Chapter XI: The Western Front

(_Continuation till March, 1918_)

I. 1ST BATTALION

At the commencement of the last chapter the readers were reminded that the Russians made a separate peace with the enemy towards the end of 1917, and that the Americans having declared war against Germany in April the vanguard of her troops began to come into action on the 27th October, so that the defection of the one nation was in the end counteracted by the determination of the other. As has been said, America at first possessed but a tiny army, and though a few troops were fighting in Europe at the end of 1917, still her real force could not make itself felt for months afterwards. Consequently there was an interval between the collapse of Russia and Rumania and the arrival of a capable American army. During this space the French and English must bear the whole brunt of the struggle, and the Germans, whose railways were planned strategically, with the idea of being able to rapidly transfer armies from her eastern to her western frontier or vice versa, were not the people to fail to take full advantage of such an opportunity.

These facts must be borne in mind in studying what follows. As a matter of fact, our enemies started on the 21st March, 1918, a mighty effort to sweep us into the sea and overwhelm the French. This chapter will therefore continue the story of the doings of the Buffs on the Western front up to this date. Like the previous chapter, it is a record of trench warfare varied by fighting and the necessary rest and reorganization which followed each battle.

The most important action was perhaps that of Cambrai, in which both the 1st and 6th Battalions took part, and it may therefore be as well first to continue the narrative of these two units: the village of Mazingarbe is, roughly speaking, four miles from Loos in the direction of comparative safety, and this place may be considered as the chief station of the 1st Battalion up to the 15th November--that is to say, that it was the resting-place when trenches were not occupied somewhere near Loos or Hulluch. Of course, there were certain alterations, for troops took turn to go into the reserve of the division or some higher formation, and the more important that portion of the army was, the further back from the front line were stationed its reserves; for instance, on the 13th July the Buffs went into divisional reserve for a week at Fouquieres, near Bethune, and for a time in October they were in G.H.Q. reserve at Flechin.

The most important and the pleasantest change of programme, however, was a long period of rest at Monchy Breton (about twelve miles west of Mazingarbe), which is an area set apart for giving a change of scene to tired troops. The battalion was allowed a month here which, in addition to training, was devoted to sport and health-giving recreation; a composite company, under the command of Captain Strauss, it secured the highest number of marks in the brigade sports and won the divisional challenge cup for the smartest turn-out and work in an attack scheme.

During the period between the 1st July and the 15th November officers and men of the 1st Battalion received a considerable number of decorations and honours: on the 3rd July the Corps Commander inspected C and D Companies, which had furnished the raiding party on the 23rd June; after offering his congratulations he presented Military Medals to Sgts. Cross, Goodall and Poole, Corpl. Sindon and L.-Corpl. Spenceley, and to Privates Halliday and Searle, all of C Company. In D Company Military Medals were given to Sgts. Barker, Buss, Evans and Moorcock, Corpl. Duff, and to L.-Corpls. Curd, Green and Page. During this period Lieuts. Marshall, Moss and Wyatt were awarded the M.C., and Captain Jacobs and Lieut. Worster the clasp to the M.C.; C.S.M.’s McDonough and Randall received the D.C.M., the latter also being given a commission and posted to C Company; Pte. Sage received the M.M., and Corpl. Duff the _Decoration Militaire_ (Belgian).

On the 30th August B Company, having gone to relieve one of the K.S.L.I., A and D Companies being already in front-line trenches with C in support, the enemy at 8 p.m. ventured an attack on our three-company front, which was quickly dealt with by the Canadian gunners and our Lewis guns. Notwithstanding this repulse another hostile attack was launched at 2 o’clock next morning, but this again was stayed by our Lewis guns and we did not suffer much.

Another incident worthy of note was the departure from France of Captain Birrell, the adjutant, who left the battalion on the 10th October after no less than two years and ten months’ service on the Western front and was succeeded by Lieut. Davies. This length of war service, other than at the base or on the staff, was very exceptional indeed. On the 1st November the 1st Battalion marched to meet their comrades of the 6th at Grand Bouret. Early in the month the question of combined infantry and tank work in the field became an extra tactical study that all must learn.

As to casualties, they of course continued. There is a horrible regularity in recording these. Men were always being killed or wounded. A battle removed a lot of good fellows in a few hours, trench warfare corroded the battalion strength little by little, and this had to be patched up either by raw hands from England or men who had already done their share but, after being invalided, had to come out again. Ten men were wounded on the 26th August, one killed and five wounded on the 30th. 2nd Lieut. G. E. Sewell died of wounds on the 2nd September and two men were killed and two wounded on the same day, five more getting hit on the morrow. Eighteen men of the pioneer company were gassed on the 5th September. A little bit of joyful news reached the regiment in the middle of September, namely, that the gallant Harrington, who had done so well on the 24th June and who had been missing since that date, was still alive, though a prisoner in Germany. A Company on the 16th October lost eight men killed and three wounded, the enemy opening a barrage on our front line at 8 p.m. On the 15th November, Sir Douglas Haig having planned a further attack on the German lines, the 16th Brigade, in which the 1st Battalion still served, was attached to the Third Corps to take part in the same, and the battalion entrained for Peronne and moved to the forward area on the 17th.

II. 6TH BATTALION

There is a great high road running dead straight from Arras east-south-east for four-and-twenty miles to Cambrai. Two miles and a half from Arras along this road lies the village of Tilloy, and three miles further on Monchy is to the north and Wancourt to the south of it. Two miles south-east of the latter place and about two miles to the south of the great road is the scene of the 7th Battalion’s fight on the 3rd May, 1917--the village of Cherisy. It was round these places that the 6th Battalion fought and endured up till the 23rd October, when it retired away west to a more peaceful region for a few days and there saw a good deal of the 1st Battalion.

