Part 4
Resting at Englebelmer for a day or so, it was again moved into the front line at Aveluy Wood, where a German attack was beaten off, the enemy being badly mauled. During the fighting round Gueudecourt, Brigadier-General Barnett-Barker was killed, and, as senior Colonel in the 99th Brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel Winter assumed command, the command of the 23rd Royal Fusiliers devolving upon Major Lewis.
In his anxiety to hold up the enemy for as long as possible and to get the battalion back safely to a line being formed behind him, Major Lewis was taken prisoner at Eaucourt l'Abbaye. The command then devolved upon Captain C.H. Bowyer, who kept it until the return of Lieutenant-Colonel Winter, who rejoined the Battalion on General E. Ironside (now General Sir E. Ironside, who earned fame in Russia) taking over the Brigade.
It only remains to add that the gas casualties from March 12 onwards amounted to 11 officers and 240 other ranks, while the casualties in action from the 22nd to the 31st were:
Officers killed 1 " wounded 2 " wounded and missing 1 " missing 10 Other ranks killed 15 " wounded 59 " wounded and missing 6 " missing 210
During the early part of April the Battalion was busy in moving, being in turn in Hedeauville, Beauval, Houvin, Houvigneul, Ivergny, Coullemont, La Cauchie, and on the 14th relieved the 1st Coldstream Guards in Brigade Reserve in front of Blaireville. Two days later it was in the front line, right sub-sector, in front of Adinfer, doing alternate front line and support duty until the end of the month.
It was not until May 12 that the Battalion marched back to billets at Berles au Bois, where training was carried on until June 7. On that date it relieved the 1st Grenadier Guards in the Ayette left sub-sector. Relieved on the night of June 10-11, it marched back to reserve position near Monchy au Bois, going into the line again in the Ayette sector on the night of 13th-14th.
During the night of June 24-25 "A" Company carried out a raid on the enemy front line, and at 2 a.m. on the 26th "B" Company also carried out a similar operation. July came round, and on the night of the 22nd-23rd the Battalion supplied a flanking party to a raid carried out by the 1st Royal Berks. On the 30th the Battalion was in the Ayette right sub-sector, but on August 5 and August 6 there was a reorganization of the Brigade front, and it went into support.
Then came the British advance, and on the night of August 20-21 the Battalion moved up for an attack by the 3rd Army. Leading off in a dense fog, the 23rd Royal Fusiliers went over the top at Ayette, capturing Aerodrome Trench, and so clearing the way for other troops to leap-frog over them and capture Courcelles.
Moving forward again in its turn, two companies of the Battalion, under Major W.B. Cluff, captured Behagnies. On the night of August 23-24, being relieved by the Loyal North Lancs, the Battalion moved back to bivouac near Courcelles, where it remained until September 2. Moving forward on that day to Vaulx-Vraucourt, it attacked at dawn on the 3rd and reached Morchies, bivouacking near Doignes.
On the 6th-7th the Battalion took over the front line from the 1st King's Royal Rifle Corps and delivered an attack on Slag Avenue, suffering casualties of 3 officers killed and 100 other ranks killed and wounded.
Relieved on the 8th by the 52nd Light Infantry, a bivouac was made at Beaumetz-les-Cambrai, moving on the 15th to Mory. On the 27th the Battalion moved forward in support to the Brigade which was fighting its way onwards, and spent the night in the Hindenburg Support Line just west of Flesquières.
The advance continuing, the Battalion moved again at dawn on the 28th, reaching Nine Wood just west of Noyelles. From here one company was sent forward and assisted the King's Royal Rifle Corps in capturing Noyelles. Then the remainder of the Battalion moved up and took over the front line from the 1st King's Royal Rifle Corps. Attacking on the 30th, the Battalion found itself up against the strong position of Mount sur l'Ouvres, suffering casualties of two officers and sixty-four other ranks. This position could only be subsequently captured by the use of a whole new brigade for the purpose.
GERMAN TANKS UNSUCCESSFUL.--Relieved at night, the Battalion moved back to bivouac at Nine Wood. Remaining there, resting, till October 7 the Battalion moved up to east of Rumilly on the night of 7th-8th, and delivered a successful attack on Forenville at dawn on the 8th. During a counter-attack the enemy used tanks against the Battalion in an endeavour to oust it from the positions secured, but without success.
On one tank, indeed, getting close to our line an officer, Lieutenant Anderson, armed with a rifle, and accompanied by his batman, got out of the trench, went forward under heavy fire, reached the oncoming tank, hammered at its side with his rifle-butt, and called on it to surrender. The iron door opened, and out came the crew, to be escorted back in triumph as prisoners!
On the early morning of the 9th the Guards' Brigade "leap-frogged" the Battalion and continued the attack, the Battalion moving back to bivouac at Flesquières. Remaining there for a few days, a move was made on the 13th to keep in touch with the general advance, Wambaix being reached after a long march.
Training was carried out here until the 19th, when the Battalion marched to Boussières. At midnight on October 22, under the command of Major H.P. Rogers, it moved up to St. Python, and on the 23rd to Escarmain, taking over the front line from the 52nd Light Infantry. At dawn on the 24th it attacked and captured Ruesnes, and established a line of outposts on the railway beyond. This was the last actual fighting done by the Battalion. Relieved on the 26th by the 7th King's Shropshire Light Infantry, it moved back into reserve.
With the signing of the Armistice came a welcome change. Duty was relaxed so far as was possible, and the Battalion employed the rest of the year in fitting itself out, and getting back into something approaching its old condition, and marching into Germany, a distance of 200 miles.
1919.
January found the Battalion in billets at Niederaussem, forming part of the British Army of Occupation in Germany. Training was still being carried on, however, but sport was not lost sight of. There were platoon football matches, whist drives, paper-chases, and so on, while there was also voluntary educational training in such things as English, French, and shorthand.
On January 24 came the presentation of the King's Colour to the Battalion by Major-General Pereira. Later, on the reorganization of Divisions taking place, the Battalion on February 27 left the 99th Brigade, 2nd Division, in which it had served so long, proceeded by rail through Cologne to Ehreshoven, joined the London Division, and took over the outposts of the Occupied Zone at Lindlar on March 18.
On April 15, the Battalion then being back in Cologne, the command was taken over by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel L.F. Ashburner, M.V.O., D.S.O., Lieutenant-Colonel Winter being appointed to the command of the British Camp at Antwerp. On May 6 the Battalion was inspected and complimented by General Sir William Robertson, G.C.B., K.C.V.O., D.S.O., Commander-in-Chief British Army of the Rhine.
In the event of the non-acceptance of the Peace Terms by Germany, preparations were made between June 8 and June 19 for an advance, but the orders on June 20 were held in abeyance and subsequently cancelled.
On June 22, at the Brigade swimming gala, the Battalion won two-thirds of the prizes put up for competition, although they had previously lost (2-1) in the "Kalk" football cup final to the 57th Siege Battery.
Battalion sports were held at Klef, near Vilkerath, on July 19, the championship being annexed by "C" Company. A competition for the best company in the Division was won by "D" Company, who were subsequently called upon to furnish a guard of honour on the occasion of the visit of the Army Council to Cologne.
The Battalion also scored in another way, for on August 1 the War Savings results for July were announced. The amount subscribed by the 23rd Royal Fusiliers was £1,137 19s. 1d., the percentage of members being 51 per cent, of the Battalion strength, and the Battalion being top of the VIth Corps list for the amount subscribed.
Finally, the 23rd (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (1st Sportsman's) ceased to exist in March, 1920, after having had a longer life than any other Service Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers.
+-----------------------------------------------------+ | GREAT WORK ACCOMPLISHED--HOLDING UP A GERMAN | | ADVANCE--SILENCING SNIPERS IN A DERELICT TANK--AND | | SOME OTHER THINGS | +-----------------------------------------------------+
GREAT WORK ACCOMPLISHED--HOLDING UP A GERMAN ADVANCE--SILENCING SNIPERS IN A DERELICT TANK--AND SOME OTHER THINGS
From the official narratives available it is possible to amplify, in some few instances, the great work accomplished by the Battalion, and which is told but tersely in the War Diary from which the previous pages have been collated.
