The Story of the 102nd Canadian Infantry Battalion
From BC to Baisieux by Sgt Leonard McLeod Gould HQ 102nd Canadians WW1
From Ecoivres to Berneville-Night Marching to the South-The Dawn of
"The Day"-Battle of Amiens-Rosieres-A Record Train Journey-Ready for the
Hindenburg Switch
NOT until the small hours of the morning did the tail end of the
Battalion reach Village Camp, Ecoivres, as the relieving Battalion,
being ignorant of conditions in the Oppy sector, required considerable
instruction before taking over the new positions; moreover, the Hun
airmen were unwontedly active and successful with the bombing machines,
harassing the outgoing troops considerably and inflicting seven
casualties in "A' Coy. But by 10.00 a.m. on Aug. 1st everyone had
returned and rested and was in a position to appreciate the baths and
clean underwear which had been arranged for the Battalion, with the
prophetic warning attached that it might be some time before another
such opportunity occurred. In the afternoon we fell in and marched ten
miles to Berneville; it was strange to see how the brief respite of
barely three weeks which had elapsed since the severe training at
Conteville, coupled with the days of enforced inactivity which trench
warfare entails, reacted on the men; three weeks before they could
tackle an eighteen-mile march with field manoeuvres thrown in; now a
little ten-mile march in heavy order was an effort, and swollen feet and
blisters accounted for a large number of stragglers. But this was merely
a temporary reaction, and a couple of days of open life served to put
everybody literally "on their feet" again. Berneville was quite a
serviceable little place and the camp was good though recent rain had
made it very muddy; an open-air swimming tank was in evidence, but at
the time of our arrival the weather was unpropitious for bathing, and we
left after a two-night stay.
The departure was marked by a degree of secrecy hitherto unknown in the
Corps. This was the occasion when representatives of Canadian units were
deliberately sent north with the express intention of hoodwinking the
Hun; every effort was being made to instill a belief amongst the country
people that the Canadian Corps was going to Belgium again, and it is
well known that this information was transmitted through various sources
to the enemy, who was in consequence the more astounded when we appeared
in his midst five days later near Amiens.
The orders laid down for march discipline to be observed during the
forthcoming series of marches were exceedingly strict; absolutely no
straggling was to be countenanced, and each unit was to have a
rear-guard marching at the pace of its weakest member to bring up all
who fell out from the main body. Every effort was to be made by day to
keep the troops under cover, and every precaution was to be taken which
might ensure the movement of the Corps being kept as secret as possible.
On the evening of the 3rd we marched a mile or so down the road where
'buses were drawn up to convey us to our unknown destination, for we
were proceeding under sealed orders; for nine hours we drove through an
unknown country, the general direction being south, though it was
evident that the route had been chosen with the deliberate intention of
confusing any spies, as it kept on diverging to different points of the
compass. On the way we passed several units from the American
Expeditionary Force, who gave us a rousing welcome and showered
cigarettes on us as we drove through their lines. At 5.30 am, on the 4th
our 'buses stopped and we descended to find ourselves in the middle of
Nowhere, just a crossroads with not a house in sight. Though August, it
was bitterly cold at that hour of the morning, and we had been sitting
cramped and chilled throughout a long night's drive; we stood about and
cursed the war whilst the sealed orders were opened and maps consulted,
with the result that we took the cross-road to the right and marched
five miles to the hamlet of Fresnes-Tilloluy, where we had breakfast and
turned in out of sight, remaining under cover all day. In this village
we left all packs and officers' bed-rolls, little dreaming that it would
be three weeks before we saw them again, and then at 9:30 p.m. we fell
in for the first of the series of night marches which were destined to
bring us to the Amiens front.
It was extraordinarily dark for the time of year; there was no moon, and
a great part of our way lay along roads heavily shrouded with trees
which allowed not a glimmer of starlight to penetrate. Our route led us
back over the ground covered the same morning, and over a small part of
the ground which we had traversed in the 'buses, a fact which aroused
much resentment amongst the "footsloggers." Soldiers, as a class, detest
marching, and anything which can possibly be construed as unnecessary
distance always excites their bitterest criticism, but in the present
case some Battalion had to be selected for the extra miles, as all the
Brigade units could not be billeted together, and the 102nd, as was
usually the case, being the junior Battalion, was chosen as the "goat."
