By 11.15 A.M. the remaining two sections of C/156 were in full view of the enemy, some five hundred yards away, and, as their ammunition was running out, a withdrawal to a line north of La Clytte was decided upon. From a position of assembly two hundred yards to the rear the limbers were brought up, one at a time; the first gun got away without being fired upon; the second and third escaped under heavy rifle fire, but the lead driver of the fourth gun took it through a patch of soft ground which made the pace so slow that all the horses and one of the drivers were shot, and the gun had to be abandoned for the time. The withdrawal of this battery was rendered very difficult by the fact that there were only one sergeant and six men still unwounded; all the officers and the remaining other ranks had been either killed or disabled, though Major Barker continued to command his battery despite his wound. They had put up a most brilliant fight, and the gallantry of all ranks was unsurpassable, typical of every battery on this grim morning.
There remained now only the advanced section of A/156, D/156, and the single gun of B/156. The advanced section of A/156 (Lieut. Blackwell in charge) for a long time had been firing upon the enemy at point-blank range; early in the morning teams were sent up to try and save these two guns, but the rapid advance of the enemy had not been realised and, fight to the last though they did with the enemy all around them, the guns together with their teams were captured. The advanced gun of D/156 near by had been knocked out earlier in the day and had to be abandoned, after the withdrawal of dial sights and breech-blocks. D/156 main position had also to be abandoned temporarily.
Thus, by 11.0 A.M. the only gun in action in the forward positions was the solitary 18-pdr. manned by Major Studd and his four men. This little party was now joined by Colonel Butler who, by his quiet bearing and confidence, greatly inspired both gunners and infantry. He collected and controlled a party of machine gunners whose officer had just been killed, and for some time remained with Major Studd's gun, the capture of which was only prevented by the thin line of K.O.Y.L.I. in front. Machine guns and a 5·9 in. howitzer worried this party considerably, but steady harassing fire was kept upon the enemy and prevented them from making any further advance.
At about 11.30 A.M. this single gun was switched round through 180° to fire on some Germans who were making for La Clytte, almost directly in rear. At first about twenty of the enemy were visible who, on being fired at, ran back one hundred yards into some scrub. This movement, however, caused some three hundred of the enemy to get up and bunch round their officers. Major Studd turned his gun on these and obtained a number of bursts right amongst them, with the result that they ran back five hundred yards into a patch of dead ground.
So the morning wore on, the enemy making no considerable advance since he had established himself well across the Kemmel-Vierstraat road. By 1.0 P.M. the ammunition of B/156 solitary gun had all been expended; as its presence was drawing fire upon the K.O.Y.L.I., it was run back behind the slope, and Major Studd, removing breech-block and dial sight, set out with his four men to find out what had happened to the remainder of his battery.
Thus, at 1.0 P.M., the last gun of the 156th Brigade ceased to operate in the forward positions; all the remainder had either got away or been silenced by 11.0 A.M., and it only remained to remove those which had had to be abandoned. At 5.0 P.M. in the evening Captain S. G. Taylor took up teams and attempted to save the guns of B/156, but was only able to reach the single gun in the northern position as it was impossible in the darkness to tell where the enemy was. During the night of 25th/26th and the morning of the 26th the howitzers of D/156 (less the advanced one, which had been hit) were removed from under the enemy's nose, as was also the one gun of C/156 which had been abandoned, and on the morning of the 26th also Captain Taylor brought up his teams and saved the three guns of B/156 in broad daylight with the enemy only four hundred yards away—a very fine performance.
So ended the doings of the 156th Brigade on April 25th; three guns had fallen into the hands of the enemy, but all the remainder, although a few had temporarily to be abandoned, were saved; in every case the guns had been fought to the last, tremendous casualties being inflicted upon the enemy. Let us now turn to the 162nd Brigade and follow their doings also on this memorable day.
The four batteries of the 162nd Brigade had, in common with all the other guns, been enveloped in the tremendous barrage which the enemy put down at two o'clock in the morning. In spite of this terrific storm of shell—the intensity of which may be judged from the fact that Lieut. Squire of B/162 was killed by the concussion of the bursting shell all around him, his body being otherwise unwounded—the detachments under their battery officers' control maintained a steady rate of fire upon the enemy. All communication between "A," "B" and C/162 and Brigade headquarters completely broke down, and runners were either killed or prevented by wounds from reaching their destination; to quote the words of one who was a witness of the batteries' deeds:—"Standing on the fringe of that barrage was hell enough for me; to think of Fetherston, Body, Lee and Cory (the four battery commanders) and all the others walking about in their batteries in the thick of it—I don't know how they ever got out." Casualties came thick and fast amongst the detachments, guns were disabled or completely knocked out, yet the fire of the guns never faltered, and all through the morning they offered a determined opposition to the enemy advance.
The first guns to move back were, of course, the forward section of D/162 at Rossignol Wood. By great good fortune the wire between this forward section and the main battery position remained intact, as did also the wire from there on to Lieut.-Colonel Skinner's headquarters, and the most useful information was thereby transmitted to the Divisional Commander. At about 8.0 A.M., the enemy being then almost on top of the two forward guns, orders were sent to Major Lee to withdraw this section, and teams were immediately sent forward under Lieut. Escott to carry this into effect. Making their way through the barrage, the little party reached the forward section just as the latter, who had been firing at intense rate the whole morning, had expended practically all the ammunition. In front the enemy were only three hundred yards away; on either flank they had worked right round until they had almost closed in on the guns, yet the withdrawal was carried out successfully under heavy rifle, machine-gun and shell fire, the gunners with their officers walking beside the guns. It is impossible to say too much for such a fine feat; the section, under two young officers (Lieut. Bennet and Lieut. Garrod, and later Lieut. Escott who was in charge of the teams), had been in a very exposed and advanced position; it came under the most intense fire both prior to and during the retirement, every horse in both teams—there were no wagons—was hit, yet the guns were saved without the loss of a single small store, and all the wounded were brought safely away. In recognition of this performance every driver of both teams was awarded the Military Medal.
Shortly after the return of this advanced section to the main line of guns, the withdrawal of the latter to previously reconnoitred positions began. The batteries had now been firing for many hours in the face of a perfect hail of shell, and, great as had been the tenacity and determination shown by officers and men in keeping up a vigorous rate of fire upon the enemy in spite of terrific retaliation, still greater tenacity and courage was shown in the carrying out of the retirement. For some time past not a single runner had succeeded in making the double journey from Brigade Headquarters to the batteries and back, each man in turn falling a victim to the intensity of the enemy barrage, but finally Lieut. Stanley-Clarke of B/162, with much good fortune and considerable gallantry, succeeded in conveying to the guns the order to withdraw.