Part 4

The battalion remained in its new line all night, on the extreme right of the Brigade. Troops kept coming back from Armentieres and it was impossible to know whether there was any continuous line in front. Next morning the question was answered, for the Germans were in close touch all along our front and the trenches were subjected to a terrific machine gun fire. A German aeroplane which came over dropping stickbombs was successfully brought down; a few minutes later one of our planes was also brought down close behind the 6th, but luckily the pilot and observer escaped little hurt into the West Riding trenches. The position of the brigade was now a difficult one for the enemy was behind them on either flank--at Neuve Eglise to the north and at Steenwerck to the south--and their line was assuming a horseshoe shape. C company, on the extreme right, found Germans advancing against them up a trench leading into their own. Lieut.-Col. Bateman, D.S.O., who was making one of his frequent tours of inspection, at once gathered a small party of B and C Coy. men with a few machine gunners, and himself led a very successful little charge, accompanied by Captain Ogston, Lieut. Baker and 2nd Lieut. Whitehead. Many Germans were killed and one prisoner was taken. The ⅙th still stuck to their ground and barred the main road, till at 7 p.m. the order came to retire. It was none too soon, for the leading company had to bayonet Germans on the road behind them, and Very lights from either side were falling in their path. Passing through another division which was to take up the task of defence, the battalion moved to La Creche and bivouacked.

At noon next day they were roused by shelling and at once moved out to take up a new line a short distance in front of the town of Bailleul. During this advance A Coy. had to drive off a party of some thirty Germans with machine guns. In their new line they were attacked next day from two sides; the 7th battalion facing down the Armentieres road while the 6th faced south. C company, of the 6th, holding the angle, bore the brunt of the attack and inflicted heavy losses on the baffled enemy, but they suffered a serious loss in the death of the gallant Capt. K. Ogston, who had commanded them for many months.

Early next morning (April 14th) another retirement was ordered and the brigade fell back to a line on the outskirts of Bailleul. The Germans continued their usual programme--a bombardment at 1-30 p.m. followed by an attack from 3 p.m. till dark, and once again were driven off with great loss. During this attack the British right flank was in the air, and a party of Germans getting round it made straight for 6th Battalion headquarters. They were soon driven off with considerable loss by Lieut.-Col. Bateman, Lieut. A. S. Stewart and Regt. Sergeant-Major Richardson, with the officers’ servants and orderly room staff. On this day, too, Sergeant Whiteley, the medical sergeant, cycled to Steenmill, a mile to the south, to fetch dressings from the transport, which had been there the previous day. He found it occupied by Germans and had some difficulty in escaping, leaving his bicycle in their hands.

That night the brigade was relieved by another division and, retiring behind Bailleul, thought that their troubles were ended. But the following day’s attack was too much for the troops in front, who retired, and the 6th Battalion had to dig yet another line. On the 17th a fresh attack by strong forces was repulsed and in a gallant counter-attack A company, under Major Tanner, captured three machine guns and a few prisoners.

The following evening the brigade was relieved and retired slowly to reorganise in Poperinghe.

After three quiet days the battalion passed a disturbed night on the 24th-25th April. Heavy shelling began about teatime, several billets being hit, while all night long the town was bombed with gas bombs by relays of aeroplanes. One fell right on the stores and inflicted serious casualties, and several of the transport were killed and wounded in stables near by. But at mid-day on the 25th, the ⅙th was once more moving forward. Kemmel Hill, lately taken over by the French, had been surprised in the early morning mist and captured, and upon the new line running through Millekruise (which the 147th brigade now took over from the battered 9th division) the safety of Ypres lay. Digging their line under continual shell fire the battalion was not attacked till the 29th, when the Germans made desperate efforts to break the whole line from Dranoutre to Voormezeele. The shelling, mostly from big guns, lasted incessantly from 3 a.m. till 4 p.m. and was the heaviest ever experienced by the battalion. In the attack that followed, the enemy forced their way into the lines of the 7th battalion on the left and had to be driven out by bayonet charges; but the 6th had forward posts commanding the valley in front and with accurate Lewis gun and rifle fire stopped the attackers dead as they descended the lower slopes of Kemmel Hill. The German onslaught had been stemmed, and the ⅙th Duke of Wellington’s, relieved by the 39th French Division, retired to rest at Reninghelst, the village from which it had started on its eventful journey twenty-four days before.

