The Civil Service reached the objective about noon and the men came under heavy machine gun fire from the left, where the London-Irish had not yet arrived. In addition, rapid fire from enemy field artillery raked the men as they appeared over the crest in front of the final objective. Colonel Feilding accordingly took his men back to the reverse slope, where they immediately turned and dug in.
This position turned out to be the “farthest east” of the Civil Service in the advance on this part of the Allied front, for during the night of the 6th-7th September the Battalion was relieved by the Queen Victoria Rifles (58th Division) and moved back to bivouacs in a valley about a mile east of Moislains, close to the position occupied by Captain Eccles’ Company on the afternoon of the 5th of September.
The fighting, so far as the Civil Service Rifles were concerned, had come to an end for a time, and the short rest in this valley near Moislains enabled a thorough search to be made of the scene of the heavy casualties on the 2nd of September. The bodies of all the killed of the Civil Service in that battle were buried before the troops left. There was also an opportunity to count the cost, and it was found that the casualties suffered during the first six days of September numbered 12 officers and 317 other ranks, out of a total trench strength of less than 500 all ranks.
It has already been mentioned that Colonel Feilding had not had time to get to know his men before he was leading them in battle, but what he saw of them in the battles of August and September filled him with genuine admiration for and pride in the men whom he commanded and he at once became fired with the enthusiasm of his two predecessors. The troops, on their part, were not slow to see that the Regiment had been fortunate in gaining a worthy successor to Colonel Segrave for in these final battles Colonel Feilding’s energy knew no bounds. He was constantly faced with unexpected developments but he was never at a loss as to how to deal with them. From start to finish he was “here, there and everywhere” moving about among the Companies seeing things for himself. What struck the troops most forcibly perhaps was his coolness, for although on the 2nd of September particularly, he was faced with difficulties sufficient to put the best soldier “off his game” he was perfectly calm and unruffled throughout.
CHAPTER XXIV
BACK TO THE COAL-FIELDS
It is a far cry from the battle-field to the coal-field, but after the events narrated in the last chapter, the 47th Division returned to the area which it occupied during its first few days in France.
On the 7th of September the Civil Service Rifles went by bus from the vicinity of Moislains to billets at Heilly, and after two nights in that once delightful village, entrained in the afternoon of the 9th for Chocques. The train journey took just over 12 hours, and it was consequently in the small hours of the 10th of September when the Battalion reached its billets in Chocques. Two days later, the 140th Brigade marched to the Auchel area, where it remained until the 27th of September.
Auchel is not by any means a pleasant village, but after the Somme battlefield any place was welcome, and the three weeks spent here were very enjoyable, concert parties and football matches being the great attraction. The chief excitement at this time, however, was the prospect of a trip to Italy. Definite orders had been received for the 47th Division to be transferred to the Italian front, and more than once during the stay at Auchel the Civil Service Rifles actually received entraining orders. The last entrainment order was for the 26th, but, like the others, it was cancelled, and on the 27th of September the Brigade marched to the St. Pol area, the Civil Service Rifles being allotted some very poor accommodation in Foufflin-Ricametz.
On the 2nd of October the Division was transferred to the 5th Army. The Civil Service Rifles moved by train from St. Pol to Merville and marched thence to Lestrem, which was reached at 4.30 a.m. on the 3rd of October. There the men rested in tents for a few hours and in the afternoon the march was continued to Fauquissart, where the night was spent in dug-outs.
On the following day the 47th Division began an advance on to the general line Beaucamps-Radinghem, with the ultimate object of taking Lille. The Civil Service Rifles occupied reserve trenches at Le Maisnil, the advance being carried out by the 141st and 142nd Brigades.