Taking May 3, 1917, as an instance, when the 23rd Royal Fusiliers formed a part of the attacking force, we are told it was determined to capture--
Fresnoy Trench on a front of 1,400 yards.
Oppy Support, by a bombing attack, over a length of 200 yards.
Crucifix Lane, by a bombing attack, over a length of 200 yards.
Form a defensive front facing south on a front of 400 yards, and
Form eight strong points and four posts.
The above, it may be explained, entailed the Brigade having, on the whole, a fighting front of no fewer than 2,200 yards.
"The task of the 23rd Royal Fusiliers, forming the left assaulting battalion, was to capture a certain sector of Fresnoy Trench, to form two strong points, and to form four posts....
"The whole of 'C' Battalion (the 23rd Royal Fusiliers) gained their objective, but, owing to a slight loss of direction, found the enemy still occupying Fresnoy Trench to their north.
"A strong bombing party was immediately organized, the trench cleared, sixty to seventy prisoners and a machine gun captured, and touch established with the Canadians at the south end of Fresnoy Wood. At about 5.45 a.m. a strong enemy counter-attack developed from Oppy, which, coming up over Oppy Support and Crucifix Lane, and over the top by several well-covered approaches, worked its way north, and attacked the right company, whose flank was left bare owing to the retirement of 'B' (another) Battalion.
"This attack was pushed home with the greatest energy and determination, and succeeded in driving the right two companies and part of left centre company out of Oppy Trench. At this point, however, it was brought to a halt by a strong bombing and sniping post of the 23rd Royal Fusiliers, who not only stopped it, but counter-attacked in their turn, and regained some 400 yards of the trench.
"This party then halted owing to numerical weakness and lack of bombs, and retiring a short way, formed a block and a post, and occupied a shell-hole line from the first point named through the second and a little beyond it, thus forming a defensive flank in close touch with the Canadians.
"This party held out all day, until relieved by the 15th Warwicks at 3.30 a.m. A strong point was also formed immediately after dark and handed over to the 15th Warwicks on relief...."
"In one instance the garrison of a post calmly watched an enemy machine-gun team establish a machine gun in position; they then opened rapid fire, killed all the team, and brought in the gun...."
Amongst the gallant services mentioned by Major-General Pereira in the special order of the day, dated December 17, 1917, is the following:
"No. 1,079 Lance-Sergeant James Cochrane, M.M., and No. 2,852 Private Frank Hemington: In the enemy lines west of Bourlon Wood there was a derelict tank, from which enemy snipers were very active at only 70 yards from our line, causing many casualties.
"On December 1, Lance-Sergeant Cochrane and Private Hemington volunteered to deal with them. Creeping out through our wire, they succeeded in reaching the tank in spite of heavy enemy fire. They put two Mills' bombs into the tank, and on the bombs exploding they came under heavy machine-gun fire, but returned in safety. No further sniping came from this tank. By their gallant work we were saved many casualties, and this daring feat cheered and encouraged the men in the line...."
In the desperate fighting in March, 1918, the Battalion also distinguished itself.
"Hexham Road," says the narrative of the morning of the 25th, "where the headquarters of the 23rd Royal Fusiliers was in a dug-out, had been swept by machine-gun fire all the morning, and as the Divisions on the right had retired, the 23rd Royal Fusiliers were left in a very precarious and isolated position, from which only small bodies of men were able to extricate themselves...."
Then, however, came March 28, and here our men were afforded an opportunity of getting their own back. It is with delight that we consequently read:
"The old trenches were, on the whole, in surprisingly good condition, the men had ammunition and had had some sleep and food, and orders had been received that this was to be the line of resistance, and that there would be no further retirement.
"It was a day of anxiety, but still a day on which our men could at last settle down to shooting down the enemy. This they did with great relish."
Bald, perhaps, these details may appear to those who have judged the war from the pen pictures of the various war correspondents, but they possess the ring of real reality to those who have known what it is to be shelled day after day and night after night in the trenches, to have advanced in the face of a rain of machine-gun bullets, or to have been forced to take shelter in an all too small shell crater, when to show an inch of head or body meant death or a serious wound.