On the 1st July the 6th moved from Arras to the Wancourt line, and on that date it mustered 33 officers, but only 483 other ranks. While in this sector it was sometimes in front, sometimes in support and sometimes further back.

Amongst the various excavations of this region is what is known as “The Long Trench,” which, commencing about 1,200 yards south of Keeling Copse, runs southward and is continued in that direction by Tool Trench. In this long work was the 6th Battalion on the 10th July, when it received orders to raid the enemy’s shell holes east of Tool Trench at 7.30 a.m. the next day. The enemy, however, had made his own plans and, taking the initiative himself, attacked at 5 a.m. after an exceptionally heavy bombardment of guns of all sorts and sizes, smoke and liquid fire being also used. This heavy rain of projectiles was directed not only on Long and Tool Trenches, but on the supports. The infantry attack was directed chiefly on Long Trench, and the Germans managed to penetrate at one point after feinting or making a holding attack along the whole front of it. Having effected his penetration he rapidly deployed and occupied shell holes in rear or on our side. 2nd Lieut. Stevens, who was holding a post near by, at once realized the situation and organized and carried out a counter-attack along Long Trench, and almost at the same time L.-Corpl. Edgington and two men, who were all on duty with the 37th Brigade Sniping Company, seeing that the attack was serious, at once dashed up to ascertain the true situation. These three went up Long Trench for three or four hundred yards till they reached the point where the break through had occurred. Here, of course, they came across a lot of Germans who hurled bombs at them. The corporal, however, was a good and resolute Buff soldier, and he, posting one of his men in an advantageous position in the trench, with the other commenced to erect a block or stop in the work. He was soon joined by 2nd Lieut. Stevens and another man, and between them they consolidated the block and opened fire at close range on a number of the enemy. About two hours and a half later on the Buffs tried a counter-attack which was duly preceded by artillery preparation, but it failed owing to the heavy machine-gun fire it was subjected to. The enemy’s aeroplanes were very noticeable during this affair, flying low over our lines all day, particularly during the attack. 2nd Lieut. Gunther was killed, as were 9 men; another officer and 26 men were wounded, and there were 30 missing. Long Trench was recovered a week later by the 35th Brigade and the Royal West Kent Regiment.

On the 3rd August, at 6 p.m., the Buffs being then in rear in what was called the Brown Line, the enemy opened a heavy barrage and later attacked Hook Trench. Two officers and one hundred men of the Buffs were sent up about 8.30 to aid the Queen’s and West Kent in the front line. The attack was beaten off and heavy casualties were inflicted on the enemy, who withdrew, leaving several prisoners. On the 6th August the whole brigade was relieved and went into Beaurains Camp, near Arras. 2nd Lieuts. Hunt, Mason-Springgay, Russell and Sowter, with eighty-six men, who had been training for a raid, proceeded from here to take their part in an organized minor adventure which took place on the 9th of the month and which was most successful: the moral of the enemy had every appearance of being severely shaken and he suffered heavy casualties; his trenches were entered, many dug-outs destroyed and eighty prisoners brought back, and it was just a regimental misfortune that the men of Kent were in the flank which became subject to the enfilade fire and consequently suffered the following casualties and failed to get on as far as was hoped.

2nd Lieuts. J. Russell and F. I. Sowter missing, Mason-Springgay wounded and thirty-five men either killed, wounded or missing. It was afterwards ascertained that both Russell and Sowter had been killed. The raid party returned to camp about 3 a.m., played in by the Drums.

On the 24th August, while in the Levis Barracks at Arras, Corpl. Horton, L.-Corpl. Parker and Ptes. Hoare, Lane and Scott heard they had been awarded the M.M., and about the same time, while in the trenches again, news came of a M.C. for 2nd Lieut. Mason-Springgay.

On the 1st September the Royal Fusiliers, aided by the Buffs’ covering fire, made a neat little raid, sustaining only one casualty and bringing in twenty-six prisoners; and the next day a telegram came saying that 2nd Lieut. Stevens had the M.C. and Pte. Barham the M.M. An attempt was made by the enemy on the 24th to raid the brigade front, but it was repulsed with loss.

The 3rd October brought the battalion thirty-three casualties, including 2nd Lieut. Needman killed. This was because the Sussex Regiment, on the Buffs’ left, made a raid and the German heavily barraged the latter corps’ lines. Two days afterwards 2nd Lieut. N. E. FitzRoy Cole and one man were killed in the front line. The 24th of October took the 6th Battalion off westward, and the 29th found it billeted at Vacquerie le Bourg.

November opened with more than one pleasant meeting with the 1st Battalion. The 6th marched to Frevent with this object on the 1st November, and two drawn matches at football were played between the units, first at Beaudricourt and afterwards at Vacquerie, but the real business of life at this time was training and preparation for a coming attack. On the 16th the battalion entrained for Peronne, and by the 19th it was in position of assembly behind the village of Gonnelieu, which is about four miles south of Ribecourt, in the vicinity of which the 1st Battalion stood. Before describing the parts taken by the Buffs in the action before Cambrai it may be well to explain shortly why the battle came to be fought.

