Forgotten Voices of the Somme (33 page)

Court and I had a conference, and we drank a considerable amount of rum, and Court started up. He led up the high street of Flers. I followed him up the high street but I had in my path about two thousand dead British and German soldiers. Any attempt to clear the dead from our path was impossible because of the shelling, and we ploughed over the lot of them. Court put his nose out of Flers and the Germans concentrated their fire on him. I followed, and soon I was being covered by shellfire, and every prismatic mirror in that tank was shattered.

My driver, Archer, called and said, 'I cannot see sir,' and I swept him out of his driving seat and called for
Corporal Saunders
to take his place. 'Where to sir?' he said. 'Follow Lieutenant Court!' We lifted the small armoured flap, and we saw Court's tank and it stopped. There was a small dense column of smoke arising from it and then it exploded. I ordered Saunders on. He was shocked at what had happened – so were we all who were inside D9 – but we were then almost astride 'T' trench and our starboard guns were trained on about four hundred bewildered Germans who were burrowing down like rabbits, seeking cover from our machine guns.

When we had finished on 'T' trench we went towards Gueudecourt – but I had noticed that my port guns had not fired a shot. I went over to the two gunner boys. They were huddled over their machine guns. I kicked them but I got no response – they were dead. Machine-gun bullets had penetrated the tank. We struggled on, with nothing to fire at, but we had to get to Gueudecourt. Jerry slapped shell after shell into us, until one shell penetrated the forward part of the tank, and D9 caught fire. What happened then, I cannot tell you.

I believe there was an explosion, and I was on top of my corporal, who had his shins sticking out in the air. There were two other survivors. Saunders was shrieking with pain, but fortunately I had been provided with
morphia
so that I could quieten a wounded man. I plugged Saunders with morphia, and I sent the two other survivors to try and get help. They were never seen again. I remained with Saunders in a shell-hole, in the German lines. I bandaged him and gave him more morphia. All he could say was, 'For God's sake, shoot me, sir!'

The Germans had turned their machine guns on us, and I had to get Saunders from that shell-hole. I fastened my Sam Browne belt to his belt, and I crawled a very short distance into what I considered a better hole. The

Guards and the
Durham Light Infantry
rose up – there appeared to be hundreds of them – and they captured 'T' trench, and, later that day, they came over and got Saunders and I in. I was probably in a very bad way, and I was sent to a clearing station. Saunders was taken through our lines and was immediately sent to England. I had the pleasure of visiting him in a Kentish hospital. All the wounded were lined up on the drive – and Saunders was in a special place.

Captain Philip Neame VC

Headquarters, 168th Infantry Brigade

In September, we began carrying out
patrol work
between the different offensives in the Somme battle; we were going out in front of our front line to lay out and prepare assembly trenches for the next attack. We needed a suitable line to start our next attack from, because the last advance might leave a very irregular line with our troops just dug into shell-holes. The form of attack of those days, you must start off from a fairly straight line, to give your troops a chance in a dawn or pre-dawn attack of going off in the right direction.

SEPTEMBER 22 – SEPTEMBER 30

The Battle of Flers-Courcelette had not achieved a breakthrough for the British, but it had pushed the Germans back. Haig's strategy was now to seize control of the
Thiepval Ridge
, attacking along a front from Courcelette to the Schwaben Redoubt, before pushing east towards Serre. On September 26, Thiepval was taken, along with Mouquet Farm, the scene of intense fighting earlier in the battle.

Two days later, an attack was mounted on the Schwaben Redoubt, which had briefly fallen to the 36th (Ulster) Division on July 1, before they had been forced to withdraw. Fighting was again fierce, much of it hand-tohand with bayonets, the infantryman's most unpleasant job. The redoubt changed hands repeatedly. It was not finally taken until October 14.

Private Leonard Gordon Davies

22nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers

I had the misfortune to meet another chap with a bayonet. I was on the top, and he was down in the trench, and I think he must have been the sort of man who funked things a bit, because he put his hands up and threw his gun down. So I didn't shoot. It was lucky I met that sort of chap. Thank God, I never had another opportunity to murder someone. I must have killed several people with gunfire, but a bayonet was different.

Corporal Henry Mabbott

2nd Battalion, Cameron Highlanders

We went through to the support trenches, in order to clear them. I'd been through two or three bays and found nobody, and I came round a corner – and a German was standing there with his rifle. I had a rifle, and we looked at one another. He shook his head, and he threw his rifle down. I do believe that my knees were shaking more than his. It was a case of cold steel ...

Private Basil Farrer

3rd Battalion, Green Howards

A bayonet is grooved. If you bayonet a man, and try and withdraw it, very often it is very hard because the flesh closes. You've got to give it a twist. If you withdraw without giving it a twist, the outside could close and it wouldn't bleed. Let air into it and the blood flows freely.

Second Lieutenant Tom Adlam VC

7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment

We were down at Thiepval, and things had been held up – especially on one flank – and our battalion was put in, to try and straighten out the line. And just before we went up, my commanding officer was called away and I was in charge of the company. I was briefed at headquarters, and it was impressed upon me that we had to do this at night, while it was dark, because they'd tried several times in the daytime and they'd been held up at strong points. We must get into the trench at night, and then bomb our way to these strong points.

But as things happened, the guides that were taking us up all got lost, except in my company. I thought, 'Yes, it would be us!' Luckily, just before we

started the attack, my company commander came and took over. It had taken us so long to get into position, that it was quite daylight. I knew that we weren't supposed to do this in daylight, but he said, 'Well, get along!' And we got over. I was lucky, because the part my platoon was opposite was only about a hundred yards away. We got a certain way – then the machine guns started, and we all went in the shell-holes.

