HISTORY OF 1/8th BATTALION
SPRING, 1918
January 22nd, 1918.— April 20th, 1918.
What the ultimate object of our training was to have been is somewhat uncertain.
Our withdrawal from the forward area after six months may have been merely to
give us a thorough rest, but with affairs in the state they then were, we can
hardly imagine that the intention was to fit us for anything of an offensive
character for some time to come, for as a result of the withdrawal of Russia
from the war, and the consequent release of German troops from the Russian
front, everything pointed to the Allies on the Western front being on the
defensive for some considerable time. That the I Corps knew this had been clear
for some time before we left the St. Elie sector. Their Headquarters had
remained in the same billets at Labuissière since the beginning of the war, and
they were taking all precautions not to have them disturbed—in fact sometimes we
used to think that they intended to end their days there! There was no doubt a
genuine fear that the Boche might try to break through and capture the rest of
the mining district round about Béthune and Bruay, and this caused them to take
early steps to prevent such a catastrophe, and for some time before we left the
St. Elie sector, they had all available labour and material disposed
strengthening the defences behind the line as far back as Béthune. This mainly
consisted of putting up row upon row of "double-apron" barbed wire entanglements
every few hundred yards, which was looked upon, rightly we think, as the best
kind of obstacle to hold up an attack. With machine guns skilfully placed at
intervals, so as to enfilade these entanglements, it was thought that the best
form of defence had been attained. Work on trenches in the Division and Corps
reserve lines was also pushed on, and the machine gun emplacements were made
ready for occupation in case of need, and provided with supplies of ammunition
and water. We were called upon to help in this work shortly after we were
relieved, and on January 30th, sent a party of 460 of all ranks by motor lorry
to Mazingarbe for this purpose. They stayed there with Col. Blackwall himself in
charge until February 7th, and during that time worked hard in digging reserve
trenches, constructing anti-tank trenches, and wiring "localities" under Royal
Engineer supervision, near Vermelles. These "localities" were points in the
different reserve lines most suitable for, and capable of, all-round defence;
they were selected mainly as having a good field of fire on all sides, and so as
to command approaches by which the enemy might advance in case of a break
through.
The detailing of such a large party naturally left us with very few men for
training at Burbure, so that we were able to do little in that respect. Such
refitting as was possible was done, and bathing after a good deal of trouble was
arranged at Lillers, but as was the case in many of the back areas "billet
comforts" were not good. Just at this time, too, we suffered from a scarcity of
clean clothes, and later on the scarcity became worse. The supply was extremely
short, and more often than not the clothes were rather dirtier on their return
from the Abbeville laundry, than when they were sent off. This was not our
experience in the I Corps, which we had just left, and whatever we may have
thought or said about some of the doings of that Corps, it must be confessed
that many of their "Q" matters were very well worked, and in the whole of their
area, which included the entire region round about and in front of Béthune, in
which we spent many months, we were seldom short of anything in the nature of
supplies which one might reasonably require, though there may have been some
Battalion Commanders who considered that there should have been a much more
liberal allowance of motor lorries, which they were certainly very chary about
letting us have.
Economy in all things was now the order of the day, and in order to make the
most of our diminishing forces, and to reduce the number of units, it was
decided to reorganise the Army on the basis of three instead of four Battalions
to a Brigade. This was begun whilst we were at Burbure, the 46th Division being
one of the earliest to undergo the change. In the 139th Brigade the 7th
Battalion was the one selected to be temporarily broken up. The change was
carried out with lightning rapidity, and within about three days of first
getting the order that they were to be so treated, our old friends the 7th, were
scattered almost to the four winds. We were very glad to be allotted of their
number six Officers, Lieuts. R. B. Gamble, S. E. Cairns, S. Sanders, who was
attached to the 139th Trench Mortar Battery, and B. W. Dale, and 2nd Lieuts. W.
