The 6th of April was a day of alarms, but although small parties of the enemy were detected in the early morning moving forward under cover of the mist, there was no real infantry engagement. The snipers were busy on both sides and those of the Civil Service Rifles got many targets, and one of the enemy was captured after being wounded.

Intermittent bombardments were the feature of the day, but the battle died down for good after 10.0 p.m. with the Germans really well held, and with this night came to an end the fighting in the great Retreat on this front, and the Bosche thereafter did not gain any ground at all.

After holding the line for one more day, which was fairly quiet, the Battalion was relieved on the night of the 7th of April by the 17th and 21st Battalions, and marched to billets in Senlis. It was not yet known that the Division was about to move back to a training area, but the rumour soon began to get round to that effect, and the prospect of a real rest acted as a splendid tonic to the weary survivors of the darkest days in the history of the Division. They had been dark days, indeed, but those who came through could look back on them with satisfaction in the knowledge that their Battalion had played its part nobly during a period when a trip to Germany—or elsewhere—had often seemed to be the most probable end to their career in France.

This story of the movements of the 1st Civil Service Rifles during the Retreat is based on the official narrative written by Battalion Headquarters, but it should be borne in mind that the fighting during the last days of March was of so extraordinary a character that the description here given will fall very far short of the affair as it appeared to many of the members of the Battalion. Only those who took part in it will be able to realise the difficulty of describing a series of actions in which the Battalion was split up into several different bodies, each fighting battles of their own, with little or no knowledge of the whereabouts of their comrades. If this feature of the fighting is considered, it will help to explain why so many of the casualties were reported as “wounded and missing” or “missing, believed killed” without any definite information as to the place where they occurred.

The casualties among officers, warrant officers and N.C.O.’s were very heavy, but these serve to emphasise the splendid spirit of the men. Nothing could illustrate their excellent discipline, determination and fighting qualities more forcibly than that assembly at Bazentin le Petit on the night of the 24th of March. In spite of being cut off from their comrades these several small parties had carried on the fight for more than twenty-four hours—often without even a Lance-corporal in charge—and the simple statement that “10.0 p.m. saw the Battalion reforming at Bazentin le Petit” is in reality a record of the finest achievement of the men of the 1st Civil Service Rifles during the war.

A good many of the N.C.O.’s and men were decorated for their work during the Retreat, but every one of those 230 all ranks who refused to be beaten on the 23rd and 24th of March, 1918, is deserving of the highest praise. It would have been some small recognition of their great gallantry and devotion to duty if the names of these men could have been inscribed on a special Roll of Honour.

CHAPTER XXI
MONTHS OF “WIND UP”

One night in Senlis was followed by a night in Hedauville, and then on the 9th of April, after a march to Acheux, the Battalion was conveyed by buses to the back area. The bus journey was pleasant enough at first, but on arriving at Beauval, where the troops were to have been billeted, it was found that all the accommodation had been allotted to other troops.

The bus column halted in the main road outside the village where a draft of 600 other ranks was waiting to join the Battalion. The draft had been waiting by the roadside since noon, and the men had had both dinner and tea in the same spot. But soon after dark the draft received orders to march to the next village, Gezaincourt, the Battalion continuing the journey by bus. The speed of the buses can best be judged by the fact that the draft arrived at Gezaincourt—about three and a half miles away—more than an hour in front of the Battalion.

The next day at Gezaincourt was spent in re-organising Companies and sorting out the huge draft, which was found to contain parties from practically every Battalion of the London Regiment except the Artists and the Scottish. The Civil Service Riflemen were now in a minority in their own Regiment.