In the last flight recorded in his log book, Greg ferried another RE8 from Saultain to Abscon. This time it was 2924, and his passenger was Capt. Gordon.
Log Book
Date: 1919 Jan 1st
Machine Type: RE8
RE8: 2924
Observer: Cpt. Gordon
Time: 15 min
Height: 2000
Course/Remarks: Travelling to Abscon
Greg’s Last Flight
This was the last time that Greg took to the air at the controls of an RE8. It was some 9½ months after his first ever flight: an air experience trip in a BE2e on his first day of flying training:
Greg’s total flying hours up to armistice day had been recorded in his log book as follows:
Greg’s log book entries for 1-11 November 1918, with total flying times. Click for larger image.
Since armistice day, Greg had only flown for a further 2 hrs and 20 mins, at least according to the flights in his log book. (I’m still not sure whether he went for joyrides that were unrecorded in his log book.) Although his war flying total was unaffected by this extra time in the air, we can update the other totals as follows:
TOTAL TIME ON RE8s: 193 hrs 5 mins
TOTAL TIME IN AIR: 238 hrs 0 mins
SOLO: 227 hrs 55 mins
With Capt. Gordon at Abscon
So Greg brought Capt. Gordon to Abscon on the first day of the new year. Two days ago he had ferried RE8 2872 from Saultain to Abscon, with only sandbags for company. In this photograph, taken either on or shortly after 1 January 1919, Greg and Capt. Gordon (and Waso the dog) pose in front of 2872:
Greg, Capt. Gordon and Waso the dog in front of RE8 2872 at Abscon, January 1919. (Image retouched to reduce blemish.) Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection
Although the photograph is undated, the background shows it to be at Abscon Aerodrome. More particularly, we can pin it down to to the northwest edge of the airfield, on the site of the more recently built housing as shown in the photos of Abscon Aerodrome in the post for 30 December 1918.
La Cité Ouvrière
The reason that it’s possible to be so precise about the location is the characteristic housing in the background. It is an example of une cité ouvrière.
This translates somewhat unsatisfactorily into English as ‘a workers’ city’. But that doesn’t properly get the meaning across. French Wikipedia defines une cité ouvrière (in translation) as a “concerted group of working-class housing, generally single-family”. By way of explanation, it continues:
It is originally an essentially residential area exclusively for workers in a particular factory and their families. It can be accompanied by communal facilities. In most cases, it is provided by the proprietor of the factory.
So in English we would probably say model village – but one in an industrial rather than rural context. British examples that have achieved some fame include Saltaire, Port Sunlight, Bournville and New Lanark, but French instances are probably more numerous even if less well known.
In any event, the housing above the rear part of the RE8’s fuselage in the above photo is part of Abscon’s cité ouvrière, named on the 1:40,000 map sheet 51A as la Cité de la République. It’s still there today, forming a rather more appealing living environment than the modern developments across the road on the airfield site:
La cité ouvrière d’Abscon (la Cité de la République) in 2018, across the road from the former aerodrome. Click for larger image.
And the name of the road that separates la cité ouvrière from the site of Abscon Aerodrome? Appropriately enough, it’s la rue du 11 Novembre.
Today was the day the fighting stopped. It was also the day of Greg’s last flight in wartime, a joyride with an intriguing passenger. Was “Norman” Norman Gregory? And the day of his first post-armistice flight: travelling from Ascq to Marquain Aerodrome, over the Belgian border near Tournai. Meanwhile, the King sends his thanks to the Royal Air Force. And we give a quick preview of Michael Seymour’s new ‘Setting the Scene’ article: ‘When the Guns Fell Silent‘.
Log Book
Date: 11.11.18
Time Out: 10.25
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 190 hrs 40 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Norman
War Flying: 0 hrs 10 mins
Height: 1000
Course/Remarks: Joyride
Date: 11.11.18
Time Out: 2.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 190 hrs 45 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: A.M. Rose
War Flying: 0 hrs 05 mins
Height: 100
Course/Remarks: Travelling to Marquain
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 10.11.1918
2872 0800 Lt Bon Capt Gordon Reconn.
