C. E. Wurtzburg

“ From here a path led up to the support line—Gap "M" being impassable—and from the support line by another path to the left centre company's front line—quite a decent stretch of bays and traverses with a wilderness of ruined trenches in their rear. Half-way along this sector you turned up a miserable ruin of a trench to Captain Steward's Headquarters, a concrete dug-out set like an oasis in a desert of derelict trenches. ”

“ The battalion behaved splendidly, however, and only those who knew the men intimately realized how severe was the blow. For two long years had we been training, and now, when our hopes were all but realized, we found ourselves condemned once more to the old grind and the old routine for an indefinite period. Men were almost ashamed to go on leave and face the heartless gibes of those who did not know the facts ”

“ As the sun climbed higher in the heavens, the pleasant smell of fresh, moist earth filled the nostrils, instead of the stale stench of which one had grown so sick. Dew-spangled grasses and fern overhanging the trench brushed your face as you passed along. In the rapidly clearing mist that heralded the hot day even the ugliest features of the line seemed to take on a certain softening outline, a certain grace in harmony with the countryside. High over No Man's Land you could see the fluttering lark, and all the air was resonant with its trilling notes. ”

“ Here the horses were left, and inadvertently our tin helmets, which were hanging from our saddles, and we proceeded on foot. The country was flat and depressing. Tattered screens stood here and there masking the roads. An occasional section of guns hidden in old houses; a runner or two riding along the pavé on that invention of the devil an army cycle; an artillery officer and his signallers making for a forward observation post—those were the only signs of life. ”

“ There is nothing particularly amusing, still less heroic, about a night working party. As soon as the light begins to fail the parties fall in, wearing gum-boots and skeleton equipment, with the rifle slung across the back. Each man carries a pick or shovel, or, if it is a wiring party, rolls of wire slung on a stick between two men. Off they go, their footsteps, owing to the rubber soles, sounding rather ghostly as they tramp along the pavé. ”

“ Nothing that was mean or selfish, that was not strictly true and honest, would he tolerate for a moment; and never was a man more outspoken in his condemnation of anything that was not right in the highest sense. By his devotion to his battalion he worked himself beyond the measure of human endurance, and there can be no doubt that his death was due to the havoc wrought on his frame by the endless work, physical and mental, which he accomplished for his battalion even after the gassing at Armentières, the severe physical effects of which he refused to recognize. ”

“ Friendships that had seemed the normal part of our existence were now rudely rent asunder. Men whom we had grown to admire and love vanished one by one, perhaps never to be seen again. The memories of the past grew daily more distant and more unreal as the prospect of civilian life came steadily nearer.
On March 18th the fragments of the battalion, now one company strong, moved to the Brigade Concentration Camp at Maroeuil; and here the gradually diminishing force remained till May 11th, ever expecting to move, only to be disappointed again. ”

“ As you met them struggling in the dark along the narrow and tortuous ways, now stopping to pass beneath an overhead traverse, now forcing their way through a trench whose sides were almost closed in, you could not but admire the persistence and energy which these men exhibited, and on which the chances of hot tea or hot soup for the front line posts entirely depended. ”

“ Beautiful as Nature was around us, rejoiced as we were at this delightful contrast to the hideousness of strife, yet it increased the bitterness and made one feel more keenly than ever the loathsome misery of war. How one pictured to oneself the peaceful beauty of the English countryside, so like this in outward appearance, and yet so different in reality! How one longed for the war to be over, to wander once more in the fields on a summer's morn, with the black clouds of war cleared away for good, and not merely lifted for a few precious moments! ”

“ Another most important branch was represented by the cooks, a most hard-working and efficient body of men, who proved their worth again and again, not only in the ordered cook-houses of England and the better billets of France, but still more in the rough and shelled shanties in the line, in the crude trench fires during a battle, or with their field kitchens on the march. Under Sergeant Lane, who had a curious passion for strolling in No Man's Land at night, and later under Sergeant Austin, the cooks attained a high degree of excellence ”

