Thomas Hope Floyd - At Ypres with Best Dunkley
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Thomas Hope Floyd >> At Ypres with Best Dunkley
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The following day, July 19, I wrote to my mother as follows:
"I got up at 2.30 a.m. this morning, and with Sergeant Clews's working
party filled in the remaining shell-holes (outside Hasler House). We had
a moderately quiet time. Only about three shells burst anywhere near us
the whole time. Yet we were working in broad daylight! We got back at
5.45 and I then went to bed again. I had breakfast in bed. Then some
post arrived: a letter from Father dated July 16 and the enclosed from
Norman Floyd. As I expected, he, too, is now in the Army; has been for
some months. He is in the 74th Training Reserve Battalion, and is
thinking of going in for a commission. I have advised him to do so--in a
letter which I have just written to him.
"I got up at midday and had lunch. The afternoon I took easy. The padre
was in for tea. While we were having tea newspapers arrived. Captain
Andrews opened the _Daily Mail_ and exclaimed with horror: 'Good
heavens! Churchill's been appointed Minister of Munitions!'
"'Hurrah!' I exclaimed, nearly tumbling off my seat in my excitement.
"'Good God! How awful!' dolefully exclaimed the padre, looking at me in
amazement that I should express satisfaction at such a catastrophe.
'What? Are you pleased to hear that Churchill is in office again?'
inquired he and Dickinson in surprise!
"'Rather! he's one of our two most brilliant statesmen,' I replied.
"Thereupon an argument began and continued throughout tea. I must say I
never admired Lloyd George more than I do at this moment when, in face
of most bitter public opposition, he has had the courage to give office
to Churchill. I admire him for it.
"The new appointments are certainly of a sensational nature. Carson
leaves the Admiralty and enters the War Cabinet as Minister of
Reconstruction (whatever that may mean!). Montagu becomes Secretary of
State for India in Austen Chamberlain's place. Then the most startling
thing of all--the wonderful Sir Eric Geddes becomes First Lord of the
Admiralty! That is very significant indeed. The appointment of that
extraordinary production of the war to the Admiralty at this particular
moment is not, I think, unconnected with the forthcoming operations. I
leave you to surmise what I mean. Churchill has now once more set foot
upon the ladder, despite popular prejudice. Watch him now. He will not
rest until he has mounted to the top. It is really delightful. How angry
everybody will be! Do, please, pull their legs about it for me! But
watch also Sir Eric Geddes. He is one of the most remarkable men of our
time--general, admiral, statesman!
"I am rather amused at the change in the Royal Name: our Royal Family is
now to be known as the Royal House of Windsor! It does strike me as
pandering somewhat to popular prejudice. That King George should change
his name to Windsor cannot change the fact of his ancestry; he is still
a member of the Royal House of Coburg, to which King Albert of Belgium
and King Manoel of Portugal belong: no legal document can alter the
facts of heredity! not that I think any the worse of him because he is a
Coburg. However, the Royal House of Windsor will be peculiarly the
British Royal Family and will probably marry amongst the British
nobility. To that I have no objection whatever, as I have said before.
"No, I have not seen the King or the Queen out here; but I knew that the
Queen was inspecting the hospitals in the town where we get off the
train for this part of the front.
"Talking of hospitals--the Padre says that Barker is not expected to
live many hours longer. The other three are pulling through. We have got
another officer gas casualty to-day. Kerr, who has been suffering from
the effects of gas ever since July 12, has reported sick to-day and has
gone to hospital for a fortnight. One by one we diminish! I feel quite
all right.
"I was talking to Sergeant Brogden--the new gas N.C.O.--last night. He
comes from Middleton Junction. He says that he was in the Church Lads
Brigade at St. Gabriel's.
"I have been reading the leading article about popular scapegoats in the
_Church Times_, and I agree with it. I think the young Duke of Argyll's
attack on Archbishop Davidson in the _Sunday Herald_ was conspicuous
rather for venom than for good taste.
"Earl Curzon's speech in the Lords on Mesopotamia I thought very sober
and statesmanlike indeed. I read it in the _Times_."
The next day (July 20) I wrote home as follows:
"We actually had no working parties to take last night. How considerate
of the Brigade-Major! So we had a good night's sleep. And we have not
done anything particular to-day. We are going to have a change at last.
After twenty days in the line we are going out to-night, and are going
to have a few days in a rest camp some distance behind. The place to
which we are going on this occasion is nothing like as far back as we
were last month; but I can assure you it is a perfectly _safe_ distance.
So you need not worry. I can tell you it has been _some_ twenty days! I
have never experienced such a twenty days before; and I am glad to be
looking back upon them, writing during the last few hours, rather than
at the beginning. We are all glad to be going out again. General
Stockwell has ordered that we have three days' complete rest; and Sir
Hubert Gough has issued an order that on no account are the men in his
Army to be worked more than four hours per day, inclusive of marching to
and from parade ground, while out of the line. So the prospect is
bright. It is now 4.10, and we are going to have tea. Our bombardment is
still making a great row."
My diary of the same date (July 20) states:
"At 4.30 p.m. Captain Briggs, Dickinson, Allen, Sergeant Donovan and I
walked via Wells Cross Roads, La Brique (where our guns were very close
together, their sound almost deafening us as we passed them), to
Liverpool Trench. Here we reconnoitred our starting points for the
forthcoming push. Then Allen and I went on with Sergeant Donovan up
Threadneedle Street to Bilge Trench. We watched, through glasses, the
German line going up in smoke. In present-day warfare I certainly think
that artillery is the most formidable arm of the Service; it is
artillery which is the chief factor deciding success or failure in all
the great battles in the West. It is even now preparing the way for us.
After having had a look round from over the parapet in Bilge Trench we
returned the same way we had come; and we actually got safely back to
the Ramparts without having any adventures whatever!"
When we got back to the Ramparts our tour in the line was at an end. All
we had to do now was await the arrival of relief. And a very pleasant
sensation, indeed, that is to weary soldiers! The sensation of "relief"
is the happiest of all the various sensations one had "out there." There
were just a few hours of irritating expectancy to live through--followed
sometimes, as at Givenchy in 1918, by some boring experience such as a
"stand to" in some particular, and generally uninviting, positions--and
then one would be free, safe and in a position and condition to enjoy a
delightful sleep: free and safe for a few days, until the all too soon
moment for return should come!
CHAPTER XIII
RELIEF
My diary of July 20 goes on to state how our relief was effected: "We
were relieved by a company of the 1/5th South Lancashires of General
Lewis' 166 Brigade at 8.45 p.m. So I set off with my platoon at 9
p.m.... We went round Salvation Corner and across various tracks--a very
roundabout way; but Sergeant Baldwin, Sergeant Dawson and I between us
managed to find our way to Vlamertinghe somehow. Then we went along the
road to Brandhoek Cross Roads and thence into our destination, B Camp,
on the right."
The letter which I wrote home on July 21 describes the events of the two
days in greater detail without naming places. It begins where my letter
of the previous day left off, at tea-time: "After tea yesterday I went
up to the trenches to reconnoitre our own positions as they will be on
'the day,' and the front over which we shall have to advance. I was
accompanied by Allen and others. We got there and back again without
any adventures whatever; but we saw crowds of batteries bombarding the
German lines. The noise as we passed them was deafening. And through our
glasses we saw the German lines going up in smoke. If the artillery
fails to achieve exactly what the General orders the infantry is
foredoomed to failure; and, conversely, if the artillery is successful
the infantry ought to have things all plain sailing. That was the secret
of the victory of Messines last month. Churchill, with his customary
intelligence, has aptly summed up the matter in the following words: 'In
this war two crude facts leap to the eye. The artillery kills. The
infantry is killed. From this arises the obvious conclusion--the
artillery at its maximum and infantry at its minimum.'[8]
"We got back at 6.45 and had dinner. At 8.30 we began to be relieved.
So, at 9, I got off with my platoon. We had no adventures except that
even the three of us--Sergeant Baldwin, Sergeant Dawson and I--had some
difficulty in finding our way through the various tracks across the
fields! We passed some simply huge field-guns firing into the enemy
lines. On one occasion if I had not called out to inquire whether all
was safe I would have been blown up with others by one of our own big
guns. 'Just a minute,' was the reply; and then a loud report nearly
lifted us off our feet as the shell left the muzzle of the gun which was
pointing across the path we were taking! They ought to have had a picket
out to warn passers-by as is done in the case of most big guns when
firing.
"We eventually got to our destination, a certain camp. We stayed the
night there. We tried to get some sleep on the floor in a large elephant
dug-out, but found it utterly impossible: the sound of the guns all
round was too terrific. This bombardment is as yet only in its early
stages. I was only a few hundred yards away from where I was last night
on that night previous to the night of the Battle of Messines when the
preliminary bombardment for that battle was at its height; yet I may say
that the present one sounded last night just like that one sounded then.
