The left flank party came upon an enemy sentry post almost at once. One unwounded prisoner was taken and was passed out of the trench to Capt. Mowat, who was waiting on the parapet. The rest of the Germans were killed. The party then began to work its way along the trench to its left. A second enemy party was encountered, and, for a short time, held up the advance. But half of the British party was working on the parapet. Cpl. E. Jackson, who was in command of these, quickly worked round the Germans, dropped into the trench behind them, and attacked them from the rear. One was taken, the rest were killed. But the prisoner, after his capture, fired at and wounded Moscrop; so he was promptly killed. The party then continued its way towards the left, where it became engaged with some German bombers. These it successfully held at bay until the recall signal was heard.
The right flank party, under Sec.-Lieut. R. C. Purvis, moved along the trench in a similar manner. It had barely started when word was passed down that identification had been obtained. Sergt. J. S. Sheard led the way, and himself accounted for the first three Germans who were met. Moving further along, the party became heavily engaged with some of the enemy, who were bombing from the parados. Several casualties were suffered, including Sergt. Sheard severely wounded. But here, as on the other flank, the advantage of having a party on the parapet was apparent. This party, of whom Lance-Cpl. R. Knox shot two Germans, was able to hold the enemy bombers at bay; and the right flank was well covered until the end of the operation. When the recall signal was sounded, all began to withdraw. Before leaving the trench, Cpl. S. Jessop threw a petrol can, with Mills bombs attached, down a dugout entrance; great sheets of flame shot up the stairway and “the results appeared satisfactory,” says the official report.
It would appear that the Bangalore torpedo had not been exploded exactly at the pre-arranged spot. As a result, the raiders entered the trench more to the left than had been intended. Sec.-Lieut. E. V. Blakey searched for the communication trench, which it was his duty to block and hold, but was unable to find it. He was able, however, to give assistance both to Sergt. Moscrop and to the dugout-clearing party; and, as the enemy does not seem to have made any attempt to counter-attack along the communication trench, the failure to find it did not affect the operation.
Both flanking parties had received strict orders to ignore all dugouts. These were left to Sec.-Lieut. A. Butler, Sergt. F. Johnson and their men. The former worked to the right, the latter to the left. Each party carried with it a plentiful supply of Mills bombs and short-fused Stokes shells. Every dugout was bombed, and the crashing explosions showed clearly how effective the Stokes shells were. No one can attempt to estimate the number of casualties which were inflicted, but they were certainly heavy. There is no doubt that many Germans were in the dugouts. A light flashed down the entrance to one showed four bodies lying on the steps. Lance-Cpl. H. Kane was particularly prominent in this work. He shouted down the entrance to one dugout and was answered by much talking; but as he did not understand the language he thought it best to drop a bomb down. So he did.
Meanwhile, Capt. J. G. Mowat was hard at work on the parapet. He was in communication with Battalion H.Q. by telephone the whole time. He had to keep a careful watch on the operation, in order to be ready to deal promptly with any unforeseen development. Also he was largely occupied in improving the gap in the enemy wire, so that the return of the raiders might be easier. By 10-18 p.m. he saw clearly that enemy bombing attacks were becoming serious on the flanks, and, as identification had been obtained early on, there was no reason to remain longer in the enemy lines. He ordered the recall to be sounded. Two buglers were with him for that purpose. Their notes rang out and were heard by all. The pass-word “Mowat” was shouted everywhere. The withdrawal began.
Everything went well. The parties of Sec.-Lieuts. E. V. Blakey and A. Butler withdrew first, leaving the trench by means of light ladders which they had carried forward with them in the first advance. Their withdrawal was covered by the flank parties, who afterwards moved towards the point of entry, covered by their own parapet men. By 10-20 p.m. every man had left the trench, and “All Clear” was sent back along the wire. The artillery barrage again dropped on the enemy front line, to cover the withdrawal across No Man’s Land. This was soon effected, Capt. Mowat bringing up the rear. In a few minutes every man, including all the wounded, was back in the British line. There were no “Missing.”
The raid had been an unqualified success, and was therefore a great source of satisfaction to the Battalion. It was an example of what careful and thorough training can do. With the exception of the slight loss of direction in the first crossing of No Man’s Land, which resulted in the trench being entered too much to the left and Sec.-Lieut. Blakey failing to find his objective, everything had worked like clockwork. Identification had been obtained, an enormous amount of damage had been done to the enemy defences, and many Germans had been killed or wounded—17 dead Germans were actually counted, and there must have been many more in the dugouts which were bombed. All this had been done at a cost of only seven wounded, of whom, however, Sergt. J. S. Sheard died a few days later. All these casualties had been suffered in the enemy trench; not a man had been hit either during the advance or the withdrawal. There can be no doubt that the effect on the morale of the Battalion was very great. The raiders themselves were most enthusiastic and would have dearly liked to do another raid. Everyone else in the Battalion envied them their good luck.
Capt. J. G. Mowat shortly after received the Military Cross which he had thoroughly earned, both by his good work in training the party and by his gallant leadership. Sergt. G. Moscrop received the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and several Military Medals were awarded to the N.C.O’s and men who had been most prominent in the operation.
The Battalion did two more tours in the same sector before it was finally relieved. Little of special note happened. The enemy artillery and trench mortars were rather more active than they had been earlier in the month, probably as a result of the raid. About this time one or two officers of the 62nd Division, which had only recently landed in France, were attached to the Battalion for instruction. The only event of real importance was a fire in the Assistant Adjutant’s dugout; this consumed many “valuable” official documents, and was thus a great source of satisfaction to the Orderly Room for many weeks to come.
On the last day of February the Battalion was relieved by the 2/9th Battalion London Regt., and moved back to Bailleulval. As a parting message of hate, the enemy shelled the village that night and caused several casualties. But the Battalion had now finished with the Third Army. For a few days it marched and counter-marched about the district, never stopping more than a night at one place, except Halloy. None of these places was of much interest, except perhaps Neuvillette, where the billets were exceptionally good. On March 7th the Battalion marched to Doullens, and, after waiting in the streets all day, entrained in the evening. Soon after dark the train started on its slow northerly journey, and so, without interest and unnoticed, the Battalion left the Third Army.