III. 6th Battalion
On the day that the 6th Division, with the 1st Battalion The Buffs, were taken from the 3rd Army, namely, on the 24th March, 1918, the 12th Division, which included the 6th Buffs, was posted to it, and so the regimental history, as far as the 3rd Army is concerned, becomes more or less continuous. The 1st Battalion left from Favreuil in the neighbourhood of Bapaume, and the 6th Battalion reached Contalmaison, ten miles to the south-west of it, on the same day, having moved rapidly by march and by bus from the neighbourhood of Armentieres. Of course the rest of the 37th Brigade was with them, and in the evening the Queen’s and West Kent sent reconnoitring patrols into Pozieres, which was found to be unoccupied; so at 11 o’clock a line was taken up in front of Ovillers. On the 25th the Buffs were on the left of the brigade, joining up with the 63rd Division, the 6th Battalion West Kents being on the right. Battalion headquarters were at Crucifix Corner, Aveluy. In the early morning of the 26th it was reported that the enemy had entered Thiepval and it became necessary to withdraw across the River Ancre. The Buffs were detailed as rear guard while the 47th Division and the rest of the 12th effected the crossing, and, at 7.30 a.m., the 37th Brigade took up a fresh position opposite Hamel, the Buffs being in support in front of Mesnil.
On the following day the most extraordinary mistake was made, due to a false and erroneous report made to brigade headquarters by some unit or other. The Buffs, as has been seen, were at Mesnil, and there were some of the 188th Brigade details, including sailors, at the village of Martinsart, a little over a mile to the southward. An enemy’s patrol was reported on the road which connects these two, and as this seemed to imply considerable danger, the men at Martinsart were placed at the disposal of the brigadier of the 37th Brigade. Then came the report that Mesnil had fallen to the Germans, and the Anson Battalion of the Naval Division was ordered to counter-attack the village from Martinsart, advancing astride the road and engaging the enemy wherever met. Now, as a matter of fact, a strong reconnoitring thrust had been made on the line at Mesnil held by the Buffs, but the attack was completely repulsed by Lewis gun and rifle fire, numbers of the enemy being killed and fourteen taken prisoner. When the naval battalion therefore arrived on the scene, eager for blood, it attacked the Buffs’ headquarters, who defended the post with their usual resolution, so that for a while quite a lively fight between the two raged, each under the impression that the other force was German, until the error was discovered. The Queen’s had also been attacked (about 1 p.m.) and a few Germans entered our lines on the extreme left after a heavy bombardment, but these were driven off by a counter-attack delivered by D Company. The enemy having entered Hamel, the Queen’s had to throw back their flank, but all the dispositions of the Buffs remained intact at nightfall. A large hostile division had been seen during the afternoon about Pierre Divion and our lines had been heavily shelled, this continuing all next day. The Buffs’ casualties on the 27th were Lieuts. E. F. Henderson and W. T. Score killed, Captain Dixson, 2nd Lieut. Caney and about twelve other ranks wounded. And next day, the 28th, 2nd Lieut. E. M. S. Hoare and two men were killed by a shell at the foremost Lewis gun post.
The battalion was relieved late at night by the Oxfordshire Light Infantry in order to enable it to move further south. Indeed, the whole division took up position next to the 2nd Division, because a message had warned everybody that a strong attack was pending, but, after being in support in Martinsart Wood all the 29th, the Buffs were relieved and marched back to billets in Warloy, where they remained for three days of very wet weather, marching to Henencourt on the 2nd April, the rumour of an attack being still very persistent. In fact, the period spent at Warloy had mostly been used for work, particularly at night.
