With a Reservist in France / A Personal Account of All the Engagements in Which the 1st Division 1st Corps Took Part, viz.: Mons (Including the Retirement), the Marne, the Aisne, First Battle of Ypres, Neuve Chapelle, Festubert, and Loos

CHAPTER VIII
LA BASSÉE DISTRICT

Next day, Boxing Day, December the twenty-sixth, 1914, we once more packed our traps, and, marching viâ Beuvry and Annequin, entered Cambrin. The first four days we were billeted in houses and shops, which had been shelled to pieces, and set to work digging ways through the walls of cellars for means to get out should the house be hit again by a shell during a bombardment. That night a night-attack by the enemy was expected and the usual precautions were taken; it came to nothing. Although this village was in ruins and only about two thousand yards from the enemy's front line, civilians continued to live there.

Between the twenty-sixth of December and the twenty-ninth of December there was "nothing doing": most of the Regiment were employed in the communication trenches, cleaning up and carrying planks to lay on the bottom, some parts of the trenches being deep in mud and water. In the "Old Kent Road," a trench running from the church at Quinchy to the front line was in a really dreadful state: one had to wade through mud and water like whipped cream up to the armpits.

On the twenty-ninth we received a draft of sixty-nine men and three Officers straight from the base. They were sent into the trenches the next day on the Givenchy side of the canal to reinforce the 2nd Royal Sussex. All they had had on leaving the base had been their rations of bully-beef and biscuits, and, on coming out twenty-four hours afterwards, had had to join the Regiment and go into a charge with the Scots Guards on the Quinchy side commonly known as the "Brickfields." In these fields, and about two kilometres from La Bassée, were three huge brick-stacks, around which we built fortifications; these stacks were also very useful for our snipers and observers, who took up positions on the top. On the left of the fields was the railway track, and in rear of that, running parallel to it, was the canal; on the other side of which lay Givenchy.

On Wednesday, December the thirtieth, we had one Company in the trenches as I have already stated; on Thursday, the thirty-first, report came through that the enemy had broken through the King's Royal Rifles lines. This was late in the afternoon; and two hours afterwards we were called out and taken into Quinchy. On the way there we passed the Black Watch, who were billeted just in front of us; they were preparing to enjoy New Year's Eve. Arriving at Quinchy, I was sent back to find and bring up the other Company from their present trenches to join the Battalion, which I did. They fully expected to be taken back to billets, for they were in a terrible condition, as it had been raining all day long. Therefore I did not mention the place to which we were bound. Fortunately on the way we came across the Medical Officer, who, on seeing the state they were in, most of them suffering badly from rheumatism, would not consent to let them join up, but posted those suffering the least on barricade guard. I then joined the Regiment on the road at Quinchy near the railway track: and, advancing along its side, the Scots Guards taking the right, we succeeded in driving the enemy from the position they had gained earlier that day, and occupied the trenches, where we stayed all next day.

On January the first some shelling and artillery duels took place, otherwise it was calm.

On Saturday, January the second, we were relieved by the 1st Brigade, leaving about thirty men on barricade guard on the main La Bassée Road. We went back into Cambrin.

On Sunday the third we left for Beuvry, three kilometres to our rear and one and a half kilometres from Bethune. We arrived there at 6.30 p.m., and went into billets. A lot of our men were sent back from here with trench-feet, which we then called frost-bitten feet; they were the first cases we had of it. On Saturday, January the second, ninety-four N.C.O.'s and men left us, and next day, Sunday, thirty-four more went off.

On Monday the fourth we rested, enjoying a bathe and change of linen at the Girls' College in Bethune.

On Tuesday the fifth we again left for Cambrin and relieved the King's Royal Rifles from the trenches, Major Powell, who had joined us at Hazebruck, going away sick. We arrived at Quinchy at 5.30 p.m., and the Regiment took over the trenches in front of that village, two Companies occupying the front line, one Company being in support behind the first brick-stack and the other in reserve behind the other two brick-stacks, whilst Headquarter Company took over and guarded a culvert running from the road under the railway-line to the canal bank.

That night and during the next day little happened beyond artillery duels. Around this sector of the line snipers were very prevalent.

Thursday the seventh was a wet day; nothing occurred with the exception of a German mistaking his way in the early hours of the morning and walking into our machine-gun emplacement. He came in with two cans, one with hot water and the other with hot tea. The boys, after making him taste a little of each, took possession of them for their own use. On being taken down the communication trench this German had the audacity to remark that our trenches were very dirty—not nearly so clean as theirs, as they had working parties cleaning up each day.

On Friday the eighth there was a great deal of shelling on both sides between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., and also a heavy cannonade and rifle-fire during the afternoon, but no attack.

On Saturday the ninth the part of Headquarter Company doing guard at the culvert were relieved, as they were no longer required, and were put on fatigue duty, carrying all necessary things to the firing line, to save the men in the firing line from becoming continually wet through walking up and down the communication trench. These men continued at this work until the Regiment was relieved, retiring at night into a cellar at Cambrin to dry their clothes as best they might. About 1 p.m. there was an hour's bombardment of the enemy's lines.

On Sunday the tenth there was a terrible bombardment, and seven men of each Company volunteered to capture an enemy's machine-gun advanced post, which was taken very successfully, with only slight casualties and some prisoners.

Monday the eleventh and Tuesday the twelfth were very quiet, with the exception of a bombardment each day.

On Wednesday the thirteenth I left the Regiment early in the morning, and proceeded to Annequin, a small village just behind Cambrin, there to find billets. We found a draft awaiting us there of four hundred and eighty N.C.O.'s and men and three Officers, and the Regiment was then relieved by the 2nd Royal Sussex, going to Annequin for rest, and staying there the next two days.

On Saturday the sixteenth we fell in, in the afternoon, to return to the trenches; but before we went the Brigadier gave us a few words, saying: "To-morrow, Sunday, January the seventeenth, is the Kaiser's birthday, so be on your guard, as we are expecting an attack in honour of it." This attack did not mature: the day was one of the quietest I had experienced in the trenches. A mistake had been made: the Kaiser's birthday is the twenty-seventh of January.

On Monday the eighteenth we were again relieved by the 2nd Royal Sussex, and returned to Annequin.

Tuesday the nineteenth we spent in resting, going into the trenches again on Wednesday the twentieth, again relieving the 2nd Royal Sussex, who took our billets at Annequin.

On Thursday the twenty-first the whole Brigade was relieved by the 1st Brigade; we went to Bethune, where the 1st Brigade had just completed eight days' rest. I was then on the staff of billeting orderlies, and helped to find billets at that town. It was a very unenviable berth, as the majority of French people objected to have soldiers billeted on them, and our Officers were often very dissatisfied with the billets we found for them. We settled down to what we thought was to be an eight-days' rest; but early on Monday morning, January the twenty-fifth, the enemy began to shell Bethune—the first occasion on which it was shelled. The Brigade got the order to stand to, and moved out of Bethune once more for the trenches, after having had only three days' rest out of our eight. The report was circulated that the enemy had broken through on the right of La Bassée canal, at the brickfields at Quinchy. It was true; they had got as far as Quinchy church, and had penetrated the village itself, only to be blown back by the fierceness of our artillery fire, after which we delivered a counter-attack, going up in support to the Highland Light Infantry 5th Brigade 2nd Division, who were then operating around that district in conjunction with the 1st Division, and also in reserve to the 3rd Brigade. We did not on this occasion succeed in retaking all our old trenches; we lost one of the three the enemy had succeeded in taking, and we lost one brick-stack. Our armoured train was in action, and did great work in keeping the enemy back whilst reinforcements were brought up; but we were unfortunate in losing the engine-driver, a Belgian, who stopped a fragment of shell with his head: the naval men in charge of the train buried him with honours, firing the last volley over his grave. That night we returned to Beuvry, and stood to in case of another assault.

