by Ian Uys
“Some small enemy parties tried to feel their way towards us. Revealed by the flashes of shell explosions, they were easily driven back by our rifle fire, no doubt jubilant that they had not drawn a single round of machine-gun fire.”
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Early in the morning a strong enemy bombing party attempted to breach the company’s front. With great promptness L/Cpl Andrew Aitken brought his Lewis gun to bear on them and succeeded in stopping the attack single-handed, killing or wounding most of the enemy. His example at a critical time undoubtedly saved the situation.
Later during the day he covered the retirement and remained at his post, inflicting much damage on the enemy.
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Bert Higgins had a miraculous escape from death.
“On the morning of the 16th July we went into the sunken road. While sitting with our backs to the Germans, a whizzbang killed the 12 men next to me. We then moved into Delville Wood. The Scots were there, worn out and bleary-eyed. They had taken a terrible hammering, so we took over from them.
“The ground at Delville Wood wasn’t difficult. It was muddy. All you had was your little entrenching tools and you dug like a rat to try and cover yourself in. The shrapnel and trees were falling all the time and when the coalboxes exploded you would see the smoke and men staggering around. We had no option but to split up into small groups.
“It was disorganised and that is why some of them never got out because they didn’t know they had been relieved. There was no routine of trenches, we were all in shell-holes, digging the best holes we could. We also took shelter behind tree trunks. We were armed with 303s and had the Lewis gun — very few, two to a company — but we had plenty of Mills hand grenades. There was no communications or food — you lived off cold rations. Things were absolutely disorganised with this terrific shelling.
“At one time I asked an observation officer what was the rate of shelling and he said 2,000 an hour. When we went into the wood it was like a plantation and afterwards the wood was sticks.
“On the night of the 16th the Germans had us surrounded but they didn’t know it. They were as confused as we were. We recognised them by their uniforms and helmets. You dug in where you could and lay in the mud and slush. It was cold and wet.
“One of our men said at a reunion that he was a stretcher case and when being brought out by four RAMC men they were shelled and dropped him in the road. When they returned he asked, ‘What about me?’ They replied, ‘Oh, there is only one of you and four of us.’”
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Corporal B D Tretheway volunteered to carry an important message through heavy fire, then returned to find that all the stretcher-bearers were killed or wounded so he carried the wounded to shelter. Although himself wounded he continued to fight in the firing line until compelled to have his wounds attended to.
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Major Hunt recorded his company’s entrance into Delville Wood.
“July 16th. At Daybreak Camerons relieved us and we moved to sunken road just behind Longueval. Heavily shelled. B and C Companies ordered into wood by Dawson. Moved in past church and lay in front of Princes Street.
“Heavily shelled all day, especially into Cameron mound to our left rear. Lieutenant A H Brown killed by machine-gun fire at shallow trench to west. Big chunks of trees coming down with shell fire. Young Murdoch-Keith, the youngest of my company laughed at these and seemed to think it great fun.
“Sent for by Dawson in Longueval and on my way met Lukin and showed him back where Thackeray and Tanner were. Dawson ordered us to get back at nightfall to sunken road, which we did and carried some wounded to (Major) Power at dressing station.”
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Lieutenant Arthur Hugh Brown, 38, son of the Rev James Brown of Glasgow, had studied business at his home town where he became a captain in the local volunteers. He then went farming in the Orange Free State for nine years. After serving in SWA Brown joined the 4th SAI.
He had disposed his men well at Waterlot Farm on the 15th. The cool way he went about his work gave confidence to all. He met his death in Delville Wood while leading his men forward to occupy a trench in the face of heavy machine-gun fire.
At Bordon in England Sgt James Ainslie, 46, had marched Boustead before the adjutant. A Scotsman by birth, Ainslie had served in the 2nd Gordon Highlanders, the Border Rifles and the Transvaal Scottish Volunteers. By trade he was a baker and confectioner.
