Thomas Hope Floyd - At Ypres with Best Dunkley

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"I have received all letters up to date: I got father's letter of July
23 this morning. I am still very busy, but have found time this
afternoon to send a reply to 'Bumjo's' insolent letter to the _Middleton
Guardian_ and to write this.

"We left the last camp at 9.30 on the evening of July 25 and marched
back here. We are now in a camp behind the line. We got here at 1 in the
morning. Then we had dinner. A and B Companies mess in the same tent, so
we had the two new officers--Barlow and Smith--who arrived just before
we marched off from the other camp.... They have just come out from
Scarborough.

"We went to bed at 2.20. Allen and I had a tent to ourselves, but were
yesterday joined by Harwood, a new officer who arrived yesterday and has
been posted to B Company. He seems all right. The new officers are all
fresh from cadet battalions via Scarborough. Captain Cocrame, who has
been at the Army School since June, has returned to-day, so our mess is
increasing. A and B Company Mess now consists of Captain Briggs, Captain
Cocrame, West, Barlow, Smith, Young, Dickinson, Allen, Harwood and
myself. Captain Andrews has gone to Headquarters.

"The weather just now is glorious--too hot to move. Just by our tent
there is a military railway constantly carrying things and men up to the
front line. The engines and trucks are quaint little things. They have a
bell which sounds like the trams running from Blackpool to Bispham and
beyond. One expects to see the sea when one hears the tinkle, but one
merely sees--well! One sees life at the Front; one hears the roar of the
guns; and if one cares to lift one's eyes to the sky one sees copious
observation balloons and aeroplanes. The day is very near now. This will
probably be my last letter before going into action, so do not worry if
you do not hear again for a week.

"Cheer up--all's well that ends well!"

And in a P.S. I said, "I cannot guarantee even field-cards regularly."

My diary tells the story of these last days until I packed it up with
my kit which I handed in when we reached our concentration area in front
of the Cafe Belge on the right of the Vlamertinghe-Ypres road on July
29.

"July 25th.

"We marched off from Watou at 9.30 p.m. We got along very slowly; the
North Lancs in front kept halting. However, it was a nice cool evening.
We got to Query Camp at 1 a.m. We had dinner and then went to bed in
tents at 2.20. Allen and I have a tent to ourselves."

"July 26th.

"Breakfast in bed. Up 10.30. At 11.30 Beesley, Telfer, Sergeant Donovan
and I went to the 39th Division Headquarters in C Camp in a wood near
by. We saw Major-General Cuthbert while we were there. We were sent to
the 39th Division model of the Ypres battlefield where we discussed the
operations with the officers of the 1/6th Cheshires on our left. We got
back at 1.30 p.m. and had lunch.... Took the afternoon easy; studied
maps, etc.... To bed 9.30."

"July 27th.

"Inspections and explanation of scheme in the morning. In the afternoon
I went, with Sergeant Baldwin, to reconnoitre the trench on the right of
the main road between Vlamertinghe and Ypres, where we are to spend 'XY
night'! It was a very hot day. Coming back we (and also Sergeant-Major
Preston) got a lorry all the way to Brandhoek. I got back at 4 p.m....
I wrote two or three letters and then had dinner. To bed at 9.30. At
10.15 a zeppelin came over and dropped a big bomb a few hundred yards
away, causing a loud explosion. We got up and stood outside the tents
looking for the zeppelin; but we could not see it, although there were a
whole crowd of search-lights trying to get on to it."

"July 28th.

"Up 8 a.m. Parade 9 a.m. Drill and explanation of campaign. At 12 noon,
Major Brighten lectured all officers and N.C.O.'s on the forthcoming
battle. He closed with an eloquent peroration in which he said that,
although our little bit is only part of very large operations, our
holding the Gravenstafel Ridge may help to end the war and sway the
destiny of the world! In the afternoon I went into Poperinghe. It was
extremely hot. I had a cold bath at the Divisional Baths and felt very
refreshed by it. I met Gaulter of the King's Own on the same job. He
said that he was not looking forward to the push. His battalion are at
present in camp near Poperinghe Station. In the push they will be the
right rear battalion of Stockwell's Brigade. After my bath I made one or
two purchases in Poperinghe and then had tea there. Having had tea, I
returned to Query Camp--by lorry most of the way--where I arrived at
6.30 p.m."

"July 29th (Sunday).