On Tuesday, January the twenty-sixth, we had an unfortunate experience. It took place at the time when the Regiment was holding orderly room. Nearly all the Company Officers and N.C.O.'s were attending, besides the C.O., Adjutant, Machine-Gun Officer, Regimental Sergeant-Major, Pioneer Sergeant, Signalling Sergeant, Police Sergeant—in fact, every one of note in the Regiment. There were also a number of men waiting to be told off for various crimes; and they were holding this office in a farmyard, on hard cobbled stones, when a shell of large calibre dropped amongst them, killing and wounding close on forty Officers and men. The C.O. and Adjutant had a marvellous escape, as the shell dropped at the foot of the table without injuring either of them, whilst most of the prominent Officers and N.C.O.'s were killed, as well as three who held Distinguished Conduct Medals. That afternoon we returned to Quinchy, D Company going in support to the 2nd Royal Sussex.

On Wednesday the twenty-seventh we went into the trenches, taking up bombs in readiness for an attack. It was then 8.30 p.m. We found that the keep, the first two brick-stacks, had now become our firing line.

We did not commence the attack until 4 a.m. on Thursday the twenty-eighth, and succeeded in driving the enemy out with bombs, but returned to our old line of trenches, where we received some casualties. During that day we returned to Cambrin to billets in reserve to the Sussex and Northamptons.

On Tuesday the twenty-ninth the enemy heavily attacked the keep: fully 1,500 Germans got out of their trenches, and, after advancing a couple of yards, lay down, in preparation for a charge. Our artillery then got to work, and, aided by our rifle and machine-gun fire, accounted for every man, only five out of the 1,500 being left, and these we took prisoner. Very excellent work was done that day by both the 2nd Royal Sussex and the Northampton Regiments. That night we were relieved by the Camerons and Black Watch 1st Brigade, and returned to our old billets at Beuvry.

Next day, Saturday, January the thirtieth, we returned to Bethune, and were billeted there in the Ladies' College, standing to at a half-hour's notice if required.

There we also spent Sunday. Next day I set off with the billeting party to find billets at a small place eight kilometres from Bethune and near Choques. After we had arrived there, we arranged billets, when a Staff Officer came up and ordered us to return to Bethune, as the enemy had once more commenced to attack. Halfway on the road back we were met by the Brigade despatch-rider, who ordered us to return to Allouagne, the village where we had secured the billets. All this time there was a heavy cannonade going on in the direction of the trenches; it was close on ten miles away—anyhow, the attack by the enemy did not succeed, and we proceeded as usual.

The Regiment arriving here the next day, Tuesday, February the second, we were joined by a new C.O., Lieutenant-Colonel Bowlby. At Allouagne we rested from February the second until the twentieth of that month, having a similar time and doing similar work to that which we had done at Hazebruck, only on this occasion we were not troubled by aircraft. We were joined there by the 5th Sussex Territorials, making in all five Regiments to the Brigade instead of four.

On February the twentieth we moved a little further up, about one kilometre from Allouagne. On that march one of our men became a little intoxicated: he was placed between an escort. On the road he threw his rifle away, saying: "I'll fight no more." Next morning, on being brought before the C.O., he was told by the C.O., who had overheard what he had said the day before, that he would receive fourteen days' field-punishment and fight on. We stayed at this village, Lozingham, for eight days, leaving on February the twenty-eighth for Mont Bernischon, where we stayed the night, and next day moved on to a small village, by name Les Choques. All this time we were really moving back to the trenches.

On March the second five of our men were overcome by charcoal fumes, Quarter-Master-Sergeant Border and Private Sailor losing their lives.

On March the tenth we were awakened by a terrific bombardment of guns, and did not then know that the Battle of Neuve Chapelle had commenced. We were hurried off from our billets at Les Choques and proceeded along the Lowe Canal to Locon, where we were kept until the afternoon, when, crossing the canal and marching to the right, we went on to Le Touret. That night we stayed in a field in reserve, but at ten o'clock went into billets.

