The Seventh Manchesters - S. J. Wilson (leveled readers .TXT) 📗

line of resistance

of the Hindenburg system could be plainly seen, while further over to

the left on the highest ground was Bourlon Wood, which was to become so

famous in the history of the British army. Every day the battalion

observers watched parties of Germans, large and small, working on these

rear trenches apparently quite unconcerned about the fact that they

could be plainly seen. Periodically our air service issued aeroplane

photographs showing the extraordinary development of these trenches,

their elaborate construction, the concrete dug-outs, and solid rows of

heavy barbed wire, until it almost came to be recognised that an assault

upon them would only be attempted by the maddest of leaders, and the

prospect of having to take part in it took one’s breath away.

 

The chief job of the battalion was to guard by day, and get command of

by night, the large extent of No Man’s Land which varied from 400 to

about 1,200 yards across. The day work was easy, but at night it was

fraught with quite interesting possibilities. The Boche was not very

inimical here, and seemed anxious to lull us into a feeling of peace and

security so that, I suppose, he could get safely on with his digging,

for he had still a good deal to do. His outbursts of shelling,

therefore, although at times disagreeable, gave one the impression that

its chief purpose was to remind us of his constant presence. At times,

especially in the evening, it seemed to afford him amusement to dust our

lines indiscriminately with gas shells. Our gunners, however, were not

so lenient and they frequently made excellent use of their good ration

of ammunition, so that we were able to make daily notes of the changes

in the scenery, particularly in Havrincourt village. Considerable

interest was aroused one morning, soon after our arrival, by the sudden

disappearance of Havrincourt Chateau in a cloud of red brick dust and

smoke. This was always a mystery and a frequent source of controversy.

Did the Boche blow it up, and if so, why? Or did it go off as a result

of our shelling, and again, if so, why? Some said they saw

stretcher-bearers moving about amidst the debris afterwards, which

rather indicated the second theory.

 

We enjoyed the advantages of a continuous front line here, but naturally

a good deal of time had to be spent in perfecting the system, both in

digging and wiring. The brigade was given an opportunity of leaving its

mark on the war-geography of France, two copses in No Man’s Land being

dubbed “Wigan Copse” and “Dean Copse” by the 5th, while we were

responsible for “Manchester Trench” and “Cheetham Hill,” “Henley Lane”

serving to keep green the memory of the brigadier. Two great chalk

craters showed up in front, “Etna” and “Vesuvius” respectively, and one

of the jobs of the patrol commanders by night was to find out if the

former was occupied by the Hun. We very soon found that it was, and that

he appeared to use this and the two copses as starting points for his

patrols. Thus, when our parties went out at night, the possibility of an

encounter in No Man’s Land was never remote, and indeed there were a few

clashes of this sort. It was all a great education for the battalion,

for such work as this had not often come our way in the Gallipoli days,

and there had been no opportunity of practising it since. It was

considered advisable to get as many officers and men as possible out on

patrol at some time or other, for there was a noticeable difference in a

man’s morale, and in his attitude towards trench life, once he had

returned from such an adventure. He was conscious of having in a way

asserted his manhood—more than his pal who had not been out—and the

dim uncertainty of what there might be in front of our wire had gone. He

knew now what was there—nothing. He was acquainted with the ground in

such a way that if the enemy did wish to attack he knew exactly where he

could get him with Lewis gun, rifle or bombs. A spirit of confidence was

thus engendered in the whole battalion, as was eventually shown when a

few ventured out on patrol in broad daylight, and obtained some very

useful results.

 

Realistic gas drill was indulged in occasionally at night because the

enemy had an irritating habit of putting over a few rounds of gas,

either shell or T.M., at irregular intervals. He caught out a few of the

East Lancs. by this trick, which naturally produced a state of “wind” in

the division so that everyone was more than ever “gas alert.” After a

few nights of gas alarm, in the middle of one of which the transport

officer had to commandeer a fatigue party (in gas helmets) to extricate

a full water-cart from a shell-hole, most of us became “fed up.” Another

night someone imagined he felt the pineapple smell of the type of gas

the Hun then used, and the alarm was passed along the front trench. One

of the officers on duty was determined to make sure this time, and

stopped the passing of the message. He made his way along the trench

where the men by this time had assumed their gas helmets, until he came

to one stolid, oldish man who was on sentry, staring truculently out in

front without his gas protection on. “Jones,” said the officer, “can you

smell pineapples?” “What, sir,” he grunted, “I could if I had a tin of

‘em under my nose!”

