On October 31 Lieutenant K. MacIver, of “B” Battery, 211 Brigade, R.F.A., during a bombardment of his battery position, which destroyed two of the three guns, ran out to attend to a wounded man of another unit. He was knocked down by a shell and his left arm rendered useless, but, assisted by a driver, he removed the wounded man to safety. Soon afterwards two dumps caught fire and MacIver, foreseeing that the flames would assist a hostile plane to register the battery, ran out into the shelled area and, though one arm was useless, he extinguished the flames at both dumps. On November 2 Private T. Brotherton, 5th E. Lancs., while in charge of a limber taking rations up the line, was wounded by a shell which dropped three yards in rear of his vehicle. Although in great pain and under heavy shelling all the time, he coolly unhooked his mules, one of which had been injured, refusing attention for himself until he had done everything possible for the animals. He then had his wounds dressed, and obeyed the order to report to the nearest Field Dressing Station with great reluctance, as he wished to return to his transport lines for another mule so that he could carry on. On the same day Crowder Bridge was shelled while a party of the 6th Manchesters was in the act of crossing singly, and one man was seriously wounded and knocked into the water. Sergeant E. E. Parry, R.A.M.C., attached to the 6th Manchesters, at once rushed on to the bridge, and remained supporting him and crouching over him until the shell-storm ceased. The man was saved, and Parry received the M.M. for this brave deed. On more than one occasion Captain Brentnall, R.A.M.C., carried wounded men across a bridge on his shoulders when he considered the shelling too severe to permit a bearer-party to cross in safety.
On November 4 an enemy shell fired an ammunition dump near White House, in the right sub-sector. Captains L. Green and M. B. Bolton, with a number of N.C.O.s and men of the 4th East Lancashires, hastened to the spot, isolated the fire, and prevented the destruction of the entire dump. They worked for forty minutes under heavy shell fire, sometimes carrying burning boxes of smoke bombs away from the flames. Both officers were decorated, as were C.S.M. R. Graham, C.S.M. A. Potts, Sergeant R. Driver, and Privates J. Berry and G. Kay. On the same day Private Isaac Whitehall, A.S.C., whilst driving a motor ambulance, came under shell fire at India Post, and was badly wounded in the shoulder. He succeeded in driving the ambulance under very heavy shelling to the A.D.S., where he had to be carried in, his machine being destroyed a few moments later. So serious was his wound that an operation had to be performed.
The Nieuport Sector was in many ways an exceedingly interesting part of the line, but space does not permit of more than an allusion to a number of places and events that will be long remembered. Among these were the rest billets at East Dunkirk and Wulpen, the camps in the sand dunes, Fisher’s Post, Suicide Corner, Cocked Hat and Triangle Woods; the Lombartzyde Road at night, a storm-centre of “whizz-bangs” and machine-gun bullets; the assistance given by artillery and machine-guns to the Belgians in their raids and attacks on Dixmude; the heavy naval guns on board monitors, on the coast, and in the dunes; the outbreaks of sand colic among the animals in the transport lines.
It was in this sector that the Division made the acquaintance of several Medical Officers of the U.S. Army. These were attached to Field Ambulances and battalions, and became very popular.
Early in November the system of “Retaliation Fire” was abandoned as unprofitable. The British positions here being entirely dependent upon the maintenance of dams and bridges, we had many more vulnerable points than had the enemy. “Punishment Fire,” consisting of crashes of devastation fire of all guns and howitzers, including heavies, on certain well-known tender spots, was substituted, and was more effective.
Cementing the Entente
On November 19 the 133rd French Division (“La Gauloise”) relieved the 42nd Division, which was now ordered to La Bassée. The occasion was an interesting one, as the men were keen to notice differences in methods and kit. In the middle of the relief the Germans began heavy shelling, and the Divisional Commander, risking the starting of an artillery battle, applied his scheme of Punishment Fire and silenced the enemy in twenty minutes. The relief was completed without further molestation, all ammunition in the left sub-sector being brought across the Yser in an overhead cradle. There were no regrets on leaving Nieuport. “Remember Belgium!” muttered a Fusilier, in allusion to the posters he had seen when home on leave. “Can I ever bloomin’ well forget it?” The cool bright weather was ideal for route-marching, and the day’s march of about twelve miles was usually completed about 2 p.m. After a short rest, followed by cleaning up and polishing, the troops would make for the nearest estaminet, there to drink vin rouge or vin blanc and converse in a strange compound of English, French, Arabic and sign-language with the thoroughly competent Hebe, of any age between nine and ninety, who attended to their wants. While resting for two days at Aire the Festival of St. Catherine was celebrated, and the local custom which ordains that any youth, by presenting a girl with a flower, may claim a kiss, was voted a bright idea, many staunch Protestants from Lancashire admitting that there was more to be said for some of the Roman Catholic customs than they had hitherto imagined. It was said that the flower-gardens of the village were devastated, but the villagers condoned this departure from the strict respect for private property normally shown by the British soldier. Indeed, the men’s conduct in France won high praise from the civilians, who termed them très gentils. There was a bad moment when a borrowed bucket fell down a well, and the owner began to express very eloquently her opinion of such carelessness. Fortunately the cook-sergeant had “won” a buckshee bucket on his way through France, and the presentation of this much superior article softened the good lady’s heart.
The five days’ road-marching acted as a tonic; the splendid feeding and undisturbed rest night after night revived the spirits and raised the tone of the troops by the time that they arrived in the La Bassée Sector. On November 29 they relieved the 25th Division in the line.