Next day, the eleventh, we moved higher up to just behind the Rue-de-L'Epinette and occupied breastworks, where we heard the report of the capture of 2,000 Germans and six guns.

On the next day, the twelfth, we again returned to Les Choques to our old billets, which were not required. We did not, of course, take full part in the Neuve Chapelle battle, but were there in reserve to the 4th Corps, the 4th Meerut Division taking the bulk of the work.

On March the twelfth we moved to Essairs, to the old billets we had occupied on Christmas Day, and renewed many old acquaintances. We stayed there five days, still in reserve and under an hour's notice.

On the eighteenth we removed nearer to La Bassée canal and behind Givenchy to a place named Goue. This time we found working parties in the trenches between Festubert and Givenchy.

On the twenty-second we left our billets at Goue, and removed to our old position in the Rue-de-L'Epinette, where we had lost so many of our men just before Christmas. We did not relish going there. I went as orderly to the Northamptons in case of communication being cut off by telephone, the Northamptons being more to our left in trenches at the Rue-de-Bois.

On the twenty-third we were relieved by the King's Royal Rifles, and, going round by Richebourg St. Vaast, we took the trenches on the Rue-de-Bois, relieving the Indians. These trenches were really barricades built up with sandbags. We had three companies in them, and one in reserve in billets behind. We found there another implement of torture used by the Germans, a three-pronged steel or iron with sharp points: they were thrown out in front of the trenches for men to step on—it mattered not which part you stepped on: one of the prongs would be sure to run into your leg. That night we had one Lieutenant and one private killed, and about thirteen casualties in all. We were in those trenches for a week, until the thirtieth, and it was one of the quietest spots of the whole line—scarcely any rifle fire and little shell fire. These trenches are linked up with from the right Givenchy at the La Bassée canal end; then come Festubert, Aubers Ridge, Port Arthur, and Neuve Chapelle, all within a distance of five miles.

We did not have many casualties during our stay on the Rue-de-Bois, and returned to our old billets at Les Choques on March the thirtieth, resting and refitting until April the seventh.

On April the eighth we marched to Neuve Chapelle, and occupied the trenches at Port Arthur, a portion of the line there having been given that name. Another spot there was known as "Windy Corner," on account of its treacherous nature, as it was under a cross fire from the enemy.

On April the sixth we were joined by a new C.O., Colonel Sanderson, who came to us from the 2nd Battalion, which was then serving in East Africa. At Port Arthur we went into reserve, one Company occupying the dug-out at the rear and on the road. From this road our Engineers had erected a wooden track and wooden rails, for the purpose of taking by trolleys all necessities for the trenches. We found this very useful during our stay here of four days, after which we were, on the twelfth, relieved by a Territorial Division.

We then proceeded to Mont Bernischon, for three days' rest, leaving that village for Richebourg St. Vaast, where we occupied billets in reserve. Here I left the Regiment to join the 1st Divisional Headquarters for a refresher course in signalling, as that Regiment was at that time short of these specialists. I remained at Locon until May the sixth, when the class was broken up, and all men were sent to rejoin their respective Regiments, in view of a great advance that was then supposed to be about to take place.

During the time I was with the class, all qualified signallers and Officers of the Regiment had been attending lectures held at the 2nd Brigade Office to learn the scheme of the proposed attack, which was to be commenced by a huge bombardment of guns on a front of less than two miles. Before we left our billets at Les Choques we were told that it was to be the greatest bombardment ever known; and we had detailed instruction in the various parts we were to play. We were all under the impression that we were going to have an easy task of it, as we were to take up our position and start from the Rue-de-Bois, which place had always been so quiet when we occupied it. That night we were taken to a field near the canal at Locon expecting to proceed to the trenches to be in readiness for the night; however, we did not go up, and stopped there all the next day, May the sixth, until 8 p.m. We were then sent back to billets at Les Choques, the advance having been cancelled for forty-eight hours. Thus we left Les Choques on May the eighth in the evening, and proceeded to the Rue-de-Bois, where we occupied the reserve trenches, every one being in and ready for the fray at 3 a.m. on the morning of the ninth.

