by Ian Uys
“One thing was clear to us. The comradeship of men brought together in battle was a thing to be treasured. I am still proud to recall that several friendships formed during my army service, still exist. A lot of happiness has resulted from these alliances formed more than half a century ago.
“Unfortunately most of my wartime friends have passed on. Many of them had their lives shortened as a result of wounds, gas or shellshock. It is a sad reflection that one must now ask oneself — Was it worth it? That splendid phrase ‘War to end Wars’ lost its meaning long ago.”
*
Geoffrey Lawrence of C Coy, 1st SAI continues his story from the casualty clearing-station.
“Lying in the bed next to me was a young Highlander with bandages over both eyes. I was told a bullet had passed through behind the eyes severing the nerves and blinding him.
“I could not sleep that night for listening to the roar in the distance and thinking of the fellows I had left in that awful wood. I was somewhat consoled about leaving them when my wound was examined and it was considered necessary to put the leg in splints, there being no exit wound.
“I was now a stretcher case and put into a nice bed in an ambulance train bound for Rouen and from there loaded on to the St George hospital ship. Stretcher cases were stacked far below; knowing enemy submarines were about, I was pleased when we were safely put ashore at Southampton.
“We reached Waterloo Station in due course and were stacked in long rows on the platform where some lovely nurses attended us. All South Africans were taken to Tooting Military Hospital and very well treated there by kind nurses and staff.
“My poor little half-section, Gussie, and most of my company fell in that holocaust of destructive fury. My first ten days in hospital were spent in bed. The comfort of cool sheets, good meals served by nurses or patients on the mend, made life in bed a restful and happy affair.
“For the moment our main worry was of the news in the daily papers and the long casualty lists. If only we could get news of the friends we left in the wood and how the battle as a whole was going. Reports in the papers appeared to us rather over-optimistic and yet progress was claimed and ground won, but at what cost?
“In our ward there were many of our men who could walk around being wounded in the arms or head. I had many of these as visitors and we would go over again our individual experiences. Some were wounded earlier than I was though a surprisingly large number were hit on the 16th as I was.
“A few were there who were wounded on the 17th and 18th and described the terrific fighting and overwhelming shell fire of those days of sheer horror and grim holding on relieved by intense bouts of repulsing heavy enemy attacks when they were killed in their hundreds by our accurate rifle-and Lewis gun fire.
“A man in our ward of dormitory-like rows of beds kept walking up and down the ward in great pain clasping his armless shoulder. He came from the Bedford district and as far as I can remember his name was Ainslie. I know it was a Scot’s name.
“The poor chap had his right arm taken off very close to the shoulder and told us his still raw wound was paining him terribly and that he could distinctly feel his fingers that weren’t there. He told me how his arm was shattered from the elbow down by a shell blast and as he was being dressed at a first-aid post in the wood another shell fell alongside him and took the remainder of the same arm off as far as his shoulder and killed most of those who were aiding him.
“He got away somehow and after a further operation in France was evacuated to Tooting Military Hospital. All this happened only two weeks earlier and the fresh wound was giving him great pain. Being a hefty and extremely fit fellow he was able to stand the shock, one that would have killed a weaker man.
“He was in the 4th (Scottish) regiment of our brigade and I remember wore his kilt with great dash. Unfortunately I lost touch with him when he left us for specialised treatment and a metal arm. He was a great chap and was liked and admired by us all.
“In bed on the other side of me was a young chap by the name of Jones, either 1st or 3rd South African Infantry who had a very narrow escape. He was firing at the enemy at the edge of the wood when a bullet struck him in the mouth, pushed his back teeth through his cheek and passed out at the base of his head only just missing his spine. He was wonderfully patched up and got a fine set of false teeth to boot.
“Another young fellow came in with shell-shock; he had been blown high up into the air by a bursting shell and miraculously came down without a scratch of any kind but was deaf and dumb. His deafness cleared in hospital but he was unable to talk. A few weeks later he was accidentally bumped and being annoyed, said ‘Damn!’ From then on he was cured and spoke fluently and amusingly of his strange experience and of the frustration during his spell of speechlessness.