During all these operations the ⅙th had never once been driven back by the enemy. All the retirements were made under orders from the higher command and were carried out without confusion; enormous losses had been inflicted on the enemy; and the whole brigade admitted that Lieut.-Col. Bateman had been the life and soul of the defence. But a sadly heavy toll had been paid for success. Besides Capt. Ogston, the battalion had to mourn many of its best fighters who had come out in the early days. Among these were Lieut. Norman Procter, M.C., who, after a long spell of sterling work as battalion signalling officer, had been promoted to the Brigade staff: Sergt. Bury, D.C.M., M.M., who had signally distinguished himself in many a hard fight: Sergt. Gibson, D.C.M., Sergt. Burrows and Sergt. Stott, of Skipton; Sergt. Harding, M.M. of Keighley, Corporal Tillotson, M.M., of Oxenhope, and Corporal Barton, M.M. of Hellifield, an admirable Lewis gun instructor. D company had also lost their devoted commander, Capt. Buxton, M.C., who was very seriously wounded.

The whole Division was now withdrawn from the line and spent some weeks in the neighbourhood of Proven and St. Jans-ter-biezen, resting, reorganizing, training, and working on reserve lines. It was at this time that the 147th Brigade started its own particular concert party, “The Ducks,” which became very popular. The general manager was Lieut. J. S. Spencer, of Keighley, while Private Morgan, of B company, with his wonderful soprano voice, made up into one of the most attractive “leading ladies” in France.

THE GARRISON OF YPRES.

At the beginning of June the 49th Division once again staked out its claim to the proud title of “Garrison of Ypres” by returning to the line in front of that city. The trenches had now drawn very close to the town and battalion headquarters were often in the ancient ramparts. An attack was confidently expected and the order was that Ypres was to be “held at all costs.” However for some reason the attack never came off. Delayed by an epidemic of influenza, it was probably finally abandoned owing to the need of troops to meet Marshal Foch in the south. Here the battalion remained for the summer. Heavily shelled with gas on its first arrival, its stay on the whole was not an unpleasant one, in spite of shelling both on the front line and back areas, and constant visits from bombing aeroplanes.

The Belgians were on the left and their soldiers created a very favourable impression. Later the 1st American Division arrived and came into the trenches with the ⅙th Battalion for instruction, before taking over the line themselves in the latter half of August. They appeared to be excellent material, and were very eager to learn all they could.

The outstanding feature of the stay was a very successful raid undertaken one morning by a party of A company under Lieut. C. Lowther, M.C. and Lieut. Farrer. Many Germans were killed and four captured. The following day Company Sergt.-Major Wiseman, D.C.M., led another successful foray, inflicting casualties on the enemy.

The ⅙th Duke’s left Ypres for the last time on August 19th, and with the rest of the Division had gone back to a delightful rest area between Calais and St. Omer. They had just settled down to training in charming surroundings when they were suddenly ordered to move south. The First Army had begun its final offensive and the 49th was required to take a part.

THE ADVANCE FROM CAMBRAI.

After brief halts at Pierremont (near St. Pol), at Estrees-Cauchie, and at Ecurie, the battalion arrived on September 23rd, 1918, at Wilderness Camp, about two miles from Arras on the Cambrai road. During this period Brig.-General C. G. Lewes, C.M.G., D.S.O., was transferred to home service, and Brig.-General Morant, D.S.O., of the Durham Light Infantry, was promoted to the command of the 147th Infantry Brigade. At Wilderness Camp other changes occurred within the battalion. Major Tanner, after a long spell of arduous work with the 6th Battalion, returned to his original battalion (7th Duke’s) as second-in-command: and Major Hugh Dixon, who had made a great reputation both as a skilled instructor and a cheerful and tenacious leader, left the battalion on promotion to be second-in-command of the 9th Essex Regt.