6740 1100 Lt Judd Lt Elliott – do -
4889 1400 Lt Sewell Lt Whittles – do -
2517 Lt Gregory Lt Bett Next job
All officers’ kits to be packed and outside the mess by 8.15.
No breakfast to be served after 0700.
C.E. Gregory, Lt
for O.C. B Flight
So Lt Bon and Capt Gordon had a pre-armistice reconnaissance patrol at 8:00am. And at 11:00am, Lt Judd and Lt Elliott went up to reconnoitre the situation as the armistice came into effect.
Who was ‘Norman’?
Greg’s first flight of the day was a 10 minute joyride with “Norman” as an observer/passenger. It is recorded in his log book but was not mandated in the day’s orders for the flight, which Greg signed. So who was this Norman who went on this brief and unofficial flight, just half an hour before the armistice?
According to Cross & Cockade’s list of first world war officers in 42 Squadron RAF, there was none whose surname was Norman. There was a George Norman Goldie, but he does not seem to have been in B Flight, and Greg has never mentioned him. In any event, this George Norman Goldie does not appear on a list of B Flight officers dating from December 1918. And, all other things being equal, he was more likely to have been known to his familiars as George rather than Norman.
A more intriguing – and certainly more poetic – theory is that “Norman” was Lt Norman Gregory, Greg’s brother.
Norman Gregory
Lt. Norman Gregory RE, an elder brother of Greg, who may have been the ‘Norman’ in today’s joyride. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection.
Norman Gregory was born in 1894 and would have been 24 in November 1918. He was a lieutenant – a proper, two-pip lieutenant, not a second lieutenant – in the Royal Engineers. His available war records are sparse, but we know that he entered the French theatre of war on 21 July 1918. So maybe Norman found himself near Lille and called in to see his baby brother at Ascq. And perhaps in those heady minutes before it all ended, they went up for a quick spin.
If they did, and if their mother knew, she would probably have been horrified. To have three sons in the war – one in each of the three services – was bad enough. But for two of them to go up voluntarily together in one of those dangerous contraptions at the last minute was…well, probably something she didn’t need to be told about until they could laugh about it later.
In fact, they were nowhere near danger, at least danger in the sense of German guns and aeroplanes. Even if they had flown flat out east for five minutes, they would have not have been halfway to the front line before they had to turn back.
A Working Hypothesis
Whether this is the true explanation of who “Norman” was, we will probably never know. But it has a strong draw at least for me, as I rather like the idea of my grandfather taking my great uncle up for a little caper in the air as his last flight before the armistice. And one further, but admittedly tiny, piece of evidence that Norman was someone quite familiar, is that his is the only “observer” on that page of Greg’s log book whose name is written in cursive script rather than block capitals.
Greg’s ‘observers’ in November 1918. ‘Norman’ is the only one in cursive script. Click for larger image.
So my conjecture is that it was Norman Gregory that Greg took for a joyride, and that can stand until better evidence refutes the theory.
The Final Front Lines
Front Lines on 11 November. Click for larger image. Map credit: Map Archive
We used to be able to refer to Greg’s sector confidently as the Lys sector, until his squadron no longer operated along the River Lys. This was as forces advanced east to the the next river – the River Scheldt – and beyond. But whatever the sector was called by 11 November, the ground troops of General Birdwood‘s Fifth Army had moved beyond Ath. In fact they had almost reached Grammont and Soignies, which are closer to Brussels than they are to Lille. And here the line was drawn on Armistice Day.
