42 Squadron RAF only arrived at Ascq Aerodrome on 22 October 1918, and would be leaving in three days time. Among Greg’s collection are two photographs of him and a few fellow officers, taken on the airfield, with some still identifiable houses behind them. Meanwhile, the everyday business of B Flight – reconnaissance and counter-battery patrols and a shoot – continues. As it turned out, these would be the last counter-battery patrol and the last shoot flown by the flight in the war. Greg did not fly today.
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 8.11.1918:-
2707 10.00 12.30 Lt Judd Lt Elliott RECON & CBP
4889 when fit Lt Bon Capt Gordon SHOOT
Lt Sewell Lt Whittles NEXT JOB
Lt Wallington Lt Bett - do –
E27 will be ready to leave the ground at 630.
Wm. Ledlie, Capt.
Ascq Aerodrome
The Anciens Aerodromes website pinpoints the site of Ascq aerodrome as being just south of the junction of the Rue des Fusilés and the Rue de la Tradition/Rue Gaston Baratte. The road junction is itself only a few hundred yards/metres southwest of the centre ville of Ascq itself, as can be seen on this embedded Google map:
Today, the site of the airfield is mostly an industrial estate, with a bit of scrubland and some allotment land – with what looks like an asparagus bed on the right! –
The site of Ascq aerodrome, June 2018. Looking south from the Rue de la Tradition towards the marker in the Google map, above. Click for larger image.
Photos with the Rue des Fusilés in the Background
Here are the two photographs of Greg and others. They are taken with buildings on the Rue des Fusilés being visible behind them.
The first:
Greg (second from left, front row) and others on the airfield at Ascq. Third from left in the front row is probably Capt. Bill Ledlie. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection
The houses on the left of the group are still there, on the Rue des Fusilés, although somewhat altered and built around:
Houses on the Rue des Fusilés in June 2018. The cream house on the left and the red-roofed building, since refashioned but recognisable by its chimneys, were there in 1918. Click for larger image
And the second, probably taken on the same occasion:
Greg (on the right in the back row) and others on the airfield at Ascq. Seated in the middle in the in the front row is Capt. Bill Ledlie. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection
Note the house with the patterned roof, visible between the observer standing on the left and other other five. It is still quite conspicuous on the Rue des Fusilés:
House with pattered roof on the Rue des Fusilés in June 2018. Click for larger image
Although Greg was not flying again today, it was business as usual for B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF at Ascq. Reconnaissance and counter-battery patrols and shoots were in today’s daily orders. An apparent dual role for Lt Sewell is resolved.
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 7.11.1918
2517 6.0 830 Lt Wallington Lt Bett Recon & CBP
4889 1200 1430 Lt Bon Capt Gordon – do –
6740 Lt Sewell Lt Sewell Shoot
2707 Lt Judd Lt Whittles do
E27 Capt Ledlie Lt Paton do
Lt Mulholland
Pilots and observers who have not passed all tests will please arrange to do so tomorrow.
The early machine will send down a weather report at 6.45 so that, if fit, the people on shoots can get into the air without any loss of time.
W. Ledlie, Capt.
There are obviously a couple of mistakes here. I have corrected Capt. Ledlie’s implication that he himself was still a lieutenant. But then there is Lt. Sewell’s designation as both pilot and observer in 6740! Judging from other entries in the B Flight Orders, he was in fact a pilot. And he often flew with Lt Whittles as observer. So probably Lt Sewell’s name should just be deleted from the observer’s column, and those named beneath him shunted up.
Lt Denis Charles Sewell
Lt Denis Charles Sewell was born on 31 October 1898. Prior to being commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 42 Sqn, he was in the Honourable Artillery Company.
‘Tests’
The nature of the ‘tests’ that both pilots and observers must pass is not explained.
It was another non-flying day for Greg, but today we can see why. For the last few days of the war, we have copies of the daily orders for B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF. And today’s entry shows that Greg was the first reserve pilot on the list for any job that fell due after the already scheduled reconnaissance flights and shoots. As it turned out, he stayed on the ground.
