Part 3

At last towards the end of August the battalion moved out to Lealvillers for a week’s rest. Here Captain N. B. Chaffers, M.C., who had been adjutant since December, 1915, when Capt. Marriner had been promoted to a staff appointment, left the battalion to become second in command of the 3rd Worcesters. He was succeeded by Capt. F. L. Smith, M.C., who had won a great reputation as a company commander. Lieut. Robinson, whose notes on Lewis gun tactics, originally written for the 6th Battalion, had been adopted for use throughout the British Army, was ordered to G.H.Q., where he spent more than a year working at the organization of Lewis gun training before returning to the battalion.

In less than a week the battalion was back in the Thiepval area, but it did not take any active part in the attack on Sept. 3rd, in which the 49th Division was engaged. The 6th was in support, and suffered losses from shell-fire; Lieut. Gill was killed, Lieut. Jaques badly wounded, and a dug-out occupied by A company was knocked in. The 147th Brigade managed after heavy losses to capture most of their first objective, but their neighbours on either side made no headway and the attack was abandoned before the 6th was drawn in.

After ten days’ rest the battalion again returned near Thiepval, but this time it faced the village from the ridge to the south, instead of looking up at it from the valley to the west. The West Ridings were now in the old German lines in the “Leipzig salient,” which had been penetrated on July 1st, and occupied an extremely strong system of enemy trenches known as the “Wunderwerk” for the astonishing character of the defences. Though much damaged by our shells, the deep dug-outs and tunnels still remained to show how the enemy had been able to hang on in Thiepval through all our bombardments. From these lines the Division slowly crept forward, one battalion snatching a length of German trench one night and another the next. The 6th had to pay dearly for their successes. One night Capt. Cedric Horsfall was shot while making a reconnaissance in front of the line, and his death was a sad blow to all the battalion. As strong as a horse and a glutton for work, he was always ready to lend a hand with pick and shovel, and on a long march might be seen striding along carrying a couple of rifles for two of his weaker brethren. His shrewd leadership and unfailing kindness had endeared him to all ranks. Another gallant officer to fall was Lieut. W. B. Naylor, who was acting as Brigade bombing officer, and among other losses were Sergt. Marks, an excellent N.C.O., and Private Bottomley, whose unfailing humour had lightened many dark days for his comrades. Lieut. Clegg, who afterwards greatly distinguished himself with the Independent Air Force that bombed the German towns, was severely wounded.

After an attack in this sector a curious adventure occurred to that cheerful fighter, Sergt. Cecil Rhodes. Seeing a waterproof sheet stretched out upon the ground he stooped to pick it up, when to his surprise an unwounded German sprang from under it and bolted. The sergeant gave chase and soon had his man a prisoner.

The battalion was beginning to penetrate the inner defences of Thiepval when it was relieved by the 18th Division, who, with the assistance of tanks, finished off the task.

During September the battalion was sorry to lose its very popular Brigadier, Brig.-General E. F. Brereton, C.B., D.S.O., who had commanded them since the days of peace. When he returned home, Brig.-General L. G. Lewes, D.S.O., of the Essex Regt., took his place.

On leaving Thiepval the battalion at once marched northwards and took over the line near Fonquevillers, facing the German stronghold of Gommecourt, and for the remainder of the winter kept moving on from one bad line of trenches to another, working hard to drain and improve them for the benefit of their successors. At Fonquevillers the trench-mortaring was very heavy, and four N.C.O.’s in D Coy. were killed one night by a single shell. Here too 2nd Lieut. Wilson was mortally wounded by a chance bullet.

Shortly before Christmas the 6th moved out to rest at the little villages of Halloy and Grenas, near Doullens, and though the billets were not of the best the Duke’s were able to eat a good Christmas dinner without interruption from the enemy.

Early in the New Year, still moving slowly northwards towards Arras, the battalion went into a new line near Berles-au-Bois and then at last found some really good trenches in the solid chalk of Wailly. During this winter the game of “winkling” had come into vogue. The line on both sides was commonly held by detached posts, and small parties of resolute men would stalk one of these, surprise the sentry and then pick prisoners out of the dug-out behind him as one picks winkles out of shells. The 6th were never “winkled,” though they had to keep very alert, but at Wailly a small party of D Coy., headed by Sergt. Bury, D.C.M., took a hand in the game with great success. Raiding an enemy sap they inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. Pte. Scott, of Keighley, had the misfortune to lose his way when the signal was given to return and was captured. After being severely cross-questioned, about an hour later he took advantage of a moment’s inattention on the part of his captors and escaped back to his own lines with some useful information about the enemy’s dispositions. A raid on a grand scale was then planned and practised, but the battalion was again moved on before it could be brought off.

FROM NEUVE CHAPELLE TO NIEUPORT.

