Delville Wood

by Ian Uys

  “We filed into a captured German communication trench and remained there until our call came to advance two hours later. In this time we were able to have a meal, though the trench was packed with dead Germans laid out in rows inside and outside on the parapet and very old. Our shelling here must have been deadly.

  “From here we moved out into the open plain and headed for Longueval. We soon came under fire from shrapnel bursting overhead, also high-explosive and tear-gas shells. The latter forced us to put on eye goggles partially blinding us. It seemed to be indirect fire and luckily our platoon escaped casualties.

  “The next company, not so lucky, had several casualties here from shrapnel balls, amongst them my later friend, Mackay. We reached the German line of trenches on the outskirts of Longueval and occupied them all afternoon. The enemy gunners had the exact range and shelled us with uncomfortable accuracy.

  “In mid-afternoon I was told to go off on a fatigue party to carry plum-pudding type mortar shells through the village to the mortar battery on the fringe of the wood in front of us. It was a very tricky affair carrying a 60 lb bomb on one’s shoulder plus our usual equipment.

  “Our route took us through broken-down houses and streets where many of our dead were lying. At one corner we dodged around, quickly stepped over two dead men, and round the next shelter before the snipers could get us. Bullets pinged and ricochetted everywhere. We were relieved to return to the less dangerous shelter of our trench.

  “That night we had a bad time and little sleep. Added to the type of shelling we had all afternoon, a battery of long-distance heavy naval guns was ranged onto us and fired all night.”

  *

  Private Cyril Pemberton Barnes, 25, of Beaconsfield, Kimberley, was the second youngest of seven sons. His brother Lesley joined the Australian forces as their rates of pay were better, whereas his younger brother, Vernon, served in East Africa.

  Cyril Barnes left municipal service and joined the Griqualand West Mounted Rifles for service in the Rebellion, but was invalided home after getting sunstroke at Upington. He then joined the brigade and served in Egypt and France.

  When the 1st SAI moved into Longueval Barnes entered a ruined shell of a house. A shell had exploded inside, blowing the roof off. He saw an expensive pair of German shoes in a corner and on closer inspection saw to his horror that they were neatly laced up with the feet still inside. The man had presumably been blown to pieces.

  *

  Corporal Emanuel Doitsh, 38, was a commercial traveller from Cape Town who had left his wife, Fanny, and three children behind. He had previously served in the Cape Infantry, Cape Medical Corps, Rand Rifles and SAMC. While in Egypt Doitsh had been severely reprimanded for neglect of duty. His promotion to sergeant four days later remained unconfirmed.

  Corporal Doitsh assisted in taking ammunition to one of the Scottish regiments, thus being one of the first South Africans to enter Delville Wood.

  “As we advanced with the weighty boxes, the high explosive shells of the enemy were flying round us in frightful fury. The delivery of the ammunition being a matter of great urgency, we could not take any cover from the inferno.

  “The regiments were crying out for ammunition, their machine-guns could not hold out, and the situation was desperate. We had to face the music (and the German Jack Johnsons take some facing too!).

  “We had only advanced a few hundred yards, when our platoon officer went up into the air by the explosion of a shell, but, luckily for him, it was only a case of shell-shock.

  “I had to ‘carry on’ with the men. A few paces farther on they seemed to drop round me in all directions. This was a disastrous state of affairs. I called a halt and tried to discover the cause. Screening my eyes, I looked all over the wood, which was thickly studded with trees, and after a moment noticed a movement in one of them.

  “Ordering two men to accompany me, I went towards the wood. Upon reaching the tree and discerning a boot, I exclaimed: ‘I have discovered the source of the trouble; come down, my beautiful Bosch!’ At the same time I grabbed the boot and hauled for all I was worth.

  “Realising that the game was up, he came down crying for mercy, saying, ‘Comrade, mercy, comrade!’ in the best English he could muster. He was a sight to behold, covered in branches, and when he was up in the tree it was difficult to see between them. Even his face was painted green. He had a fine machine-gun up the tree, and must have slaughtered our men in the wood that day had I not brought his little game to an end.