B Flight Orders
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 6.11.1918
2707 0800.1030 Lt Sewell Lt Whittles RECON.
6740 1400.DUSK Lt Judd Lt Elliott - do –
E27 Capt. Ledlie Lt Mulholland SHOOT
4889 Lt Bon Capt. Gordon - do –
Lt Wallington Lt. Bett - do –
Lt Gregory
Wm. Ledlie, Capt
Presumably other flights from the squadron will have fielded aircraft for further reconnaissance patrols and other jobs during the day.
The flight’s daily orders, and presumably those for the other flights, were nothing very grand. They were hand written and signed by the Officer Commanding the flight or his deputy. What we see above is evidently a carbon copy of the orders in Army Book 152, a correspondence book for field service. Probably a notice board or somewhere equally prominent displayed the original for all concerned to see.
In a vivid indication – if further indication were needed – of how fast the war was moving (and moving eastwards), 42 Squadron RAF was itself on the move again. After a mere nine days in Chocques, the squadron today travelled the 25 miles (40.5 km) ENE to Ascq, just east of Lille.
Log Book
Date: 22.10.18
Time Out: 7.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 176 hrs 20 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Scarterfield
War Flying: 0 hrs 25 mins
Height: 1500
Course/Remarks: Travelling flight to Ascq.
Squadron Record Book
Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8.27
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Travelling Flight.
Hour of Start: 0705
Hour of Return: 0735
Remarks: Travelling to new Aerodrome
This all looks fairly straightforward, until you consider which aeroplane Greg and Lt Scarterfield actually flew in. Was it 2517, as in Greg’s log book, or E27, as in the Squadron Record Book? Well, who knows. But if the reconnaissance flight on Friday 18 October 1918 (link below) wasn’t Greg’s last flight in E27, then today’s travelling flight certainly was.
Since 42 Squadron was deployed (as 42 Squadron RFC) to the Lys sector in March 1918, it has always operated out of aerodromes in the Pas-de-Calais département. These were (with dates of arrival, which are linked to the relevant posts):
The flag of Artois. Credit Wikipedia User:Patricia.fidi
Chocques, Trèzennes and Rely aerodromes were in the sizeable central portion of the Pas-de-Calais that was the ancient County of Artois (Dutch Artesië, whence the English adjective artesian, as in well), of which the capital was Arras.
Today was the day that 42 Squadron moved from Artois to Flanders – French Flanders, that is.
42 Squadron’s move ENE from Chocques to Ascq shown on a modern map (courtesy Google). Click for a larger, zoomable map (opens in new tab)
Flanders
Flag of Flanders. Credit: Tom Lemmens (Wikipedia User:Tom-L)
Flanders was also an ancient (medieval) county whose territory is today in France and Belgium. Lille (Dutch Reisel) is one of its major cities, and its principal domestic railway station is Lille Flandres. Today, French Flanders is part of the Nord département.
The old course of the River Lys, as it flowed from west to east near Merville, marked the boundary between the counties of Artois and Flanders. It does the same job now, demarking the Pas-de-Calais and Nord départements. In acknowledgement of the ancient boundary, the dykes forming the north and south banks of the canalised River Lys are today known as the Digue de Flandres and the the Digue d’Artois.
Farewell to Chocques
Only having been in Chocques for just over a week, 42 Squadron barely had time to get their feet under the table. It can’t have felt much like home in so short a time. But Greg may have felt leaving Chocques to be significant for another reason. It was here that he first saw and probably heard the effect of the artillery of the Western Front, as he travelled through on his way to Rely in early June 1918. Chocques had been just 2½ miles from the front line:
Ascq, where 42 Squadron was moving to, was a small settlement a couple of miles out into the countryside east of Lille, with a station on the railway line to Tournai. Today, it still has the station, but it has grown into Villeneuve-d’Ascq, which is practically a city in its own right. Villeneuve-d’Ascq is home to the Université de Lille, Campus Cité Scientifique, and to the headquarters of the well known French supermarket Auchan.
