THE DEFENCE OF AMIENS.
“Every position should be strengthened as far as time admits with the object of reducing the number of men required to hold it, and of thereby adding to the strength of the general reserve.”
Field Service Regulations.
1. The Move.
The month of March, 1918, found the 3rd Australian Division enjoying a well-earned rest in billets between St. Omer and Boulogne. Every division considers its every rest well earned, but after the long winter in the line on the Belgian border with even its turn in reserve broken by an excursion to the old trenches south of Armentières, the 3rd had settled down with a particularly comfortable feeling of conscious rectitude.
The 11th Field Company had reached its obscure little village of Bainghem-le-Comte on March 6th, and by the middle of the month was comfortable, judging comfort by the standard of soldiers in the field, to whom a rude bunk of saplings in a reasonably weatherproof barn, with a tin can stove, represent the best which can be hoped for. Spring came early; on southward hillsides the sun shone warm at noon, and not even a bomb disturbed either work or play.
Then came the German offensive, of which the first hint was the ugly throbbing of distant heavy gunfire. At short notice the division commenced to move, and the dismounted portion of the company entrained on the 22nd at Lottingen and Desvres, while the transport under Lieut. Rutledge took to the road.
In the strenuous pilgrimage of the next few days, the first stage was towards the north; detraining at Caestre (north of Hazebrouck) the company marched to Eecke (night of 22nd-23rd). Then on the 24th the direction was reversed, and by march and motor ’bus it moved to Wardrecques, east of St. Omer. Meanwhile the transport had moved to Esquerdes, and thence to Renescure, and on the 24th rejoined the company, and the whole proceeded to a thorough overhaul of all stores and equipment, and the rigorous discarding of all non-essentials.
The news from the battle area in the south came through in brief outline in rare newspapers and much more vividly by word
of mouth, in startling rumours; but all of it was serious. Nevertheless the general feeling was one of relief, almost of elation; the long-talked enemy blow had fallen and we were to help the counter-stroke which all were convinced must sooner or later be delivered. The war-like activity in all this familiar region behind the Flanders front was sufficiently exhilarating in itself. In addition to the 3rd Australian, the New Zealand and the 4th Australian Divisions were on the move. Battalions marched and counter-marched across the country with bands playing in the thin sunshine, and the pavé roads literally swayed under the torrent of motor lorries and ’buses. Such animation in the war country is always accompanied by one or other of the twin banes of the foot soldier, mud or dust; on this occasion cold clouds of the latter added to the joys of “full marching order with blankets.”
Very early in the cold and frosty morning of the 26th the company moved again, all tuned up in readiness for that open warfare which we were expected to experience. As throughout the whole move it came under the orders of the 11th Brigade Group, and was commanded by Capt. O. B. Williams, the O.C., Major R. J. Donaldson being acting C.R.E.
After something more than the usual delays, entrainment took place at Arques, including transport, about three p.m. Detrainment was at Doullens, and took place at 12.30 next morning, after several hours in the train waiting just outside the station, while Boche planes energetically bombed the neighbourhood. From Doullens the company marched at once some six miles to Thievres, where the sappers were picked up by motor ’buses and taken to Franvillers, between Amiens and Albert, debussing at 7 a.m. The long wait at Arques, and again at Doullens, the toilsome march to Thievres, and the bitterly cold ’bus ride (for the morning of March 27th deserves to be remembered for its searching wind alone), all combined with the absence of hot food and drink to make the journey one of the most arduous in the history of the unit.
But the scenes on the road that bleak March morning were enough to stir the thinnest blood. The pitiful flight of a civilian population before an advancing enemy has often been described; it is enough to say that to all ranks first came a full understanding of war and a common anger against the enemy. Also there came no little pride of country, so extreme was the relief with which the people welcomed the arrival of “les Australiens.”
A halt at Franvillers allowed of the preparation of welcome food, and even more welcome hot drink. Meanwhile, the transport, after a cold and foodless all night march, arrived and established itself in a little wood west of the village. Early in the afternoon Company Headquarters and 1, 3, and 4 sections moved on again a short distance to Heilly, on the river Ancre, and chose billets among the deserted houses.