On the 5th April Henencourt was very heavily shelled and the divisional authorities were informed at the same time that it was considered by the Higher Command that it was intended to attack Amiens on that day. There was a very thick mist when the firing commenced and this rendered observation impossible, so the Buffs were ordered to go forward, occupy the reverse slope of the ridge in front and send patrols on from there. The battalion started at 7.5 p.m. and moved through an intense barrage in artillery formation to what was known as the Old Corps Line, which was west of Albert, and did as it was bid. This day’s fighting is known as the Battle of the Ancre. At 7.45 the situation being still obscure, the Queen’s were sent up to support the Buffs, partly, it would seem, because Henencourt was now no place to rest in, as the shelling was terrific up to about a quarter-past ten, when it died down somewhat. The hostile artillery kept both Buffs and Queen’s under very heavy fire, but no infantry attack eventuated; an hour later, however, news came that Dernancourt, which is a couple of miles or so away and down in the Ancre valley, was being very hardly pressed. At 2.30 the Buffs moved forward over the ridge and occupied some old trenches there. Here a bitterly cold night was spent; rations were brought up by Lewis gunners and signallers who had been left behind because they had been out at training when the sudden order to move came. The morning march cost the regiment 2nd Lieut. L. J. G. Davis killed, Lieuts. G. C. Allen and C. S. Newcomb severely wounded (died of wounds), 2nd Lieut. Dorman slightly wounded, twelve men killed and thirty-three wounded. The enemy had put down a barrage on the old Corps trenches directly they were occupied, and fifteen more casualties occurred there. Another fourteen were killed or wounded on the morning of the 6th, and in the afternoon the battalion relieved the Queen’s, which regiment had been sent off to support the 36th Brigade south of Bouzincourt. 2nd Lieuts. Cooper and Dalton were wounded during the relief.
All this time and for several days the weather had been very wet, and about now that old and persistent enemy called trench feet began to raise his head again and there were several cases of this disease in the battalion about this time. After a day in the front line in relief of the West Kent, the battalion marched on the 11th to Herissart, which is some miles to the westward, and there went into billets. The latter half of April was spent in the regions lying west of Albert. Nothing of any great regimental importance is to be noted. There were some changes of scene in so far that Harponville, Mirveux and Acheux were all visited before the next tour of duty in the line, which commenced on May Day, when the brigade relieved elements of the 35th and 36th Brigades in the centre of the divisional front.
This tour lasted only a week and the incidents were not of an uncommon nature. The enemy tried a little modest raid which was easily repulsed, but, on the 3rd, Puchevillers was heavily shelled and one projectile hit battalion headquarters, killing one man and wounding nine others. After this ensued a week at Acheux, and then the trenches again on the 13th May. On the 16th D Company carried out a successful little raid on the enemy with four officers and ninety-six men, who started at 9.20 in the evening. They advanced in good order and with great élan. All ranks speak very highly of the evenness and accuracy of the barrage under which they advanced. The first of the enemy encountered were two listening posts. Their occupants offered no opposition, but refused to leave them. These posts were unexpected and only fifteen minutes had been allowed for the work in hand, so they had to be left. On proceeding, D Company found that it had come up just when an inter-company relief was in progress, with the result that the Germans were in greater strength than was anticipated and considerable opposition was encountered. However, when our right attack had penetrated the wire the enemy vacated his line, suffering many casualties as he retired over the open. The left attack was equally successful or nearly so. Altogether some dug-outs were bombed; a good deal of damage was done to the trenches by our artillery; and three unwounded prisoners were brought back, in addition to considerable casualties as noticed above. We lost four men killed, 2nd Lieut. Davis and eleven wounded and one missing.
On the 25th the whole division was relieved by the 17th. The battalion went away west to Puchevillers, where it remained till the 16th June in G.H.Q. reserve, undergoing special training which included a course of musketry on the ranges. On the 16th the battalion marched to the front line, relieving a battalion of the 35th Division on the left of our divisional front. Next day 2nd Lieut. E. A. M. Stevens, M.C., and Pte. Beadle of C Company were unfortunately killed by a shell at the entrance of C Company’s dug-out. On the 20th of the month, identification of the hostile units in front being desirable, our artillery fired on the enemy’s position in the southern portion of Aveluy Wood, and then the Buffs sent out four strong patrols to obtain the required information. These, however, met with considerable opposition, because the Germans occupied certain small posts forward of their general line and these little places had been overlooked by the artillery bombardment, so our patrols were fired upon by machine guns and rifles and, owing to casualties, were unable to complete their task. 2nd Lieut. E. F. Robinson was killed, 2nd Lieut. Towers and nine men were wounded and four killed; and at 8.15, in shelling the support company (D), the hostile artillery obtained a direct hit, killing one man and wounding four.
On the 22nd the battalion moved to brigade reserve at Senlis, where working parties, four hundred strong, were found each day, till the next trench tour, which commenced on the 29th and which was undertaken under certain difficulties: during the relief, the back areas were kept under heavy gas-shell fire which affected the movement of the troops; moreover, when the battalion headquarters of the Buffs were closeted with the headquarters of the Royal Berkshire Regiment, which it was relieving, a shell made a direct hit on the spot, and it was only with difficulty that the double party emerged from the wreckage. The Medical Officer of the Royal Berkshire was the only one wounded, and he but slightly.
