Greg’s partnership with 213 Siege Battery has another successful day, with a shoot that silenced a German battery just off the Rue Barra, northeast of Merville. It was to be Greg’s longest sortie of the war. He went to see the battery in the afternoon, and had a look round nearby St Venant.
Log Book
Date: 20.7.17 Time: 9.40 Rounds: - Bombs: - RE8: E27 Observer: Lt. Hodgson Time: 3 hr 40 m Height: 7000 Course/Remarks: Shoot on L26a [sic, probably L25a intended - see below]. Successful. (213 SB)
Diary
Saturday July 20th. Did a shoot with 213 SB on a Hun battery in L26a [sic, probably L25a intended]. Went to see them after, & explored St. Venant. Scrounged some furniture from some of the remains of houses.
Squadron Record Book
Type and Number: R.E.8.27 Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Hodgson Duty: Art Obs 213 S.B. (8” How) on H.B. at L.25.a.29.15 [Northeast of Merville, south of the Rue Barra] Hour of Start: 9.40 Hour of Return: 13.20 Remarks: SUCCESSFUL. Called up 9.47. K. 9.50. L. 9.54. G. 9.55. V. 11.20. Time G. to V. 1 hr 24 mins. [This was the time between the first signal to fire, and the Battery Commander being satisfied that the guns are ranged.] OBSERVED:- M.B.9. M.A.9. 1 Y. 1 Z. 10 A. 11 B. 12 C. 23 W. Battery apparently stopped firing. 58 ranging rounds. 4 M.O.K. during B.F. [The mean points of impact of four salvos during battery fire were direct hits.] No 1 & 2 Pits hit and damaged. 12.50. fire in house at L.26.a.8.6. C.I. Pet sent 13.3. [going home, running out of petrol] Shoot by P. Height 6000’. MISC INF. 9.50. 3 E.K.B. S and 9 N. of ESTAIRES. Fire K.29.b.75.70. and at K.29.a.5.9. 9.57. fire at L.7.a.3.7. and at Q.4.c.4.2. 10.35 large fire F.14.b.2.8. 11.25. explosion Q.6.d.central. 11.37. explosion L.27.d.3.5. 11.50. large fire L.27.d.3.5. 12.9. fire L.27.d.2.3. 12.15. C.W.S. sent L.C. Vis. good. Obs. By P. & O.
Where Was the Hostile Battery?
There’s something of a discrepancy between Greg’s Log Book and Diary on the one hand and the Squadron Record Book entry on the other. Greg has the hostile battery at L.26.a (a 500 yard x 500 yard square), and the SRB has it at L.25.a.29.15. So it was probably either at L.25.a.29.15 or L.26.a.29.15, which is 1,000 yards away. But which is right? Well, after all this time, who can really say? But my vote goes for L.25.a.29.15, because a 1:20,000 ‘Harassing Fire’ trench map dated 27 June 1918 has German earthworks marked at that position but nothing at the corresponding L.26.a position. Not definitive, of course, but the best we can do.
Wherever the target battery was, the shoot was a success. The battery was silenced, no doubt aided by the four salvos that were direct hits during the time that 213 SB was firing for effect. Eventually, Greg signalled that he was going home because he was short of fuel. Not a great surprise after 3 hours 15 minutes in position. This would be Greg’s longest sortie, at 3 hours 40 minutes including travelling time.
Visit to 213 Siege Battery and St. Venant
Greg was probably well received by 213 Siege Battery RGA, since they had had three extremely productive days working together: taking down the railway bridge in Merville on 18 July 1918, rendering the Pont de Pierre unusable yesterday, and taking out a hostile battery today. Judging from some remarks Greg was to make later, 213 SB seem to have been located somewhere around the village of Haverskerque, a few miles west of Merville on the north bank of the Lys, just above St Venant:
So he was probably in good spirits for his visit St. Venant, which had been – and would again become – a delightful small town. When Greg was there, it had been badly knocked about, with many houses ruined. At least he could scrounge some furniture with impunity.
St. Venant is the home of Le Manoir de la Peylouse, a characterful guest house with a rich history. It played various roles in the Great War, and managed to escape destruction. By 1918, when Greg was there, La Peylouse was the headquarters of the Portuguese Expeditionary Force, under the command of General Fernando Tamagnini de Abreu e Silva. General Haig frequently visited General Tamagnini. A young officer of the Royal Welch Fusiliers – one Siegfried Sassoon – was known to have spent some time there, and wrote his poem ‘The Dug-Out‘ in the enchanting garden of La Peylouse.
Shoots
More details on shoots can be found here: