On the 16th February the artillery withdrew from the line into billets in and around Aubigny, Caucourt, and Frevin Capelle, the headquarters being in the chateau at Berles. This was the only rest we were to get under the scheme mentioned above.
March, 1918.
On the 6th and 7th March we went into the line in relief of the 31st Division, against an enemy front of about 4000 yards, stretching from Oppy to Acheville; the 310th was again on the right, and the 312th on the left, batteries being mostly in or about Willerval and Farbus. Headquarters were at Roclincourt.
It now seemed certain that a big German offensive was brewing, and henceforth practically all our firing was done by detached sections, while the main positions remained silent, and every possible artifice was employed to conceal them from detection by the enemy. At the same time several single guns were distributed along the front for defence against tanks, being so sited that every possible approach by a hostile tank would be under fire from one or more of the guns.
Some experimental firing by single guns was carried out on the afternoon of the 10th March near Souchez. A dummy tank, about three-quarters real size, was drawn across an open space at about a thousand yards from the gun. Detachments from various divisions engaged it in turn, and the results were most reassuring, two or three direct hits being very quickly scored in nearly every case; it seemed to prove that an anti-tank gun well handled ought to be able to knock out several tanks in a minute or two.
On the 11th Divisional Headquarters were persistently shelled by a 13 cm. gun firing from a range of about 14,000 yards. Information had been received that the long expected offensive was to begin on the 13th, and as the enemy's attacks were often heralded by long range firing into the back areas, it seemed likely that the report might in this case be correct, and all preparations were made accordingly. The bombardment was repeated on the night of the 12th, and all troops, artillery and infantry, were standing-to from an hour before dawn on the 13th. Nothing unusual, however, happened, although the long range activity against our headquarters became a regular nightly occurrence from now on. As it was important to find out what was brewing, it was decided to carry out a raid with the object of taking prisoners and getting such information out of them as might be possible. The raid was carried out by a battalion of the 186th Infantry Brigade. At 10.50 p.m. on the 17th March, two batteries of the 56th Divisional Artillery opened on the Boche front about a thousand yards south of the part we were raiding. The enemy at once sent up S.O.S. signals, and his artillery put down a barrage on that part of the front—which was exactly what we wanted. At 11 p.m. all our guns opened fire on the real front for five minutes, and then, lifting off the part that was to be raided, formed a box barrage all round it. Our raiding party, consisting of 2 officers and 70 men, then went over the top, passing through gaps in the wire which had previously been cut by the trench mortars and by Bangalore torpedoes. At 11.25 they returned, having killed several Huns and taken five prisoners. The guns kept up the barrage till 11.40, and one of the howitzer batteries fired a screen of smoke shell along the edge of Fresnoy Park from 11.25 to 11.40, to screen our men as they returned. The whole thing went off like clockwork, and our infantry only had three men slightly wounded.
I received the following letter next day from the G.O.C. 186th Infantry Brigade:
"The raiders wish me to say that the barrage was perfect. Would you please accept for yourself and your batteries their thanks for the large part you contributed towards the success of the show. To show the accuracy of the shooting, the Bangalore torpedoes were inserted in the wire while the barrage was still on the front line. This and the absence of casualties from short shooting, and the fact that the garrison was discovered prostrate on the floor of the trench, I think speaks for itself.
"J. G. Burnett,
"Brig.-General."
And also the following from Lieut.-Colonel Thackeray, who commanded the battalion that carried out the raid: