About 6 o’clock a French battalion which had come up behind the English party during the afternoon essayed a frontal counter-attack. There was no artillery preparation. The attempt was beyond praise as regards the gallantry of the soldiers who made it, but the brave Frenchmen were met with a perfect storm of machine-gun bullets and they could not go on. After lying down for a few moments they got up and retired, and the retirement took the whole of the English first-line troops with it. This was by no means a misfortune. Anxiety had been felt already about the possibility of holding the position till nightfall, but it seemed to be suicidal to attempt to retire before the German machine guns by daylight. However, fortunately these ceased fire as the hostile infantry came forward to pursue, and so our retirement was far less costly than could have been expected. It was a very mixed lot of men that went back through Rouez Wood. Frenchmen and all sorts of English units mixed up in great confusion as regards their ranks. A fresh line was formed inside the wood and Captain Black actually led a small party forward to check the pursuit, which prevented any great pressure before darkness set in, and the fugitives were able to collect, reorganize and march back to Villiguier Aumont. During this final phase Sgt. Browne and Pte. Coleman, two signallers who had greatly distinguished themselves on the 21st by mending the line from “Clarence” to the Fort under quite extraordinary difficulties and heavy shell fire, were wounded.
The march to Villiguier was without incident, though it was thought by some that the party was surrounded. On arrival, the details belonging to the 55th Brigade were directed on to Bethancourt, where Br.-General Wood, commanding, already was, as was also the 8th East Surrey Regiment. About 10 a.m. on the 24th March the 55th Brigade was ordered to withdraw to a line approximately east of Caillouel; here it had the 53rd on its right flank and the 54th Brigade on the left. The Buffs, who were the supporting battalion of their brigade at first that night, withdrew later into divisional support, and at 7 a.m. on the 25th the whole division fell back to the line Grandru-Mondescourt-Appilly and later to a position covering Babœuf, these retrograde movements being carried out in good and soldier-like order by platoons in artillery formation. At 2 p.m. on this day the Buffs were sent back to a position west of Babœuf, to cover the canal bridge at Varesnes, and later to Varesnes itself, which was reached at 10 p.m. On the 26th March the whole of the 55th Brigade marched to Caisnes. The casualties suffered by the 7th Buffs between the 21st and 26th March amounted to:—Officers: killed, 1; wounded, 5; missing, 11. Other ranks: killed, 17; wounded, 108; missing, 410. When a force has to retire after fighting, it is generally quite unknown whether a man who fails to answer his name afterwards is dead or a prisoner of war. He is simply described as missing.
By the 28th March the brigade had got to Audignicourt and was in billets and caves there, but now the scene of its activities was changed. There was considerable enemy pressure on our defence works covering the important city of Amiens, and the whole of the 29th March was spent by the Buffs and their comrades in buses undergoing a weary journey to help to relieve the situation in that region. On the 30th the battalion debussed at St. Nicholas, east of Boves, and marched to Gentelles. In fact, the Buffs and Queen’s had to march direct from the buses into a support line east of this village. That night the 55th Brigade took over the front line south-east of Villers Bretonneux, but for the present the Buffs remained where they were, but on the 31st moved to a large farm close to the monument which is on the road which runs south from Villers Bretonneux. This farm was the battalion headquarters and was in full view from the German position at Marcelcave, but had never been shelled. After two days the Buffs relieved the Queen’s in front line and took the left of the brigade with D Company on right, B on the left and C, which was only two platoons strong, in reserve.