So what will it become as the days roll on?
"We had breakfast at 4 this morning and marched off from this camp at
6.40. We marched about nine miles to a village which was really only
about six miles away! I can tell you I was, and we all were, very tired
indeed when we got here. It was about midday when we arrived. We are
still well in sound of the guns, but just nicely out of range of them.
Nevertheless, air scraps have been going on overhead most of the day. We
are under canvas--the whole battalion in a large field enclosed by
hedges. The weather is splendid; fine camping weather. We had lunch
about 2 p.m. Then I played a game something like tennis (badminton). The
Colonel is very keen on it. When he saw that I was going to play he
said, 'Oh, I'll back the "General,"' meaning me! Then he showed me how
to play. He has been most agreeable with me all day. Major Brighten has
started calling me 'The Field-Marshal!' I think I cause these gentlemen
considerable amusement!
"Sir Douglas Haig is in this village to-day; but as I have not been out
of camp since I got here I have not seen anything of him."
FOOTNOTE:
[8] Churchill, _London Magazine_, Dec., 1916.
CHAPTER XIV
WATOU
The time we spent at Valley Camp, Watou, is duly chronicled in my diary.
"July 21st.
"We got here at 12. Lunch at 2.... My servant Johnson reported sick with
gas and departed for hospital; so I asked Sergeant Baldwin to suggest
another. He took me to M'Connon. I endorsed the selection. Allen's
servant, Parkinson, has also gone to hospital with gas to-day! To bed 10
p.m."
"July 22nd (Sunday).
"Breakfast in bed. Up 9.30. The Colonel had a conference of all officers
re training and man-power. Then there was a Church parade in the field
at 12.15 p.m. The main points of the padre's sermon were Repentance,
Hope, Intention. In the afternoon Dickinson and I went over my platoon
roll with the Sergeant-Major (Preston) to see how we stand. He also did
the same with the other platoons. After tea I had a walk into the
village of Watou and purchased some chocolates. Then dinner. The padre
tells me that Archbishop Lang is in Poperinghe to-day.
"Critchley came back from hospital this evening; so he will resume his
duties as my servant to-morrow.
"Corporal Flint has died, in hospital, of gas."
"July 23rd.
"Breakfast in bed. Up 7.30. Parade 8. Training during the morning. There
were also lectures by company commanders on the forthcoming operations,
and a lecture on the compass by Major Brighten. In the afternoon General
Stockwell spoke about the forthcoming operations to all officers and
N.C.O.'s. His speech was very interesting.... He is to have his
Headquarters in Wieltje Dug-out. He said that casualties of this brigade
while in Ypres this time had been 26 officers and 470 men. I have been
very busy with matters relating to the push all day."
"July 24th.
"Battalion parade 8.30 a.m., followed by lectures on the forthcoming
operations and a lecture to officers and N.C.O.'s on field messages by
Major Brighten. In the afternoon platoons marched to Poperinghe to bathe
at the Divisional Baths in the Square--just by the church, I left Valley
Camp with my platoon at 1.45. We marched via St. Janster Biexen to
Poperinghe and there bathed. Then I took my N.C.O.'s--Sergeant Baldwin,
Corporal Livesey, Lance-Corporals Topping, Tipping, Heap and Hopkinson,
and also Sergeant Dawson, to see a model of the battlefield at the
Divisional School. We were ages finding it. We went the wrong way. But
we eventually went along the Switch Road and found it. It was 6 p.m. by
then. So I gave Baldwin, Topping, Tipping and Heap a pass to have tea in
Poperinghe. Dawson and Hopkinson did not want one, so they set off back.
I went into Poperinghe and had a drink of citron. I felt very tired.
Then I set off back to Watou. I came across Dickinson returning on
horseback. Then I caught up Sergeant Dawson and Lance-Corporal
Hopkinson; and we got on a lorry which took us right as far as St.
Janster Biexen. We then walked back to Valley Camp. I had dinner. Then
to bed, feeling a little seedy."
"July 25th.
"Breakfast in bed at 8. Dickinson, feeling very bad, stayed in bed. I
also felt washed out. I expect it is the gas at last taking effect. At
10 a.m. I set off with one officer and one N.C.O. from each company to
reconnoitre the route to Query Camp. Beesley and I with Sergeant Clews
and Sergeant Malone went one way; the others went another way. We found
ourselves wrong, but eventually got right. It was raining, the route was
thick with mud, and I felt very weary. I soon felt done to the world.
We had some coffee in a hut on the Poperinghe road, about a mile from
the town; then walked on to the Switch Road, right along that and on to
the main Poperinghe-Vlamertinghe road. Here Beesley and his sergeant
went one way and Sergeant Clews and I went another--right along the main
road. We had a drink of citron at a little hut named Villa Franca. Then
we turned to the left at Brandhoek Cross Roads, went through B Camp, and
eventually reached Query Camp. I felt horribly fatigued and also had a
most annoying cold.... Soon Beesley and his sergeant turned up. We had
some citron in a cottage here. The Belgian woman who served us said that
she had lost her father, mother and three brothers in the war. After
this we went along Track 1 and back to the main road. Here we got a
motor-lorry which took us through Poperinghe and right back to St.
Janster Biexen. We walked back to Valley Camp from there. I really feel
done up; and I have a headache in addition to my bad cold--something
like influenza. All symptoms of gas! When we got back the rain had
ceased and it was quite nice. A new large draft arrived about 6.30;
there were two new officers with it--Richard Maxwell Barlow and Kenneth
Leslie Smith. Young has also returned to the Battalion. There have been
a number of drafts recently, so we are getting up strength again.
Young, Barlow and Smith have all been posted to A Company; so, as the B
and A Company Mess is joint, they mess with us."
The same day, July 25, I wrote home from Watou as follows:
"Just a line to let you know that I have received all your letters up to
July 20 and the parcel for which I thank you very much. I have been
simply awfully busy--chiefly with maps and operation orders re coming
offensive--and have not been able to write home during the last few days
as a result. We are supposed to be resting, but I have hardly a moment
to spare. General Stockwell lectured all officers and N.C.O.'s of this
Battalion here in the field on Monday afternoon. He said that he was
going to tell us everything that he knew himself about the coming
battle, but did not tell us anything we did not already know! I do not
think he told us all: if he did tell us all then I don't think much of
the idea. The General had a cigarette in his mouth and his hands in his
pockets the whole time he was speaking; he was quite jovial, cracking
jokes all the time. He impressed upon us the importance of sending
messages back when we reach our objectives; he said that if we do not do
so it will mean his coming up to the front line himself for information
'and I don't want to have to do that,' he laughed, 'but it will come to
that if necessary,' he went on in a more serious tone, 'and it will be
woe betide the platoon commander whose negligence has brought his
brigadier-general's life into danger!' At the conclusion of his speech
the General asked whether any of us had any questions to ask. I could
have asked one, but I know he would not have answered it; so I remained
silent!
"Archbishop Lang was in the big town half-way between here and the front
line on Monday, but I did not see anything of him. Nor did I see the
Queen when she was inspecting the hospitals there. But I think it very
fine of Queen Mary to visit troops within range of the Germans guns as
she did.
" ... It is now evening and is quite bright, the sun is shining into the
tent where I am writing this. We have been stationed here since July 21,
and are now marching back in a few minutes to a camp beyond the
above-mentioned town--where I went to reconnoitre this morning.
"You will see that it is impossible to write any reply to 'Bumjo' at
present as I have not the time.[9] I also warn you not to get the wind
up if you do not hear from me for a week or so. I can quite foresee a
period of that length elapsing between my letters now, as before this
present week is out we shall be engaged in fighting the great battle of
the North. 'Bumjo' will have to wait until we come out of action again.
I intend to deal with him and give him the telling-off which his
impudence and his treason are asking for after the battle. I hope to
have more leisure then! So au revoir!"
These days at Watou, while being days full of work, were not unpleasant.
We had plenty to talk about; and, seated on the grass on a summer
evening, Joe Roake would make us rock with laughter at his quaint and
humorous tales of his experiences when a sergeant at Loos and other
battles. Roake was always a great asset to any mess when he honoured it
by a visit. He hated Headquarters Mess; he was always ready to jump at
any excuse to get away from the society of Colonel Best-Dunkley; and he
was never happier than when, over a nice selection of drinks, he was
retailing the Colonel's latest sayings and doings. And we, needless to
say, were never happier than when listening to him on this most
interesting topic! Roake and Humfrey with little "Darky," who was their
invariable companion, were always welcome.