At 2.00 am, we reached Metigny, where it rained most of the day; a good
thing, as it kept the men hidden and laid the dust; besides, we were
quite willing to sleep, anyway. At 9.00 p.m we fell in again ready to
move off, but for some reason unknown were kept standing around for an
hour before we actually set out on what was officially stated to be a
21-mile march; 25 miles was more probably the distance covered, and
covered as it was in battle order with empty haversacks and yawning
stomachs it seemed like 30. It is not easy to
understand why some provision was not made for a bite to eat on these
long night marches. When battalions marched by day a stop was always
made for lunch, and sandwiches or their equivalent were invariably
carried in the haversack; why the darkness should have been presumed to
counteract hunger is a mystery. As the dawn broke we found that we were
traversing a very beautiful part of the country, more open and billowy
than that around Conteville, which was softer in its aspect, and very
different in character from that to which we had for so long been
accustomed in Flanders and the northern portion of France. The villages
were more widely scattered, but larger and more prosperous in their
appearance. The term "La Belle France" had long been a joke amongst
those of the Canadians who had never seen anything of it save for the
shell-shocked areas of the Somme and Vimy: now the expression took on a
new meaning, and the men were loud in their admiration of the country
through which they were marching. Our destination on this occasion was
Creuse, which proved to be a fair-sized settlement almost worthy of
being called a town, and which we reached at 9.00 am, on the 6th. The
Battalion had shown up well on this extra long march; there were some
sore feet, but nothing which a few hours' rest would not mend. A more
serious trouble, however, stared us in the face; we were confronted with
a shortage in tobacco and matches, a shortage which lasted without much
alleviation throughout the whole month.
At Creuse we rested until 8.45 p.m., when once more we set out, this
time for Boves Wood, an extensive wood on a hill which served as a
concentration point for 50,000 men and 25,000 horses immediately before
the great push of August 8th. Owing to the incompetency of our guides we
took a wrong turn in the dark, and the subsequent retracing of our steps
took us through deep mud and darkened woods, which not only added
mileage but considerable discomfort to our labours. The main roads we
found to be crowded with French troops, mostly Transport and Artillery.
To our way of thinking the Transport waggons of the French Army are
grossly overloaded and disgracefully shabby in appearance; they remind
the spectator irresistibly of the average third-rate travelling circus;
the horses also look in wretched condition and excite ridicule at first
sight. But they do most certainly "deliver the goods," and the way in
which they cover the ground and get through with the job they have on
hand ends by exciting a very genuine admiration. It was not until 4:30
a.m. on the 7th that we eventually reached the Chateau in Boves Wood
which was our halting-place; there were no billets, but the ground was
soft, if wet, and there was abundance of undergrowth with which to make
comfortable bedding; our orders were to lie well hidden, and we were
well content to do so. The undergrowth was so dense and the over-head
cover so luxuriant that it was easy to understand that the wood
sheltered the numbers above mentioned. What would not the Hun have given
to know that well within his artillery range so formidable a force was
already massed to give him the first of those deadly blows which were to
result in three months in the signing of the Armistice! During the
course of the day a meeting of all Officers and N.C.O.'s in charge of
Sections was held and every detail of the next day's offensive was
elaborately explained and every position in our own area of operations
carefully pointed out on the map. By 10.00 p.m., when the Battalion fell
in for the last time before the battle began, every man had a clear and
distinct idea of what his own particular job would be and of what part
we were playing in the general scheme of operations. And so, under the
command of Lieut.Col. Lister, we marched off in the gathering dusk
through Boves town and across the Luce River to take up our position in
the First Assembly Point behind Gentelles Wood.
This wood, standing on the top of an eminence, acted as an excellent
screen, and here all the Brigade units assembled by midnight and settled
down to take what rest was possible before the barrage started at 4.20
a.m. on the 8th. It was a cold night and the ground was wet with dew,
consequently the issue of rum which was served out at dawn was doubly
welcome. It may here be stated that during the whole of our stay with
the Fourth Army under General Rawlinson, to which the Corps was attached
for this offensive, our creature comforts were better looked after than
in any other Army, and during our service in France we had experience of
all save the Fifth. At 4.20 am, to the dot a terrific barrage opened,
eclipsing anything we had yet heard; this same expression will be found
in accounts of the succeeding battles up to the time of the Armistice,
as the Allies increased the ferocity of their opening barrages with each
successive push. Ahead of us was the 7th Brigade of the 3rd Canadian
Division, through whom we were to pass at a later stage, and with the
opening of the barrage they moved forward to the attack. There was a
white mist hanging low which was greatly in favour of the attacking
forces, but as the sun came up this quickly disappeared. An hour later
it was our turn to move forward in closer support. Our way led through
fields of ripening corn, past innumerable batteries of every calibre,
across the swamps of the Luce, through orchards and then along the side
of the Amiens-Roye Road, where we saw the first-fruits of the battle in
the shape of large bodies of Hun prisoners being marched to the rear,
and a number of our own walking wounded. The latter seemed to be
intoxicated with success; the Hun had been caught entirely by surprise;
if he had thought of the Canadians at all he had thought of them as
preparing an offensive up north. He certainly had the surprise of his
life on August 8th. Our second Assembly Point was reached at 9.30 a.m.,
and here we received orders to halt until 12.10 p.m., when we moved
forward again in Artillery formation in lines of platoons to our
Jumping-off place, where our own share in the attack was to commence. Up
to this point we sustained no casualties.
