At 9.15 a.m. two men missing from the raid suddenly appeared in our line, one of them wounded. This showed how easy it was to get into our trenches unobserved. Artillery was very active against us all that day. In the course of two hours and a half Hobbs Farm and the detached post received over 120 rounds from a 4·2 battery, while at times it seemed as if our wire in that vicinity was the real target. Spain Avenue, the Orchard, Panama, Pretoria, were all singled out in turn; but probably this was merely a cloak for the German activities on the left.
The following night the Brigade north of the Lys carried out a raid, and the enemy seemed very uneasy opposite our left company front, sending up innumerable Véry lights, letting off bursts of rifle fire, and industriously bombing his own wire.
The early morning of June 23rd found the German 'planes extremely active. There was a flight of scarlet machines, which performed various evolutions for our benefit, and at intervals swooped down and fired into our trenches. Rifle grenades were fired at one very low-flying 'plane, and at another a light trench mortar shell with a shortened fuse and a full charge. The latter must certainly have surprised the pilot when it exploded in the air.
Every part of the left sector, front line, support, subsidiary, and communication trenches was heavily shelled for long periods throughout the day, while a regular box barrage was put round the detached post. Even the new drain between Irish and Cambridge was regularly bombarded. The wire in front of our trenches, never very good, was now reduced to a mass of shattered fragments, and the impression that a raid must be expected in the near future grew apace. Down to the day of the relief this extreme activity continued, and it was difficult to keep Edmeads, Wessex, and Cambridge clear of blocks. Irish was still being heavily hammered, but, except for occasional repairs to keep up appearances, we had long since ceased to use Irish as an avenue. 2nd-Lieutenants E. E. Paul and J. N. Blake were slightly wounded in Fry Pan. On the evening of June 26th the relief took place. We were fully expecting the raid, and precautions were taken accordingly to prevent any sort of congestion in communication trenches, all of which had now been accurately registered. However, it turned out a wet night and as black as pitch, and the relief was completed viâ Buterne Avenue at 12.37 a.m. without molestation. "B" Company remained in the subsidiary line.
We found Armentières, as indeed we had expected, hardly less noisy than the trenches. The Rue de Lille had become more of a storm centre than previously, and the Quartermaster's staff were frequently compelled to make a hasty descent to the cellar. The battalion mess, which had been held in a magnificent house opposite, its ceilings decorated with fat cherubs flying in a bright blue sky, was abandoned, as it seemed too risky to have all the officers congregated together in such a shelled area. The usual working and wiring parties, made none the pleasanter by the double journey up the Houplines road, and the same efforts to carry out training under difficulties were resumed. On the 29th "D" Company replaced "B" in the subsidiary line.
Official Photograph by permission of The Imperial War Museum.
RUE DE LILLE, ARMENTIÈRES.
June had seen an increase in our monthly total of casualties. Four officers, of whom one was the Padre (at duty), had been wounded; fourteen men had been killed and sixty-three wounded. In addition, 2nd-Lieutenants Dugdale and Rule were at the Base marked "T.B." (i.e., Temporary Base). Captain Gilling, who had for several months been attached to the R.E., had now been invalided to England. Our "effective strength" was reduced from 33 Officers and 744 other ranks to 28 officers and 656 other ranks; and from the latter numbers had to be deducted Lieutenant Parkinson and a number of men with the Brigade Pioneer Company, Lieutenant Huntley at Brigade, and several parties of men otherwise employed, but whom we were not permitted to strike off our effective strength. Our total strength in France on June 30th was 36 officers and 800 other ranks, a disparity in totals which is eloquent of the number of "employed" on extra-regimental duties or on courses. Leave had not yet begun seriously to affect our numbers.