On the evening of May 8th the Battalion marched up to its assembly positions. Every man was in full marching order and carried an extra bandolier of ammunition and the usual miscellaneous assortment of sandbags, extra rations, etc. On arrival, all set to work to improve their accommodation. Battalion H.Q. occupied Croix Blanche Farm, from which building a good view of part of the battle area was obtained the following day. At 5-30 a.m. on May 9th, the British Artillery opened fire, and, to the inexperienced soldiers of the Battalion, the bombardment appeared to be terrific. “The bombardment was a fine sight and (it was) difficult to realise that anyone could be alive after it in that particular zone,” says the Battalion’s War Diary. Actually, it was very thin, but none of the men had any conception at that time of what massed artillery can do. The German reply was slight, and was entirely confined to counter-battery work on that part of the front. In their ignorance, some put this down to the enemy’s scarcity of ammunition. This mistaken idea that the enemy was short of shells was not uncommon then. For a long time nothing was learned of the progress of the attack. At length wounded began to arrive, and rumours to spread. Some of these latter were only too true. The attack had failed. It is unnecessary to tell the details of that day as the Battalion never became engaged. It is sufficient to say that British infantry, who lacked nothing in gallantry but had little artillery support, were ineffective in the face of countless German machine guns.
The Battalion remained at its battle stations all day, without receiving any orders. Very few shells fell near its positions and its only casualty was caused by a premature from one of the British guns. There was little for the men to do. Some of them spent their time making tea, which they served out to the wounded who were dribbling down the road in large numbers. Few prisoners were seen. The British artillery continued firing most of the time, but the attack was really at an end, on that part of the front, quite early in the day.
In the evening orders came to carry out the relief which had been postponed the previous night. This proved by far the most uncomfortable part of the day’s proceedings. Though everything was quiet both at Croix Blanche and in the front line trenches, the route between was being fairly heavily shelled, and was swept by machine gun fire. It was the Battalion’s first experience of heavy fire in the open and it was not enjoyed, particularly when a hitch in the operation caused a somewhat prolonged halt, and three companies were strung out along the road without any cover. But luckily, and much to the surprise of everyone, the relief was carried out without a single casualty to the Battalion. This was the first and only time that a relief was carried out by night in the Fleurbaix Sector.
Though the battle continued, on and off, for many days further to the south, the Battalion was not again seriously affected by it. Occasionally it received rather more than the usual attention from the enemy’s artillery, particularly on May 10th, when a large hole was blown in C Company’s parapet. It was then that Capt. E. E. Sykes had his first chance of showing that absolute fearlessness and supreme contempt for danger which later became a by-word in the Battalion. In full view of the extremely accurate enemy snipers, who shot two of the men who were helping him, he built up a rough barricade which served until darkness allowed the breech to be properly repaired.
Towards the end of May the Battalion played a small part in a minor operation on the 148th Infantry Brigade Sector. There a new front line trench was in course of construction in No Man’s Land by the 4th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. They worked on it by night, and withdrew by day. One night, on arriving to occupy it, they found the Germans in possession. To assist in ejecting them, Lieut. E. Lee, with part of the Battalion Machine Gun Section, was sent up. They did not go into action, for the men of the 148th Infantry Brigade were able to regain the trench without assistance, but a few casualties were suffered by the party from enemy fire.
On May 24th, the Battalion suffered a serious loss. Lieut.-Col. H. S. Atkinson, T.D., who had trained the Battalion in England and brought it out to France, was invalided home. It was a great misfortune and none felt it more than he. His health had been bad for three years, following on a serious operation, but he had stuck very gamely to his work in England, and hoped to be able to see the war through with the Battalion. Had he undergone a proper army medical examination, he would never have been allowed to leave England; but by keeping out of the way of the doctors he had succeeded in getting to France. Major E. P. Chambers assumed command of the Battalion, with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel.
By the beginning of June, the Battalion had pretty well settled down in its new life. Perhaps the men did not look quite so smart as in Doncaster days, but they had become far more efficient soldiers. Trench routine was no longer a hidden mystery, and enemy bullets had ceased to be novelties. The Battalion had had to pay for its education. Much discomfort was suffered before the men learned to fend for themselves; much work had proved useless owing to the inexperience of the workers. The toll of life had not been heavy, but the graves near Croix Blanche still bear their testimony to the early work of the Battalion in France.
Early in June the Battalion suffered its third officer casualty. Capt. A. L. Mowat, of D Company, was shot in the head while assisting in the construction of a sandbag shelter.
The night before the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo great preparations were made to annoy the enemy. When the sun rose the following morning, it shone on a parapet gay with the flags of Britain, France, Belgium, Russia and Italy. But the result was most disappointing; the Germans did not show the least signs of annoyance. Perhaps they remembered their own part in that battle exactly a century before. So a stuffed dummy was placed on the parapet, and that certainly did tempt their marksmen, who riddled it with bullets. But they ceased fire when the dummy was decorated with an iron cross.
On the night of June 25/26th, the Battalion said good-bye to Fleurbaix and moved to Doulieu. Thence it marched, by easy stages, halting a day or two here and there, to a wood near St. Jans ter Biezen, which was reached about 1-0 a.m. on July 1st.