Connecting on the right with the 54th and on the left with the 78th, we
now passed through the 7th Brigade and plunged forward. Our first
objective was a sunken road, which was taken by "B" and "D" Coys.
without serious difficulty by 3.00 p.m. The second was a more serious
matter, being the forward edge of Beaucourt Wood in our front. "A" and
"C" Coys. now passed through the other two and pressed on, but
encountered very severe opposition, consisting of heavy machine gun fire
from the wood on our immediate front, machine gun fire from a wood on
our left flank, which was exposed owing to the 78th having fallen behind
our advance, and long-distance machine gun and trench mortar fire from
the right flank of Beaucourt Wood: this flank was to have been protected
by two tanks attached for that purpose, but they had been unable to keep
up with our rapid advance, and it was not until two tanks attached to
the 54th had come round to our assistance that "A" Coy., on the right,
was able to make further progress, which it did by section rushes and
then, when within fifty yards of the woods, charging and capturing the
place by storm. In this Operation we were greatly helped by the 54th on
the right, who outflanked the wood and diverted much of the enemy's
fire. After gaining the edge of the wood there was still hard work ahead
of "A" Coy., as the ends of the wood were very strongly held; "D" Coy.
was consequently brought up as reinforcement and the wood was eventually
cleared, but on reaching the forward edge our men again came under very
heavy machine gun fire, this time from a trench lying in the open on the
brow of the opposite hill and from another sunken road. At this juncture
two whippet tanks gave us great assistance, enabling us to engage the
enemy hand-to-hand, when we inflicted further heavy casualties and
captured from 50 to 60 prisoners, though being subjected all the time to
machine gun and trench mortar fire from still another wood. In the
meantime "C" Coy. on the left had been encountering very strong
opposition from a system of trenches held by the enemy in force; the
78th was still behind the line of advance, its nearest unit to us being
one platoon which had lost its Battalion and was following us tip about
400 yards distant; consequently "C" Coy. had to overcome this opposition
without assistance, which was not as originally laid down in the
programme. The feat was done, however, with several resultant prisoners,
and thereafter the opposition manifestly weakened, the enemy retiring in
some disorder to other trenches in the open, from which he was
successively ejected, the only serious opposition coming from three or
four determined machine gun crews, all of whom were eventually either
killed or captured. "C" Coy, reached its final objective at 4.35 p.m.
The Battalion was now ensconced in the position it had set out to capture
and protective posts were immediately put out, but these could not go
very far forward owing to the heavy fire which the enemy was maintaining
on our positions from the high ground in front, and our left flank was
still exposed; consequently the latter was withdrawn a little as a
protective flank until the arrival of the 78th shortly afterwards.
During the course of this operation we captured 159 prisoners, 4 light
trench mortars, 2 granatenwerfers, 5 heavy machine guns. 5 light machine
guns. The trophies were all carefully tagged and left in accordance with
instructions for shipment to Ordnance, but, as usually happened in the
case of spoils of war, half of them were stolen by succeeding
battalions. Captured trophies gave more trouble and were worth less than
anything else; they were provocative of much dishonesty, every battalion
naturally desiring to furnish ocular proof of its prowess, and they were
the cause of much disappointment to home towns, where the authorities
would he warned of the pending arrival of trophies which never reached
their destination. Our own casualties on August 8th were as follows:
Lieuts, J. L. Lloyd, J. K. Dawson C. T. Peers, and 20 Other Ranks killed
or died of wounds; Lieuts. E. R. Niblett, F. S. Chagnon and 88 Other
Ranks wounded.