It was now past the middle of November and the collapse of the Russians had already become so apparent that large bodies of Germans had been withdrawn from their Eastern front to swell the armies in France, and it was quite clear that more and more would be arriving shortly. Under these adverse circumstances Haig determined on a surprise attack on a considerable scale before more reinforcements could arrive, and so he directed General Byng to attack in front of Cambrai, reckoning that that portion of the German line was not quite so strongly held as some others and that it would take the enemy forty-eight hours to draw troops from other portions of his front to the rescue. Secrecy and despatch, therefore, were the main points to be considered, and it was for these reasons that the fight under notice differed from almost all others in so far that no artillery preparation was to take place, but the overcoming of wire and other obstacles was to be entrusted to the action of tanks, and careful arrangements were made for their initial employment and close co-operation with the infantry. It would occupy too much space to describe this battle in detail, but it must be understood that, though the British attack achieved considerable success at first, the enemy was able ultimately to increase his force about Cambrai, particularly in guns, and so he managed at last such a mighty counter-attack that about the last day of the month our original offensive was perforce changed into a somewhat anxious defensive operation.

_Imperial War Museum_ _Crown Copyright_

A NEW TRENCH]

III. CAMBRAI

Now, on the 20th November and following days the Third Army Corps consisted of the 6th Division, which included the 1st Battalion of the Buffs, the 12th Division, with the 6th Battalion, and the 20th Division. This Corps attacked with the 12th Division on the right, the 20th in the centre and the 6th on the left, and the zero hour was 6.20 a.m. Thus it came about that the 1st Battalion moved out preceded by B Battalion of tanks and in artillery formation from the vicinity of Villers Plouich.

The first objective, the village of Ribecourt and the spur to the south-east of it, was soon taken, D Company, which formed the first wave, securing that portion which was entrusted to the 1st Battalion. The ground won was known as the Blue Line and was part of the main Hindenburg entrenchment.

The rest of the 1st Battalion co-operated with the divisional sniping section and then passed through and secured the second objective, the Brown or Hindenburg support line, one thousand yards further on.

These positions were taken with small loss, the Buffs only having eight men killed and thirty-three wounded. This was satisfactory enough, as the two points which had caused anxiety to the divisional commander were Couillet Wood and Ribecourt, whereas the first fell to the Buffs and the latter to the 71st Brigade. The formations adopted were suitable; the hostile artillery was weak; the enemy was late in opening fire and it was scattered and inaccurate when opened; the tanks had no difficulty in crossing the trenches; the enemy appeared to be surprised and demoralized; the positions were quickly consolidated because there was no hostile fire, and in fact all was very well. The 6th Division had a most successful day: the bridge at Marcoing had fallen, and everything had gone like clockwork; the artillery pushed forward to advanced positions, as did the machine guns which were brought up by pack animals. The next morning the Buffs, with the assistance of the tanks, completed the clearing of Noyelles. This was a creditable bit of initiative on the part of Captain Moss, who, finding the place but lightly held, collected a few men and with two tanks captured the village there and then.

Meanwhile a little further south the 12th Division was equally successful. During the whole of the 19th, battalion after battalion of tanks, R.E. equipment, ambulances and so on had been coming up to the front and, in accordance with Operation Orders, had been doing so in absolute silence. The scheme for the 20th had included five objectives. The 37th Brigade was assembled on the right of the 36th and it was to go forward on a two-company frontage only. The two companies of the 7th East Surrey were given the task of seizing the first objective, and the remainder of this battalion was to take the second. The third and fourth objectives were allotted to two companies each of the 6th Buffs and the Royal West Kents had the fifth.

The Surreys were quite successful; then the Buffs moved forward in artillery formation and, crossing the first lines of defence, moved on with marked success, sending back numerous prisoners and attacking the Hindenburg Line. There took place some fierce hand-to-hand fighting and a systematic “mopping up” of dug-outs, but everything went like clockwork and by the afternoon the battalion headquarters was in Pam-Pam Farm with three companies holding Lateau Wood and B Company at Bonavis, though the progress had been delayed somewhat by machine-gun fire from the two named farms, and the enemy had been difficult to drive from Lateau Wood. At 3.45 p.m. the West Kent reported to brigade headquarters that they were in touch with the Buffs and that no enemy was in sight. The battalion casualties for the 20th were 5 officers wounded and 105 other ranks killed, wounded or missing, mostly only wounded.

On the 21st the positions occupied were consolidated. Much movement of lorries was noticed on this day behind the enemy’s lines. Strong patrols, however, from the regiment covered the bridges over the canal. It became apparent on the 23rd that the German artillery had been considerably reinforced, as the hostile shelling very perceptibly increased in volume. On this date Captain A. F. Worster of the 1st Battalion died of wounds. He had been twelve months with the battalion and was greatly respected and universally loved. He had twice won the M.C.

On the 26th both battalions were relieved and withdrawn, the 1st into the Hindenburg Line as divisional reserve, and the 6th into support, though it sent up strong working parties to labour on the communication and front trenches for the West Kent Regiment, as a counter-attack on the part of the enemy now seemed imminent, he having evidently been greatly reinforced. On this date Lt.-Colonel Green left the 1st Battalion to assume command of a brigade.

On the 30th November a great German counter-attack was launched. Being in divisional reserve, the 1st Battalion did not on the first day suffer much from the shock, though six men were wounded; but the following morning it reinforced the troops who were now holding the line round Gonnelieu and La Vacquerie, where the enemy had broken through the previous day. Here Major B. L. Strauss, who was commanding, was killed, as were seven of his men, another dying of his wounds. Captain Allen, the adjutant, was wounded but continued for a while to command the battalion which duty had devolved on him. Captain Tibbles, R.A.M.C., Lieut. Blake, 2nd Lieuts. Clark, Fisher and Owen, C.S.M. Vincer and forty-five others were also injured.

