THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD—AN ADVANCE
IN FACE OF HUNDREDS OF MACHINE
GUNS—A PERSONAL NARRATIVE
THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD—AN ADVANCE
IN FACE OF HUNDREDS OF MACHINE
GUNS—A PERSONAL NARRATIVE[ToC]
To the personal side of the late war we have, in a measure, been introduced by various war correspondents. But there has always been something actually lacking, and that something is the touch and the atmosphere which can only be introduced by those who have been through the baptism of blood and fire.
In the following pages the real touch is introduced. Every incident is told by a man who has actually seen and experienced what he describes. These incidents are in the actual words of the writers. Nothing is altered.
Here, then, is the story of the capture of Delville Wood by the 1st Sportsman's Battalion in 1916, told by Major N.A. Lewis, D.S.O., M.C.:
"For two days before the fight the Battalion occupied some trenches near Bernefay Wood, and sustained a number of casualties from shell-fire. Battalion headquarters was a shelter dug in a bank at the side of Bernefay Wood. This shelter was constructed by Albany, the sculler, and as he was killed in the fight it was his last job as dug-out constructor. Needless to say, he did this job excellently.