During heavy shelling and rifle and maxim-fire Ainslie showed exceptional coolness and courage in keeping his men in hand. He volunteered to go through a heavy barrage to fetch a desperately needed Lewis gun.
He ran ducking and weaving through the shell blasts and was soon lost to sight in the smoke. After an appreciable time the men raised a cheer as their sergeant stumbled back into their positions clutching the gun.
Private Angus Murdoch-Keith, 18, was born at Kimberley, attended King Edward School in Johannesburg and then started an engineering apprenticeship. Keith joined the brigade on its formation. His recollections of Egypt centred on the long, dry march from Mersa Matruh to Sollum and the large mosquitos they encountered.
At Delville Wood he thought that Lieut Arthur Brown was killed by shell concussion and their platoon sergeant wounded. His leaderless platoon fought in the wood, then came out. He had no idea why Major Hunt should have thought that he enjoyed the experience. Keith was against their re-entering the wood. About 30 men went in and within ten minutes they had all been killed.
Keith recalled that an ex-King Edward scholar, Lieut Griffiths, who was attached to the Royal Artillery, had been sent forward to observe whether their shells were falling short. A large German shell exploded nearby and he dived into a shell-hole, where he came face to face with an old school chum.
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Hugh Boustead attested to the accuracy of the German snipers:
“It was still dark when we reached the outskirts of Longueval which was to form the pivot of the next four days’ fierce fighting for Delville Wood. After tea in the Longueval Road we were given our platoon objectives in the wood. Ours ran through an orchard.
“The wood was the first I had seen in the front line which was still unscathed with its trees green and branches unshattered by shellfire. The Germans had stocked it with snipers, their hands and faces painted green, and leaves and branches over their heads and shoulders.
“We could hear the continual crack of rifles but could see nothing. It was uncanny. We moved forward through an orchard in single file led by the platoon officer. Smith, the second-lieutenant, got through but the next seven who followed him were shot dead in a circle of a few yards, picked off by clean shooting without a murmur.
“I was not an NCO, but to follow these seven seemed madness, so I led the remainder round the edge of the orchard to the rise we were told to occupy. We dug for dear life with our entrenching tools, making as little movement as possible.
“The crack of snipers’ rifles went on continually and the gaps increased in the lines of chaps digging themselves in. We had with us the bare iron rations we were carrying and a water bottle and when night fell those of us who had not been picked off were both hungry and thirsty.
“It was impossible to get food or water up in day time, so under cover of darkness two of us went back to bring up tins of bully beef and cans of water. I passed a young South African boy, sixteen years old, lying in a fox hole, wounded in the stomach. He begged for water and I urged him not to have a drink as it would be fatal and said we would try and get him help. The journey through the wood was eerie, with the flares shining on the leaves and branches of the trees.
“In the meantime the German soldiers ahead of us started to attack our lines at intervals. It must have been some three hours later when we got back from Longueval with the bully beef and water cans for the remainder of the now decimated platoon. The cans had not been cleaned out properly and the water was nauseating, tasting of petrol. For the next four days this horrible taste and smell lived with us, and you had to ho
ld your nose to drink.
“The night battles went on ceaselessly. The German officers seemed to us to be very brave and led their men well in advance and with great courage. It was clear that they had reinforced the wood now, but still there was little shelling except into Longueval and outside it.
“On the second night we nearly suffered complete annihilation from our own ‘steel footballs’ — circular bombs with a long stick on which the charge is propelled. They went on pitching among us for hours on end, curiously causing no casualties, but they added to our terror.
“There were already six South African Scottish laying dead in their firing places ahead of us, but we were able to effect quite a good shoot on the Germans moving from Waterlot and after a number of hits they stopped.
“When night fell I moved into one of our trenches on the edge of Delville Wood when suddenly a heavy shrapnel barrage opened on the trench. It was a deep trench with safe dug-outs on the sides where I had hoped to get some sleep after a meal. The last thing I remember was a tremendous bang on the head.”