The site of the former aerodrome was south of the Rue des Fusilés (today the D941) and now accommodates a housing development. It is shown here with a red flag in the bottom right quadrant of square R.15 (i.e.R.15.d) of a First World War 1:40,000 scale map, and correspondingly on a modern map:
Ascq, east of Lille, in the First World War. The airfield is in square R.15, marked with a red flag in the bottom right sub-square (d). Click for larger image. Map credit: TNA/IWM/Great War Digital.Ascq, east of Lille, today. A red flag again marks the airfield. Click for larger image. Map credit: IGN France/Great War Digital.
Zone Calls
The following zone calls are recorded in the Squadron Record Book today, together in each case with the word ‘Unobserved’. Presumably other squadrons put out these calls, calling for artillery fire on what appeared to be urgent and high value targets. The zones in question were all to the east of Tournai. But 42 Squadron was unable to observe the response to any of them as they were busy relocating to their new home, which was about 13 miles (21 km) miles to the west.
Click for larger image.
Zone Calls.
P.C. G.F. TRAIN P.24.b.1.3 Unobserved
J.C. N.F. A.A. J.25.a.85.75 "
J.C. W.P. N.F. A.A. J.25.a "
J.C. G.F. TRAIN J.31.d.2.6 W "
J.C. G.F. TRAIN J.32.c.8.4 E "
J.A. N.F. J.13.d.95.05 "
Translation Key:
P.C., J.C. and J.A. are all map zones northeast (J.A. and J.C.) and east (P.C.) of Tournai.
G.F.: Gun fire (or Fleeting target)
N.F.: Guns Now Firing in position at…
N.F.A.A.: Anti-aircraft ditto
W.P.N.F.: Many batteries in square active (followed by location of square)
W travelling west
E travelling east
A Confusion of Zones
There’s something wrong with the first zone call (P.C. G.F. TRAIN P.24.b.1.3). Map position P.24.b.1.3 isn’t in zone P.C.; rather, it is is zone P.D. Which is wrong, the zone or the map reference? Well, a railway passes through P.24.b.1.3, so perhaps P.D. G.F. TRAIN P.24.b.1.3 was intended. But the same railway also passes through P.20.b.1.3, which is 4,000 yards to the west, in zone P.C. So maybe P.C. G.F. TRAIN P.20.b.1.3 was intended.
No doubt this ambiguous error caused some cursing on the part of the battery artillery commanders, as well as a few wasted shells.
A Bit of Light Exercise…
Armed with the above zone calls, the key, and knowledge of the above error, all that is needed to locate the targets on a map is, well, a map. So here it is, and I’ve marked the relevant zones on it. But the location of the targets is left as an exercise for the reader. (I’ve always wanted to write a sentence like that.) Help is at hand – see the link below the map.
Zones near Tournai. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
Further information on map references and zone calls generally is available here:
Yesterday’s reconnaissance patrol was remarkable for being east of Lille. Today’s patrol was remarkable for how much further east it was: into Belgium, as far as the River Escaut. And for encountering 10 Fokkers. This was Greg’s last patrol in the RE8 serial No E27, which may have been named ‘Gwen’, at least by him. Meanwhile, more British troops enter Lille.
Log Book
Date: 18.10.18
Time Out: 12.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: 100
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 175 hrs 55 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Scarterfield
War Flying: 2 hrs 20 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: Reconn. 10 Huns. Fokker biplanes.
Squadron Record Book
Type and Number: R.E.8.E27
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Reconnaissance
Hour of Start: 1200
Hour of Return: 1420
Remarks: Reconnaissance running along the railway running East from LILLE through M.13 - 18. N.13 - 15 – 12.
Flooded fields at G.32.
1245. Shelling at TEMPLEUVE (H.33). Large white bursts.
1245. Light engine with steam up stationary at N.15.c.0.7.
1250. Large fires in woods along railway at I.31.c. Bridges along River ESCAUT all apparently intact and not damaged.
No enemy trenches were observed on the West side of l’ESCAUT River.
Enemy machine gun posts still in houses in village in L.24. & M.2.a.
1315. Heavy shelling of railway junction & FORT CROIX DE VALLERS (Shrapnel).
British cavalry seen in M.8.