The 3rd Australian Division had now arrived in the Somme country and there was much satisfaction in the knowledge. Just as in Australia no miner can claim to have travelled unless he has been to Moonta, so no good Australian knew anything of war until he had been “on the Somme.” The sapper’s eye saw other causes for satisfaction; the steep dry banks invited the dugout builder, and the streams wanting bridges, and the bridges wanting demolition charges, spoke of real engineering work to be done.
The Officers of the Company at this time were as follows:—Major R. J. Donaldson was in command, but for a few days more (until March 31st) was acting C.R.E. vice Lieut.-Col. T. R. Williams, D.S.O., on leave. Capt. O. B. Williams was second in command. Capt. G. L. A. Thirkell had charge of No. 1 section, Lt. S. W. Matters No. 2, Lt. W. H. Thomas, M.C., No. 3, while Lt. R. W. Lahey was painfully hurrying from leave in the South of France to resume command of No. 4. Lt. R. G. Rutledge was in charge of the transport. The company was at full strength and still had nearly one half of its original members. G. Brodie was C.S.M., H. G. Whitrow (who held the position throughout the whole history of the unit) C.Q.M.S. (somewhat irreverently known as the Quarter-Bloke); and W. Russel, mounted Sergeant.
2. Between the Somme and Ancre.
On its arrival in front of Amiens, on the 27th March, 1918, the 3rd Australian Division was ordered to hold a line running from Sailly-le-Sec on the Somme to Mericourt l’Abbé on the Ancre, to prevent the enemy advancing along the high ridge which lies between the two rivers and runs down to the town of Corbie at their confluence. This ridge commands a wide view to the westward, the cathedral at Amiens being clearly visible. The situation was obscure, but the proximity of the enemy was indicated by his intermittent shelling of the road from Franvillers to Heilly with high velocity guns. Straight from their fatiguing journey the troops took up their positions, the 11th A.I. Brigade on the right of the main Bray road; and early in the evening working parties of the 11th Field Company moved out from Heilly and commenced trench digging.
The task ahead was enormous. A new defensive system had to be established, and there were no R.E. dumps of tools and material, very few maps available, very little information of any kind. Reconnaissance for tools and material, of bridges and streams and water supply, was thus of the highest importance, and was put in hand early. Other work, more important than trench digging, soon developed for the sappers. The map will show how important in this sector were the river-crossings, and accommodation for various commands was urgently required.
The bridges in Corbie, La Neuville, and Bonnay had been roughly prepared for demolition, chiefly by the 173rd Tunnelling
Coy., R.E., and the 1st Field Squadron, R.E., but a great deal of work was called for, both to ensure certainty and completion of destruction in case of necessity, and reasonable safety under normal conditions. This work was put in hand, No. 2 section first moving to Bonnay and starting it, the remainder of the company also proceeding there for convenience of control on the evening of the 29th. On the 30th, No. 3 section moved to Corbie and took over the Corbie, La Neuville group of bridges. It was on this day that the enemy attacked our line from the direction of Sailly Laurette, but was beaten off with heavy loss. While the attack was on Capt. O. B. Williams with a small party was engaged in an examination of the steel bridge over the Somme at Bouzencourt, near Sailly-le-Sec. The vicinity of the bridge came under heavy shell fire, and as the party approached it one shell hit and detonated a demolition charge which was on the bridge, blowing down the towers of the lifting span, but not destroying the bridge. For his work in connection with this reconnaissance Corpl. Johns received the Military Medal.
Under the conditions of modern warfare, reasonably secure accommodation for the Headquarters of Brigades and Battalions is of great importance, and in particular these centres required to be able to maintain their signal connections and carry on their work at night without exposed lights to attract enemy aircraft. In the chalk country deep dugouts provide the best accommodation, and the company was soon busy on a number of these, in “Shrapnel Gully,” in the banks south of Marrett Wood, at 11th Brigade Headquarters, in the wood near the gravel pits north of Corbie, and in a number of other spots. At first the lack of suitable material, and to some extent the inexperience of the men at this work, were handicaps, but they were neutralised by sheer hard work.
