CHAPTER X
ARMISTICE—LILLE—ARRAS—FINALE
With the cessation of hostilities began what was really the most difficult period of the war. Training, always irksome, had now lost its one stimulus—the prospect of battle. No one supposed for a moment that hostilities could ever be resumed. The question of demobilization immediately sprang to the front; and though most men realized clearly enough that the delay would necessarily be long, yet it was impossible not to chafe a little, and to feel that at the best you were merely killing time. It was evident from the outset that everything possible must be done to prevent boredom and stagnation. Training could clearly be reduced to a minimum, and that only retained which would insure fresh air and exercise. Athletics and amusements could now be freely cultivated, as men could be spared more generously than during hostilities. Education was also likely to be of great assistance in occupying the men's minds and assisting them to restore their thinking powers, which in many cases soldiering had greatly weakened. Unfortunately, no preparations for the commencement of this form of occupation had been possible, and it was not till the battalion reached Arras that our arrangements were sufficiently advanced to commence operations.
In the meantime the daily routine consisted of a march with the "bugles" to the Divisional Football Ground, some battalion drill, physical training, musketry, and rifle bombing. These were varied by an occasional route march to Roubaix, Mons en Baroeuil (an outwork of the defences of Lille, where British prisoners had been confined under appalling conditions), and a weekly field day, often interfered with by a heavy mist. The afternoons were taken up with football and visits to Lille, which, after first being guarded like some sacred shrine, was soon accessible to all.
Considerable attention was devoted to messing arrangements, and before long a fine Central Mess was provided in the covered yard of a large brewery. Here the whole battalion, except Headquarters, sat down together for meals. Cookers and field kitchens were installed in the yard, and the whole staff of cooks worked under the eye of Sergeant Austin, the Sergeant-Cook. Similar quarters were arranged for Battalion Headquarters.
Except for the factories, where millions of pounds' worth of machinery had been stolen or wrecked, Fives had suffered structurally very little damage from the Germans. It is true none of our beds had brass knobs, and similar articles of that metal had been everywhere removed, but that, after all, was not a very serious matter. The treatment of the inhabitants is a very different story, but that is rather beyond the scope of this book. Anyhow, we were most hospitably received, and it is doubtful whether in all the history of the battalion the men had better billets.
The concert party took on their self-appointed tasks with great vigour and success. Costumes of brown canvas, with ruffs of "four by two," made an excellent show; and the party contrived to make their performances regular and varied, which speaks well for their industry. They were composed of Riflemen Brookes (piano), Evans (baritone), Beesley, Frith, and Lance-Corporal Snowden (comedians), and Lance-Corporal Henderson. The latter was the life and soul of the party, and a host in himself. Later Rifleman McConnell (ragtime), Lance-Corporal Hassall (comedian), and Company Sergeant-Major Lane (baritone) were added to the party, Sergeant Stevenson taking over the duties of pianist. Lieutenant Drewsen and the Padre gave active assistance, while Rifleman Cooper proved a great attraction as a Chinese Magician on one occasion, and variety was also introduced in the form of local French talent. There can be no question but that the "Cheerios" were a great success.
In addition, the Divisional Concert Party, "The Dons"—a very efficient and amusing company—established themselves close to us. This was a great convenience, and enabled many, who had had no chance of seeing them during the war, to attend their performances.
The "bugles" improved daily, and proved a great attraction in the streets of Fives during "Retreat" and "First Post." A small party of children became very attached to the drummers, and accompanied the battalion on one route march, which proved so long and so wet that the poor little mites had to be dragged along by the hand, till a passing lorry could be obtained to take them home.
Further additions were made to our strength during this month. Major D. Grant-Dalton, C.M.G., D.S.O., West Yorkshire Regiment, came as Second-in-Command, the Adjutant, who was performing that duty, taking over the work of P.R.I, and O.C. Amusements; and the following other officers also joined—viz., Lieutenant Lutz, M.C., who had fought for the Boers against us at Spion Kop, Lieutenants Beavan and Fry, 2nd-Lieutenant Bardsley, and Lieutenant Royle, who returned after six months in England. This sudden influx of officers—ten in one month—was rather overwhelming, and was less valuable than it would have been a month previously, when we were very short-handed.