In the evening Captain Pill, R.A.M.C., attached to the Bedfords, took over medical charge, Allen retired to the dressing station, Major Hardy, of the York and Lancasters, assumed temporary command and the Buffs were withdrawn again into divisional reserve to go up once more in the night of the 3rd to take up a defensive flank on Highland Ridge, as the enemy had broken through near Marcoing that morning. One company of R.E. and the Brigade Pioneer Company were attached for aid on Highland Ridge.

On the 5th December five men were killed and sixteen wounded, one of whom died the following day, on which date a new doctor, Lieut. McVey, relieved Captain Pill. Three were killed on the 7th and Lieut. L. F. Clark died of his hurts; two of the men were lost in the same way on the 8th. On this latter date the Buffs were relieved from the Ridge and moved back into trenches in rear of the main Hindenburg system. On the night of the 9th they moved further back still and on the 11th were taken twenty miles westward to Courcelles to refit, and Lt.-Colonel Power, who had commanded the 2nd Battalion at Ypres when Colonel Geddes was killed, was appointed commanding officer.

The 6th Battalion suffered severely on the 30th November, but showed that the men were made of magnificent fighting material. The enemy’s offensive was most successful on the sector which was on the right flank of the battalion. Here he penetrated right through to the rear, and the first news the men in the line had of this success was that their own brigade headquarters was being attacked behind them. This attempt, however, was beaten off by the staff, the orderlies and the signallers, though the transport, which was bringing up water and supplies, was captured. This hostile movement of course exposed the Buffs’ flank. Dense German masses were successful on the other flank also, but a ray of light in the gloom was occasioned by a very successful counter-attack made by the Buffs on Pam-Pam Farm, which had fallen. This place was recaptured and the enemy’s advance in this region held up for three hours. Overwhelming masses, however, at last proved impossible to withstand and the small garrison withdrew fighting from shell hole to shell hole. The enemy was now on front, flanks and even in rear, and the struggle was hand-to-hand, obstinate and desperate. It was a case of the remnants of a fighting unit cutting its way back through all obstacles to regain a line that was forming in rear. This was finally effected and the line straightened out, but, as may be supposed, it was a bloody affair and our casualties numbered 14 officers and 317 other ranks, Major C. F. Cattley, M.C., being amongst the killed. The new position taken up was successfully held against all attacks, though it formed a very acute angle, as the divisions on the right and left had fallen back, leaving, of course, a greatly exposed salient. The line was held, however, until relief came next day, when the battalion moved back to the old British front, which was heavily gassed by means of shells.

On the 2nd December this battalion moved back into billets in Heudicourt, thence, on the 5th, to Dernancourt and on to Albert, where train was taken to Thiennes, in the peaceful country some seven or eight miles south by west of Hazebrouck, for the necessary rest and refit and to receive and train fresh men from England to fill the terrible gaps.

IV. 1ST BATTALION

After Cambrai the 1st Battalion, except for a short time near Moreuil, was kept out of the trenches till the 25th January, 1918, on which date it relieved the 9th Battalion of the Norfolks at Demicourt, about half-way between Bapaume and Cambrai. During this interval it had been lent to the 3rd Division and posted at Ervillers, Noreuil and Courcelles, all of which places are fairly close together. Christmas was spent at Courcelles in a quiet and restful manner, and a slight change of scene occurred soon afterwards by a move to Bellacourt, near Riviere, which is somewhat nearer Arras. The arrival in this place was marked by the rejoining of Captain Jones, D.S.O., of the R.A.M.C., who, an old, much respected and greatly beloved medical officer to the battalion, had been over fifteen months absent from his friends.

The New Year brought some honours with it. The late Major Strauss was gazetted to a M.C.; Sgt. Pass got the D.C.M.; and the M.M. came to Ptes. Alexander, Elliott, Wilson and Wright; and Lt.-Colonels Green, D.S.O., and Power, Major Blackall, Lieut. Whitlock, Corpl. Troy and Pte. May were all mentioned in despatches. The 21st January took this unit to Fremicourt, near Bapaume, and into divisional reserve, and the 25th, as has been said, back into the dreary trench work again. Captain Marshall on this date, who had already the M.C., was awarded the D.S.O. The trench tour was quiet enough, for the enemy was nearly a mile away, and the battalion was back at Fremicourt on the 3rd February.

Here, or rather at Le Bucquiere close by, on the 8th, a somewhat startling and apparently an unexpected change of organization took place which affected nearly everybody in the army. It had been decided that infantry brigades would be of more use, or at any rate that certain saving of power would be effected, if, instead of four, they should consist in future of only three battalions. This resulted in the disbanding of many brave and tried units which had repeatedly proved their value. Thus the 16th Brigade lost the 8th Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment which had been comrades of the Buffs, York and Lancaster and Shropshire Light Infantry since March, 1915, when they came into the brigade in place of the Leicester Regiment. Of course, the disbanding of these units did not mean that the soldiers composing them went home to their mothers. They merely were transferred to other battalions in the form of huge drafts. Thus our own 8th Battalion of the Buffs, which had so nobly upheld the ancient honour of the regiment on many a stricken field, now ceased to exist in the same way as did the 8th Bedfords, and in consequence the 1st and 6th Buffs became the richer for strong reinforcements of fighting men. Five officers and 250 other ranks arrived at Le Bucquiere from the 8th for the 1st Buffs.

On the 12th February the battalion went into trenches at Lagnicourt, near Queant, and it was at this place when it received the shock of the German great offensive in March. It was in February a quiet and fairly comfortable place, though on the 14th an unlucky shell killed three N.C.O.’s of D Company in a dug-out and blew a fourth clean through the roof. Beugnatre was the rearmost resting-place for Lagnicourt, and each battalion of the brigade of course took its turn there.

