For his able handling of the battalion (in the absence of Lt.-Colonel Power, who had been called to Brigade H.Q.) on the 21st and 22nd March, Captain H. de R. Morgan was awarded the D.S.O.
The 23rd March was a fairly peaceful day, but in the morning the men had to get into position and the battalion to push forward patrols towards Courcelles because the enemy was vaguely reported to be within three miles of that place. Gun fire was heavy, but no enemy was discovered in the immediate vicinity. An attempt was made to recover kits, drums and band instruments from Favreuil, but the searchers were promptly turned back by the military police. Two sporting drummers, however, managed to slip through these guardians of law and order and they rescued the big drum and three side drums. On the 24th the 6th Division was transferred to the 2nd Army and at 2.30 p.m. the Buffs entrained for Doullens and next day for Rousbrugge in Belgium, where they arrived at six o’clock on the 26th and from whence they marched six kilometres to Crombeke, going into scattered billets near Watow (some five miles west of Poperinghe).
On the 28th of the month H.M. The King visited Steenvoorde, close by, and the commanding officer, Lt.-Colonel Power, Captain Hamilton and one N.C.O., who had done well in the recent fighting from each company, attended his parade there.
At the very end of the month the battalion moved into the trenches again at Zonnebeke. A second German offensive, which commenced south of Ypres on the 9th April, was referred to at the commencement of this chapter. The 1st Battalion of the Buffs was engaged in no severe fighting in connection with this phase of the war, though it naturally joined in the general gradual withdrawal which was rendered necessary. This withdrawal, as far as it concerned the battalion, commenced on the 15th April, when after a few days of the usual trench warfare, losing eight casualties, one of which was Lieut. S. W. Taylor killed, and receiving a couple of drafts amounting to 230 men, it moved to Westhoek and the neighbourhood, being, in fact, somewhat scattered about to man several posts which were occupied up till the 23rd. The posts were heavily shelled on the 17th, with the result that C.S.M. Field and eleven men were wounded. The situation at this time was that the second German offensive had developed south of Ypres and that Messines Ridge and Kemmel Hill had been taken from us, these two positions being of the greatest importance for the defence of Ypres. Consequently the troops all round this area were in a somewhat desperate position and, as Sir Douglas Haig expressed it, “with their backs to the wall.” The gradual withdrawal of our forces west of Ypres into or immediately around the ruins themselves resulted; and so it came about that on the 23rd April the Buffs moved by detachments into the ramparts of Ypres. On that day the place was heavily gassed and twenty-two of our men were caught in the fumes. On the 26th the K.S.L.I. withdrew from the front line, leaving the York and Lancasters on outpost duty. After this withdrawal the enemy advanced very quickly, but they stopped at the York and Lancaster picquets. There were daily casualties now; men died by twos and threes and some were wounded more or less severely, and there was a continuous toll of gas casualties. A big attack was expected on the 28th, but it did not materialize, for now French reserves were hurrying up to the threatened portion of our line, and the second great German effort to wrest a victory before the Americans were in strength had proved a failure.
The month of May was a remarkable one to the 1st Battalion for the terrible list of casualties from gas. This mode of warfare began, as we have seen, at Ypres, and now, after three years of warfare, it seemed almost as formidable a weapon as ever, notwithstanding the mask, respirators and so on which had been invented to cope with it. During this month alone the 1st Battalion counted 119 casualties from this cause, and the unit was all the month (and up till the 12th June) either in Ypres or its vicinity. There was, however, a bright side to life this merry month of May. There was a gracious and fairly liberal distribution of honours to gladden the hearts of both the recipients and their friends. These were nearly all awarded for the fighting at Vaulx, and it is somewhat curious to note how well the number of awards compares with those given to our 2nd Battalion in 1915 and in connection with their terrible struggle north and east of Ypres. This remark is not for an instant to be misconstrued into an opinion that the 1st Battalion medals were not most magnificently won; it is only by way of a sigh of regret for the brave 2nd Battalion’s bad luck. Military Medals were given to Sgt. Morgan, Corpls. Andrews and Thomas, Ptes. Croft, Highton, Johnson, Kear (attached T.M.B.), Knight, Rainsbury and Stevenson. A bar to his M.M. to L.-Corpl. Wilson; to C.S.M. Peters a D.C.M.; to Major Morgan the D.S.O.; to Lieut. Spence the M.C.; and to Sgt. MacWalter, who had the M.M. already, the D.C.M. Corpl. Brookman also got the M.M. on the 29th. In addition to the gas casualties twelve men were killed during May and twenty-three wounded, as this part of the line, never a quiet one, was the scene at this period of unusual activity.