Before the programme could be more than started, another aspect of the bridge question demanded attention. The available crossings over the Ancre were few and well known, and would certainly be heavily shelled in the event of a Boche attack. To ensure the supply of ammunition to the guns east of the river, emergency crossings were obviously needed, and were reconnoitred and put in hand. A crossing north of Bonnay, with two trestle bridges over the main streams of the Ancre, a number of culverts, and a long length of rough corduroy, was started by the 11th Field Company on April 3rd and finished on the 5th.
On the evening of the 5th a sudden demand was made for a crossing south of Bonnay. All ordinary working parties were already employed, but a hasty gathering up was made of all batmen, cooks, a few spare drivers, the O.C.’s groom, and so on, and with this party, Lt. Matters threw a three-bay pontoon bridge and a two-bay Weldon trestle bridge across the two main streams, in pitch darkness. The bridges were in use by midnight, and the
men concerned were more than a little proud to be the first to put the company’s bridging gear to real use.
Meanwhile the enemy had pressed forward on the south side of the Somme, and was reported to be very close to the steel bridge at Bouzencourt already mentioned. It was decided that the bridge should be destroyed and this was done early in the morning of the 6th by a party from No. 1 section, under Capt. Thirkell and Sergt. Oliver, assisted by C.S.M. Brodie. The main span of the bridge was cut and dropped into the canal. Sergt. Oliver received the Military Medal.
Sketches of this bridge and of the bridges over the Ancre, of panoramas from O.P.’s, and other features of interest, were made by Spr. Vasco, of the unit, well known as a caricaturist, and were used to illustrate the war diary. Unfortunately, Spr. Vasco died of disease in England before the end of the summer.
The war at this stage was not without its compensations. After the plains of Flanders the broad views from the downs were refreshing, and it was interesting to be able so frequently to see your enemy in the open. Billeting in the deserted villages was good, and the abandoned live stock of the country-side added variety to the menu. No. 3 section kept a poultry farm at their billet in Corbie and paid tribute to Company Headquarters in the produce thereof. They were also in the possession of a cow tended by “Bluey” Graham, the section Q.M. More than one revolution occurred in No. 3 after that time, and several Q.M.’s were deposed, but Graham can still claim to be the only section Q.M. who ever kept a vache. Unfortunately, while leading it along the road by a string one day he met a member of the French Mission….
On the 8th April No. 1 section moved into a rough bivouac in a chalk quarry overlooking the Somme, in order to be nearer their work. The 2nd Australian Tunnelling Coy. took charge of the various bridges on the 18th, thus releasing Nos. 2 and 3 sections, and next day No. 2 joined No. 1 in their riverside quarry. With more men available, the dugout industry increased apace.
Meanwhile the difficulty of supplying the industry with timber had become acute. Salvage operations in Corbie and neighbouring villages had yielded small supplies, and corps managed to send a little from time to time, but the demand increased much faster than the supply. Two or three Queensland bushmen from No. 4 section were early set to work with pitsaws in one of the woods, and helped appreciably, but the problem was not solved until a steam saw milling plant was “souvenired” from Corbie, repaired, and erected on the banks of the Ancre near Bonnay.
This developed into quite a prosperous, if entirely unofficial concern, and large quantities of sawn timber were produced from the plantations along the river.
On the 24th the enemy delivered his attack on Villers-Brettoneux, and the 3rd Divisional sector was heavily shelled. Company Headquarters and 3 and 4 sections were shelled out of Bonnay, losing several horses, but otherwise escaping without serious loss, but 1 and 2 sections in their quarry position were less fortunate, both Lieut. Matters and Lieut. Melbourne (who had just taken over No. 1 section) being wounded rather badly, and several men gassed. Driver J. H. Cannell subsequently received the Military Medal for rescuing a badly wounded man in Bonnay under very trying circumstances.
After this experience an open-air life seemed preferable to the somewhat damaged billets in Bonnay, so a camp was established in an open valley just west of Heilly. The first site chosen was rather unfortunate, as within a day or two a battery of 8in. hows. planted themselves alongside, and a move of three or four hundred yards along the valley had to be made to avoid these noisy neighbours.