"Up 9 a.m. At 10 it poured with rain and prevented Church parade. At
10.30 Allen and I set off with Sergeant Baldwin, Sergeant Donovan,
Sergeant Brogden, and a few other N.C.O.'s and runners, to reconnoitre a
track. We went on a miniature train as far as Vlamertinghe. Then we
walked across the fields. We were in a hot-bed of artillery batteries.
Suddenly a shell dropped close to us. Three of our party were
wounded--Sergeant Donovan, Lance-Corporal Segar and Private Hampson.
Lance-Corporal Segar had a large slice out of his hip, but only a flesh
wound, a nice, but painful, 'Blighty'! Donovan and Hampson had slight
wounds; they were 'walking cases,' but it will be hospital for them all
right. When they were dressed we left them with an R.F.A. man to be
taken on the first ambulance; and we then carried on along Track 6, past
Salvation Corner, beyond Ypres and into Liverpool Trench. We left some
sign-posts there and then walked back to the miniature railway. It was a
horribly dirty trip; all the ground was thick with slush. We got a train
part of the way back and travelled on an engine the remainder! It was
4.15 p.m. when we got back. We had some tea. Then we attended a
conference, presided over by Colonel Best-Dunkley, in Headquarters Mess
Hut, to have our last corporate discussion upon the coming battle. There
were officers from other units connected with us there; and Best-Dunkley
made sure that everybody knew exactly what he had got to do and what
assistance he could expect from anybody else. He was calm and dignified
and even polite. He concluded the proceedings by making a soldierly
appeal to the honour of the battalion, said that he knew that every
gentleman in the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers would do his duty, that he
placed entire confidence in our loyalty and our ability; and remarked
that he would not hesitate to recommend for decorations anybody who
carried on when wounded or distinguished himself by any conspicuous act
of bravery.

"Major Brighten looked into our mess tent just before dinner. I was
alone, looking at maps. He said that he wondered what I would think of
it all when I saw the coming battle in full swing. He told me that the
landing on the Coast is not, he thinks, after all, coming off this time!
In fact Rawlinson's Fourth Army is not to be in it at all. I expect the
German thrust at Nieuport has spoilt Haig's plans there. I am very sorry
indeed. Major Brighten said that the plan is completely changed. This
battle is going to be fought north and south of Ypres with the object of
breaking through here. One would naturally assume so from the number of
maps with which we have been issued. Major Brighten is going down to
the Transport. He will not take part in this battle unless required. He
is on 'battle reserve'; and so are Barlow and Smith as they have arrived
so recently, and have not practised the 'stunt.' Harwood is liaison
officer with the 1/6th Cheshires on our left.

"A and B Companies had a very lively time at dinner this 'X' evening.
West was acting the fool and making us all laugh.

"At 9.30 p.m. the Battalion left Query Camp and we marched to our
concentration trenches beyond Vlamertinghe. The men filed into these
trenches--5 and 8 platoons in the same trench. Battalion Headquarters
are at Cafe Belge on the left of the main road. B Company Headquarters
are in the cellar of the next cottage on the left. About a hundred yards
further on--on the left of the road--is the trench my (8) platoon is in.
The organization of my platoon is as follows: Sergeant Baldwin is
platoon sergeant, and Corporal Livesey is next in seniority after him. I
have five sections. The Bombing Section, under Livesey, consists of
eight all told; Tipping's Riflemen, thirteen; Heap's Rifle-Grenade men,
eleven; two Lewis Gun Sections--Topping and Hopkinson being the
respective section commanders and each having seven in their sections.

"Various articles were drawn from a dump when we got to the trench. We
got to the trench about 11 p.m."

There my diary of the period abruptly closes. For the events which
followed it is necessary to turn to the long letter describing the whole
operations which I wrote home from Worsley Hall a few days later. That
letter describes the Third Battle of Ypres which is the subject of the
next chapter.

CHAPTER XVI

THE BATTLE OF YPRES

(July 31st, 1917)

"'Tis Zero! Full of all the thoughts of years!
A moment pregnant with a life-time's fears
That rise to jeer and laugh, and mock awhile
The vaunted courage of the human frame,
Till Duty calls, till Love and beck'ning
Fame
Lead forth the heroes to that frenzied line.
The creeping death that, searching, never stays;
To brave the rattling, hissing streams of lead,
The bursting shrapnel and the million ways
That war entices death; when dying, dead
And living, mingle in the ghastly glare
That taints the beauty of a night once fair,
And seems to flout the Majesty divine."
F. SHUKER (_Zero_).