“I was soon up and about and spent many cheery hours chatting with the less fortunate still in bed. An X-ray was taken of my leg and this showed up a nose cap screw from the shell that got me. Having burnt and sterilized its way in, it was decided to leave it and await further developments. My cousin, a doctor in the South African Medical Corps, promised to take it out free of charge when we returned home. Unfortunately the poor chap did not survive the war. The screw remains with reminders at times of my lucky Blighty.
“Fitted out in hospital blues we were free to visit the town with few restrictions. We were well entertained by many people who took us on jaunts into the countryside and generally made a fuss of us.
“After six weeks I was discharged and given the customary ten days’ leave. This was mostly spent in the Isle of Wight at Totland Bay with an old aunt of mine who had made her home there many years before. What a lovely island it is in the early autumn of September; it was good to be alive and able to enjoy the peace and beauty of the green countryside.”
*
After the South Africans were relieved the fighting continued on a lesser scale for the next eight weeks.
On 27 July the 2nd Division re-took Delville Wood and held it until 4 August. The 17th Division then took over. On 18 and 25 August the wood was cleared of all enemy resistance by the 14th (Light) Division.
On 31 August the Germans counter-attacked. The front line was north and east of the wood. Three assaults were launched under cover of artillery fire and aeroplane surveillance. They regained a foothold, only to be finally evicted on 8 September by three brigades of the 7th and 24th Divisions.
Guillemont was taken after bloody fighting on 3 September and Ginchy six days later.
The 15th September 1916 was to be a red-letter day — for this was the first time that tanks were used in battle and it was the day that High Wood and the Delville Wood areas were cleared of Germans.
The tank had been developed under the greatest secrecy. Crews were trained near Thetford, Norfolk, under a similar cloak of security. Despite opposition, Gen Haig was determined to use this secret weapon in the Somme.
Of the 32 tanks at the assembly area only 24 actually went into battle. Most became bogged down or were knocked out. Four tanks broke through to Flers and rumbled down the main street with cheering infantry following. By that evening all the tanks had been destroyed or scattered.
One of the artillery officers in action on the 15th was Capt Kenneth Willoughby Lee MC, 28. Lee was born in October 1886 and educated at Wellington College and Woolwich. He was commissioned in 1906, then went to South Africa with the 96th Battery where he was employed in survey work in the Transvaal.
In October 1912 Lee married Alfreda Botha, the step-daughter of Christian Botha MLA, of Bloemfontein, and they had a daughter, Sylvia. He rejoined his battery and went to India, then exchanged into the 35th Brigade and returned to England in 1913.
Lee took part in the 1st Battle of Ypres in October 1914 with the 12th Battery RFA. After four days in action he galloped a gun into the open within 1,000 yards of the enemy and fired 70 shells into a strong point, thereby destroying it. Three German batteries fired on him but he managed to get the gun
away without losing a man or a horse. For this he was awarded the MC and promoted to captain.
Captain Lee took part in the battles of Loos and Neuve Chapelle and in May 1915 was wounded at Festubert and sent home on sick leave. When he returned to the front he was given command of A Bty, 95th Bde RFA. He was badly wounded during the attack on 15 September 1916.
*
Thereafter the equinoctial rains turned the battlefields into quagmires. In a last attack on 13 November Beaumont Hamel in the west was finally captured. The British advanced over the high ground and condemned themselves to spend the winter in the valley’s flooded trenches. Nothing of any great value had been attained and “The Big Push” was over.
On 17 February 1918 the brigade returned to the wood to hold a memorial service. A tall wooden cross was erected on the south side near Longueval and was inscribed “In memory of the officers and men of the 1st SA Infantry Brigade who fell in action in July 1916 in the Battle of the Somme”.
The drumhead service was conducted by chaplains of the English, Presbyterian and Dutch churches. A lament on the pipes was composed and played by Pipe-Major Sandy Grieve of the 4th SAI.
