The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918, Vol. 2 of 3Ponsonby, Frederick
History
The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918, Vol. 2 of 3
Ponsonby, Frederick
Great Britain. Army. Grenadier Guards; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
No. 1 Company under Captain Sloane-Stanley, No. 3 under Lieutenant
Nash, and No. 4 under Captain Paton, dug themselves in with
entrenching tools along the Anneux chapel――Mœuvres road, while No. 2,
under Captain Britten, was placed in Anneux chapel itself. The
shelling was very violent, and all the roads, by which supplies and
supports had to move, were accurately and persistently shelled. The
Brigadier, Lord Henry Seymour, came along, quite unconcerned and not
even wearing a helmet, to see how these companies were getting on, and
told them they might have to move up later into Bourlon Wood. When it
got dark snow began to fall, and it became bitterly cold. The position
of a lent battalion is by no means an enviable one, and soon orders
and counter-orders from different authorities succeeded each other
with amazing rapidity. Finally definite orders were sent to the
Battalion to take up a position in Bourlon Wood, and at the same time
it was placed under the orders of the 186th Brigade. While this move
was being carried out, Lieutenant Nash was wounded in the leg and sent
back to the dressing-station. In order to keep in touch with the 186th
Brigade, Second Lieutenant Tuckwell was sent to Graincourt to act as
liaison-officer to General Bradford, V.C.
Bourlon Wood, which covers about 100 acres, might well have been a
typical English covert, with its tall trees interspersed with
undergrowth about eight feet high. The line to be held consisted of a
road running north and south, parallel to the front line. The ground
was soaking wet, and the men had to force their way through the
dripping leaves and lie out in the wood with no protection of any
kind. Digging through the stubborn soil and soaking undergrowth was no
easy matter with light entrenching tools, but they soon produced some
sort of cover. The Fortieth Division, however, had succeeded in its
attack, and so there was nothing for the 4th Battalion to do but to
remain in the wood where it was. In the evening, much to the
satisfaction of every one, it reverted to the command of the Guards
Division. Lieutenant Ingleby, the acting Quartermaster, arrived at
Battalion Headquarters at 11 that night, having guided the transport
up to Anneux chapel through intense shelling, and reported that Second
Lieutenant N. A. Pearce, the transport officer, who had shown great
determination and pluck in his efforts to bring all that was wanted up
to the men in the trenches, had been killed by a shell. Major-General
Feilding received the following message from Major-General Ponsonby:
I wish to express on behalf of my Division my sincere thanks
for the support given us on the 24th and 25th by the
Battalions of the Guards Division placed at my disposal for
the defence of Bourlon Wood, namely the 2nd Battalion Scots
Guards and 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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