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The extreme circumstances forced many ordinary men to display their inborn qualities of leadership.
Private A McLachlan showed initiative and gallantry in leading the men around him in a counter-attack on the enemy. He and a man of the Black Watch then went forward on patrol and made contact with the enemy. Neither were seen again.
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Arthur Betteridge found that no quarter was asked for nor given in the wood.
“In the wood itself the few men still surviving repulsed numerous counter-attacks of the enemy. Germans recaptured a small portion of the wood, but all of them were killed by the few South Africans still standing and capable of firing a rifle or using a bayonet. For a time there was a shortage of hand grenades, but somehow or other supplies were brought through that hellish hail of shells.
“It is a sorry fact to record that on recapturing that bit of the wood, it was found that two of our badly wounded men who could not be evacuated, had been killed by Prussians bayoneting them. This news flashed through to the men still alive and fighting, who were very bitter. No Germans were taken prisoner by our chaps in the few days following this sorry, inhuman act.
“By this time we had become thoroughly fatalistic. So many of our pals had been killed or wounded, we simply carried on, half-dazed by the interminable shell fire, doing just what we had been trained to do. We lived mostly on our emergency rations and surprisingly enough had a cup of hot tea brewed somewhere in the wood by our chaps.
“Only rarely was food or tea safely delivered from the rear. Many of the attempts to bring rations through ended in the carriers becoming casualties in that continuous rain of shells on what was left of the wood. Lack of sleep, after hours of continuous action was beginning to take its toll.
“On the night of the 16th our platoon was relieved by a platoon of the 2nd Regiment. We staggered back to the support line behind Longueval, only to find the shelling there was nearly as intense as in the village and wood. Through it all, we did manage to get a hot meal from our field kitchens and a welcome cup of really hot tea, before collapsing to sleep for nearly six hours.
“Even during this spell away from the wood our casualties continued to rise. I never shall forget the magnificent work of the Scottish medical officer, Major Power. He set up an advanced dressing-station in a small hollow in the ground two hundred yards behind the sunken road at the edge of the wood. He and his small staff were constantly under fire.
“Only badly wounded men were attended there, others walked or were carried to the medical clearing-stations further in the rear, there was always a collection of a dozen or more badly injured cases There was always a collection of a dozen or more badly injured cases in the small space in which the doctor and his staff worked; no be taken to the rear; I saw at least twenty bodies near that dressing station covered with groundsheets.
“Many men were killed or wounded while snatching a few minutes sleep in the open, uncaring about the rain or the constant blasting of shells immediately around them. At times it seemed to be safer in the front line itself even though dazed from the shelling and lack of sleep. No less than five fresh German divisions were brought up to take the wood and nearby territory while we held it. The 9th Division facing these fresh enemy divisions continued to hold the ground gained, but at a dreadful cost in men killed and wounded.”
Chapter 7 — Holding on
Monday 17th
The bombardment of the north-west corner ceased at 2 am. Shortly before dawn the 27th Brigade and A and B Companies of the 1st SAI repeated their attack of the preceding day and again it failed. Thereafter the depleted 27th Brigade was withdrawn and replaced by fresh troops from the 3rd Division.
The Cameron Highlanders of the 26th Brigade, supported by two companies of the 4th SAI, captured Waterlot Farm at 9 am. The position was rushed, the garrison slaughtered, and the area rapidly consolidated.
General Lukin knew that there was no substitute for a personal on-the-spot appraisal of events at the front, so visited Delville Wood with his staff for discussions with his battalion commanders.
Lukin noted how fatigued the men were. By then all his troops had been in action for at least 48 hours. On his return to Brigade HQ he telephoned Gen Furse, who told him that the wood was to be held at all costs. Lukin requested that General Rawlinson be advised of the exhausted state of the South Africans. The prospect of the wood becoming a death-trap for the brigades appeared very likely.
At 2 pm German batteries to the east of Ginchy began bombarding the wood. Shelling increased in intensity throughout the day and German snipers in the wood became more active.