“ They lost their way, and two companies were piloted into the right battalion sector, and only achieved the relief of their opposite numbers after wanderings comparable with those of the Lost Tribes of Israel. On a drenching night, with an active enemy opposite you, and with dawn approaching, such a trudge in the dark, stumbling over obstacles and wading through mud and water, is no small task, and the men's language, if free, was hardly to be criticized. ”

“ The barracks present an air of subdued excitement. Men stand about in groups discussing soberly the prospect of active service, each wondering in his innermost soul how he will acquit himself in the unknown trials that are before him. After all, England is a comfortable place. Life proceeds quietly and peacefully in spite of the bugle calls, the shouts of N.C.Os., the almost inhuman activity of the "physical jerks expert," and the endless exhortations of the officers. ”

“ It was not only, however, in his scheme of training that Colonel Wilson was so successful, but also in his choice of officers. He gathered round him officers of many kinds: not only young and enthusiastic members of School and University O.T.Cs., but older men also—some without military experience, it is true, but with that broader outlook and ability that more mature years bring with them; others, again, who had much military experience to their credit, and—precious above all—experience of war itself. ”

“ His great patrol and Lieutenant Vaughan's gallant attempt which cost him his life are glorious memories of that grim period. If nothing else was learnt, the value of personal bravery, for the display of which the quiet routine of trench warfare had afforded but little scope, was now made clear to all; and not only by the performances of Clarke, Vaughan, and Lever and the gallant members of their parties, but also by the steady bearing of the battalion generally during those trying times. ”

“ In addition to this, companies had to send out covering parties into No Man's Land to prevent the approach of any inquisitive German. Lying flat on your stomach in wet mud and grass on a drenching night, and for two hours at a stretch, is most dispiriting work, especially if you have to live in your soaking garments for the next eight days, with the added joy of expecting that you may be in the front line when the gas is being released. ”

“ In those early irresponsible days life proceeded easily; the "King's Regulations" and the "Manual of Military Law" were volumes unknown except to a very few. Keenness and enthusiasm were the keynotes of our life. Someone murmured the word "inoculation," and forthwith we trooped in gay crowds to the Medical Officer to undergo that much-discussed but very innocent operation. The 1/6th Battalion wanted men to complete their numbers: the draft could have been made up ten times over. How proudly we marched through the streets of Liverpool! ”

“ Even in so-called "rest periods" the infantry are never allowed much peace, while in reserve in the vicinity of the front line there is more than enough for all to do. To begin with, the troops found, to their disgust, that general training was not confined to England, and for those not otherwise employed the usual physical training and bayonet fighting, rapid loading, wiring, and all the other inventions of the training enthusiast, appeared once more on the scene. ”

“ An innovation, always adopted in future, was made by the dispatch of signallers into the line ahead of the battalion, thus ensuring the proper take-over of signal stations throughout the sector in the ample time at their disposal. Taking over a complicated exchange at Headquarters and smaller switch-boards at the Company Headquarters, involving as it does a clear understanding of which line is which and where it is laid, where the test boxes are, and so forth, is a business that requires care and takes time. ”

“ During the various vicissitudes of the Brigade our Trench Mortar Battery took its share of our pleasures and sorrows in full measure. At Houplines it proved more than a match for the German "pineapples." During raids of our own or the enemy's the men proved themselves worthy of the best traditions, while in open warfare they revealed surprising mobility. From time to time many other men were drafted from every battalion to the battery to replace casualties and to form reserves, and several of the men earned distinctions ”

“ Ever since we left Fleurbaix we had been more or less continuously on the move, often re-traversing old ground, and seldom staying more than a night or two in one place. The real explanation was that another great German offensive was thought to be imminent, and our Division, who were the counter-attacking force, had to be placed where the situation, which varied daily, demanded our presence. That kind of life very soon becomes tedious, as everything you want is always packed up on a waggon, and no one is allowed to go any distance from his billet. ”

