TodayGreg spent the day on a shoot. He was directing the fire of 99 Siege Battery onto a target in square R3, near Lestrem. His mind probably occasionally wandered to his sister Alice Gregory, whose birthday it was today
Log Book
Date: 22.8.18
Time: 17.20
Rounds Lewis: -
Rounds Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 137 hrs 00 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Lt Hodgson
War Flying Time: 2 hrs 05 mins
Height: 5000
Course/Remarks: Shoot with 99 SB. Successful. R3.
Shoot with 99 Siege Battery on R3, near Lestrem
This was the first shoot that Greg did with 99 Siege Battery RGA. He does not record their equipment, but it was probably howitzers with a bore of at least 6″. [Update at 15:00: An entry in the Squadron Record Book for 24 August 1918 says that 99 SB was equipped with two 6″ howitzers.]
The target is not noted in any more detail than the 1,000 yard map square. But square R3 encompassed what looked like a small field marshalling yard where a field railway met the Lys valley main line from Armentières to Merville. The yard is hatched on the map to denote it as an ‘area of interest’ and could well have been the target.
Square R3, near Lestrem, from a Log Map dated 20 July 1918. German positions and workings in red. Areas of interest are hatched in blue. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit: IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital
Alice’s 27th Birthday
Back home, Alice Gregory – Greg’s sister – celebrated her 27th birthday today.
Alice Gregory, Greg’s sister, picking apples, probably in the orchard at the family home in Holyhead, North Wales. Click for larger image. Photo: Greg’s War Collection
In an article headed ‘The Advance of the French Tenth Army’, which primarily dealt with General Mangin’s forces between the Oise and the Aisne, British forces on the Lys sector got a mention too. The report says that British troops had entered Merville (on Monday 19 August 1918) “without opposition”.
The Times, 21 August 1918
Meanwhile the British Armies in the north have found themselves the cheerful witnesses of a considerable German withdrawal. The enemy are going back in the region of the River Lys, and it is clear that they are retiring in consequence of British pressure. On Sunday we made a successful attack, quietly defined by Sir Douglas Haig as another “local operation”, on a front of four miles between Vieux Berquin and Bailleul. The average depth of the advance was nearly a mile, and the village of Oultersteene was recaptured, as well as several fortified farms. The enemy vainly counter-attacked during the night.
By Monday it was found that, to the south-west of this action, the German Sixth Army, under General von Quast, was retreating in all the country between Locon and the forest of Nieppe. They have made no progress in this flat and muddy district for a very long time, and the successful assault on Oultersteene seems to have finally convinced them of the necessity of shortening their front.
On Monday our troops entered Merville without opposition, and by the evening they were well beyond the town. They were also able to cross the Lawe Canal farther south. Our Special Correspondent states that by yesterday afternoon we had recovered “something over twenty square miles of territory without resistance and without loss”.
A counter-battery patrol day, but nothing doing. Possibly the enemy were more preoccupied with removing artillery from the advancing British forces than with firing themselves. That would change within a couple of days.
Log Book
Date: 21.8.18
Time: 12.00
Rounds Lewis: -
Rounds Vickers: 300
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 134 hrs 55 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Lt Hodgson
Time: 2 hrs 20 mins
Height: 5000
Course/Remarks: C.B.P. Nothing much doing.
Diary
Wednesday Aug 21st. CBP 11.30 – 2.15. Nothing doing.
The Last Diary Entry
This was Greg’s last diary entry. But why? On the About Greg’s War page, I wrote
I’m not sure why he didn’t keep up the diary beyond August 1918. It may have been that life had got more stressful after the start of what we now know as the Allies’ Final Offensive or ‘Hundred Days’ on 8 August. Or it may simply be that what was initially unfamiliar had become routine. Perhaps writing a daily account that was more detailed than what was required for the log book just became too much of a chore.
Having now posted all entries of the diary and all log book entries to date, I’m still not totally sure of the reason. But I think it was more likely to be ennui than being too busy. There didn’t seem to be a noticeable increase in workload with the start of the final offensive. Dud days because of bad weather were fairly common before and after 8 August 1918. And the number of sorties actually flown didn’t seem to change much. As we have seen, though, the diary entries became more and more terse. In the end they more or less reproduced the ‘Course/Remarks’ section of the corresponding log book entry.
What was evidently more laborious than writing either log book or diary entry was putting together the report for the Squadron Record Book, which included careful notes of events, timings and map references for counter-battery patrols and shoots. (Not all of the Squadron Record Book entries are still available: the last to be recorded in this blog was on 4 August 1918, and the next will be on 23 August 1918.) So it is possible that the combined requirements of writing the log book and Squadron Record Book entries squeezed out the diary entries. Perhaps by then they had become one chore too many.
The Western Front Moves East
By the morning of 21 August 1918, the map accompanying General Haig’s despatches of the final British offensive showed the British front line to be just to the east of Merville, but not as far as Neuf Berquin:
The British Front on the morning of 21 August 1918. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map dated December 1917 with information from a map accompanying General Haig’s despatches on the final British offensive. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit: IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
The German artillery may well have been digging in their new positions to the east of this line, which could explain why Greg saw so little of note in his patrol.