Here the battalion remained a fortnight while the situation developed. The attack, as yet, had only been pushed forward south of the river Scarpe, and the Germans were known to have reserves in Douai, to the northward, which might be used against the flank of our advance. But on October 6th the order was given to move forward; the north was now secure. On the 9th, when Cambrai was captured, the 6th were close behind, and on the 10th moved up to Escadoeuvres in front of that city, and were in close support to the front line. The following day they were once again at grips with the enemy.

The southern half of the First British Army (south of the Scarpe) was at this time far in advance of the northern half, and the plan was formed to push forward by surprise attacks towards Valenciennes on the south, in order to cut off the German forces who were known to be holding out in the strongly defended neighbourhood of Douai.

For this difficult and hazardous task the 49th Division was selected. If a surprise was to be effected, no time was permissible in which to move up a full complement of artillery, and it was with a scattered barrage of 18-pounders that the 49th went over the top, over ground which they had had no time to reconnoitre.

The 146th Brigade (West Yorks.) was on the left and the 147th (Duke of Wellington’s) on the right. The 6th Duke’s, in support to the 4th and 7th Duke’s, moved out of Escadoeuvres at 11-45 p.m. on the night of Oct. 10-11th and dug in near the village of Naves. Advancing at dawn through the German barrage of gas shells they crossed the Erclin river without incident: but near the top of the ridge beyond found the front line coming back and themselves met with heavy machine gun fire. They were soon mingled with the front line on the top of the ridge and there saw four enemy tanks advancing through the division, causing many casualties. Lieut. H. Hopwood, with Corporal Ames and a party of D company Lewis gunners, opened concentrated fire upon the leading tank and caused them all to retire. The ridge was held, but the Division had suffered heavy casualties. The 6th, who had suffered less than some others, had lost three company commanders--Capt. Coulthurst, killed, and Capt. Clifford and Lieut. Grey wounded.

This line was occupied for the night. By next morning the enemy had retired, and the ⅙th led the way forward through the village of Villers-en-Cauchies without interference except from the machine guns of enemy aeroplanes. The next opposition was encountered at Saulzoir, on the Selle river, which was found to be strongly held. By vigorous patrolling the battalion gradually pushed their way into the village, where they found many civilians in cellars, who welcomed them affectionately and fed them with coffee, though themselves suffering severely from the enemy’s mustard gas. A large number of French civilians were removed to safety by night. By these advances, in which Lieut. Hopwood, M.C., Lieut. Farrar, 2nd Lieut. Bilham, Sergts. Best, M.M., Green, D.C.M., Calvert, D.C.M., Sykes, D.C.M., and Rosenthal, D.C.M., in turn did valuable work, the battalion had fought its way house by house practically up to the Selle river, where it was relieved on the night of October 18th by the 2nd Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt., among whom the 6th Battalion found many friends.

In the week’s fighting the battalion had lost heavily. Besides Capt. Coulthurst, 2nd Lieut. Ricroft, a most promising young officer, had been killed; also Company Sergt.-Major McDermott, D.C.M., one of the best N.C.O.’s the battalion ever turned out; Sergts. Godwin, M.M. and Midgley, M.M., Corporals Haw and Stanley, and many other good fellows. On the night before the relief, a gas shell, falling on the roof of the cellar which served as orderly room, placed almost all our battalion headquarters hors-de-combat. Lieut.-Col. C. M. Bateman, D.S.O., with Lieuts. Stewart and Thrackray, was taken to hospital; Lieut. A. P. Smith, M.C., the Acting Adjutant, left alone in the cellar, was just able to hold on and give the necessary instructions before he, too, had to be helped out of the line. Major A. B. Clarkson, M.C., took over the command of the battalion and Major F. L. Smith, M.C., who had been attached to the Divisional Staff, returned as second-in-command, with Lieut. A. Lacy as adjutant.

THE FINAL VICTORY.

