CHAPTER VFRANCE(March-August 1917)

The voyage westward across the Mediterranean was made under conditions widely different from those of the outward journey of September 1914, when “glory of youth glowed in the soul,” and the glamour of the East and the call of the unknown had made their appeal to adventurous spirits. Familiarity with war had destroyed illusion and had robbed it of most of its romance. The Lancashire Territorials had a very good idea of what to expect in France or Flanders, and were prepared to face minor discomforts and worries with the inevitable grousing which proclaims that all is well, and real privations, perils, and horrors with steadfastness often masked by levity. Though the Mediterranean was at that period infested by enemy submarines, the vigilance of the British and French navies proved a sure shield. One torpedo only was fired at the troopships, and this passed between the log-line and the stern of theMegantic. A call was made at Malta, and on March 1 the first transport anchored in the magnificent harbour of Marseilles, and D.H.Q. at once entrained for the North of France.

The railway journey of sixty hours to Pont Remy, near Abbéville, will not be forgotten. Men who had at much cost become acclimatized to the intense heat and dryness of the Sinai Desert, were suddenly plunged into the opposite extreme of an arctic climate. The winter of 1917 was one of the most prolonged and severe on record, and throughout the tedious journey in French troop-trains the men shivered and trembled with the bitter cold. But if France greeted them freezingly there was no mistaking the warmth of the welcome of her sons and daughters. Wherever the trains stopped the inhabitants gathered round to cheer them on their way. The news of the fall of Bagdad had preceded them, and the French women and girls, old men and children, knew that these were victorious British reinforcements from the East, and Bagdad and Sinai were equally remote.

The troops detrained at Pont Remy in a storm of snow and sleet, and marched through deep, freezing slush to the villages in which billets had been prepared. After six months’ experience of open bivouacs wherever the day’s trek ended, the barn billets were something of a novelty. Reorganization and re-equipment were, of course, the most urgent matters to be dealt with, and the refit was carried out expeditiously. The short Lee-Enfield rifle displacedthe longer rifle with which the Division had been armed; and the issue of two strange items, the “tin hat” and the box respirator, provoked some hilarity. Baths, each capable of washing sixty men per hour, were erected by the R.E., and henceforward the Division left its mark in the shape of new or remodelled baths in every area in which it was located. The Divisional Cinematograph and Canteen were also inaugurated here. The last troops from Egypt, the 5th East Lancashires and the 9th Manchesters, arrived on March 15. A new Divisional Train joined from England. This train had already had considerable experience of France, as it had been formed to join the Lahore Division in September 1914. Motor ambulances were supplied to the three Field Ambulances, and a complete train of motor-lorries was attached to the Division. The 42nd Divisional Ammunition Column was formed from a nucleus of the former Brigade Ammunition Columns with the addition of a large draft from the R.A. Base in France. A Heavy (9·45-inch) Trench Mortar Battery and three Medium (6-inch) T.M. Batteries were also formed here, and these became a part of the Divisional Artillery. Three Light T.M. Batteries were attached to the Infantry Brigades.

General Douglas’s Farewell

On the arrival of the Division in France Major-General Sir William Douglas left for England in order to give evidence before the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the Dardanelles Campaign. Temporary command of the Division was taken over by Brig.-General H. C. Frith, C.B. (125th Brigade), until the arrival of Major-General B. R. Mitford, C.B., D.S.O., who assumed command about the middle of March. Much regret was felt by officers and men that the general, who had been responsible for the training and organization of the Division in time of peace, and under whose leadership during two and a half years of war it had served with distinction in two campaigns and had “made good,” should be unable to lead them to the gaining of fresh laurels on the most important of all fronts. They had been fortunate in a commander who had ever taken a personal interest in the welfare of all ranks under his command, and who had identified himself with the Lancashire men and was jealous of their good name. That General Douglas regarded his officers and men with affection is clearly shown in his farewell message—

“In bidding the 42nd Division good-bye I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to my Staff Officers, Commanders, and Regimental Officers for their loyal and whole-hearted support and superb work during the period of my command. My admiration for the conduct, fighting qualities, grit, and endurance of all ranks is profound. Never have I met a more responsive, willing and lovable lot of men than these Lancashire lads, and, to my last days, I shall remember with affection and pride the three and three-quarter years that I have had the honour to command them. I know how well you, officers and men, will add to the great name you have already earned for the Division, I wish you the best of good fortune and a rich reward.”

