The War Service Of The 1/4 Royal Berkshire Regiment (T. F - free ebook by C. R. M. F. (Charles Robert Mowbray Fraser) Cruttwell

THE WAR SERVICE of the 1/4 Royal Berkshire Regiment (T.F.) By C. R. M. F. CRUTTWELL

Late Captain 1/4 Royal Berks. Regt. , Fellow Of Hertford College, And Formerly Fellow Of All Souls College, Oxford OXFORD BASIL BLACKWELL MCMXXII Oxford Fox, Jones &amp; Co. , Kemp Hall Press, High Street....

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CHAPTER I

Late in the afternoon of August 2nd, 1914, the 4th Royal Berks Regiment joined the remainder of the South Midland Infantry Brigade for their annual camp on a hill above Marlow. War had broken out on the previous day between Germany and Russia, and few expected that the 15 days' training would run its normal course. It was not, therefore, a complete surprise when in the twilight of the next morning the battalion re-entered the same trains which had brought them, and returned to Reading. Soon afte

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CHAPTER II

The night was calm and bright with stars as, with an escorting destroyer, we crossed rapidly to Boulogne . After disembarking we marched to the Blue Base above the town, clattering over the cobbles, and drawing the heads of the curious to their bedroom windows. Here we lay down in tents and endured with the mitigation of one blanket a bitter frost. That evening we continued our journey towards the unknown from Pont des Briques station, where we found our train already contained the transport fro

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CHAPTER III

The line held by the Division for the next two months was wholly within Belgian territory, with a frontage of about 5,000 yards, which stretched from a point about 500 yards south-east of Wulverghem on the north to just below Le Gheer . The 143rd Brigade were on the left, 145th in the centre, and the 144th on the right. We were on the left of the 145th, and worked on a self-relieving system by which two Companies spent alternate periods of four days in the trenches and in local reserve. B and C

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CHAPTER IV

During the first week in June the three Brigades left their own quarters and exchanged trench sections. The 145th moved from the centre to the left, to the joy of the Warwicks, whose losses had been considerable. While this move was in process the Battalion was taken out of the wood, and marched to huts at Korte Pyp, on a plateau with a wide prospect on the southern slopes of Neuve Église Hill. The site was admirable, the huts well-built and commodious, and (rarest of sights in the rich cultivat

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CHAPTER V

After 36 hours in the wood we packed up again and moved by night through Authie , afterwards most familiar and welcome of rest billets, passing Coignieux , where the French gunners, sitting by their fires in the horse lines, called out greetings, and ascended the northern hill to Bayencourt , a stinking little village full of flies and odours. By now the enemy had apparently got wind of the coming of the English (which was first confirmed, according to prisoners, by the discovery of English bull

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CHAPTER VI

During the six weeks after our arrival the weather was very broken, with many violent thunderstorms and very little heat. Except for eight days at Sailly , where fear of aeroplanes was fortunately sufficient to prevent parades, but not cricket in the orchards, we spent all our time at Hébuterne . The Battalion, for the most part, relieved itself as at Plugstreet, but had no fixed dwelling-place, sometimes extending as far to the right as Trench Bugeaud , half way up the north slope of the hill o

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CHAPTER VII

In spite of many rumours of a rest the 48th Division remained in the line throughout the whole of the winter, and, indeed, as we shall see, until the spring of 1916 was far spent. Meanwhile, the wastage of the Battalion was considerable, and was not made good by drafts, whose total number up to March 1st, 1916, amounted only to 103 men. Companies, therefore, with a fighting strength of from 90 to 110 men had to hold (under far more trying conditions) the same frontage (about 1,400 yards as a rul

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CHAPTER VIII

The spring of 1916 was slow in coming. The German attack at Verdun had coincided with a long spell of deep snow and bitter cold. An officer going on leave at the end of February vividly remembers his experiences on the frozen roads, and the sight of a column of French troops of all arms 20 miles long, making their way painfully along the great 'Route Nationale' to Amiens to join in the defence of Verdun . But towards the end of March the weather grew warm and genial and the wild daffodils began