Safely ensconced beneath the sheets of a very comfortable hospital bed
at Worsley Hall, I wrote the following letter in which I described the
Third Battle of Ypres up to the time when I left the battlefield. For
the progress of the battle beyond that it will be necessary to quote
other documents. Here is my own account of the operations written on
August 3:

"I will now endeavour to tell you the story of the Third Battle of
Ypres. As you are aware, we were preparing for this battle the whole
time I was at the Front. It was part of Haig's general plan of campaign
for 1917. When I first arrived in the Prison at Ypres, the day before
Messines, Captain Andrews had me in his cell and explained to me the
plan of campaign. He opened some maps and explained to me that Plumer's
Second Army was, very shortly, going to attack on the south of the Ypres
Salient with the object of taking Hill 60 and the Messines Ridge. If
that attack should prove successful _we_ should, a few days afterwards,
do a little 'stunt' on a German trench named Ice Trench. We were issued
with photograph maps of this trench and many conferences were held with
regard to it. Further, he explained that this was only a preliminary
operation: the main campaign of the year was to be fought on the front
between Ypres and the Sea, and Sir Hubert Gough was coming to Ypres to
take command. Well, the Battle of Messines was fought the following
morning; all Plumer's objectives were gained; it was a perfect 'stunt';
but, still, our Ice Trench affair was cancelled! We left Ypres soon
afterwards and went into rest billets at Millain and then training
billets at Westbecourt. Hunter-Weston's VIII Corps became a reserve
corps behind the line and we, Jeudwine's 55th Division, were transferred
to Watts's XIX Corps which became part of Gough's Fifth Army--that
famous general having arrived in Flanders. While at Westbecourt
we--Stockwell's 164 Brigade--practised the Third Battle of Ypres in the
open cornfields and amongst the numerous vegetable crops between
Cormette and Boisdinghem. When we got back to the Salient we understood
Haig's plan to be that Gough's Army should smash forward from Ypres,
that there should be a French Army on Gough's left, and that Rawlinson's
Fourth Army should land upon, or push up, the Belgian Coast at precisely
the same moment as Gough struck north from the Ypres Salient. That plan
commended itself to me as highly satisfactory. But one always has to
reckon with an enemy as well! I do not know whether Armin got wind of it
or not, but he effectively thwarted Haig by doing precisely the kind of
thing I expected he would do. Rawlinson's Army was engaged and driven
back at Nieuport, thus disorganizing his plans; and Ypres--the other
flank--was intensely bombarded with high explosives and gas shells on
that never-to-be-forgotten night of July 12-13. The gas casualties in
Ypres who were taken to hospital on July 13 were, I was told, 3,000! A
much higher figure than I thought at first. A day or two after these
events Gratton came in to us at the Ramparts and casually informed us
that the Coast idea was postponed: the battle was going to be fought
north and south of Ypres only. The Coast landing was going to take place
later if the Third Battle of Ypres should prove a success--of which, of
course, no patriot could entertain any doubts! Rawlinson was not ready.
Nieuport was to me sufficient explanation for that. And Beatty was not
ready! That I do not understand. I was very disappointed, indeed, when I
heard this news, as I was not very hopeful as to the chance of success
in any battle fought in the centre. A flanking movement is, in my
opinion, the best policy; and the original idea would have meant, if a
landing had been effected, a triangular advance which would have left
before Armin only two alternatives--retreat or surrender. But attrition
seems to be far more in Robertson's line than strategy! So the Third
Battle of Ypres has begun. And, unless things change very quickly, I am
bound to say that it is not a success. So much for the general idea.

"During our twenty days in the Ypres Salient, from July 1 to July 20, we
suffered very heavily in casualties; and when we came out we were
certainly not strong enough to go into battle. So while we were at
Valley Camp, Watou, we were reinforced by large drafts. And, in
accordance with the above plans, we left Watou on the night of July 25
and marched to Query Camp, near Brandhoek, but on the left of the main
road. Here we remained awaiting 'XY night.' 'Z day' was the day on which
the battle was to take place. On 'XY night' we left Query Camp and took
up our positions in our concentration trenches near Vlamertinghe. My
platoon and Allen's platoon were in a trench on the right of the
Vlamertinghe-Ypres road, across the field stretching from the road to
the railway. Sergeant Brogden's platoon (6 Platoon) was a little further
on. Dickinson was in command of B Company. We had our Headquarters in a
little wooden dug-out[11] in the centre of the field behind the trench.
Battalion Headquarters were at the Cafe Belge--a house on the right of
the road close by. 'XY night' was the night of July 29-30. We got a
little sleep during the morning.

"For the last fortnight the artillery had been preparing the way for us,
raids had been taking place, and conflicts in the air had been of
frequent occurrence; the Royal Engineers had been constructing roads and
other means of advance; miniature railways were running up to the front
line; and the road from Watou, through Poperinghe and Vlamertinghe, to
Ypres was simply thronged with transport. The weather had been fine and
hot. On 'XY night' troops were swarming round Vlamertinghe and there was
every sign that a great push was about to commence.