Towards the end of March the Division moved to an area some ten miles east of Amiens, D.H.Q. being established at Mericourt. The 42nd was now a veteran Division in war and in travel, but in the trenches of France it was in the position of a new boy at a strange school. It had learnt much in the old school, and the experience would be useful. Each unit had a record and tradition of which it had good reason to be proud, and the commanders knew that their officers and men could be relied upon. Endurance and courage had been severely tested, but the endurance required for slogging through deep sand under a tropical sun was of a very different nature from that which would now be demanded, and the intense heat of the desert was a poor preparation for the bitter winds, the snow, sleet and freezing mud of the trenches of France. Much had to be learnt in the new school, and much unlearnt.

In Gallipoli the opposing trenches had often been only a few yards apart, and rifle-fire had continued all day and increased in violence at night. In that sector of the Western Front taken over by the Division the recent withdrawal of the enemy had created a No Man’s Land, which might be anything from 10 yards to 1000 in width, and unaimed rifle-fire was uncommon. Here, too, patrolling was a matter of nightly routine, whereas in Gallipoli more than an occasional patrol had been impossible. Two of the most novel features were the gas and the amount of H.E. shelling. It was the Division’s first experience of gas, and on rare occasions only had it witnessedannihilatingshell-fire. Never before had any of the original members been in billets, and they found them and their inhabitants a source of interest and comfort. Some felt hurt that the bits of Arabic picked up in the East were of no use here, and they resolutely refused to learn any French. “I’ve learnt Gyppo, and I’m not going to bother with any more foreign languages.” Imagine their delight when on leave in Amiens they found that the paper-boys (who had come into contact with the Australians) knew the meaning of “Imshi!” This word, being the imperative of the Arabic verb “to walk,” did duty for “’op it!” Possibly the most striking differences of all were that the Division got reinforcements after suffering casualties, and was able to get back into “rest” of a real kind after a trying time in the line.

The strength of the Division on April 1 was 727 officers and 16,689 other ranks.

New Experiences

Advance parties had been sent ahead of the Division, and now other parties of officers, N.C.O.s and men were attached for short periods to battalions and units of the 1st Division in the front line trenches that they might see and understand the conditions of warfare on the Western Front, before the Division should be called upon to take its place in the line that stretched from the Belgian coast to Switzerland. The enemy’s retirement from the Somme and the Ancre to the Hindenburg Line had upset the plans of the Allies for a spring offensive. The recently-vacated German trenches were visited, and the scenes of appalling devastation, the shatteredremains of what had once been flourishing villages and farmsteads, gave the troops their first impressions of France’s martyrdom, and filled them with indignation and loathing. They had heard and read of the ruin and desolation in Belgium and Northern France, but the half had not been told. The wanton destruction of fruit-trees and the desecration of cemeteries were acts dictated not by military necessity but by beastliness of mind.

Throughout this preparatory period the troops were kept busily employed upon the badly damaged roads, and—as occasional opportunity offered—in the attempt to make theententestill morecordiale. Feuillieres, Biaches, Herbecourt, Flaucourt, Dompierre, and Peronne were visited by various units, and the sappers constructed bridges to take heavy guns and lorry traffic over the Somme at Brie and elsewhere. Not only had the enemy blown craters at most of the cross-roads, but, east of Peronne, he had felled the trees that line the main French roads, and these had to be removed. This work of clearing up after the German retreat was of great importance, and the Division gained an insight into conditions on the Western Front as the troops approached the line. Where possible the ruins of farms and houses, swarming with rats, were used as billets, but the road-makers usually slept in cellars, dugouts, and holes. The wretched weather continued and there was heavy snow in April. The horses, so long accustomed to an eastern climate, suffered greatly and began to deteriorate, some succumbing to pneumonia. The boots which had been issued just before leaving Egypt were quite unsuited to a bad winter in Northern France, and they fell to pieces quickly. Each day a number of men had to remain in billets until new boots could be obtained from Ordnance Stores. A number of officers and men, however, refused to be worried by such insignificant details as boots, for were they not going home for the first time since September 1914? During the month batches of these veterans departed for fourteen days amid the rousing cheers of their comrades.