42 Squadron Moves to Marquain Aerodrome
Greg’s second flight of the day was a travelling flight, as part of the squadron’s move that day. (This was why kit had to be packed up and no late breakfasts were served.) After the guns had stopped, Greg and Air Mechanic Rose flew the 7 miles (11 km) to Marquain Aerodrome, just to the west of Tournai. It took them 5 minutes. At 100 ft, they were practically skimming the hedges. And so it was that Greg and the rest of 42 Squadron ended up in Belgium on Armistice Day.
Ascq to Marquain on a modern map (courtesy Google). Click to go to Google maps.
The King’s Message
Meanwhile, the King sent his thanks to his newly formed, and newly tested, Royal Air Force. This printed copy of his message is at the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon (behind glass, hence the reflections):
The King’s Message to the RAF. Click for larger image. Photograph of printed copy at the RAF Museum, Hendon.
When the Guns Fell Silent
Michael Seymour has written a new article for today in the ‘Setting the Scene’ series. In it, Michael reflects on the circumstances of the signing of the armistice, and surveys some of the consequences of the new-found peace:
Although this post marks the end of Greg’s wartime activity, it doesn’t – quite – mark the end of the Greg’s War blog. As will become apparent, Greg didn’t go home until the new year. Before then, the squadron made three more moves. And there were new photos to be taken, there were joyrides to be had and crashes to be avoided (sometimes). And of course there was Christmas to be celebrated. So there will be more posts to come, but they won’t be daily, and they will no longer involve the activities that were the core of Greg’s war flying since the beginning of June. No more counter-battery patrols, and no more shoots.
The next entry in Greg’s log book is for 20 November 1918.
Things were moving fast on the penultimate day. B Flight was fully engaged in reconnaissance, and then message dropping with the latest information. But they had to see the C.O. or the Battalion Intelligence Officer before going up. Greg and Lt. Bett had the first flight of the day.
Log Book
Date: 10.11.18
Time Out: 6.15
Rounds Fired – Lewis: 200
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 190 hrs 30 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Bett
War Flying: 1 hrs 45 mins
Height: 3000
Course/Remarks: Reconn. Successful.
Allied forces were keeping up the pressure on the retreating German forces. The Lewis gun was firing, and bombs were dropping from Greg’s aircraft. But, for him, this was the last use of weaponry.
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 10.11.1918
2517 0600 Lt Gregory Lt Bett Reconn: Bombs
4559 0900 Lt Sewell Lt Whittles – do –
2872 1200 Lt Bon Capt Gordon – do –
2707 1500 Lt Wallington Lt Paton – do –
2500 0930 Lt Judd Sandbags MARQUISE.
2924 To be ready at 10.30.
All Pilots to report to the C.O. [Commanding Officer] or B.I.O. [Battalion Intelligence Officer] before going up. All machines when coming home are to drop a message at Divisions giving position of the Hun front line troops, M.G.s etc. The same message to be dropped to our advanced troops.
C.E. Gregory, Lt
for O.C. B Flight
The position of the front line was changing rapidly. In 24 hours it advanced 17 miles (27 km) from Tournai to just east of Ath:
Line held 9 November. Click for larger image. Map credit: Map Archive (adapted)
Lt Judd was nor part of the main action, though. He was detailed to take RE8 2500 to Marquise, where No. 1 ASD was now based, as explained in the post for 3 June 1918.
Today was a day for reconnaissance. Greg, with Capt. Gordon as his observer, was among those flying reconnaissance patrols, which were to leave the ground every hour. B Flight’s Orders for the day, which were signed by Greg, said that patrols were to fire all their small arms ammunition before returning.
Log Book
Date: 9.11.18
Time Out: 10.10
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 188 hrs 25 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Cpt. Gordon
War Flying: 1 hrs 10 mins
Height: 7000
Course/Remarks: Reconn. Engine dud.
Later in the day, Greg took up Air Mechanic Corkhill to test the engine.
Date: 9.11.18
Time Out: 15.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 188 hrs 45 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: A. M. Corkhill
War Flying: 0 hrs 20 mins
Height: 2000
Course/Remarks: Engine test – OK.
