Frederick Ponsonby

“ The Army was no longer a profession, where a man could reduce to a science the practice of doing the least possible amount of work without getting into trouble. It was now a matter of life and death. The latest developments of modern warfare had to be learnt quickly, and the men, who were already seasoned soldiers, set to work with a will to learn from officers and N.C.O.'s at first as ignorant as themselves, the new drill and the latest method of attack and defence. ”

“ Chasing the Germans in the dark in this way was not without excitement, as no one knew whether they would remain and fight, or retire as soon as they were threatened. It was a great relief to Major Bailey to find that the enemy had no intention of disputing the crossing of the river, as this would have entailed the loss of [149] a number of men at the start. As it was, the Battalion proceeded in artillery formation as far as the Haussy—Solesmes road, passing over five or six lines of rifle-pits wonderfully well made in concrete. ”

“ Acting as the leading battalion on the right of the Guards Division, the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards had the Valenciennes—Solesmes road as its first objective, and, for its second, a line about a quarter of a mile west of the villages of Vertain and Romeries. The capture of Solesmes, which was known to be full of civilians, and strongly held by the enemy, was entrusted to the Sixty-first Division, while the Guards Division was to push [156] right on to its final objective. This gave the Battalion the delicate and dangerous task of advancing the whole way with an exposed flank. ”

“ The leading of No. 10 Platoon and Nos. 1 and 2 Companies was particularly fine, and the response made by the men was beyond all praise. The fact that in spite of the fog each platoon managed to get to its own place was entirely due to the persistence with which Platoon Commanders advanced whenever opportunity offered, and to the determination on the part of the men to reach the enemy. After the fog lifted the attack was carried out steadily and relentlessly across ground swept by shell-fire and machine-guns, and succeeded in spite of the lack of an artillery barrage or tanks. ”

“ After an impressive thanksgiving service at Maubeuge, the march into Germany began, and the Guards Division moved by stages to Cologne. The weather broke, and on several days the men were soaked before they reached their billets in the evening. At first the advent of the British troops was hailed with enthusiasm by the inhabitants of the towns and villages, and the people on whom the men were billeted vied with each other to make things as comfortable as possible for their visitors. ”

“ The enemy's attitude during May was purely defensive, and except for two half-hearted raids he showed no inclination to come west of the line of the Ablainzeville—Ayette road. The Germans apparently were occupying an outpost line from Ablainzeville to Ayette, with a shell-hole line in rear and a line of resistance again behind that, and the situation depended very much on what was going on in other parts of the line: if the enemy succeeded in driving back the troops to the north and south, a retirement would become necessary, even without any movement of the hostile troops in front. ”

“ A good many valuable men, who had served on Battalion Headquarters for a long time, were killed or wounded during the day. The farm was full of cows and horses, which had to be turned loose when the farm caught fire, and several casualties took place on this account. The Headquarters were afterwards moved to the garden of the farm. To some extent the fire was kept down by the skilful and gallant conduct of Lieutenant Lewis of the 152nd Brigade R.F.A., who exposed himself continually to get direct observation, while his guns undoubtedly inflicted heavy casualties on the advancing Germans. ”

“ During 1915 the whole Regiment was much perturbed by the official use of the word "grenadier" as applied to men in all regiments who were being trained to throw bombs. This expression began to creep into official documents in April, and about this time a memorandum was published by General Headquarters on the training and employment of "grenadiers." In June the Army Council addressed a circular letter to officers commanding battalions, by which authority was given for the training of a detachment in each battalion, consisting of one officer, two sergeants, and 56 other ranks, as "grenadiers." ”

“ He brought up the remainder of his company, and held a quarter of the village of St. Python, the houses on the other side of the stream being held entirely by the Germans. It was impossible to get to him in daylight, and by night all the streets were swept with machine-gun fire. He handled his men under circumstances of exceptional difficulty with some skill during the days he was there. Throughout these operations some five hundred civilians lived in the cellars and performed many acts of kindness to the men of the Battalion who visited them. ”

“ Regimental Funds and Associations.
"Grenadiers look after themselves" has become an accepted axiom not only in war but also in peace time. A short time before the commencement of the war the Old Comrades Association was instituted under the auspices of Colonel Scott-Kerr, who commanded the Regiment at that time, and its object was to ensure that no Grenadier after he had left the Regiment was ever in want. ”

“ King Albert's attack threatened to cut off part of the German Army in Belgium, and in order to prevent this, the Germans were forced to retire precipitately, leaving behind them vast stores of war material. Ostend, Lille, and Douai were evacuated, and Sir Roger Keyes, who commanded what was known as the Dover Patrol, landed on the Belgian coast. The German intention appears to have been to retire from Belgium as speedily as possible, and in so doing to avoid any large number of men being surrounded.
In Italy the Austrians were in full retreat, and on the 27th sued for Peace. ”

“ Within five days one thousand seven hundred reservists had arrived from all parts of England and Wales, and retired officers appeared on the scene, whether they belonged to the Reserve or not. This mass of men had to be converted into a disciplined Battalion, non-commissioned officers appointed, and the whole machinery of a battalion created. Yet so smoothly did the mobilisation work that within a few days every man was fully equipped, and companies were drilling in the Park, with N.C.O.'s shouting out their drill as if they had never been away. ”

