Chapter I: Front Matter

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THE STORY OF THE 2/4TH OXFORDSHIRE & BUCKINGHAMSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY

by

CAPTAIN G. K. ROSE, M.C.

With a Preface by _Brig. Genl. the Hon. R. WHITE, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. (late Commander 184th Infantry Brigade)

And an Introduction by Colonel W. H. AMES, T.D.

With Maps and Illustrations by the Author

Oxford B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street MCMXX

LIST OF PLATES

A Soldier of the Battalion _Frontispiece_ Colonel W. H. Ames, T.D. _Facing page_ 1 Pay-day for 'A' Company " " 4 Robecq from the South " " 18 Brigadier-General the Hon. R. White, C.B. 48 A Front-line Post 68 Company Sergeant-Major E. Brooks, V.C. 100 Vlamertinghe--The Road to Ypres 128 Hill 35, from an aeroplane photograph 136 A Street in Arras 144 'Tank Dump' 146 In a German gun-pit near Gavrelle 150 The Canal du Nord at Ypres 154 Lieut.-Colonel H. E. de R. Wetherall, D.S.O., M.C. 168 Robecq. Old Mill and Bridge 185 The Headquarters Runners, July, 1918 198 Corporal A. Wilcox, V.C. 214 Officers of the Battalion, December, 1918 219 184th Infantry Brigade Staff 219 The Adjutant. Cambrai. The Battalion Cooks 220 Lieut.-Colonel E. M. Woulfe-Flanagan, C.M.G., D.S.O. R.S.M. W. Hedley, D.C.M. R.Q.M.S. Hedges 220

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

Winchester Trench 11 The March to the Somme 21 Somme Trench Map 36 Maison Ponthieu 45 Harbonnières 50 The Ablaincourt Sector 57 A Duckboarded Communication Trench 72 The Advance to St. Quentin 82 The Raid near St. Quentin 94 Arras: The Grande Place 110 Noeux Village 113 Poperinghe from the West 119 The Attack of August 22, 1917 124 The Attack on Hill 35 132 The Retreat behind the Somme 166 Bird's-eye Map of the Robecq Area 180 The Nieppe Forest 202 Merville Church 206 Battalion H.Q. at Chapelle Boom 209

CONTENTS

PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter I. LAVENTIE, May to October, 1916 8

The 61st Division lands in France.--Instruction.--The
Laventie sector.--Trench warfare at its height.--Moberly
wounded.--B Company's raid.--Front and back areas.--July
19.--Changes in the Battalion.--A Company's raid.--A
projected attack.--Laventie days.--Departure for the Somme.

Chapter II. THE SOMME BATTLEFIELD, November, 1916 19

Departure from Laventie.--At Robecq.--The march southwards.
--Rest at Neuvillette.--Contay Wood.--Albert.--New
trenches.--Battle conditions.--Relieving the front line.--
Desire Trench.--Regina dug-out.--Mud and darkness.--A heavy
barrage.--Fortunes of Headquarters.--A painful relief.--
Martinsart Wood.

Chapter III. CHRISTMAS ON THE SOMME,
December, 1916 33

The move from Martinsart to Hedauville.--Back to Martinsart.--
Working parties.--Dug-outs at Mouquet Farm.--Field Trench.--
Return to the front line.--Getting touch.--Guides.--An
historic patrol.--Christmas in the trenches.

Chapter IV. AT MAISON PONTHIEU, January-February, 1917 42

Visitors to the Battalion.--The New Year.--A wintry march.--
Arrival at Maison Ponthieu.--Severe weather.--At war with the
cold.--Training for offensive action.--By rail to Marcelçave.
--Billets at Rainecourt.--Reconnoitring the French line near
Deniécourt.

Chapter V. IN THE ABLAINCOURT SECTOR, February, 1917 53

German retreat foreshadowed.--The Battalion takes over the
Ablaincourt Sector.--Issues in the making.--Lieutenant Fry
mortally wounded.--The raid by German storm-troops on February
28.--The raid explained.

Chapter VI. LIFE IN THE FRONT LINE, Winter, 1916-1917 67

Ignorance of civilians and non-combatants.--The front line
posts.--Hardships and dangers.--Support platoons.--The
Company Officers.--The Battalion relieved by the 182nd Brigade.