At 9.35 p.m. on the 30th June the Queen’s and West Kent, with the Buffs in support, under cover of heavy artillery, trench mortar and machine-gun barrage, attacked the front-line system of the enemy 1,000 yards north-west of Albert on a frontage of about 1,100 yards with a view to destroying or capturing the garrisons of the first three lines of trenches and holding the front line. Practically the Buffs this day had only to stand to all the time of and after the operation, because it was completely successful with very little help from them, though five men were killed and 2nd Lieut. Symonds and thirty men wounded. The Queen’s, who were on the right, met with a stubborn resistance and suffered many casualties, and C Company the Buffs went forward to their immediate support. Notwithstanding these casualties, both the forward battalions were able at 11.40 to report to the brigadier that they were consolidating; but at 1.23 on the morning of the 1st July the Queen’s, who had sent the message earlier that the Bedfords on their right had been repulsed, reported that they could not hold on without support, and at 2.10 a.m. the S.O.S. signal was up along the line and the Royal Engineers acknowledged that they could not do the wiring satisfactorily on account of casualties. However, the day proved fairly quiet and the Queen’s and West Kents were reinforced by C Company The Buffs, while the remainder were in readiness to move forward, and very early in the morning of the 2nd the battalion relieved the Queen’s in the right half of the brigade front line. The Germans were now taking the offensive and towards nightfall very notably so, though they had been fairly quiet during daylight. At 9.35 p.m. a very intense barrage was put down along the whole brigade front, followed by a counter-attack which caused the West Kent on our left to withdraw to the old British line. Soon afterwards a report was received that the 18th Division on the right had also withdrawn to the old British line, leaving A, B and D Companies of the Buffs still occupying the German front line. The battalion’s casualties this day were 2nd Lieut. Harvey slightly wounded, two men killed and forty-one wounded.
At 6 o’clock on the morning of the 3rd, whilst the Buffs were still holding on and defending, in particular, two blocks which they had made during the night, orders came to withdraw and join the others. This movement was rendered very difficult owing to the clear visibility of that particular morning, which caused our men to be observed when about two-thirds of them had got back into the new or rather into the old position. Thus the Germans sent up a strong bombing party to destroy 2nd Lieut. Hobbs and the small party with him that had been left behind to cover the retreat, but the stubborn resistance of this detachment resulted in there being only two more casualties on account of this move. In fact, the bravery and devotion of Hobbs was beyond all praise: entirely regardless of his personal safety, he not only handled his men to perfection, but himself carried a wounded soldier to safety under heavy fire and persistent bombing. Lieut. Dudeney also showed his manhood by his defence of one of the posts against overwhelming odds. The whole of the battalion’s front was in order by 7.45 a.m., though the condition of the line was now, it is true, far from satisfactory owing to the intense bombardment and other causes. That day the 37th Brigade was relieved by the 36th and the Buffs went into divisional reserve at Senlis and so remained till the 10th July without any further incident.
The brigade was now in G.H.Q. reserve in tents south-east of Harponville and under orders to join the 22nd Corps of the 4th Army. In consequence of this order it marched to Rubempre on the 13th, and next day proceeded by bus to Quevanvillers and marched to Rumatsnil and afterwards to Plachy Buyon, remaining in this district, about ten miles south-west of Amiens, up to the end of July, or rather until the 30th, on which date a movement was made by train to Canaples and thence by route march to Berleaucourt (about twelve miles north-west of Amiens). On the 2nd August the 12th Division relieved the 58th in the centre section of the 3rd Corps front, the 37th Brigade being in divisional reserve. The Buffs, going by bus to a wood on the Behencourt-Franvillers road, thus came into the neighbourhood of Warloy once more; but the next day they proceeded to Dernancourt on the Ancre, and on the 4th relieved a battalion of the United States Army in the front line. There they remained for three days, when, on relief by another American unit, they became part of the Corps Reserve at Franvillers. On the 8th August the battalion moved into trenches south of Morlancourt with orders to attack at 3 a.m., but this was postponed. When the second order came the companies told off for the job were already in No Man’s Land and had to be recalled. The withdrawal was a very difficult business, and one platoon of D Company, under 2nd Lieut. Hearson, could not be got back and had to remain where it was till dusk. Unfortunately the enemy was quite aware of this and opened machine-gun fire on the party, wounding Lieut. Le May, 2nd Lieuts. Gray, M.C., and Thornley, and twenty-four men and killing two. Next day came our British attack.