On March 25th the front covered by the 33rd Divisional Artillery was extended some five hundred yards further to the south, S.O.S. lines being rearranged accordingly, and on March 28th/29th one section each of "B," "C" and D/156 moved out to alternate positions S.E. of Kansas Cross, S.E. of Bostin Farm and east of Kansas Cross respectively. During the preceding weeks the enemy had been constantly shelling the Abraham Heights area with gas and had rendered it quite untenable, B/156 having as many as forty gas casualties in one week; the change of position described above had therefore become an urgent necessity. Although the enemy artillery activity had died down since the 21st it was still fairly vigorous, especially upon roads, back areas and wagon-lines—the latter suffering considerably.
A further extension of the brigade zones to the south was made on March 29th, and on the same day another section of "B," "C" and D/156 moved back to the alternative positions described above. Next day Major Hill's battery (C/162), which had left Tilques on the 27th and had marched up via Godewaersvelde to wagon-lines at Goldfish Château, sent one section into action at Bostin Farm, one thousand yards west of Zonnebeke Church, to be joined by the rest of the battery on the night of March 31st/April 1st; by the end of March, therefore, the 33rd Division had its guns well distributed in depth, and could be certain of giving adequate protection to the infantry even should the latter be forced back behind the line of forward guns.
Thus the batteries remained for the first week of April. March had made its exit with a heavy enemy bombardment on the evening of the 31st upon the forward, battery and back areas, with a heavy gas concentration upon the Frezenburg line, to all of which the batteries had at infantry request responded. April came in, bringing with it little news save an ever-increasing expectation of attack on the Divisional sector, and so the first week passed while everybody held his breath, as it were, in anticipation.
On Sunday, April 7th, portions of the 156th and 162nd Brigades were relieved by the 28th Army Field Artillery Brigade (Colonel Paynter) and marched out to their wagon-lines near Vlamertinghe. On the 8th the relief was completed and the batteries were all resting in the wagon-lines, hourly expecting orders to move down south to the aid of the hard-pressed 5th Army, for thither they all believed they were to go, nor is it too much to say that considerable despondency was felt in both Brigades at not being engaged in the battle then in progress. Before any such orders were issued, however, an enemy offensive was suddenly launched upon them from much nearer at hand, and, although the 162nd Brigade marched to the Peselhoek-Poperinghe area on April 9th, there was to be neither for them nor for the 156th Brigade any rest. The Germans were about to start their great attack in the north which grew into a drive for the coast, and every man, every gun, every available round of ammunition was needed in the great struggle shortly to begin.
CHAPTER X.
Part I.
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE IN FLANDERS.
(APRIL-MAY 1918.)
Early on the morning of Tuesday, April 9th, there came to the batteries, as they lay resting in their wagon-lines, the sound of tremendous shelling to the south, a continuous thunder which was maintained throughout the whole of that and the succeeding day (April 10th), giving rise to considerable speculation and rumour. Clearly a great weight of artillery was at work and almost certainly an attack was, if not already begun, at least imminent, but what was happening and why did not the batteries move up to take part in the battle? Of news or orders there were none, and not for many hours did the men learn of the mighty German thrust which even then was in progress, the thrust which, starting between Givenchy and Bois Grenier on the 9th, spread northwards to Messines on the 10th and marked the beginning of the greatest battle yet seen on the Flanders front.
At last, on the afternoon of April 10th, news came to the 156th Brigade that the Germans had attacked and advanced on a long front between Ploegsteert Wood and Givenchy; that they had taken Armentières and had advanced well in the direction of Bailleul, though Neuve Église was still ours, and that the batteries were to move up into action immediately to stop this onslaught. At 5.0 P.M. the march began, and the brigade set out for its rendezvous, a point about one mile west-north-west of Neuve Église, which it reached in pitch darkness after many weary hours on roads greatly congested by traffic and by refugees who, in the last stage of exhaustion, had scarcely strength to get out of the way of our troops. Here the situation was found to be very obscure; nobody knew where the infantry were, but warnings were received that parties of Germans were believed to be little more than a mile to the south, and at any moment the guns might be called upon to open fire. Consequently the horses remained fully harnessed up all night and practically alongside the guns, the latter having their trails dropped in a position ready to fire, Lewis guns and guards were posted in every battery position, and so the brigade stood awaiting information which would clear up a little the prevailing chaos.
At three o'clock on the morning of Thursday, the 11th, the expected orders arrived, and at half-past four began the march to Vierstraat, where positions had been allotted to the brigade. By ten o'clock Lieut.-Colonel Butler had completed his reconnaissance of Vierstraat cross-roads, by half-past ten the four battery commanders were engaged upon the same work, and midday saw the batteries in action bombarding the enemy who had by then reached a line running just east of Wytschaete and curving away thence towards the north-east. The battery positions lay around Vierstraat and between that village and Kemmel, and from observation stations north-east of Wytschaete the S.O.S. lines of the guns were quickly registered.
Meanwhile the 162nd Brigade, farther back in the Poperinghe rest area, had also received urgent orders to move into action. On the morning of April 10th the batteries had paraded for a drill order of the whole brigade and had moved off to some open country near by to begin the exercise. While this was actually in progress a dispatch rider arrived and brought the parade to an abrupt conclusion, for he carried with him orders for the brigade to join the 19th Division at Dranoutre immediately and to move into action without a moment's delay. Leaving Captain Pavitt (the Adjutant) to collect the batteries and lead them to the rendezvous, Lieut.-Colonel Skinner (O.C. 162nd Brigade) set off by motor with his orderly officer to report for orders to the C.R.A. 19th Division near Neuve Église. Owing to various difficulties on the way these orders were not received until 2.0 P.M., but their effect was that Colonel Skinner should bring his batteries into action immediately near Spanbroekmolen. As no horses were available, the reconnaissance of these positions had to be carried out on foot and took a long time, but when the positions were finally chosen the orderly officer (Lieut. Bartholomew) was sent back to Dranoutre to await the arrival of the batteries and to guide them to their positions.
ORDER OF BATTLE.