  “The men were furious with him, but he was put with the other prisoners. We carried on, and eventually delivered the ammunition.

  “The firing in the wood came from all directions, as Delville was the most advanced portion of the line, and therefore a salient. Men were being blown in all directions. Those who survived it all will remember it for life.

  “The arrival of my party, minus casualties, which I unfortunately had to leave behind, was heralded by cheers, for now the regiment was able to carry on.

  “The next problem that confronted us was how we were to go back. However, this we managed with no casualties; but it was something wonderful to achieve, because on the way we had to pass through the village of Longueval, where the houses were toppling in all directions, first one of us being hit by falling debris, and then another.

  “It was courting death to try and take cover behind them. We were confronted by two evils — a house toppling on us or a shell hitting us; so chose the latter, thinking there was less risk. The dead lay about in large numbers, a sight I never wish to witness again.”

  *

  Private George Bruce Miller, 18, was one of the company Lewis gunners. He was born at Graaff Reinet in January 1898, however lived near Miller Station in the Karroo. He attended Grey College in Port Elizabeth and joined up in 1914 at the age of 16. His letters home had referred to the arduous marches and fighting in Egypt. From France he wrote mainly of casualties — Norman Featherstone wounded before Delville Wood, Cecil Featherstone wounded in shoulder, Jim Foxcroft killed, etc.

  *

  Private Thomas Herbert Holiday, 19, served in the Cape Peninsula Rifles for 10 months before joining the brigade. He had light brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion and came from the Gardens, Cape Town.

  “I went up to the village of Longueval on the morning it had been taken. I was with the adjutant (Lieut Thomas Priday) and machine-gun officer (Capt Robert Deane). We approached the village and when we reached a corner we were advised to double across, as there was a German machine-gun playing on it.

  “Fritz fired on us as we ran across, but fortunately he missed us. The next man to follow was shot through the shoulder, then afterwards shot through the arm; two others got over scot free; then another two attempted to cross but were shot dead one after the other. That was a very hot corner.

  “We (adjutant and the MGO) proceeded up the road. The adjutant went into some buildings on the left, and the MGO carried on, followed by me some paces in the rear. When we reached the end of the road, we saw Huns running.

  “The MGO thereupon drew his revolver and brought down two. He called me to take up a position alongside a ruined house. The MGO went back a little way, leaving me alone. I fired at Fritz running across, the distance being about 80 yards.

  “Whilst firing, one of our own shells dropped short and struck the building. It did not damage me, but caused a lot of dust; so afraid of being cut off, I fixed a bayonet on my rifle, which bayonet I took off a dead Scotsman lying a few feet away from me. The adjutant then came up, and said I had a lucky escape.”

  *

  Private Fred Hampson, 20, a telephonist from Cape Town, had been deprived of one day’s pay by Dawson early in July for not being in possession of sugar in his iron rations. He was in Lieut Aubrey Liefeldt’s platoon en route to Longueval when shells began falling.

  “They pounded us with everything they had. They sent over tear-gas shells and chlorine gas, as well as hitting us with their field-guns.
The ground was open and there was no cover. We marched to Longueval. Every house there was a machine-gun nest. My platoon was deployed around the back of the houses to clean up any snipers there. The main street was literally littered with bodies.”

  *

  Private Ronald Rawbone, 20, was a six-foot farmer with blue eyes and brown hair, who had previously served in the CT Highlanders. He wrote to his father, Capt Murray Rawbone, of the shelling they were subjected to.

  “We went into Longueval with the Scots, but that evening we retired and took over the German trenches that the Scots had captured that day. The trenches were full of German dead. Some of their dug-outs were quite 30 feet deep, but they did not stop our shells, and numbers of Germans were buried alive.

  “The Germans started shelling us, and they did not half give it to us hot; of course they knew every inch of the trenches. They started at the one end and finished up at the other end, both ends of the trenches were blown to bits, and numbers of our fellows were wounded, and as we stood there the word would come down. ‘Gangway for stretcher-bearers.’

