Anonymous

“ We enjoyed our stay at AUDREHEM, knowing that our last battle had raised us to the status of Storm Troops, and that when we moved up again it would be for another attack and not back to the demoralising influences of trench life. With this in view we carefully reorganised and trained, all ranks working together keenly with one end in view—efficiency, with the result that in six weeks a tired, straggling, muddy, shaken remnant was transformed once more into a smart Battalion, well organised and equipped, and trained with special reference to attacking concrete blockhouses. ”

“ The West Lancashire Division had a good reputation before the recent fighting in front of Ypres. You have now won for it a reputation second to none in the Expeditionary Force, and every soldier in the Division may well be proud of belonging to it. That reputation I feel confident you will cherish and maintain. We are now in an easy part of the line, but ordinary trench duties demand constant alertness, endurance, and conscientious observance of orders; besides it is up to us at all times to take advantage of any opportunities for aggressive action which will cause loss or damage to the enemy. ”

“ I wish to thank you, your Brigade, Battalion, and Company Commanders, for the splendid manner in which you have repelled the enemy’s attack along your whole front and formed a very wide flank on your left when the Division there was driven back.
“The fine offensive spirit displayed by Officers and men on this occasion reflects the highest credit upon the whole Division. Although heavily attacked along your whole front and your left flank turned, you have been successful in maintaining your original line and even gaining some ground and capturing over 700 prisoners. ”

“ B and C Companies in fire trenches, D Company in support, A Company in reserve.
Second Lieutenant Houghton and one man were wounded going up.
It is a queer sensation going up to one’s first battle. The bracing of the nerves to face the unknown—it is the essence of religion, voluntary self-sacrifice for a cause, made possible only by faith, and calling for the strongest effort of will to control the nerves. Happy the man who is not gifted with a vivid imagination—who, like Kipling’s oxen, can plod steadily along, living in the present—blind to the future. ”

“ From the support trench, the view was of the usual kind, a flat Flanders plain, with ditches bordered by rows of pollard willows, and wrecked farmhouses with a few scattered trees. The plain very gradually rose to a sky-line, the Aubers ridge being especially marked on the right. The British bombardment was persistent and, from what we could see, effective, whereas the Germans only replied sporadically with some sharp bursts of shrapnel and some high explosive shell on the communication trenches, from which B and C [14] Companies lost a few men. ”

“ During February and March we lost 98 men through sickness alone—our monthly average being between 40 and 60 during the following months also.
On the 2nd April we relieved the 1/4th KING’S OWN in the LA BRIQUE sector without casualties; Second Lieutenant Fullerton joined us. The next day was quiet, with slight shelling on the front line, but on the following night a patrol of ours ran into a strong enemy party, who tried to cut them off, but a Lewis gun team being sent for, they thought better of it and retired, covered by two machine guns; we had three killed and one wounded that day. ”

“ Lieutenant Brooke went forward, and, with a few signallers, established a forward command post near LOOS; our machine gunners came up and turned five of the newly-taken Hun machine guns round on the enemy, and things seemed to be going well, but the hour-long pause of the barrage was too long, the hail of cross-fire from more distant machine guns still continued, and the men, who had sought cover in shell holes, were out of sight and scattered, though strenuous efforts to reorganise were made by the few leaders who remained, and with a certain amount of success. ”

“ HOULLE is in the midst of the hilly country near ST. OMER—strongly reminding one of parts of Kent—an ideal country to train in. Here were large ranges, like the Aldershot Ranges, for musketry, and every day we marched out of billets and up on to the hills for training of some kind, taking our cookers with us and having dinners up there, every day getting fitter and improving in morale—shaking off the trench staleness and thinking more of open fighting—getting more of the “offensive spirit.” Second Lieutenant Hall rejoined us on the 26th. ”

“ About two hours after reaching the GREEN LINE the enemy were observed to be forming up on the heights in front of us, and eventually counter-attacked on our right against the 15th Division, who commenced to retire. We formed a defensive flank on our right to get enfilade fire on the enemy and so cover the retreat of the 15th Division, but they retired behind us and could give us no assistance when we were compelled to retire. By this time the enemy had got a machine gun barrage on our front, also enfilading us on our left, and caused a number of casualties ”

“ All the parties came under machine gun and rifle fire, but they inflicted a large number of casualties before returning. There were no trench boards in the enemy line where our men entered them, and the trenches had obviously suffered considerably from our artillery fire. The enemy threw “stink” bombs into their own wire, but most of the wounded were brought in by our men, who, however, brought back no prisoners and no material, except a cap taken from a German soldier for identification purposes. ”

“ On the 30th October the enemy trench-mortared our front line, killing three and wounding nine men; otherwise the tour was quiet, and on 1st December we were relieved by the 1/9th King’s Liverpool Regiment and went by light railway to HAMEL or TINCOURT—it was a double village, and usually known by this latter name. It was stated above that every village in the area had been destroyed—this place was an exception, as some of the civil population had been left there by the Hun, so that we found it almost intact. ”

“ The city of YPRES itself, which at first sight seems like a jumble of ruins, you find presently to contain hiding-places for dozens of guns and hundreds of troops; whole streets of houses remain standing, mostly minus windows or doors. By day, the streets are almost deserted; by night, though no lights are shown, the city is alive with parties of troops, mule-drawn limbers, waggons, and motor lurries, bringing up rations and ammunition and the baggage of incoming Battalions. ”