Large bodies of British troops moving East, N.E. of LILLE towards BREUCQ. (L.15).
R.E.8. Numbered ‘3’ slightly crashed at L.13.b.9.9.
ROUBAIX station in G.3.a. on fire.
A.A. Fire not very accurate over M. & N. squares. Two bursts fired whilst flying at 1000’ over G.25. Enemy tracers fired at machine whilst flying low over G.22. 23. 30. H.31. N.2. N.9.
E.A. 1300. Large formation of ten Fokker Biplanes flying west at about 5000’ over N.A. zone. Bursts from Lewis fired at one which dived. Formation continued in a North Westerly direction climbing above clouds.
Vis. Fair. Height 400/3000’. Obs by P.&.O.
Another lengthy Squadron Record Book (SRB) report, which is perhaps not surprising given the pace of events on the ground. The distance covered on the ground was remarkable – going east from Lille to the Escaut river, which flows north from Tournai some 4½ miles (7.5km) to the east of the Belgian border. To put this in context, Tournai is almost as far to the east of Lille (15 miles, 24 km) as Merville is to the west (18 miles, 29 km). And it had taken quite some months to cover the ground from Merville to Lille.
It’s difficult to fit all these events on a map that’s large enough to see the detail (even when clicked). So here’s a selection, on a map that shows the land between Lille, in France, and Tournai, in Belgium.
Map showing some of the observations on reconnaissance patrol on 18 October 1918. East of Lille to Tournai. Adapted from a composite of 1:40,000 scale maps. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. French-Belgian border position only approximate. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
Large fires in woods along railway at I.31.c.
At 1250 Greg reported large fires in woods along a railway line, at I.31.c. The woods are between the villages of Fourcroix and Pont-à-Chin, northwest of Tournai. This larger scale map extract shows them in better detail:
Map showing fire in woods at I.31.c, northwest of Tournai, on 18 October 1918. See below for the significance of the blue car. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
The railway in question, incidentally, is the line running northwest from Tournai towards Kortrijk, just after the branch off west towards Lille.
The view of the woods today, looking from where the blue car is shown on the map, is this:
The view looking north to the woods by the railway line where the fires were at I.31.c – complete with blue car. If you tap or click to see a larger image, you should be able to make out the masts of the railway’s present day catenary system in front of the trees.
The map reference of the car’s location, in First World War terms, is 35.O.1.a.7.3. You can see the location today on Google Maps at https://goo.gl/maps/wkfzpNFVGeC2.
Bursts from Lewis
According to the SRB, the Lewis gun fired bursts at one of the Fokker biplanes that were seen over zone N.A. But if we believe Greg’s log book, the Vickers gun fired 100 rounds, and the Lewis gun fired nothing. It looks as though one of these entries is a mix up, but who can now tell which was right?
Back home to Chocques
From Pont-à-Chin on the River Escaut, north of Tournai, back to Chocques was 34 miles (55 km). This is almost three times the distance from Merville to Rely, which was a frequent journey home for Greg not so many weeks ago. An indication that 42 Squadron will soon need to move again.
Farewell to E27
According to his log book, this was Greg’s final flight in E27, which had more or less been his usual machine. (According to the Squadron Record Book, Greg flew E27 on a short travelling flight on 22 October 1918, which his log book records as having been in 2517. But whichever is correct, both sources agree that this was his last war flying patrol in E27.)
E27’s History
E27 had been built by Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry in March 1918, as a gift from the Chiefs of the Northern Shan States, Burma. It was despatched to the British Expeditionary Force (c/o No 1 Aeroplane Supply Depot (ASD), then at St Omer) the following month. E27 was allocated to 42 Squadron on 11 April 1918 – three days after Greg had got his wings at Yatesbury:
Greg had first flown E27 on 11 June 1918. This was the occasion when he got hopelessly lost, and he landed at Bergues, near Dunkirk. It was also when he wrote the name Gwen next to E27 in his diary. Greg took up E27 most flying days since that day, until he went on leave on 18 September 1918. But when he came back he only flew this aeroplane occasionally. Today marked his 63rd flight in the aircraft. It was his final patrol, and possibly his last flight, in it. The records show that E27 was marked ‘time expired’ on 1 November 1918. The squadron handed it back to No. 1 ASD (which by then had moved to Marquise, between Boulogne and Calais, and located more precisely here) on 8 November 1918.