CHAPTER IX
THE BATTLE OF FESTUBERT, MAY 9TH, 1915

The signal for the bombardment was given by a big gun at 5.30 a.m., when all the guns commenced to blaze off. It was just as if all hell were let loose! The German trenches, like ours, were built up of sandbags; and within five minutes they represented the waves of the sea beating against the rocks. Débris was flying in all directions, and we men stood on the tops of our trenches to see the fun; but were very soon down again, as the enemy during the whole of that bombardment repeatedly sniped at us, and had the impudence to shout at us: "Come on—we've been waiting for you for twenty-four hours." At 8 a.m. the bombardment ceased, and the attack commenced in earnest. Our position was the centre, and we were led by the 2nd Royal Sussex, followed by the Northamptons, North Lancashires, 5th Royal Sussex, and we also had the 9th King's Liverpools, a Territorial Regiment that had recently joined our Brigade. They were in reserve, with the 1st Brigade Black Watch holding the front line whilst we attacked. The distance between the two lines of trenches was not more than three hundred yards, but we could advance only halfway: we had to yield to the enemy's machine-gun fire. Some of the men had to lie there all day until nightfall, when, at 11 o'clock, the whole of the 2nd Brigade retired to the reserve line of trenches to reorganize, the 1st Brigade still holding the front line. We accounted for 430 of all ranks, not including machine-gun men, who were still in position in the front line.

Another bombardment was commenced again at 2 p.m., and, going into the front line, we prepared for another attack. Towards 4 p.m. an order came through for the North Lancashires to stand fast, and the Black Watch, sending up two companies, took our places, and then charged the enemy's lines. After repeated attempts, they eventually got into their trenches. Words cannot describe that glorious piece of work—no praise could be high enough. When they got into the trenches the Germans took their rifles and equipment from them, and, turning them out unarmed, told them to get back to their own lines the best way they could, turning their machine-guns on them as they did so. We, of course, dared not fire, on account of the possibility of hitting our own men. We had the misfortune to lose our Armourer Sergeant, who had taken part in the charge; also three Captains killed, Captains Hay, Hill, and Adcock. Lieutenant-Colonel Bowlby was wounded; Lieutenant Fisher, machine-gun Officer, killed; Lieutenant Garrod, sniping Officer, killed on the enemy's barbed wire—altogether we lost nearly three hundred of all ranks, the Northamptons losing more than we did, and the whole Division losing nearly 8,000 men, without succeeding in taking a single trench.

We held the front line until 3 a.m. of the morning of the ninth, when we were relieved by the 2nd Division and the Highland Light Infantry, 5th Infantry Brigade. Proceeding to Le Touret, the Battalion joined up, and, after calling the roll, we marched on to Lannoy, there to rest.

On the twelfth of May we left Lannoy and marched to Bethune, where we occupied billets for four days. I was fortunate enough to procure a pass, and paid a visit to St. Omer, where my father was stationed with a Motor Transport Company. There I spent two very enjoyable days, but, on getting back to Bethune, I found the Regiment had departed, taking with them my rifle and equipment. They had not, however, gone far—only to Beuvry, where I soon found them. That night the 47th Territorial London Division had by mistake taken our billets. We, of course, turned them out, upon which they began to sing:

There we stayed six days, finding working parties, etc., and then we moved up to Annequin for three days in reserve. At Annequin there was a coal-pit, which was shelled each day and nearly every night, although the civilians still occupied it. The church, typical of churches in the French villages, came under the enemy's fire first. Just behind and in rear was an estaminet run by two French girls. How they could live there beats me, as there were three large shell-holes in the walls, and a corner had been knocked off the house. They had placed barrels filled with earth over these holes, and carried on business in the same old way, making quite a good living from the English troops billeted there. On Sunday afternoons they used to take walks with some French Officers around what was then the French section of the line; our line finished on the left of the La Bassée Road. We stayed here four days, and on the afternoon of May the twenty-fourth moved into the trenches, taking over from the King's Liverpools the right of La Bassée Road, originally occupied by the French. We found on this part of the line the trenches very good, with four lines of them, a front line, a support line, and a reserve, called Maison Rouge: there were three red-bricked houses in this line. Some of the dug-outs in this line were also splendid, containing beds and furniture brought by the French from the ruined village of Cambrin just behind. Whilst we were here the enemy blew up a mine, but we had few casualties. In this village we had our Transport 1st Line, and also the Brigade Office. The Germans were quite eight hundred yards from us, and in between the two lines was an aeroplane, English or French, which had been hit and brought down by the enemy. On several occasions we went out at night to try to bring it in; but we found the engine had been buried too far in the ground, and all we could do was to take away parts. One day I watched a man go out in broad daylight collecting German helmets.

We were relieved on the twenty-eighth by the Regiment which we had relieved four days before, the 9th King's Liverpools; and we returned to our old billets at Annequin. Around this sector of the line we were well backed by the famous French 75 gun.

On June the first we relieved the 9th King's Liverpools from trenches at the brickfields at Quinchy. They had been moved from the trenches on the right of La Bassée Road during our time of reserve to those at the brickfields. We had a rough time here for three days: the enemy exploded two mines, which sent up the largest part of one of our Companies (C Company) with them. We were also much nearer the enemy than before, and were continually bombed.

On the fourth we were relieved, and proceeded to Bethune, where we were billeted in a school. The very first night we were again shelled. We spent seven days here, enjoying the luxury of a large swimming-bath.

On June the eleventh we left for Cambrin to relieve the 1st Brigade, and put two Companies in reserve on the left of the road and in rear of Quinchy and one on the right of the road at Maison Rouge, one Company being in billets at Cambrin. At Maison Rouge we had a transmitting station to the King's Royal Rifles, and from the 2nd Brigade Headquarters, the King's Royal Rifles occupying the front line on the right of the road, nicknamed "Bomb Alley," on account of its being so near the enemy and continually under bombardment. We used sentries on each traverse to look out for bombs: on seeing one coming and at what position it would be likely to drop, the sentry would yell out "Bomb right," or "Bomb left," as the case might be, when the men would at once clear to the opposite direction.

On June the fourteenth we were relieved by the 2nd Division, and left for Bethune, where we went into Corps reserve for four days.

On the seventeenth we left Bethune for La Pugnoy, there to rest: whilst here we received a draft of 183 Officers and men who had been transferred from a service Battalion of the Manchesters, on account of the shortage of our own reinforcements at the feeding Battalion then at Felixstowe.

On the twenty-seventh we marched to Cambrin, a distance of about sixteen miles, having our dinner on the road in a thunderstorm; and, on entering the trenches, we received a welcome from the Herts Territorials, who had decorated the fire-step with pieces of chalk (these trenches were of a chalky nature), out of small pieces of which they had built the words: "Welcome to Kitchener's Army." Fancy what the reading of that meant to us men, some of whom had been through the war since the very commencement! We did indeed feel grateful, and we had cause to be so, as we were supposed to have gone back to La Pugnoy for a Divisional rest and were expecting at least a month, whereas we got only three days of it. Whilst at La Pugnoy several Brigades of Kitchener's Army had passed through us and the 1st Division, those of which occupied the trenches at the time expected to get relieved by them. However, we had to go, and we were shelled pretty heavily here; we had three Companies in the front line, and D Company in reserve. On July the fourth we were relieved from the trenches, after having been in them for six days, and we returned to Salle-la-Bourse. We had then taken over trenches in front of Vermelles, and, after spending a few days at Salle-la-Bourse, we journeyed two kilometres to Noyelles; from there, four days afterwards, we again occupied the trenches for eight days. During this time operations were very calm, and all around the district one could see for some considerable distance—from Vermelles one could see the "Tower Bridge" at Loos; and I often used to gaze at it and wonder when it would become our property, little thinking that my hope would be realized within a couple of months. We did another few days in the trenches, and then went back to Verquin, near Bethune. The observation balloon used to go up here at the back of the village, and on several occasions the enemy shelled it, but never succeeded in hitting it.

On July the twentieth we were again at Noyelles, and on the twenty-third of that month I obtained leave for the purpose of proceeding to England for eight days, after having been on active service for a period of nearly twelve months. I had nearly ten miles to walk, fully equipped, to the railway station to get my train. I need not describe my brief visit home; needless to say I enjoyed myself never better in my life.

Arriving back at Bethune on August the first, we learnt from Headquarters that the Regiment were in the trenches at Vermelles, and, on arrival at that place, we were just in time to see the Battalion relieved, and had to march back that same night again to Bethune, where we spent eight days, the Division holding a horse-show and sports.

From the eighth of August until a fortnight before the Battle of Loos we took our turn, with other Regiments in the Brigade, to go into the trenches; and a fortnight before Loos we returned to Lozingham to rehearse the coming battle. While at Lozingham we did Battalion training, and generally prepared ourselves. I had become somewhat run down and felt fairly bad with sickness, etc.; when the doctor examined me he found I had a temperature of over 100. He asked me where I felt ill, and on my telling him, he said: "You ought to be admitted to hospital, but I'm afraid I can't do that, as you are a signaller and we are short of signallers." He told me to lie down in my billet and rest. I was like this for nearly a week, and did not feel much better at the end of that time; but, as we were again on the move, I did not trouble him any more.

It was on September the twenty-first that we moved to Marles, a village one kilometre from Lozingham. On the twenty-second we marched to the trenches at Vermelles in readiness for the battle, arriving there at 3 a.m. on the twenty-fourth, throughout which day we were busy teeing in wires, etc., in readiness for our run to the German lines on the morrow.

CHAPTER X
LOOS

The 1st Division took the centre, with the 15th Scottish Division on the right and the 9th Division on the left. The 1st Division faced a part of the line known as "Lone Tree," named after a tree between the two lines and the only one there. The Division had battle Headquarters at Larutwar Farm, and Brigade Headquarters in a part of the trenches known as "Daly's Keep." At 6.40 a.m. on the morning of the twenty-fifth of September the attack was to be launched, first by the Royal Engineers letting off asphyxiating gas; when that reached the German lines or was three parts of the way across, the Infantry were to follow. Of the 2nd Brigade the 1st Loyal North Lancashires and the King's Royal Rifles were the two Regiments selected, and to them was given the honour of going over first, the King's Royal Rifles on the right. Punctually at the time given the gas was let off, accompanied by smoke bombs, but unfortunately before it had reached half the distance across, the wind changed and blew it back upon us. However, over we went, and, as our distance to the enemy's lines was quite eight hundred yards, we covered them by short rushes. On reaching the enemy's wire entanglements we found that they had not been sufficiently damaged to admit of our access to the enemy's trench; so we held on for reinforcements, which arrived in the form of the 2nd Royal Sussex; but we could not make headway against the enemy's machine-guns, although the Divisions on our left and right had advanced a considerable distance. A Brigade consisting of several Territorial Regiments in the Division was then sent to our aid, and this time we got through, taking several hundred prisoners. The Divisions on the left and right of us had advanced, the enemy opposed to them had retired and were to all intents and purposes cut off, so they had perforce to surrender. This gave us practically a clear run of about half a mile, and we saw, as we passed, that our objective at the chalk-pit was the village of Loos on our left. Fighting in Loos village was very furious indeed. This chalk-pit is situated on the Loos-Lens road, and on the left of it is a wood, where, after charging through it for spare Germans, we dug in.

At 4 a.m. on the morning of the twenty-sixth we were relieved by the 21st Division of Kitchener's Army, as we had obtained our objective. We went back to our old original trenches, leaving the 21st Division to carry on. Our ranks were sadly depleted, having lost many men: it was an awful and ghastly sight coming back over the ground we had taken. About two o'clock that afternoon we heard that the 21st Division were not doing well, and that a couple of field-batteries which had taken up position immediately behind the old German front line had been put out of action, as well as two batteries to the right of Larutwar Farm, which was packed from end to end with wounded, waiting to be taken away. The motor-ambulances worked night and day.

Soon after this, the 24th Division, another of Kitchener's Divisions, came into action to relieve the 21st, very few of whom remained. This Division stopped in for nearly twenty-four hours, and retook some of the ground that the 21st had lost. The afternoon before the Guards Division, fresh from ——, where they had been in training, and the New Welsh Guards also went into action, making an attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt. They did good work, I believe, in taking part of it.

On the night of the twenty-seventh we were ordered out from our old line to the old German support line in reserve; but next morning were taken out again and sent back to Mazingarbe, a small village behind Vermelles. We had eight hours' rest here, and that same night proceeded to the recently captured village of Loos, where were packed piles of dead Germans and men of the 15th Scottish Division. It was indeed an ugly sight. From one cellar we turned out twenty Germans, and we also took one who had been working an underground telephone. We spent one night in this cellar, and the following night proceeded through the village to Hill 70, where we filled a gap and dug a line of trenches, digging most of the time through solid chalk. While there we were heavily shelled, as also was Loos, where houses were crashing to the ground every few minutes.

Three days afterwards we were relieved by a French Division and went back to Neaux-le-Mines for a well-earned five-days' respite. After that we were put into the trenches at Vermelles, and on October the tenth the enemy made a determined attack on the 9th King's Liverpools and Gloucesters 3rd Brigade, to whom we had then been attached. The enemy were well driven off, but both regiments had to be taken out that night, and we went up in the place of the King's Liverpools, and were situated in our old trenches near the chalk-pit. Here, on the morning of the eleventh of October, we were badly shelled: we lost a machine-gun team and the gun was knocked out. I was then ordered to take a message into Loos village to the 3rd Brigade Office, requesting them to send up another gun-team at once.

Coming back from this message I received my wound, getting a nasty knock through the leg, severing the arteries and smashing the bone. After binding it tightly, I managed to make my way to the first-aid dressing-station, a distance of nearly a mile and a half. Thence I proceeded to Mazingarbe, but, owing to hæmorrhage, I did not get my wound dressed until I was sent back to Lozingham, where I was sent to the operating tent of the 23rd Field Ambulance. Whilst awaiting my turn, I watched the surgeons take from another man's knee a bullet. Two days later I was sent to Rouen, where I spent ten days; from there I came home to Salisbury Infirmary, and I was in this hospital for twelve weeks undergoing three operations. I was, on becoming convalescent, sent to the Red Cross Hospital, Salisbury; and here I spent another month, and proceeded at the end of that time to the house of Sir Vincent Caillard at Wingfield. At this house I was given massage twice a day; and after a month was sent on to Sutten Veney. After three weeks I was given my discharge, and proceeded to the depôt in Lancashire, where I finally signed my papers and re-entered back to civilian life after having had one year and 246 days on active service.

The 1st Division on landing in France consisted of three Infantry Brigades, comprising:

1st Brigade

Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
Royal Highlanders (Black Watch).
Munster Fusiliers.

2nd Brigade

1st Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.
2nd King's Royal Rifle Corps.
2nd Royal Sussex Regiment.
2nd Northampton Regiment.

3rd Brigade

The Welsh Regiment.
South Wales Borderers.
Queen's Royal West Kents.
Gloucester Regiment.