To make matters worse the guides who had been supplied lost their way, and it was not till three o’clock next morning that the relief was complete. The front-line trench was very shallow, and not by any means bullet-proof, while the communication trench called Gas Alley was filled with British and German corpses.
Captain Spencer-Churchill was ordered to go with his company to Gas Alley and dig a trench connecting it with the one on the right, the exact position of which was not known. He was told that the shell-holes round the block in Gas Alley were strongly held by the enemy’s snipers, and that he could call for artillery support if he thought it advisable. He decided that it would be useless to send out patrols at night, and determined to find the other trench himself. This he accomplished by going a long way round by the sunken road, and on reaching the block in the other trench he came across a small post with a Lewis gun which had attracted a good deal of attention from the Germans. Having located the other trench he returned to Gas Alley and organised a bombing party, which Lieutenant J. F. J. Joicey-Cecil was to lead.
Sept. 22-24.
Just as the attack was about to start next morning the Germans hurled a succession of bombs at the trench, but they exploded some distance off and no one was hurt. Then the Grenadier party broke down the block and advanced, but discovered that the Germans had retired 100 yards towards their main line, where another block had been made by filling in the trench for 40 yards. Captain Spencer-Churchill
followed on and established a bombing post there. On returning to the sunken road, he received orders to take over Gas Alley and the 80 yards of the trench leading into it.
Being told by the guide that it was quite safe to go over the top, he did so, with Sergeant Roberts and his runner, Private Woolridge, but hardly had they emerged when they found themselves in full view of the enemy, who fired at them from all directions. One bullet passed through Captain Spencer-Churchill’s steel helmet, scratching his face and knocking a piece of the helmet into his eye, while another grazed Sergeant Roberts’s ear. It was obvious, therefore, that any attempt to connect the two trenches would have to be made below the surface; as a preliminary, two long sticks with an empty sand-bag on top were put up in the farther trench, and proved to be easily visible from Gas Alley. In the meantime Lieutenant the Hon. E. W. Tennant, who had been left in Gas Alley, had occupied his time shooting at the enemy. Apparently there was some movement by the Germans which led him to shoot with his revolver, and a moment later he fell dead, shot through the head by one of the enemy’s snipers. The men of No. 4 Company now set to work to connect the two trenches, and managed to complete the work, though in the gathering dusk they had at first some difficulty in hitting off the exact spot.
That night the 4th Battalion was relieved by the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and retired to Bernafay Wood. Captain Spencer-Churchill’s eyes were now giving him great trouble, and his sight
became so much affected that he had to be led by his orderly. At Bernafay Wood the surgeon insisted on giving him a tetanus injection and sending him down to hospital. The command of the Company therefore devolved on Second Lieutenant D. O. Constable. During the next two nights the 4th Battalion was again engaged in digging communication and assembly trenches, and had some casualties. On the 24th the orders for next day’s attack were issued, and at night the 4th Battalion took up its position in the line.
The officers of the 4th Battalion who took part in the attack of the 25th were:
| Major (temp. Lieut.-Colonel) Lord Henry Seymour, D.S.O. | Commanding Officer. |
| Lieut. (temp. Captain) R. S. Lambert | Adjutant. |
| Capt. C. G. Goschen | No. 1 Company. |
| Lieut. A. C. Flower | ” ” |
| Lieut. A. R. Ellice | ” ” |
| Lieut. (temp. Captain) C. R. Britten | No. 2 Company. |
| 2nd Lieut. C. G. Keith | ” ” |
| 2nd Lieut. H. C. S. Maine | ” ” |
| Capt. W. A. L. Stewart | No. 3 Company. |
| Lieut. R. Farquhar | ” ” |
| Lieut. J. F. J. Joicey-Cecil | ” ” |
| 2nd Lieut. M. H. F. Payne-Gallwey | ” ” |
| Lieut. D. O. Constable | No. 4 Company. |
| 2nd Lieut. J. W. F. Selby-Lowndes | ” ” |
| Capt. N. Grellier, M.C., R.A.M.C. | Medical Officer. |