Observers came and went, but E27 – whether named Gwen or not – was the nearest Greg had to a constant companion. And in the end, the aircraft just wore out.
RE8 Serial No E29, a sister aircraft to E27, built at the same time (March 1918) by Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry. E29 was named Lamberhurst. On the subject of RE8 names, it may be that E27 was named Gwen, possibly officially or just affectionately by Greg – see the post for 11 June 1918. Click for larger image. Photo marked public domain by Wikipedia.
Meanwhile, in Lille…
More British troops entered Lille from the west. They got a warm reception, as these Imperial War Museum photographs show.
Today was the day of the liberation of Lille. It was a momentous day for the populace, when the British Fifth Army under General Birdwood entered the city. It was also significant day for Greg: he records for the first time that he was reconnoitring east of Lille, near and around the Fort du Vinage. He noted the destructive trail left by the withdrawing German army, and he reported the newly established German line south of Roubaix.
Log Book
Date: 17.10.18
Time Out: 14.10
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 173 hrs 35 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Scarterfield
War Flying: 2 hrs 15 mins
Height: 2000
Course/Remarks: Reconn. 5000x E of Lille
5000x E of Lille
There is a bit of a puzzle in the log book entry: what does the x denote?
The first issue is what letter it actually is. I have transcribed it as a superscripted ‘x’, as that seems to me to be the most likely option. But it could, just conceivably, be a ‘t’. But in that case, what might a ‘t’ stand for? From the Squadron Record Book (SRB), extracted below, we can establish definitively that it doesn’t mean British troops. The entry clearly states: “No British troops seen East of Lille”. And although German troops east of Lille would be unremarkable, the SRB merely refers to a “few odd German infantry with civilians on road…” The same reasoning would also rule out tanks (if the quantity of 5,000 hadn’t ruled them out anyway).
But in any event, the superscript looks more like an ‘x’ than a ‘t’. And it is hard to think of a plausible word beginning with an ‘x’ that it might stand for.
So what else might ‘x’ mean?
Might it indicate height? 5,000 ft is certainly a reasonable height for an RE8 to fly at. But on this occasion both the log book and the SRB tell us that Greg flew no higher than 2,000 ft. So that’s not it.
My working hypothesis is that ‘x’ indicates distance, specifically yards, on the ground. The maps that Greg was working with all had numbered 1,000 yard sub-squares, within 6,000 yard lettered squares. (See the article on Counter-Battery Patrols for an explanation of how the map reference system worked.) So pilots would be well used to gauging distances in 1,000 yard units. Given the locations that Greg reported on in that patrol (from the SRB again), it is likely that he was flying some five map sub-squares east of Lille, which is to say 5,000 yards east of the city. But even if this is the correct explanation, I don’t know why he wrote ‘5000x‘ and not ‘5000 yds’. Any suggestions or alternative explanations welcome.
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 Scarterfield
Duty: Reconnaissance
Hour of Start: 1410
Hour of Return: 1625
Remarks: FIRES at the following places:-
Farm F.25.d.4.5
Houses K.6.a.4.6
Factory Q.1.b.0.4
" K.20.d.5.0
" K.15.central.)
" K.2.c.0.5 ) Commenced during patrol.
Enemy trench system in wood at L.22.a.&.b. apparently unoccupied; full of water.
Few odd German Infantry with civilians on road L.15.d.& L.16.a.
BRIDGE destroyed at:-
Railway over road at L.13.d.4.5.
" " " K.24.d.6.4.
" " " K.23.d.9.3.
" " " K.22.b.6.9.
All bridges and locks on Eastern water defences [see below] of LILLE destroyed.
EXPLOSIONS at:-
1534. K.5.c.6.8. (Apparently dump)
1535. F.26.a.Central.
Large fires burning in LANNOY and on Eastern outskirts of ROUBAIX.
