It should be mentioned that at the outset it was understood that the garrison would be withdrawn after twenty-four hours, but, as after events show, the troops were doomed to disappointment.
The two halves of the Battalion were not in touch with each other at all, and as they fought during these few days as separate units, their experiences are dealt with separately.
At daylight on the 5th of December it was seen from the trench occupied by “C” and “D” Companies that the Germans had discovered the withdrawal from Bourlon Wood, for small parties of them were seen wandering about the deserted front line and in the wood itself, great interest being shown in a derelict tank, which was subsequently used as a signal station.
It was not, however, until the afternoon that the enemy approached to within reasonable distance of Graincourt, but his patrols now became very active, first coming on in small parties, which were easily dispersed by rifle and Lewis gun fire, and later in larger numbers, which were also dispersed in the same way. Some excellent shooting was indulged in about this time by the gallant little bands on either side of the village, but although they were able to keep the enemy off while the daylight lasted, it was obvious that the small force defending the village would not be able to prevent him from entering Graincourt during the night. With the coming of darkness it was found that a considerable number of Germans had reached the village, for patrols and even ration parties encountered them, both in front and in rear of the defending garrison. Runners were also involved in small fights, which were quite frequent during the night on the fringes of the village. In one of these a German machine gun team was overwhelmed, the gun and one man being captured, and the rest of the team being killed.
Just as the men of “C” and “D” Companies were expecting to be withdrawn, Major Warne arrived from Battalion Headquarters to take command of the garrison on the right, with orders to hold the position for another twenty-four hours, and, on withdrawal, to occupy a strong post in the rear.
One must have endured the strain of prolonged fighting in a precarious position, worn out by constant watching, with little food or water, and many other discomforts too numerous to mention, in order to realise how intense was the disappointment of these men who, thinking that Major Warne came to tell them their work was done and to take them back to rest, learnt that their job had only just begun.
At about 5.0 a.m. on the 6th, a Lewis gun was posted in the road about 300 yards south of the village with orders to deal with the enemy there as far as possible, but to withdraw if the opposition became too strong, to a strong post about a mile further down the road towards the village of Flesquieres. An enemy patrol soon tried to rush the gun, but without success, and a wounded prisoner was captured as a result.
At daylight two parties tried to rush the gun. Both were beaten off, but not before the gun team had suffered two casualties. As other parties of the enemy were on the move for a further attack, the gun team was ordered to withdraw to the aforementioned point, where the gun was soon in action again in helping to repel an attack on the strong point itself.
Meantime Major Warne’s force was still holding on, and the incidents of the 6th of December are thus described by Sergeant C. Manthorp, who, with Sergeant E. Cooke, was conspicuous throughout the operation by gallantry and good leadership:—
“When dawn broke on the 6th, we were very much on the alert to see what surprises were in store for us, and directly we could see any distance we were well rewarded. The whole German army seemed to be advancing, line after line, crossing the skyline and coming directly for us. Fortunately for us their orders were obviously not to attack, for when the front line got to within 600 or 700 yards from our trench, they started digging in, or at least making a trench sufficiently deep for protection from our fire. Whilst the advancing and entrenching was proceeding, we, of course, indulged in a fair amount of rifle practice, and not without good results, though, of course, the distance was rather great for anything sensational. After digging-in, the Bosche lay quite dormant for some hours, and we, of course, were on tenter-hooks to know what his next move would be, for with the little force at our disposal, it would have been hopeless to expect us to hold off what must have been thousands of Bosches, should they have chosen to attack.
“It was early afternoon before the next move came. Then all the lines of Bosches in front of us attacked, but right across our front on to the 59th Division, the movement being for them a half left movement. Then we had all the shooting we desired. The machine-gunners had a fine time, and so did our riflemen, who were mostly collected in the four gun pits, which were higher than the floor of the trench and enabled us to fire over our camouflage, which was composed of wire netting, turf, etc., and made firing from the greater part of the trench impossible.
“By about 3.0 p.m. the Bosches appeared to have gone right through the position held by the 59th Division, and it looked to us as if the latter had been compelled to retire by weight of numbers. Of course this made our position untenable with the Bosches in our right, rear, and working round us, and the village between us and the remainder of our Battalion also in enemy hands.
“About 70 yards in rear of our trench and parallel with it, ran a sunken road, connecting the village on our left. Parties of Bosches commenced to approach each way along this road, and this forced us to withdraw most of our garrison from the trench and form a semi-circle with each end resting on the road. Things soon became very exciting, and then those of us who were out at the back of the trench, received the order to retire. From the sunken road back to the permanent front line must have been about 1½ miles, and that journey proved about the most exciting that any of us had experienced. The party’s strength was two officers and probably about 100 other ranks, and the retirement was done in extended order. At the start off we were received with fire from nearly every direction, and also a little shell fire which may or may not have been meant for us. After going about half a mile, we had the best part of the whole business. We came across at least 100 of the enemy in more or less close order, and did not actually discover them until they were within about 100 yards of us, owing to the folds in the ground. It is difficult to say who appeared to be the most surprised, they or us, but we did not give them long to think about it. We flopped and opened rapid fire on them, and also got our Lewis guns going. Our Lewis gunners had been cursing about their loads, but we were more than glad of the guns under the circumstances. This big party of Bosches quickly took fright and it was laughable to see them all double off back towards home like a flock of sheep. It was a marvellous target, only about 200 or 300 yards away. You simply couldn’t miss, and, of course, our success gave us great help on our journey, for most of us were nearly done, owing to the bitter nights we had had with no proper hot food. Having disposed of this body, we encountered no further opposition from Fritz except occasional rifle fire, and we took four stray Germans prisoners along with us. We were then about three-quarters of a mile from our goal, and came upon a small cable trench about three feet deep running towards our lines. Just about this time, one of our own aeroplanes came upon the scene and indulged in a little machine-gun practice on us, but quickly discovered his mistake. Still, it all helped to cheer us on the way. I was about the first to get into the cable trench, and with the prisoners in front, led the way back to where the Royal Welsh Fusiliers were holding the permanent line. They also mistook us for Bosches, possibly because of the four prisoners in front, and subjected us to rather severe machine-gun fire. It was not till I had waved my shrapnel helmet for some time on top of my rifle as high as I could hold it, that they recognised us as friends. Then one of our officers, who happened to be with them, got out of the trench and led us in. It appeared that they had already beaten off one attack during the afternoon, so one could not be surprised at their mistaking us for foes.
“After some delay we eventually got the remains of the two Companies back to Rest Camp, whence we had started off on the evening of the 4th. There were about 15 of ‘C’ Company who got out and 40 of ‘D’ Company.
“Those of us who did get through can certainly look back upon the affair as one of the most strenuous and exciting experiences we had in France.”