Updates to Earlier Posts
An update to the post for 8 August 1918 records the position of the front that morning:
Although Greg was down to do a shoot today, there was no shoot to do so he didn’t fly. On the ground, the front on the Lys sector was starting to move eastwards: on this day, British forces liberated Merville.
Diary
Monday Aug 19th. Down for shoot – none to do, so did not fly.
Merville Liberated
As the tide began to turn, British ground forces on the Lys sector today retook Merville. The Germans had taken it on 11 April 1918, the day of General Haig’s ‘Backs-to-the-Wall’ order:
Today was a shoot with the big gun – or more properly the big 12 inch howitzer – of 524 Siege Battery RGA. Thirty 12 inch rounds in the record time of 1 hr 22 mins.
Log Book
Date: 18.8.18
Time: 6.20
Rounds Lewis: -
Rounds Vickers: -
Bombs: 2
Time on RE8s: 132 hrs 35 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Lt Hodgson
Time: 2 hrs
Height: 4000
Course/Remarks: Shoot with 524 S.B. 12” How. 30 rounds in 1 hr 22 m.
Diary
Sunday Aug 18th. Down for dusk patrol. Did a shoot instead, with 514 S.B., 12” How. Got off 30 rounds in record time.
Squadron Record Book
Squadron Record Book. Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.27
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Hodgson
Duty: Art Obs on H.B. Destructive.
Hour of Start: 18.20
Hour of Return: 20.20
Remarks: S. with 524 S.B. (1-12”) on H.B. at R.3.d.58.39. [East of Lestrem] (P).
Called 18.34. K 18.36. L 18.39. G 18.42.
29 ranging rounds:- 1OK, 3Y, 5Z, 9A, 4B, 7W.
O.K. on ranging pit and O.K. on No3 pit by a shot at Z8 causing an explosion.
Total No of rounds fired 29, av. Rate of fire 2.45.
CI sent 20.7.
18.23 2EKB north of ESTAIRES.
18.30 2-25lb bombs dropped at K.36.d.1.6. Two bursts obs.
19.23 ) KK )
19.42 ) KK ) Flashes at G.22.c.4.7 approx [West of Sailly]
19.44 ) KK )
19.48.Three flaming onion batteries firing at G.8.c. & G.14.a.
19.58 Green Very lights from K.18.d.2.9 and L.19.a.
Fires in CROIX DU BAC and STEENWERCK burning continuously.
Vis:good. Height 4000’. Obs by P & O.
12 Inch Howitzer
Greg does not record whether the 12″howitzer used by 524 SB was railway mounted or static, but both of these monsters are shown in action in this footage from the Imperial War Museum’s collection:
Updated with Squadron Record Book info and corrected to say that 524 SB was operating a single 12″ Howitzer, as shown by the SRB – 28 September 2018 16:30
So far there have been 33 occasions in Greg’s Log Book and Diary when the weather was a significant factor. Today was the 34th, when it was very windy with low clouds, which precluded flying.
Diary
Saturday Aug 17th. Down for shoot. Dud day. Very windy & low clouds – did not fly.
Fresh from his unscheduled awayday at Paris-Plage yesterday, Greg is down for a morning counter-battery patrol. But heavy mist precludes a successful outing. He sees one Hun.
Log Book
Date: 16.8.18
Time: 9.30
Rounds Lewis: 100
Rounds Vickers: 150
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 130 hrs 35 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Lt Hodgson
Time: 2 hrs 10 mins
Height: 5000
Course/Remarks: C.B.P. Dud. Mist. One hun.
Diary
Friday Aug 16th. C.B.P. Heavy mist. Dud – one hun seen.
Heavy Mist
The poor weather doesn’t stop them firing off 250 rounds, between the Lewis and Vickers guns, and dropping four bombs. But we don’t know to what effect.
Greg was down for a shoot today, but it was a ‘dud day’ – so Greg went and had a good time in Paris-Plage:
Diary
Thursday Aug 15th. Down for a shoot. Dud day. Went to Paris-Plage – good time.
Paris-Plage
In contrast to today’s unexpected bonus outing, Greg’s previous trip to Paris-Plage was on a scheduled day off, and rather chaotic because of a driver not knowing where he was going:
For only the third time, Greg was assigned to take part in a bomb raid. The previous occasions were 11 August 1918 and 4 July 1918. To round off the day he went on dusk reconnaissance and found two batteries firing.
Log Book
Date: 14.8.18
Time: 10.25
Rounds Lewis: 350
Rounds Vickers: 150
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 126 hrs 45 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Hodgson
Time: 30 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: Bombs & ammunition.
Date: 14.8.18
Time: 19.15
Rounds Lewis: 150
Rounds Vickers: 200
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 128 hrs 25 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Hodgson
Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Height: 4000
Course/Remarks: Dusk reconnaissance. 2 NFs. [Twice, the signal for 'guns now firing' was sent.]
Diary
Wednesday Aug 14th. Two jobs. Bomb raid in morning & dusk reconnaissance. 2 N.F.s sent.