It was at this time that news came across that a son and heir had been
born to Colonel Best-Dunkley. The event was one of considerable
interest, and was widely discussed. "Poor little ----! To think that
there's another Best-Dunkley in the world to look forward to!" exclaimed
our humorous friend when he heard the news. "Well, when he grows up he
will always have the gratification of knowing that his father was a
colonel in the Great War!" mused Captain Andrews in a tone which
suggested that he had a presentiment that Colonel Best-Dunkley would not
survive the coming push. And, somehow--though nobody ever anticipated
for a moment that he would win the V.C.--we all discussed the
probability of his falling, and always thought that the odds were in
favour of his falling. And to be perfectly frank (my object in writing
this book is to tell the truth), nobody regretted the probability! If we
had really known what kind of a man he was, if we had been able then to
fathom beneath the forbidding externals, we might have felt very
differently about it. But it is not given to man to know the future or
even to discern the heart of his most intimate acquaintance! We only saw
in him a man who was as unscrupulous as his prototype Napoleon in all
matters which affected his own personal ambition, the petty tyrant of
the parade ground, who could occasionally be very agreeable, but of whom
all were afraid or suspicious, because none knew when his mood would
change. In a few days this man was going to give everybody who knew him
the surprise of their lives. Had he any presentiment or intention as to
the future himself? I think he had both intention and presentiment.
Throughout the whole summer of 1917 his whole heart and soul were
absorbed in preparation for the coming push; never did a man give his
mind more completely, unstintingly, and whole-heartedly to a project
than Best-Dunkley did to the Ypres offensive which was to have carried
us to the Gravenstafel Ridge, then on to the Paschendaele Ridge, into
Roulers and across the plains of Belgium. He was determined to associate
his name indelibly with the field of Ypres; he was determined to win the
highest possible decoration on July 31: he knew what the risks were; he
had seen enough of war to know what a modern push meant; he had not come
through Guillemont and Ginchy for nothing and learnt nothing; he was
determined to stake life and limbs and everything on the attainment of
his ambition. He was determined to cover himself with glory; he was
determined to let people see that he did not know what fear was. And I
think--there was that in his bearing the nearer the day became which
suggested it, everybody who had known him of old declaring that they
noticed a certain change in him during the last two months of his
life--that he felt that his glory would be purchased at the cost of his
life.
I well remember one afternoon in the Ramparts when Captain Andrews came
in and told us that it had been proposed that Major Brighten should take
the Battalion over the top in the push and the Colonel remain behind on
"battle reserve." Captain Andrews said that that would be fine, because
if the push were a success--as it was sure to be--Major Brighten[10]
would probably get the D.S.O. before the Colonel, which would annoy the
Colonel intensely; and he said that he would do anything, risk anything
to bring success to our beloved Major Brighten--feelings which we all
cordially reciprocated. But Colonel Best-Dunkley would not hear of it.
He implored the General to allow him to lead his battalion over the top;
he waxed most importunate in his entreaties, almost bursting into tears
at the thought of being debarred from going over with the Battalion;
and, at last, his request was granted and the General agreed that
Best-Dunkley should take the Battalion over.
Another very gallant officer was also very grieved when he was informed
that he was detailed to be on "battle reserve" for the push. That
officer was Kenneth Blamey. When Captain Blamey was informed that his
second-in-command would take the Company over he implored to be allowed
to go over the top with his company. But his request was not granted.
Bodington was to take D Company over. It would not do for all company
commanders to go over the top at once: the future has to be considered.
One more reminiscence before I close this chapter. It was at Watou that
fat Joye used to come into the tent and get me to talk to him about the
war. I remember him coming in to see us the last night at Watou and
saying to me that we would both have nice "Blighties" in the leg in a
few days. I replied that I hoped so. Things turned out exactly as Joye
forecast: about ten days later I met him on the grand staircase in
Worsley Hall!
FOOTNOTES:
[9] This refers to the newspaper controversy in the _Middleton Guardian_
in which I had been engaged throughout the whole time I was at the
Front.
[10] He afterwards won the D.S.O. and Bar, Belgian Ordre de la Couronne
and Belgian Croix de Guerre.
CHAPTER XV
THE DAYS BEFORE
On the evening of July 25 the 164 Brigade marched back from the Watou
area to the camps behind Ypres; we went to Query Camp. In my tent at
Query Camp on July 27 I wrote my last letter home before going into
action. It ran as follows:
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