  “Well, we were like rats in a trap, we could not get one way or another. That evening they stopped shelling, and we had orders to leave the trenches. We then went to our left and dug ourselves in under a bank, but we were not to have a rest, and the next morning we were on the move again, this time for Delville Wood, or, as we call it, ‘Devil’s Wood’.”

  *

  The 2nd, 3rd and 4th battalions meanwhile moved up in support. Among the Transvaalers was a qualified attorney, Ernest Solomon. Lance-Corporal Ernest Heitz Solomon, 35, came from Kimberley where he had served in the Town Guard during the South African War. He qualified and practised as a solicitor afterwards, then served with the Rand Rifles in SWA. He was later to write a book about his experiences in France.

  “It was not, however, until late the next afternoon that we made a move. Earlier in the day British and Indian cavalry had passed us, so it was with a feeling of great things to come that we passed through Montauban, halted to one side of it, and then filed into trenches on the other side overlooking a valley, with Longueval away on our right.

  “I should say we passed over, rather than through Montauban, as that one-time village had been razed to the ground and its remains were barely visible at a distance. The cavalry were seen to gallop up and halt for the night on the opposite slopes of the valley, and an aeroplane flying low, its pilot waved to us as he passed overhead.

  “We passed the night in those trenches as best we could. Greatcoats had been left behind when we moved off that afternoon, but we did not find it cold. During the night the Germans sent over tear-shells, and, our eyes streaming and sore, we were obliged to wear the goggles issued for the purpose as, very early on the morning of the 15th, we left the trenches and marched in the direction of Longueval.”

  *

  Dudley Meredith’s account of the battalion’s movement is similar to Solomon’s in most respects.

  “The 14th July now drew nigh, and we were warned to hold ourselves in readiness for the next big attack. On the evening of the 13th we moved out of our trenches and concentrated in a little valley at Talus Boise. Here we parted company with our greatcoats so we knew that it would not be long before we were in action.

  “Next morning there was a sudden cessation in the artillery fire, followed by a crackling of rifle fire and machine-guns up and down the front line and we knew the second big attack had started.

  “It was a long day of suspense unrelieved by anything more than alternating rumours of success and check; the order to move in the late afternoon, therefore, came as a welcome diversion, although in my own case a feeling of apprehension arose in my mind at the same time. True, in the afternoon English and Indian Cavalry regiments as well as Horse artillery detachments had passed us going up towards the battle front, but many of us felt that although this cheered us, the battle would be long and arduous.

  “We rested awhile on the slope behind Montauban, where we saw Brig-Gen Lukin in conference with his officers. Just before dusk we filed over the hill through the village of Montauban to a trench half way down the slope beyond. This trench was “Dublin Street” and from here the attack had been launched in the early morning. Montauban as we passed through it was a mere collection of heaps of bricks and cavernous shell-holes. As a village it had more or less been razed from the map.

  “Filing along Dublin Street we spread ourselves out and made ourselves as comfortable as we could for the night, in small excavations in the trench walls. No sooner had we done so than a bombardment of our trench started with big shells as well as tear-gas shells, and intermittently it was maintained all night. This was our first experience and a most unpleasant one, of tear-gas. Fortunately not much harm was done by the tear-gas, while our casualties from the other shells were very few.

  “Before dawn we left our trench and marched up the road leading up the slope to Longueval and Delville Wood. It was still dark and quiet — a lull having fallen on both sides in the great struggle. Quietly, therefore, with mixed feelings of apprehension, excitement and elation, we marched along in the warm air, towards our objective — Delville Wood.”

  *

  Private Bert Higgins recalled friends killed that day.