The Company Commanders on this day were Capt. I. C. R. Atkin, M.C.,
Capt. J. A. Mann, Major W. McL. Walwyn, and Lieut. V. C. Brimacombe,
commanding "A,"B," "C" and "D" Coys. respectively.
After the capture of the final objective Headquarters was established in
this wood, where a well-appointed German camp was found; all sorts of
supplies were in evidence, beer, food, including good cake, and a German
Field Ambulance full of their wounded and well stocked with hospital
supplies. Some enemy bombardment was sustained throughout the night, but
no damage was done. Meantime the 75th
had passed through us, and the 87th had their Headquarters with ours; on
the morning of the 9th they continued the attack and captured their
objectives, leaving us in Brigade Reserve, That night we moved
Headquarters further up towards the front to another wood, proceeding
still farther forward on the 10th to the last of a series of woods
bordering on a wide open expanse traversed by good roads all leading
eastwards towards the enemy positions. These roads were continuously
crowded with transport of all kinds, interspersed with which were
numerous batteries and large-bodies of cavalry, all going forward in
pursuit of the Hun, On the 13th we took over the Front Line from the
85th and 38th Bns., remaining one night, when we returned to the last
mentioned wood on relief by the 22nd Bn. Plans for another offensive
were on foot, but these were subsequently cancelled, and we were glad of
the opportunity to reorganize and absorb drafts of reinforcements which
arrived during this period. On the 17th, Brigade Reserve was established
at Rosieres, whither we moved. Here we had a good chance to see
something of the German method behind his own lines. Ten days before
Rosieres had been well within his Reserve area and had been used as an
internment camp and a base of supplies. Here also was an enormous
salvage dump, piled high in a well organized system, with captured
munitions and looted plunder.
A standard gauge railway ran through the camp, and when we
arrived German engines were already busy hauling out for our own use
salvaged cars. On the 20th we moved up to the Front Line again,
relieving the 87th, and it was during this tour that Lieut. H. J.
Goodyear met with his death whilst in charge of a night patrol sent out
to connect with the Australians on our left. This was our last tour of
duty on the Amiens front, as we were relieved on the night of the 24th
by the 1st Bn. 88th R.I. (French). This was the first occasion on which
the Battalion had handed over direct to a French unit, and the
differences between their organization and ours were very obvious. The
relieving Battalion was formed of a magnificent body of men, who once
again dispelled the utterly erroneous but always preconceived notion
that the French infantryman is a man of small stature. We returned to
our Base camp in the early morning of the 25th, rested all day, and at
6.00 p.m. marched off to Bois de Blangny, making a
small detour to get baths on the way. This bath was a nightmare; it was
situated in a wood, and the men had to undress in the open, line up
naked with their dirty clothes in their arms, exchange their clothing,
line up again, and then find cold water only. Incidentally there were
not enough clothes to go round, and a thunderstorm broke out in the
middle of the operation. It was a pitch-dark night and a broken road to
follow, full of shell-holes, as the Adjutant's horse found, and very
muddy, but we eventually reached Bois de Blangny at 3.30 a.m. on the
26th and remained there one night, lying out under the trees. Here we
found our packs, which had been left three weeks before at
Fresnes-Tilloluy. On the following day we marched off to Longeau, about
three miles distant, where we entrained for an unknown destination.
The journey on which we were now embarked is well worthy of mention. It
was made on scheduled time. Punctually to the minute the train pulled
Out at 2.18 a.m. on the morning of the 28th. Twelve hours later we
detrained at Acq, in the old Vimy area; here we were told that 'buses
would be found ready and waiting for us up the road; and the 'buses were
actually there and ready to take us, as soon as we had boarded them, to
our old camp at Berneville, which we had occupied before starting out on
the historic round trip to Amiens and back. In the words of the Diary:
"The move from Longeau to Berneville was planned, detailed and executed
admirably; there was no waiting and no confusion; a marked contrast to
most."TOP
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Images The Author The VC 29th Battalion Links
BATTLE HONOURS
"SOMME, 1916", "Ancre Heights", "Ancre, 1916",
"ARRAS, 1917, 18", "VIMY, 1917", "Hill 70", ", 1917",
"PASSCHENDAELE", "AMIENS", "Scarpe, 1918", "Drocourt-Queant",
"HINDENBURG LINE", "CANAL du NORD", "VALENCIENNES", "France and
Flanders, 1916-18".
Be sure and
visit the 102nd Battalion`s Sister Unit - the 54th Kootenay Battalion
Visit the 21st
Battalion from Eastern Ontario
