed they intended to raid. Colonel Bates, of the 2/5th South Lancashire Regiment, was rather contemptuous of the whole thing, and ascribed the apparent registration to mere casual shooting on various targets. But, at any rate, the matter had to be attended to, although the expected raid never took place. The line was held with three companies in the front and support lines, and two in the subsidiary line, the additional company being supplied by another battalion. The total frontage was about 2,800 yards, and to cover this a system of "gaps" and "localities" had been arranged--_i.e._, a series of posts covering vital points of the line. The "gaps" were ordinary but unoccupied trenches, often derelict; but they were usually wired and made difficult to penetrate.

Before leaving the 2/5th South Lancashire Regiment we were introduced to Major Brookes, M.C., A/286 Battery R.F.A., and from that moment commenced a long and lasting friendship with a most gallant and capable officer in whom every man (and all knew him) placed the utmost confidence. In the trying days ahead in Houplines at its worst Major Brookes was daily round the line; and though his battery was continually shelled by guns of every calibre, he always managed to do all we asked him, and never failed to let the enemy have even more than his daily quota of 18-pounder shells.

At 8 p.m. on March 28th Lieutenant F. C. Bowring, Sergeant Machell, and the company Lewis gunners set off for the trenches. In view of a possible hostile raid, it was thought advisable that they should relieve in daylight, and be in a position to make their presence really felt on the relief night in the event of the Germans choosing that time for a raid. The route to be taken was viâ Erquinghem, Armentières, and Rue Marle Level Crossings, and then straight down past Crown Prince House to the subsidiary line, where they were to spend the night, taking over their posts at dawn the following day.

It was a long and tiring march of many miles from Bac St. Maur, and one which was considered too long for the battalion to undertake at one stretch on relief night, and it was therefore arranged that a long tea halt should be made in Armentières. The Commanding Officer decided to spend the afternoon of the relief day (March 29th) in the trenches with the Company Commanders; while Major Wilson was to meet the battalion in Armentières, where he and the Quartermaster were making the necessary arrangements for housing and tea; and the Adjutant brought up the battalion. Coming through Chapelle d'Armentières on their way back from the trenches, a question arose between the Commanding Officer and the Company Commanders as to the location of some place on the map. As it was raining and they wanted to examine the map, they adjourned to a ruined house for a few minutes. The point at issue being settled, and time getting on, they hurried out of the house and on down the street. They had not gone thirty yards when a shell entered the house they had just vacated and blew the place to smithereens. How often in this and in every other war a few minutes have made the difference between life and death!

The school at 57, Rue de Lille, had been selected for the tea halt, a place eminently suited for the purpose, and fairly safe from possible interference by the enemy. It was a fine building built round a playground, with the front facing the Rue de Lille, and one side of the school facing the Rue Gambetta. It had obviously been repeatedly hit by shells of various sizes, but the Germans had not shelled Armentières itself for some time; and although the concentration of the whole of the battalion in such a small space caused some misgivings, the scheme worked excellently, and nothing untoward occurred. Field kitchens arrived with the companies, and as soon as tea was well under way the officers repaired in turns to the "Au Bœuf," an excellent restaurant--one of the few still doing business in the town.

At 7 p.m. the head of the battalion arrived at Sand-bag Corner, a junction of roads with a great sand-bag barricade on the way to Chapelle d'Armentières, where guides awaited us. The companies were to hold in the order "D," "A" (now commanded by Captain Wyatt), "C" from the right, with "B" Company in reserve in the subsidiary line, which "B" Company, 2/7th K.L.R., proceeding viâ Gris Pot and La Vesée, had already taken over, as extra company in the subsidiary line, from a company of the 2/4th South Lancashire Regiment. For the first time the men wore their packs detached from their equipment on kicking-straps, this again being due to the possibility of a raid; and in future this was the order for all reliefs, the manifold advantages being very obvious. The last part of the route up to the subsidiary line was along a lane full of shell-holes, but the frequent illumination produced by German Véry lights made the going fairly simple. Transport came right up to Battalion Headquarters, and dumps were formed accordingly in the subsidiary line for Headquarters and for each company. The relief proceeded quietly and without incident, and its speed was naturally increased by the possibility, owing to their number, of having "up" and "down" communication trenches--Wine Avenue and Leith Walk the former; Park Row, Wellington Avenue, and Cowgate the latter. At 12.40 a.m. on March 30th relief was reported complete, and our friends of the 2/5th South Lancashire Regiment proceeded joyfully to Crown Prince House and the reserve billets in the Rue Marle.

The tour, in spite of the gloomy forebodings of the gunners, proved quiet enough. For the first night or two strong fighting patrols lay up in No Man's Land in the hope of catching the enemy raiding party. The Germans, however, showed no signs of any hostile intent, and after a day or two the various precautions that had been adopted were discarded.