At Peronne, where D.H.Q. was opened on April 14, every building was badly damaged except the Town Hall, which was at once placed out of bounds because of this immunity, as any place that appeared to invite occupation was regarded with suspicion, owing to the typical Boche habit of leaving delayed-action mines and other “booby-traps.” Peronne Town Hall did not, however, go sky-high, as was daily expected. In the village of Peiziere some officers of the 126th Brigade took up their quarters in a house that had been left in good condition. Fortunately one of them took the precaution to explore and found a quantity of high explosive hidden under the beams. They cleared out. Next day a shell dropped on the building and it vanished. An R.A.M.C. orderly in the vicinity was lifted several feet in the air by the force of the explosion. “Eh, that wur a near do!” he said, as he picked himself up carefully and resumed his journey.

The Division now formed part of the 3rd Corps of the Fourth Army.On the 8th of April the 125th Brigade took over a portion of the line from the 48th Division at Epéhy, in front of Le Catelet, and a few days later the 126th Brigade also went into the line, in order that as many battalions as possible might have a short experience of front-line conditions before the Division as a whole assumed responsibility for a sector. The front here had become practically stationary, and as neither side had a continuous trench system the connecting of posts proceeded nightly, and patrolling and digging were the chief diversions. The 7th Lancashire Fusiliers was the first battalion to go into the line, which they advanced, after a sharp skirmish, to a copse about half a mile ahead. They were relieved on April 12-13 by the 6th L.F., and during the relief Malassise Farm, in which were a number of men of both battalions, was heavily shelled. The building was destroyed, and the fall of the roof buried about fifty of these men in the cellar. Though the shelling continued with great violence, admirable courage was shown in extricating the buried men, and for this the Military Medal was awarded to a private of each battalion. The Division’s first trench raid on the Western Front was made by the 4th East Lancashires at Epéhy. On April 28 the 126th Brigade advanced their line successfully, but the 4th and 5th East Lancashires suffered rather heavily.

Throughout April the wintry weather continued, but the unfailing spirit of the British soldier under depressing conditions is shown in the following anecdote related by an officer of the 4th East Lancashires: “The rain was pouring into my dugout, and the water slowly rising, so to avoid a fit of the blues I went along the line to see how the men were faring. A sentry was standing in mud half up to his knees, his hands numbed and wet, and a stream of water ran from his tin hat. By way of comparing notes I asked this pitiable spectacle what he really felt like. ‘Like a flower in May, sir,’ was the cheerful reply, and I was cured of the blues.”

On May 3 the Division took over from the 48th Division a sector in the neighbourhood of Ronnsoy, south-east of Epéhy. As Brig.-General Ormsby was engaged in marking out the new front line of his Brigade near Catelet Copse, the enemy suddenly opened a bombardment, and he was struck in the head by a piece of shell and killed. General Ormsby had been in command of the Brigade for more than twelve months, and during that period he had become very popular with his men and had gained their respect and admiration. Lieut.-Colonel H. C. Darlington, 5th Manchesters, once more assumed temporary command until the arrival of Brig.-General the Hon. A. M. Henley, who remained in command of the 127th Brigade until the end of the war.

Two brigades were in the front line and one in reserve, with a system of four-day reliefs. The long winter was over at last; summer had arrived without any introduction by spring, and the weather was now gloriously hot. There was a good deal of local fighting, especially around Guillemont Farm, an enemy post whichmore than one division had found by no means difficult to capture, but exceedingly difficult to hold. Several night attacks were made by companies and platoons, in one of which, on the night of May 6-7, the 9th Manchesters established forward posts in the face of heavy machine-gun fire, and Private A. Holden was awarded the Bar to the M.M. for volunteering to bring in the wounded, and afterwards going out into the open to make sure that none had been missed. He found a wounded officer and helped to carry him 400 yards on a heavily shelled road, and went out again to assist another injured man to safety. He succeeded in this, but was himself wounded. The enemy artillery was generally active, and on one occasion some men of the 126th Brigade were quite grateful to the German gunners. A heavy shell, which fell among some ruined cottages, threw up a number of gold and silver coins, dated a hundred years ago and evidently a long-buried hoard.