So I thought, 'Well . . . we've got to get in this trench somehow or other. What are we going to do about it?' So I went crawling along from shell-hole to shell-hole, till I came to the officer in charge of the next platoon. 'What do you think about it, Father?' I said. We always used to call him 'Father' – that was his nickname. He said, 'I'm going to wait here till it gets dark. We can't go forward.' I said, 'Well, I think we can. Where I am, I'm not more than fifty yards from the trench. And I think I can get in!' I remember he shook hands with me solemnly. He said, 'Goodbye, old man.' I said, 'Don't be such a damn fool. I'll get back all right. I'm quite sure I can get back.' It didn't worry me.

Of course, I was abnormal at the time. I didn't feel that there was any danger at all at that moment. I got back to my platoon. I went across to them. I said, 'You all got a bomb?' We always take two bombs with us. And I said, 'Well, get one in your hand, pull out the pin. Now hold it tight. As soon as I yell "Charge!" stand up, run two or three yards and throw your bomb. And I think we'll get into that trench! There's practically no wire in front of it . . .' And they went like a bomb. They did. They all up and ran, and we got into our little bit of trench. There was no trench on the right of us. They'd been all blown away. And we were in this narrow bit of trench; by this time we had no more bombs. There were bags of German bombs – looking like a condensed milk can on the top of a stick. And on there was written '5 secs'. You had to unscrew the bottom, and a little toggle ran out. You pulled that, and you threw it. I'd noticed that the Germans were throwing them at us. And I'd see them coming over wobbling about as they did, pitching a bit short, luckily. And I could count up to nearly three before the bang came. So I experimented with one. I pulled the string, and I took a chance and I said, 'One, two, three.' My servant was beside me, and he was looking over the top of the trench, and he said, 'Bloody good shot, sir! Hit him in the chest! Hit the bugger!'

I think that when the Germans found their own bombs coming back at them, it rather put the wind up them. I don't know whether they thought I

was picking up the ones they'd thrown, and was throwing them back, but there were bags of them in the trench. So with my few men behind me I got them all to pick up bombs.

Another thing I did was to dump all my equipment except my prismatic compass. I thought, 'I bought that myself and I don't want to lose it.' And I kept that over my shoulder. The men all brought these bombs along, an armful of them. And I just went gaily along, throwing bombs. I just counted every time I threw it, 'One, two, three.' And the bomb went, and it was most effective.

Then we got up close to where the machine gun was. And that was zipping about. We daren't look up above. But I got a whole lot of bombs ready, and I started throwing as fast as I could. And my servant, who was popping up every now and again, said, 'They're going, sir, they're going!' So I yelled, 'Run in chaps! Come on!' and we just charged up the trench like a load of mad things. Luckily they
were
running.

We never caught them, but we drove them out. Then we came to another machine-gun post. And they were keeping down, the other people behind, that had the longer journey to go over. By the time we got him out of the way, the others followed in behind us. And they did the cleaning-up of the dugouts. All we did, as we went along, was to throw a bomb down, and go on. Well, in the end, with these few men I had, we'd won the objective that the battalion was put out to do. But they came in behind us, and they took nearly a hundred prisoners, from the dugouts. It was lucky that the Germans didn't come up behind us. They were more frightened than we were – and I was frightened, I don't mind telling you.

So then we got to a certain point and the commanding officer saw two trenches leading up towards Schwaben Redoubt, and he said, 'It would be a good idea to get an advance post up there.' So they started off, and a man got killed straight away. I said, 'Oh, damn it! Let me go. I've done the rest of it – I can do this bit!' So I went on. I bombed up the trench, put some men to look after it, and bombed along this one there. It wasn't much of a trench at all. It was an easy job. Then I got to the other corner, bombed them out of there, and then bombed back down the way. We took more prisoners from the dugouts, and now we had our two advance points out towards the enemy.

There was a job to be done, and you just got on and did it. I was more frightened going up to the trenches, sitting, waiting to start. I was very fright-ened

then – very frightened indeed. But when we got going, you've got a group of men with you. You're in charge of them. And we were all taught we had to be an example to our men. If you went forward, they'd go with you, and you sort of lost your sense of fear..

When I heard that I'd been awarded the Victoria Cross, I was back in Colchester. I'd been in the town for an evening out, and when I got back to the mess at night, the orderly room porter said, 'There's a lot of telegrams for you, sir, up in the mess. I was told to tell you.' So I went up to the mess and there were about a dozen telegrams. 'Congratulation!' 'Heartiest Congratulations!' 'Congratulations from all at home!' 'Congratulations from the regiment!'

So I went down, and I said, 'Can you get a wire off to my father?' And they said, 'Yes, if you like.' And in this wire, I said, 'Why congratulations. I know nothing.' And I sent that off to my father. And he wired back, 'Have heard papers are asking for a photograph of you as you've been awarded the VC.' That's how I heard.

Corporal Don Murray

8th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Three months later, we had come back to the same place we'd been on July 1. We were
still
attacking Mouquet Farm. Haig was sending man after man; thousands were piled up like carcasses in a slaughterhouse, just rotting away. That was the Battle of the Somme.

Second Lieutenant Stewart Cleeve

36th Siege Artillery Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery

Mouquet Farm was an awfully difficult place to find, because it was rather low down in a valley, but it was a hive of iniquity, and a terrible source of trouble to the infantry. They had tried time without number to capture this wretched Mouquet Farm and they couldn't do it. They were decimated every time they went. So, finally, it was decided to blow the place to hell, and I was observation officer. I went up, got into the front line. They'd had an attack that morning that had failed lamentably, and that's why I was sent for. I asked the infantry, 'Where is Mouquet Farm?' and they said, 'Just over there. But you can't see it from here,' so I said, 'Well, where can I see it from?' They said, 'Between us and Mouquet Farm is a little ridge. You might be able to see it from there.'