Delville Wood was lost during the great German offensive in April 1918. It is incongruous that Marrieres Wood, where the South African Brigade was overrun by the Germans on 24 March, lies only a few miles south-east of Delville Wood. The wood was retaken by the 38th (Welsh) Division on 28 August 1918.
*
After being relieved the brigade marched to Maricourt on 23 July, then entrained for Hengest. On the 27th they arrived in the Frevillers area north of the main road between Arras and St Pol, where they were reinforced by new drafts.
On 23 August the brigade relieved the 26th Brigade in the Vimy area. At the end of that month Lieut-Col Christian arrived from England and took temporary command of the 2nd SAI. On 23 September the brigade was relieved and on 9 October moved to High Wood where they took over from the 142nd Brigade.
On 12 October the brigade took part in the attack on the Butte de Warlencourt. After a week of heavy fighting they were forced to withdraw, having sustained approximately 1,150 casualties. The Butte de Warlencourt was finally occupied in February 1917 when the Germans retreated.
During November 1916 the brigade was billeted in the St Quentin and Arras areas. When Gen Furse was appointed as Master General of the Ordinance, Gen Lukin was promoted to command the 9th Division with the rank of Major-General. Lieut-Colonel Dawson took command of the brigade and Major Heal of the 1st SAI in turn.
On 4 March 1917 the brigade marched from Arras to Ostreville for intensive training. On 6 April they were inspected by Gen J C Smuts and three days later they took part in the Battle of Arras. Their advance was steady despite mounting casualties however the following day, due to faulty artillery support, the South African attack failed.
In July 1917 the brigade moved to the Somme area for training. Two months later they accompanied the 9th Division to Flanders to take part in the Third Battle of Ypres. On 20 September the brigade had its most successful achievement of the war in taking the heavily defended “pill-boxes” of the German Bremen Redoubt. At this Battle of Menin Road the brigade’s second VC was won by L/Cpl W H Hewitt.
Between 13 and 26 October the brigade occupied a salient near Paschendaele and endured much bombing by enemy aircraft. On 15 October Lieut-Col Tanner left the 2nd SAI to take command of the 8th Brigade (3rd Division) and was succeeded by Lieut-Col Christian.
On 20 November 1917 the brigade left the Ypres area. On 1 December they began marching southward in bitter cold sleet. They relieved the Guards Division near Gouzeacourt south-west of Cambrai in the Somme and set about repairing the defences. New recruits arrived and rapidly trained in trench warfare. As it was mid-winter there was much illness and also problems with trench feet.
At the end of January the brigade was taken out of the line for a much needed rest. On 17 February the brigade held a memorial service at Delville Wood. Sgt McFee of the 4th SAI made a cross from a shattered tree while Pte John Greggor played the Last Post. The cross was unveiled by Padre Hill. In accordance with British policy one battalion had to be disbanded and the following day the 3rd SAI ceased to exist. Practically all the men joined one of the other South African units. General Lukin left the division at the beginning of March and returned home on leave.
The brigade, numbering approximately 1,800, then returned to the front and on 12 March took over from the 116th Brigade of the 39th Division. The Great German offensive was unleashed on 21 March. Under the cloak of a dense mist the German army rolled forward, crushing all opposition.
The South Africans defended Gauche Wood and re-took Chapel Hill then, as ordered, fell back. General Dawson handled the brigade skilfully during the following two days as they retreated westwards. Acting as the rearguard of the 9th Division, they held up the German advance as best they could. Lieutenant Garnet Green and B Company of the 2nd SAI were destroyed, fighting to the end.
At dawn on the 24th remnants of the brigade, about 500 in all, waited at Marrieres Wood for the impending German assault. There could be no retreat as the countryside was devoid of cover. Dawson sent a messenger to the rear with the brigade’s records. They were shelled in error by British artillery, then by the Germans. The frontal attack was beaten off by Lewis gunners. Lieut-Colonel Heal of the 1st SAI was killed, an example of cheerfulness until the end
By 4.15 pm only 100 men were left, short of ammunition and with every machine-gun and Lewis gun out of action. They were overrun shortly afterwards. German officers referred to the last stand of the South African brigade as “magnificent”. Of the commanders, Heal was dead, MacLeod wounded and Dawson and Christian prisoners. Remnants of the brigade began collecting almost immediately behind the British lines and were formed into one battalion under Lieut-Col Young.
