Today was, in retrospect at least, a significant day: the counter-battery patrol that Greg flew was to be his last of the war. It was also Greg’s last wartime flight for which we have an entry in the Squadron Record Books for 42 Squadron.
Log Book
Date: 31.10.18 Time Out: 8.00 Rounds Fired – Lewis: - Rounds Fired – Vickers: - Bombs: 4 Time on RE8s: 182 hrs 55 mins RE8: 2517 Observer: Mulholland War Flying: 2 hrs 35 mins Height: 3000 Course/Remarks: C.B.P. 6 Huns. Fokkers.
Squadron Record Book
Type and Number: R.E.8.2517 Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Mulholland Duty: Artillery Patrol Hour of Start: 0800 Hour of Return: 1035. Remarks: 0820. Large fire and numerous explosions at D.B. zone. The fires were continuous for about 2 hours, and covered a large area. 0915. Large explosion at V.C. zone. Probably ammunition. 0930. Slight enemy shelling at PONT A CHIN, unable to pick up flashes. E.K.B. 0815. 1 at 3000’ over J.18. Pulled down at 0840 and let up again at 0920. E.A. Six Fokkers at 4000’ over I.&.O. squares. Sent 6.F.E.A.I.4. [Six Fokker enemy aircraft over I.4.] BOMBS. 4-25 lb dropped at I.38.a. [Looks like 38, but can’t be, as the numbering only goes up to 36] Four bursts observed. Vis. fair to bad. Height 3000’. Obs.by P.&.O.
The activity seen on this patrol was all to the north and northeast of Tournai:
V.C. Zone
There is a bit of ambiguity about which V.C. zone the Squadron Record Book (SRB) report is referring to. V.C. zone refers to the bottom left quadrant of V square. The V.C. zone that I have shown on the above map extract is from V square of 1:40,000 Map Sheet 29, which is just to the north of Sheet 37. Sheet 37 covers Tournai and surrounding areas and has its own V square, and hence its own V.C. zone, though. For each map sheet, V square is immediately below P square, and hence for Sheet 37 it is southeast of Tournai.
The SRB entries rarely said which map sheet they were referring to. (Those who wrote them and read them all knew what they meant). I have assumed that V square and V.C. zone of Sheet 29 was what was meant here, on the basis that V.C. and D.B. zones, where similar activity was reported, touch each other.
Six Fokkers
The six Fokkers were over squares I and O. The specific subsquare that formed the basis of Greg’s zone call (“6.F.E.A.I.4“) was I.4, which borders square C. The River Scheldt (Escaut in French) as it ran north of Tournai from square O to square I formed the British front line at the time.
Four Bombs Dropped at I.38.a?
Well, they can’t have been! Although the entry seems clear, there isn’t a quadrant 38.a. Each lettered square is made up of a six-by-six array of subsquares, which are numbered 1 to 36. And each numbered square is divided into four quadrants a, b, c and d, with quadrant a being the top left. So 38.a just isn’t possible.
What might have been intended? Here is a larger scale extract, from a 1:20,000 map, showing the bottom 12 subsquares of square I:
Any of quadrants 28.a, 30.a, 33.a and 36.a might have been intended, as they were all to the east of the River Scheldt and hence the British front line.
Last Counter Battery Patrol
Today’s counter-battery patrol was Greg’s last. (One was scheduled for 3 November 1918, but the weather put paid to it.) Undertaking these patrols had been one of his two main jobs with 42 Squadron, the other being the observation of artillery fire, or ‘shoots’. The first CPB was on 13 June 1918, the week after Greg joined the squadron at Rely:
Today is the 46th entry in his log book for a counter-battery patrol. To see the whole collection, click here. And for a refresher of what they were all about, have a look at this page:
Although this was Greg’s last counter-battery patrol, there was still much to do before the fighting was over.
Last Flight with Lt. Mulholland
Today was also Greg’s last flight with Lt Arthur Mulholland, with whom he had previously flown on 12 September 1918 and 15 September 1918. The 12 September post contains a profile of Lt. Mulholland.
Last wartime SRB entry
And on the subject of ‘lasts’, today is also the last day for which a pre-armistice Squadron Record Book entry for 42 Squadron RAF is available. That isn’t to say that there never were any entries. It’s just that they’re missing from the files of The National Archives.
The Squadron Record Books for 42 Squadron RAF for late 1918 are held in two files at The National Archives. They are AIR/1/1840/204/209/10 (July to November 1918):
and AIR/1/1416/204/29/9(1) (1 July 1918 to 8 February 1919):
The two files contain duplicates of some records. Often duplicates are just carbon copies of different quality. Unfortunately, neither file contains any records covering the almost three weeks from 1 to 19 November 1918. And, to be honest, the subsequent SRB entries are pretty dull. They’re mostly such things as rigging tests and travelling flights.
If anyone finds copies of the missing entries, or knows something of their whereabouts if they’re still extant, please do get in touch via the contact page. The National Archives would probably be glad to hear from you too.