The next move was to a different area. The ⅙th (as it must now be called) was packed on to the railway at Doullens and, after a lapse of two eventful years, once again detrained at Merville, which it found in deep snow. The following day it moved into trenches at Neuve Chapelle. The historic redoubt of “Port Arthur,” so hotly contested in 1915, was in the battalion sector, and the famous La Bassée road ran through it. The Duke’s had an enormous stretch of line to look after and held it lightly in the outpost system; but, except for the trench mortars, which the enemy possessed in great numbers, their stay here was not an unpleasant one and they remained in the line for nearly three months.

At the end of March a raid was carried out by the battalion. The operation was carefully practised and on the night of March 28-29 the raiding party set off under the command of Capt. S. H. Clough, who was the first man to enter the enemy’s lines and the last to leave them. Strong opposition was encountered and no prisoners could be taken, but all ranks behaved with great gallantry. Capt. Clough and Lieut. J. W. Denison (afterwards killed while serving with the 9th Batt.) were both wounded; and 2nd Lieut. Butler and Pte. Pickup, D.C.M., were killed in the operation.

Two interesting events occurred during the stay at Neuve Chapelle. One was a visit from a special company of Royal Engineers, armed with a number of the new gas projectors, which discharged many large gas shells simultaneously into the enemy’s lines. To the great delight of the men, who remembered their own experiences at Ypres, from 200 to 300 of these shells were concentrated upon one sector of the enemy’s line and caused serious losses to the Germans. The other was the arrival of the 1st Portuguese Division which first came into the line in small parties to learn the art of war from the 49th, and finally, towards the end of May, took over the line from them.

After their long spell of trench work the battalion thoroughly enjoyed a fortnight’s rest at the aptly named village of Paradis. The quarters were excellent, and it was here that an officer of the battalion made his name famous throughout the B. E. F. by discovering a particular variety of billet. Brigade sports and a horse show were organized, in which the battalion more than held its own. In the latter it swept the board in the heavy draught section: and in the former it won the tug-of-war, and, largely thanks to the fine running of Pte. Carter, also did well in the field events. From Paradis the men could clearly hear the terrific shelling of the battle of Messines, when the new “creeping barrage,” employed thereafter with such great success, was first brought to perfection by our artillery.

The 147th Brigade was next lent for a fortnight to the 6th Division, old friends of the Salient days, to take the place of a brigade required elsewhere. The ⅙th Duke’s took over a sector opposite the famous quarries of Hulluch, towards the northern end of the battlefield of Loos. The defences occupied were of a remarkable character, for vast underground tunnels, large enough to take a battalion, stretched all along the line. In these secure quarters, fitted with electric light and other conveniences, the bulk of the troops passed the day. But on the surface the sniping was keen and the trench mortars, hidden in deep emplacements, were exceptionally active. 2nd Lieut. Darragh, a most intrepid officer who had lost two brothers earlier in the year, was wounded and died a few days later; and Sergt. Bell, of Haworth, was killed, again one of three gallant brothers who lost their lives for their country. In this sector, too, the battalion was called upon to assist an extensive raid carried out by the battalion on their right. A magnificent smoke screen was put up to hide the preliminary preparations from the enemy in Hulluch, while a plucky party under 2nd Lieut. J. S. Spencer created a spectacular diversion by exploding a Bangalore torpedo right under the German wire.

From Hulluch the ⅙th Battalion moved at once into quite a new type of country, for in the middle of July the Craven men found themselves encamped on the sandy dunes east of Dunkirk on the Channel Coast. Originally sent north to take part in a contemplated attack, they found on arrival that the situation had entirely changed. The Germans had clearly got wind of the affair, and, concentrating much heavy artillery and an unexpected division of sailors, had broken through the British lines, reaching the banks of the Yser from its mouth nearly to Nieuport and seriously threatening the important crossings about that town. To the 49th Division once again fell the rôle of Salvation Army and they threw themselves vigorously into their work, relieving the battered troops in front, straightening out the line and remaking the defences. The sector taken over by the ⅙th Duke’s was the ruined village of Lombaertzyde, immediately in front of Nieuport. Of trench system in the ordinary sense of the term they found none, and sheltered solely by hollows in the shifting sand they had to face continual bombardment. Here the ⅙th first made the acquaintance of shells filled with mustard gas, which caused most painful blisters to many of the men. To reach the front line was a matter of great danger and difficulty. The direct route, through the town of Nieuport, was always heavily shelled, and the three bridges across the river Yser were continually knocked in. Apart from the shelling these bridges were something of an obstacle. Formed of wooden frames filled with cork and lashed together they sagged greatly at low tide and the roadway stood at an alarming angle to the bank. Many gallant deeds were performed by the 49th Division during their stay, but none was more dashing and dangerous than the raid carried out by the ⅙th Duke’s on a pitch dark August night. Since the German attack no prisoners had been taken, and the higher command was anxious to know what forces the enemy had in the line against us. In this object the raid was a complete success. Led by that amiable desperado, Capt. Godfrey Buxton, a strong party of D company entered the enemy’s trenches. When the alarm was given the Germans laid down a terrific barrage on our lines and the ground in front, and there was general anxiety as to the safety of the raiders. Their return shortly after with five prisoners and a machine gun aroused great enthusiasm. In this raid Capt. Buxton, Corporal Driver and Private Bibby particularly distinguished themselves.