Epéhy and Ytres

On May 23 D.H.Q. moved to Ytres, about eight miles north-west of Epéhy, the Division relieving the 20th Division on a newly-captured sector running from the Canal du Nord, south-west of Havrincourt, to a point south of Villers Plouich, through Trescault and Beaucamp; and here the Division remained until July 8. This was a fairly quiet sector, and during the first few weeks there was no event of any importance to vary the daily round of digging, wiring, and strengthening the trench system and the patrolling of No Man’s Land. Havrincourt Wood in the spring of 1917 remained a very beautiful spot amid the chaos of war. Though the “hate” of the Boche was less demonstrative than in many sectors his trench-mortars and machine-guns were generally busy at night, and considerable annoyance was caused on the right of the line by a trench-mortar which—so it was conjectured—was brought up every night on a light railway, and taken back after a few shots had been fired. At sunrise the clamour of the guns ceased and the birds at once “took over,” the cuckoo being particularly active. Nightingales were common here and in the copses in the line, and as they seemed to regard machine-guns as rival vocalists, they would sing in competition. The bell-like whistle of the black and yellow golden oriole was often heard, and in the centre of the wood the war at times seemed far enough away. The A.S.C. turned their hands to hay-making, and helped to cut and harvest some acres of excellent clover, rye, and lucerne. The 3rd Field Ambulance were more envied by their fellows, as they harvested—for their own consumption—the crop of a very prolific strawberry bed in the garden of the ruined villa which they inhabited at Ruyalcourt.

A quartermaster of the 127th Brigade had chosen the ruins of a farm at a cross-roads near Havrincourt Wood for his dump. He was warned by the Town Major that this spot had probably been mined by the enemy, and particularly warned not to make use of the cellar, which was a likely place for a “booby-trap.” However, nothing happened, and of course his men not only went into the cellar but took planks and bricks therefrom to improve theirquarters in the rooms above. One evening the Q.M. returned from the line to find his staff in a state of nervous collapse. As soon as he had prevailed upon them to sit up and take a little nourishment they related this painful story: The former owner, armed with documents and accompanied by gendarmes and British Military Police, had visited the old home, descended into the cellar, and dug up jars containing jewellery, coins, and banknotes, within a few inches of the spot from which the storemen had taken the planks. The butcher had even held a candle to assist the search, and his reflections on “what might have been,” as the jars of buried treasure were brought to light, completely unnerved him, especially when the owner handed him a couple of francs with thanks for the trouble he had so kindly taken. For some time after this these storemen displayed a rabbit-like tendency to burrow in any old corner, but luck was not with them.

One night when the Brigadier of the 127th Brigade was in the front line the enemy put down a fierce bombardment of gas shells and H.E. The night was dark, but calm and clear, and large working parties were out wiring and digging. These came back “hell for leather,” and General Henley found his passage through the trench cut off by the crowds. Colonel Dobbin, deeming the scene unseemly for a Brigadier, suggested a dash over the top. Unfortunately fresh wire had just been put down, and, close to the support line where the long-range shells were dropping, both fell heavily into a double apron-fence. They extricated themselves painfully, leaving portions of clothing and some blood on the wire, and eventually arrived, “improperly dressed,” at Battalion Headquarters, to be met by the adjutant with the tactless remark: “There has been a bit of a bombardment, sir, but it doesn’t concern our front.” The Brigadier, who limped for several days, suggested that his companion should write a sketch of the episode under the title, “Young officers taking their pleasures lightly.” Though the Colonel did not take advantage of the suggestion, another officer did.

Brig.-General H. C. Frith, C.B., returned to England in June to assume command of a Home Service Brigade, and Brig.-General H. Fargus, C.M.G., D.S.O., took command of the 125th Brigade until the end of the war. General Frith was the last of the General Officers who had served with the Division from the outbreak of war. For three years he had commanded the Lancashire Fusilier Brigade, which had become much attached to him, for he was quick to recognize and give credit for good work, and he possessed a remarkable memory for faces, invariably knowing each officer by name after the first meeting. The 6th Manchesters learnt with regret that their popular M.O., Captain A. H. Norris, M.C., who was home on leave, had been retained by the War Office for duty at home. A better-known and better-liked Medical Officer never served with any battalion, and the regret was not confined to officers and men of the battalion, for the sick and wounded of many units were gratefulfor the energy, solicitude and complete disregard of self—and of red tape—which he had displayed in looking after their comfort and welfare in Egypt, Gallipoli, Sinai, and France.