The left sector came in for a considerable amount of shelling, particularly in the vicinity of Captain Eccles's Headquarters and also the Ferme de Biez in rear of it, which our observers used to haunt. However, there was plenty of room in the sector for shells to fall without doing any serious harm, and our casualties were, fortunately, very low in consequence. In the right company's front a stream came in under the front line and wandered across the sector. Strict orders had been issued that the water was not to be used for drinking or cooking, inasmuch as it came from the enemy's line. Walking round one day, Captain McHugh, our newly arrived and most delightful Irish Medical Officer, took a sample for analysis through curiosity. It was interesting to learn that a strong arsenic result was obtained.

A small incident that occurred during this tour, while we were still fresh and inexperienced, and which caused considerable merriment at the time, may be worth recounting here. In the apex of the salient C.S.M. Barker, of "D" Company, had found a rifle-grenade machine--simply the barrel of a rifle mounted on a fixed stand, at a point within comfortable range of the enemy trench. Now, Barker had in the training days in England been Bombing Sergeant, and was anxious to give a practical demonstration of the skill he had acquired in the handling of these treacherous and dangerous weapons. Moreover, O.C. "D" Company was determined to show his company that "live and let live" was not to be their motto, so his support in the venture was assured. "I will come down to-night, corporal, and send a few over," remarked Barker in an off-hand manner to Corporal Wright, whose section held the post of honour at the salient. Accordingly that same night Barker, with a small host of supporters, including Lieutenant Ormrod, the Trench Officer, F. G. Roberts, the Trench Sergeant, Riflemen Forster, Alpine, and Liderth from the next post, and Moody and Heath (runners) was to be seen in the vicinity of the lethal weapon. All took such cover as they could while Barker loaded the machine with a "Newton Pippin" and prepared to do his worst. "Look out!" Bang! With a thin whistling sound the grenade wended its way towards the enemy. Tense silence. A second later an uninteresting report over the way. Hardly had that noise subsided than a sinister "pop" was heard. "What was that? Keep low!" A rushing, hissing noise approached, becoming rapidly louder. Clang! Clang! as "pineapple" after "pineapple" burst in and among the party, covering the prostrate soldiers with mud as they flattened themselves against the ground. A swift crawling, creeping, shuffling, and the party were hurrying away blindly trying to escape from "those damned things!" For the remainder of the night the shoot was "off."

However, O.C. "D" Company was reluctant to leave the initiative with the enemy. It is true that we might have known that he had the spot registered from his previous experience, and that we laughed heartily over the whole thing. Still, something had to be done. Suddenly O.C. "D" Company remembered that at 6 a.m. the next morning the Light Trench Mortar Battery were to do a shoot, supported by 18-pounders if required. Here was the chance of showing the Germans that "D" Company were not easily worsted. It was arranged that a "Newton" should be mounted once more. Watches were quietly synchronized with the unsuspecting Light Trench Mortar Battery. At five seconds before 6 a.m. the "Newton" was fired. Instantly came the German retaliation as before, but hardly had the "pineapples" started when our Light Trench Mortar Battery opened with great vigour. This annoyed the enemy, who were expecting another easy victory, and the aid of their artillery was invoked. To this our 18-pounders replied, and before long a regular artillery duel was in full swing. This was more than the Germans bargained for, and they soon stopped. "D" Company were avenged!

At night we used to get magnificent views of distant barrages, especially towards the south. It was a wonderful sight, like summer lightning, only more vivid and impressive; while every now and again the uniform colour of yellowish light would be shot with a sudden streak of vivid red as a dump exploded or some conflagration broke out. It was fascinating to watch the endless dance of flickering light against the blackness of the sky. One minute the whole heaven was lit up, the next moment all was dark; or perhaps a series of small flashes appeared, darting up now here, now there. If the barrage was far away, no sound would be heard, though if you entered a dug-out facing in that direction you would be conscious of a dull rumbling that warned you this was no mere pyrotechnic display, but the most nerve-wracking feature of modern war, an intense bombardment.

During this time we learnt with regret that General Gilbert, who had commanded in turn for many years first the original and then the Second Line Liverpool Infantry Brigade, was returning to England on account of age, being relieved by Brigadier-General R. N. Bray, C.M.G., D.S.O., of The Duke of Wellington's Regiment. General Gilbert's dignified kindness had made him most popular with all ranks, and we would gladly have continued under his leadership, come what might. He arrived one morning with his successor, and after the usual introductions they were proceeding round the line when a curious thing happened. Going along the front line just short of Chard's Farm, they must have been spotted. Fortunately, however, General Gilbert stopped a few moments in a part of the trench hidden from observation to point out certain features of the ground. As they resumed their walk along the trench to the farm, it suddenly became the centre of a regular storm of "whizz-bangs," obviously timed to greet their arrival, which had so happily been delayed.

Another visitor was Major Derry, D.S.O., of the Welch Regiment, who had just succeeded the late Major Thompson as G.S.O.2. Major Thompson had been practically cut in two by a "whizz-bang" while talking to Colonel Cohen, of the 2/5th K.L.R., outside the latter's Headquarters in the Bois Grenier sector. We had seen little of Major Thompson, but what we had seen we liked. Major Derry, with his cheery laugh and complete disregard of personal danger, soon became highly popular among us.

THE KING'S INSPECTION--REVIEW GROUND, LAFFAN'S PLAIN, 1916.]