The composite battalion then accompanied the 9th Division. The brigade was immediately reorganised and Gen Tanner brought back as its commander: the 1st SAI was placed under Lieut-Col Young, the 2nd under Capt Jacobs and the 4th under Capt Reid.
On 8 April 1918 the reconstructed brigade was thrown into the Battle of Messines Ridge. The South Africans performed well, charging and routing Germans with the bayonet. Four days later they were withdrawn and joined up once more with the 9th Division. On the 16th Tanner led the brigade into the Battle of the Lys near Mt Kemmel. The brigade reassembled on the 23rd.
As sufficient reinforcements were not forthcoming the remnants of the brigade was organised into one composite battalion with Lieut-Col H Bamford MC as commander and Major H Jenkins as second-in-command. The 9th Scottish Rifles and 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers were included with the SA battalion in one brigade commanded by Gen Tanner.
They took part in the battle of 29 April when the Germans were repulsed with heavy losses. On 5 May the brigade rejoined the 9th Division. Thereafter followed the action of 25 June near Meteren in which five men were killed and Lieutenants Harvey and Uys and 21 other ranks wounded. On 19 July the brigade assisted in the taking of Meteren.
During August 1,000 men were drafted to the battalion. It was then once more reorganised into a brigade under Gen Tanner. On 11 September the brigade left the 9th Division and joined the 66th Division. The parting from the 9th after two and a half years of fighting together was not easy.
On 8 and 9 October the South Africans fought from Beaurevoir to Maretz, then encircled Reumont. The last great fight of the brigade, indeed of the war, was the attack on the “Hermann Line” and the crossing of the Selle River north of Le Cateau between 17 and 20 October 1918.
The South African brigade moved forward again on 2 and 9 November. On Monday, 11 November the 1st SAI Brigade was at the forefront of the British advance when the armistice came into force at 11 am. The brigade had travelled a long road and left many of its brave sons along the way. The casualties in France were close on 15,000 of whom 5,000 were dead. Although it was disbanded on demobilisation the brigade left a proud war re
cord. This pride South Africa still shows in its annual Delville Wood memorial services.
*
The Battle of Delville Wood revealed a major flaw in strategic planning. There was too little room for cavalry to manoeuvre around the natural obstacles the woods presented. The only recourse was to assault and occupy them, which in turn led to the slaughter of infantry by artillery and snipers.
Had the enemy lines across a broad front been captured and the infantry consolidated in the open ground beyond the wood, the carnage experienced in taking and holding the wood would have been avoided. As a prelude to the attack the German strong points within the wood could have been subjected to and destroyed by a heavy artillery bombardment, instead of leaving them for the infantry.
It is conceivable, however, that had there been no Delville Wood for the Springboks there would have been some other such battle to commemorate, for Gen Haig used up his brigades in one assault after another until by mid-November the British Empire’s casualties for the Somme were over 500,000.
*
Private Albert Marr and Jackie returned to the front in November 1916 and survived the later fighting at Arras, Ypres and Paschendaele. Jackie proved extremely useful in the front lines. The friendly baboon entertained the men to relieve the boredom and stalemate of trench warfare. At night he accompanied Marr on guard duty and was particularly useful because of his keen eyesight and acute hearing. He would give early warning of enemy movement or impending attacks with a series of short, sharp barks and would tug at Marr’s tunic.
Jackie wore his uniform with panache and would light a cigarette for a “pal”. He always saluted any officers passing on their rounds. Jackie went “over the top” with the regiment in all the heavy fighting they were engaged in and shared all the privations of the ordinary soldier in the muddy shell holes and trenches on the western front.
Peter Digby, honorary curator of the Transvaal Scottish Regimental Museum, wrote of Jackie’s further experiences in his article, The Mascot who went over the Top.