Colonel Tanner sent a party of SA Scottish to the north-west corner. After skirmishing with the enemy they returned at 4.30 pm and erroneously reported the enemy to be east of Strand Street. Tanner advised Lukin, who promptly sent Lieut Percy Roseby, the brigade intelligence officer, forward to investigate. During the course of his reconnaisance Roseby was seriously wounded. Meanwhile Major Harry Gee of the 2nd SAI was mortally wounded.
At 6.40 pm Tanner advised Lukin of the error. Twenty minutes later Tanner received a severe gunshot wound in the thigh. His wound was bandaged and despite his protests he was carried out of the wood by stretcher-bearers. Thackeray then took over the command.
Within a few minutes Thackeray was ordered by the Divisional HQ to attack and occupy the German positions south-east of the wood. Thackeray replied that he could not spare more than 200 men to do so. With Lukin’s support the order was cancelled.
“At 10.30 pm Lukin was informed by Corps HQ that the 3rd Division would occupy Longueval and set up machine-guns on the north-western side of the wood. The attack would take place at 3.45 am the following morning and would push east as far as the Strand.
That night all available reinforcements were sent to the perimeters to counter a strong enemy assault. The Germans pushed south in the western part of the wood, forcing the Springboks out of some of their trenches, however were stopped at Princes Street. A counterattack drove them back, however the South Africans suffered heavy casualties.
The German artillery, consisting of 116 field-guns and over 70 medium guns and howitzers, bombarded the wood with high explosives and gas at 11.45 pm. The rate of fire reached 400 rounds per minute, turning the night into a shrieking crescendo of falling shells and shattering explosions which caused the earth to heave convulsively.
The wood was often lit up by the rapid succession of explosions. Whole groups of men disappeared in the fire and smoke. Later a heavy rain turned the shell-holes and trenches into mud-holes and ponds.
A party of Germans managed to infiltrate from the north-east corner of Longueval into the wood north of Buchanan Street. Thackeray’s men repulsed the assault however German snipers slipped between the South African lines and did great damage.
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A South African pilot meanwhile flew “cover” over the wood. Captain Alliste
r Mackintosh Miller, 23, was born in Swaziland and educated at SACS College, Cape Town, and St Aidan’s College and Rhodes University in Grahamstown. He went to England in 1912 to study engineering. On the outbreak of war, Miller enlisted in the Royal Scots Greys and in March 1915 transferred to the RFC.
The value of air support became apparent during the battle. Arthur Betteridge of C Coy, 4th SAI, was not aware that Capt Allister Miller was the intrepid pilot who flew back and forth over Delville Wood.
“I must record an unusual episode which gave the infantry holding Longueval and trenches in Delville Wood a lot of encouragement. For several days a reconnaissance aircraft flew low over the German positions, pinpointing enemy gun positions for our artillery. He always appeared to be in the middle of archie shell bursts but carried on imperturbably.
“This exhibition of bravery was also cheered by the troops in the trenches. Thanks to our fighter air patrols few German aircraft were seen from the front line. For that vital period of our advance, control of the air was imperative. This particular Morane Parasol had a speed of only 80 miles an hour and the pilot for some reason or other was named by troops ‘The Mad Major’. He seemed to bear a charmed life.
“On 17 July the front line troops had been worried by a specially constructed and defended redoubt of German machine-gunners. Repeated attempts by our artillery had failed to get a direct hit on this nest of hate. That afternoon ‘The Mad Major’ came over at about 2,000 feet, obviously determined to give our gun batteries the exact pinpoint of German gun emplacements.
“Our shells were falling short or over the target, doing no damage. The pilot then did a series of dives with his aircraft onto the concentrated nest of machine-guns. This enabled the artillery observers to direct their gunfire right onto the target, which was eliminated. I have never seen a braver action, for that pilot to deliberately dive repeatedly into the concentration of machine-gun bullets several times, required great courage.