Chapter VII. THE ADVANCE TO ST. QUENTIN,
March to April, 1917 77

The enemy's retirement.--Road-mending in No-Man's-Land.--The
devastated area.--Open warfare.--The Montolu campaign.--
Operations on the Omignon river.--The 61st Division relieved
before St. Quentin.--End of trench-warfare.

Chapter VIII. THE RAID AT FAYET, April, 1917 89

A German vantage-point.--Shell-ridden Holnon.--A night of
confusion.--Preparing for the raid of April 28.--The enemy
taken by surprise.--The Battalion's first V.C.--The affair at
Cepy Farm.

Chapter IX. ARRAS AND AFTERWARDS,
May, June, July, 1917 103

Relief by the French at St. Quentin.--A new Commanding Officer.
--At the Battle of Arras.--Useful work by A Company.--
Harassing fire.--A cave-dwelling.--At Bernaville and Noeux.
--In G.H.Q. reserve.--A gas alarm by General Hunter Weston.--
The Ypres arena.

Chapter X. THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES, August, 1917 116

A Battalion landmark.--Poperinghe and Ypres.--At Goldfish
Château.--The attack near St. Julien on August 22.--Its
results.--A mud-locked battle.--The back-area.--Mustard
gas.--Pill-box warfare.

Chapter XI. THE ATTACK ON HILL 35, September, 1917 132

Iberian, Hill 35, and Gallipoli.--The Battalion ordered to make
the seventh attempt against Hill 35.--The task.--A and D
Companies selected.--The assembly position.--Gassed by our
own side.--Waiting for zero.--The attack.--Considerations
governing its failure.--The Battalion quits the Ypres
battlefield.

Chapter XII. AUTUMN AT ARRAS AND THE MOVE TO CAMBRAI,
October, November, December, 1917 142

The Battalion's return to Arras.--A quiet front.--The
Brigadier and his staff.--A novelty in tactics.--B Company's
raid.--A sudden move.--The Cambrai front.--Havrincourt
Wood.--Christmas at Suzanne.

Chapter XIII. THE GREAT GERMAN ATTACK OF MARCH 21,
January-March, 1918 156

The French relieved on the St. Quentin front.--The calm before
the storm.--A golden age.--The Warwick raid.--The German
attack launched.--Defence of Enghien Redoubt.--Counter-attack
by the Royal Berks.--Holnon Wood lost.--The battle for the
Beauvoir line.--The enemy breaks through.

Chapter XIV. THE BRITISH RETREAT, March, 1918 165

Rear-guard actions.--The Somme crossings.--Bennett relieved
by the 20th Division at Voyennes.--Davenport with mixed troops
ordered to counter-attack at Ham.--Davenport killed.--The
enemy crosses the Somme.--The stand by the 184th Infantry
Brigade at Nesle.--Colonel Wetherall wounded.--Counter-attack
against La Motte.--Bennett captured.--The Battalion's
sacrifice in the great battle.

Chapter XV. THE BATTLE OF THE LYS, April-May, 1918 173

Effects of the German offensive.--The Battalion amalgamated
with the Bucks.--Entrainment for the Merville area.--A
dramatic journey.--The enemy break-through on the Lys.--The
The Battalion marches into action.--The defence of Robecq.--
Operations of April 12, 13, 14.--The fight for Baquerolle Farm.
--A troublesome flank.--Billeted in St. Venant.--The lunatic
asylum.--La Pierrière.--The Robecq sector.

Chapter XVI. THE TURNING OF THE TIDE,
May, June, July, August, 1918 192

Rations and the Battalion Transport.--At La Lacque.--The
bombing of Aire.--General Mackenzie obliged by his wound to
leave the Division.--Return of Colonel Wetherall.--Tripp's
Farm on fire.--A mysterious epidemic.--A period of wandering.
--The march from Pont Asquin to St. Hilaire.--Nieppe Forest.
--Attack by A and B Companies on August 7.--Headquarters
gassed.--A new Colonel.--The Battalion goes a-reaping.