 

One night, while we were in support to the 5th, one of their officers,

in charge of a patrol sent out to investigate the ground around “Wigan

Copse,” got into the Copse and discovered a Boche post there. The

startled enemy had apparently made off. The next night the 7th took over

the front line at an unfortunate moment, for the Hun had decided that

“Wigan Copse” must be “retaken” at all costs, and they began the

business with a barrage all over the place but particularly on our front

line, just as we were beginning the relief. It was decidedly unpleasant,

and we had no idea what it was about until we heard the brutes cheering

as they rushed into the empty copse. From a report which we captured

later we found that this was another addition to their long list of

“victories,” and I have no doubt that a few iron crosses were doled out

to commemorate the occasion.

 

After three and a half weeks’ continuous duty in and around Havrincourt

Wood the battalion moved out for a week’s rest to Ruyaulcourt in brigade

reserve. It was a pleasant diversion and we made the most of the

glorious weather with football matches and very successful sports, the

latter largely taking the form of comic dress contests.

 

The affair of “Wigan Copse,” and the constant patrolling activity

exercised by ourselves and the 5th in that direction had induced a

lively interest in this spot, until finally it was decided to raid it,

and the 7th were selected to do the job. As this was the first effort of

this nature attempted in the division there was naturally a good deal of

anxiety as to the result. The 8th were to co-operate with a diversion on

“Dean Copse,” and if possible, of course, they also were to obtain

prisoners. “C” Company (Capt. Townson’s) were honoured by the C.O. in

having to supply the raiding party of 40 men, and 2nd-Lt. Hodge was put

in charge. His qualities as a leader, and his expert knowledge in

bayonet fighting left him undisputed as the officer most fitted for the

business. He took his men off to Ruyaulcourt, when we had gone into the

line again, and there trained them vigorously “over the tapes” for the

task in hand. Each time he took them “over” they were inspired to a

fiercer zest for the blood of Boche, so that when they returned to the

Slag Heap on the night of July 2nd every man was primed up like a

fighting cock.

 

Careful reconnaissance during the preceding nights, and long scrutiny by

day through telescopes and field glasses left no doubt as to the weak

spot in the Hun armour. He had placed low wire in front of the copse but

had no protection on the flanks. A track leading from the front line

showed how his men moved up to occupy this outpost position and also the

probable route taken by patrols. As it also seemed evident that the

copse was held at night only, the plan of the raid was obviously to give

the enemy ample time to settle down in the outpost, and then dispose the

raiding party so as to strike in on an exposed flank. The western side

was selected, because there was little or no danger from the canal, and

it left the 8th a free hand to deal with “Dean Copse.” At the appointed

time our men filed quietly along and got into position across the track

without any alarm being raised. Lewis guns were posted at one or two

points to cut off retreating Huns. At 1.8 a.m. exactly, our guns opened

fire, not upon the copse of course, but upon the enemy main lines. A

remarkably good and accurate barrage was put down on the German front

line, which formed a crescent within which lay the two copses,

especially on known M.G. positions; while, by request, the Australian

heavy guns from the next divisional sector northwards joined in with

crumps on strong points behind the front line. Simultaneously the

raiding party leaped up and rushed into the copse like howling

dervishes. Some hours of a deathly, eerie silence, the nerve-racking

quality of which is only known to those who have experienced it, and

made all the more impressive by the fact that it occurred on a front

which is not usually quiet, was followed by a sudden din and an

unexplained mad charge of the hated English. It must have put the fear

of God into the Germans of “Wigan Copse,” for they made no effort to

resist and tried to “run for it.” In fact one poor devil—a

youngster—who had been lying out in the grass on sentry (but must have

been doing his work rather badly) got up and ran with our men. Hodge

noticing his unusual headgear, seized him by the scruff of the neck and

flung him bodily, rifle and everything, back to his men. No one wanted

him at the moment, for the “fun” in the copse had to be encountered yet,

and he went from hand to hand until one of the covering parties took him

in charge.

 

Two more prisoners were secured on the edge of the copse. Several other

Germans who offered resistance were bayonetted while Hodge shot one or

two with his revolver. Then it was discovered that the Hun had not left

himself so badly protected as we had thought. Interlaced among the

branches and shrubs at about five feet from the ground were strands of

barbed wire which caused a few nasty cuts and scratches on the faces of

some of our men. It was found to be impossible to go through the copse

because of this, but Hodge had good reason to be satisfied with the

night’s work. He had secured his toll of prisoners as ordered, without

sustaining a single casualty, and had inflicted other casualties on the

enemy, for his men had emptied rifles and Lewis guns at the few flying

Boche and into the copse, so he gave the word to withdraw. The men had

crawled out at the beginning like fighting cocks, but they came back

like roaring lions. They were naturally in a