The Front Advanced, June 1917

On the 1st of June the order was received to advance the divisional front by about 300 yards, the operation to be completed by 6 a.m. on the 10th. The order indicated that strong opposition might be expected, and details were left to the Brigadiers. The 126th Brigade on the right adopted the orthodox method of sapping forward each night, making a T-head at each sap to connect and form a continuous line later. The expectations of opposition were realized. Photographs taken by enemy planes brought heavy trench-mortar and machine-gun fire on the working-parties, and serious casualties were inflicted. A position near Femy Wood was occupied at night by the enemy, who were thence able to harass the working-parties. On the evening of June 3rd Corporal A. Eastwood, 9th Manchesters, took a patrol of three men to this point and lay down to await events. At 9.30 p.m. a German patrol emerged from the wood. The corporal ordered his men to hold their fire until the enemy were within thirty paces, when they opened fire with good effect, and remained until 2.30 a.m. covering the work and silencing a machine-gun and snipers. The hard and rocky nature of the ground in this part of the line was a further obstacle, but in spite of all difficulties good progress was made, and the troops were complimented upon their work by the Chief Engineer of the Corps. On the left, Brig.-General Henley, profiting by the experience of the 126th Brigade, decided to complete his part of the operation at one bound. On the night of the 8th-9th he advanced his line the full distance, and all four battalions of the 127th Brigade began to dig in furiously. The covering party was in position at 10.30 p.m., and digging began at 11 p.m. under the supervision of the 427th Field Company, R.E. Before dawn twelve outposts on a front of 1500 yards were linked up by a continuous trench, and, leaving a skeleton garrison in the new trench, the companies returned to their positions practically unharmed. The finishing touches were added next night, and the new line was completed by the stated hour. This good work was rewarded by a Special Order of the Day from the Corps Commander.

The night patrolling in No Man’s Land furnished admirable opportunities for testing and training officers and men. These patrols appealed to many adventurous spirits, while others looked forward to their first experience with natural apprehension. Many patrols were therefore sent out with the primary object of giving the men confidence and experience, and this policy was completely successful. There was also a considerable amount of sniping, especially in the vicinity of Havrincourt Wood, where German snipers for a time had the advantage and made the most of their opportunities. They were, however, beaten at the game by Sergeant Durrans, 6th L.F., who on June 14 crept 450 yards into the long grass in No Man’s Land and patiently bided his time. When the snipers disclosed their positions by firing he gave a fine display ofmarksmanship for two and a half hours and picked off half a dozen of them. He was wounded in the right knee.

On the night of June 12 an officer of the 5th Manchesters, who were then holding the “Slag Heap,” was detailed to reconnoitre Wigan Copse, in No Man’s Land, examine the wire—concealed by the long grass—and find the gaps. He led a party of six men to the copse, but could find no gaps, the wire being apparently uninjured. He crawled round it to the back of the copse, and eventually discovered an opening through which he crept, accompanied by a corporal, the rest of the party being posted outside. A narrow trench and some rough shelters were located, but there was no sign of life until the officer, desiring to take back a souvenir of his visit, disturbed a pile of stick-bombs. A tarpaulin then moved and a voice challenged them. The officer fired several shots with his revolver, and yells indicated that at least one of the Germans had been hit. The fire was returned, and in a moment the wood seemed alive with the enemy. As the exit was too close to the German front line for comfort the patrol crept away and lay in the long grass until the noise died down, when they withdrew untouched. On the following afternoon the enemy guns registered on the copse, and in the evening bombarded the British line and put down a box-barrage, under cover of which a company of the enemy charged the copse, yelling “Hands up, the English!” They suffered severely from rifle and Lewis-gun fire. Information was obtained later from prisoners that the garrison of the copse had been so scared by the sudden appearance of Englishmen in the wood that they had bolted, and had reported that the British were in possession of the post. Hence the elaborate counter-attack of the empty copse.

In the afternoon of June 22 a particularly daring raid was carried out by Sergeant J. Sugden (later Lieutenant) of the 10th Manchesters. Annoyance had been caused by a small trench-mortar, and as it was suspected that this was fired from a derelict elephant hut a few hundred yards from our most forward post, Sugden—a born scout—resolved to make sure. He found that there was a sentry guarding a dug-out near to the elephant hut, and that the man seemed inclined to take his duties easily. Returning, he chose two companions, whom he posted on a flank, while he crawled unobserved to within a few yards of the dug-out. He then quietly informed the sentry, in fluent German, that he was covered, and that he would be shot if he showed the slightest hesitation in obeying orders. He showed none, so Sugden ordered the other occupants of the post to come out with their hands up. At first they seemed inclined to dispute the matter, until told that they were surrounded and that unless they obeyed promptly they would quickly find themselves blown into a region even lower than their dugout. The threat had its effect; they meekly obeyed, and Sugden had the satisfaction of bringing four very sullen Germans, carrying a trench-mortar, across No Man’s Land in broad daylight. The Corps Commander sent a complimentary letter to the Battalion Commander praising the initiative and theaggressive tactics of his men, and congratulated Sugden personally, and also gave him special leave for fourteen days.