Our stay in Lille was all too short. We felt we were far too comfortable to be left alone, and before the month was out rumours of a move, either forward or back, filled the air. Eventually we found that Arras was to be our destination, and as there were reputed to be only fifty houses or so intact in that ill-used town, the prospect was none of the brightest, especially as there was every indication of a wet winter.
At 8.30 a.m. on December 2nd the battalion moved off to join the Brigade group, Major Grant-Dalton in command. Colonel Gathorne-Hardy had proceeded to England on November 24th, whence, to our very great regret, he never returned, having while on leave been transferred to the Home Establishment. He had been a most popular Commanding Officer, and during his command of the battalion during many days of fighting had won the respect and confidence of all ranks.
The route was viâ Lezennes, Ronchin, Lesquin, Templemars, and Seclin. Carvin, our destination, was reached at 1.30 p.m., and we found ourselves accommodated in huts for the night. Most of these were of German construction, and sunk in the ground by the roadside with wonderful skill from the point of view of concealment. Carvin itself is a dismal and depressing spot.
We were off again the next day (December 3rd, 1918) at 7.45 a.m., and in spite of the weather the march was interesting enough, as the route lay past Lens and the Vimy Ridge. The former place is probably the largest ruined town in France. Without being absolutely levelled to the ground, it yet possesses no building that can be described as anything but a ruin. Shattered masonry and woodwork are heaped in the wildest chaos in every direction, mingled with broken machinery and all kinds of interior fittings. There is not one single roof in position, not a wall that is not pierced or shattered. Standing as the place does on the slope of a hill, the effect of the annihilation which has visited the town is very striking. The Vimy Ridge is a bold, upstanding piece of ground, bare as bare can be, and dotted now with graves and monuments. In this part of the country it forms a very marked eminence, though in reality of no great height.
It rained steadily as we tramped along the slippery pavé, and the aspect of our billets, with the rain pouring through the rents in roof and wall, was enough to dismay the boldest heart. As may be imagined, after the comforts of Lille these quarters were hardly popular, but the men accepted the situation nobly. It was 4.15 p.m. when we got in, and there was little enough time to make their billets habitable. The next and subsequent days the job was tackled with the utmost energy, while caustic reports were forwarded to the Higher Command.
Company route marches accompanied by limbers—"scrounging parades," we called them—were instituted, and the material was soon collected from derelict huts and trenches to repair the most serious damage. So strong were our protests that we were informed that we were to move to Warlus Camp, a few miles away, at an early date. This was out of the frying-pan into the fire. Warlus Camp had not been used for some time. Most of the fittings had been removed to another camp, and what little was left had been "borrowed" by the civilians. There was not a duck-board or a stove in the camp. All the huts were Nissen, and from these most of the lining had already vanished.
In the meanwhile our houses in Arras were assuming quite a habitable appearance, and the change was viewed with considerable dismay. Fortunately, there was no water at the camp—or, rather, there was no drinking water; in the huts themselves there was enough and to spare—so the move was postponed till after Christmas; though an advance party, under Lieutenant Beavan, composed mainly of pioneers, moved over there to begin the work of rebuilding the camp.
The question of education now began to excite more attention. Letters from the Higher Command were full of schemes and exhortations, and in view of the eminently desirable results which our educational programme might be hoped to achieve, the problem was carefully considered.
The results hoped for were—first, a new, and therefore to a certain extent an attractive, form of employment for the men during the mornings; and, secondly, the sharpening of their thinking powers, which, as has been mentioned above, had become somewhat blunted. The difficulties of the task became apparent at the outset. We had to begin in profound ignorance as to the educational standards of the men, who, of course, were drawn from every rank of life. Then we had no qualified teachers, no educational books, no note-books or paper, no class-rooms, and no syllabus of work. These were the initial difficulties; there were others to follow later.
Official Photograph by permission of The Imperial War Museum.
HÔTEL DE VILLE, ARRAS.
To overcome the first difficulty, each company in turn was set a simple examination paper, which consisted of a short précis, a short piece of dictation, the interpretation and correct use of half a dozen four-syllable words, and some simple questions in arithmetic. From the results obtained—and it should be stated that but for the cordial co-operation of all ranks the results would have been nil—we were able to grade the battalion into three classes in English and arithmetic, "N," "Y" and "Z." From this, again, we were able to divide the battalion into three main groups: the General Education Group, subdivided into elementary and intermediate classes for English subjects and arithmetic respectively; the Commercial Group, who did book-keeping, commercial correspondence, shorthand, and languages, in addition to a restricted programme of general subjects; and the Preliminary Group, who were instructed in reading and writing.