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CHAPTER IX

The day at Couin was spent in packing and loading up, a task rendered easier by the loan from our good friends, 3rd Warwick Battery, of two G.S. wagons. Early on the 18th we joined the Brigade at St. Leger and marched to Beauval . The day was very hot. The march was mainly through narrow valleys, dense with dust. The Battalion were short of sleep, and very weary, while the sun beat down upon their steel helmets, which they wore for the first time on the march. None the less, Sir A. Hunter-Weston

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CHAPTER X

The successful night attack of July 14th had eaten into the third German line between Longueval and Bazentin-le-Petit on a front of some three miles. The principal British efforts for the next six weeks were consequently directed towards getting more elbow-room on both flanks. On the north progress had been greatly hindered by the stubborn resistance of the German Guards at Ovillers , which was not cleared up till July 11th. Our line now skirted the southern orchards of Pozières , running westwa

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CHAPTER XI

The Battalion stood greatly in need of a respite from fighting. As we have seen, it had lost rather more than a third of its fighting strength. It is true that numbers had been practically maintained by a succession of drafts, but time was required to assimilate these men into the companies, and to complete their training, which was in some respects seriously deficient. Conscription had only come into operation in the spring, and voluntary supplies had fallen very low; the wastage of the first t

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CHAPTER XII

The Battalion now moved back to Bus , that shady village with its white château so long used as Divisional Headquarters in the old days. Here General Fanshawe inspected the Battalion, addressed them on their late exploits, and presented Military Medals to Privates S. Smith and T. Russell. He spoke of the importance of practising open fighting, which he said might be the next task of the Battalion, a prophecy which, as we shall see, was fulfilled when we fought at Ronssoy in the German retreat ne

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CHAPTER XIII

After three days at Millencourt the Battalion moved forward into that featureless waste for the possession of which so much blood had been shed. For 7 miles or more east of Albert along both sides of the great highway to Bapaume up the long slope from La Boisselle to Pozières windmill, and down again towards Le Sars , the eye would pick out no natural landmark except a few broken sticks, once trees. The surface of the country, churned up and scooped out by innumerable shells, was literally a sea

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CHAPTER XIV

Christmas was spent in the huts at Bécourt with a wild gale blowing; the festivities and feastings of the previous year at Authie were not possible, but at least the men could congratulate themselves that they were not in the trenches. On the 28th we moved back through Albert to the village of Bresle , which lies just north of the great straight highway from Amiens to Albert . Here some houses yet remained, and contact was re-established with the vestiges of civilisation. The Brigade, drawn up i

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CHAPTER XV

The beginning of April found the 145th Brigade round Villers-Faucon in support to the other two Brigades who were fighting their way forward beyond Epéhy . On the 4th the Battalion received orders in concert with the remainder of the Brigade to take the three villages of Ronssoy, Basse Boulogne and Lempire . These three lie closely clustered together at the head of a valley with an undulating rise to the east. It was arranged to capture them by an encircling movement from the south and west. Sno

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CHAPTER XVI

April pursued its bitter way with snow and sleet. The first and triumphant stage of the Battle of Arras was fought on the 9th, when the enemy was thrust back 5 miles with the heaviest losses in prisoners and guns which he had yet suffered at the hands of the British. The repercussion of this violent fighting was felt all along the British line, and particularly to the southward, where the positions were still semi-fluid. The enemy's object was to delay as long as possible in his outposts before

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CHAPTER XVII

The great attempts to break through in April had definitely failed from a variety of causes. The Russian Revolution had rendered impossible the blow in the East, for which British munitions had for the first time adequately armed the Russian Armies. The German retreat had partially disorganised the combined British and French plan. The failure of Nivelle's great blow at the Chemin des Dames on the 16th April with enormous losses, made the French Armies incapable of any offensive operation on a l