S. Peach and O.S. Kent, also 151 other ranks, who joined us and were absorbed
into our Battalion on January 29th. On the 30th we said "Goodbye" with much
regret to their Commander Col. Toller, who left that day with the bulk of his
Headquarter Staff, to join their corresponding unit in the 59th Division. From
the 2/8th Battalion, which was the Sherwood Forester Battalion of the 59th
Division to be broken up, we also got a quota of five Officers, Major F. G.
Cursham, Capt. C. P. Elliott, M.C., Lieuts. G. G. Elliott, M.C., and G. Thomas,
and 2nd Lieut. E. R. Elphick, and 85 other ranks, who joined us on January 31.
Frank Cursham, who later met such a sad fate in England, was known to some of
the older members of the Battalion, and G. G. Elliott too, had already served
with us. This large influx sent up our strength with a bound, and at the end of
January, we were probably the strongest we ever touched, viz., 53 Officers and
987 other ranks. The old nomenclature "1/8th" and "2/8th," used to designate the
1st and 2nd lines of the Battalion, was no longer necessary, and we were
henceforth known simply as the "8th Sherwood Foresters."
On February 9th, the Division moved back by route march to the First Army
Training Area, known officially as the "Bomy Area." This move was carried out as
a sort of scheme, the idea being that the Division was following up a retreating
enemy, and that at the end of the day's move we should billet just as though we
were actually pursuing in a hostile country, without so much prearrangement as
was generally possible. This did not tend, perhaps, to billeting in as great
comfort as one might have wished, and we were inclined to think it was
unnecessary. Be that as it may, we found ourselves at the end of the day with
Headquarters and two Companies at Laires, and two Companies at Livossart, all
somewhat crowded. This in the nature of things was unsatisfactory, and steps
were at once taken to try and bring about a change, with the result that on
February 13th, we moved to a very nice little mining village, Enquin-les-Mines,
which we had to ourselves. The Headquarter Mess was at the Maire's House, where
we were particularly comfortable, and received much kindness from the Maire and
his family. There we had rather more callers than on some other occasions, but
none of them seemed disappointed if we were not at home, so long as they could
leave a message with the Maire's charming daughter, and Officers of the
Battalion positively vied with each other in gallantry!
Musketry played the most important part in our training, and ranges were in
great demand. An A.R.A. platoon competition was carried out in the Division and
roused considerable interest. The winning platoon in the Battalion was No. 15 (D
Company), but unfortunately in the Brigade competition, they were beaten by the
platoon from the 5th Battalion. Much open warfare and trench-to-trench attack
practice was also carried out, a very ominous sign being that this consisted
mainly of counter-attacks to regain portions of trenches lost! The training
culminated in a fairly successful Brigade Field Day, near Coyecque.
Recreation of course figured largely in the training. In a Brigade inter-Company
football competition, B Company's team reached the semi-final, in which they
were knocked out by a team from the 5th Battalion. For amusements we were not
well off, as we were somewhat isolated. We did, however, manage to get the
Divisional Cinema for the last week of our stay, a very acceptable acquisition.
Whilst we were at Enquin our "tin hats" which had recently been shorn of their
questionably ornamental or useful sandbags, with which we had been ordered to
keep them covered, were painted a dull green, with, for some curious reason, the
Transport sign (dark blue square), and narrow light green stripe on the left
(denoting 8th Battalion) painted on the side. The change was doubtless due to
the pressing need for economy.
By the first week in March, it was realised on all hands that the great Boche
offensive could not long be delayed. The enemy had brought Division after
Division from the Russian front across to the Western, and, during the Winter,
had got together an enormous concentration of troops in France and Belgium,
including at least three Austrian Divisions, and it was now only a question of
knowing exactly when and where the onslaught would come. In these circumstances
our training was cut short, and on March 5th, we began to retrace our steps once
more towards the forward area, marching that day to Westrehem, where we had been
so comfortably billeted nearly a year before, and were now enthusiastically
greeted by our old friends. Only one night was spent there, and the next day we
were taken in 'buses to Béthune, and billeted once more at the Orphanage, this
being our third time to be quartered there. We were now back again in the I
Corps.
