crosses of the Legion of Honour and medals to officers of the Fifth British Army. At the conclusion of the parade the Battalion marched past followed by the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, and then returned to billets. On the 24th it marched to de Wippe Cross-roads, where it remained a week. The enemy’s big guns carried out some long-distance shelling, chiefly on the roads at night, but fortunately the 2nd Battalion suffered no casualties. On the 28th it marched to Cardoen Farm.
July.
The officers of the 2nd Battalion on July 1, 1917, were:
On July 2 the 2nd Battalion relieved the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards in the Boesinghe Sector, which was soon to become the site selected for an offensive. The Belgians at the time were on the right, and were subsequently relieved by the French. The trenches occupied by the Battalion were extended for about 1500 yards along the western bank of the Yser Canal. The first day was spent in improving the position, and as soon as it became dark the men were mostly employed in carrying up material of all kinds to the front area. At 11.30 P.M. orders were received from the Brigadier to make two raids into the enemy’s lines, with a view to obtaining identification of the German regiments employed there, as well as information as to the whereabouts of the German trench. Lieut.-Colonel de Crespigny decided to send out two parties: the first consisting of No. 11 Platoon, under Second Lieutenant I. FitzG. S. Gunnis, whose task it was to capture, if possible, a prisoner; and the second under Second Lieutenant Lord Basil Blackwood with a party of five men from No. 10 Platoon, who received orders to reconnoitre in a certain direction. It was a very dark night, and this was all in favour of the enterprise, but on the other hand the difficulties of crossing the canal and advancing into “No Man’s Land,” where the exact disposition
of the German defences were unknown, in absolute darkness, were only too obvious. The first obstacle to be overcome was the passage of the Yser Canal, and this was accomplished by means of 5-feet mats made of canvas and wire netting, nailed to wooden slats. Two of these were used, being placed in position by two specially detailed parties, and proved most effective in providing a foothold over the muddy bed of the canal. Thus the two parties succeeded in crossing without detection by the enemy.
On arrival on the east side of the canal, Lord Basil Blackwood led his party on into the darkness, but instead of the trench which they had expected to find from a previous study of the aeroplane map, there was nothing but a mass of shell-holes with heavy wire entanglement, which made it difficult for the party to keep together. After going a considerable distance over rough and broken ground, rifle-fire was suddenly opened on them from a dug-out. Lord Basil Blackwood’s orderly was wounded, while a sapper from the Royal Engineers, who formed one of the party, was killed. The remainder at once lay down in shell-holes, and as they waited bombs were thrown at them from the same direction. Owing to the two men who originally followed him having become casualties, the party now became scattered. Beyond this point little is known. A corporal of the Royal Engineers who accompanied the party, and who was wounded, said that he saw Lord Basil Blackwood crawl forward after the shots were fired, but subsequently lost sight of him. The two remaining men of the Grenadiers
assert that they saw him fall, but that owing to the darkness they completely lost touch with him, and after crawling about for some time they returned to the canal bank. Unfortunately they omitted to report all this to their Company Commander, Captain Walker, who with Colonel de Crespigny and Major Bailey was waiting on the canal bank for any news of the raiding party. It did not at first occur to Captain Walker that anything was amiss, but when time wore on, and Lord Basil Blackwood failed to return, he became uneasy. The difficulty was, however, that no one could be found to give any information which would enable a patrol to go out with any hope of tracing the missing party.
The movements of the other party under Second Lieutenant Gunnis are even more obscure. After crossing the canal, one portion of the party went on to form a block on the north side, whilst the remainder worked south in search of a prisoner. Eventually they found a German trench and walked down it, until an obstruction of barbed wire made farther progress impossible. As the sides were too steep to admit of egress, Second Lieutenant Gunnis gave the order to turn about, with the intention of retracing his steps and getting out farther back. The order was apparently misunderstood, and some of the men became detached. Second Lieutenant Gunnis then entered another trench. He went along it until he was suddenly fired at, at very close range. Undeterred by this, he retired a short distance and returned again outside the trench. Having passed the point from which he was fired at, he
appears to have lost direction, for he went on until he came upon the dead body of a British soldier, most probably that of the Engineer, who had accompanied Lord Basil Blackwood’s party. He told the two men next to him to carry the body back. He intended the remainder of the party to follow him, but, owing to the darkness, combined with the broken state of the ground, the orders were misunderstood. At that moment several bombs were thrown. The men took what cover they could in shell-holes. When the bombing ceased Second Lieutenant Gunnis was no longer with the party. Whether he walked on under the impression that the others were following him, or whether he was killed by a bomb it is impossible to say. The enemy about this time sent up S.O.S. signals which brought down a heavy barrage on the British lines, and this no doubt prevented the survivors of the party returning in time to enable a patrol to go out before daylight.