  “We came out of Bernafay Wood and on the night of 14 July we went up again into the redoubts. The Germans were shelling heavily all the time. Jock Stewart from Benoni was killed. I had a little friend, Mickey Randall. The Randalls were two cousins from Boksburg. I almost said they were brothers they looked so alike. Mickey came to me and said, ‘Bertie, where’s my cousin?’ I said, ‘He was here just now!’ We scratched and found he was buried in a funk hole. We got him out but he was dead from shell-blast. They were shelling us with gas-shells then. We had gas masks but we used to suffocate with them.”

  *

  Major Hunt recorded the move of the battalion from Dublin Trench.

  “July 14. Highland Brigade go for Longueval. In evening we moved to Montauban Road but Germans saw us settle in and sent over tear-shells and crumps. Taylor wounded. Farrell gassed. Bad night.”

  *

  Betteridge would never forget the sights they saw in the advance that day.

  “As we advanced I saw many dead kilties; one of the Cameronians had rammed his bayonet into the chest of a German when both were killed by the blast of a German shell. This was a gruesome sight among many others in the vicinity of Longueval village.

  “That afternoon we moved up to the fringe of Longueval, digging shallow trenches when time allowed. The Germans had started a frightening barrage on our exposed positions and sent over a gas attack. Captain Farrell was gassed and wounded and Lieut Taylor was among others taken by stretcher to the field hospital erected at the side of Bernafay Wood. This hospital was within range of the German heavy guns and carried on attending to the thousands of wounded under shell-fire.”

  *

  Boustead noted with trepidation that German balloons above Delville Wood kept them under close observation.

  “Our guides led us into a broken-down fire trench where the original parados which was to form our parapet had been blown in by our guns while the Germans were holding it. The trench offered little shelter. The balloons continued to watch us and presently a salvo of 5.9 inch shells pitched over us, quickly followed by a short bracket. I thought immediately, ‘The next one will be ours’. And it was.

  “Although a shell pitched practically in the middle of the section, the three of us in the centre escaped any hurt other than a tremendous shock and blast which blew the equipment off our shoulders, our steel hats away, and poured tear-gas in great clouds all over the trench.

  “Coughing and spitting and weeping and blinded by the tear-gas we could hear those of our comrades who were wounded moaning under the debris. Six of the section, three on either side of us were utterly destroyed, torn to pieces, and six more were wounded.

  “Yank was the first up; he jumped up to the parados imme
diately shouting for a stretcher. None appeared, so we went over to get one and started to carry the wounded through the mist of tear-gas down to a clearing-station half a mile back. It was already getting dark and the mist and our tear blindness made the going very difficult. It must have been midnight before we had got the remaining casualties cleared and searched ineffectively for our equipment and rifles.

  “Our move to Montauban Alley was a preliminary step for the main advance of the South African Brigade on to Delville Wood next morning. Without a doubt the balloons had picked us up and it was clearly a mistake to have moved up before dark into a trench with no adequate shelter. Late that night we collected rifles and equipment off the dead and lay down exhausted, sleeping fitfully, waiting for the signal to move before first light.”

  Chapter 5 — Taking the wood

  Saturday 15th

  Delville Wood is named because of its proximity to the village of Longueval. It was known as Bois de la Ville (wood of the village) by the locals. Long open avenues had been cleared within the wood to allow the local landowner to ride his horse to all parts. These “rides” were also used to bring out the cut wood. The local sawmill in the village had also constructed a narrow-gauge railway line through the wood.

  The wood is slightly less than a mile square (156 acres). At the time it was overgrown with gorse and thick grass and underbrush. It was described by someone who knew it before the war as “a thick tangle of trees, chiefly oak and birch, and a dense hazel underbrush”.

  Fighting had taken place in the area when the Germans overran the countryside in late 1914. The Germans fortified the north-west corner strongly as this covered the village and the road to Flers. Deep trenches and bunkers criss-crossed the area.

  With the exception of the rides, vision within the wood was limited to approximately thirty yards between the trees. The rides were given names by the British — the main one. Princes Street, bisected the wood from east to west. Names of London streets were given to the rides running northwards from Princes Street and names of Edinburgh streets to those running south. Rotten Row ran parallel to Princes Street for half its distance in the south.