The History of the 2/6th (Rifle) Battalion, "the King's" (Liverpool Regiment) 1914-1919Wurtzburg, C. E. (Charles Edward)
History
The History of the 2/6th (Rifle) Battalion, "the King's" (Liverpool Regiment) 1914-1919
Wurtzburg, C. E. (Charles Edward)
Great Britain. Army. King's Liverpool Regiment; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
"On the way back those men who had been hit on crossing No Man's Land
were all brought in except one man, who could not be found. It is
believed that this man was killed. On reaching our trenches it was
found that another man was missing. He was last seen soon after leaving
the enemy's trench.
"At zero plus 33 minutes the N.C.O. i/c Right Party observed one green
light and one golden rain rocket fired apparently from the enemy's
subsidiary line in C.23 or C.24.
"The trench is very deep and narrow, and no duck-boards were found.
"_Centre (Clarke's) Party_.--This party crossed No Man's Land in the
order practised. They found the ground much torn up by shell-holes,
over which it was impossible to proceed quickly. They found the gaps
in the wire, but had to zig-zag a good deal to get through. There was
a considerable quantity of cut wire lying about, which further delayed
their progress. They entered the enemy's trench at about C.20.a.44.21
(_i.e._, about 30 yards farther to the right than had been intended).
"2nd-Lieutenant C. W. Clarke established telephone communication with
O.C. Raid at zero plus 7½ minutes, and sent a message to the effect
that his party 'had entered enemy's trench.'
"The trench was deep, and in getting in the leading man stumbled and
lost his rifle, which he was unable to find in the darkness. Thereupon
another bayonet man was brought up to take his place. The first party
then proceeded along the trench to the right, and immediately found
a dug-out, into which a bomb was thrown. After the bomb had exploded
the dug-out was entered and two dead Germans found. An effort was made
to tear a button off the tunic of one of those men, but it was on too
tight. At this moment a scuffle was going on outside the dug-out with
a Hun who had come running down the trench, shouting 'Surrender,' and
our man inside the dug-out hurried out to see what was happening, and
picked up a German rifle on his way. The Hun was placed in charge of
two men, to be passed out of the trench as soon as the two men waiting
on the parapet had been called to the spot. Whilst the two men were
holding the prisoner, one of them was wounded and let go. The prisoner
thereupon wrenched himself free from the other man and escaped to the
left. One of our men chased him along the trench, but, going over
strange ground, was unable to catch him; he came to a communication
trench (Centaur Lane), and, hearing footsteps, threw a bomb into this
trench. As by this time the withdrawal signal had gone up, he withdrew
and joined his own party.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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