B Flight Orders
B FLIGHT ORDERS FOR 9.11.1918
6740 0700 Lt. Judd Lt. Elliott Reconn. Bombs.
2517 1000 Lt. Gregory Capt. Gordon – do –
2707 1300 Lt. Wallington Lt. Paton – do –
2872 Lt. Sewell Lt. Whittles Next job
Lt. Bon Lt. Bett Next job
4889 0930 Ready for Major Hunter with bombs
-------------
Patrols will leave the ground at every hour and may return after 1¼ hours on the line, providing that all SAA [small arms ammunition] has been fired and they have a decent report. Bombs are to be taken if clouds are at 2000 ft or over.
C.E. Gregory, Lt
for O.C. B Flight
Patrols left every hour. Reconnaissance was clearly the priority of the day. This was because a lot was happening on the ground. The British front line was moving rapidly eastwards from the River Scheldt as the German armies withdrew east from Tournai towards Ath.
Line held 9 November. Click for larger image. Map credit: Map Archive
The small arms ammunition was the .303 rounds that the Vickers and Lewis machine guns fired. For some reason, Greg and Capt. Gordon didn’t fire any. That could have been because the engine gave them trouble, and they went back to the aerodrome prematurely.
This was to be Greg’s last flight with Capt. Gordon before the armistice.
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.
On one of the first few days of November 1918, when other duties didn’t interfere, B Flight of 42 Squadron had a group photograph taken. If it wasn’t taken on this day, then for various reasons it can’t have been more then four days earlier or five days later.
B Flight, 42 Squadron RAF. Click for larger image. Credit: Greg’s War Collection.
Faces of B Flight
Some of the faces are recognisable, but many are not. Of those that are:
Lt. John Macmillan is second from the left of the front row. (Thanks to Douglas Macmillan, John Macmillan’s grandson, for identifying him.) More on Lt. Macmillan here:
Next to Capt. Gordon is Lt Edward Ives (fourth from right), who had evidently returned to the squadron after his posting to the home establishment on 28 June 1918. Thanks to Julian and Les Ives for confirming their grandfather’s identity. More about Lt Ives here:
Today’s photograph looks like a more or less complete grouping of the officers and men of B Flight, 42 Squadron. The photos taken at Rely and recorded in the post for 25 August 1918 were apparently just of the officers of the flight:
In a quieter day than yesterday, Greg was down to do a counter-battery patrol. But the weather was dud, as confirmed on a brief test flight with Capt. Gordon (and his dog, Waso). This evening saw the opening under allied auspices of the Nouveau Théâtre Lille with a performance by Leslie Henson’s Gaieties entertainment troupe.
Log Book
Date: 3.11.18
Time Out: 15.20
Rounds Fired – Lewis: -
Rounds Fired – Vickers: -
Bombs: -
Time on RE8s: 187 hrs 15 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Cpt. Gordon
War Flying: 0 hrs 10 mins
Height: 500
Course/Remarks: Weather test. C.B.P. Dud.
Weather Test
Aircraft serial no. 2517 was back in service for the test at 3:20pm, thereby demonstrating that it took no more than a day to repair or replace an RE8’s petrol tank.
The weather test flight was mentioned in Capt. Gordon’s letter home to his mother today. In the letter he says kind words about Greg, who he reports wasn’t well*. Is it possible that these emollient words belied some sort of anxiety, following yesterday‘s brave/reckless (delete according to taste) adventure, in which they both could easilyhave died? Perhaps that is to read in too much.
3 November, letter to darlingest Mother from 42 Squadron, RAF, BEF, France
All goes well, but the weather alas has taken a turn for the worse. I am getting on quite well & am less lonely than I was before Waso’s return. I am beginning to get to know some of the people here. Waso went up today for a 10 mins joy ride. She didn’t enjoy it much!