A new Brigade Headquarters being called for in Heilly, it was decided to burrow into a huge old retaining wall which ran round part of the Chateau grounds. The sappers were not without hope of finding buried treasure—preferably in the shape of a well-stocked and forgotten wine cellar—behind this mysterious old wall, but all they found was loose and treacherous filling, making the work slow and arduous.
The work of the section cooks deserves to be mentioned, particularly under the conditions which prevailed on this sector, when each section was split into parties working various shifts on dugouts and other work, coming and going and expecting meals at all hours of the day and night. No. 2 section will always remember the hot roast meal prepared for them in the quarry on the 24th April by Sapper Castle, literally cooked between bursts of shelling and the cook most of the time in a gas mask.
The unit was issued with its first Lewis gun on this sector, for defence against low-flying aircraft, and shortly afterwards had an object lesson in the efficacy of the weapon when the famous German airman Von Richtofen was shot down by a Lewis gun belonging to an Australian Field Artillery Battery. His bright red triplane crashed quite close to a party of sappers of the company.
On the 1st of May the 9th Field Company, coincident with the relief of the 11th Brigade by the 9th Brigade, took over the work in forward areas; the plans prepared by the company surveyors of the old French trenches partly occupied by our troops, and of the extensive new works dug by them, were handed over. Work was continued at the saw mill, at the “Hole in the wall” above-mentioned, and a good deal of work was done in various Headquarters’ dugouts in the extraordinary series of trenches which had been dug under corps supervision between the Ancre
and the Hallue. A good deal of the novelty of the situation had now worn off, the supply of adventitious aids to the rationing had failed, and a regular trench warfare routine had been established when the 3rd Division was relieved by the 2nd and the 11th Field Coy. by the 7th, on May the 10th. The 3rd Division passed into close reserve, and the 11th Field Company moved to Pont Noyelles on the Hallue, and took over various Corps jobs from the 6th Field Company.
3. Pont Noyelles.
The few days rest in the valley of the Hallue will be memorable to members of the company chiefly by reason of the glorious weather and the beauty of the country-side in its garb of late spring. Even thus early in what was destined to be a hot and dry summer, the sun shone warm enough to make the deep lagoons along the river attractive to bathers. The quarters taken over were all crowded practically under one roof right on the main cross roads in Pont Noyelles, and as the Boche bombing planes were rather active, the greater part of the company was shifted out of the village into two tented camps by the riverside. Work was not very exacting, and consisted of improvements to the bridge crossings over the Hallue and the development of the trench system designed as a bridge head defence in front of Pont Noyelles and Querrieu. The 86th Labour Company, R.E., supplied parties for these works, supervised by the 11th Field Company.
It has frequently been remarked, throughout the history of the unit, that release from strenuous line work was generally followed by an increase of sickness. No doubt the rest following heavy and absorbing work brought about re-action, physical as well as mental.
This occasion was no exception to the rule, as an outbreak of influenza, or some such disease, led to the evacuation to hospital of a considerable number of men, a total of 34 being lost to the unit in this way in five days ending May 15th. No. 1 section suffered particularly severely, and a number of original members of the unit, men rather advanced in years, after surviving two winters, were invalided out of the service as the result of this outbreak.
While the Division was out of the line it was inspected by the Commander-in-Chief, F.-M. Sir Douglas Haig, a Brigade group at the time, and the dismounted portion of the 11th Field Company took part in the 11th Brigade parade. Very short notice was received, and right up to the morning of the inspection there had been no opportunity for even a proper section parade, since leaving the rest area in March. Nevertheless, the Company, rising to the situation, carried out the necessary movements, including a march past, with precision and success. The transport were not on this parade, but were carefully inspected
about the same time by the A.A. and Q.M.G., 3rd Division, and the C.R.E.