After a short rest at Naves and Hordain the Battalion found itself again in the battle line on the night of Oct. 28th-29th, when it took over the front near Famars, south of Valenciennes. The floods to the west and north of Valenciennes prevented a direct attack upon that city; and the task set the 49th Division with Canadians on their left and the 4th Division on their right, was to break through the strong series of defences on the hills and valleys to the south and so render the city untenable.

The 49th Division attacked on a two battalion front. To the ⅙th Duke of Wellington’s was assigned the honour of leading the attack on the right, with the 7th Duke’s in support and the 4th Duke’s in reserve. The 146th (West Yorks.) Brigade attacked on the left in similar formation, and the 148th was held in reserve for a further push northwards the following day. Within the ⅙th Batt. A and B companies had to attack first; their task was to rush the German first line and the posts in front of it, descend into the valley, cross the river Rhonelle and ascend the opposite slope as far as a deeply sunken road on the next ridge. C and D companies were then to push through them and if possible reach the line of the Preseau-Marly road some 800 yards beyond. The whole arrangements were most carefully worked out and explained by Lieut.-Col. Clarkson, M.C., and a splendid supporting barrage was organized by Colonel Duncan, of Otley, who was in command of the artillery brigade covering the ⅙th front and had one 18-pounder gun for every twelve and a half yards of frontage, without counting those of heavier calibre behind.

The attack, which opened at 5-15 a.m. was a most successful one. The men were delighted to start a clean show of their own, planned by their own officers, instead of their usual task of going in to retrieve the fortunes of a day of failure: though they numbered little over 320, they captured about 600 unwounded prisoners (including twelve officers), a great store of machine guns and trench mortars, and left many hundred German dead upon the field.

A company on the left, under Capt. Farrar, M.C., went off with a rare dash and rushed a number of hidden machine gun posts found unexpectedly near their line; crossing the Rhonelle river by fallen trees and by footbridges placed in position by parties of the 19th Lancashire Fusiliers, they accomplished their task in spite of severe casualties, and came unexpectedly upon the sunken road, which was found full of surrendering Germans and of pack-horses which had just come up with their rations. B company on the right had an even stiffer time; all their officers had been put out of action within five minutes of the start, and flanking machine gun fire raked them all the way. Company Sergt.-Major T. Limmer, D.C.M., at once took charge and led the company with the greatest skill and gallantry to its objective, thus winning the only M.C. awarded to a Company Sergeant.-Major of the battalion during the campaign.

After a short pause C company, under Lieut. W. Spratt, M.C., who had taken command in place of Capt. Willink, wounded, moved forward from the sunken road and after stubborn fighting reached their furthest objective. D company under Capt. Hart, M.C., attacked on their right but soon suffered very heavy casualties, for the 4th Division, on their right again, had met with a severe check and had been driven back from Preseau. At the critical moment Capt. Hart and practically all his head-quarters staff were killed by a burst of machine gun fire, and the company was forced to dig in a few hundred yards short of their objective. As the West Yorks. were also unable to get quite to their objective, this isolated Lieut. Spratt, who was still holding his ground with Sergt. Woodhead, M.M., Sergt. Burns, M.M., Corporal Maude, M.M., and a handful of other stalwarts; and Lieut.-Col. Clarkson, who managed to visit the whole front line during the hottest fighting, ordered him to retire a short distance to make the line more secure. But the high ridge had been won and the enemy was forced to retire from his cunningly constructed defences. The 7th Battalion advanced next day with very little opposition and Valenciennes was restored to France.

The battalion had lost a big proportion of its small numbers. Besides Capt. Hart, M.C., 2nd Lieuts. Cartwright and Oughton had been killed and Capt. Willink succumbed to his wounds a few days later. Sergts. Upton and Davies and Corporal Maude, M.M., all of whom had done gallant work, were also among the fallen. Lieut. Claridge had been wounded shortly before the battle, and Sergt. Fredericksen, M.M., commanded the signallers most successfully throughout the attack.