I have moved downstairs in my billet & have got a very nice room. The people are very nice. The old lady thought the stairs were too much for me! & so they moved out themselves, which was extraordinarily good of them.
Leslie Henson (K. will know who he is, he was in Theodore & Co) is giving a show somewhere near here tomorrow evening. I hope to go & see him.
The Day’s Activities
I expect I ought to tell you what I have done today! Not very interesting but still, here goes. This morning I woke about 7.10am & read in bed. ‘A Knight on Wheels’, ‘till about 8am when I lightly leapt up & dressed etc. Breakfast, bacon & fried bread, then down to the aerodrome, pausing en route for the odd word with one or two fellows, on arrival at the aerodrome I found the weather was dud., so I went & looked at the workshops & got the SM (that stands for Sergeant Major) to explain engines & bits of engines. I then went & played about with a Lewis gun. I can’t remember what I did then until lunch time.
After lunch I hung about as I was meant to be flying, but the machine wasn’t ready & the weather was dud. I & Waso & the pilot went up for a test of a few mins. Waso didn’t care much about it. My pilot was a fellow called Gregory, a very nice fellow, about 19 years old. He isn’t very well having a touch of flu. After that I went & tidied up my room & had tea & read a paper, & here I am now writing to the dearest old mater in the world. I fear all this is dull to you.
And to End..
I wonder if Karf could very kindly buy & borrow the things on the attached list & send them out to me soonish. I lost a good bit while I was on leave! I am sending a quid along for expenses. I hope you all are flourishing. I wish often that I was back with you again. I did have a deuc’d fine leave.
The old war will soon be over really. It’s good all these other countries having come out of it. Very best love darlingest. God bless you. This would have been Donald’s birthday. Your v v loving Cedric
[Letter reproduced by kind permission of Keith Gordon, Capt. Gordon’s nephew.]
* Note added on 11 November 2018 at10:30pm: I was rather taken with Rob’s initial suggestion that Greg’s ‘touch of flu’ was actually a hangover resulting from too many snifters (a very Greg word) the previous evening after his harrowing afternoon!
However, Rob subsequently revised his theory on learning that Greg didn’t fly for the next five days: maybe it actually was flu. The post for 21 June 1918 recounted the time when Greg had flu at Rely (‘Merville fever’, he called it then). And from the brief discourse on the epidemiology of Spanish Flu in that post, it can be seen that it had a second wave in early November 1918. So Spanish Flu is a good candidate to explain Capt. Gordon’s reference to Greg being unwell, and why he didn’t fly for the next few days.
Capt. Gordon says that “Leslie Henson…is giving a show somewhere near here tomorrow evening”. In fact, that was to be the second of two performances opening the Nouveau Théâtre Lille, which is now the Opéra de Lille, under Allied auspices. The first was this evening. We don’t know on which night Greg travelled the 5 miles (8 km) from Ascq into Lille to see the show, but he seems to have gone to one of them as the programme is among his papers:
Programme
Programme cover page for the reopening of the Nouveau Théâtre Lille. Click for larger image.Programme middle pages for the reopening of the Nouveau Théâtre Lille. Click for larger image.
This must have been a hot-ticket occasion. In a fascinating article entitled ‘Lille under German Rule‘ on the Remembrance Trails – Northern France website, Claudine Wallart, the Head Curator of Heritage at the Archives Départementales du Nord, tells the story of the theatre during the First World War:
Destroyed in the fire of 1903, Lille theatre (now the Opera) was in the process of being rebuilt when war broke out. The occupiers completed the job and named it the “German Theatre”, opening with much pomp and ceremony at Christmas 1915 in the presence of Crown Prince Rupert of Bavaria and Lille’s governor General Heinrich. Artists from Berlin performed Iphigenia in Tauris by Goethe, a symphonic prelude and Liszt’s Festklange. On subsequent occasions the Ring of the Nibelungen and various light operas were also performed there but, although invited, the civilian population of Lille kept away. The German artists remained at the Opera until the end of September 1918 when they destroyed the sets and stage machinery and left.