Pont Noyelles was left on May 21st, when the 3rd Division relieved the 4th Australian Division in the Villers Brettoneux sector. The 4th Field Company A.E. took over the Corps works in the Hallue valley, and the 13th Field Company A.E. was relieved in the line. Company Headquarters was established in a railway cutting just north of the Bois l’Abbé, near Villers Brettoneux, together with 2, 3, and 4 sections. The remainder of No. 1 section went to Blangy-Tronville, together with some of the surveyors, for whom there was no accommodation suitable for map work in the cutting, while the horse lines were established at Lamotte, a little further along the river.
4. Summer at Villers Brettoneux.
The line held by the 3rd Division at Villers Brettoneux, which junctioned with the French on the right opposite Monument Wood, was so close to the town that the support line actually ran through one corner near the railway station. The possession of the town with its command of the Somme valley was of great importance; the enemy had captured it once, only to be turned out again; and signs were not wanting that he intended to attack again, and soon. These considerations enjoined a more than ordinary alertness on the defence, and a vigorous artillery programme of counter preparation.
The 11th Field Company had a direct interest in the artillery programme, because a fine pair of 8in. “hows.” lived just outside their railway cutting, and were very active. Such neighbours naturally “drew crabs” (as the saying was, i.e., attracted enemy fire), but fortunately no great harm was done during the company’s tenancy.
The camp in the railway cutting was, as a matter of fact, soon made reasonably safe against shell fire by burrowing into the solid chalk. Gas was a more insidious danger; gas shelling was frequent, and sometimes extraordinarily heavy, as on the night of the 25-26th, when Villers Brettoneux, the Bois l’Abbé, and the valley between were literally drenched with mustard gas from many thousands of shells. Fortunately the immediate vicinity of the camp escaped the worst of it, and the vigilance of doubled gas guards prevented casualties in the camp itself.
Although a number of shells, both high explosive and gas, fell at different times right in the cutting, the most serious damage resulted from a mysterious something which screamed into the camp one night, broke all the crockery in the officers’ mess kitchen, and set the shelter on fire. The gas sentry standing near by was seriously perturbed by this new engine of war, but it turned out to be merely a mis-directed message rocket.
The chief work of the sappers on this sector was again accommodation in the form of deep dugouts in the chalk, but general trench improvements, the new support line through the town, tank blocks, tunnels under the main roads to Warfusee, and the inner defences of “Villers Brett,” all made demands on sapper labour. The 11th Field Company throughout worked in the right brigade area, astride the main road, where the line was held first by the 11th Brigade, and afterwards by the 10th, then by the 11th once more. The weather throughout was “fine and warm,” so warm as to make shirt sleeves quite sufficient, and tin hats almost intolerable.
Arrangements for the regular supply of materials by Corps had now allowed of standardisation of dugout design, and a great number of roomy shelters were rapidly excavated. Before the division moved out there were over 120 deep dugouts in its sector, many of them large enough to accommodate two or more platoons. The inclines or stairway entrances, at least two to each dugout, were timbered with standard timber slabs; the chambers were supported by 9ft. standard 5in. by 3in. rolled steel joists, about 18in. apart, held up by pit props. Bunks were fitted throughout, and elaborate gas-proof doorways. In addition to the Field Companies, portions of the Pioneers, and two English and one (the 2nd) Australian Tunnelling Coys. were at different times employed on the works. As regards the 11th Field Company, sappers worked three shifts of seven hours at the face, and were generally assisted by infantry parties in getting rid of the spoil.
The pit props required for the chambers mostly came from the Bois l’Abbé, and in the same wood a small party of sappers from the company, with a few infantry, ran a very useful industry, manufacturing large numbers of hurdles and brush wood mats, the latter being chiefly used for hiding the chalk spoil heaps from aerial observation.
The support line through Villers Brettoneux was a difficult job and No. 3 section expended a considerable amount of labour pushing down walls with Wallaby jacks, in order to clear a field of fire. The same section also constructed a novel tank block on the railway near the station, as the enemy had already used tanks in this area, and it was feared he might send one down the big railway cutting.
The inner defences of the town itself consisted of a series of so-called “keeps,” or defended posts, among the buildings, wired round, loop-holed, and with strengthened cellars in which the garrisons lived. Part of the time the garrisons consisted of detachments of Pioneers, who carried out their own works, but when infantry was in occupation, sappers from the company shored up cellars, loop-holed walls, fitted gas-proof doorways, and strung barbed wire among the shattered buildings of the ruined town.