Bridges along river from L.9 to L.29 all destroyed.
Forts BABYLON, du VINAGE, & de MONS [en BAROEUL] occupied lightly by patrols.
Fired at with rifles from FORT DU VINAGE. [see below]
1530. Two civilians at Fort roads [sic: cross-roads?] at K.18.central, proceeding from direction of ROUBAIX to LILLE.
No British troops seen East of LILLE.
Enemy outposts appear to be holding a line roughly running though L.16, R.10 & X.5. Few odd patrols & civilians seen W. of this line.
A.A. Vigorous burst of accurate A.A. fire over L.24. & L.29 at 1525.
Vis poor. Height 400/2000’. Obs by P.&.O.
This lengthy Squadron Record Book entry confirms that the action was shifting to the east of the city by mid-afternoon. Much infrastructure had visibly been destroyed by the withdrawing German army. It was a remarkable day, given that it had started with the British front line being some 4½ miles (7 km) northwest of Lille, towards Armentières:
The British Front west of Lille on the morning of 17 October 1918. By the afternoon, the city would be liberated. Adapted from a map accompanying General Haig’s despatches on the final British offensive. Click for larger image. Map credit: IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital
And here, on a larger scale map, are some of the locations mentioned in the SRB entry for the mid-afternoon reconnaissance patrol undertaken by Greg and Lt Scarterfield:
Map showing observations on reconnaissance patrol on 17 October 1918. Adapted from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
Fort du Vinage, and Anti-Aircraft Fire
Greg says that he was fired at with rifles from the Fort du Vinage (also known as the Fort du Haut Vinage). He can’t have been flying too far from it to see this happening. Fort du Vinage is about five sub-squares (5,000 yards) east of the centre of Lille.
Also, he reports a “vigorous burst of accurate A.A. [anti-aircraft] fire over L.24. & L.29 at 1525”. Those sub-squares are about five sub-squares east of Mons-en-Baroeul, on the easternmost outskirts of the city.
These points support the idea that the ‘5000x‘ in the log book is a reference to 5,000 yds east of Lille.
Bridges on Eastern Water Defences Destroyed
The old city of Lille was surrounded by water. Over the last hundred years, Lille has expanded greatly. The southern and eastern water defences of the old city have been filled in and are the course of Autoroutes that form part of the city’s boulevard périphérique. The northern part of the old eastern water defences now also accommodates the high speed rail line from Calais and London and is the site of Lille Europe station (“Lilleurope” as they announce it on the Eurostar trains). Both the tracks at this point and the station are underground.
Lille in the First World War, from a 1:40,000 scale map. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.Central Lille today, from 1:25,000 scale map re-scaled to match the First World War map above. Click for larger image. Map credit IGN France/GreatWarDigital.
The German Line
Greg records that “Enemy outposts appear to be holding a line roughly running though L.16, R.10 & X.5”. This line runs more or less due south from Roubaix, some 4 miles (6.5km) east of the centre of Lille. It passes through Anappes and Sainghin. Annappes is now part of Villeneuve-d’Ascq, which is itself part of the Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing conurbation. Sainghin (today Sainghin-en-Mélantois) is just near the important high speed rail junction southeast of Lille, where the lines from Paris, Brussels and London all meet.
Lille from the Air
Greg had a couple of aerial photographs of Lille in his collection. They are unmarked and undated, so it is hard to know when they were taken. But it is likely to have been today or later, given the occupation of the city beforehand. Possibly they were taken after the armistice. But in any event here they are, with corresponding contemporary views from Google maps:
Vertical aerial view of Lille in 1918, showing Lille Flandres station (bottom right) and what was then the Théâtre de Lille, now the Opéra de Lille (centre left). Click for larger image. Photo credit: Greg’s War Collection.The same aerial view today, courtesy of Google. The new Lille Europe station is off the field to the top right. Click for link to Google maps.Slightly oblique aerial view of Lille in 1918, showing the city centre and the Place de la République (bottom centre left) Click for larger image. Photo credit: Greg’s War Collection.The same aerial view today, courtesy of Google. Click for link to Google maps.