Then began a period of about seven weeks activity, during which we had a
considerable amount of excitement, some of it of not too pleasant a nature, and
one was never quite certain what a day might bring forth. The first week,
however, was spent in absolute peace at Béthune in most delightful summer-like
weather, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. During that time the 46th Division
took over the Cambrin sector again, and on March 14th, we relieved the support
Battalion in that sector, the 5th Lincolns, who were holding the Annequin
"Locality," including the whole of Annequin Fosse and its Colliery cottages,
which was being put in a state of defence, and was to be held to the last in the
event of the enemy breaking through the front line system of trenches.
With the greatest regret we had now to say goodbye to Col. Blackwall, who left
us for a tour of duty at home. He had been in command of the Battalion without a
break since October 15th, 1915, and during the whole time had never been off
duty, except when on leave or attending courses. We feel sure no one felt more
than he did what bad luck it was that he should go just at this important
juncture, but he left with the best wishes of everyone for a well-earned rest at
home. At the same time we welcomed to the command of the Battalion Lieut.-Col.
R. W. Currin, D.S.O., of the York and Lancaster Regiment, who was destined to
remain with us, with only a short break, until the conclusion of the war.
Several other changes had recently taken place. Hugh Kirby had left to take up a
commission in the Indian Cavalry, and the Transport was now under the charge of
Capt. Tomlinson. We had also lost Lieuts. White, Day, and Cairns, who had gone
to England for a rest, and were followed shortly afterwards by Lieut. H. G.
Kirby. Lieut. Gamble, and 2nd Lieuts. Sutton, Peach and Saunders were unfit and
were struck off strength, and 2nd Lieut. Clarke went to the Machine Gun Corps.
Major Cursham had taken over C Company from Capt. Geary, and Capt. C. P. Elliott
had succeeded Lieut. Day in command of B Company. We had been given a new Padre,
W. N. Kempe, who made himself very popular during his few months' stay with us.
Sergt. J. Eggleston, after a long period of excellent work as Pioneer Sergt.,
was appointed Comp. Quarter-Master Sergt. of D Company, in place of Gammon, who
went home for a commission.
Transport was lucky in being put in lines at Le Quesnoy, probably the best
constructed and best equipped that we ever struck during the whole war. Units
which had been there before had evidently worked hard on them to carry out
improvements, and for once we were really lucky in finding a good spot. The
stables were strongly built, well roofed, floored, and provided with harness and
fodder rooms, and to a certain extent protected from bomb splinters by earth
revetments.
On March 20th, we relieved the 5th Battalion in the Cambrin left sub-sector,
with which we were already well acquainted. On the following day there took
place in the South the first onslaught of the Boche, in his great Spring
Offensive of 1918. There was no actual attack anywhere near us, the only
offensive action on our front being a "demonstration" in the shape of a heavy
bombardment with gas shells, which was decidedly unpleasant, though not causing
us any casualties.
During the night of March 21/22nd, we did experience a real touch of the
offensive in the shape of a big raid on the right Company, the most vulnerable
portion of the line on the whole Brigade front. This front, which was held by A
Company was of enormous length, extending from Railway Craters on the right to
Munster Parade on the left, a distance of about 600 yards. Three platoons (about
60 all told) held the outpost line in small posts of four or five men, each
under a N.C.O., the fourth platoon being held in support as a counterattacking
platoon in Old Boots Trench at the West end of Munster Tunnel. The latter was
about 400 yards behind the outpost line, and was also occupied by the support
Company, and contained the right Company Headquarters. The orders laid down were
that in case of attack the platoon detailed for the task was to counter-attack
either through the tunnel (quite impossible if the enemy obtained a footing in
the trench at the tunnel mouth) or over the top.