While on this sector the company had an officer (Lieut. Raynsford) and four sergeants of the 6th U.S. Engineers attached for instruction.
Noteworthy dugout jobs of the company were the double Battalion Headquarters at the Monastery, in the Bois l’Abbé; extensions to the headquarters in the quarry on the western outskirts of Villers Bretonneux; a Company Headquarters near the gas works, and extension to Brigade Headquarters on the railway line. Two very large dugouts, begun by the 4th Division, were completed in the notorious Gas valley, between the Bois l’Abbé and the town; a dugout was completed near the main road in the wood for a Trench Mortar Battery, and a couple of jobs were started east of the town.
Tunnels under the main highway which runs from Villers Brettoneux to Warfusee Abancourt, where the various trench lines intersected it, were commenced with some interest, as the road was said to be of Roman origin, and it was thought that remains might perhaps be disclosed illustrative of the methods of the great road builders. Nothing of interest was discovered, the road consisting of quite a thin shell of ordinary macadam resting on loam.
This was the only period when the 3rd Division held the line alongside the French. The relations between the two were at all times very cordial. The Australian exchanged cigarettes for a share of the Frenchman’s “pinard” (issue wine), while the poilu was not slow to appreciate the “buckshee” (free) cocoa of the Y.M.C.A., or “imka” as he pronounced it. The railway cutting inhabited by the 11th Field Company was an international post in itself, as in addition to the company it was used by the headquarters of a French battery, and the cookhouse of the British 8in. hows. detachment already mentioned. What helped to endear the French soldier to the Australian was a fellow feeling arising from his noticeable readiness to appropriate to his own uses, in cheerful contravention of rules and regulations, such trifles as railway sleepers and rails, also anything which he could find to his liking in Villers Brettoneux. International posts in the line were a favourite subject for official photographers; international foraging parties in the ruined town might have provided much more interesting unofficial pictures, if only private cameras had been allowed.
The Company Transport, working from Lamotte, had a busy time on this sector. All supplies, including water, had, of course, to be taken to the railway cutting, but in addition, the transport of engineer material from the motor lorry dump to the various dugouts kept teams going constantly in the pontoon and G.S. wagons.
Although the Corps supply of timber was good, it was never sufficient for requirements, and three or four sappers were kept
working pit saws on a big pile of logs on the canal bank near the horse lines.
The Villers Brettoneux sector was taken over by the 2nd Australian Division on June 27th and the 11th Field Company handed over to the 7th Field Company and marched back to Rivery, a suburb of Amiens.
5. Rivery.
The town of Amiens, an important railway junction, the possession of which was accepted as a token of our successful resistance to the enemy attempts to separate the British and French Armies, was in June, 1918, almost completely deserted by its civilian population. An almost nightly target for heavy bombing, it was also consistently shelled with long range guns, the huge shells from which rushed down the river valley making noises even more menacing than those of ordinary shells, and crashed into the unfortunate city. The neighbourhood of Rivery, where the 11th Field Company took over billets and works from the 5th Field Company, was entirely deserted. The billets were quite good, and lay alongside one of the lagoons or “billabongs,” which are such a feature of the Somme in this region.
The weather was glorious, and opportunities for river bathing much appreciated. All through June the Somme canal had been bathed in by swarms of Australians enjoying short periods of rest from the line, but the 11th Field Company had lived continuously in the railway cutting far from the river, and had been forced to postpone such pleasure until the divisional relief.
As usual, the sappers passed directly from line work to Corps or back area work, but this time it was chiefly guarding bridges and road mines around Camon, Longueau, and Cagny, and improvements to the demolition charges. Many of the bridge guards had excellent quarters among pleasant riverside gardens, where a little fruit was still to be gathered from the bushes, to the improvement of the ration scale.