Now that the Russians had finally collapsed and so set free the enormous hostile armies which, up till now, they had, at any rate in part, kept occupied, the whole of Central Europe had for some time been crowded with troop trains bringing division after division from east to west; these divisions had been specially trained for open as opposed to trench fighting, and the Kaiser and his staff fondly hoped they would suffice to drive the French to Paris and the English into the sea, more particularly as thousands of Russian guns were now available for German gunners to use on their western foes. It was clear to everybody, from the Commander-in-Chief to the last recruit from England, that a great offensive might commence on any day and we were busily engaged in preparations. Battlefields were made ready for defence, strong points heavily wired and mine fields laid as protection against tanks. This attack was expected in the early morning of the 13th March and the whole British front was covered with a series of listening patrols, special precautions were taken and all ranks exhorted to quit themselves like men. On the 19th the rainless spring weather, which had lasted a fortnight, gave place to mist, with cold showers. On the 20th before midnight orders came to withdraw all working parties, to man all battle and alarm posts before dawn, and to be in readiness for the enemy’s onslaught.

V. 6TH BATTALION

The 6th Battalion did not come into the front line again till the 22nd January, 1918, on which date it was at Fleurbaix, in the direction of Armentieres. The interval had been passed round Merville and Estaires. Some well-deserved decorations came to the unit in January and some medal ribbons were presented by the Army Commander. Captain Ferrie and 2nd Lieut. Gray got the M.C., L.-Corpl. Parker a bar to his M.M., and the decoration itself came to L.-Corpl. Clements and Pte. Woodcock. A little later 2nd Lieuts. Kidd, Stevens and Turk were gladdened with the news that each had the M.C.; Lt.-Colonel Smeltzer, M.C., was given the D.S.O., and R.S.M. Jeffrey the M.C.

Though Fleurbaix itself was reached on the 13th January, the battalion did not move into the front line in that region till the 22nd, and then it was quiet enough till relief came and a move back some five miles or so to Sailly, except that there was a certain amount of bombardment on the 28th, and just before relief was due the next day an enemy’s party of about twenty attempted a raid on a post known as “Richard.” They worked round behind this point with a view to cutting off the retreat of its little garrison, but at the exact moment the relieving party of Fusiliers arrived on the scene and the raiders, caught between two fires, were surprised and dispersed.

There was a good deal of work to be done in February in the way of preparation for the coming assault, and the 6th of the month saw the battalion in the front-line trenches, after C.S.M. Woodhams had heard on the 4th that he had got his D.C.M. The 9th of the month brought the big draft from the now defunct 8th Battalion of the Buffs. This consisted of 5 officers and 200 men.

Remaining in the same vicinity for many days, now in brigade reserve at Rouge-de-Bout, then in divisional at Nouveau Monde, and again in the trenches, all the men’s energies were directed to work at defensive positions; for the British army and its allies were now for a time definitely on the defensive and experiencing what may be described as a lull before the storm. Of course, there still were some few signs of activity on both sides, for it is not nowadays customary in war to remain many days in total inactivity. Thus the enemy attempted “Robert” Post on the 7th March, and next day, after a preliminary artillery bombardment, the West Kent carried out a successful little raid; but things at this time were, generally speaking, quiet enough. On the 9th came a shower of gas shells, but there were no casualties that day, though on the morrow 2nd Lieut. T. A. Brown was killed and 2nd Lieut. Barnes wounded.

The British in this region appear to have expected the attack about the 11th. The enemy was believed to be forming in vast masses on the immediate front, and the Buffs remained during the night of the 10th/11th in battle formation with patrols going out in front at frequent intervals. In fact, these night patrols were now in pretty constant use. On the 16th transport was noticed to be very active behind the German lines. On the 17th at 10.10 p.m., after a quiet day, the enemy opened a very heavy artillery fire on the front and support lines. Two of his patrols, of about thirty men each, attempted to approach “Richard” and “Reggie” posts, but were driven off by Lewis guns and rifle fire. 2nd Lieut. C. F. Peters, however, met his death that night and ten men were wounded. On the 19th March the battalion was relieved and went into billets at Pont de Nieppe, which is a mile or two outside Armentieres on the Bailleul road, and there it was on the morning of the 21st.

VI. 7TH BATTALION

The story of the 7th Battalion from the 1st July, 1917, to the 21st March, 1918, must now come under consideration. The chief area of its operations was Dickebusch and its neighbourhood, and the chief event a great and grim combat at Poelcappelle on the 12th October. It was on the 3rd July that the 55th Brigade, with the Buffs, railed from Doullens to join the Fifth Army and went to the Second Corps area, detraining at Hupoutre and marching to Ottawa Camp at Ouderdom, a couple of miles west of Dickebusch; and on the 7th it was in the line again, where things were comparatively lively, especially as regards gas-shelling, and where much patrolling work was done. A raid was arranged for the 14th, but had to be abandoned, as the guns could not come into action on account of the gas, and two days afterwards the battalion was relieved for a while and went into camp at Chateau Segard. Very many men were wounded about this period, namely, sixty-one in seventeen days, which is a high average for trench warfare.

At the commencement of August at Dickebusch the enemy was fairly active and Captain A. O. Sherren, commanding C Company, was killed on the 3rd and Captain Clapperton wounded the next night. These casualties occurred in relieving a portion of the line but little known to the battalion and which had been held by the 30th Division. The Buffs were back again at Chateau Segard on the 8th and into divisional reserve on the 10th, on which date an attack was made by the brigade, the 7th Battalion The Queen’s being in the forefront of the fight and the Buffs going up in reserve to a place known as Railway Dug-outs, which was south-east of Ypres. At 6 a.m. orders came to send one company to support the 8th East Surrey in what was called Crab Crawl Tunnel. Therefore A Company was despatched, and it was joined in the evening by B. These two companies, under Major Wood, were in support to the 17th Brigade of the 24th Division, in which the 8th Buffs were serving.

Directly after this the Buffs were entrained and moved off for a period of training at Eringhem, nine miles north-west of Steenvoorde, Wood’s two companies rejoining headquarters at Arbeele on the 13th. On the 15th August Pte. Roberts (since killed in action) and Sgt. Baldry were awarded the M.M.

Of course, there was a great deal of training at this time, but, even if the numerous drafts which required teaching and the ever-changing conditions of warfare had not made this a necessity, still it does not improve the health nor the spirits of men so often exposed to the danger of death to encourage or allow periods of utter indolence and the consequent loafing and brooding. The work at this time was mostly practising the assault of positions. On the 12th September Captain Nicholson got the M.C. and L.-Corpl. Streat the D.C.M., and about the same time eight soldiers got the M.M. and one a bar to the same. On the 23rd September the Buffs moved by train to St. Jan Ter Biezen, where, five days afterwards, hostile aircraft dropped bombs into the camp, doing a very great deal of damage. The men were in huts and tents and the area a very congested one, which fact probably tempted the enemy to his enterprise. It was dark when the aeroplane flew over and it dropped six bombs (two of which were blind) right into the camp, resulting in the death of 2nd Lieut. R. E. C. Mead and twenty-six men and the wounding of Lieut. and Qr.-Master Rye, 2nd Lieuts. Malton and Tyler and sixty-three others. This misfortune had the effect of disorganizing the arrangement of platoons and sections just at a time when the regiment was being braced up and perfected in the new method of attack called “Leap-frog.”[23] However, the training still went on and, moving by stages, the battalion, with the rest of the brigade, was on the 11th October opposite the village of Poelcappelle, because for various reasons, one of which was a desire to assist the French, our Commander-in-Chief was arranging a considerable offensive movement before the weather, which had been much against movement, got absolutely too wet and wintry for any kind of manœuvre.

This offensive operation was made over a six-mile front northwards from a point east of the village of Zonnebeke and so brought the 55th Brigade to the position indicated. As far as the 55th Brigade was concerned no circumstances could have been less in favour of a successful attack, for several reasons: no shelter was to be had for the assaulting troops, who had to be out in the open, in mud and rain, close up to the front line and in full view of hostile aircraft, thus advertising the coming movement, so to speak; much detail in the way of attack orders was altered and amended at the last moment, and these details consequently could not be made known to everyone in time, for the night of the 11th was pitch dark and the various platoons and sections were scattered about wherever cover could be got--in shell holes and the like, and so had no chance of receiving detailed orders.

The Buffs’ line was from Gloster House, or Farm, to Poelcappelle Church; C Company was on the right and D on the left, A supporting C and B behind D. The objective, together with the battalion area of activity, is shown on the accompanying sketch map. A and B Companies were to act as what was known as “leap-frog” companies--that is, they were to pass the others and go on to the second objective. All companies were in position by 4 a.m. on the 12th October; outposts were withdrawn at 5.15; the barrage opened at 5.25, and C and D moved forward.

All reports agree in stating that our barrage was not a success; it was erratic and not heavy enough, and when the infantry attack was getting into difficulties it passed too far ahead. The officer commanding C Company (Captain Nicholson) reported that the guns opened thirty seconds too late on his front, that the barrage commenced very thinly and thickened right on top of the leading troops. D Company got caught by the enemy’s gun fire as it was waiting for ours to lift and the whole front line came immediately under very heavy fire, particularly C, which suffered much from machine guns from the neighbourhood of Gloster House and from point “37.” D Company got through the houses and enclosures which were on its front, but, on emerging, met heavy cross machine-gun fire from Meunier House and the Brewery, and thus our attack was checked throughout our line. A and B, moving up in rear so as to keep close, came in their turn under intense machine-gun fire, B Company especially suffering very severely. These supports were eventually merged into the leading line and every effort was made to struggle forward, but the heavy ground prevented anything but laborious movement which was ill suited to a rain of bullets, and at last things came to a standstill.

C Company managed to rush one hostile post, where the men captured a machine gun and turned it very effectually on its late owners. Captain Nicholson, M.C., who commanded C Company, tried to dig in where he was, but the ground was terribly swampy for this; however, he was, about noon, able to report a perceptible slackening of the enemy’s fire. About this time he noticed 2nd Lieut. Knight with the elements of A Company about four hundred yards to his right, and he sent off 2nd Lieut. H. M. Spencer to get touch with him with a view to together making an attempt to gain ground; Spencer, on his way, fell, mortally wounded, and Nicholson went out to help him. As he was doing so he heard a shout and saw that Knight and about thirty men had been overwhelmed and made prisoners. He could not get back to his men in time to order them to open fire. This affair caused a gap on Nicholson’s left and he directed his remaining officer, 2nd Lieut. Tupper, to form three posts to protect that flank while he himself established five others on his front. He then attempted to consolidate these, but the state of the ground prohibited digging. About 2 p.m. a party of Germans was observed near the Brewery advancing down the main street of Poelcappelle which had every appearance of a counter-attack and preparations were made accordingly, but the enemy was successfully stopped by parties of the West Kent and of the Suffolk Regiment which were in the village. About 5.30 the enemy shelled our lines and the village, but defensive posts were established and all was well, though the bombardment continued during the next day, the 13th, and at dusk the remnant of the Buffs withdrew to Counter Farm on relief by the 7th Battalion of the Queen’s.

It is worthy of note that on the 12th and 13th both the Germans and ourselves were able to attend the wounded by flying a white or Red Cross flag, white handkerchief or rag. The enemy never fired on a wounded man. It is eloquent of the state of things during a war between so-called civilized nations that such should be considered as exceptional.

The Buffs’ casualties in this action were: killed, Captain E. B. C. Burnside, 2nd Lieuts. R. W. Bone, H. M. Spencer and H. Thomas and 52 other ranks; wounded, Captains Blood-Smyth and West, Lieut. Boner, 2nd Lieuts. Amos and Bull, and 178 men; missing, 2nd Lieut. Knight and 145 men. A Company had left at duty one sergeant and one corporal; B, one corporal; C, two sergeants and four corporals; and D, one sergeant and one corporal--no less than 62 N.C.O.’s being amongst the casualties. As has been seen, several circumstances contributed to prevent this action from being an entire success, but the chief was the deplorable state of the ground, which prevented movement and consolidation and which, worst of all, prevented fire, by clogging up the men’s rifles with mud.

On the 24th of the month the battalion went into billets at Poperinghe, where nine men got M.M.’s. On the 1st November it moved, by means of lorries, to Parroy Camp, where it worked on the roads. On that day a second bar to Captain C. D. Hayfield’s M.C. was announced, as well as one to Captain A. C. L. Nicholson’s. The M.C. was awarded to 2nd Lieut. Tupper, the D.C.M. to C.Q.M.S. Burt and Sgt. Pellandine, and the M.M. to ten more of the men.

A long spell of quiet at Emile Camp now ensued, the battalion being very weak as regards numbers. It moved up into the forward area, however, on the 9th December, occupying small posts till the 17th, when it entrained at Boesinghe for Bayenghem and went into billets. There the battalion remained till over Christmas, after which it led a somewhat nomadic life--that is, it wandered a good deal about the region west and north of Ypres. Proven perhaps might be taken as a centre of the country visited, but early January found the men in the trenches again near Boesinghe for a few days. There was always a New Year list of honours during the war, and the commencement of 1918 gave Lt.-Colonel Ransome, already an M.C., the coveted D.S.O. as well. Captain Clapperton got the M.C., and Captains Fine and Hallinan (the battalion doctor), together with Sgt. L. G. Moon,[24] who had died of wounds, were mentioned in despatches. Further, C.Q.M.S. Wickington got the D.C.M., he having already received the M.M.

The last day of January the battalion went into billets at Herzeele, some ten miles west of Poperinghe; and the 11th of February found it in billets in the back area at Viry Noureuil, where it worked hard on defensive preparations in the area of the expected battle, for ten days or so. Then came a very long journey and complete change of scene.

Sir Douglas Haig foresaw that the enemy was likely to throw his principal weight south of Arras, and most likely about the point of juncture of the French and English forces, which at this time was about the River Oise. He therefore very greatly strengthened this threatened area, and so it came about that the 7th Battalion with its comrades were carried off in haste to the Liez area on the 26th February, and set energetically to work in what was termed the battle zone, in contradistinction to the forward zone, in which the first shock of the oncoming Teuton armies was to be received.

Liez is about three miles north of the River Oise, and two from the St. Quentin Canal, which practically here defined the forward line of defence into which the Buffs moved up on the 13th March and continued their preparations to receive the enemy. On the night of the 15th a single platoon, under Lieut. C. W. Jemmett, made a reconnaissance in force on the canal bridge on the Vendeuil-Chaugny road, in which Jemmett unfortunately lost his life. The bridge was found to be held in force. The records of this period are somewhat meagre, as nearly all the papers referring to it had later on to be destroyed in a hurry to prevent them falling into the enemy’s hands, but it seems clear that some casualties resulted from the attack on this canal bridge. On the 20th March came the order “Prepare for Action,” and next morning the fight commenced.

VII. 8TH BATTALION--BATTLE OF PILCKEM RIDGE

The 8th Battalion after its fight at the Buffs’ Bank enjoyed a good long rest and pleasant change. It was at Escoeuilles in the Lumbres area for over a fortnight, and from there went on to the seaside at Ecault, about four miles south of Boulogne, for two or three days. This was really an enjoyable holiday; passes were granted into Boulogne, and the camp authorities were most kind; but all good things come to an end, and the 16th July found the men on the march again for Mic Mac Camp and the trenches. It took nearly a week to cover this distance, as no forced marches were called for, and so, on the 22nd July, the battalion started on the monotonous old trench work once more. Headquarters, with C Company, were quartered in a tunnel, some of these having been constructed of late by regular tunnelling companies of specially selected troops. This trench tour of the 8th Buffs, which lasted only six days, was a very strenuous one and occasioned no less than 160 casualties.

On the 25th one of our own heavy guns dropped a shell on our left front post and buried it. The post had been held by one N.C.O. and eight men, and four of these were wounded and the remainder badly shaken. Gas alarms were very numerous on this date. The following day was marked by minor enterprises undertaken by units on the Buffs’ left, our artillery opening at 5.5 p.m. The result was satisfactory, but unfortunately the regiment was unable to take part. On the 27th, a little before noon, a large shell pierced a tunnel occupied by our men, killing four, gassing about thirty and causing considerable delay to the carrying parties by blocking the gangway. On the 28th the Buffs were back for a day or two at Mic Mac Camp, and on the 31st the Battle of Pilckem Ridge commenced.

