We must, however, congratulate them on that excellent institution in the Vimy sector, Trench Coffee Shops. Where cooking for the trenches was a matter of some difficulty, as in this sector, it was a great boon to be able to get such excellent supplies of hot tea and other comforts as they provided. They were run by the French for some time after our arrival, but later were taken over by our own Brigade, and put under the care of Capt. E. M. Hacking, who was attached to Brigade Headquarters. We feel, however, we must attribute to the somewhat casual sanitary measures adopted by the French, the presence of so many rats in this sector. One often met them in droves in the trenches, and never before or after did we come across such numbers of the beasts, and such colossal specimens as we found during our stay in the Vimy trenches.
On April 12th, after a brief inspection near our huts by Major-General Stuart-Wortley, we went up to the trenches for our last and most eventful tour, which was destined to last eight days. Owing to falls of snow and rain, the trenches were in a deplorable state, and gumboots were in great demand, and our only means of keeping the men at all dry. At this time we had no such luxuries as drying-rooms. Heavy shelling by the enemy during the first three days made things still more uncomfortable. The real business of the tour, however, began on April 16th, on which night the French had arranged to blow one mine on our front, and another on the front of the 6th Battalion. Combined with this we had arranged for a small raid to be carried out by Lieut. A. Bedford and 12 other ranks, who immediately the mines were exploded were to rush forward round the left edge of our crater, and endeavour to capture any Germans found in a small forward trench they had recently dug there. The mines were to go up at midnight, and at the same time our guns and trench mortars were to put down a barrage on the Boche trenches, which was to be augmented by rifle grenades and showers of grenades thrown from West Spring Throwers, under the arrangement of our Grenade Officer. Unfortunately, there had evidently been some bad synchronisation somewhere, for at five minutes before zero two Frenchmen suddenly came rushing towards Bedford, who was waiting in a communication trench with his party, shouting "Tout-de-suite! Tout-de-suite!" and almost at the same instant the mines went up. This was very unfortunate, as it enabled the Boche, who evidently knew all about it, to get their barrage down before our own Gunners, who were waiting for zero. Bedford at once pushed on with his party with much dash in face of heavy fire from machine guns, rifles, trench mortars and bombs. He got as far as the advanced trench, which, however, was held in considerable strength, and finding himself bombed on both sides, he had to withdraw without getting a prisoner. His party got back alright, but unfortunately Bedford himself was knocked down by a bomb, and although only slightly wounded had to leave us, and a few days later was invalided to England. Capt. Hill meanwhile carried out the consolidation with much success. As soon as the mass of débris, chalk and stones had stopped falling, parties at once got to work digging a new trench across the crater which was something like 30 yards wide by 30 feet deep, to connect the broken front line, establishing observation posts and putting out fresh wire. In spite of intense fire a sufficient trench had been dug by dawn, and the position made good. Great assistance was rendered by Capt. Gray and the N.C.O.'s of D Company. Unfortunately Sergt. Markham, after most gallantly controlling the fire of his platoon for nearly two hours, under very heavy fire, was shot through the head and killed instantly. Another excellent piece of work was performed by Pvte. E. Dobb, who leapt out of the trench on seeing a party of Huns trying to get round the crater, and hurled two bombs right amongst them. If they had had any doubts as to the possibility of getting round, this made up their minds, and they retired hurriedly.
The following night at midnight, the enemy sprang a mine on the front of our left Company (A), which caused considerable trouble and heavy loss before the position was finally made good. A portion of our front line was blown up, and owing to the heavy state of the ground, which was much water-logged, and to the intense hostile bomb, rifle and machine gun fire, it was impossible to get a trench dug round our lip of the crater. It was not until three nights after that the situation was cleared, and our lip of the crater finally occupied, after some of the most difficult and miserable nights that it was ever our misfortune to experience. During these days there was little rest for anyone, and much excellent work was done by all ranks. Marshall carried out some splendid patrols, ably assisted by L.-Corpl. Hinchley, going out nightly through mud and filth, to ascertain the position around the crater. Duff did almost superhuman work with bombs and rifle grenades, being at it practically the whole night, for three nights in succession, and this was only his second tour in the trenches. The Stretcher Bearers too, as always, did most notable work, particularly Pvtes. Holbery and Thomas, who fetched in our wounded from the slopes of the crater only a few yards below and in full view of the German sentry post, whilst Sergts. Deverall and Collins, and L.-Corpl. Ostick also did very gallant work, and L.-Corpl. J. T. Templeman throughout carried out his work of repairing telephone wires, with his usual skill and courage. So uncanny was the work of this period, that Lieut. Peerless was able on one occasion to take deliberate aim, at 30 yards range, at a German digging hard in the bright moonlight, on the top of a crater.
On April 19th, the French sprang another mine, just to the left of our Battalion front, as a result of which we got a certain amount of hostile shelling, whilst on the 20th, the enemy put up another, slightly to our left, which also brought its share of shelling on us. This, however, was our last, for much to our relief, and at comparatively short notice, the 10th Cheshires (25th Division) took over our sector on the night of the 20th, and after a weary trudge over that never-ending duck-board track, we got to Ecoivres by 1 a.m. on the 21st. Having done full justice to the excellent tea which the Quarter-Master and his followers had ready for us, we were taken in 'buses to Tincques, where we arrived about 6 a.m., and found that we were to be billeted partly there, and partly in the neighbouring village of Bethencourt. We fear we did not present a happy sight at that early hour to the ladies just going to church on a lovely Good Friday morning. Dawn is not an ideal time for seeing a Battalion at its best, especially after an exceptionally hard eight days in water-logged trenches. Our total casualties in the Vimy sector amounted to 17 killed or died of wounds, 69 wounded and five missing.
It was a matter of great regret to us to hear later that the 25th Division suffered very heavily shortly after we left, when the enemy made a determined attack on the front recently held by us, and recaptured several trenches.
CHAPTER VII
THE BATTLE OF GOMMECOURT
April 22nd, 1916.— July, 2nd, 1916.
At the time of our relief in the Vimy sector, plans at General Headquarters must have been in a forward state for the great offensive, which was to take place later in the year, and the part which the 46th Division was to play in that offensive must also have been fixed, and all our preparations now were for operations on a large scale.
We soon got rid of the mud and filth of the trenches, and were fortunate in finding at Tincques excellent baths run by the 51st Division, of which we made the best possible use, and having got our clothes and boots into respectable order, and everyone generally tidied up, it was not long before we were in very good form and fit for anything. Whilst this and other work connected with the interior economy of the Battalion was going on, some of the Officers had to spend a rather long day on Easter Monday, April 24th, in making a reconnaissance of the Corps line between Maroeuil and Mont St. Eloy.