All through the 1918 campaign of the 3rd Division on the Somme, the soldier was much more isolated from the amenities of civil life than had been his lot, except for comparatively short and violent periods of battle, in Flanders. There numerous estaminets close enough behind the line to be within easy reach of reserve troops supplied, as welcome addition and variety to the Army ration, eggs, chipped potatoes, even fresh meat; as witness the well-known sign in old Bailleul, Steak and Shipseggs. Such opportunities were almost entirely wanting in the Somme area, and as will appear it was not until very near the end of hostilities that the men of the 3rd Division had a chance to experience the civilising influence of even a glass of thin French beer in a café, with a joke or two exchanged with Madame, and, perhaps, a little love-making with Madamoiselle.
Under these circumstances members of the 11th Field Company will always have a kindly feeling for the efforts of Sapper Monk, the canteen steward, in foraging on their behalf. In his dusty mess cart, drawn by that incorrigible wind sucker, “Jews Harp,” he penetrated (it can be safely admitted now) into many towns and villages where his presence was entirely contrary to various routine orders; but he brought back the beer to the thirsty troops.
If the gardens of Rivery provided but small supplies of fruit and vegetables, they were very rich in bright flowers, and most of the men’s billets were gay with them. The “diggers” tastes are not confined, as some would say, to leave and beer, and souvenirs.
The capture of Hamel took place while the company was at Rivery. This brilliant little operation was carried out by the 4th Australian Division, assisted by a brigade of the 2nd Division and the 11th Brigade of the 3rd Division. Some American troops also took part, and also tanks. A party from the 11th Field Company, under Lieut. E. H. Rhodes, laid out the jumping-off tapes for the 11th Brigade in “No Man’s Land,” and another party carried out various small dugout jobs in connection with the operations. The necessary “previous reconnaissance” was rather arduous, carried out from such a distant base as Rivery, and in a spell of exceptionally hot weather, but “the line” was not without interest. A roadside quarry in the front trench gave a splendid view of the sector over which the 11th Brigade had to attack, and of the “No Man’s Land” in which the tapes had to be laid the night before the battle.
Gently undulating cornfields were clothed thick with wheat, in heavy ear, but still green and interspersed with the scarlet poppies and blue cornflowers, which made a brave show in all this country throughout the summer. Beyond lay the Somme, marked by a dense band of trees, and beyond again the chalk hills first held by the 3rd Division in March. For a while before the battle, artillery activity on both sides was small, and the country-side seemed to brood under a blazing sun in mysterious unnatural lifelessness. The opposing forces were indicated only by the straggling lines of red earth which marked the trenches through the crops; barbed wire and shell holes were alike hidden by the thick growth. That all was not well with the world was hinted by the holes clearly visible in the roof of Corbie’s fine church, and by the scarred and battered and entirely sinister ruins of Hamel appearing through equally scarred and battered trees. Beyond Hamel lay the ridge which dominated much of our position, and which our infantry and tanks seized on the 4th of July.
While this battle was pending, the company was called on to supply various parties for odd jobs, involving the distribution of
the unit into a multitude of details in the manner characteristic of Field Companies. One party built a small motor-transport bridge in Corbie, another erected some experimental camouflage over a bridge over the canal near Lamotte, while improvements to the hutments at Corps Headquarters at Bertangles, gave employment to a number of carpenters.
In accordance with the usual cycle of reliefs, the 3rd Division relieved the 4th in the line astride the Somme (including the newly-captured Hamel). On July 11th and 12th, the 11th Field Company on this occasion relieved the 12th, and became reserve company, with headquarters in shelters along the railway embankment near La Neuville, and horse lines at Bussy. The 12th Field Company took over the Rivery billets and works.
6. Corbie.
The work of the reserve Field Company of the Division holding the line where it crossed the Somme valley, between Sailly Le Sec and Sailly Laurette, was spread up and down the Somme, from Bouzencourt to below Daours; and from just below Bonnay on the river Ancre to its confluence with the Somme at La Neuville. On first undertaking it, the 11th Field Company had its headquarters in a camp alongside the railway embankment near La Neuville, a position which it shared with the headquarters of the 10th Field Company, then in line on the right of the divisional front. No. 1 section was up the river at Vaire, No. 2, with section headquarters in the familiar gas works, was in Corbie, No. 3 at La Neuville itself, and No. 4 at Daours. All were employed on various tasks in connection with bridges, but as some of the work was merely guarding, and as sappers were urgently required for other work, a party of some 50 odd infantry were attached to the company from the 11th Brigade. No. 2 section, reinforced with infantry, with section headquarters remaining in the gas works, took over from No. 1, and No. 4 similarly added No. 3’s tasks to its own.