This was a carefully organized attack on our part with a view to gaining the crest of the high ground east of Ypres, and though troops were to be engaged all the way from Deulemont to Steenstraat--a fifteen-mile front--the brunt of the work was apportioned to the 5th Army under Sir Hubert Gough, acting between Boesinghe and the road which runs from Zillebeke to Zandvoorde. Thus it came about that on the 30th July the Buffs moved up to assembly positions in Ecluse Trench, passing Dickebusch _en route_. Barrage rations were issued and the men awaited the break of day and zero hour, which was fixed for 3.50 a.m. on the 31st. They were not in the front line, and one hour after zero moved up to the position vacated by the 12th Royal Fusiliers in Canada Tunnel, reaching it without casualties, after meeting several wounded men from different units of the division, from whom only garbled accounts of what was going forward could be gleaned. For the whole of this first day our men lay in the stifling tunnels, where the heat was tremendous and the odour most offensive. It was not till 8.30 the next night that the Buffs emerged from their unpleasant surroundings and pushed forward to relieve the 3rd Rifle Brigade in our new front line, which was, however, not as far off as had been planned; for the British advance had been halted by very heavy opposition from shells, machine guns and rifle fire. The Rifle Brigade proved very difficult to discover, owing to the darkness and inefficient guides and, when found, their portion of the new line was far from comfortable, especially on the left, where D Company was. It proved a chain of posts in shell holes which were mostly half full of water; the rain was falling, too, and the hostile shelling was heavy.

However, a welcome relief came on the evening of the following day, and in the dark, over very heavy and unknown ground, the battalion stumbled through the night, suffering a few casualties, including Captain Morrell slightly wounded, until at daylight the men made the camp again and rested at Dickebusch for some two or three days before going up into line once more on the 7th, on which occasion battalion headquarters was established in Canada Tunnel as before.

At 4.35 a.m. on the 10th August, in accordance with orders received, an attempt was made to capture Lower Starpost, 2nd Lieut. Lowles and forty-seven men of B Company being detailed for the job. This little party formed up at 3.45 and was subjected to very heavy shelling while waiting for the zero hour. Then our barrage opened and three minutes later the majority of the guns lifted, but one of the batteries failed to do so for another minute and a half, which mistake cost twelve casualties and greatly disorganized the party. However, the men advanced, only to find that, owing to the delay in the lifting of some of the guns, the enemy was all ready and, having left the dug-outs, was awaiting what was to come. By this time Lowles and all his N.C.O.’s except L.-Corpl. Simson were wounded, but the stout lance-corporal immediately opened fire with his Lewis gun and ordered his men to charge. The gun jammed almost immediately, and the enemy defended himself briskly with stick bombs. The remaining one-third of the party--two-thirds of the original number having dropped--could make no headway against the strong opposition encountered and returned to the lines, having had 5 killed, 23 wounded and 3 missing, and having shown great courage and determination.

From this date until the 21st September life was somewhat monotonous and consisted, as usual, of work in the trenches and rest in camp in alternate periods, Larch Wood tunnels being the scene of the one and Mic Mac Camp and Dickebusch of the other. Clear weather and a bright harvest moon the first week in September caused the enemy to try bombing a good many British camps at night from aeroplanes, and the Buffs experienced this form of annoyance together with other units. On the 11th September, while moving up into the trenches, two men were killed and another wounded, and 2nd Lieut. Cooper and R.S.M. Dare were so badly shaken up that they had to be sent away for a while. The next day the enemy shelled the ration dump, causing some minor casualties. L.-Corpl. Bussell and Pte. Gasking later on got M.M.’s for coolness and bravery on this occasion.

On the 16th September the battalion was put into buses and removed to Oultersteen, which is three miles beyond Bailleul, and five days later it entrained for Bapaume and marched to Ypres. On the 27th it marched to Haut Allaines, on the 29th to Hervilly, and on the 30th took its place in the line with French on their right, the battalion being thus at the extreme right of the British line.

The first week in October, in this portion of the line, was devoted mostly to patrol work, and a few casualties occurred, two men being killed and another wounded on the 3rd, but the work was the same as usual. Bernes and Vadencourt were the resting-places, and Ascencion Wood the chief object of the patrols.

On the 4th November an American officer was attached to the regiment--one swallow does not make a summer, but this was a welcome sign of what was to be expected later on. On the 6th one of our patrols at night, being south of Ascencion Wood, came across a similar party of the enemy, and both immediately opened fire, the Buffs losing two killed and five wounded in the little affair. Life towards the end of the year was uneventful. On the 23rd November a post under Sgt. Smith was attacked by thirty or forty Germans, but they were driven off without casualties to us, and one dead officer and a N.C.O., badly wounded, were found on our wire afterwards. The average company strength during the month of November was only eighty-four.

The 3rd December found the battalion in the line again and expecting a hostile attack, but on the 7th it was back in Hancourt. About Christmas a good deal of movement on the enemy’s part appeared to be going on around Bellicourt. The Buffs being then opposite, at Montigny, Christmas was kept on the 31st of the month at Montigny.

On the 1st January, 1918, the brigade moved back a few miles to Vraignes, but only for a short time. On the 21st, whilst at Hancourt, orders arrived that the 8th Battalion of the Buffs and the 12th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers were to be disbanded, so, on the 30th, all employed men of these units rejoined, and on the 6th February the drafts of men already noted[25] started for the 1st and 6th Battalions. Thus ended the only 8th Battalion the regiment ever had. Ever since the 26th September, 1915, when it suffered so severely near Loos, and when it lost the gallant Romer, this unit had borne a brave share in the great struggle. Very few, if any, of the men raised by the gallant Colonel Romer in 1914 were passed on in February, 1918 (Major J. Vaughan, M.C., being one of the exceptions), but the regimental spirit was still a living thing, and it was a right and happy order that the men should remain Buffs and no new badge should replace the ancient dragon.