VENDEUIL TO VARESNES
At 3.45 a.m. on the 4th April a German prisoner was captured by the battalion, and this man stated that our enemy was going to attack at dawn and that, in fact, they were at that moment “standing to.” Notice, of course, was immediately sent round to everybody and thus an absolute surprise was avoided, though, of course, the force was always kept ready for contingencies of the sort. At dawn there was a thick mist and, communication being otherwise impossible, the Queen’s dropped a chain of connecting files between battalions and brigade headquarters. At 6 o’clock the hostile bombardment commenced. It was indiscriminate shelling followed by rifle and machine-gun fire, and at seven the attack developed on the Buffs’ front and that of the 35th Australian Battalion on their left. At or about 9 o’clock the Australian troops further away to the left fell back, which caused the 35th Australians and the Buffs to conform, the latter getting back to the bridge over the railway. One company of the Queen’s was at this juncture put under the Buffs’ orders, and an hour later a company also of the 2/6th London Regiment, which had been temporarily placed at the disposal of the 55th Brigade. The Australians withdrew somewhat further, making it necessary for the left of the Buffs to conform, though the right of the regiment remained in position. At four in the afternoon the enemy was seen advancing from the line Marcelcave-Aubercourt, and at the same time his artillery shelled our people heavily with gas, and the Germans got round our right flank, causing our whole line to withdraw, but the Buffs rallied about Villers Bretonneux railway station to cover there a battery of our artillery.
The casualties of the first week in April were:—Officers: killed, 1; wounded, 5. Other ranks: killed, 3; wounded, 34; missing, 13.
Early in the morning of the 5th the battalion got orders to move to Gentelles and later in the day to billets at Boves; it had remained out by the station all night, because those who bore the orders for the retirement failed to discover it. The 55th Brigade Headquarters moved next day to St. Fuscien, and the Buffs and East Surrey were attached to the 53rd and the Queen’s to the 54th Brigade; but the several battalions were by now so weak that a composite one had to be formed under the command of Lt.-Colonel Ransome, D.S.O., M.C., the Buffs finding two companies and the East Surrey and Royal Berkshire one company each. The English forward posts in this portion of the line were now about Gentelles and were manned by the troops in the neighbourhood till the 12th of April, when the 55th Brigade was withdrawn, moving by march to Dreuil les Molliens and Cavillon, about nine miles west of Amiens. The Buffs being close by at Le Mesge. Ten days’ intensive training was now undergone and then the brigade returned to St. Fuscien, only to move four days later north-east to Baizieux to be attached to the 2nd Australian Division. The area west of Albert was occupied by the 18th Division up till the 12th July, when it went into G.H.Q. reserve.
The story of the battalion from May Day till this date is lacking in the tremendous incidents which have been recorded above: the Buffs was soon again a battalion of four companies—such a loss as even a whole company was very quickly replaced in these days. A short history such as this necessarily occupies its available space with the exciting record of valorous days and strenuous combat and must reluctantly pass over with only slight allusion the hard, faithful and continuous work of the draft-finding units in England.
The battalion was a good deal at Lavieville and Baizieux about this time and, of course, were alternately in front line, support and reserve. When in the former a good deal of patrolling work was done: for instance, strong fighting patrols went out on the 3rd June; they got into their objective, but failed to get identification. On the 6th 2nd Lieut. Richardson with fifteen of C Company’s men had a small encounter with the enemy. On the 15th a raid was attempted, but, owing to the enemy’s resistance and the thickness of his wire, the objective was not reached, though some important information was gained. Protective patrols also were out nightly early in the month of June and much digging and wiring work was undertaken, because there were strong and persistent rumours of a hostile attack, and, as a matter of fact, on the 16th, three trench mortars, together with some rifle grenades, played frequently upon B and C Companies, and during the night a barrage was put down on the battalion, consisting of trench-mortar and high-explosive fire, which lasted over an hour. On the 30th June and following two or three days there was some fighting in the neighbourhood of the 55th Brigade, and indeed their comrades of the 54th were engaged, but the Buffs were at the time in divisional reserve and did not come into action. On the 12th July the whole division was relieved and on the 13th marched to Warloy and there embussed for G.H.Q. reserve at Briquemesnil until the 30th, the time being much occupied by strict training, as was usual when in G.H.Q. reserve.