It is evident from the two 1918 photographs that, although knocked about, Lille did not suffer physical destruction to anything like the same extent as Ypres, some 17 miles (27 km) away to the northwest. The contrast with the aerial photographs in the following post for 28 September 1918 is quite telling:
Liberation was in the air, and not only in Lille. In this newly published article, Michael Seymour explains what it meant for the people of Lille and elsewhere:
In the first of a couple of travelling flights, Greg takes up his old ‘bus’ E27, which he flew almost consistently from mid-June to mid-September, and flew to Chocques Aerodrome. Sgt Hewitt came with him. Greg’s log book rather gives the impression that he left the aircraft there. But the Squadron Record Book makes clear that they just inspected the new aerodrome from the air, so they would have come back to Rely.
Log Book
Date: 11.10.18
Time Out: 10.05
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 169 hrs 15 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Sgt. Hewitt
War Flying: 0 hrs 25 mins
Height: 1000
Course/Remarks: Travelling flight to Chocques.
Squadron Record Book
Squadron Record Book. Click for larger image.
Type and Number: R.E.8. 27
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Sgt Hewitt
Duty: Practice Flight.
Hour of Start: 1005
Hour of Return: 1030.
Remarks: Inspection of CHOCQUES aerodrome from the air.
Location of Chocques Aerodrome
Chocques Aerodrome wasn’t actually quite at Chocques. It was a little north of the town, on the Oblinghem side of Gonnehem . Apparently, in the early days, the aerodrome was also known as Gonnehem. Somehow the name Chocques just stuck.
Site of Chocques Aerodrome and surroundings (Google). Click to go to Google maps to see context.
Château de Werppe
The former HQ and Officers’ accommodation was at the Château de Werppe, just across the road from the airfield. Today, the ruined building stands rather forlornly in some scrub land. Apparently there was at some point a project to renovate it as a number of apartments, but evidently that had not got anywhere by summer 2018.
The ruined Château de Werppe, the former HQ and Officers’ accommodation, in June 2018. Click for larger image.
I’m grateful to Great War Forum user ICM – RAF Retd for the above information on the location of Chocques Aerodrome and Château de Werppe.
Next up…
The next entry in Greg’s log book is for Sunday 13 October 1918.
A midday counter-battery patrol for an hour and a half with Lt Stuart Francis Bett. Not a great time by the sound of it, with the weather and E27’s engine both being ‘rotten’. Still, makes a change from ‘dud‘!
Log Book
Date: 14.9.18
Time Out: 12.00
Rounds Lewis: -
Rounds Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 156 hrs 30 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Lt Bett
War Flying Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: C.B.P. Weather & engine rotten.
2/Lt Stuart Francis Bett
This was Greg’s first patrol with 2/Lt Stuart Francis Bett, with whom he would fly several times in the next couple of months.
Stuart Bett was born on 11 November 1899 to Mary Bett, and so was some nine months younger than Greg. He survived the war, and was no doubt delighted that Armistice Day was on his 19th birthday. He was injured a few weeks later, on 17 December 1918 – playing rugby! – and wasn’t present at the B Flight Officers’ Christmas Dinner. Injury may have been the cause of his absence. Maybe he went home.
After the war, he graduated with a B.Sc. degree and on 1 October 1923 joined the Indian Service of Engineers an an assistant executive engineer in the United Provinces (of Agra and Oudh) – roughly present day Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Promotion to executive engineer followed in October 1932. Later, he transferred to the central public works department in August 1933 as a divisional officer. Stuart Bett died aged only 37, on 6 June 1937, in Dehra Dun. His widow was Ethel Margaret Fisher Bett.
Thanks to Margaret Sheard for sourcing information on Stuart Francis Bett.
After an absence from the field of operations of eight days, Greg is back in the air today, with (for the first time) 2/Lt Arthur Mulholland as observer. But the poor weather hasn’t improved. Greg rated today’s counter-battery patrol – yet again – as a dud as a result of it being very windy.
Log Book
Date: 12.9.18
Time Out: 16.05
Rounds Lewis: -
Rounds Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 155 hrs 0 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Lt Mulholland
War Flying Time: 1 hrs 05 mins
Height: 2000
Course/Remarks: C.B.P. Dud. V windy.