On the evening of March 6th the 2/7th K.L.R. relieved us, commencing at 8 p.m. with the right front company. "B" Company in the subsidiary line was to remain as extra company, merely moving along to the positions held during our tour of duty by "B" Company 2/7th K.L.R. Soon after midnight the battalion was clear of the trenches and heading for Rue Marle, where the reserve billets were situated. At the top of the long straight stretch past Crown Prince House "D" Company turned to the right, and were billeted in houses on the left of the road; "A" and "C" turned to the left, "A" Company being next to Rue Marle Church, a bright red brick edifice with a brick spire, looking as if it had only been finished the day before; while "C" Company were in houses several hundred yards farther down the same road.

Nothing of much importance happened while the battalion was in reserve at Rue Marle. One company was always detailed as inlying piquet, and spent its time training in the vicinity of its billets. The other companies were up nightly, carrying medium trench mortar ammunition up into the trenches in preparation for the raid to be carried out by the composite company of 172nd Brigade--"Paynter's party," as it was called, after their Brigadier.

One morning the Corps and Divisional Commanders arrived at Crown Prince House and immediately demanded a map showing the Fleury Switch. Every conceivable map was produced, but in vain; nor had anyone the faintest idea what the switch was to which they so repeatedly referred. In the end the A.D.C. to the Corps Commander sped back to the car (left round the corner out of sight), and in due course produced the precious map, and the party proceeded on their way restored to a more amiable frame of mind.

On the night of March 11th "D" Company relieved "B" Company in the subsidiary line. A night or so before a German aeroplane had made a determined effort to do them serious harm by dropping a number of heavy bombs in their immediate vicinity. Oddly enough, that night, as the Adjutant and Lewis Gun Officer were undressing in their bedroom, which faced the line, they suddenly noticed that the shutters were not drawn. A rush was made for the candle, which was hastily extinguished. At that moment there was a deafening report, and we felt that here was the reward for our carelessness. However, it was soon realized that the noise was not shelling, but the above-mentioned bombing, the hum of the aeroplane being clearly audible; but after depositing its load it departed, and peace reigned once more. No casualties were caused, and quite a number of "D" Company were sleeping so soundly that they knew nothing of the matter till the following morning.

It was always a remarkable thing to us who lived there that Crown Prince House was not shelled. It was a large house in full view of the enemy, standing quite isolated at the side of a long straight road. It must have been very tempting to the German gunners, who liked to see the red dust rise from a direct hit on a house. There was no sort of cellar accommodation worth mentioning. Signals had the only cellar, and that was but half underground. We used to encourage one another by saying that the Germans could not shell the house without committing _lèse majesté_ (the Crown Prince was reputed once to have made his Headquarters there), though some very recent shell-holes at the entrance seemed to prove that they were prepared occasionally to risk being guilty of that serious offence. As a matter of fact, the Headquarters of a South Lancashire Battalion were soon afterwards shelled out of the house, and a very unpleasant proceeding they found it.

The only other excitement was the sudden arrival of a shell in Armentières; not by the railway-station, a place not infrequently shelled in retaliation for a 12-inch railway mounting gun which used to come up there occasionally, but right into the town, and only just over the Rue de Lille. This single shell caused quite a sensation, but as nothing more happened we concluded that the enemy had let off a gun by mistake.

On March 13th after dinner the battalion (less "D" Company) moved off to billets in the Rue Dormoire, the 2/5th South Lancashire Regiment moving in at the same moment. In spite of all precautions, the congestion of traffic was very great for a short time, but was soon straightened out. We crossed Rue Marle Level Crossing, then left-handed up the Boulevard Faidherbe, and so round to the Armentières Level Crossing. The route after that was the main road through Erquinghem, about a mile beyond which lay our new area. Headquarters was situated in a fine old seventeenth-century farmhouse, built round the usual quadrangle, with its usual vast heap of manure. Two sides were flanked by a moat which you crossed by a brick bridge, entering the farm through an archway. Opposite the entrance, and on the other side of the road, was a large open field with a duck-board track running across it, which led to two blocks of Nissen huts, occupied by "C" and "D" Companies, the latter not expected to arrive from the subsidiary line before midnight; though, owing to confusion over the transport for the Lewis gunners, this estimate proved highly optimistic. Continuing down the lane past Battalion Headquarters--and an unpleasant lane it was, full of the most appalling holes and ruts, and deep in liquid mud which concealed many a sharp stone and pitfall--you eventually arrived at a group of farms. Here "A" and "B" Companies were accommodated in large barns in which great tiers of bunks had been erected. These were promptly nicknamed the "birdcage."

Reconnoitring of emergency routes and schemes for the reinforcing of divisions in front or on the flanks again came to the fore. Though all was quiet in our neighbourhood, considerable activity was apparent at night north of the Lys opposite the Messines Ridge, where bursting shrapnel and coloured lights were eloquent of raids in progress. Working parties (of a minimum strength of a platoon) and training became once more the order of the day. Rifle-grenade practice with "Newtons" was very popular, even after Lance-Corporal Cathels and a rifleman had been injured by the bursting of the breech of a rifle.