Shortly after midnight, the enemy put down an intense barrage of trench mortars,
wing bombs, and shells of all calibres, along the whole of the Brigade front and
support lines, forward communication trenches, Battalion Headquarters, the
Village Line, and extending even to roads, villages, and batteries far behind
the line. Telephone wires were broken immediately, but the "S.O.S." was sent by
signal rocket and power buzzer, and our artillery and machine guns replied at
once. There had been no preliminary bombardment or warning of any kind. The
enemy entered our trenches directly behind his barrage from the cover of the
craters on the right, between our right post and the left Company of the 138th
Brigade, who were on our right, also near Dundee Walk in the centre, and just
North of Munster Tunnel on the left. Such wire as had been put up by the few men
who were usually available was swept away by the hurricane bombardment, which
prevented movement of any kind, either to or from the front or support lines.
Two runners were wounded whilst attempting to take messages between Company
Headquarters and Munster Tunnel, a distance of 50 yards. The posts in the front
line were unable, owing to their small numbers, to offer any prolonged
resistance, or on account of the distance between them, to assist neighbouring
posts.
The front line entrance to Munster Tunnel was held by us the whole time, and an
attempt to blow it in, which was one of the main objects of the raid, was
frustrated, 2nd Lieut. Hartle being wounded by a hand grenade. That the garrison
of the outpost line withstood the onslaught to their utmost there is no doubt,
and to this the pools of blood and reeking bayonets of some of the rifles found
afterwards in the trench, bore convincing testimony. After the enemy's
withdrawal, one unwounded and one seriously wounded German were left in our
hands, the former having apparently become detached from his party, and being
discovered later in front of our trench with a sheet of newspaper fluttering
from his rifle.
The thoroughness with which the Boche trained for this raid was proved from the
prisoners' statements and documents, which afterwards came into our hands. For
six weeks the raiding party, consisting of about 250 men, had been training over
an exact replica of our trenches, constructed with the help of an aeroplane
photograph. The training had also included the teaching of several words of
English. The work of the raiders was extraordinary, and our own men in the front
line testified to the remarkable dexterity with which they removed their
casualties. This is the more wonderful inasmuch as they had to penetrate our
barrages, in order to regain their trench, and there is no doubt that in doing
so they lost heavily. Our casualties amounted to three other ranks killed,
including a very gallant N.C.O., Corpl. Tyne, 26 other ranks missing, and one
Officer (Hartle), and ten other ranks wounded. We should like to pay tribute to
the excellent work done by the Signallers, who as usual worked their hardest, to
try and keep their lines in order, in spite of the heavy shelling. L.-Corpl.
Parry's efforts to repair the broken lines back from one of the front Companies,
were especially praiseworthy.
Though there was an element of surprise in the raid, there is no doubt that its
success was due to the fact that the defence was designed for an attack on a
large scale, and led inevitably to a weakening of our outpost line, making it
peculiarly vulnerable to a raid or attack with a limited objective.
The following night, the whole Battalion was ordered to wire as hard as
possible, and hundreds of reels of barbed wire were put out. Even Battalion
Headquarters shared in the work, the whole staff being out in an endeavour to
wire themselves in.
On March 24th, we were relieved by the 6th Battalion, Headquarters and two
Companies proceeding to Beuvry, and two Companies remaining in the trenches in
close support. "Wind" at this time was very "high," and our Intelligence
reported that we must be prepared for any eventuality. The enemy had made
enormous progress in their attack in the South, and everything pointed to the
possibility of a general attack along the whole front. As a matter of fact no
such attempt was ever made on the Cambrin-St. Elie sector, but we had to take
every precaution, and for the next two or three nights, we marched up to our
battle positions in front of Cambrin, in case the expected attack should mature.
We even made arrangements for a possible retreat, and worse than that, all leave
was stopped.
It was at this juncture that our Brigade Commander, General Carey left us to
take Command of the 20th Division, with everyone's good wishes and
congratulations. He arrived near Amiens in time to assume Command of a composite
Army, known as "Carey's Force," and to assist materially in finally stopping the
great German onslaught. He was succeeded by General Wood.