On August 17th the battalion was withdrawn for a very welcome month’s rest at Coxyde Bains and La Panne, two watering-places much favoured by wealthy Belgians in time of peace. At Coxyde Bains the men were quartered in empty villas and thoroughly enjoyed the experience; and the sea bathing was much appreciated, in spite of numerous casualties from small stinging jelly fish. The enormous shells of “Big Bertha,” the German long range gun, used to hum past on their way to Dunkirk, and their bombing planes sailed overhead most nights, but neither interfered seriously with the seaside holiday.

Here the Battalion lost the very valuable services of Regt. Sergt.-Major O. Buckley, M.C., who received a commission as quarter-master of the ⅐th Duke’s. He was succeeded by Coy. Sergt.-Major T. Richardson, D.C.M., who had come out as a sergt. with the battalion.

PASSCHENDAELE.

Leaving La Panne on Sept. 23rd, 1917, the battalion spent the next ten days in a most enjoyable march. Trekking by easy stages through rich agricultural country in perfect harvest weather, the men usually found good billets and good fare. St. Omer was passed on the 30th and on Oct. 3rd the battalion found itself once more near Poperinghe on the threshold of the Salient. The following day the battalion set off for the line and had a long and trying march. Moving from Poperinghe to Vlamertinghe in the morning, later in the day they again pushed on across the Canal and bivouacked at what had once been Spree farm, where the road came to an end in swamps that could only be crossed on duckboards. Next day they took over the line north of Zonnebeke from the New Zealanders.

The advance associated with the name of Passchendaele had been begun most successfully in July and August, when British troops under Major-General Rawlinson, with Belgians on their left, had attacked from the old trenches by the Yser canal and gained possession of the lower spurs in front of them. To complete the mastery of the topmost ridge the attack was continued through the autumn, when rain had turned the whole country into swamp. How far this perseverance and the enormous loss of life it entailed were justified by the military exigencies it must be left to later historians to decide, but certainly the conditions of the front line were not fully realised by commanders behind.

The high ground that separates Ypres from the main plain of Belgium resembles an enormous sponge. Even in hot summer weather bogs and ponds are found upon its summit, while numerous swampy streamlets wander down its sides. In October many stretches were impassable except by wooden tracks laid on brushwood which were only constructed with the greatest danger and difficulty. Bombarded for three and a half long years, over all this huge area the shell-craters nearly touched each other. Whole villages were entirely wiped out; of fine chateaux not a trace remained; roads were completely obliterated; and wide woodlands were only marked by misshapen stumps two or three feet high. With the enemy on higher ground, all preparations and movements of troops for an attack had to be made in the darkness, and a single false step off the prepared track meant loss of life or guns or rations.

Right in the centre of this desolation the ⅙th held the line for six days, soaked with rain, standing in water and suffering all kinds of discomfort, yet only two men went sick. A great attack had been planned for October 9th in which the ⅙th Batt. was to support the 146th (West Yorks.) Brigade. Late in the night a battery commander arrived at the battalion headquarters dead beat. Moving at all possible speed he had only just reached his position and half his guns had been bogged on the way; and many infantry battalions, picking their way through bottomless swamps in the dark, were quite unable to reach their jumping-off lines at the allotted time. Under such circumstances a sweeping success was impossible; many gallant deeds were done, a few pill-boxes were taken, and a party under Captain Buxton, M.C., seized and held some valuable ground; but it is doubtful if the results of the day were worth the very heavy price. The ⅙th was relieved by the Canadians the following day, and on coming out was highly congratulated by the Army and Corps commanders on the part it had played. Whatever may be the military verdict on the Passchendaele battle, it is certain that no other incident in the war tested so thoroughly the grit and fighting qualities of the British soldier and no victories were won in the face of greater difficulties; the ⅙th Duke of Wellington’s is justly proud of having taken a worthy part in this struggle.

The battalion went out for a short rest in the neighbourhood of Winnezeele and during this period Major-General E. M. Perceval, C.B., D.S.O., relinquished the command of the Division, which he had held for over three years and returned home to command the 68th Division on the East Coast. He was succeeded by Major-General N. J. G. Cameron, C.B., D.S.O., of the Cameron Highlanders. General Perceval had been very popular throughout the Division, but like General Baldock before him he was a gunner, and the infantry thought it only fair that an infantryman had now been selected for the command.