+-----------------------------------------------------+ | PRESENTATION OF THE KING'S COLOUR--MAJOR-GENERAL | | SIR C.E. PEREIRA, K.C.B., C.M.G., AND HIS PRIDE IN | | THE BATTALION | +-----------------------------------------------------+
PRESENTATION OF THE KING'S COLOUR--MAJOR-GENERAL SIR C.E. PEREIRA, K.C.B., C.M.G., AND HIS PRIDE IN THE BATTALION
His pride in the Battalion was expressed by Major-General C.E. Pereira, C.B., C.M.G., on the occasion of the presentation of the King's Colour at Niederaussem, Germany, on January 24, 1919.
"First of all," said Major-General Pereira, "I will tell you how highly I esteem the privilege of presenting these colours to-day.
"For two years," he went on, "I have had the honour to command the 2nd Division, and I have been proud of your work in the Field and out of it, and of the fine spirit which you have always shown.
"These colours are given you as a mark of the magnificent service you have rendered in the campaign during the last four years.
"The record of the Regiment during the whole of its service will compare with the services of any battalion in the British Army, whether in the Somme fighting, 1916, Courcelette, Vimy Ridge, and Bourlon Wood in 1917, the retirement from the Cambrai salient in March, 1918, or the recent victorious advance which culminated in the overthrow of the Germans. In all these operations, in spite of mud, heat or cold, or desperate resistance, you have always shown the dogged determination to win.
"It is a fine tribute to the British race that a newly-raised battalion, without any previous traditions, which are such assets to regular battalions, should have outfought the German battalions, trained to war for generations.
"Perhaps your finest record is that of March, 1918, when along a great part of our front detached Divisions fought their way slowly back from position to position, facing overwhelming numbers, and an enemy drunk with the idea that the final victory was theirs; it was then, when short of food, without rest, short of men, that you showed what you were made of, and after successive days of retirement you turned and held the Germans.
"It is fitting that the work of this Battalion should be crowned by the victorious march to the Rhine, and that your colours should make their first appearance in a conquered country--a country which has taken us four and a half years to reach."
+-----------------------------------------------------+ | "GOOD-BYE, AND GOOD LUCK!"--BRIGADIER-GENERAL A.E. | | McNAMARA, C.M.G., D.S.O., AND HIS FAREWELL TO THE | | 23RD ROYAL FUSILIERS (FIRST SPORTSMAN'S BATTALION) | +-----------------------------------------------------+
"GOOD-BYE, AND GOOD LUCK!"--BRIGADIER-GENERAL A.E. McNAMARA, C.M.G., D.S.O., AND HIS FAREWELL TO THE 23RD ROYAL FUSILIERS (FIRST SPORTSMAN'S BATTALION)
Appreciation of and admiration for the Battalion was also expressed by Brigadier-General A.E. McNamara, commanding the 99th Infantry Brigade, when he bade it "good-bye and good luck" on February 25, 1919, when it left the 2nd Division to join the London Division.
"Owing to the reorganization of the Army of Occupation," he said, "the 23rd Royal Fusiliers, the oldest member of the 99th Infantry Brigade, is leaving it.
"I wish to place on record my high appreciation and admiration of the magnificent services of the Battalion while in the 99th Infantry Brigade.
"The Battalion came out to France with the 99th Infantry Brigade in November, 1915. Since then it has taken a leading part in all the many and strenuous battles in which the Brigade has been engaged. In these eventful three years we have seen together good times and bad, but whether things were good or evil the 23rd Royal Fusiliers have ever shown the same high discipline, _esprit de corps_, and indomitable spirit which eventually beat down all resistance and won the war.
"The battles of Delville Wood, Bourlon Wood, Ayette, Behagnies, Mory Copse, Canal du Nord, Forenville, and Ruesnes stand out in history as a record of the achievements of the 23rd Royal Fusiliers--a record of which the Battalion may well be proud.
"The Battalion is now going to another Brigade and another Division. I wish it the best of luck, and know it will maintain the high reputation for discipline, efficiency, and, if need be, fighting, which it has built up since its formation.