"During July 30, in our little wooden dug-out here, Dickinson held
conferences consisting of Allen and myself with Sergeant Brogden,
Sergeant Baldwin, Sergeants Stokes and, of course, Sergeant-Major
Preston and Quartermaster-Sergeant Jack. Did it occur to us that within
twenty-four hours we should all be scattered to the winds--some killed,
others wounded? I expect it did. But it did not worry us. We smiled and
discussed plans. During the day Colonel Best-Dunkley looked in and
chatted most agreeably; he was in a most friendly mood. Padre Newman
also looked in.

"At 8.55 p.m. I marched off with my platoon along Track 1. All units
were moving up to the line. After I had been going about a quarter of an
hour half a dozen shells burst quite close to us, badly putting the wind
up us. We all lay on the ground. When the disturbance had subsided we
moved on again along Track 1, leaving Goldfish Chateau,[12] the one
building in that region which stands intact, on our right, along Track
6, touching Ypres at Salvation Corner, along the Canal Bank, again
across the open and though La Brique, where the Tanks (commanded by
Major Inglis) were congregating ready to go forward on the morrow, to
Liverpool Trench. We reached Liverpool Trench, the assembly trench from
which we were to go over the top on the morrow, about 11 p.m.... D and B
Companies were in Liverpool Trench, and C and A Companies in Congreve
Walk--the other side of Garden Street. It was a dull, cloudy night. The
guns were continually booming. Our howitzers were flinging gas-shells on
to every known German battery throughout the night. The enemy replied by
shelling Liverpool Trench and Congreve Walk--especially the latter. One
shell burst right in the trench, took one of Verity's legs almost clean
off, and killed his servant Butterworth. The shells were bursting all
night. All our trenches were simply packed with troops ready to go over
the top at Zero. Lewis's 166 Brigade filled the trenches in front of us.
The 55th Division occupied a front from the west of Wieltje to Warwick
Farm. Half of this frontage was occupied by Lewis's 166 Brigade on the
left, and Boyd-Moss's 165 Brigade occupied the other half on the right.
Stockwell's 164 Brigade occupied the whole frontage in rear with the
object of passing through the front brigades and penetrating into the
enemy's positions. The 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers were the left front
battalion of the 164 Brigade. Colonel Hindle's 1/4th North Lancashires
were on the right. We were supported by the Liverpool Irish as 'moppers
up'; and the North Lancs. were supported by the 1/4th King's Own Royal
Lancaster Regiment in the same way. In our battalion, D Company,
commanded by Captain Bodington, were on the left front. On their right
were C Company, commanded by Captain Mordecai. In rear of D Company were
B Company commanded by Second-Lieutenant Talbot Dickinson, M.C.; and on
our right were A Company commanded by Captain Briggs. The front
companies comprised the first two waves; the rear companies the third
and fourth waves. The first wave of D Company contained Beesley's
platoon on the left; and behind Beesley's platoon was that of Telfer.
Then came Sergeant Brogden's platoon of B Company, with Allen on his
right. My platoon occupied the whole Company front behind Brogden and
Allen. My orders were to advance to the 'Green Line,' and when I got
there I was to take Lance-Corporal Tipping's rifle section and four
Lewis Gunners on to reinforce Allen at Aviatick Farm where he was to dig
a strong point in front of the front-line when the Gravenstafel Ridge
was reached. Two of my sections were detached: Corporal Livesey took his
bombers with Brogden's platoon to mop up a dug-out beyond Wurst Farm,
and Lance-Corporal Heap was sent with his rifle grenadiers to 15
Platoon. On my left was a platoon, commanded by Sergeant Whalley, of the
1/6th Cheshires. They belonged to the 118th Brigade of the 39th Division
of Maxse's XVIII Corps--so, you see, I was on the extreme left of Sir
Herbert Watts's XIX Corps. It was Cuthbert's 39th Division that was to
take St. Julien. We were to go through Fortuin and leave St. Julien just
on our left. On the right of our division was the 15th Division. Behind
us, in the Watou area, was Nugent's 36th (Ulster) Division, ready to go
through us in a day or two. The 15th Division is entirely Scottish. So
much for Gough's dispositions for the battle.

"Zero was fixed for 3.50 in the morning. As the moment drew near how
eagerly we awaited it! At 3.50 exactly I heard a mine go up, felt a
slight vibration, and, as I rushed out of the little dug-out in which I
had been resting, every gun for miles burst forth. What a sight! What a
row! The early morning darkness was lit up by the flashes of thousands
of guns, the air whistling and echoing with shells, the calm atmosphere
shaken by a racket such as nobody who has not heard it could imagine!
The weird ruins of Ypres towered fantastically amongst the flashes
behind us. In every direction one looked guns were firing. In front of
us the 166th and 165th Brigades were dashing across no man's land,
sweeping into the enemy trenches, the barrage creeping before them. I
stood on the parados of Liverpool Trench and watched with amazement. It
was a dramatic scene such as no artist could paint.

"Before the battle had been raging half an hour German prisoners were
streaming down, only too glad to get out of range of their own guns! I
saw half a dozen at the corner of Liverpool Trench and Garden Street.
They seemed very happy trying to converse with us. One of them--a boy
about twenty--asked me the nearest way to the station; he wanted to get
to England as soon as possible!

"The Tanks went over. As daylight came on the battle raged furiously.
Our troops were still advancing. Messages soon came through that St.
Julien had been taken.

"Our time was drawing near. At 8.30 we were to go over. At 8 we were all
'standing to' behind the parapet waiting to go over. Colonel
Best-Dunkley came walking along the line, his face lit up by smiles more
pleasant than I have ever seen before. 'Good morning, Floyd; best of
luck!' was the greeting he accorded me as he passed; and I, of course,
returned the good wishes. At about 8.20 Captain Andrews went past me and
wished me good luck; and he then climbed over the parapet to
reconnoitre. The minutes passed by. Everybody was wishing everybody
else good luck, and many were the hopes of 'Blighty' entertained--not
all to be realized. It is a wonderful sensation--counting the minutes on
one's wrist watch as the moment to go over draws nigh. The fingers on my
watch pointed to 8.30, but the first wave of D Company had not gone
over. I do not know what caused the delay. Anyhow, they were climbing
over. Eventually, at 8.40, I got a signal from Dickinson to go on. So
forward we went, platoons in column of route. Could you possibly imagine
what it was like? Shells were bursting everywhere. It was useless to
take any notice where they were falling, because they were falling all
round; they could not be dodged; one had to take one's chance: merely go
forward and leave one's fate to destiny. Thus we advanced, amidst shot
and shell, over fields, trenches, wire, fortifications, roads, ditches
and streams which were simply churned out of all recognition by
shell-fire. The field was strewn with wreckage, with the mangled remains
of men and horses lying all over in a most ghastly fashion--just like
any other battlefield I suppose. Many brave Scottish soldiers were to be
seen dead in kneeling positions, killed just as they were firing on the
enemy. Some German trenches were lined with German dead in that
position. It was hell and slaughter. On we went. About a hundred yards
on my right, slightly in front, I saw Colonel Best-Dunkley complacently
advancing, with a walking stick in his hand, as calmly as if he were
walking across a parade ground. I afterwards heard that when all C
Company officers were knocked out he took command in person of that
Company in the extreme forward line. He was still going strong last I
heard of him.

"We passed through the 166th Brigade. We left St. Julien close on our
left. Suddenly we were rained with bullets from rifles and machine-guns.
We extended. Men were being hit everywhere. My servant, Critchley, was
the first in my platoon to be hit. We lay down flat for a while, as it
was impossible for anyone to survive standing up. Then I determined to
go forward. It was no use sticking here for ever, and we would be wanted
further on; so we might as well try and dash through it. 'Come
along--advance!' I shouted, and leapt forward. I was just stepping over
some barbed wire defences--I think it must have been in front of Schuler
Farm (though we had studied the map so thoroughly beforehand, it was
impossible to recognize anything in this chaos) when the inevitable
happened. I felt a sharp sting through my leg. I was hit by a bullet. So
I dashed to the nearest shell-hole which, fortunately, was a very large
one, and got my first field dressing on. Some one helped me with it.
Then they went on, as they were, to their great regret, not hit! My
platoon seemed to have vanished just before I was hit. Whether they were
in shell-holes or whether they were all hit, or whether they had found
some passage through the wire, I cannot say. I only know that, with the
exception of Corporal Hopkinson and one or two Lewis Gunners who went
forward soon after, they had all vanished. It was one of the many
mysteries of a modern battlefield! Allen was going on all right: I saw
him going on in front: I believe he got to Aviatik Farm![13] It was 10.20
a.m. when I was wounded. I lay in this shell-hole for some time. When I
had been there about half an hour the enemy put down a barrage just on
the line which contained my shell-hole! It was horrible. I thought I was
lost this time. Shells were bursting all around me, making a horrible
row; some of them were almost in the trench. I was covered with the
fumes from one or two of them and also sniffed some gas. I put on my
box-respirator. One piece of shrapnel hit me on the head, but,
fortunately, I had my steel helmet on my head; so I was all right.

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