The Sherwood Foresters in the Great War 1914 - 1919 History of the 18th Battalion by W. C. C. Weetman

Author:W. C. C. Weetman [Weetman, W. C. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Western Front, World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain, Great Britain. Army. Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)
Published: 2007-02-06T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER X

LENS

March 17th, 1917.— July 4th, 1917.

After relief at Gommecourt we spent two days at Souastre, and then marched via Bayencourt and Courcelles-au-Bois to Contay, where we arrived on March 23rd. The roads for much of this journey were in an appalling mess, partly as a result of constant shelling, and partly through being cut up by the masses of transport which had passed over them during the recent wet weather either in following up the retreating enemy or in withdrawing to back areas. Vehicles were often up to the axle in mud, whilst bicycles gave an immense amount of trouble, and this was not the only occasion on which we found it far preferable to foot-slog, even with heavy packs, than to be Signallers with bicycles, which practically had to be carried. Loaded with pack and other paraphernalia, the heavy army pattern bicycle is not a lovable companion, except on a more or less perfect road. A really first-class exhibition of bicycle manoeuvring was given during the move by Pvte. Bunce, who always seemed to be in trouble, and was a source of much amusement to his fellow Signallers. We stayed one night at Contay, moving the following day to Bertangles, and on March 25th to Revelles, a delightful village about seven miles West of Amiens. We were taken through Amiens itself in motor 'buses, which picked us up just North of the town, and deposited us on the other side, leaving us to finish the journey on foot.

On passing through one village during this backward march we saw some men wearing Sherwood Forester badges. They turned out to be men of the 2/8th Battalion, and proved the correctness of rumours we had recently heard that that Battalion was actually in France. One of the 2/8th men accosted a fellow man of our Battalion, as he passed, with the remark "Who are you?" "1/8th" was the reply, "Who are you?" "2/8th"—"Right", said our friend—we believe a Signaller—"You can tell your mother you've seen some real soldiers now!"

We were supposed to entrain for the North almost at once, but as five or six other Divisions were being moved besides ourselves it was not surprising that trains were running a day or two late, so we were able to have a short rest at Revelles, which was much enjoyed, especially as we were able to make trips to Amiens, which at that time had only been slightly damaged by bombs, and was full of life. The chief centres of attraction were the Hotel Godbert, The Savoy, Charlie's Bar, and the Café du Cathédral.

Eventually we entrained at Bacouel Station in the afternoon of March 28th, the entrainment being one of the most expeditious ever carried out by the Battalion. Not so, however, the journey! Times without number we came to a stop with a succession of jerks, not on account of signals—indeed it would appear that few, if any, existed—but because other trains were in front. During a tedious night of such progress, we passed through Abbeville, Boulogne, Calais and St.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.