“ On the days they became the Reserve Battalion, [22] they were simply targets for the German artillery; every day there were casualties, and the number of men killed, wounded, and gassed amounted to a good many during the month. On some days the enemy activity was very slight, and on others the shelling would become intense. Patrols under officers were sent out every night, and the information gained varied. Occasionally bodies of Germans would be reported, moving about and talking, but when no attack developed such movements ceased to have any significance. ”

“ The next morning a heavy hostile barrage came down on the whole position occupied by the Battalion, and the outposts could see the enemy advancing in three waves. The S.O.S. signal at once went up. Immediately our artillery put down a magnificent and accurate barrage, and the companies in front opened a concentrated fire with Lewis guns and rifles on the advancing [101] enemy. The German counter-attack stood no chance at all, and completely crumbled away; only in one place did the Germans succeed in gaining a footing, and that was on the right, where they captured a trench. ”

“ These men remained unable to move a muscle until dark, when they dug themselves in. No. 3 Company was moved up to an orchard in close support, and, as there seemed no reasonable prospect of success during daylight without heavy loss, it was not pushed up into the attack. The German machine-guns were wonderfully well placed, commanding the flat plateaus on the top of the ridges, with no possibility of their being approached under cover, and our artillery was unable to help, as it was practically impossible to locate these machine-gun nests. ”

“ In the first place, to allow men on arrival in France at once to go to an entrenching battalion, where the discipline was more lax, and the habits and customs different from those which obtained in the regiments of Guards was a measure hardly calculated to improve them as fighting men. And in the second place, it was contrary to the regulations for men of the Guards to be commanded by any but their own officers. ”

“ As soon as the mist cleared away, the Germans opened fire with their machine-guns and swept the parapet with bullets. When the light improved, they brought up more machine-guns, and were able to enfilade the trenches. Under cover of this fire they crawled forward by ones and twos, and established sniping posts in some unfinished trenches not 150 yards off. The Brigade-Major came up to Battalion Headquarters, to confirm the report that the troops on the left had retired, and that the left was entirely in the air. He had also heard that the enemy had penetrated the centre of the Brigade. ”

“ This line was consolidated, and as the night was very dark no farther advance was considered advisable.
The 466th German Regiment which opposed the advance fought extremely well, and was cleverly handled by its commander, who thoroughly understood how to fight a rear-guard action. The wet weather and the mud made these operations peculiarly trying to men who had had little training in close country fighting, but the discipline in the Battalion was so good that each platoon, however isolated, could be relied on to act intelligently. ”

“ The performance of all the troops engaged in this most gallant stand, and especially that of the 4th Guards Brigade, on whose front of some 4000 yards the heaviest attacks fell, is worthy of the highest praise. No more brilliant exploit has taken place since the opening of the enemy's offensive, though gallant actions have been without number. ”

“ L. J. P. Butler received orders to attack Vierhoek, Pont Rondin, and Les Puresbecques, but before he could make much headway, was himself in turn vigorously engaged by the enemy. Reinforcements were being hurried up from several quarters, but everything depended on whether the line would hold. If the Australian Division, which was being sent up from the rear, could have time to detrain and take up good positions, the German rush would be checked. But should the enemy break through far enough to dislocate this arrangement, matters would become serious. ”

“ At zero hour (7 A.M.) the field-gun barrage came down on a line about 300 yards in front of No. 3 Company, creeping forward at the rate of 100 yards every two minutes. As soon as our troops moved off from their forming-up positions [86] to close up to the barrage, the enemy covered his front with a deadly and accurate screen of bullets, fired from numerous carefully-sighted machine-guns, which were so well protected that our field-gun barrage had little or no effect upon them. In consequence we suffered heavy casualties from the very outset. ”

“ Early in the war the problem of how to deal with the Prisoners of War had to be faced, and Sir Reginald Thynne, having organised the Comforts Fund, now turned his attention to this at the request of Colonel Streatfeild. The Grenadiers were fortunate in having far fewer prisoners than other regiments, but the fact that there were men of the Regiment at the mercy of a country, which had proved itself capable of the most dastardly cruelty, was enough to warrant [219] energetic steps being taken at once to ensure that the men in Germany should not starve. ”

“ Not long after, the Sixty-third Division, having organised a new attack, pushed down the Hindenburg support line, and the Germans began to pour out of Graincourt; as they streamed away, horse, foot, and gun, towards Cantaing, they were caught in flank by rifle, machine-gun, and artillery fire from the Guards Division, and suffered heavily. The 2nd Battalion Grenadiers at once pushed forward and captured Orival Wood, taking some guns, and driving the remaining batteries away. ”

“ Captain Minchin, therefore, ordered them to dig rifle-pits, capable of holding three or four men at intervals, and even so there were gaps of considerable length between companies. So utterly weary were the men that it was not at all easy to make them understand what had to be done, and naturally the darkness did not help to simplify matters. No. 1 Company, under Captain H. Sloane-Stanley, had gone too far to the right, and instead of being up to the burnt farm was some 200 yards away. This made it necessary to post a strong sentry group, where it could guard the gap. ”