Very Windy
Not a round fired, and not a bomb dropped. Pilot and Observer were probably glad to get back home after a little over an hour of being bounced around in the very windy conditions.
Lt Arthur Mulholland
This was Greg’s first outing with 2nd Lt Arthur Mulholland as his observer. In fact it was one of only two, the other being at the end of October.
Arthur Mulholland was born on 4 November 1894 in Sheffield. He had been with the army in France since 1914. But he had only been commissioned within the last few weeks, on 24 August 1918.
Although he was to have a narrow escape a few days after this patrol with Greg, he survived to the end of the war, and after demobilisation became “an Auxiliary” – a member of The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC). He survived that experience, too, despite being on a tram in Dublin held up by the IRA in May 1921.
After the disbandment of the ADRIC, Mulholland became a policemen in Palestine, as did many of his colleagues. But he then emigrated to Canada in 1926. He spent the rest of his life there and died in Vancouver in 1976, aged 82.
Grateful acknowledgement to David Grant of theauxiliaries.com website, which is the source of this information about Arthur Mulholland and much more about the ADRIC. Arthur Mulholland’s page is here.
Next Up…
Greg’s next log book entry is on 14 September 1918.
On his last sortie for over a week, a counter-battery patrol takes Greg well to the east of Estaires. He sees fires and explosions around Laventie and along the River Lys in Sailly-sur-Lys, Erquinghem Lys and Pont de Nieppe, near Armentières.
Log Book
Date: 3.9.18
Time Out: 9.45
Rounds Lewis: 300
Rounds Vickers: 200
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 153 hrs 55 mins
RE8: E27
Observer: Lt Scarterfield
War Flying Time: 2 hrs 35 mins
Height: 5000
Course/Remarks: C.B.P. Few fires. Two explosions.
Squadron Record Book
Squadron Record Book – click for larger image
Type and Number: RE8 27
Pilot and Observer: P. Lt Gregory. O. Lt Scarterfield
Duty: Art Patrol [The "2.9.18" in this column looks like a typo for 3.9.18, which is the date given at the top of the sheet – and which agrees with Greg’s log book]Hour of Start: 9.45
Hour of Return: 12.20
Remarks: 10.20 Explosion followed by fire and column of smoke at M 3c 5.2.
10.25 Similar observation at G 18d 1.2
Fires in HOUSES at G 27d 5.7, and 2.5, G33d 3.5 and small BUILDING on Railway at M 3b 0.5 and in G 17 a
Fires in SAILLY, PONT DE NIEPPE and ERQUINGHEM [ERQUINGHEM LYS].
10.30 UL FR UD [Weather unfit for counter-battery work and photography, but fit for artillery registration]
AA active east of LAVENTIE, none W. of LAVENTIE
Vis good. Height 4000'. 4-25lb bombs on LAVENTIE. Bursts obs.
200 V.G. 300 L.G. into LAVENTIE and M4 from 2000'.
All this observed action is to the east of Estaires, around Laventie and along the River Lys towards Armentières, as this annotated map shows:
Map of Estaires, Laventie and Armentières, also showing Sailly-sur-Lys, Erquinghem Lys and Pont de Nieppe. Adapted from a composite of 1:40,000 scale maps. Each numbered square is 1,000 yards. Click for larger image. Map credit IWM/TNA/GreatWarDigital.
It is just to the west of Erquinghem Lys that, today, the high speed rail line from Calais crosses the Lys on its way to Lille, Paris and Brussels.
Next Up…
Greg’s next log book entry is on 12 September 1918. But watch out for news of a contact patrol and troop movements later today.
Ascq, where 42 Squadron was moving to, was a small settlement a couple of miles out into the countryside east of Lille, with a station on the railway line to Tournai. Today, it still has the station, but it has grown into Villeneuve-d’Ascq, which is practically a city in its own right. Villeneuve-d’Ascq is home to the Université de Lille, Campus Cité Scientifique, and to the headquarters of the well known French supermarket Auchan. 