The "wind" in this quarter, dropped for the moment, but we heard that things
just North of Arras were not looking too bright. The enemy were expected to
attack at Vimy, and the Canadians who were holding the sector opposite Lens,
were to be moved to that part to help the defence. As a result, we got orders on
March 25th, to move back once more to the Lens region, to relieve the Canadians.
Hasty plans were made by which the 11th Division took over from us, and on March
27th, we marched to Calonne and relieved the 72nd Canadian Battalion there in
reserve, moving up the following night to the St. Emile sector, in front of St.
Pierre, where we took over the right sub-sector front line from the 78th
Canadian Battalion. The completion of the relief had to be rather hurried, as
the enemy attacked at Oppy on March 28th, and the Canadians were hastily sent
there to help. Transport and Quarter-Master's Stores had meanwhile gone to Fosse
10.
The front line in this sector was now of course much further forward, than when
we were last there, as the Canadians in connection with their attack on Hill 70,
had forced the enemy out of the whole of St. Pierre, St. Laurent, and St. Emile
Cités, back to the outskirts of Lens itself. These Cités were now to all intents
and purposes destroyed, and presented nothing but a mass of streets heaped up
with broken tiles, brick and other débris, interspersed here and there with
trenches, the remains of houses, and a few shattered trees. Amongst the ruins
the Canadians had laid a splendid system of tramways, and the transport of
stores and rations to the line was carried out every night by this means, in a
most expeditious manner. Canadian Engineers continued to run the lines during
our stay, and we must confess that we did not envy the drivers their job, for
the lines went up uncomfortably close to the front line, and a good deal of
noise accompanied the arrival and departure of the trains, unloading of stores,
and loading of empties for the return journey, the guard or man in charge
usually helping matters with a few shrill blasts of his whistle, quite in
approved Canadian fashion.
After a quiet tour of four days, we were relieved in the early morning of April
1st, by the 6th Battalion, and went back to Brigade support at St. Pierre, where
we lived in the cellars of the otherwise destroyed houses. Our stay there was
rendered less pleasant than it might have been, by the fact that practically the
whole of the village was under observation from Lens, so that during the day
hardly any movement was possible, and most of our exercise had to be taken by
night, when we were kept pretty busy with carrying and working parties. The
nightly gas shelling of the village made this work anything but pleasant.
Bathing parades too, were held at night, and took place in the weirdest bathing
establishment we ever met, which was in the crypt of the church. It was well
protected by the ruins of the church, and had been fitted up with a spray bath.
On April 3rd, we relieved the 5th Battalion in the line, and had a somewhat
"thin" six days, owing to the enemy being extremely active, particularly with
heavy trench mortars, with which he did a lot of damage to our front line, being
particularly obnoxious on the night of April 5/6th, in retaliation for one of
our gas projector shows. L.-Corpl. Beech did especially commendable work during
these days in charge of a Lewis gun post.
One morning during a tour in the front line in this sector. Col. Currin very
nearly lost his runner. It was a rather foggy morning, and the Commanding
Officer sent him to find an Officer in an adjoining Company. Unfortunately the
runner made a mistake at a trench junction, and gaily followed an old
communication trench, running straight to the enemy's lines. It was doubtful
which party was the more surprised when he suddenly found himself confronted by
a Boche sentry post behind a barricade. At any rate the latter were too amazed
to shoot, whilst true to his calling the runner ran, and never stopped until he
nearly crashed into the arms of the Colonel, who was wondering what on earth had
happened.
On April 9th, the 6th Battalion relieved us again, and we went back to St.