Most of the original bridges in the care of the two sections, as well as the temporary steel or wooden structures erected by the Army to provide alternative crossings, had been fitted with an excellent system of demolition charges in sealed tins by the 12th Field Company A.E., but further work of the kind remained to be done, and there were electric circuits to test, leads to bury, and numerous improvements to be carried out. Altogether there were about eight bridges prepared for demolition near Daours, the same number near La Neuville, and ten at Corbie. In addition there was a number of barrel pier foot bridges across the Somme, chiefly between Bouzencourt and Corbie, calling for a good deal of maintenance, some dummy bridges, a couple of stand-by pontoon bridges, and the night bridge at “Circular Quay,” near Vaire. This was a pontoon bridge to take field
artillery, put in position every night at dark, and dismantled and hidden at dawn. A detachment of sappers lived in the cellars of Vaire to do this, and generally had the assistance of a party from a regiment of U.S. Engineers, who for the sake of the experience, marched every night from some place in the rear, helped build the bridge, departed in the morning, after persuading the 11th Corporal in charge to teach them a few knots and splices, and were replaced by a new party next night. The bridge was very largely used each night by both infantry transport and gun limbers.
Shortly after the company took over, one of the bridges at Daours was hit by a shell which blew out the abutment from under one girder. The girder was jacked up and the abutment repaired in brick.
The living conditions on these bridge jobs were quite good. The Corbie billets had a good billiard table, La Neuville possessed an excellent piano, and there were plenty of opportunities for swimming. Had the Boche attacked on this front, the position of the bridge guards would have been very unenviable, but fortunately he did not do so, and the company sustained no serious casualties on this work.
The sappers relieved off bridges by the employment of attached infantry were immediately occupied with other tasks. No. 3 section worked at a water point—engine and pump and tanks and standpipes—at a spring on the road from La Neuville to Daours; helped the 11th Brigade to improve the dugouts in their reserve positions, and made some experiments in the art of building shelters in chalk banks, with the idea of developing the best method of housing the corps for the winter. No. 1 provided a party, under Lieut. Valentine, which was attached to Artillery Group Headquarters to supervise work on gun positions, chiefly more dugouts; the remainder of the section extracted the charges from a number of road mines near Fouilloy, and on July 18th started preliminary work for a proposed pile bridge across the Somme canal, west of Vaire. This last was quite an ambitious project. Piles were cut and shod, a long stretch of corduroy road laid down, and a monkey was improvised by “borrowing” a 9.2 shell from a battery, extracting, not without difficulty, the solid T.N.T. bursting charge, and filling the cavity with lead. All was in readiness for driving the first pile when orders came to suspend operations.
These orders were the first hint of the approaching offensive, and were followed by instructions received on August 2nd to send the attached infantry home, after partly dismantling the demolition arrangements, and to concentrate most of the sappers, leaving a few men to patrol the groups of bridges. Detonators and primers were removed from the circuits and stored separately; the leads and fuzes of fixed charges were concealed.
It is quite possible that a proposal for an attack with limited objectives, and on a small scale, would not have been very popular with the troops, tired as they undoubtedly were after nearly five months’ strenuous warfare; but the plans for the proposed battle, as outlined in the first days of August, fired the imagination. This was to be a “stunt” worth doing. To follow the first attack at once with a second, and so to penetrate some five or six miles within the enemy lines; thus to capture most of his guns; and to play around in his back areas with light tanks and armoured cars and cavalry; such schemes as these must help to win the war.
The first definite battle instructions marked the end of the great programme of works carried out to stem the German advance; thenceforward our labours were to fulfil the requirements of our counter-stroke; and the preparations for the first blow may best be included in the tale of the attack itself. The last bridge had been mined, the last deep dugout dug.