In the intervening weeks since the Germans left, repairs had evidently made the theatre ready enough for tonight’s performance. No doubt General Heinrich and the German high command would have been aghast at the cultural plummet from Goethe, Liszt and Wagner to a singalong with Louis J. Seymour and crowd. And equally, no doubt tonight’s audience wouldn’t have given a toss. But how they would have relished William Ewart Noble’s ‘Advice to Another William’!
Leslie Henson’s ‘Gaieties’
The Nouveau Théâtre Lille was not the first venue at which Greg had seen Leslie Henson’s ‘Gaieties’ Army Entertainers. Exactly three months earlier, a few days before the beginning of what would be the Allies’ final offensive, The Gaieties had put on a show for 42 Squadron in the hangar at Rely:
The names mentioned in August are still there. Bert Errol, the ‘noted female impersonator’ had pieces in both halves of the Lille show. (You have to wonder what the ‘camouflage’ was in ‘Camouflage & Cacophony’!) Teddie Holton was there, as of course was Leslie Henson. A little over a month later, The Gaieties were still performing at Lille, as this Imperial War Museum photograph shows:
In a day that came close to ending in disaster, Greg and Capt. Gordon were down to do a shoot – the last time in the war that Greg was down to do one. But it was unsuccessful, presumably because of poor weather. In a subsequent adventure behind enemy lines, a rifle shot from a German soldier at an occupied chateau nearly did for both of them. Unsurprisingly, they found that strafing an occupied chateau is dangerous.
Log Book
Date: 2.11.18
Time Out: 13.00
Rounds Fired – Lewis: 400
Rounds Fired – Vickers: 100
Bombs: 4
Time on RE8s: 187 hrs 5 mins
RE8: 2517
Observer: Cpt. Gordon
War Flying: 1 hrs 55 mins
Height: 3500
Course/Remarks: Shoot 6” How (99). Unsucc. Pet. tank shot.
Unsuccessful Shoot
We have no further details of the shoot, other than it was with 99 Siege Battery RGA, who were firing 6-inch howitzers, and that it was unsuccessful. (Greg had shot with 99 Siege Battery previously, on 22 August 1918 and 24 August 1918.) The intended target must have been something east of the River Scheldt/Escaut, as that was where the British front line was only yesterday. Given what we know from the rest of the day’s event, it seems likely that it was the weather that washed out the shoot.
Petrol Tank Shot
The laconic, three last words of the log book entry cover are a very sparse indication of what Greg and Capt. Gordon got up to next. It became something of a Gregory family story. It’s worth bearing in mind that Capt. Gordon was not only Greg’s observer this day, but was also his senior officer.
Rob Parsons, Greg’s son-in-law and my stepfather, recalls Greg recounting the events of that murky afternoon like this:
Gordon had decided that flying conditions were still good enough to go and annoy the Hun, even if it was only a spot of defenestration. So off they went, with a very reluctant pilot, in search of a little sport. Just as Greg was hoping he could say the fuel state meant they must turn for home, out of the murk appeared the perfect target in the form of a German-occupied Chateau. So he obediently descended to the level of the upper floor, through the windows of which Gordon emptied the drum of his Lewis gun. Meanwhile, as Greg climbed away and turned for home, Gordon had changed the drum and ordered him to go back because he “hadn’t done downstairs!”
It was during this second pass that, not surprisingly, the Huns started to shoot back. As he began to climb away, Greg recalled seeing a German on one knee, in classic toy soldier pose with rifle, shooting at him from the corner of the Chateau. That’s when a shot punctured the fuel tank and he began to be drenched with fuel. Fortunately, the aircraft didn’t catch fire. Anyway, he instinctively opened the throttle as far as it would go and began to climb as hard as he could. There the throttle stayed until he ran out of fuel.