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CHAPTER XVIII

The prolonged and terrible struggle which was now about to begin was the last attempt to break through in the west on the old plan. The immense collection of guns, ammunition, railway material, and every kind of transport aroused high hopes. It was believed that the bombardment prolonged throughout many days with an intensity far greater than before the Somme would overwhelm the German resistance, and open the way to the Flanders coast and to the submarine bases then at the most successful heigh

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CHAPTER XIX

On 15th October the Battalion left the Flemish swamps for good, and, returning south by rail, eventually settled for the remainder of the month in the huts at Villars-au-Bois , north-west of Arras . Here they rested in pleasant country behind the 2nd Canadian Division, one of whose regiments, the 27th, they replaced in reserve. The former were a splendid body of men, and very friendly. Their Quartermaster excited general admiration, being a man of over 60 years of age, two of whose sons were ser

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CHAPTER XX

Happy the Battalion which for a while at least in wartime has no history. We had come to Italy expecting at once to be desperately engaged against the victorious invaders. But the Italians, greatly to their credit, had reorganised their broken forces, and, with their left resting on the mountains, had repelled all attempts of the enemy to cross the Piave , swollen with autumn rains. By the end of December the British and French Armies were fully concentrated, and a period of immobility set in, n

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CHAPTER XXI

The new line ran along the forward slope of the hills, which had just been so painfully climbed, and whose reverse sides sheltered in their folds, densely populated with pine forests, the local reserves. The trenches themselves were strangely unlike any as yet inhabited, being blasted out of the solid rock. An impressive and, indeed, magnificent panorama extended itself in front. The valley of the Seven Communes, that curious little tongue of German-speaking territory projecting into pre-war Ita

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CHAPTER XXII

The remainder of June was spent pleasantly in rest billets, disturbed only by the first of the great influenza epidemics, which, pursuing a mild course, resulted in no deaths, but caused the evacuation in all of 112 men. On the 20th the Division lost their Commander, Sir R. Fanshawe, who returned home. He had commanded us for more than three years; devoted to the care of his Division and to the task of defeating the enemy, he demanded in everything the same high standard which he always set hims

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CHAPTER XXIII

The attack was started first on the Piave and the Brenta ; and operations further west were contingent on success in those areas. Accordingly, its effects did not become apparent on our front until 29th October, when the Austrians were already in headlong flight towards the Tagliamento . At that date we were holding the extreme right of the Divisional Area. On that morning, at daybreak, C Company sent out a patrol, which found that the Austrians had abandoned their front lines—a retirement which

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APPENDIX A.

1/4TH BATTALION ROYAL BERKSHIRE REGIMENT. ROLL OF OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN WHO DIED IN THE WAR. CAPTAINS. Attride, R. G. Buck, C. Down, W. O., M.C. LIEUTENANTS. Hunt, N. G. Palmer, R. W. P. Ridley, L. E. SECOND-LIEUTENANTS. Bartram, A. Heppell, H. D. Beasley, A. W., M.M. Teed, H. S. Clayton, N. Wakeford, G. T. Garside, T. O. ATTACHED TO OTHER UNITS. Lieut.-Colonel Thorne, H. U. H. Lieut. Wells, H. M. W. COMPANY SERGT.-MAJORS. 392 Lawrence, W. 200546 Wright, A. T., D.C.M. COMPA

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APPENDIX B.

Honours And Decorations Gained By Officers, N.C.O. 's And Men Of The 1st/4th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment, While Serving With The Battalion. C.M.G. Colonel O. Pearce Serocold. Lieut.-Col. R. J. Clarke. D.S.O. Lieut.-Col. A. B. Lloyd-Baker (Bucks Battn. attached). Lieut.-Col. R. J. Clarke. Capt. W. A. Wetherilt. M.C. Major J. N. Aldworth. Capt. E. W. Crust. Capt. S. Boyle. Capt. B. F. Holmes (Norfolk Regt. attached). Capt. G. M. Gaythorne-Hardy. Capt. J. W. Cawley. Capt. O. B. Challenor. Ca

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