On the night of November 2nd, the Battalion moved out of the line for what proved to be the last time. Taken in motor ‘buses back to the mining village of Auby, near Douai, they were engaged in reorganizing and training new drafts when news of the Armistice arrived. There was little material for any form of feasting, but a most successful concert was held and the Battalion store of S.O.S. rockets and flares was found to be lamentably deficient next morning.

There was plenty of good fare for the Christmas dinner, for which four live pigs were obtained, regardless of expense, from the other side of Arras. And shortly after, while football and education became main topics of interest, the battalion began to dwindle. Demobilized men began to go home and retainable men and volunteers were transferred to the 13th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regt. at Dunkirk. The numbers were already very small when the battalion moved into the city of Douai, on March 20th, and on June 7th, the cadre, consisting of four officers and twenty-three other ranks, left for Dunkirk, with colours and stores, on its homeward way.

On June 16th, Lieut.-Col. Bateman, D.S.O., who had returned to the Battalion early in the year, crossed the Channel with his small party, and on June 19th the cadre enjoyed a civic reception from the town of Skipton, before depositing in the ancient parish church the regimental colours, which had been taken to France after the Armistice. Later in the day the cadre, with Lieut.-Col. Birkbeck, Major Clarkson, D.S.O., M.C., and a number of other returned officers, was entertained at a late luncheon by the Skipton Urban District Council, with Councillor John Walker in the chair.

THE STORES AND TRANSPORT.

In this narrative of the fighting there has been little opportunity to do full justice to the stiff work gallantly done by the Transport Section and by the band of handy men collected under the Quartermaster’s command and commonly known as “the Stores.” Upon their efforts the comfort, well-being, and general fighting efficiency of a battalion in the field largely depend, and in the case of the ⅙th the companies in the line never lacked their hearty support.

When the cadre returned to Skipton it was only fitting that one of the officers to carry the colours should be Capt. John Churchman, D.C.M., for he holds a truly remarkable record. When he went to France he was by many years the oldest officer in the battalion, yet till the cadre was finally dispersed at Ripon, except for terms of short leave, he had never been off duty for a day. To him the battalion owes a deep debt of gratitude. He was well supported by Quartermaster-Sergt. Norton, M.S.M., who, coming to France with the 147th Brigade headquarters, rejoined the 6th in the early days at Ypres and also remained throughout the war. Much valuable work along various lines was also done by Corporal Ward, Corporal Aspinal, Lance-Corporal Jenkinson, Privates Newhouse, Walker and Maudsley in the Ration Dept.; Shoemaker-Sergt. Bulcock and Corporal Busfield (tailor) in the Repairs Dept.

The Transport section, ever most cheery when work was hardest, was given a good start by Capt. S. H. Clough, M.C., who took them to France and only left them on getting command of his company after a strenuous winter in the muddy salient. Lieut. Morgan Bevan had charge for a time and was then succeeded by Lieut. C. M. Perfect, who led them gallantly through the bad times of Passchendaele and the fighting round Bailleul. When he returned home after an accident, he was followed by Lieut. Sidebotham. But all would willingly acknowledge how much they owed to Sergt. Field, M.M., M.S.M., the transport sergeant. Sergt. Bryden, M.M., early distinguished himself, and with that genial giant, Corporal Kay, M.M., Privates Howard and Williamson, and a few more, was very prominent in the difficult nightly marches to the Broodseinde ridge with pack horses, when shells fell thickly all round and a single step off the narrow wooden track spelled disaster. In the desperate fighting at Nieppe, the 6th Batt. transport alone was able to get through the shell-swept street of the town and kept its record for always taking rations to the line. To the men of the Transport, too, belongs the main credit for a wonderful performance at Merville Station, when the whole battalion, complete with horses, mules, waggons, cookers, watercarts and everything else, was loaded on a train ready to start eighteen minutes after entering the station yard. Their genial kindliness always attracted to their lines a curious and devoted collection of stray dogs, goats, and children, and they will always be affectionately remembered by “the lads” in the companies, for whom they would always willingly undertake the most hazardous journey.