A fortnight later the battalion returned to the very tip of the salient. This time its line lay more to the south where the summit ridge had already been captured: and from their trenches at Broodseinde could look far down into the Belgian plain. The approaches again were very difficult and the men had to lay some miles of duckboards in the deep mud before they could be said to possess any communications at all. Soon after going in, the battalion lost a very promising young officer in 2nd Lieut. Rupert Atkinson, of Settle.

Christmas was spent in these desolate surroundings; the battalion was in the front line on that festive day, standing in deep mud and subsisting on such rations as had not been bogged on the long journey from Belgian Battery Corner. On Boxing Day the battalion had to deplore the loss of Sergeant Cecil Rhodes, M.M., who was killed by a shell. In the very early days he had made a great reputation as a fearless bomber; always cheerful himself, his gift of humour in the most disheartening circumstances was a real asset to the battalion, and he had won the lasting affection of both officers and men.

THE LAST YEAR.

Relieved early in January by the 66th Division, the battalion was employed for nearly a month in constructing a reserve line on Westhock Ridge, a couple of miles in front of Ypres; but in January moved back to billets in Hondeghem, near Hazebrouck. Here, in February, the battalion had its Christmas dinner. There was one large room in the village and there each company in turn was regaled on beef and Yorkshire pudding, pork, cold ham, Christmas pudding and other seasonable fare. About a fortnight was spent at Hondeghem, companies going in rotation to Moulle, near St. Omer, for musketry practice.

At this time it was decided to reduce the number of battalions in an infantry brigade from four to three throughout the British army; as a result many battalions were disbanded and their men sent as drafts to other units. The ⅙th Duke of Wellington’s received about a dozen officers and 300 men from the 5th and 8th battalions of the Duke’s, and were thus brought up to strength.

In the middle of February the battalion was back again in the salient, taking over the Polygon Wood sector with headquarters in the conspicuous mound known as the Butte, one of the few recognizable landmarks in the area. The New Zealanders, whom the battalion relieved, had worked hard at the line and bequeathed to our men quite a respectable line of trenches and a light railway running to within 300 yards of battalion headquarters. In doing this they had suffered heavily, and a subaltern was commanding their brigade; but the ⅙th was very grateful for the shelter afforded, for the shelling all round was fierce and the German artillery had got a very accurate range on all the tracks. There was a good deal of raiding at this time and the battalion had to repulse two attempts upon their lines; they were also spectators of a most successful raid carried out by the 4th Duke’s at Polderhoek.

In this neighbourhood the battalion had three tours of duty in the front line and then moved back to Reninghelst, a village a short distance south of the Ypres-Poperinghe main road.

STEMMING THE GERMAN ONSLAUGHT.

The Duke’s had already heard the news of the desperate German onslaught on the Somme where much ground had been lost by the Third and Fifth Armies, and as they marched to Reninghelst the rumbling of artillery could be clearly heard from the direction of Armentieres, which lay only some ten miles to the south, on the far side of the ridge running from Mont des Cats to Kemmel Hill and dividing the plain of Ypres from France. But no news of any offensive in that area had reached them, and the men took off their clothes and went to bed in comfort for the first time for several weeks.

But the battalion was not to enjoy an undisturbed night. Shortly after midnight (April 9-10) everyone was awakened and dressed hurriedly. Ammunition was made up to fighting scale, Lewis guns taken off the limbers, and two days’ rations served out. By 2 a.m. the battalion was on the road in motor buses. Crossing the ridge they descended at Trois Rois cross roads, north of the town of Nieppe, where the whole of the 147th Brigade (¼th, ⅙th and ⅐th Duke of Wellington’s) was concentrated. After a hasty breakfast the whole Brigade moved forward across the open fields and took up a line in front of the town of Nieppe, facing Armentieres and astride the main road leading from that city to St. Omer and the Channel ports. After working some hours on defences, at 1 p.m. bullets began to enfilade the line from the south, and the brigade fell back a short distance to an old trench line from which they could more securely watch the threatened flank.

Only now did the battalion learn more or less what had happened. On the morning of the 9th after a heavy bombardment the Germans had attacked and driven back the Portuguese, who were still holding the Neuve-Chapelle-Fleurbaix sector; following up their success they had crossed the river Lys near Bac St. Maur and had thus turned the flank of this valuable line of defence. When the 6th Battalion took up its line at Nieppe, the Germans were at no great distance from their right flank and later in the day captured Steenwerck, which was actually behind them. So far as was known a British division still held Armentieres but they were weak in numbers and hard pressed. The task of the 147th Brigade was therefore twofold: (1) to check any advance of new German forces from Armentieres; and (2) to prevent the enemy from continuing his enveloping movement from the south and capturing the valuable line of hills behind them.