Until then of course, he was being sprayed with fuel and he said he was close to getting frostbite. The fact that he returned safely is proof that he gained enough height to cross the enemy lines without being potted at by otherwise unoccupied Huns in the trenches. They made it back, and the aircraft was back in service the next day.
So, eight days before the war was over, it nearly ended very badly.
Sidelights
The log book and family recollection are all we have to go on for these events (oh that the Squadron Record Book were available!) Nonetheless, there are a few interesting sidelights that illuminate what went on.
Rounds Fired
First, note the number of rounds fired, as recorded in the log book. 100 rounds were fired from the Vickers gun, which was pilot-operated and forward facing. And Capt. Gordon fired 400 rounds from the Scarff ring-mounted Lewis gun in the rear compartment. Greg never recorded more rounds fired in from the Lewis gun a single patrol. This was certainly consistent with a major shoot up, at least in small arms terms.
The Petrol Tank
Secondly, consider the position of the petrol tank. The tank was an elliptical-sectioned cylinder running fore-and-aft, and mounted immediately behind the dashboard. In this photo of the front cockpit of replica RE8 A3930 at the RAF Museum, London, the pale grey bottom of the tank is just visible below the bottom lip of the dashboard. And the fuel filler cap is further forward on the top.
Front cockpit of replica RE8 A3930 at the RAF Museum, London. The bottom of the grey fuel tank is visible below the dashboard. Fuel filler cap on top. Click for larger image.
The position of the tank can also be seen in the top left drawing from The Vintage Aviator Limited’s RE8 Gallery collection here.
So the tank was essentially above the pilot’s legs. It was therefore no surprise that petrol from the punctured tank drenched Greg with fuel. He was extraordinarily lucky that a fire didn’t break out. He was also lucky that the bullet didn’t hit him.
An Extraordinarily Safe Job?
Thirdly, it may not be accidental that Capt. Gordon did not apparently write to his mother about the events of today. One wonders whether he recalled that only yesterday he had written to her:
This is an extraordinary safe job & no one gets hurt at it. So don’t you worry, dear old bird.
Given that he had himself been hit in the (wooden) leg on an earlier flight, and only one week ago today Greg’s propeller had been split by shrapnel, it is clear that a good deal of luck was involved in ‘not getting hurt’ – or worse. Today’s events underlined that. But no doubt Capt. Gordon was writing more to reassure his mother than to be candid.
A Mere Bagatelle
Where was the chateau that they shot up? The log book doesn’t record it; Greg was no longer writing his diary; and of course we don’t have the SRB entry for the day. However, with a bit of deduction and a liberal amount of conjecture, it may have been the deliciously named Château Bagatelle at Wattripont on the road running northeast from Tournai towards Renaix (Ronse).
The evidence is this. Wattripont is a plausible distance from Ascq – 19 miles (30.5 km). It’s about the same distance beyond the British front line as the line was from Ascq. And it’s in a plausible location, in fact almost familiar territory. Greg’s recent reconnaissance and counter-battery patrols had been reporting on locations north and northeast of Tournai. Only two days ago on 31 October 1918, he had reported fires and explosions in DB zone. Wattripont is in EB zone, 6,000 yards to the east, as can be seen on this map:
Wattripont, and its location in relation to Ascq, showing the relationship between zones DB and EB. Adapted from a map accompanying General Haig’s despatches on the final British offensive. Click for larger image. Map credit: IWM/TNA/Great War Digital.
And Wattripont has a good candidate chateau with two floors: the now comfortable looking Château Bagatelle:
Château Bagatelle, now a comfortable looking hotel and spa. Click to visit their website and see more present day photographs. Photo credit: Château Bagatelle.
So just maybe this was the chateau in question.
Another Near Disaster
Today’s near disaster was just days before the armistice. It bookends another near disaster five months ago, when Greg crashed on his first day on the Western Front on 4 June 1918. Though that time he couldn’t blame the enemy.