“ Posts were manned daily from the tunnel system, this action being timed and every Officer, N.C.O., and man thus learnt his way about the whole system of defence.
The action of the Battalion in support was definitely laid down. No counter-attack across the open was to be made on account of the number of apron fences; in the event of the enemy penetrating at any point into the line, further penetration was to be stopped by the supports, and when the enemy was pocketed he was to be cut off by movement along the trench system against his flanks and rear. ”

“ We were singularly lucky that way; we were always hearing that such and such a Battalion had had a Platoon blown to bits in the Square, but it never happened to us; if an Officer lost men by taking a known dangerous road when a safer was available, it was not counted unto him for righteousness!
On the 8th the enemy shelled us all day, especially BEEK TRENCH and BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, and six men were wounded; the 9th was quieter—one man wounded. ”

“ This line of posts, weak as it is, is strung out between and in front of a series of “strong points” containing machine guns and an infantry garrison lodged in deep mines, while behind us is the support Company ready to come up in case of need, and reserve troops further back; in addition we have the guns, which we can always switch on in a few seconds by telephone or sending up a rocket; all these things give us confidence, weak though we feel ourselves to be. ”

“ This in its turn is the product of hard training. Your doings on the 31st show how well you have turned this training to account.
You captured every inch of the objectives allotted to you. It was not your fault that you could not hold all you took. You have broken and now hold, in spite of weather and counter-attacks, a line that the enemy has strengthened and consolidated at his leisure for more than two years.
This will, I believe, be the beginning of the end. When your turn comes to go forward again you will know your own strength and the enemy will know it too. ”

“ Long before this we have all washed (or dabbed) our hands and faces in shell-hole water and shaved as best we can, and an inspection of box respirators has been carried out by the Officer on duty; feet are also inspected and rubbed with whale oil to guard against trench-feet, then work is resumed till tea, after which it is time to stand-to again for another hour.
Then the night routine begins; the men who have worked all day “get down to it,” while the wirers begin to slide over the parapet with their rolls of barbed wire and posts ”

“ Imagine the joy of men who had never had their clothes off for nearly three weeks—more, in some cases. The relieving Battalion, the 1/9th King’s Liverpool Regiment, did not arrive till after 3 a.m., so relief had to be carried out in daylight in very small parties, but it went off without a casualty, and we marched to a canvas camp behind YPRES, where we rested till noon on the 12th, when we marched by Companies to POPERINGHE, leaving by train at 2 45 p.m. ”

“ On the night following, a fighting patrol of ours had a brush with a Hun patrol in NO MAN’S LAND, and did good work, bringing back a dead German, who turned out to belong to the 449th Infantry Regiment, who were expected to be opposite to us. On the 20th Second Lieutenant Vincent took a raiding party of 20 in to the enemy lines and found a post of four men; two fled, one was bayonetted, and one taken prisoner. During these days artillery had been active, and our casualties were 6 killed, 13 wounded, 2 gassed. ”

“ Each Battalion held a “sub-sector” of the line, Battalion Headquarters being in some group of dugouts or ruined chateau about a mile behind the front line with the reserve and support Companies somewhat nearer, and two front line Companies. In addition to the Infantry Battalions, there were posts held by machine guns, this weapon having been taken out of the hands of the infantry, trench mortar sections, and other details doing various jobs.
The country in general is rather like HUNDRED END, the soil being like the Lancashire clay, but wetter and stickier. ”

“ The ground over which we had to pass was commanded by two spurs—the GRAFENSTAFEL SPUR half a mile to the north, and the GALLIPOLI SPUR, part of which was within our frontage, to the south; and apart from the concrete blockhouses on our own front, every yard of our advance was raked by machine gun bullets from innumerable others on our flanks, so that until these were put out of action no advance was possible without appalling losses. ”

“ As a result of the battle, the enemy has once again been driven by the 1st French Army and ourselves from the whole of his front system on a front of about eight miles, and we are now firmly established in or beyond his second line on a front of seven miles.
4. We have already captured 5,448 prisoners, including 125 Officers. Up to date the capture of eight guns, 10 trench mortars, and 36 machine guns has been reported.
5. In addition we have inflicted extremely heavy casualties on the enemy. Owing to losses during our preliminary bombardment, he was forced to bring up six fresh Divisions. ”

“ On the 12th, we went up in lurries and relieved the 1/5th King’s Own as outpost Battalion on the left Brigade front, Battalion Headquarters being at LATTRE.
On the 13th, our patrols at dawn found the enemy very alert, and located several machine gun posts west of the HAUTE DEULE CANAL. Some harassing fire on our forward posts during the day. Two Other Ranks were killed, Second Lieutenant Taylor and nine Other Ranks missing, and Second Lieutenant Crossley and one Other Rank wounded.
On the 14th, the enemy artillery became more active, and our patrols were heavily engaged by machine guns. ”

“ The long grass in front had already been partly cut by the previous trench holders, and there was a fair amount of wire in front, but not too much. The enemy was about 300 yards off, but the lines were not exactly parallel, and at one point the enemy must have been nearly five hundred yards away. There was very much less shell fire than in the previous trenches we had held, and very much more rifle shooting. There was a number of fixed rifle batteries with which the enemy tried to break the sandbags. There were also snipers normally to be found firing from a flank. ”