Pierre. On the same day there happened an event which was to have an enormous
effect on the future of the war, at any rate so far as the fighting on the
Northern portion of the front was concerned, viz., the attack on the British
line immediately North of the La Bassée Canal, and on the Portuguese in the
Neuve Chapelle area. The result was that whilst the 55th Division put up a
magnificent defence on the Canal, and completely beat off all the enemy attacks,
the Portuguese gave way, and the enemy were able to push on West for a
considerable distance, until brought to a halt by the British, who were later
helped by reinforcements rapidly sent up by the French. This had an almost
immediate effect on us, for on the night of April 11/12th, we were taken out of
the line, being relieved once more by the Canadians (13th Battalion) who were
hurried up from the area North of Arras, where things seemed to be quiet once
more. After a great scramble, relief was completed by 5.30 a.m. when it was
practically daylight. Some got rides on the trains which brought up the
Canadians, but the rest had to walk, and eventually we all got to Noeux-les-Mines,
where we had breakfast and dinner, and proceeded in the afternoon to Vaudricourt.
The whole Division had been relieved—one of the quickest reliefs known—and we
now found ourselves in Army Reserve, to be sent to any spot where we might be
required.
Things once more were in a very "nervy" state, as it was felt that ere long the
enemy would make another desperate attempt to capture the rest of the mining
area, either by direct frontal attack from the East towards Béthune, or by
continuing his enveloping movement from the North, and attacking it from that
direction across the La Bassée Canal. A large part of this area now formed a
prominent salient, with the enemy on the East and North, and the consequence was
a rapid evacuation of the French inhabitants from many of the mining towns and
villages in that district, including Béthune, Beuvry, Annequin, Sailly-Labourse,
Noeux-les-Mines, and Bully Grenay—all of which we knew well. For several days we
watched the wretched inhabitants toiling along the roads, taking with them by
whatever means they could, the few belongings they most treasured or required.
Some had carts loaded with bedding and furniture, some their little dog carts
full to overflowing, others footed it burdened with loads almost beyond human
strength to carry. Ever the throng kept passing back from the forward regions,
having left everything that they could not carry just as it was in their houses,
with no other protection than locked doors. Their cattle and horses too, were
driven back, and taken to pounds in villages in safer regions. Several more
mines had to cease work, and the French miners thus thrown out of employment
were mostly set to work in digging line upon line of additional trenches about
Fouquières and Drouvin, for us to fall back on in case of a break through, as it
was determined to contest every bit of the ground to the very utmost. Right well
they worked, and in an incredibly short time, they had dug miles of trenches,
and well wired them in front with substantial entanglements. Our only fear was
that if the enemy got through, we should not have sufficient men to garrison
these trenches so excellently dug!
This was probably the darkest period of the war. The inspiring message from the
Commander-in-Chief was read to all ranks, and all indeed realised that we had
our backs to the wall and were fighting for our very existence, and that it was
touch and go whether the Hun would not, after all, break through the whole line
and sweep through to the coast, and ultimately to England.
It was in these circumstances, after a few days quiet training about Vaudricourt,
that we got word at 2.30 a.m. on the morning of April 18th, that a German
prisoner had been captured, and had given information to the effect that the
enemy were going to make another desperate attack that morning along the La
Bassée Canal. We were accordingly ordered at once to man part of the
Sailly-Labourse "Locality," known as the "Tuning Fork Line," just in front of
that village, so-called because it formed part of a system of trenches and
breastworks shaped like a tuning fork. There was some slight delay in getting
the orders passed on, and it was 4.30 a.m. before we marched off. This was
unfortunate, for we were not able to reach our battle position before dawn, when
the enemy's barrage began. This as usual included heavy shelling of the rear
roads and villages through which we had to pass, particularly Verquigneul and
Sailly, where we suffered several casualties, and lost Corpl. Caudwell, who had
done such good work with the Transport, and two men killed and several others
wounded. One of the cookers was also badly blown about by a shell in Verquigneul.
We got to our position at 6.30 a.m. where we were comparatively comfortable. The
enemy had actually attacked at Givenchy, but once again, thanks to the 1st and
55th Divisions, he was completely defeated, and never again did he try to get
through on this part of the front. We were kept in our positions here for two
days, by which time things had become normal once more, and in the afternoon of
April 20th, we marched back to our billets at Vaudricourt.