The History of the Prince of Wales' Civil Service Rifles

by Anonymous

After spending the whole day under heavy shell fire in the positions near the Bray Road, the Battalion moved through the Happy Valley again at night and assembled for a further attack, which was to commence at 2.30 a.m. on the 25th.

For this attack the 140th Brigade was in front, with the 175th Brigade on its right. The Civil Service Rifles were on the right of the 140th Brigade, and the centre of the Battalion’s assembly position was an old German prisoners-of-war cage on the Bray-Fricourt Road. It was dark when the men reached the assembly position, and the country was quite strange to all the attacking forces, none of whom had even so much as seen it by daylight. The objective was just over 2,500 yards beyond the assembly position, and was a line of old German trenches on the western edge of Billon Copse, about two miles south of Mametz. In spite of the strange surroundings, total darkness, and the fact that no reconnaissance had been made, the attack went well, and the objective was reached with very few casualties—not more than thirty-five all ranks. The opposition was slight, but a thick fog which settled down before daylight made it very difficult to find even so prominent a landmark as Bronfay Farm, which was about the southern boundary of the Civil Service Rifles’ objective. The result was that when Colonel Feilding reached the front line soon after 4.30 a.m., he found that the troops were a few hundred yards short of the real objective. However, he was able to guide them to the so-called old German trench, which “A” and “C” Companies manned as front line Companies, “B” and “D” remaining in the railway loop behind in support.

So ended the first stage of the part played by the Civil Service Rifles in the final advance of the Allies. It had been a long drawn out battle, and the troops had had little or no rest since leaving the trenches near Marrett Wood on the morning of the 22nd of August. The fighting, however, had not been severe, and the total casualties during the few days were only sixty all ranks, of whom only nine were killed.

The men were, therefore, in very good spirits when they marched back, on the 26th of August, to the trenches near Marrett Wood, taking with them one captured minenwerfer, four heavy and ten light enemy machine guns.

There followed the usual visits from the Brigade Commander and Divisional Commander, both of whom congratulated the Battalion on its work during the past few days. They added, however, the news that the advance would be resumed very soon. Major General Gorringe explained that there would be no more coming back to rest while the Division was taking part in this advance. In future the transport lines would move up to the Battalion after a battle, as the general scheme would be that Brigades would be continually passing through each other, and so the front line area of to-day would become the support or reserve position to-morrow.

On the 29th of August the Civil Service Rifles marched to huts in an old French brickfield about a mile north of Maricourt, and close to Montauban. Battalion Headquarters was at Carnoy Craters on the Carnoy-Montauban Road. These craters were a relic of the Somme battle of 1916, when the attack often opened with the blowing of a few mines. The Germans had only recently left this district, and a sharp look-out had to be kept for “booby traps.”

The 47th Division continued the advance on the 30th of August, the 142nd Brigade being in front, the 141st in support, and the 140th Brigade in reserve. The Civil Service Rifles moved off from the Brickfields soon after 7.0 a.m., and after a short cross country scramble, halted in Maurepas Ravine about midday. Cookers and limbers followed the Battalion, and soon after halting, the troops received a pleasant surprise in the shape of hot dinner. A draft of two officers and 100 other ranks, who had been following the Battalion for some days, managed to catch it up in Maurepas Ravine during the afternoon of the 30th of August. It was quite a novelty for a draft to join during battle.

The Battalion bivouacked in Maurepas Ravine, and spent the whole of the next day there, but on the morning of the 1st September there began what proved to be the last battle in which the Civil Service Rifles were to take an active part. It was a battle worthy of the occasion, and during the six days while it lasted, the men lived up to the very best traditions of the Regiment. There were very few indeed among them who had embarked with the Battalion in 1915, or even of those who had fought on the Somme in 1916, but the spirit was still there, and the achievements of the 1st Civil Service Rifles in this great battle are worthy of a detailed description. The following account of the operation is founded upon the official report written by Colonel Feilding when the action was over. The narrative can best be followed by reference to the map on page 211.

On the 1st September the 140th Brigade, in conjunction with the 141st Brigade on the right, and the 18th Division (55th Brigade) on the left, was to advance and capture Rancourt and the line of trench following the south-west edge of St. Pierre Vaast Wood. The 1st Surrey Rifles were on the right, the Civil Service on the left, and the Poplar and Stepneys were to follow up and “mop up” Rancourt and the trenches around that village.

The assembly position for the Civil Service was a line about three quarters of a mile south-south-west of Rancourt, between the road leading from Rancourt to Le Forest and the road from Rancourt to Marrieres Wood. Battalion Headquarters was at the cross roads about half a mile east-north-east of Le Forest, with advanced Headquarters in a shell hole near the assembly position.