The organization required to work this rather ambitious scheme was not inconsiderable. Large supplies of note-books and text-books were ordered from England, and many books were sent for by members of the battalion and loaned to the educational staff. Volunteer instructors were called for, and stepped nobly into the breach. Syllabuses for all the subjects were drawn up and timetables prepared, which had to be reconciled with parades, guards, leave, etc., both as regards teachers and pupils. Our Battalion Comforts Fund in Liverpool and other friends of the battalion subscribed generously to the considerable expense of the venture, which but for the sudden rapidity of demobilization that soon set in would have proved valuable in its results. Regimental Sergeant-Major Heyworth, Company Sergeant-Major Griffiths, Sergeant-Major Lane, and many other N.C.Os. and men, not to mention some of the officers, worked very hard to make the scheme a success.
It should in passing be noted that, apart from technical classes, which were well organized by the Higher Command, the assistance received from the Army Authorities was negligible. The Director of Education for Liverpool, on the other hand, to whom application was made for advice, proved most helpful in the selection of suitable text-books and in drawing up of syllabuses.
Throughout this last chapter of the battalion's history the work of education was carried on under the most bewildering and irritating difficulties, and the results cannot be really appraised, but it must be admitted that at the worst they cannot have been harmful, and in some cases were distinctly beneficial.
On December 12th Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. Stapledon, of the Manchester Regiment, arrived and took over the command of the battalion.
From this time till Christmas the daily life of the battalion varied but little. A certain number of parades and route marches, frequent football matches, latterly education classes in the Y.M.C.A. hut, an occasional concert in the same place, varied by motor-lorry trips to Lille, Cambrai, Armentières, and other places of interest, made up our daily round. The fact that we were in a town, dilapidated though it might be, helped to relieve the monotony, as there were some shops open, and a certain number of things to be seen. The departure of thirty-five coal-miners for demobilization about this time also stimulated the hope of early dissolution, albeit some feeling was caused by the fact that the total war service of some of these men amounted to about as many days as the war had lasted years.
Preparations for Christmas were an important part of our work at this period. Our unexpected rest at Christmas, 1917, had caught us unprepared, and we could do but little; but this time the funds received from home, which included a handsome contribution from the 5th (Territorial Force) Reserve Battalion Private Fund, made it possible for us to arrange an entertainment almost regardless of expense. The Army provided us with excellent plum-puddings, and we took care to have these delivered early. Enormous quantities of turkeys were ordered from the Expeditionary Force Canteen, and the country was scoured for fruit, vegetables, and beer. The "Cheerios" set to work on a most excellent programme for Christmas night, and the prospect of a really good Christmas seemed assured. But, alas! for the hopes of the men. The Expeditionary Force Canteen, on whom we had relied, were lavish in their promises, and that was all. Up till 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve they assured us that the turkeys, like John Gilpin's hat and wig, were "upon the road," and, indeed, expected every moment. They never came. A number of pheasants, however, which arrived at the eleventh hour and fifty-ninth minute, were purchased, and the town was scoured in every direction for pork. In the end, two companies only had their Christmas dinner on Christmas Day, the other two on Boxing Day. It was a great disappointment, especially after the valiant exertions of our Quartermaster's staff and others.
However, that Christmas Day was a success few will deny, and the "Cheerios," filled with the good food and (possibly) drinks suitable to the day, produced an excellent programme, which was highly appreciated.
On the following day the Officers played the Sergeants at football; but the Sergeants were so overcome, apparently, by the proceedings of the previous day that the Officers won by five goals to nil. The rest of the day was occupied with the usual activities connected with a move which had to be made on December 27th to Warlus Camp, a distance of about five miles.