At 12.45 a.m. on the 27th May the whole of the back area of the brigade was very heavily shelled with gas and high explosive for three hours while the forward area was untouched. A number of direct hits was obtained on brigade headquarters without damage, and the Buffs (in reserve) were obliged to wear their respirators for more than four hours. Meanwhile the enemy attacked the French on our right and penetrated their line to a depth of about seven hundred yards, but did not reach his objective. No attack took place on the 6th Divisional front, but the 71st Infantry Brigade was constrained to form a strong defensive flank. During the day the French partially re-established their position and artillery activity continued on both sides, particularly by the enemy on our back area. During the night the 71st Brigade relieved the French regiment on their right and, in order to supply the number of men required by its brigadier, the Buffs were placed under his tactical orders as his reserve battalion. After this the enemy became for some days comparatively inactive except for the shelling of back areas and the use of aircraft, and on the 8th the brigade retired temporarily to Corps Reserve, moving by train to St. Omer for a few days’ musketry near that city, and afterwards returning to Poperinghe. On the 26th the Buffs relieved a French battalion in the Dickebusch area, taking over a bad line almost unprovided with wire and with no communication trench, so that movement by daytime was impossible. Then casualties recommenced and in four days 2nd Lieut. Thompson (attached from the Queen’s) and three men died, 2nd Lieut. Collett and seventeen were wounded, and this kind of thing went on steadily all July, the battalion losing 2nd Lieut. P. V. Drake-Brockman killed, Captain W. A. C. Hedley, who died of wounds, and eight men killed, one of whom was buried by a shell. 2nd Lieut. Balding and fifty men were wounded, fourteen of whom were, however, able to remain at duty. During June the following were mentioned in despatches for good work during the German offensive: Lt.-Colonel Power, D.S.O.; Major Blackall; Captains E. H. Allen, Marshall, D.S.O., M.C., and Stone; Lieuts. Corney and Froome; Sgt. French; and Ptes. Dewhurst and Keyes.
Towards the end of July two companies of Americans, numbering 4 officers and 340 men, arrived and were distributed amongst our people to learn the hang of things and prepare themselves for the early advance which was now every day becoming more clearly a certainty.
On the 2nd August C Company and No. 7 platoon of B carried out a raid which was arranged and organized by Captain Moss, M.C., the battalion being then on the left sector of the brigade front. The 18th and the 100th Brigades on either flank co-operated with demonstrations and so on, and great help was given by the 6th Divisional Artillery. The object of the expedition was the capture of prisoners and consequent obtaining of identification, and this object was very successfully gained, but at a terrible loss. The story is briefly as follows: two platoons, commanded by Lieut. Hollis, M.C., had for their objective the Brasserie, and another, under Lieut. Harper, a certain cabaret; while No. 7 Platoon, under 2nd Lieut. Lister, was directed on the Brasserie Farm. The raiders left our trenches at 7.5 a.m., and at the same time our barrage opened; a trench mortar of ours engaged the objectives and did great service; the divisional artillery engaged the enemy’s positions and also put up a smoke screen on the right of the raiders, and all neighbouring troops rendered assistance. The affair was most successful and all objectives were gained. The main opposition came from the hostile machine guns. The enemy lost heavily, several prisoners were taken and the fact was established that it was the 153rd regiment of infantry in front of our force. After this success, however, came trouble. It was while returning that the centre and left parties came under the heaviest machine-gun fire and casualties became very numerous. Besides, as there were no communication trenches and our lines were much exposed, the raiders had to scatter into any available cover there was behind our trench. Owing to the hostile sniping, which became very active after the barrage had ceased, it was impossible to remove several badly wounded men, and a machine gun which had been captured could not be brought in. The casualties resulting from this minor affair were, in fact, far too high. Captain R. W. Jones, D.S.O. (R.A.M.C.), Lieut. C. F. G. Hollis and thirteen men were killed; twenty-seven were wounded, of whom two died, and five men were missing. The death of Captain Jones was a very sad blow to the Buffs. With his usual utter disregard for personal safety whenever there was fighting or his assistance needed, this officer had gone over with the raiding party and though himself hit in the arm continued to move about bandaging the wounded until he was again hit, this time fatally. Except for a period following a wound which he had received on the Somme, Captain Jones had, at his own wish, remained always with the battalion since the early days of the war, and no British unit loved or reverenced their Medical Officer more than the Buffs their dear old “Doc.” In Lieut. Hollis, too, another very good officer fell. He had distinguished himself at Cambrai and, poor fellow, was almost back in safety when he received the bullet that killed him.
On the 5th August the battalion was relieved at night and withdrew to the Malin House area, and next day H.M. The King visited the Corps, and two hundred of all ranks, from each unit of the 6th Division, under Lt.-Colonel R. E. Power, D.S.O., went to greet him.