The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918, Vol. 2 of 3

by Frederick Ponsonby

W. R. Bailey, Capt. Adjt.,

2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards.

September 14, 1916.

The officers of the 2nd Battalion who took part in the operations from September 15 to 17 were:

Lieut.-Colonel C. R. C. de Crespigny, D.S.O.	Commanding Officer.
Capt. Viscount Lascelles	Second in Command.
Capt. the Hon. W. R. Bailey	Adjutant.
Capt. C. N. Newton	No. 1 Company.
Lieut. P. M. Walker	”   ”
Lieut. A. T. A. Ritchie, M.C.	”   ”
2nd Lieut. C. C. Cubitt	”   ”
Capt. A. K. S. Cunninghame	No. 2 Company.
Capt. M. K. A. Lloyd	”   ”
Lieut. T. Parker Jervis (Pioneer Platoon)	”   ”
Lieut. N. McK. Jesper	”   ”
Capt. W. H. Beaumont-Nesbitt	No. 3 Company.
Lieut. H. F. C. Crookshank (Lewis Guns)	”   ”
Lieut. M. H. Macmillan	”   ”
2nd Lieut. J. Arbuthnott	No. 3 Company.
2nd Lieut. A. Hasler	”   ”
Capt. G. C. FitzH. Harcourt-Vernon	No. 4 Company.
2nd Lieut. T. W. Minchin	”   ”
2nd Lieut. D. Harvey	”   ”
Capt. J. Andrews, R.A.M.C.	Medical Officer.

Sept. 15.

At 5 A.M. on the 15th the tanks were seen moving slowly forward on the left flank of the Brigade, but they apparently aroused no suspicion, and did not attract any fire. Punctually at 6.20, the zero hour, the two Coldstream battalions started off, and immediately came under a terrific fire from the enemy’s machine-guns. The unevenness of the “jumping-off line,” and the total absence of any recognisable landmarks in that desert of shell-holes, made a certain loss of direction inevitable. The leaders of the assault were mown down, but the remainder, undeterred by losses, pushed on until they were within twenty yards of the sunken road. It was a red-letter day in the history of the Coldstream, for with the 1st Battalion Coldstream from the 2nd Brigade there were three battalions of Coldstream all in line.

When they reached the sunken road there was a momentary check, as the leading companies had lost a large number of officers or non-commissioned officers. Lieut.-Colonel J. Campbell saw that to pause for a moment in the attack would mean failure, and dashed forward. Knowing that in the infernal roar of rifle and machine-gun fire no commands could possibly be heard, he had provided himself with a hunting-horn, which he now blew. The familiar sound, piercing the din,

instantly arrested the attention of the men, and they at once followed their Colonel. Straight into the midst of the enemy they went with an irresistible rush, and got to work with the bayonet.

Large numbers of Germans were killed or taken prisoner, and four machine-guns were captured, in addition to a number of trench mortars. The casualties in the 2nd Battalion were considerably increased by the fact that the tank, which should have passed over the place where the machine-guns were posted, never reached its objective, and consequently a gap of 100 yards was left where it should have gone.