At 10.30 a.m. on December 27th we set off for Warlus Camp. The prospect of our new abode was not enhanced by the cold wind and steady drizzle which we encountered en route. We arrived at 12.30 p.m. and proceeded to settle in. All things considered, the camp was far better than we had anticipated in our most sanguine moments a week ago. Lieutenants Beavan and Hooper, with the most able support of Sergeant Patterson and the pioneers and company working parties, had wrought wonders. Duck-board paths were installed nearly everywhere in place of lanes of thick mud; huts had windows, most had stoves and floor-boards, and generally the camp was now in a state which made one feel considerably less hopeless as to its possible amenities.
The scheme of operations which had to be worked out now fell under three headings—camp improvement, salvage, and education. To this end companies were allotted time during mornings in succession to put their own huts in order, with the assistance of one or two experts from the Pioneer Platoon. As regards salvage, a very large area—covering ground till recently in our close vicinity at Arras, and now several miles away—had been allotted to us, and for this two companies and a great deal of transport was required daily. Their task was to clear ammunition dumps and convey the material either to a central dump or to a light railway siding for removal, or else to clear barbed-wire defences. Education had to be fitted in with these two demands for men, and very difficult was the problem how to arrange for the right instructors to be available for the right classes.
In recreation some ambitious schemes had been formulated at Arras, but the scarcity of suitable ground put a very effective damper on these. We had one football field just behind the camp, but wet weather and frequent use very soon reduced it to a quagmire. There was a fine hospital hut for a general recreation-room, but it had very little flooring, was very draughty, and impossible to keep warm and too big to light with the means at our disposal. However, some flooring was put in and some stoves obtained. The stage which had been removed from Warlus to Dainville, where French troops were billeted, was boldly removed without opposition, and in due course, through the kindness of an Australian Special Works Company, the whole place was lit by acetylene light, including footlights for the stage.
Thanks again to the great generosity of our Comforts Fund, and also to Mr. A. Percy Eccles, we had a lot of money to spend on newspapers, novels, and games. A good supply of these was put in the recreation hut, in the Sergeants' Mess—two Nissen huts fixed end on with great skill by Sergeant Patterson—and also the Corporals' hut.
The main event of importance at this time was the Divisional Race Meeting, held on the Arras Race Course on January 1st and 2nd. A large and varied programme had been arranged for both these days, and in addition various sideshows to while away the intervals between the races had been devised. The weather was cold and grey, but there was little rain, and the great crowd of officers and men who assembled pointed clearly to the success of the venture. Lord Derby was present, and many other distinguished people; but the event that interested us most was the winning of the Divisional Commander's Cup (three furlongs flat race) by Colonel Stapledon on his horse Zloazel. Captain Bowring, on Bean, was third. The Commanding Officer, with a red football jersey over his tunic, looked a fine sight; but the amusing thing was that neither he nor anyone else had backed him on the Totalizator for a penny. However, he got a silver cup, and everyone in the battalion was highly pleased. The horse in question had been exchanged by Colonel Gathorne-Hardy with the Brigade Signalling Officer for a pack-pony!
For the next two months there is little enough to say. Salvage went on slowly and unenthusiastically; education, which the arrival of text-books, etc., should have made easier, was made more complicated by departures; the camp got steadily better, and the weather got steadily colder.
Boxing, cross-country running, and football were the mainstay of those athletically inclined. Once each week our Concert Party, now attired in real costumes, performed with great éclat, and an interchange with other units' parties was effected.
Company whist drives were organized under considerable difficulty in the darkness of the recreation hut before the acetylene arrived; and in every way all ranks tried their best to fill in those rather irksome days which had to be gone through before each man left for civilian life once more. Demobilization was proceeding, in fact, faster than had been expected. Drafts departed two or three times a week, and several officers and men on leave in the United Kingdom had benefited by that unfortunate order allowing of demobilization from leave.
All horses and mules were carefully examined and checked, with the result that Divisional, Corps and Army Orders became full of notices as to animals "found." Spare animals are excellent things on active service, but awkward at official inspections.
Motor-lorry trips were organized to different places, of which Lille was by far the most popular; and once a week a full load of cheery people would drive off from Warlus at 8 a.m. in the morning for several hours' journey through a land covered with frozen snow. The weather was like at our first initiation into active service—bitterly cold with heavy snow and hard frost, but generally a bright sun, though a biting wind.
