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.