"In bidding it farewell, I wish to thank officers, N.C.O.'s, and men (including the gallant comrades who have fallen in the fight), for their gallant services when in the 99th Infantry Brigade. It is they who have borne the brunt of the hardships and the fighting, and it is they who have won the war.
"I cannot express how sorry I am to lose the Battalion, or how proud I am of the honour I have had of having had it under my command.
"Good-bye, and good luck!"
+-----------------------------------------------------+ | THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD--AN ADVANCE IN FACE OF | | HUNDREDS OF MACHINE GUNS--A PERSONAL NARRATIVE | +-----------------------------------------------------+
THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD--AN ADVANCE IN FACE OF HUNDREDS OF MACHINE GUNS--A PERSONAL NARRATIVE
To the personal side of the late war we have, in a measure, been introduced by various war correspondents. But there has always been something actually lacking, and that something is the touch and the atmosphere which can only be introduced by those who have been through the baptism of blood and fire.
In the following pages the _real_ touch is introduced. Every incident is told by a man who has actually seen and experienced what he describes. These incidents are in the actual words of the writers. Nothing is altered.
Here, then, is the story of the capture of Delville Wood by the 1st Sportsman's Battalion in 1916, told by Major N.A. Lewis, D.S.O., M.C.:
"For two days before the fight the Battalion occupied some trenches near Bernefay Wood, and sustained a number of casualties from shell-fire. Battalion headquarters was a shelter dug in a bank at the side of Bernefay Wood. This shelter was constructed by Albany, the sculler, and as he was killed in the fight it was his last job as dug-out constructor. Needless to say, he did this job excellently.
"For some hours before the Battalion moved off to take up its position, the Huns shelled the area with gas shells. Fortunately, however, just before 11 p.m., the time for starting, a breeze sprang up, and we were able to move without wearing gas masks.
"The move up was not pleasant. The area had been much fought over, it had been impossible to bury the dead for ten days, and it was a hot July!
"Our artillery was firing to cover our move up. Just after passing Longueval one of our shells dropped, unfortunately, near the platoon which, with the C.O., I was following. As luck would have it, though, only one man was badly wounded. The platoon, of course, went on, and the C.O. went over to the man who had been hit.
"'It's hard lines, sir,' said the man.
"'I know it is,' said the C.O., 'but you will soon be all right. The stretcher-bearers are coming.'
"'Oh, it's not that,' was the man's rejoinder. 'It's being hit now! Here have I been all this time in France without having a real go at the b----s, and now the chance has come, here I go and get knocked out.'
"The C.O. made only one remark to me as we passed on. It was: 'Well, if that's what the rest of the Battalion feels, I have no fears for to-morrow.'
"We took up our position in a trench at the edge of the wood. This was all that remained after the South Africans had been beaten back, and our attack was to start at dawn on the following morning. This attack was in two parts, two companies to take the first objective, a trench in the centre of the wood, and two companies to capture the far edge, and dig themselves in there. The 1/60th were on our right, each battalion having half the wood allotted to it.
"The waves formed up in position shortly before dawn, and it was our first experience of going over the top as a battalion. The men, however, were quite cool and cheerful; in fact, one, named Lewis Turner, asked me, 'How long to go?' I looked at my watch, and said, 'Five minutes.' His reply was, 'Oh, then I've time to finish my breakfast.' And he did.
"At zero our barrage started, and our first waves were off, the thing I noticed most being that most of the men were smoking as they went over. The whole wood was immediately full of machine-gun bullets. There must have been hundreds of machine guns--up in trees, hidden in the undergrowth, in fact all over the place. The Hun artillery came down on all the approaches to the wood, but not on the wood itself so long as any of their own men were in it.
"Owing to the position of the wood, however, at the apex of a captured triangle of ground, we received fire from both flanks, and also from our right rear, as well as from the front.
"The first objective was quickly taken, and then there was a pause before the advance to the second. A large number of prisoners came in, and were herded up near Battalion headquarters' trench. We then found that we were up against the Brandenburg Regiment, which had been specially sent up to hold the wood.