On January 19th, like a bolt from the blue, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonald, D.S.O., Manchester Regiment, arrived to take over command. Needless to say, no one had heard any tidings of his impending arrival, but a few days later Colonel Stapledon was ordered off to the 2nd Manchesters, and Colonel Macdonald assumed command. We were sorry to lose Colonel Stapledon. He had been with us but a short while, but he was universally popular, as, indeed, his successor became in a very short time.
During the month of January 7 officers and 148 men were demobilized, and our ration strength was down to 20 officers and 382 men, enabling two company cook-houses to be closed.
The month of February saw even further reduction, as, in addition to demobilization, 1 officer and 96 men were sent on February 26th up to the Army of Occupation. This rapid disintegration of the battalion brought most activities to a standstill. The railway piquets which we had had to maintain at Arras to keep order and stop looting were recalled; education died for want of instructors; football teams, concert parties faded in their time away. The battalion was rapidly approaching its cadre strength, and its days as a unit were numbered.
There is one event that occurred during this month that cannot be passed over in silence. On February 14th, the second anniversary of the departure of the battalion to France, our old Commanding Officer, Colonel Fletcher, died from pneumonia following upon a sudden attack of influenza. It is difficult for one who knew him so intimately, and worked in such close touch with him for so many months, to write of him with becoming restraint. As a Commanding Officer many found him hard and exacting, but he was even more exacting and hard on himself. His whole mind and his whole energy were devoted to his battalion to a degree that only those who saw most of him could ever realize. Wonderfully strong himself, he impressed others with his own strength; lofty in ideals, he led others to a higher plane. Nothing that was mean or selfish, that was not strictly true and honest, would he tolerate for a moment; and never was a man more outspoken in his condemnation of anything that was not right in the highest sense. By his devotion to his battalion he worked himself beyond the measure of human endurance, and there can be no doubt that his death was due to the havoc wrought on his frame by the endless work, physical and mental, which he accomplished for his battalion even after the gassing at Armentières, the severe physical effects of which he refused to recognize. Colonel Fletcher represented the highest type of British gentleman, and it was with thoughts of pride as well as sorrow that we learnt that in his last hours his mind ran unceasingly on the comfort and safety of "his boys."
The last days of the battalion require but a brief telling. More drafts left for the Army of Occupation; more officers and men went off to complete the tour of rest camps, "delousing camps," demobilization camps, and finally dispersal camps en route for civilian life. From Christmas onwards the melancholy break-up of our old battalion, of which we had been such proud and happy members, had been proceeding apace. Friendships that had seemed the normal part of our existence were now rudely rent asunder. Men whom we had grown to admire and love vanished one by one, perhaps never to be seen again. The memories of the past grew daily more distant and more unreal as the prospect of civilian life came steadily nearer.
On March 18th the fragments of the battalion, now one company strong, moved to the Brigade Concentration Camp at Maroeuil; and here the gradually diminishing force remained till May 11th, ever expecting to move, only to be disappointed again.
At last, after one or two false alarms, the party, having handed over all its animals, proceeded at 9.5 p.m. on May 11th, with all its transport vehicles, by train for the Base.
At 10.45 p.m. the engine did its best still further to delay matters by leaving the train on a downward slope and coming back to meet it when the train had gathered a good speed. Several vehicles of ours were destroyed, and several men of other cadres injured. A bridge party, consisting of the Commanding Officer, Adjutant, Quartermaster, and Lieutenant Wilson, seated on plush chairs in a cattle truck, was indeed slightly disarranged, but beyond the destruction of the whisky bottle only slight injuries were inflicted.
At 2.35 p.m. on May 12th Havre was reached, and Harfleur Reception Camp was the home for the night. Thence next day the cadre joined No. 2 Wing Despatch Division, and after many formalities embarked on May 15th for Southampton in s.s. Lydia. From Southampton to Felixstowe, and thence to Prees Heath, took a few days more, and much man-handling of vehicles and stores; but by 12 noon on May 22nd, 1919, the 2/6th (Rifle) Battalion "The King's" Liverpool Regiment had ceased to exist.
LT.-COL. C. L. MACDONALD, D.S.O.
LT.-COL. C.C. STAPLEDON.
But in the hearts of those who were numbered among its members the memory of it, and of those who lie buried in the cemeteries of France, will live for ever; and when in years to come, in the different quarters of the world, men meet each other, how gladly will they cast back their minds to the good old days in the "Second Sixth"!
Finis.