“ Only a few hours of daylight remained, and there was still much to be done. The lists of things contained in the Trench Standing Orders, "What every Platoon Commander should know," "What every Section Commander should know," and so forth, were enough to distract the most phlegmatic mind, especially when nobody knew the answers to half the questions. The ideal—that is, when everyone knows and understands the answers to all these vital questions—is never attained except in a sector in which every member of the battalion knows them by heart, and at present no one had the requisite knowledge. ”

“ An occasional Véry light shows up the men in silhouette, their rifles and equipment lying in a row out of the way of the earth they are throwing up, but ready to hand in case of emergency. Presently a machine gun begins to speak and slowly traverses in their direction. The work continues, but attention is centred on the stream of bullets which may suddenly spray right across the party. ”

“ One moment you found yourself in the midst of a drove of kicking mules, the next you were in imminent peril of destruction from a motor lorry, and all this in inky darkness and a steady torrent of rain. Eventually the situation cleared, and soon after midnight, except for a thousand dots of light all over the countryside, you might have imagined that not a man was about. ”

“ Apart from the actual noise of the batteries firing and the unbroken rush and scream of shells overhead, the uproar in Armentières was tremendous as buildings were smashed and battered and the broken débris hurled about in all directions by this unceasing rain of shells. Lieutenant Evans rang up on the telephone from Rue Bayard, where he had gone to take over billets, and told us that the town was soaked with gas, and warned us not to come out at present. Fires now began to appear all over the town, but still the barrage did not slacken. ”

“ The steady increase of destructive shooting on the area immediately north and south of the Lys, the regular "crashing" of all lines of communication, the intense shelling of Armentières, culminating in the great gas bombardment, prove conclusively that the enemy was daily expecting an attack on Frelinghien, for which he imagined a force was concentrating in Armentières. That our casualties were not greater was due to the scattered position of the posts holding such a large sector, and to our constant efforts to provide such protection as could best be constructed under the circumstances. ”

“ The former place is probably the largest ruined town in France. Without being absolutely levelled to the ground, it yet possesses no building that can be described as anything but a ruin. Shattered masonry and woodwork are heaped in the wildest chaos in every direction, mingled with broken machinery and all kinds of interior fittings. There is not one single roof in position, not a wall that is not pierced or shattered. Standing as the place does on the slope of a hill, the effect of the annihilation which has visited the town is very striking. ”

“ The next day training areas, which had been duly allotted, were covered with the men performing various mysterious evolutions. Here you would see a whole company endeavouring to perform a wheel in close column, with the Company Sergeant-Major and Platoon Officers now urging on, now checking, the onrush of what from a distance is apt to look like a race crowd breaking on to the course. From another part of the field a sudden series of unearthly shouts betokens the efforts of a final assault party [Pg 132] to inspire terror in the hearts of rows of disinterested sacks. ”

“ Canterbury, with its church parades in the Cathedral, with its general training at the Parsonage Farm, its company training and battalion operations, its company concerts and its comfortable billets, was now about to join Blackpool and Margate among the memories of the past.
Advanced parties were now at Gore Street, where a joint camp was being constructed for the 2/5th K.L.R. and ourselves. Excellently situated on a branch from the main road between Monkton and Minster, it was only some four miles from our old camp at Upstreet. ”

“ Sitting all day in a shell-hole half filled with water, surrounded by all the most ghastly features of war, and being shelled intensely the greater part of the time, was an experience that few would wish to repeat. ”

“ The Division had now been doing trench duty continuously for seven months, and it was quite time that it was taken away for a general overhaul. During all those months we had been kept more or less continuously in the trenches, with no opportunity to improve on the lessons learnt, and nothing to inspire our men to increase their efficiency, beyond the regular round of eight days in reserve and eight days in the line. Already the ordinary wastage of trench warfare, not to mention the disaster of Armentières, had deprived us of many of our best N.C.Os. and men. ”