Night Patrols and Raids

At the end of June the 7th Manchesters were instructed to supply a party to raid Wigan Copse and bring back three prisoners. Lieutenant A. Hodge (later Lieut.-Colonel, commanding 1/8th Manchesters), who was chosen to carry out the raid, gave his men some realistic preliminary training. At 11 p.m. on July 3 the guns opened on the enemy’s lines behind the copse, and Hodge’s platoon, after a crawl of more than half an hour, rushed the copse. Its occupants tried to bolt, but the box-barrage hemmed them in and they had to choose between fighting and surrender. One young German, who had been lying in the grass on outpost duty, was so scared that in his fright he rose and attached himself to the Manchesters, until Hodge took him by the scruff of the neck and flung him to the man behind. But no one wanted the Boche, so he was flung from one to another until finally one of the covering party held him captive. After five minutes’ rough-and-tumble, in which none of the 7th was hurt, though a number of the enemy had been bayonetted, or shot by the officer’s revolver, Hodge returned with the three prisoners indented for. It had been a model raid.

On the 8th of July the Division was relieved by the 58th Division, with the exception of the artillery, which remained in the line with the 58th Division, and later with the 9th Division, at Havrincourt Wood until the end of August, when they rejoined their own Division in Belgium. The artillery’s periods of “rest” were infrequent and uncertain. Whenever the divisional infantry was relieved the guns would remain in the line for a time, attached to the relieving Division. From the artillery point of view the work at Havrincourt consisted mainly of concentrated fire at night on back areas of the enemy line and in artillery duels. Corporal Charles Gee, “B” Battery, 210th Brigade, twice won distinction during this period. On July 22, near Hermies, a hostile shell set a gun-pit on fire, and Gee, with Bombardier W. Pate, disregarding the explosions, succeeded in covering the burning material with earth, and so saved a considerable amount of ammunition. On August 13, during a heavy bombardment of the battery position, a shell burst in a dugout occupied by one man, blowing off one of his legs. Accompanied by Gunner W. Armitstead, Gee went to the injured man’s assistance, and while they were removing the debris a shell burst near and knocked both over. They managed to extricate the man, bandage his wounds, and convey him to safety, being all the time under heavy fire and suffering from fumes.

The Ytres sector was looked back upon as a “bon” front by comparison with others with which acquaintance was made later. Here the Divisional Concert Party, which afterwards achieved fame under the title of “Th’ Lads,” was first organized. “Th’ Lads” soon became a feature which the Division could ill have spared, and the delightful entertainments given under the fine trees of Little Wood are recalled with genuine pleasure.

From July 9 to August 22 the Divisional Headquarters were in the Third Army reserve area at Achiet-le-Petit, where the 127th Brigade was stationed, with the 125th Brigade at Gomiecourt and the 126th at Courcelles. This area, which was visited by the King on July 12-13, had been wholly devastated. What had once been a village was now a heap of broken bricks and rubble; a few stark walls standing grimly against the skyline and a name painted in bold black lettering on a white ground informed the passer-by what village had once stood here. The fields were scarred with trenches and shell holes, and all the indescribable debris of an abandoned battlefield was spread around. Most of the troops were under canvas, but as there were not enough tents for all a number had to live in little “shacks” made of odd bits of corrugated iron and any other scrap material available. The fine weather continued and the six weeks in this area partook of the nature of a holiday, though the days were fully taken up by intensive training, special attention being paid to training in attacks upon fortified posts and strong points. Instructional visits were made to the scarred battlefields of the Somme, Brig.-General Henley taking a number of his officers to Thiepval and giving his personal experiences of the fighting there. The various training stunts—battalion, brigade, and divisional—enabled the troops to gain a thorough knowledge of the ground in this area, and this familiarity with the topography stood them in good stead when seven months later they were called upon to withstand the German onrush on this very ground. Time was found for divisional and brigade sports, inter-battalion football and cricket matches, boxing contests in the large crater at Achiet-le-Petit; and the visits of “Th’ Lads” to the Brigade Headquarters were keenly appreciated. There had never been such a time for sports as this, and it was hard to realize that “there was a war on.” Newly-painted vehicles, perfectly turned-out animals, bands playing, troops spick-and-span, all combined to lend a gala aspect to this period.

On August 22 the period of rest came to an end, and the Division entrained for the most detested of all fronts—Ypres.

Back to Index Next