War Services of the 62nd West Riding Divisional Artillery

by Austin Thomas Anderson

"Both the officers and men who took part in the raid last night are loud in their praise of the wonderful accuracy of the barrage. It gave them the greatest confidence...."

I may say here that the infantry were always most generous in their acknowledgment of our support, and there was the best possible feeling between the two arms in our Division. We all had the greatest admiration for our wonderful infantry, and it was a great gratification to us to know that they appreciated our efforts.

Eight Military Medals were awarded while we were in action in this part of the line (v. Appendix).

Early on the morning of the 21st March the enemy began a tremendous bombardment on our front, and we could hear the thunder of his guns extending apparently for many miles to either flank. The great offensive had evidently begun, and we received orders to be prepared to withdraw from our part of the line, which was to be taken over by a Canadian Division, and to become G.H.Q. reserve.

Lieut. H. G. Goldsmith was wounded this day.

It was sometime before we could get any news of what was taking place, but on the 23rd we learned that the Boche had opened an attack with 45 divisions along a front of 50 miles, from the Oise to the Sensèe, and thence to the Scarpe, that he had retaken Ecoust, Noreuil, and the Mort Homme heights, and that the 17th Corps on our right had evacuated the important height of Monchy. Further news came at mid-day that our 5th Army was retiring on Peronne, and that the 3rd Army was also being pressed back by sheer weight of numbers. Two batteries of the 312th Brigade, A and B, withdrew from the line that night, and went into action on the 24th in positions close to Beaurains to support the 17th Corps. My headquarters moved on the same day to Warlus, and the 310th Brigade, and the remainder of the 312th, were ordered to withdraw from the line that night and march to the Warlus area.

Events, however, were moving rapidly, and at midnight on the 24th I received instructions to concentrate at Ayette. The previous orders were at once countermanded; the batteries at Beaurains were ordered to withdraw from action forthwith and to march on Ayette, where they were to be joined by the rest of the artillery, which had just arrived at the Roclincourt wagon lines. I left myself at 6 a.m. on the 25th and met the G.O.C. at Ayette. Here we found orders awaiting us to push on to Bucquoy. Our infantry began to arrive there about mid-day, and, tired as they were after marching all through the night, were at once thrown into the line from Logeast Wood to Achiet-le-Petit, where the Boche was attacking in great strength.

The scene in Bucquoy that morning and all through the day was a remarkable one, never to be forgotten. For hour after hour one continuous unbroken stream of transport belonging to several different divisions passed through the village retiring west towards Hannescamps. Everything had to move along one rather narrow road which, in bad enough condition to start with, became execrable later on in the day, and one bad breakdown of a lorry or wagon might have led to a disastrous block and the ultimate loss of thousands of vehicles. Fortunately the traffic control was admirably managed, and the shells, which as the day wore on began to fall with more and more frequency in the village, never happened to find out the crowded road, so that that particular disaster was averted. We moved on to the high ground just east of Bucquoy, and were able to get a good view of the general situation. We joined the Headquarter Staffs of two other Divisions there, and heard from them that our troops were still falling slowly back under great and increasing pressure, and that there was actually a large gap on the right through which our flank was in imminent danger of being turned. As it was obvious that my guns could be of no use in Bucquoy, and would only make the confusion in the crowded village worse confounded, General Braithwaite directed me to divert their march if still possible, and to put them into action near Monchy au Bois. The advanced parties arrived about noon, and were sent back to Ayette, where they were just in time to stop the brigades and turn them off to the positions ordered.

General Braithwaite now assumed command, and we found ourselves responsible for a tremendous number of guns, consisting of several divisional artilleries. Nobody seemed to know where they all were, some batteries being in action, some on the move, and some in positions of observation or readiness in rear. FitzGibbon, however, did wonders, and, with the help of Trench, the Signalling Officer, and Anderson the R.O., at last succeeded in locating and establishing communication with the majority of them.

As night fell the shelling of Bucquoy grew very severe, and orders were received from Corps Headquarters to retire the infantry to a line covering Bucquoy, while the Divisional Headquarters moved back to Foncquevillers. It was a night of great stress and anxiety during which there was no sleep for anyone; the artillery was safely withdrawn, and positions were taken up in the area between Hannescamps and Les Essarts, my own weary batteries having to move up from the positions they had just occupied near Monchy. When the morning of the 26th dawned the infantry were holding their new line, and the guns were nearly all in action. There was desperate fighting throughout this day, in the course of which our right was pressed back out of Puisieux. Headquarters was shelled constantly, as was the whole area occupied by the artillery. Fortunately the enemy had not yet had time to locate the battery positions, and the shelling, being distributed over the whole country side, caused fewer casualties than might have been expected.