every little while, but generally at intervals of about four months, it fell to the lot of each division to be withdrawn entirely from the line for the purpose of rest and reorganization.
after a long tour of trench duty, during which life at its best is merely an existence, it can be readily appreciated that these periods of rest were greatly looked forward to by all ranks.
each corps had a specified rest area, generally from 12 to 14 miles behind the line, and when a division came out, a village in that area was allotted to each battalion or sometimes one village to two battalions. there were, of course, the good villages and the bad villages, and for about a week before going out there was always a good deal of speculation as to which village the battalion would go to. at the beginning of august, the 3rd canadian division was withdrawn from the line, and it fell to our lot to get the village of auchel, conceded by many to be the queen of billets in the corps area; but unfortunately for us we did not arrive there until about the 15th of the month, being held up at camblain l’abbée (corps headquarters) on account of manoeuvres. open fighting had suddenly become all the rage, probably in anticipation of the drive the following august, and[41] our whole division took part in extensive practices. at about this time no. 1 platoon under lt. ott, distinguished itself in a corps rifle competition, held at ferfay, winning first place in the division and only losing first place in the corps through a technicality.
considering the representative gathering, which included units such as the r.c.r. and p.p.c.l.i., the victory reflects the greatest credit upon the spirit and training of our platoon.
at the completion of the manoeuvres we moved to auchel and for a week lived like human beings again, almost forgetting that there was a war going on, and we had just begun to settle down to a gay village life when we were rushed unceremoniously to the north of lens to relieve certain units of the 2nd canadian division, who were engaged in a scrap which was afterwards known as the battle of hill seventy. and so, on august 20th, amid the cries of “bonne chance” from our friends in auchel, we marched away with considerable reluctance, arriving the same evening at gouy servins, which was a reminder of the early days of the battalion in france. even then some of us had marched in high spirits from auchel to gouy servins on a first visit to the trenches; and gouy servins at that time was everything that the first part of its name would imply. to-day however, in the middle of an almost perfect summer, so far as weather was concerned, the roads were hard and dusty and the enthusiasm to reach the front line perhaps not quite so apparent.
[42]
having rested over-night, the march was continued, until about noon we reached sains-en-gohelle, another curiously descriptive name, but more commonly known as fossé 10, which forms part of a chain of mining villages in the neighborhood of lens.
things seemed to be quite lively around these parts and high-velocity shells were dropping almost too close to make a quiet meal possible. fossé 10 was really a staging camp to the front line, and there was naturally considerable confusion due to the relief that was in progress between the 2nd and 3rd canadian divisions.
before very long orders were received that the 116th battalion would relieve the 27th battalion that night. a reconnoitring party consisting of the c.o., the company commanders of “a” and “d” companies who were to take over the front line, the scout officer and the m.o. set off early in the afternoon, as it was fully realized that a ticklish relief was in store for us.
from information received it was understood that the 2nd division had attacked at daybreak and had made splendid progress, but that owing to the difficulties of communication, due to intense artillery fire, the situation, and in particular the line established by the 27th battalion, was decidedly obscure.
it was whilst this party was making its way forward to the village of cité st. pierre that captain james moore, our gallant and popular m.o., and two of the chief members of his staff were severely wounded.
during the remainder of the day and early part of[43] the night the bosch artillery was more than usually aggressive, in retaliation no doubt for their recent losses, in fact the r.s.m. of the 27th battalion remarked that the artillery concentration on such a small frontage was heavier than our troops had experienced at any time during the somme offensive, an interesting comparison although not entirely appreciated by us at that time.
under such conditions the details of the relief are best left to the imagination. to cut a horrible nightmare short it may be said that towards 3 a.m. the following morning a line was established by our men in badly demolished trenches and shell holes running through a portion of the ruined cité st. elizabeth to the outskirts of the city of lens proper. our final dispositions were in the front line right sector “d” company (captain pratt), left sector “a” company (captain ritchie). in close support “c” company (major currie), in reserve “b” company (captain every). the support and reserve companies both occupied whatever ruins or cellars they could find.
this was a truly delightful awakening after our recent rest in billets!
the enemy was either very nervous or else he suspected that a relief was in progress, for during the next forty-eight hours, we were treated to every variety of explosive, both large and high.
so intense was the fire from his artillery, that our front line companies experienced considerable difficulty in carrying out the all-important work of consolidation;[44] whilst the support and reserve companies were equally handicapped in their work of establishing ammunition dumps, and providing burial and ration parties.
after twelve days, during which we spent eight in the front line and suffered casualties of no less than twenty o.r’s. killed and two officers and ninety o.r’s. wounded, we were more than glad to be relieved by the 15th battalion (1st division).
after spending one night at marqueffles farm, in the neighborhood of boulay grenay, we marched south to our old familiar front around vimy ridge, taking over from the 11th battalion east lancashire regiment, who were in reserve along the arras-avion railway embankment. the dug-out accommodation, having been constructed by the bosch, was excellent, if somewhat dirty, and with the exception of one or two working parties we had nothing very much to worry us. now and again fritz would take it into his head to land a few salvos into the artillery positions in vimy village, about 300 yards away, and as we had to go there for water it was generally advisable to time our visits so as not to coincide with the arrival of his shells. he used to fool us sometimes though, and then the water party would return rather hurriedly, minus the water and the petrol tins for carrying it.
on the 15th september we relieved the 58th battalion in the front line (totnes trench), situated in front of méricourt, at an average distance of fifteen hundred yards from the bosch front line. the 58th informed us[45] that they had had an ideal tour with scarcely any shelling, but that during their last day in, the bosch had registered several times with 5.9’s on the right sector, now occupied by our “b” company. this information was rather disconcerting, especially for the posts in that neighborhood. anyway, a strict watch was established by the lookouts, and on the evening of the 16th, company commanders were called hurriedly to a conference at battalion headquarters. information was that small parties of german officers had been seen that day with maps pointing in the direction of our trenches, and that messages had been intercepted indicating the possibility of a raid on our line that night. in consequence every precaution was taken and the battle patrols, which were in the habit of scouring “no man’s land” each evening, were held in the front line.
it was indeed a timely warning, for at 3 a.m., precisely, on the 17th, an almost perfect barrage dropped on our front line and supports. now a certain army order stating that no s.o.s. must be sent up until it was absolutely assured that the enemy was attacking had been recently impressed on us, and that is probably the reason why only one company put one up (red over red over red). our artillery were sound asleep, for they never responded at all. the barrage lifted off our front line and it was evident that we were “for it.”
up went another s.o.s., but our artillery still slept on. a few of the enemy crept through the wire and entered “c” company’s frontage in an empty bay at[46] its junction with 12th ave. communication trench. they left the trench immediately, having captured pte. dewes of “b” company, who had been wounded by the barrage, and was evidently on his way out to the rear. the smoke and dust were so thick we could see nothing, and a continuous rifle and lewis gun fire was our only means of retaliation.
about daybreak we captured two of the enemy who had become entangled in our wire; unfortunately one of them refused to surrender and was shot dead by lewis gunners before we could get him in. our prisoner informed us that a large raid had been intended, and that the attacking party (seventy-three in number) was composed of “stürm truppen” (storm troops) who had been rushed up to the line that night in automobiles especially for this little entertainment. he also presented us with the photo of his company—published in this book. in evidence of what our prisoner told us we later found several mobile charges in front of our wire, intended no doubt for the destruction of the dug-outs, of which we had none, and whole piles of stick and egg bombs, which came in very handy as souvenirs for the troops.
on the evening of the 18th, the battalion was relieved by the royal canadian regiment (fritz had timed his raid just 24 hours too soon!!) and marched to thélus caves, from where we were transported by light railway to fraser camp (mount st. eloi), arriving there about dawn.
[47]
for purposes of comparison later on, let it be said that the total casualties of the battalion up to the present time, or for seven months’ active service, numbered eighteen officers and two hundred and seventy other ranks killed, wounded and missing.
practically the whole of these memoirs so far has been devoted to the personnel of the battalion actually doing duty in the trenches, and no mention has been made of the work done by the quartermaster’s department and the transport section.
whenever the battalion moved into the line the transport and quartermaster’s stores remained behind together with what was known as rear battalion headquarters, and they were jointly responsible for supplying to the battalion each day, food, clothes, ammunition, rum, etc., in fact all the necessaries of life, and all the necessaries of war so far as the infantry soldier is concerned, including mail and reinforcements.
the men belonging to these sections did not therefore come actually into contact with the enemy, as was the case with the men in the trenches, but their duties were none the less arduous and none the less dangerous. every night rations must be carried to the battalion in the line, and the roads and pathways along which the transport must travel were nearly always swept by machine gun and artillery fire, and the transport lines themselves came in for quite a little shelling by the german heavies.
our transport section and q.m. department had[48] never let us down so far, which speaks very highly for their personnel, and that they never came into direct contact with the enemy is not strictly accurate, since a few days after arriving at fraser camp our quartermaster, who was riding towards la targette corners, was chased by an enemy plane. his own description of his feelings when he realized the relative speed of his horse on the gallop and the german plane, is beyond words, and after a minute or so of terrible suspense, during which the german plane was putting machine gun groups all round him, he decided that the duel was unfair and promptly rolled off his horse into the ditch. the german airman flew home in triumph.
on the 30th september divine service for the whole brigade was held in the fields around berthonval farm, and afterwards an investiture. the corps, divisional and brigade commanders were present and the corps commander personally decorated a number of our n.c.o’s. and men who had distinguished themselves in the raid of july 23rd. the proceedings were slightly marred by the activities of a german aeroplane, which seemed to be drawing the fire of every “archie” in the neighborhood, with the result that nose caps were flying around and greatly disturbing the steadiness of the troops.
